Monday, January 01, 2007

Books, books and more books.

I decided to join a couple of book challenges that felt like they might be good for me.
Here is challenge #1:
** Pick 12 books - one for each month of 2007 - that you've been wanting to read (have been on your "To Be Read" list) for 6 months or longer, but haven't gotten around to.
** Then, starting January 1, 2007, read one of these books from your list each month, ending December 31, 2007.
This challenge is found on Cafe Books and I got permission to post late since I was on the road. She'd probably give in if you begged too.
I liked the idea of getting 12 books off my to be read list which gets ever-longer.
My first two are going to overlap with another challenge, the Chunkster Challenge. I had 2 intimidatingly large books I've been avoiding reading. So they are on for the Chunkster and books 1 & 2 for TBR.
And then finally, I decided to get 5 "classics" off my TBR pile and join a final challenge. So books 3-7 are "classics" I've been meaning to read. The classics have to be read by the end of February so they have to be read first. For this challenge go to A Reader's Journal.
I may be overdoing the challenge thing but it is like running a marathon--it is supposed to push you a bit hard. First I have to finish reading Suite Francaise for the Third Day Bookclub, review due in two days.
And here is my list (drumroll please):
1. Madame Secretary, by Madeleine Albright
2. Fall on Your Knees, by Ann-Marie MacDonald
3. Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf
4. The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony and Other Stories, by Franz Kafka
5. A Walker in the City, by Alfred Kazin
6. Life Studies and For the Union Dead, by Robert Lowell
7. Letters from Hawaii, by Mark Twain (ed by A. Grove Day)
8. Stupid White Men, by Michael Moore
9. Girl, Interrupted, by Susanna Kaysen
10. Northern Lights, by Philip Pullman
11. Turning Japanese, by David Mura
12. Odd Girl Out, by Rachel Simmons

All right, so these are my 12. I'll explain some of my choices in more detail as I read them. Otherwise this post would get too long.
Now all I have to do is figure out how to get their buttons on my side bar. Wish me luck.
Sarala

6 comments:

Rethabile said...

I wish you luck, and happy reading

Shelby said...

Great list! I want to hear more about Letters from Hawaii... happy reading!! :)

Rebecca said...

What a great idea! One a month would not even Touch my TBR pile.

You have an ambitious list there.

Booklogged said...

Sarala, hello and welcome to the classics challenge. You are #75 on the participants list. Can you believe there will be 75 of us all reading classics and big chunksters?

Literary Feline said...

That's a great list, Sarala! I'm hoping these challenges will help in my goal to clear off some space on my TBR shelves. Good luck to you!

nessie said...

Welcome to the challenge!