Challenges Update

This week’s theme is Challenges.

1. If you participate in any challenges, get organized! Update your lists, post about any you haven’t mentioned, add links of reviews to your lists if you do that, go to the challenge blog if there is one and post there, etc.

Well, I'll start with the ones that I host:

1. The 2nd Canadian Book Challenge- The first one was a lot of fun, and while it was successful (see below) it was late to begin. This one runs from July 1st, 2008 to July 1st, 2009 (Canada Day to Canada Day). The goal is to read 13 Canadian Books (written by and/or about Canadians). There are loads of prizes and lots of people already signed on. See here for more details.

I'm not sure what my thirteen books will be, but I am going to try and read one from each province or territory. My picks will look something like this:

Newfoundland and Labrador- The White Eskimo- Harold Horwood
Prince Edward Island- something other than Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery or Saltsea by David Helwig
Nova Scotia- The Clockmaker by Thomas Chandler Haliburton
New Brunswick- The Red Feathers by T.G. Roberts
Quebec- A Theft by Saul Bellow
Ontario- King Leary by Paul Quarrington
Manitoba- Shelf Monkey by Corey Redekop, The Rez Sisters by Tomson Highway or something by Nellie McClung
Saskatchewan- something by Guy Gavriel Kay
Alberta- Whale Song by Cheryl Kaye Tardiff or a book of poetry
British Columbia- Silver Wing by Kenneth Oppel or Double Hook by Sheila Watson
Yukon- Rhymes of the Raven Lady by Pj Johnson
Northwest Territory- Yellowknife by Steve Zipp or The River by Cheryl Kaye Tardiff
Nunavut- We Call It Survival by Abraham Okpik


2. The Obscure Challenge- The idea of this one is to read just one book before the year is out that is an unpopular book written by a popular author. Perhaps you have a rare book about sorting laundry by Salman Rushdie. Maybe you've needed an excuse to read Emily Dickinson's little known book of racist limericks. I've already read my pick (Louisa May Alcott's A Long Fatal Love Chase), but the other nine participants haven't yet begun. Interested in signing up? Get more details here.

3. The (Original) Canadian Book Challenge- As in the 2nd edition, participants were asked to read 13 Canadian books. Wrapping up in just 7 days, most people have finished or at least come pretty close (not bad considering this one only got the ground in October). We had 47 participants from all over the world and over 350 books have been read collectively. Here was the original post. Again, I took the approach to read a book from each province or territory. My 13 were:

- What's Remembered by Arthur Motyer
- Hockey Night Tonight by Stompin' Tom Connor and illustrated by Brenda Jones
- Big Rig by Don McTavish
- Late Nights On Air by Elizabeth Hay
- Temptations of Big Bear by Rudy Wiebe
- The National Dream by Pierre Berton
- The Birth House by Ami McKay
- The Time In Between by David Bergen
- Love: A Book of Remembrances by bpNichol
- Out of the Sea by Victor Kendall and Victor G. Kendall
- Uncommon Prayer by Susan McMaster
- One Woman's Arctic by Sheila Burnford
- Harpoon of the Hunter by Markoosie

But I didn't just limit myself to my own challenges:

I'm currently half away from completing Sharon's Russian Book Challenge as well. Ending on December 31st, the goal is to read 4 (minimum) Russian books, poems, short stories, etc. So far I've completed Nabokov's Lolita and Alexander Pushkin's short story "The Snow Storm." I hope to read something by Turgenev and hopefully something by someone still alive. Any suggestions?



I also just completed the Shakepeare Challenge (ending July 1st). This six month challenge, created by Historia, asked participants to read four books, plays, etc either written by or about Shakespeare- whoever that might be. My picks were:

1. King Henry VI, Part III by William Shakespeare
2. Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
3. Will's Quill by Don Freeman
4. Chasing Shakespeares by Sarah Smith

And finally, I also completed Kate's Short Story Reading Challenge which aimed to have people read 10 short stories, or short story collections. It will continue throughout the year. I picked the easier route and read individual stories:

1. Alexander Pushkin's "The Snow Storm"
2. Mark Antony Jarman's "The Cougar"
3. Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard To Find"
4. Kate Sutherland's "Cool"
5. Leon Rooke's "Yellow House"
6. James Joyce's "Araby"
7. Frank O'Connor's "The First Confession"
8. Oscar Wilde's "The Model Millionaire"
9. Sean O'Faolain's "The Trout"
10. Roald Dahl's "The Way Up To Heaven"

Whew!