Saturday, January 1, 2011

International Book Challenge

January 1-December 31, 2011

Paul of Somerset Books is hosting the International Book Challenge.  He writes:

As we move into a new year, many book clubs and individuals are taking various reading challenges that will run to the end of 2011 (I wrote about one of these in my last post). Since I am often a bandwagon-jumper, I decided to come up with a challenge of my own. It wasn't all that difficult, given that I have a fondness for books in translation, revere foreign authors, and hope to someday live in Barcelona.

Thus, my reading challenge for 2011 is The International Book Challenge. It's fairly self-explanatory, but here are a few guidelines ("rules" sounds too strict; reading should be fun):

  • The goal is to read books by as many "foreign" authors as possible. For the purposes of this challenge, foreign means not born in your country.
  • Reading the work in translation is perfectly acceptable; some of you are able to read multiple languages, but most of us are not.
  • Try to step out of your comfort zone. If you've never read a Korean or Somali novelist, ask your local bookseller to suggest a good one; you might be pleasantly surprised.

Here are the achievement levels, based on number of countries "visited" in 2011:

  • Homebody: 0-2 countries visited
  • Budget Traveller: 3-6 countries visited
  • Frequent Flier: 7-9 countries visited
  • Marco Polo: 10 or more countries visited
To join, go to International Book Challenge.