The first week of 2009 is winding too a close and it’s as good a time as any to finish defining my reading goals for the year.
Since I was only warming up my reading muscles last year (since I got started late in the game) I didn’t do much by way of challenges. This year will be different. There are already been a few reading challenges that caught my eye, with at least one being quite synchronous.
Without further ado, here are the challenges I plan to participate in this year (possibly more as I become aware of them):
Re-Reading Challenge hosted by Nath. This is the synchronous challenge I mentioned because I had been planning a re-reading challenge of my own, however, with a twist. The twist being that I would only re-read books from my youth.
Talking about the best book I’d bought for myself stirred something within me and brought back the spark of joy that came with the books I read as a youth and I wanted to relive that in some way.
That said, I will be re-reading books, but it will only be the books I read as a child (3rd-8th grade), either as an assignment or for sheer pleasure. I do have to note that I won’t include the adult titles that I read; strictly limited to those titles which were written for the age group.
Although I may be dating myself, here’s my tentative list of titles:
- Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
- Hatchet by Gary Paulson
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (just thinking about reading this one is making me weepy, but I must remain strong)
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
- Ten Great Mysteries by Edgar Allan Poe edited by Groff Conklin
- Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
- They Cage the Animals at Night by Jennings Michael Burch
- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia) by C.S. Lewis
- The First Evil (Fear Street Cheerleaders Book 1) by R.L. Stine
After spending some time re-living the past, it will be a nice change of pace to spend some time in the present with the Contemporary Romance Challenge hosted by Brie. Most of the romance I read last year was historical and supernatural/paranormal, so I’m looking forward to this one.
And because we all having an ever-growing TBR pile, I thought it wise to sign up for the TBR Challenge hosted by Keishon. It also has a nice twist with theme suggestions for each month; though not carved in stone, I do believe I will follow the guidelines closely for each month (though there are a couple which I don’t believe I have anything in the TBR pile to cover).
I also thought a themed challenge would be interesting, so I’ll be participating in the APOOO 2009 African American Reading Challenge. I’m not entirely sure whether I can manage 13 books in 13 weeks (when the other challenges are thrown in), having a busy schedule and all, but I can certainly try. The bonus is that books read for other challenges do count, so I may be able to knock off a couple contemporary romances with this challenge as well.
Since it seems as though I’ll probably be reading a number of titles from new authors anyway, it makes sense to participate in Jackie’s New Author Challenge. The idea is to read books (preferably novels, but anthologies can work) penned by new-to-you authors, not necessarily new authors.
To finish up, it’s a given that I will participate in this year’s R.I.P IV (Readers Imbibing Peril) Challenge hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings which runs Sep. 1 – Oct. 31 and will give me a chance to catch up on my creepy, spooky, and horrifying reads for the year.
I called Jackie a brave soul because she was participating in a fair few challenges. Now that I look over my own list, I’m either brave too or just plain crazy. 
I’m curious to know what everyone else in participating in this year. Don’t be shy.
# yasmin wrote on January 5, 2009 at 1:35 pm:
Hello Ann-Kat and thanks for participating in APOOO’s Af-Am Lit challenge; good luck with your reads and I’ll be following you to see how you’re doing and what good books you’ve read.
Have a good one.
# Carl V. wrote on January 5, 2009 at 2:08 pm:
Yay, the first person to officially sign up for R.I.P IV! It seems silly to say, but it will really be here before we know it.
# Brie wrote on January 5, 2009 at 3:33 pm:
Really good challenges you have there. I’ve signed up for four already, I hope I can finish them all. Thankfully, many of the books I’ll be reading will count toward more than one challenge.
I’m looking forward to the RIP Challenge, too. I had fun with it last year.
# Jace wrote on January 6, 2009 at 2:36 am:
Ok, you’ve settled for 6 challenges.
I’m looking forward to all the reviews you’re going to be posting. 
# Jenners wrote on January 6, 2009 at 10:18 pm:
Ooooh! I love your idea of rereading books from your childhood! Now that my son is 4, I’ve been able to get him started on some of my favorites … like the Beatrix Potter books. We read “The Tale of Jeremy Fisher” the other day and he totally responded. And I loved “A Wrinkle In Time” and the Narnia series. My only fear is to ruin the magic the books held for me as a child — I might not find the magic and I’m afraid to do that to my memories.
You’ve got a busy year ahead of you!
# Ann-Kat wrote on January 7, 2009 at 10:05 pm:
@yasmin: Thank you for stopping by and the well wishes. Already have my first read lined up as soon as I finish the current book.
@Carl: What a wonderful honour…can you tell I’m just a little anxious? LOL But, you’re right–Sept. will be here in no time flat.
@Brie: I believe in you Brie; I know you can do it!
My plan is to combine titles for the various challenges too. This year I’m really looking forward to the RIP challenge because I learned about it too late…now I’ll be prepared. LOL
@Jace: Hope I won’t disappoint.
@Jenners: Thanks! I understand exactly what you mean about losing that “magic” in the re-read and I’m especially worried about A Wrinkle in Time and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe–those books were so amazing to me as a child and I don’t want my adult analytical brain to mess that up. But, I’m planning to go into the reading as though I were still a child (I hope) so that it won’t damage the memories. And I’m so glad to hear your son is enjoying Beatrix Potter–I loved her work (and still do), especially Peter Rabbit.
# Belle wrote on January 12, 2009 at 11:01 pm:
I told myself I wasn’t going to join any more challenges (I’m in even deeper than this) but I don’t know if I can resist the re-reading challenge and the contemporary romance challenge sounds interesting, too …
# Ivan Girl wrote on January 17, 2009 at 11:41 pm:
I’ve read Hatchet and I like it.
Joining a couple of reading challenges, too!
I’ll start reading this Feb once I have rounded up all the books needed for all challenges.
# Sunday Salon: Book Giveaway & Re-living Childhood - Today, I Read… wrote on January 25, 2009 at 10:58 am:
[...] the MomentTM and I knew it wasn’t a good sign. Then I began thinking about the various reading challenges I’ve joined this year and wondered how I allowed myself to fall so far behind on them. (My logic was slightly skewed by [...]