2011 Battle of the Prizes: British Version

***Challenge ended.***

Dates: 1 February 2011 - 31 January 2012
Host: Rose City Reader

Guidelines:

• Choose from two reading options:
  
  Option One:
  Choose three books that you have not read before:
  
  1) One that won both the Booker and the James Tait Black prizes (see the list of "double-dippers").
  2) One that won the Booker Prize (but not the James Tait Black Prize).
  3) One that won the James Tait Black Prize (but not the Booker).
  
  Option Two:
  For those who have already read all three of the double-dippers, or otherwise do not want to read one of those three, pick two Booker winners and two James Tait Black winners for a total of four books.
  
  
• Challenge rules:
  1) Read all books between February 1, 2011 and January 31, 2012.
  Books don't have to be chosen ahead of time; and choices can be changed at any time.
  2) Overlap with other challenges is allowed.
  3) Reviews are not necessary, but encouraged. If you do not have a blog, put your reviews or reports in a comment on the announcement post.
  

✸ I'll probably be choosing Option Two, since I'm not really interested in any of the "double dippers."

See my original post about the challenge here.
See the challenge announcement/sign-up page here.
See the list of Booker winners here.
See the list of James Tait Black winners here.

MY READING LIST:

1. The Sense of an Ending. Julian Barnes (2011 Man Booker)
2. Staying On. Paul Scott (1977 Man Booker)
   
3. The Children's Book. A.S. Byatt (2009 James Tait Black; reading now)
   

Book Awards Challenge V

**Challenge ended.**

Dates: 1 February - 1 December 2011
Host: 3M (Michelle) @ 1 More Chapter

Guidelines:

• Read 5 books from 5 different awards during the period from February 1 through December 1, 2011. (See the announcement page for a list of eligible book awards to choose from.)
  
• Overlaps with other challenges are permitted.
• Choices don't have to be posted right away, and lists may be changed at any time.
• 'Award winners' is loosely defined; make the challenge fit your needs.

See my original post about the challenge here.
See the challenge announcement/sign-up page here.
See the list of awards to choose from here.
See the Mr. Linky page for reviews here.

MY READING LIST (only managed three out of the five books for this one):

1. A Visit from the Goon Squad. Jennifer Egan (2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)
2. Bid Time Return. Richard Matheson (1976 World Fantasy Award, Best Novel)
   
3. The Sense of an Ending. Julian Barnes (2011 Man Booker Prize)

2011 Pub Challenge

**Challenge completed.**

Dates: 1 January - 31 December 2011
Host: 3M (Michelle) @ 1 More Chapter

Guidelines (quoted from the challenge announcement page):

• Read a minimum of 11 books first published in 2011. You don’t have to buy these. Library books, unabridged audios, or ARCs are all acceptable. To qualify as being first published in 2011, it must be the first time that the book is published in your own country. For example, if a book was published in Australia, England, or Canada in 2010, and then published in the USA in 2011, it counts (if you live in the USA). Newly published trade paperbacks and mass market paperbacks do not count if there has been a hardcover/trade published before 2011.
• At least 6 titles must be fiction.
• Crossovers with other challenges are allowed.
• You can add your titles as you go, and they may be changed at any time.

See my original post about the challenge here.
See my wrap-up post here.
See the challenge announcement/sign-up page here.
See the review page for January/February reviews here.

MY READING LIST (with links to reviews):

1. The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead. Paul Elwork (fiction)
   
2. The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady. Elizabeth Stuckey-French (fiction)
   
3. Art and Madness. Anne Roiphe (nonfiction)
4. Mr. Chartwell. Rebecca Hunt (fiction)
   
5. Tassy Morgan's Bluff. Jim Stinson (fiction)
   
6. Shut Your Eyes Tight. John Verdon (fiction)
7. Nat Tate. William Boyd (fiction)
8. The Brothers of Baker Street. Michael Robertson (fiction)
   
9. The Fatal Touch. Conor Fitzgerald (fiction)
10. The Winter Ghosts. Kate Mosse (fiction; American edition published 2011)
    
11. Literary Brooklyn. Evan Hughes (nonfiction)
12. Born in Africa: The Quest for the Origins of Human Life. Martin Meredith (nonfiction)
13. The Sense of an Ending. Julian Barnes (fiction)
    

Themed Reading Challenge 2011

**Challenge ended.**

Dates: 15 February - 15 August 2011
Host: Teddy Rose @ So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

Guidelines (quoted from the challenge announcement page):

This is a six month challenge designed to help readers clear books from their to-be-read stacks which center around a common theme or themes.

• Rules:
  
  1. Readers may join at ANY TIME between now and August 15th.
  2. Books should be chosen from the reader’s TBR pile (this may be an actual physical pile or a virtual pile).
  3. The goal is to read AT LEAST 5 books linked by theme and review them.
  4. Overlaps with other challenges are allowed.
  5. Readers may change their list of books OR their theme(s) at any time.
  
  
• Readers may choose from three levels of participation:
  
  1. Read at least 5 books which share the same theme.
  2. Read at least 5 books which share TWO themes.
  3. Read at least 5 books which share MORE THAN TWO themes.
  

Themes can be geographic, genre, author, subject matter, or anything in between!

✸ My themes were mystery novels that feature amateur sleuths, written by female authors. The sleuths didn't have to be female -- just the authors. I'm not sure whether my books shared two or three themes, but I signed up at level two. Only got four of the five required books read -- I think I'm just not very good at sticking with a theme.

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

MY READING LIST:

1. Whisker of Evil (A Mrs. Murphy Mystery). Rita Mae Brown
2. Malice in Miniature (A Dorothy Martin Mystery). Jeanne M. Dams
3. Mrs. Malory and the Fatal Legacy (A Mrs. Malory Mystery). Hazel Holt
4. Mrs. Malory and A Time to Die (A Mrs. Malory Mystery). Hazel Holt
   
5.