2011 Book Challenges

I'm either ambitious or completely crazy but I'm signing up for 10 reading challenges this year!!!
I am committing myself to reading more classics this year and thus a few of the challenges do overlap.

I've decided to list them all in one post (I have provided links to each one). this will also make it easier for me to follow-up at the end of the year. In no particular order, here is what I'm planning for the new year:

Melissa from The Betty and Boo Chronicles is hosting the Memorable Memoirs Reading Challenge. Running from January 1- December 31, 2011, it's pretty flexible as to how many you actually commit to reading no pre-listing is required! Also no reviews of individual books are required either! As Melissa says: "If you enjoy reading memoirs or really haven't explored them as much as you'd like to, then this is the challenge for you."
I'm going to try to read 10 memoirs.


Lu from Lu's Rants and Raves is sponsoring Celebrate the Author in which she challenges us to read books by authors born in a particular month. This is my list of authors I plan to read. Many of the books will overlap with other challenges I hope to complete.
January: Edgar Allan Poe
February: Jules Verne
March: Lois Lowry
April: Washington Irving
May: Arthur Conan Doyle
June: Harriett Beecher Stowe
July: Nathaniel Hawthorne
August: Paula Danziger
September: Roald Dahl
October: Oscar Wilde
November: Mark Twain
December: Rudyard Kipling

Lynossa of Deranged Book Lovers is sponsoring the Wordsworth Classics Reading Challenge. You can read any classic novels which are included in the list of Wordsworth Classics. You don't need to read the Wordsworth edition; you can pick any publisher releases as long as those releases are unabridged.
The levels are:
Peasant: 1-4 books
Bourgeois: 5-8 books
Knight: 9 – 12 books
Noble: more than 12 books

I have decided to participate at the Bourgeois level.


Beth from Beth Fish Reads is sponsoring What's in a Name 4. In this challenge, Beth has chosen 6 words/themes for us to chose our books within. they are Number, Jewel or Gem, Size, Travel or Movement, Evil, and Life Stage. The book title must contain one of these type of words. Here are my choices:

Number: Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Jewel or Gem: Girl with a Pearl Earring
Size: The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy
Travel or Movement: Running in Heels by Anna Maxted
Evil: Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Life Stage: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway


Caitie of is sponsoring the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Challenge. Based on the book of the same name, the challenge is simple – read some books from the list! For the most basic, check out the Listology list.

There are 4 levels to participate in:

Levels:

High School Diplomat: 5 books from the list
Bachelor’s Degree: 6-10 books from the list
Master’s Degree: 11-15 books from the list
PhD: 16+ books from the list

Because so many of these will overlap with other challenges, I have decided to participate at the PhD level.


I have already signed up for the Back to Classics challenge here and the Century Challenge here.

The next few really just require me to keep track of the books I'm reading in order to complete them:


Amy at My Overstuffed Bookshelves is sponsoring the 100+ Read Challenge, which I guess is self-explanatory. I think I may have read over 100 books in 2009 and came somewhat close in 2010.










Teresa from Teresa's Reading Corner is sponsoring the 2011 Audiobook Challenge.

Curious: 3 Audio Books
Fascinated: 6 Audio Books
Addicted: 12 Audio Books
Obsessed: 20 Audio Books

Because I average about a book a week commuting to work, I think the Obsessed level is more than attainable!




Becky from Becky's Book Reviews is sponsoring the A-Z Challenge.
There are three options:
-Read alphabetically by Title (26 books)
-Read alphabetically by Author (26 books)
-Read alphabetically by Title and Author (52 books)

I have decided to participate by reading alphabetically by Title.