I was not going to sign up for any challenges in 2013, but I don't want to miss out on Candace's What's in a Name Reading Challenge. It's one of my favorites and although the categories are quite specific, they are open to interpretation, allowing for quite a bit of flexibility. And one little challenge won't hurt, right?
Time Frame: January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013.
Objective: Read 1 book in the following categories (I've included possible titles from my TBR collection to consider reading for the challenge, but I reserve the right to read something entirely different):
1. A book with up or down (or equivalent) in the title.
The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan
The Diving Pool by Yoko Ogawa
Beneath the Shadows by Sara Foster
2. A book with something you'd find in your kitchen.
The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
Trans-sister Radio by Chris Bohjalian
Heartburn by Nora Ephron
3. A book with a party or celebration in the title.
Skeleton of the Feast by Chris Bohjalian
The Seance by John Harwood
In the Wake by Per Petterson
4. A book with fire (or equivalent) in the title.
The Virgin of Flames by Chris Abani
Girl in the Flamable Skirt by Aimee Bender
Beside a Burning Sea by John Shor
5. A book with an emotion in the title.
Impatient with Desire by Gabrielle Burton
Blame by Michelle Huneven
Forty Words for Sorrow by Giles Blunt
6. A book with lost or found (or equivalent) in the title.
Songs for the Missing by Steward O'Nan
Our Lady of the Lost and Found by Diane Schoemperlen
The Unseen by Katherine Webb
No matter how tempting all the other challenges are this year, I am refraining from joining any more.
Have you joined any reading challenges this year? If so, which ones?
Have you joined any reading challenges this year? If so, which ones?
About four years ago, I begged and pleaded with my husband for a copy of War and Peace for Christmas. I had read Anna Karenina and loved it, deciding Tolstoy wasn't as intimidating an author as his books made him out to be. And there was going to be a read-along! What better way to read such a big tome than with a group of others? Unfortunately, I dropped out early on during the read-along. War and Peace got the better of me. Until now. I am going to take the monster on again, and this time I will finish it! That's the plan anyway.
Amy from My Friend Amy and Iris from Iris on Books are hosting the 2013 read-along of War and Peace. They plan to spread the reading of the book out over a year, which makes it seem much less daunting. Okay, so not really, but it does leave room for other reading in between, which I'm sure I'll need.
I never would have considered reading War and Peace had I not enjoyed Anna Karenina so much. Here's hoping War and Peace is just as good!
I never would have considered reading War and Peace had I not enjoyed Anna Karenina so much. Here's hoping War and Peace is just as good!
The tentative schedule:
Book I
part 1 by 31 Jan
part 2 by 28 Feb
part 3 by 31 Mar
part 3 by 31 Mar
Book II
part 1 by 31 March
part 2 by 30 Apr
part 3 & 4 by 31 May
part 5 by 30 Jun
Book III
part 1 by 31 Jul
part 2 by 31 Aug
part 3 by 30 Sep
Book IV
part 1 & 2 by 31 Oct
part 3 & 4 by 30 Nov
Epilogue
part 1 & 2 by 31 Dec
I have a print copy of Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky translation and an illustrated e-version translated by Constance Garnett. Now to decide which one to read!
Have you read War and Peace? If not, will you be joining in? Or maybe you want to read it again if you have already read it. Come on! You know you want to.
© 2012, Wendy Runyon of Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
Hi Wendy, have fun with the reading challenge! I'm also participating in only one and that's my own personal project: The Italian Reading Challenge. However... I bumped into 2013 Ebook Challenge, so I decided to jump in, as well (with the intent to kill two birds with one stone).
ReplyDeleteI have SUGAR QUEEN sitting in my pile for so long, so I hope to read it one day. Same goes to WAR AND PEACE. I can't wait for the movie ANNA KARENINA to show!
Alice - Thank you! I anticipate a very fun reading year this year. :-)
DeleteGood luck with your challenges! I was really surprised by how many e-books I read last year. It's such a convenient reading method for me. I hope to read more print books this year, if only because they've been sitting on my TBR shelves so long.
I'd like to see the movie Anna Karenina too!
I think the most I'll be participating will be three reading challenges. ;-)
ReplyDeleteHave fun, Wendy!
Melody - Three sounds like a good number of challenges. :-)
DeleteI like your choices for the challenge, the alternative words are rather different and clever in the way they relate back. Hope you enjoy War and Peace! I haven't read any Tolstoy yet, but am looking forward to starting Anna Karenina in the next couple of months.
ReplyDeleteCharlie - I think I had the most fun going through my shelves finding possible contenders for the categories. :-)
DeleteI hope you enjoy Anna Karenina. I began War and Peace last night. I wish I read French. :-S
Good luck with both!!
ReplyDeleteKathy - Thank you!
DeleteOK, I am joining you in the War & Peace readalong! It's not on my classics club list but I've wanted to read it ever since finishing Anna Karenina a few years ago. I have the Peaver & Volokhonsky edition and high hopes!
ReplyDeleteSam - Yay! I look forward to reading War and Peace with you. I decided to read the Peaver and Volokhonsky version too--although I cheated and bought the e-copy so I wouldn't have to lug around my big hardback version.
DeleteI am going to try for the War and Peace challenge too, but I am doing it on audio. I wish you a lot of luck with it!!
ReplyDeleteHeather - That sounds like a good way to go! I don't think I'd get it finished in a year if I listened to it. It takes me forever to get through an audio book. Good luck! I'm glad so many of us are joining in!
DeleteGood luck with your challenges! You've chosen good ones :)
ReplyDeleteJennifer - Thank you! Good luck to you too!
DeleteIs it pathetic that I bought WP and then petered out about 1/3 into the book??? Have fun with your challenge!!!
ReplyDeleteStaci - Not pathetic at all. You made it farther in than I did when I first attempted it. :-)
DeleteGreat titles for What's in a Name! I have Our Lady of the Lost and Found. That's a older, kinda obscure Canadian book, isn't it? How did we both end up with it? I love how that can happen. I got mine at the library sale.
ReplyDeleteI'm not joining you in War and Peace; I know I'll never get through it!
Elizabeth (RaiderGirl3) - How cool is that?! I bought my copy of Our Lady of the Lost and Found years ago--can't remember where now. I wish I could remember who recommended it to me in the first place.
DeleteThese look like great challenges. I really loved War and Peace. Maybe I'll join and re-read it. From your list for the other challenge, I really liked Skeletons at the Feast and The Day the Falls Stood Still.
ReplyDeleteSteph - I am so glad to hear you loved War and Peace. It'll help me get through the beginning as I wonder if I'm crazy for trying. LOL I am looking forward to reading The Day the Falls Stood Still--and I would like to read Skeletons of the Feast. I've only read one book by Chris Bohjalian, but I fell in love with his writing style and have been meaning to read more.
DeleteI've not read War and Peace and won't be able to join in this time around but I look forward to your thoughts on this one. It's always glared at me from my shelf and I've never been "brave" enough to read it!
ReplyDeleteKathleen - I'm trying to be brave, but we'll see! :-)
DeleteI never would have considered reading War and Peace had I not enjoyed Anna Karenina so much.
ReplyDeleteSame! I'm so glad you're joining in and I look forward to reading this with you!
Amy - I can't imagine it being as good as Anna Karenina, but we'll see. I am glad I am not tackling War and Peace on my own!
Deleteyour challenge looks fun- it's great that you can really make it your own. and war and peace looks awesome, too. i tried to do a readalong with books on the nightstand but didn't get very far. I do want to read it someday though! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteMarie - I like that about the What's in a Name Challenge. It gives me some freedom to choose what to read on my own terms, so to speak. And thanks!
DeleteGood luck with War and Peace. I don't know if you remember that I read it with Molly (Bumbles) in 2010. Here'sthe link to my wrap up post. http://stacybuckeye.wordpress.com/2010/04/16/war-and-peace-by-leo-tolstoy/
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing what you think of it.
Stacy - Thank you. I need all the luck I can get! Thank you for the link to your wrap up post too!
DeleteOoohh... War and Peace readalong! I started that book a couple of years ago and got a couple of hundred pages in and then just stopped and never picked it up again. Something to contemplate joining I think.
ReplyDeleteMarg - You made it farther than I did on my first attempt! I am determined to read it this year. Hopefully. LOL
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