A-Z Mystery Author Challenge

January 1-December 31, 2011


Michelle at Red Headed Book Child is hosting her very first Challenge, the A-Z Mystery Author Challenge. She writes:


This challenge came out of one of my shifts at the library. I was shelving in the mystery section and I discovered an amazing amount of authors who I have never read and have never heard of. I knew there are many mystery authors out there having come from book retail but the library seemed to have more of a variety vs. the bestsellers. I liked that!


Mysteries being one of my favorite genres I am confident I will enjoy this challenge. I thought it would help to do it in an A-Z format. Keep it simple and organized!My goal for this challenge is to simply discover new mystery authors, whether they are suspense, cozy, noir, or thriller. I am going to try to use the last name of the author in my A-Z but if I have to, I may use the first name as well.

To complete the challenge, I would read 26 books, one for each letter of the alphabet. That would be TOP but I would be happy if I read 12, one for every month. I am working on a prize for anyone who completes the challenge. It will either be a new mystery book to giveaway OR a favorite of mine!
Sign up ends February 1, 2011.
Read A-I, J-P or Q-Z. You choose. The letter group you choose must be the last name of the author. (i.e= S for John Sandford).
Mystery genre can include Cozy, Suspense, Thriller, or Noir. All Adult novels please.

Write a post about this challenge and which group/s you pick. You can list the authors you choose or do it as you go.

To join, go to A-Z Mystery Author Challenge.

Celebrate the Author Challenge

January 1-December 31, 2011

Becky over at Becky's Book Reviews has hosted the Celebrate the Authors Challenge in the past. She has decided not to host this one in 2011, and has passed it on to Lu's Raves and Rants. Lu writes:

The challenge is designed to “celebrate” author birthdays. Choose one author for each month of the year. Read at least one book a month. 12 authors. 12 birthdays. If you like, you can read MORE than that. Read the books IN ANY ORDER YOU LIKE. As long as you've got one book representing an author birthday from each month of the year by the end, then you're good.

You can choose picture books, poetry books, early readers, chapter books, fiction for middle grades, fiction for teens, adult reads, nonfiction, whatever you want.

The challenge is designed to ‘celebrate’ the special bond–the connection–that occurs between the author AND the reader as well as the connection between readers. It is very easy to “bond” with other readers over certain works, certain authors, etc. To find out author birthdays, visit these helpful sites:

Author birthdays by date (pdf),author birthdays by name (pdf), kidsreads.com, teenreads.com, author birthday directory, etc.
Or conduct google searches of your own. (Hint: typing the authors name, a “+” and the word ‘birthday’, tends to work if you assume that wikipedia gets such things right.)
No lists are necessary. You can make a list if you like. But you *don't* have to make a list and stick to it.

To join, go to Celebrate the Authors Challenge.

Books Won Challenge 2011

January 1-December 31, 2011

Teddy of So Many Precious Books, So Little Time is hosting the Books Won Challenge for a second year. She writes:

I created this challenge last year to challenge myself and others that have won books, to read and review some of them. The reason publishing companies supply books for book bloggers to give away is to get word out about the books and create buzz. I didn't do very well with this challenge in 2010, I only read one won book. However, 2011 is a New Year and a fresh start. I feel bad that I haven't read many of the book I have won and want to make an effort to read them in 2011.

If you would like to join me, here are the levels:

Honorable Mention: Read 1-3 book you won.
Bronze: Read 4-6 books you won.
Silver: Read 7-9 Books you won.
Gold: Read 10 or more books you won.

The Rules:

1. You must write a review for each book that you read for it to count. If you do not have a blog you can write your reviews on a place like Amazon, Powell's, Chapters, etc.

2.Crossovers with other challenges are okay.
3. Audiobooks and ebooks count, as long as you won them.

4. You can change up levels but cannot go back down a level.

5. You don't have to make a list ahead of time for this challenge but you can if you want to.

To join, go to Books Won Challenge.

Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge 2011

Fatin of Romance Book Maven is once again hosting the Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge. She writes:

Last year Pearl of Pearl’s World of Romance hosted the first Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge. With the new job she started recently, she decided not to host the challenge this year but I offered to host it in her place because this was one challenge I really enjoyed doing this year and I didn’t want to see it end already.

I’m basically copying what Pearl had for the challenge last year because I’m not changing anything of the challenge. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it, you know?

Details –
1. By contemporary romance I mean straight contemporary, so without paranormal, fantasy or time-travel elements. Sexy, steamy contemporaries are eligible and so are category romances. (i.e. Harlequin Blaze, Harlequin Presents, Harlequin Super Romances, Silhoutte Desires, etc.)

2. Read at least 10 contemporaries between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011

3. You don’t have to pre-select your books, you can just add them as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed. Nothing is set in stone! Also, the books you choose can crossover into or from other challenges you are participating in.

To join, go to Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge.

Buy One Book and Read It Challenge 2011

January 1-December 31, 2011


Amy is hosting the Buy One Book and Read It Challenge again in 2011. She writes:


It's that time of year again! The time of year when I encourage you to pull out those wallets and buy a book...and then actually read it! The Buy One Book and Read It Challenge is back.

This challenge started when I read the depressing statistics that something like half of the adults in the United States wouldn't read a single book over the course of the year. Nothing plunges me into the depths of despair like that, so I decided to encourage people to read a book. When I also realized that bookstores and the publishing industry was suffering, I decided to add on the buying part.


There are two levels to this challenge:
1) Buy One Book and Read It.
This level is good for people who don't read often but think that would like to read more. It's also good for people who don't buy books. If you don't read much or don't buy many books, this is your level.
2) Level Two--Buy one book and read it every month
You don't have to buy a book in January and read it in January, but you must buy 12 books that you also go on to read during the year. This level is ideal for book bloggers notorious for the buying part, but not so much the reading part.
Rules
1) The book you read must be for pleasure. It cannot be a book you are reading to your children, for work, for research. This is all about fun.
2) The book(s) can be print or electronic. Unless you are unable to read print, audiobooks don't count towards this challenge.

Prizes: Everyone who completes the challenge at the level they signed up for will be entered into a drawing to win a ten dollar gift certificate from Gift Certificates.

To join, go to the Buy One Book and Read It Challenge.

Outdo Yourself Reading Challnge 2011

I think I'm going to try level 2: Out of breath – Read 6–10 more books


I had hoped to read 100+ books this year(2010) and am not sure if I'm going to do it. I'm at 73 with not enough time left.

So here I am again trying to read 100 books.

Nicholas Sparks Reading Challenge 2011

I'll start with this level: First Date – Read 1–4 Nicholas Sparks novels and hopefully read more since he is one of my favorite authors.

I'll copy the whole list from Book Vixen, but I'm not sure which ones I'll read.

List of Nicholas Sparks novels:

The Notebook
Message in a Bottle
A Walk to Remember
The Rescue
A Bend in the Road
Nights in Rodanthe
The Wedding
The Guardian
Three Weeks With My Brother
True Believer (read this first, before At First Sight)
At First Sight (read this after True Believer)
The Choice
Dear John
The Lucky One
The Last Song
Safe Haven