Venice in February!

I went to Venice some years ago and it was amazing. I loved it. Amazing city. More beautiful than you can imagine. I would love to go back and that is why I am considering participating in the "Venice in February" reading challenge.
Read all about it here at Dolce Bellezza's blog - thanks to Sam at Tiny Library for inspiring me.

Back to the Classics Challenge - Marching on in March

First I want to say that I am really pleased that Sarah - the creator of this challenge whose blog can be found at http://www.sarahreadstoomuch.blogspot.com/ - decided to extend this challenge. So instead of finishing in June, we are now finishing on the last day of 2011. So happy about that decision because honestly peope, I was getting stressed out.

Sarah herself, the mother of Back to the Classics Challenge 2011, has already read 6 out of 8 books! Myself I am way behind... story of my life, I guess. I have read two out of the 8 and I am half way in two more. So getting there but my speed is that of a turtle not that a of a hare.

HAVE READ FOR THIS CHALLENGE:
A Pulitzer Prize (Fiction) Winner or Runner Up:
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (half way through, hoping to finish it this week)

19th Century Classic:
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

20th Century Classic:
The Collector by John Fowles

Re-Read a book from your High School/College Classes:
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger (half way through this one as well...)


TO BE READ FOR THIS CHALLENGE:
A Banned Book:
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence

A Book with a Wartime Setting (can be any war)
Atonment by Ian McEwan or The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni

A Children's/Young Adult Classic
Peter Pan by J. Barrie

A Book you think should be considered a 21st Century Classic
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen or Tiger, Tiger by Margaux Fragoso

Have you signed up for this challenge? Otherwise head over to Sarah's blog and check it out, it is a great way of sharing the love of classics!

The non-fiction challenge!

At The Broke and The Bookish - one of my favourite book blogs - they have devised a really great challenge that I just had to sign up for! The Non-fiction Challenge. Surprise surprise, this one is all about reading non-fiction to broaden your horizons and I really think that is a great idea. No harm in learning something new.

The rules are pretty easy:
- The challenge runs from January 17th to December 31st 2011.
- Anyone who links a review up is eligible to be entered to win a book of their choice (under $15). How many reviews you link up determines how many entries you get. Additional prizes may be added once I organize this more and depending on how many people sign up. (International readers welcome if Book Depository ships to you).
- Anyone can join. If you don't have a blog, you can link reviews on Goodreads or Amazon or wherever you have your reviews.
- You can join the challenge at any point throughout the year.

These are the categories:
Culture: Non-fiction books about different cultures, religions and foreign lands; memoirs & biographies count.

Art: Non-fiction books about anything art related (painters, music, architecture, photography, dance, literature, film, etc.). Memoirs/biographies of any people related to the arts count.

Food: Food memoirs, anything related to food industry, food lifestyles

Medical: anything related to the medical field--industry memoirs, memoirs about illnesses (mental included) /diseases, etc.

Travel: travelogues, industry memoirs, travel guides, etc.

Memoir/Biography: Self explanatory

Money: Anything related to finances, economics, history of money, financial improvement etc.

Science/Nature: Anything related to any scientific field, memoirs count.

History: Anything history related-- events, biographies of historic figures, etc.

These are the different levels:

1-3 books from different categories: Master of Trivial Pursuit
4-6 books from different categories: Apply For Who Wants to Be A Millionaire
7-9 books from different categories: Future Jeopardy Champion

I will start out aiming for the Master of TP level and then we will see how it goes. For now this is my challenge plan:

Money: "Cityboy: Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile" by Geraint Anderson

Science: "The Political Brain" by Drew Westen

Memoir/biography: "The Temptress: The Scandalous LIfe of Alice, Countess De Janzen" by Paul Spicer

Art: "Blow by Blow" by Dermot Blow

So are you also signing up?

NYRB Reading Challenge

Do you like a challenge? Then you absolutely must pop by The Literary Stew at http://theliterarystew.blogspot.com/2010/10/nyrb-reading-week-november-7-13.html who is cohosting a great challenge with Honey from Coffeespoons. The challenge is fairly simple: read a book from the NYBR list and write a review of it. There is a long long list of books so lots to choose from.
I will go for "The Enchanted April" by Elizabeth von Arnim and possibly also Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker. Will you be joining? and if yes, what will you be reading?