2009 Book Challenges

After a dismal 2008 in which I didn't finish a single challenge, I'm buckling down for 2009. Here's what I'll be participating in.

First my own particular goals:

- Read the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
- Finish my 50 nonfiction books for my 101 list. (Currently with only 13 to go!).
- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
- The Scarlet Pimpernel
- The Mitford Girls

Now for some challenges!

- A Striped Armchair's World Citizen Challenge. I find this extremely intimidating. Precisely why I'm doing it. This challenge requires reading the following categories but not about my own country:
1. A book on politics or foreign policy
2. Economics
3. History
4. Culture or Anthropology/Sociology
5. Worldwide Issues
6. Memoirs/Autobiographies

This will take some serious research to pick the books I want to read.

- The Read Your Own Damn Books Challenge. For this I'm planning on reading:
1. The People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
2. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
3. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
4. The first three Anne Rice vampire books.
5. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
6. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
7. The first two Robert Jordan books

- Continue to participate in book groups. Two of which are Endicott Mythic Fiction & The Classics.

- Audio Books Challenge - listen to 12 audio books in 2009.
1. The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell
Haven't decided on the others just yet.

- Start a mini book club with my husband. We've discussed both reading a nonfiction book a month. We'll take turns picking the book, and I'm expecting a heavy slant towards the history of American presidents.

- Political History Challenge

- A Hundred Shots of Short - planning on reading a hundred short stories.