Summer Reading Challenge 2007

Amanda over at Amanda's Weekly Zen has decided to host the Summer Reading Challenge part Two and has set up a special blog for readers to record their summer reading challenges, post reviews and have discussions! It all gets underway on June 1st and runs through August 1st.

For those of you who are over-challenged this summer, this Challenge may be right for you. Readers choose their own goals - so the only pressure is that which you put on yourself. Have some books on your TBR stack that you want to finish this summer? Have an author you've wanted to read for awhile? It's all up to you!

Click on over to Amanda's site and e-mail her to get signed up for the challenge. She is also asking for ideas for a button!

**I almost didn't do this one - I'm a little "over challenged" right now! BUT, Amanda is being very generous with the rules. I can pick any books I want, I can overlap other reads - I think I can pull this off.

My goal is to read some of my book group reads (which I've been struggling to keep up with lately). I have two months - I'm choosing four books. Here they are:

1. The Flea Palace, by Elif Shafak (Completed June 15, 2007; read my review here.)
2. Slow Man, by J.M. Coetzee (Completed June 4, 2007, read my review here.)
3. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck (Completed July 13, 2007; read my review here.)
4. Birds Without Wings, by Louis de Bernieres (Completed July 13, 2007; read my review here.)

**CHALLENGE COMPLETED July 28, 2007

Beach Blanket Bonanza Challenge

I'm late on this one - because I just learned of it today! Puss Reboots is hosting a Beach Blanket Bonanza for those of us who just want to read what we want - no specific genres, no guidelines of what we "should" or "should not" read. Looks like here deadline to sign up was June 30th - but you might check in with her anyway since the challenge runs through September 1st!

Book Around The World Challenge

Why Not Travel Around the World!??!

There are a few challenges out there encouraging readers to read from different countries: Around the World in 80 Books, Reading Across Borders, and now Bonnie's: Book Around The World Challenge.

She has set up a fabulous blog for this challenge. There are no time limits. The challenge is to read THE BEST books from all around the world...and Bonnie is fast amassing an amazing list of choices. Why not join her??

Book To Movie Challenge

September 1, 2007 - December 1, 2007

Callista at SMS Book Reviews is sponsoring The Book To Movie Challenge. Read three books which have been made into movies over the three month period. Callista has provided you a list of possibilities (and there are many!). Sign up on her blog through Mr. Linky to participate!

The Unread Authors Challenge

Sponsored by my blogger friend Ariel, The Unread Authors Challenge begins September 1st, 2007 and runs through February 2008. Here (in part) are the "rules:"

1. Read six books.
2. You can choose more than one unread author and read several of their works, or you can choose six neglected (by you) writers and read a book apiece by them.

To sign up, write a blog entry prior to September 1st, linking back to Ariel's blog and listing your books for the challenge (alternates are encouraged!); then leave Ariel a comment and a link to your blog.

Sounds like fun! And, as Ariel notes, this challenge is a perfect overlap with The Seconds Challenge sponsored by Joy.

To see my list of challenge books and follow my progress, go here.

Book Around The States Challenge

~Current Challenge with no Time Limit~

Bonnie has started a new blog and challenge called: Book Around The States. She is challenging participants to find 50 books for 50 states and then read a book about each state, maybe a handful at a time. Why not go visit her?

Reading Across Borders Challenge

Kate's Book Blog is challenging readers to expand their horizons with The Reading Across Borders Challenge.

The idea is to determine which countries or regions tend to dominate your reading and to commit to reading a number of books over the course of 2007 which take you beyond those countries or regions.

************************************************************************************************

I realized that I already had many books on my shelf waiting to be read which fit nicely into this challenge; and also there are a few on my list of books I want to read this year that I have yet to acquire. Here they are in no particular order:

The Translator, by Leila Aboulela (Khartoum, Sudan) - Finished 3/23/2007 and reviewed here.
Suite Francaise, by Irene Nemirovsky (France) - Finished 2/17/2007 and reviewed here.
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak (Australia) -Finished 1/28/2007 and reviewed here.
Old Filth, by Jane Gardam (England) Finished 5/29/2007 and reviewed here.
The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Spain) Finished 7/7/2007 and reviewed here.
Silver Wedding, by Maeve Binchy (Ireland)
Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts (Bombay, India)
The Alchemist, by Paula Coelho (Brazil) - Finished 6/15/2007 and reviewed here.
A Woman in Jerusalem, by A.B. Yehoshua (Jerusalem)
The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai (New Delhi, India) - Finished 3/16/2007 and reviewed here.
Purple Hibiscus, by Chimamanda Ngozi Aichie (Africa) - Finished 1/24/2007 and reviewed here.
The Reader, by Bernhard Schlink (Germany)
Hanna's Daughters: A Novel of Three Generations, by Marianne Fredriksson (Sweden)

Saturday Review of Books Reading Challenge

July 1 - December 31, 2007

Sherry over at Semicolon is hosting a fun challenge: Saturday Review of Books Reading Challenge. For those of you who don't know already - she has a wonderful thing going on over at her blog. Each Saturday readers link reviews of the books they've read that week. So in honoring the vast number of blog participants in her Saturday Review of Books, Sherry has created a challenge whereby readers will choose one book a month to read from these reviews. You need to go to her blog and sign up through Mr. Linky to participate. Oh - and there will be a prize!

To see my choices and follow my progress on this challenge, go here.