2011 E-Book Challenge

I will be participating in E-book Challenge at The Ladybug Reads.  This is really a no brainer challenge for me as I am trying to use my nook more and more, only buying hard copy books at a discount or when a book is not available electronically.  I have signed up for the addicted level - 12 e-books during 2011.  I will probably read more than that, but I know my book budget will be much smaller this year than in years past, so I don't want to over-extend my available book funds.  I also plan on overlapping this challlenge with the others I have joined for the year.

Here are the details -
Challenge Guidelines:


1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate.
--Non-bloggers: Include your information in the comment section.

2. There are four levels:

-- Curious – Read 3 e-books.
-- Fascinated – Read 6 e-books.
-- Addicted – Read 12 e-books.
-- Obsessed – Read 20 e-books.

3. Any genre counts.

4. You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.

5. Challenge begins January 1, 2011 and lasts until December 31, 2011.

6. When you sign up under Mr. Linky, put the direct link to your post about the E-Book Reading Challenge. Include the URL so that other participants can join in and read your reviews and post.

2011 Global Reading Challenge

I am joining the 2011 Global Reading Challenge this year.  I am joining at the EASY level, which means 7 books, one from each continent.  As a geography teacher, this challenge is right up my alley. 

The Easy Challenge


Read one novel from each of these continents in the course of 2011:

Africa
Asia
Australasia
Europe
North America
South America (please include Central America where it is most convenient for you)
The Seventh Continent (here you can either choose Antarctica or your own ´seventh´ setting, eg the sea, the space, a supernatural/paranormal world, history, the future – you name it).

From your own continent: try to find a country, state or author that is new to you.

I have already selected some of the books I want to read.
Africa - Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Asia - Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Australasia -
Europe - The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
North America -
South America - The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The Seventh Continent -
 
To join this fun challenge visit 2011 Global Reading Challenge.

School of Life Reading Challenge

I am the perpetual school nerd, a geek.  I would be happy to go to school forever, getting degree after degree.  What is stopping me?  A little thing called tuition. So, when I found the School of Life Reading Challenge,  I knew I was joining!   This is the perfect challenge to feed my nerdiness.  I am joining at the Summa Cum Laude level.  I will be reading 12 books, but I will be double majoring in Human Geography and European History.  I teach the Advanced Placement course for both of these subjects, so not only will I be in full geekdom, but I will also be accomplishing a great deal of research for my courses as well. 

Here is my initial list of books. 

Human Geography Books -
1.  Geography Matters by Harm de Blij
2.  The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
3.  Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas Friedman
4.  Naked Economics by Charles Wheelan
5.
6.

European History Books
1.  Sophie's World
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

2011 Reading Challenges

I am the first to admit I did not do very well with my 2010 Reading Challenges, but that is a topic for another post.  I am, as always, drawn to the newness of a new year and all the opportunity that abounds.  In this case, the opportunity to jump start my reading and blogging slump.  I plan on joining the following challenges, with high hopes of completing all of them.  The key to the challenges I chose this year is that many of them overlap, for example, most of the books for the 2011 Global Reading Challenge come from my TBR stack and will count for the Reading From My Shelves Project.  I am still looking for a Southern Reading Challenge to join, so if you know of one, please let me know. 

Challenge #1 -
School of Life Reading Challenge

Do you miss being a student? Did you major in English but you haven't read a classic in years? In this reading challenge you can pick and choose books that are assigned in classes related to your old major.


How To Participate
1. Decide which major or subject you would like to study
2. Visit your alma mater's website and see if they have class syllabi online. If they don't, check one of the hundreds of free online classes at Yale, MIT, or any other college
3. Pick a few classes in your major
4. Choose one or more books required in each class syllabus
5. You do not have to write reviews
6. You may keep in touch and leave links to your reviews below, if you choose to write them
7. You do not have to have a blog
8. The books you choose can be overlaps from other reading challenges
9. The challenge begins January 1 and ends December 31, 2011

Levels of Participation
cum laude: 6 books
magna cum laude: 8 books
summa cum laude: 12 books

I will be joining at the Summa Cum Laude Level.  I am going to do a "double major", reading 6 Human Geography books and 6 Euroepan History books - both courses I teach. 

Challenge #2 -
Reading From My Shelves Project

The Details -
Challenge runs from January 1 - December 31, 2011.


Read books from your own shelves, and then pass the books on to someone else: a friend, relative, the library, used book store, swap them, just as long as the book leaves your house once it has been read.

Decide on your goal (12 is the minimum - no maximum). Cross over books are allowed.

Grab the button and do a post about the challenge.

Keep a running list of the books you've read and passed on.

Leave a comment with a link to your post and you are entered (no Mr. Linky).

Have Fun and GOOD LUCK!
 
Reading Challenge #3 -
ebook Reading Challenge

 
 
Challenge Guidelines:

1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate.
--Non-bloggers: Include your information in the comment section.

2. There are four levels:

-- Curious – Read 3 e-books.
-- Fascinated – Read 6 e-books.
-- Addicted – Read 12 e-books.
-- Obsessed – Read 20 e-books.

3. Any genre counts.

4. You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.

5. Challenge begins January 1, 2011 and lasts until December 31, 2011.

6. When you sign up under Mr. Linky, put the direct link to your post about the E-Book Reading Challenge. Include the URL so that other participants can join in and read your reviews and post.

I am going to join at the Addicted Level - 12 books.  Since my book budget will be smaller this year than ever before, I will be limited in the number of books I can add to my e-reader.  I am hoping for some Barnes and Noble gift cards for Mother's Day, Birthday, Anniversary....

Reading Challenge #4 -
2011 Global Reading Challenge

The Easy Challenge

Read one novel from each of these continents in the course of 2011:
Africa
Asia
Australasia
Europe
North America
South America (please include Central America where it is most convenient for you)
The Seventh Continent (here you can either choose Antarctica or your own ´seventh´ setting, eg the sea, the space, a supernatural/paranormal world, history, the future – you name it).

From your own continent: try to find a country, state or author that is new to you.

The Medium Challenge
Read two novels from each of these continents in the course of 2011:
Africa
Asia
Australasia
Europe
North America
South America (please include Central America where it is most convenient for you)
The Seventh Continent

Try to find novels from fourteen different countries or states.

The Expert Challenge
Read three novels from each of these continents in the course of 2010:
Africa
Asia
Australasia
Europe
North America
South America (please include Central America where it is most convenient for you)
The Seventh Continent

Select novels from twenty-one different countries or states if possible. (For Australasia, selecting a different state for your last book will be acceptable)

I am joining at the EASY level, commiting to one book for each continent.

I will be posting individual sign up posts for each challenge for each with a list of books for each.  To find the reading challenge that is right for you, visit A Novel Challenge. 

2010 Reading Challenges Wrap Up

I joined 4  - year long reading challenges this year and I was afraid to even think about evaluating my success on any of them.  I lost my reading mojo at the beginning of the summer and gave up on it around September.  I couldn't seem to finish a book and had about 8 laying around the house in various stages of "unreadness".  But, as my dear husband would say, I "manned up" and evaluated how little I had accomplished this year. 

I was most successful on the Take Another  Chance Challenge - I joined at the Small Gamble Level, requiring me to read 3 books out of my comfort zone.  I actually read 2 out of the 3.

The Historical Fiction Challenge was also fairly successful.  I signed on at the Obsessed level or 20 books.  I completed 14 out of the 20. 

I was really interested in the concept of the Social Justice Challenge, but once I lost my reading mojo, there was no hope of me focusing on the serious topics and heavier content of the books this challenge necessitated.  I hope another challenge like this comes my way at some point as I really want to complete the list of books and actions steps I had planned.  I did read books for Religious Freedom, Water, Domestic Violence and Child Abuse, and Child Soldiers and Children at War, so 4 out of 12 books. 

The Read the Book, See the Movie challenge was an epic fail for me.  I did not read one book, nor see one of the movies I put on my list.  This challenge however still interests me and I hope to read the books and see the movies from my original list in 2011. 

All in all, not as bad as I thougth it would be.  I read 35 books in 2010, 20 of which were for challenges.  This gives me hope for the challenges I am considering signing up for in 2011.