What's on your booklist?

With the start of the challenge just days away it would be good to list the books that you’re reading. This helps us to keep a clear goal in sight, especially on those days when we feel overwhelmed and want to quit!

Here's my plan:

1. A book in an unfamiliar genre – “In Close” by Brenda Novak. Ah yes, the beloved Harlequin novel. I started to force myself to read this one a few months ago but lost interest just a few pages in. Granted, the cover isn’t the vulnerable woman in the arms of a brawny Fabio, but I don’t like Harlequin. Still, I will challenge myself.

8.  A book you judged by the cover – “Behind the Beautiful Forevers” by Katherine Boo. The cover is depressing, intriguing and hopeful all at once. Yes, the little girl looks dirty, but she is looking upwards, seemingly to something better. Thanks to a book club for introducing me to this title.

10. Bonus: Free choice! – “Room” by Emma Donaghue. I admit…I just like the idea of a child narrator. I’ve also heard a lot about this book.

3. A book that your friend or wider society has been raving about! – “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man” – Ahh, reading this self-help relationship book (umm, not that I need any help :) should be very interesting. I will give this book a chance because two of my friends have expressed interest in it. And the film adaptation – which uses direct quotes from the book – enjoyed a $33 million opening, breaking “The Hunger Games" streak.

4. A book that ‘could’ – “The Sisters Brothers” by Patrick deWitt. This book didn’t take the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Man Booker Prize, but it was critically-acclaimed by other forums (Amazon.ca Best Book: Editor’s Pick; Quill and Quire Book of the Year, etc.) and won the Governor General’s Literary Award (Canadian references). The book will also become a film. J So, it should really be the book that ‘did’.

6. A book that reminds you of your childhood – “Calico Joe” by John Grisham. I haven’t read Grisham's work since high school! This challenge gives me the ideal opportunity to revisit a childhood author-crush *batting eyelids and swooning*

7. A banned or contested book, OR a book that lied to us – “A Million Little Pieces” by James Frey. Since news broke (umpteen years ago, I know) about the Oprah Book Club author’s fabrication of some facts in his ‘memoir’, I’ve wanted to read it.

9.  Bonus: A blog turned book [OR a book turned blockbuster movie] – “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins. Yip! I just have to do it. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but it is usually better to read the book first,right?

2. A book that is part of a series – “Catching Fire” by Suzanne Collins. I plan to read this one if “The Hunger Games” is engaging. I welcome suggestions though. I don’t want to read one author twice.

5. A book from the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels List – I have yet to decide on one title. Options: “Sophie’s Choice" by William Styron. I watched this movie years ago. It was heart wrenching. Or “Native Son” by Richard Wright.  This book looks into race relations (an interest of mine) and it has a history of being contested. Or Joseph Heller's "Catch22". I like the idea of a non-linear plot.

What's on your list? :D

Get Ready! Get Set! Read! Summer Reading Challenge 2012

Last year was so much fun we just have to do it again! With nine new categories, this challenge is sure to keep your summer filled with great books! So here's to an exciting summer of reading!

GOAL: Commit to completing 8 titles that you have never read before! (10 for a bonus.)

CRITERIA: Choose any title in the following categories:

1. A book in an unfamiliar genre [Read outside your comfort zone!]
2. A book that is part of a series
3. A book that your friend or wider society has been raving about!
4. A book that ‘could’ [This category is open to your interpretation*]
5. A book from the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels List. [See NY Times link below]
6. A book that reminds you of your childhood.
7. A banned or contested book, OR a book that lied to us*
8.  A book you judged by the cover. [For whatever reason, the cover attracted you.]
9.  Bonus: A blog turned book [OR a book turned blockbuster movie]
10. Bonus: Free choice!

Start date: May 28
End date: August 31

*Fulfill the categories in any order
Don't forget to share why you chose the titles you did. Also, share comments about the books you're reading! We invite conversations :)

Happy Reading!

Summer Reading Challenge ends

On May 31, I began a reading challenge.

In Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love, my 'book turned movie', I traveled vicariously to beautiful Italy, India, and Bali. I fell in love with Gilbert’s personable writing style and her honesty. It is no wonder that Gilbert’s follow-up novel, Committed: A Love Story became my choice for ‘memoir of a person you admire’.  I discovered Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone on a friend's table. Set in Sierra Leone, this memoir fit perfectly into my 'book set in a place you want to visit' category. So, in my imagination, I have visited Africa twice this summer. I chose Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, set in Kenya (and Chicago), as my 'book about a cause that concerns you'. In this book, Obama struggles with issues of identity. I am familiar with this inner turmoil. Speaking of identity, I am Bahamian. I found my ‘author from your home country who lives abroad’ book in Christian Campbell’s Running the Dusk. I welcomed this shift from prose to poetry. I enjoyed the familiar Caribbean imagery in this book, and breezed through its pages in a few hours. But Pride & Prejudice, my ‘classic novel’ choice, was another story altogether. I fought with this book, trying to make peace with its dated language. That never happened.  I am currently reading my ‘first time author’ choice – Johanna Skibsrud’s The Sentimentalist.   

This summer reading challenge renewed my love for leisurely reading. I remember many adolescent nights spent awake with my imagination, a John Grisham novel, The Baby-sitters Club series or Nancy Drew book in hand. I loved books. I don’t know what separated us, but I suspect it had something to do with ‘required reading’ for academic courses. Did academic reading make me wary of all books?

I don't know.

But I do know that my appetite for reading is back. I hope to continue feeding... I mean, reading. :)

Thank you to those who participated in this “Get Ready! Get Set! Read” challenge with me - whether through this blog, Chapters.ca, or Goodreads.com! I know of 35 people who joined this challenge. A special shout-out goes to members of the “Booklover’s Hideaway” group at Goodreads.com who were enthusuastic about the challenge categories, and posted updates throughout the past three months.  Thanks for taking this journey!

Final Month

Today marks the final month of the Challenge. I am excited.

"Knock Knock. I'm a Distraction."

When I set a reading goal, it's amazing what distractions come a-knocking.

The 'lunch break that could' - the one where I promised to complete an extra chapter or two -  never leaves the station.

The 'let me check my email' moment morphs into an hour or two of Facebooking and/or Youtubing.

Soon, I hear, "Telephone for you!" The owner of the voice behind my closed and locked room door has forgotten my earlier request: "I'm unavailable for calls right now."

The work day has been so long and the previous night's rest so short. Soon after I open my ebook at 11pm my focus is fighting sleep, big time! Of course, sleep wins.

If I am to complete this challenge, I must not answer the distractions. For me, this challenge is not a matter of how many books you complete, but the quality time we spend reading. This is what I'm missing, quality reading time.

P

And I Quote ...

At an early age I began to collect quotes - some ascribed to prolifict speakers, others attributed to writers of television commercials, talk show hosts, strangers in passing, sign and posters, etc, etc.

I discovered this quote. I feel that these words fit our challenge:

'Tis the good reader that makes the good book; in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakenly meant for his ear; the profit of books is according to the sensibility of the reader; the profoundest thought or passion sleeps as in a mine, until it is discovered by an equal mind and heart.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, Society and Solitude, 1870

If Emerson is correct, there are passages in our books that resonate with us. Here, we can share the "profoundest thoughts" that we, "good readers", find in the books we "discover" this summer.  :)

Fellow Summer Reading Challengers at Goodreads.com

Hey Readers,

I want to let you know that you are not alone. Other readers are taking up the challenge through the "Book Lover's Hideaway" group at Goodreads.com

I really want this blog to be a meeting place where we talk about the books we're reading. Hopefully, the 'Goodreaders' will stop by our blog every so often to join the discussion. You can also visit the link below and see the books your fellow summer challengers have chosen. You may find that your choices coincide. :)

Logon to: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/561874-get-ready-get-set-read-summer-reading-challenge-starts-in-a-few-da#comment_form   and let the summer reading continue. :)