Beginnings

Welcome friends! I have started this entry in the global technosphere because I have been in love with books since the age of 2. Among the busy business of being a new teacher, this is my outlet for sharing thoughts on a love of reading a wide variety of books. My inspiration can be summed up with a yearbook quote from a teacher written when I was 8: "To the only girl at recess I see reading a book. Good for you!"
My blog title is quoted from a classmate who asked me this once. Believe it or not, I've also heard it as a teacher :D
Showing posts with label 2012 challenges. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2012 challenges. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

More Challenges...Up to 5 Now

I'm signing up for three more challenges.  2012 is looking better & better :)  Click on the challenge name for the sign-up page.



The Mixing It Up Challenge is being hosted by Ellie @ Musings of a Bookshop Girl.

I love the variety of genres being offered up!  It's great to tiptoe out of your comfort zone every now & then.  I'm going to be quite audacious & aim to complete all 16 categories!  This will also contribute 12 (!) new authors to the New Authors challenge (see below).  My intended reads are:

Classics:  Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (cross-over with Back to the Classics challenge)
Biography: A Lotus Grows in the Mud by Goldie Hawn
Cookery, Food & Wine: Shameless Explotations in Pursuit of the Common Good by Paul Newman & A.E. Hotchner--to clarify, this book is about Newman's Own salad dressing :)
History: Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy
Modern Fiction: The Girl Who Played With Fire (Millennium series, #2) by Stieg Larsson
Graphic Novels/Manga: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Crime/Mystery: The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle (cross-over with Back to the Classics challenge)
Horror: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Romance: Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence (cross-over with Back to the Classics challenge)
Sci-Fi/Fantasy: Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood
Travel: Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (cross-over with Back to the Classics challenge)
Poetry: The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
Journalism/Humour: Seriously...I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres
Science/Natural History: On the Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin (cross-over with What's in a Name 5 challenge)
Children/YA: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (cross-over with What's in a Name 5 challenge)
Social Sciences/Philosophy: The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins





Yay!  I'm glad to be participating in this unique challenge again this year.  There are 6 categories to complete.  Here are my intended book choices (the connection to the category is underlined):

Topographical Feature:  A Tale of Two Cities- Charles Dickens
Something in the Sky:  Cloud Atlas- David Mitchell
Creepy Crawly:  On the Origin of the Species- Charles Darwin (cross-over with Mixing It Up challenge)
Type of House:  The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Millennium series, #3)- Stieg Larsson (cross-over with Mixing It Up)
Something Carried in a Pocket, Purse or Backpack:  Treasure Island- Robert Louis Stevenson (cross-over with Mixing It Up challenge)
Something on the Calendar:  11/22/63- Stephen King





These can be authors new just to you, not new as in debuting their first novel this year.  With the books I'm planning to read for my other challenges, I will encounter 18 new authors (so far):

Willa Cather, Charlotte Bronte, George Bernard Shaw, Arthur Conan Doyle, D.H. Lawrence, Jonathan Swift, Bernhard Schlink, E. Annie Proulx, Goldie Hawn, Paul Newman (with A.E. Hotchner--OI counted this as one), John F. Kennedy, Neil Gaiman, Ellen DeGeneres, Charles Darwin, Richard Dawkins, Robert Louis Stevenson, Charles Dickens (I know, I know...), and David Mitchell.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Back to the Classics for 2012!

I'm officially signing up today.  You can too @ Sarah Reads Too Much and get all the details there.  Thanks to Sarah for hosting again :)

As for my reading selections, I'm very excited about my choices for the upcoming year.  This may change, but for now, this is what I intend to read:

19th Century Classic:
Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronte

20th Century Classic:
My Antonia- Willa Cather

Classic Re-Read:
Pride & Prejudice- Jane Austen

Classic Play:
Pygmalion- George Bernard Shaw

Classic Mystery/Horror/Crime Fiction:
The Hound of the Baskervilles- Arthur Conan Doyle

Classic Romance:
Lady Chatterley's Lover- D.H. Lawrence

Classic in Translation: 
The Reader- Bernhard Schlink (Swiss)

Classic Award Winner:
The Shipping News- E. Annie Proulx (Pulitzer Prize)

Classic in a Country I'll Never See:
Gulliver's Travels- Jonathan Swift (Liliput)