Category: 2013 Challenges

2013 Challenges, Books

Book 167: Vernon God Little – DBC Pierre

Geoff W

Although the year has changed, reading must continue 😀 For my first book of 2013 I used random.org to pull one from my shelves and it was definitely an experience.

As usual after I purchased the book I put it out of my mind and then when I go to read it I just start without reading anything about the book and thus begin without preconceived notions. This works for and against me all the time, for this book it definitely worked for me because if I had read a synopsis I probably would not have read the book at this time (see paragraph 5).

For a Man Booker Prize winning novel it was relatively easy to read. (It also won the Whitbread Award for First Novel.) I haven’t read any others from the year, but Atwood’s Oryx and Crake (read 09/13) is of course on my list. Overall I think this book serves as a great conversation starter, but as I read it I had to wonder why it won the award.

Click here to continue reading.

2013 Challenges

2013 Challenge Announcement!

Geoff W

2013 Back to the Classics ChallengeI have finally got my act together and sorted out my 2013 Challenges! I managed to keep the same three challenges (Mount TBR Reading Challenge, Tea & Books Reading Challenge and Back to the Classics Challenge) while only officially signing up for 14 books! And as an added bonus 12 of the 14 books will qualify for The Classics Club!

2013 Tea & Books Reading ChallengeFirst, I hope the challenge hosts don’t think I’m coping out! I really wanted to participate in all of the challenges again for the lovely people I’ve met, but didn’t want to over extend myself this year and thus this magnificent feat. I will definitely be upgrading for the Mount TBR challenge as I’m planning on spending the majority of this year reading books I already own, but I’m only committing to the lowest level for now. I plan

2013 Mount TBR Reading ChallengeSecond, I hope all you readers appreciate just how much this took! I seriously negotiated with myself, most often out loud, for over a week about what books I should and shouldn’t include! It’s quite funny when you think about it. I would add a book to the list and then immediately remove it because I knew I could find a book to meet another challenge requirement!

A few unique things about the lists:

  • I am participating at the following levels:
    • Back to the Classics: 11 books Full – All 6 required and 5 optional.
    • Mount TBR: 12 books – Pike’s Peak (will probably end up near Mt. Ararat)*
    • Tea & Books: 4 books – Berry Tea Devotee
  • Every book qualifies for more than one challenge.
  • Two books are re-reads: To Kill A Mockingbird and Wuthering Heights
  • One book qualifies for all three challenges: Les Misérables
  • There are seven each of physical and Kindle books (Check out that symmetry!)

And without further ado, click here to visit my 2013 Challenge Lists!

*I most certainly will be upgrading on the Mount TBR challenge. MY MAJOR GOAL FOR THE YEAR IS TO READ PRIMARILY BOOKS I ALREADY HAVE. On December 31st I plan on taking a snap shot of my ‘bookshelf’ list on here and using that as my official 2013 Library.