New Authors Challenge 2010

***Challenge completed. See my wrap-up post here.***

Dates: 1 January through 31 December, 2010
Hosted by: Jackie at Literary Escapism

Guidelines:

• Choose 15, 25, or 50 new-to-you authors.
• No limit on genres.
• Anthologies are allowed; however, only a third of your choices can be from anthologies.
• Crossovers with other challenges are allowed.
• You don't need a blog to participate.
• There will be a Mr. Linky for reviews.

See my original post about the challenge here.
See my wrap-up post here.
See the challenge announcement page here.

I'm committing to 15 new authors, and hope to do a little better than that.

MY READING LIST:

1. The Anthologist. Nicholson Baker [See Review]
   
2. The Raphael Affair. Iain Pears [See Review]
3. Venom. Joan Brady [See Review]
   
4. Quattrocento. James McKean [See Review]
   
5. People of the Book. Geraldine Brooks [Review to come]
   
6. The Brontes Went to Woolworths. Rachel Ferguson [See Review]
   
7. Heresy. S.J. Parris [Review to come]
8. Before the Throne. Naguib Mahfouz [Review to come]
   
9. The Swimming Pool. Holly LeCraw [See Review]
10. An American Type. Henry Roth [See Review]
    
11. A River in the Sky. Elizabeth Peters [See Review]
    
12. Live To Tell. Lisa Gardner [See Review]
13. Tinkers. Paul Harding [See Review]
14. The Last Child. John Hart [Review to come]
    
15. The Hypnotist. M.J. Rose [See Review]
    
16. The Forgotten Garden. Kate Morton [See Review]
17. The Spider Bites. Medora Sale [Review to come]
    
18. The Three Weissmanns of Westport. Cathleen Schine [Review to come]
    
19. The Good Psychologist. Noam Shpancer [See Review]
20. Damaged. Alex Kava [See Review]
21. The Egypt Game. Zilpha Keatley Snyder [See Review]
    
22. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Alan Bradley [Review to come]
23. Think of a Number. John Verdon [Review to come]
    
24. All Is Forgotten, Nothing Is Lost. Lan Samantha Chang [See Review]
    
25. The Convent. Panos Karnezis [See Review]
26. The Inheritance. Simon Tolkien [See Review]
    
27. The House Next Door. Anne Rivers Siddons [See Review]
    
28. Book of Shadows. Alexandra Sokoloff [Review to come]
29. After Claude. Iris Owens [See Review]
    
30. The Vanishing of Katharina Linden. Helen Grant [Review to come]
    
31. Juliet. Anne Fortier [See Review]
    
32. The Weird Sisters. Eleanor Brown [See Review]
    
33. The Thirty-Nine Steps. John Buchan [See Review]
    

The Thriller-Suspense Challenge 2010

***Challenge completed. See my wrap-up post here.***

Dates: 1 January to 31 December 2010
Hosted by: Book Chick City

Guidelines:

• Read twelve (12) thriller-suspense novels in 2010. You can make your choices from any of the many sub-genres.
  
• No list necessary; if you want to list your books ahead of time, that's OK, but not required.
• Lists can change during the course of the challenge.
• Crossovers with other challenges are allowed.
• There will be a page to list your reviews, although reviews are optional.

See my original post about the challenge here.
See my wrap-up post here.
See the challenge announcement page here.
See the list of sub-genres here.
See the review page here.

MY READING LIST (books read):

1. The Raphael Affair. Iain Pears [See Review]
   ~ (I'm putting this one in the Drama Thriller category.)
   
2. Venom. Joan Brady [See Review]
   ~ (This one would fit in either the Disaster or Eco-Thriller categories.)
   
3. Mrs. Malory and Any Man's Death. Hazel Holt [Review to come]
   ~ (Cozy Mystery category. Would also fit the Amateur Detective Mystery category)
   
4. Heresy. S.J. Parris [Review to come]
   ~ (Historical thriller category.)
   
5. A Stitch in Time. Monica Ferris [Review to come]
   ~ (Cozy Mystery category; but it would also fit into the Amateur Detective category, too.)
6. A River in the Sky. Elizabeth Peters [See Review]
   ~ (Historical Mystery/Thriller category.)
   
7. Live To Tell. Lisa Gardner [See Review]
   ~ (This would fit in the Drama Thriller and/or Serial Killer Thriller categories)
8. The Last Child. John Hart [Review to come]
   ~ (Drama Thriller category; with a little bit of Amateur Detective Mystery thrown in.)
   
9. Innocent. Scott Turow [See Review]
   ~ (Legal Thriller category)
10. The Hypnotist. M.J. Rose [See Review]
    ~ (Drama Thriller category)
    
11. Damaged. Alex Kava [See Review]
    ~ (Serial Killer Thriller category)
12. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Alan Bradley [Review to come]
    ~(Haven't figured out a category for this one yet)
    
13. Think of a Number. John Verdon [Review to come]
    ~ (Serial Killer or Drama Thriller categories)
14. The Inheritance. Simon Tolkien [See Review]
    ~ (Legal Thriller category)
    
15. Cards on the Table. Agatha Christie [See Review]
    ~ (Locked Room Mystery category)
16. Book of Shadows. Alexandra Sokoloff [Review to come]
    ~ (Supernatural Thriller category)
    
17. The Dark Half. Stephen King [Review to come]
    ~ (Horror Thriller category)
    

The Christmas Reading Challenge

***Challenge completed. See my wrap-up post here.***

Dates: November 26 through December 31, 2009
Hosted by: Michelle of The True Book Addict

Guidelines:

• Read one or more books with Christmas themes, during the time period of the challenge.
• The books have to be Christmas books – either novels with a Christmas theme, or books of Christmas short stories, or nonfiction books about the holiday.
• No children's books, but YA books are allowed.

See my original post about the challenge here.
See my challenge wrap-up post here.
See the challenge announcement page here.
See the challenge review page here.

MY READING LIST:

1. Crewel Yule. Monica Ferris (see review)
   
2. Santa Clawed. Rita Mae Brown (see review)
3. Christmas Card Magic. Margaret Perry (see review)
   

The Awesome Author Challenge 2010

**Challenge completed. See my wrap-up post here.**

Dates: Throughout 2010
Hosted by: Alyce of At Home With Books

Guidelines:

"The idea behind this challenge is to read works by authors who have been recommended to you time and again, yet somehow you haven't managed to read any books by those authors. These are the authors that everyone else tells you are awesome, thus the 'Awesome Author Challenge' title."

• The challenge starts January 1, 2010 and ends December 31, 2010.
• Crossovers with other challenges are allowed.
• Choose the level at which you would like to participate, post about it and then visit Alyce's blog to sign up and leave your link.
• Titles and authors do not have to be predetermined, and your list of choices can be changed at any time.
• Books can come from any genre or reading level. The only requirement is that you have heard great things about the authors, but haven't yet read any of their works.

Levels of Participation:

• Easy: Choose three authors and read at least one title from each author.
  
• Moderate: Choose six authors and read at least one title from each author.
  
• Challenging: Choose ten authors and read at least one title from each author.
  
• Over-achieving: Anything over ten authors.
  

See my original post about the Challenge here.
See my wrap-up post here.
See the Challenge announcement page here.
See the Challenge wrap-up page here.

I'm going to try the Challenging Level, and choose ten awesome authors who are new to me.

MY READING LIST:

1. Nick Bantock: The Griffin & Sabine Trilogy [See Review]
2. Nicholson Baker: The Anthologist [See Review]
   
3. Iain Pears: The Raphael Affair [See Review]
   
4. Henry Roth: An American Type [See Review]
5. Elizabeth Peters: A River in the Sky [See Review]
   
6. Lisa Gardner: Live To Tell [See Review]
   
7. Kate Morton: The Forgotten Garden [See Review]
   
8. Alex Kava: Damaged [See Review]
   
9. Zilpha Keatley Snyder: The Egypt Game [See Review]
   
10. Anne Rivers Siddons: The House Next Door [See Review]
    

The November Novella Challenge

**Challenge completed. See my wrap-up post here.**

Dates: Through November 30, 2009
Hosted by: Bibliofreak

Guidelines:

". . . there aren’t any rules. . .just some suggestions for cheating: Cross-overs with other challenges are fine, audiobooks are fine. . . . I do ask you to make a list in advance, but swapping out books on your list as you go is no problem. If you don’t have a blog, that’s O.K.! You can still participate by writing a short review in the comments section of the review page. . . ."

Levels of Participation:

• Level I: Read one (just one!) novella by November 30, 2009
• Level II: Read four novellas (one each week, mayhaps?) by November 30, 2009
• Level III: Read eight novellas (two a week?) by November 30, 2009
• Level IV: AKA, the As Many As You Freakin’ Can level: Read as many novellas as you freakin’ can by November 30, 2009

See my original post about the challenge here.
See my wrap-up post here.
See the challenge announcement page here.
See the challenge review page here.

I'm playing it safe and signing up for Level I.

MY READING LIST (completed works):

1. The Lair of the White Worm. Bram Stoker [see review]
2. The Uncommon Reader. Alan Bennett [review to come]
3. The Lesson of the Master. Henry James [review to come]
   
4. The Lover. Marguerite Duras [review to come]