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Saturday, November 04, 2006

From the Stacks Winter Reading Challenge

Michelle over at Overdue Books is hosting an awesome challenge that will help us whittle down the number of books vying for attention on our shelves. Reading a few of these will help relieve the guilt and pressure of owning books that we neglect. I NEED this challenge! Here's how Michele words the challenge: "for this challenge we would be reading 5 books that we have already purchased, have been meaning to get to, have been sitting on the nightstand and haven't read before. No going out and buying new books. No getting sidetracked by the lure of the holiday bookstore displays.

"The time frame would be Nov. 1st until Jan. 30 and there will be some small, fun prizes awarded to random participants and/or those with clever review posts. There will be one random drawing for a prize to those who submit their list of books in the comment section by Nov. 15th but feel free to join any time. There will be another random drawing for those who submit five reviews by Jan. 30 for a small gift certificate to Amazon."

Most of the books on my list for this challenge are from my book stacks, but a couple are from my never-ending To-Be-Read list. I hope that will count.
Here's my list:
1. Book Thief by Marcus Zusak (I've had this on my list for over 7 months)
2. Lion in the Valley by Elizabeth Peters
3. Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino
4. Triangle by Katharine Weber
5. Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear

Bonus Books: (My list is really long and I'm going to make an effort to reduce it even further. If I don't get to them, so it be it - they'll be there on another day.)
6. Deeds of the Disturber by Elizabeth Peters
7. The Alchemist by Paul Coelho
8. Birth Marks by Sarah Dunant
9. Ninth Life of Louis Drax by Liz Jensen
10. Catch of Consequence by Diana Norman

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll be joining you on this challenge. Haven't finalized my list yet. Need to go upstairs and browse the shelves.

Anonymous said...

Sounds fun! Wish I could join in as well. I've got a list started for my Christmas break, but I have a bunch of other things I want to do during my break too.

Booklogged said...

SuziQ, this sounds like a very needful challenge, doesn't it? And fun.

Alyson, how much time do you get for Christmas break? What all are you planning to do?

Framed said...

Count me in. Luckily I own most of my A to Z list so this gives me added incentive to keep going.

Framed said...

I loved Grandmother and the Priests. Did you buy it or did you borrow mine? I haven't seen it in bookstores. There are several on your list that I may have to borrow if your reviews warrant it. Yikes!

Anonymous said...

Well, darn, all you are doing is adding to my TBR list!

Bellezza said...

Ah, a worthy challenge: to attack what one already owns. What one purchased for pleasure which is now turning into an onerous JOB, somehow. I have a huge stack (rooms?)of books, WAY, WAY, WAY more than five, so I'll really need to prioritize for this challenge. Thanks for informing me!

Elaine said...

Now this is a sensible challenge. I shall have to nip across and look at it.

At the risk of immediate response telling me I am totally wrong, could I please recommend that you take The Alchemist off your TBR pile and heave it in the TBCO (to be chucked out) box instead?? Pretentious and hyped.

Now I await the onslaught....

Anonymous said...

Booklogged, I'm in, thanks for bringing the challenge to our notice!

I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts on "The Book Thief"!

MizB said...

How interesting! This is almost exactly the same as the TBR challenge I created that was to start in January 07... maybe I'll have to cancel mine & just join in on this one... We'll see. ;o)
<>< Mizbooks

Booklogged said...

Framed, this challenge will fit in nicely with your alphabetical read, won't it? My list indicates that I own Grandmother and the Priests, but I didn't check the shelf. I usually put your initials if it's one I need to borrow from you. The title certainly grabs your attention on that one. It's always good to hear praises for a book on the TBR list. Thanks.

Uh-oh, Jenclair. You're not supposed to be adding new books to your list, but reading some off your list! Actually, I'm sympathetic. I have more-than-many books on my TBR list that I picked up from you. Tehe!

Bellezza, sometimes it does feel onerous, doesn't it? I am adding onerous to my vocabulary, so I'm trying to use it lots over the next few days. What a wonderful word, onerous! I'm glad you will be joining us. This is really just a perfect challenge, I think.

Emasl, Thanks for the heads up about The Alchemist. My nephew highly recommended it to me. Other than that I have heard anything else about it until your comment. One thing I've noticed in its favor is that it is short.

Wonder why we can't click on your name when you comment and get to your site? That's strange. Is your blog Random Jottings of a Book and Opera Lover?

So happy you are going to join the challenge, Lotus. The Book Thief was a bit confusing the first 30 pages, but I'm falling in love with it.

Oh my, Mizbooks. I had set your challenge aside somewhere in the corner of my mind because it wasn't going to start until Jan. I suggest you don't cancel. With the exception of Jan. the challenges don't overlap. I would be interested in doing both. I think most readers need encouragement to read from our stacks or to reduce our TBR lists.

Anonymous said...

Now this is a challenge I could really take on -- I have so many books just waiting to be read! Thanks for posting this and I'll be over to Michelle's blog to check it out :)

Heather said...

The Alchemist is a wonderful book and Paulo Coelho a great writer. BTW - really like the button for the Classics Challenge! I'm looking forward to that getting going.

Anonymous said...

Oh, that is such a good idea!

I have none of the books you have listed and it's a supreme effort of will not to go look them up and - - probably add them to my pile.

I did read a lot of Taylor Caldwell years ago, so I might have read that one. Birth Marks? Ninth Life of Louis Drax? The titles alone sound intriguing.

Les said...

I'm in! How could I pass this up. Everyone on my blog roll seems to be joining in and I hate to miss out on all the fun. ;) I posted my list at Michelle's site and will get it up on my blog later tonight. Hmmm, now to go see what this 2007 TBR Challenge is all about. I love the buttons for these challenges! Wheeeeee!

Booklogged said...

Iliana, Michelle really did come up with a great idea, didn't she.

Thank-you, Heather, for the compliment on the button. I can't believe how long it took me. I know it looks like such a simple thing, but I kept messing up. Really it was the computer's fault most of the time. Ha!
I appreciate the encouragement about The Alchemist.

Carrie, it's so nice of you to come by for a visit. Hope you'll come back again and again. I've been over to visit your blog and enjoyed myself. Sadly, I found an enticing book that wanted to be added to my ever-growing list.

Les, that's the same way I feel about these challenges - Wheeeeee!

maggie moran said...

I joined too!

Birth Marks just sounds like something I would like, do share if you get to it.

Anonymous said...

I think I could easily read from my bookshelves for a year and not get them all read (without buying a new book or checking any out from the library!). At least this is a step in the right direction! Triangle looks good--looking forward to hearing what you think about it. I love Dunant's mysteries, and I wish she would write more! Of course I loved the Winspear! Must look up your other books!

Anonymous said...

I joined up today and can't wait to clear off some space on my shelves for more books, hah!