EW’s New Classics Books Perpetual Challenge

 
I found this list at Entertainment Weekly and thought this would make a great perpetual challenge.  So, if you want to join, just sign up using the Mr. Linky below.  Also, please leave a comment and when you post a review please leave a link to that as well.  Thanks!

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
4. The Liars’ Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
16. The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien (1990)
32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998)
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988)
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
47. World’s Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000)
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1998)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)
98. The Predators’ Ball, Connie Bruck (1988)
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)

Looks like I have A LOT of work to do on this list.  TBR pile just keeps growing, and growing:) 

***Note:  Apparently the Mr. Linky isn’t working, so just leave me a comment and I’ll get back to you:)

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The Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels Challenge

Perpetual Challenge – No Time Limit

Sharon at Ex Libris is hosting The Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels Challenge – a perpetual challenge to read from this interesting list. Sharon writes:

This is a perpetual challenge to read the The Board’s List of 100 best novels from The Modern Library. It can also include The Reader’s List of 100 best novels and, if you are really ambitious, the Radcliffe’s Rival 100 best novels list. (Don’t worry, this really isn’t a total of 300 books. Some titles appear on more than one list.)

Sharon has started a dedicated blog for the challenge. Participants may join the blog to post reviews, or simply post to their own blog and provide links to their reviews.

To sign up or get permission to post to the blog, visit Sharon and let her know!

To view my progress, click here.

Just For the Love Of It Reading Challenge

This one sounded great…like so many others, lol!  To join, click here.

Vampire Challenge

Wow – someone knows me really well.  Here is another challenge that is just right for me.  Here are the details:

So this one is the Vampire Challenge (stupid name, I know!). And I hope that with 3 one-word questions, I can answer most of the questions.

What?
For the Vampire Challenge you will read books with vampires – romance, YA, paranormal, mysteries – anything, as long as there’s a or two (or more) vampire in it.

When?
The challenge will start January 1, 2009 and end December 31, 2009.

How?
The goal is to read 2+ books with vampires in 2009, that’s it. It’s fairly easy, I think.

To sign up, please click here.

20 in 2009 Book Challenge

One more…they just keep coming:)  Here are the details:

Welcome to the 2009 book challenge?.  The goal for this challenge is to read 20 books in the 2009.

Why did I create this challenge?

Well, I looked about at all of the various book challenges out there and, though creative, none of them interested me.  They were all so specific or small in their goal number that I decided to create my own challenge.

Would you like to take part of the 2009 challenge?

Well, all you have to do is comment below and say that you want to participate.  In your comment, state your name, your email and the URL of the page where you will track your book reading progress.

I would recommend reading the rules, too, in order to understand what this challenge is about.  Since you will also need to create a page/book post that tracks your progress, you can read a little more about posts here.  If I do not get the information that I need, I will not be able to add you to the challenge.

Winners will get a website award declaring that they have successfully completed the 2009 challenge.  When you have read all 20 books in 2009, leave a comment here for your award.

To sign up, click here.

9 for ’09 Book Challenge

Will I ever quit?  Well, I doubt it, I am challenge crazy.  Here is another one, and the details:

This challenge is set up so you can read some books in your TBR (To Be Read) Stacks

(If you need more challenges to keep whittling your TBR stacks, click on  A NOVEL CHALLENGE also.)

RULES

• Open to anyone, whether you have a blog or not!
• No need to register or to announce what you are going to read.
• Start in any category that you wish.
• 3 books from this reading challenge can be used in other reading challenges.
• Just post in the comment section.
• The genre of the books can be ANYTHING (fiction or non-fiction), but it must be decent (because you have to write reviews about the books).
• Other reading materials (graphic novels, poetry, museum catalogs, art books, zines etc.) are OK.
• The book must already be in your bookcase or storage area.
• The Challenge starts 12/27/08 to 12/27/09. (I hate to begin anything on January 1st).
• You can post starting on 12/27/08.
• Format of work can be paper, audio, or electronic.

These are the NINE categories to celebrate 2009! See the above tabs for details. (I had to abbreviate some of the categories due to WordPress Code restrictions.)

To sign up, click here.

The Countdown Challenge

I’m late coming to this one, and I may have to scramble to get it done but I’m sure going to give it a shot.  Here are the details:

1. The goal of this challenge is to read the number of books first published in a given year that corresponds to the last digit of each year in the 2000s — 9 books from 2009, 8 books from 2008, etc.  The total number of books required, therefore, is 45.
2. This challenge lasts from 8/8/08 through 9/9/09.  Yes, it is retroactive to August 8th!
3. Crossovers with other challenges are allowed and your lists may change at any time.
4. Sign up using Mr. Linky below.
5. Have fun reading!

To sign up, click here.

Winter Reading Challenge

Here’s one that’s perfect for me because there is no set amount of books – you set your own limit.  Here are the details:

The Winter Reading Challenge runs from December 21st, 2008 through March 20, 2009. There are 13 weeks in Winter and I will probably end up reading one to two books per week. Some of the books may cross over into challenges that begin 2009.

This is going to be a very casual challenge much like the Fall Reading Challenge, so please join me.

The rules are very flexible:

1) Choose any number of books you would like to read and post them on your blog.

2) They can be fiction and/or nonfiction including e-books and audiobooks

3) They can overlap with other challenges.

4) Sign up on Mr. Linky. I’m still trying to figure out Mr. Linky so will let you guys post your links yourselves when you have your lists ready.

5) In a few days, I set up a link where you can post links to your book reviews

To sign up, click here.

2009 Paranormal Challenge

This will blend so well with my 666 Reading Challenge, and only requires 2 books over the whole year.  That’s a piece of cake (I hope I don’t eat these words).  Here are the details:

I’ll try to do the Paranormal Challenge for 2009. I will do it alone, but if you’re interested, let me know. I’d love to have some company!

What?
For the challenge you will read books with paranormal aspects – this can be werewolves, vampires, fairies, witches, ghosts, mediums, psychics etc. It’s pretty much your pick!

When?
The challenge will start January 1, 2009 and end December 31, 2009.

How?
The goal is to read 2+ books in 2009, that’s it. It should be manageable, I’d say

To sign up, please leave a comment here with a link to your blog post.

The “I Suck at Challenges” Challenge

Seriously – how can you not love a challenge like this?  I am continuing to sign up for more challenges, and I think that is why I signed up as a 12 stepper.  Here are the details:

Categories?

The Slackers
(Aka “I will finish the Canadian Reading Challenge, I swear”)

I try not to sign up for too many reading challenges but even when I commit to one or two I can’t seem to complete them. Last year, I failed miserably at the 1st Canadian Reading Challenge. It appears I’m heading down the same path. Are you like me? Then you are a Slacker.

Join The Slackers if there are a couple particular challenges you are having trouble completing or you know you’ll have trouble completing due to your track record. (Only count ongoing challenges that have deadlines of more than 3 months away, you are waaaaaay behind and you are particularly lazy. There’s no shame in admitting it.)

The 12 Steppers
(Aka “I can stop whenever I want.”)

There’s a challenge. You see it. Your palms start to sweat. Mr Linky mocks you. You try to stop yourself but it’s too late. You’ve committed yourself to Books That Start With Q Challenge and you know you’ll do it again when the next challenge comes along. The only thing is, how are you ever going to complete them all? Sound like you? Then you are a 12 Stepper. No program is going to help you though; you’re addicted.

Join The 12 Steppers if you’ve signed up for more reading challenges than you can handle.

When?

Sign up anytime between now and February 1, 2009. The challenge ends July 1, 2009.

How?

Leave a comment on this post with a link to your challenge post. Tell me if you are a Slacker or a 12 Stepper and list your challenges.

Then what?

At the end of the month, starting in February, I’ll put up a post calling for your progress. Leave a comment telling us if you’ve completed a challenge (link to your completed challenge post), if you’re struggling with any and what ones, or if the challenge deadline came and went and you never finished.

At the first of every month I’ll put up a post to record your progress. I’ll encourage everyone to visit each other and cheer you on.

Any incentives?

Sure, why not? If you sign up by February 1st, I’ll pick a name in a drawing for a little something, like a cute bookmark or something along that line. On July 1st, I’ll once again draw once again from the sign in post for a “Surprise” package (it’s a surprise to me too since I’ll be collecting things throughout the months) of book related do-dads. No penalties if you don’t complete all your challenges but please at least try!

Okay, so procrastinators unite! Together we will finish challenges we commit to. Join and add the button to your blog. Have fun!

To join, click here.

My challenges so far are:

666 Reading Challenge
Feelin’ Chunky ’09
TBR Reading Challenge (by Avidreader)

This list keeps growing and hopefully I’ll have most of them picked by the end of the weekend.