books and such

Oops, I just remembered I said this would be a knitting post.
...
Oh well.
So, in an effort to increase my cultural comprehension
and make my brain bigger
I have decided to include bookage in this lovely blog of mine.
Yes, daring I know.
I actually read quite a bit. Or, I used to...
and I'm trying to get back into the habit because I do love books. Terribly, terribly, a lot.
I also love book blogs. A lot. So, I'm squishing my interests together. How resourceful. I've joined, (or will, as soon as I post this), a few challenges to give me a kick in the pants to motivate me to read.
I am actually super excited, which shows you what a dork I am. Huzzah!


My Reading Challenges 2009

1% Well-Read Challenge

-Basically, you read 10 books from Listology's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
I think they're mostly classics and should-be-classics, so it should be effective for gaining maximum haha-I've-read-something-you-haven't points. Then again, it could also be effective for gaining maximum bored-to-tears points, so must tread carefully. Oh, and there are several options, but I think I'm doing the mix of old and new updated lists. Why? Because I can't tell which is which. Ho-ya.
-Deadline: March 31, 2010 (oh noes! I'm not good with far-sounding deadlines. I should probably get this one done quickly.)
-Tentative List:
1) On Beauty- Zadie Smith
2) The God Of Small Things- Arundhati Roy
3) The Robber Bride- Margaret Atwood
4) A Prayer for Owen Meany- John Irving
5) Anna Karenina- Leo Tolstoy
6) Crime and Punishment- Fyodor Dostoevsky
7) Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte (I've always thought of this as Blithering Heights, but Heathcliff is such a beloved character that I figure I should at least try. If I hate it, at least I will have more intelligent-sounding criticism.)
8) Kafka on the Shore- Haruki Murakami
9) Atonement- Ian McEwan
10) The Satanic Verses- Salman Rushdie



Non-Fiction Five


-The challenge is to read 5 non-fiction books, at least one of which has to be of a differing type. (For instance, you could read four memoirs and one self-help. Or two autobiographies, a science book and two self-helps. Or... well, you get the point.) I don't read much non-fiction, generally, so this should be interesting.
Deadline: September 30, 2009 (Phwoar, the end of the summer. Should probably start reading. Yesterday.)
-Tentative List:
1) Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia- Elizabeth Gilbert
2) Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off- Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
3) Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books- Azar Nafisi
4)The Know-It All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World- A.J. Jacobs
5)Julie and Julia : 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen / Julie Powell
6) The Unauthorized Autobiography of Lemony Snicket- Lemony Snicket



First in a Series Challenge


Read 12 books that are the first in a series. Yep, I thought it was pretty self-explanatory too. This list was kind of difficult, I don't read that many series, so I had to trawl around Amazon a bit. I don't read that much fantasy, but I suppose I'll have to start. I'm really excited about them, though.
Deadline: December 31, 2009
Tentative List:
1) Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Book 1)- Laurel K. Hamilton
2) The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time: Book 1)- Robert Jordan
3) The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events: Book 1)- Lemony Snicket and Brett Helquist
4)The Color of Magic (Discworld Series: Book 1)- Terry Pratchett
5) One For the Money (Stephanie Plum: Book 1)- Janet Evanovich
6) Naked in Death (In Death Series: Book 1)- J.D. Robb
7) The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials: Book 1)- Philip Pullman
8)Arrows of the Queen ( The Heralds of Valdemar: Book 1)- Mercedes Lackey
9) A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle: Book 1)- Ursula K. Le Guin
10) Quiksilver- Neal Stephenson
11)The silver pigs: a novel (Falco: Book 1)- Lindsey Davis
12) A Morbid Taste For Bones (The First Chronicle of Brother Cadfael- Ellis Peters