Reading Challenges

I’ve been reluctant to join in on any reading challenges because I don’t want to add to my constantly growing stacks of books to read, but I was checking out a couple of challenges and saw that, hey, I could complete those with the books on my shelf! Plus, they’re both in the early stages, which gives me plenty of time! So I’m giving it a try to see how it goes.

Below is my reading plan and my progress, which I’ll be updating as I go.

The 1% Well-Read Challenge: CHALLENGE COMPLETE. Runs from May 1-Feb. 29. Read 10 Books from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list.

Here are the books I’ve read for the challenge: 

1. The Double by Jose Saramago (completed July 12, 2008)
2. On the Road by Jack Kerouac (completed August 22, 2008)
3. Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin (completed October 25, 2008)
4. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (completed November 5, 2008)
5. Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote (completed November 20, 2008)
6. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (completed November 28, 2008)
7. Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco (completed January 3, 2009)
8. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (completed January 8, 2009)
9. Cakes and Ale by W. Somerset Maugham (completed February 24, 2009)
10. The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene (completed February 28, 2009)

Book Awards II Challenge: Challenge complete! Runs from August 1, 2008, to June 1, 2009. Read 10 award-winning books. You must have at least five different awards represented.  Here’s what I read:

1. Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith; CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, 2008 (completed August 10, 2008)
2. The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser; Christina Stead Prize for Fiction and Book of the Year Award at the New South Wales Literary Awards, 2008 (completed Sept. 7, 2008)
3. The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan; California Book Award, 2006; James Beard Award, 2007 (completed Sept. 12, 2008)
4.  The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey; Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, 1969. (completed October 18, 2008)
5. The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi; Alex Award, 2004 (completed October 22, 2008)
6. Blindness by Jose Saramago; Nobel Prize, 1998 (completed November 8, 2008)
7. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway; Nobel Prize, 1954 (completed November 28, 2008)
8. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen; Alex Award, 2007 (completed December 10, 2008)
9. Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald; Booker Prize, 1979 (completed December 14, 2008)
10. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan; Galaxy Book Award, 2008 (completed December 19, 2008)