January 1-December 31, 2011
Paul of Somerset Books is hosting the International Book Challenge. He writes:
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