Once Upon a Time III (in progress)

I chose to do "Quest the First": Read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time III criteria. They might all be fantasy, or folklore, or fairy tales, or mythology…or your five books might be a combination from the four genres. This challenge runs from March 21st to June 20th.

1. The Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly
2. The Raven Steals the Light, by Bill Reid and Robert Bringhurst
3. Zel, by Donna Jo Napoli
4. Rapunzel's Revenge, by Shannon and Dean Hale
5. 
   

Independent Bookstore Reader's Challenge

Here are the rules: go to independent bookstores that are new to you between January 1 and December 31, 2009 and have some sort of interaction. The challenge comes with different levels you can sign up for. I've chosen the category in red.

• Scout - Visit 2 independent bookstores (easy!)
• Specialist - Visit 2 subject matter specialty bookstores (i.e., travel, children, cooking)
• Nationalist - Visit 2 independent bookstores and 1 additional bookstore in a state you do not live in
• Continental - Visit 2 independent bookstores and 1 additional bookstore in another N. American country (that would be the USA, Canada or Mexico)
• Globetrotter - Visit 2 independent bookstores and 1 additional bookstore on a different continent (if you’re going to Europe, check out Bookstore Guide)
• Type A Personality to the Max - Satisfy any two categories

1. First store visited: The Snow Goose, Stanwood, Washington
   
2. Second store visited: Murder By The Book Mystery Bookshop, Portland, Oregon
   

The Sci Fi Experience 2009 (COMPLETED)

1. A Fisherman from the Inland Sea, Ursula le Guin
2. Mars Needs Moms!, by Brian Breathed
3. The Devil's Arithmetic, by Jane Yolen (time travel)
4. Manga Shakespeare: Macbeth, by William Shakespeare (set in a post-apocalyptic world)
5. Enchantress from the Stars, by Sylvia Louis Engdahl

Science Fiction DVDs we enjoyed watching at our house during Jan-Feb:

• Doctor Who -- Series 1 (completed)
• Doctor Who -- Series 2 (underway)
• Battlestar Gallactica: the Miniseries -- Season 1 (completed)
• Equilibrium (directed by Kurt Wimmer)
• Hellboy II: The Golden Army (directed by Guillermo del Toro)

Dewey's Knit-A-Long

I am co-hosting the Dewey's Books Reading Challenge with my friend, Chris (Stuff As Dreams Are Made On) as a tribute to the blogging friend we lost recently, Dewey (The Hidden Side of a Leaf).

Project #1: Knitted scarf
Project #2: Knitted man's scarf
Project #3:

Dewey's Books Reading Challenge, 2009 (in progress)

1. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. LeGuin
2. The Uncommon Reader, Alan Bennett
3. The Book of Lost Things, John Connolly
4. The People of the Book, Geraldine Brooks
5. Beatrix Potter, A Life in Nature, Linda Lear
6. Einstein's Dreams, Alan Lightman
7. The Book Thief, Marcus Zusak
8. Everything is Illuminated, Jonathan Safran Soer

Audiobook Challenge, 2009 (in progress)

J. Kaye is hosting an Audiobook Challenge, and since I love listening to audiobooks, and have listened to 23 audiobooks this year, I am signing up for this 2009 challenge, too!

Our goal is to listen to 12 audiobooks in 2009, and I'll update this post and list my books as I go.

1. A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula Le Guin (narrated by Rob Inglis)
2. The Audacity of Hope, by Barack Obama (narrated by himself)
3. Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Mystery, by John Mortimer (narrated by Bill Wallis)
4. The Devil's Arithmetic, by Jane Yolen (narrated by Barbara Rosenblat)
5. The Uncommon Reader, by Alan Bennett (narrated by himself)
6. The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece, by Jonathan Harr
7. Zel, by Donna Jo Napoli (narrated be Alexandra O'Karma)
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Support Your Local Library Challenge, 2009 (COMPLETED)

1. Two Sweaters For My Father, by Perri Klass
2. The Forest Lover, by Susan Vreeland
3. A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. Le Guin
4. Mars Needs Moms!, by Berkeley Breathed
5. The Audacity of Hope, by Barack Obama
6. Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Mystery, by John Mortimer
7. Enchantress From the Stars, by Sylvia Louise Engdahl
8. The Devil's Arithmetic, by Jane Yolen
9. The Uncommon Reader, by Alan Bennett
10. The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece, by Jonathan Harr
11. Return to Labyrinth, Vol. 1, by Jake T. Forbes
12. The Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly

Art History Challenge, 2009 (in progress)

Rules:

• Challenge yourself to read at least 6 books about art in 2009. These can be either fiction or nonfiction, and can span every genre from historical fiction to graphic novel.

1. The Forest Lover, by Susan Vreeland
2. The Madonnas of Leningrad, by Debra Dean
3. The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece, by Jonathan Harr
4. The Matisse Stories, by A.S. Byatt
5. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, by James Joyce
6. Yellow House: Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles, by Martin Gayford
7. LeConte Stewart: The Spirit of Landscape, by Robert O. Davis

Jewish Literature Challenge, 2009 (in progress)

• What: Reading at least 4 books by Jewish Authors or about Judaism
• 
When: December 21, 2008 (Beginning of Hanukkah) to April 27, 2009 (End of Passover)

1. In the Name of Sorrow and Hope, by Noa Ben Artzi-Pelossof
2. The Devil's Arithmetic, by Jane Yolen
3. Night, by Elie Wiesel
4. Day, by Elie Wiesel
5. Dawn, by Elie Wiesel
6. People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks

Shakespeare Challenge, 2009 (in progress)

(All the World's a Stage, by James C. Christensen)

Historia, at BiblioShakespeare, is hosting a new Shakespeare challenge for 2009.

The rules are simple:
• You can read anything about or related to Shakespeare - fiction or non fiction, straight bio or authorship debate - and you can read the plays and sonnets as well.
• Read 6 books in 12 months
• Starts January 1st 2009
• Ends December 31st 2009

1. Introduction to Shakespeare, by Marchette Chute
2. Manga Shakespeare: Macbeth
3. Manga Shakespeare: The Tempest
4. Shakespeare's Wife, by Germaine Greer
5. Shakespeare Sketchbook, by Renwick St. James; artwork by James C. Christensen
6. Shakespeare Alive!, by Joseph Papp
7. A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599, by James Shapiro
8. Shakespeare, by Anthony Burgess

Manga Challenge, 2009 (in progress)

The rules are:
• Read at least 6 Manga novels in 2009 (crossovers with other challenges are fine, and please feel free to read more!).
• You do not need to set a list of books to read in advance, just fill them in as you go if it's easier.

1. Manga Shakespeare: Macbeth
2. Manga Shakespeare: The Tempest
3. Return to Labyrinth, Vol. 1, by Jake T. Forbes
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May Sunshine Light Your Day... (an ongoing personal challenge)

A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.

-- St. Francis of Assisi

When November arrives in the Pacific Northwest, it brings deep darkness and rain. Most of us living here actually like the rain and understand Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's advice: "The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain." But that doesn't mean we don't long for sunshine on those long, dark, wintery days. One of my favorite things to do in winter, on a dark and dreary day, is to read a book that takes place in sunnier climates. I love to immerse myself in the written sunlight, and then look up to be startled by the dark contrast outside my window.

As I was looking through the books on my bookshelves this weekend, I was amazed at how many fit that sunshine description. I decided to put a list together of books I can read on very gray days...my own little journey south in search for sunshine.

My Sunshine choices:
The Old Patagonian Express, by Paul Theroux
The Bridge of San Luis Rey, by Thornton Wilder
Malinche, by Laura Esquivel

Death Comes for the Archbishop, by Willa Cather
Mexico, A Traveler's Literary Companion, edited by C.M. Mayo
The General in His Labyrinth, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Green Mansions, by W. H. Hudson
Martin Fierro, by José Hernández
The Alchemist, by Paul Coehlo
The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende

People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy.

-- Anton Chekhov

Readers Imbibing Peril 3, 2008 (COMPLETED)

1. A Murder of Quality, John le Carré
2. The Unstrung Harp, Edward Gorey
3. The Eye of Jade: A Mei Wang Mystery, by Diane Wei Liang
4. Varjak Paw, S.F. Said
5. Gossamer, Lois Lowry
6. Our Man in Havana, Graham Greene
7. Tales of Moonlight and Rain, by Ueda Akinari
8. The Outlaw Varjak Paw, by S.F. Said

Book-to-Movie Challenge, 2008 (COMPLETED)

1. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, by Jean-Dominique Bauby
2. Our Man in Havana, by Graham Greene
3. Tales of Moonlight and Rain, by Ueda Akinari

Japanese Literature Challenge2, 2008 (COMPLETED)

After the Quake, Haruki Murakami
Twenty-Four Eyes, by Sakae Tsuboi
Tales of Moonlight and Rain, by Akinari Ueda

Knit Kimono, by Vicki Square

Book Awards Challenge II, 2008-09 (COMPLETED)

1. PULITZER: The Optimist's Daughter, Eudora Welty
2. SASQUATCH: The Ghost's Grave, Peg Kehret
3. PULITZER Special Award: Maus I: A Survivor's Tale, by Art Spiegelman
4. PURA BELPRÉ: Esperanza Rising, Pam Muñoz Ryan
5. NESTLÉ SMARTIES BOOK PRIZE: Varjak Paw, by S.F. Said
6. MASSACHUSETTS CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD: Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White
7. PULITZER: The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Thornton Wilder
8. THE ALA'S SCHNEIDER FAMILY BOOK AWARD: Becoming Naomi León, by Pam Muñoz Ryan
9. THE MAUD HART LOVELACE BOOK AWARD: The Devil's Arithmetic, by Jane Yolen
   
10. THE ROBERT F. SIEBERT HONOR AWARD: To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel, by Siena Cherson Siegel and Mark Siegel

Southern Reading Challenge, 2008 (COMPLETED)

1. The Watermelon King, by Daniel Wallace
2. Remembering, by Wendell Berry
3. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, by John Berendt

Maggie's Name Your Homeplace contest
Maggie's Sense of Place contest

The Non-Fiction Five Challenge, 2008 (COMPLETED)

1. Looking Back: A Book of Memories, by Lois Lowry
2. Renoir's Garden, by Derek Fell
3. Old Friend from Far Away, by Natalie Goldberg
4. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, by John Berendt
5. Maus I: A Survivor's Tale, by Art Spiegelman

Once Upon a Time II, 2008 (COMPLETED)

• The Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum
• Four wonderful authors each wrote an "ecologically-minded story" based on a Brian Froud painting they chose from his Faerieland project. I’m going to read The Wild Wood, by Charles de Lint; The Wood Wife, by Terri Windling; Something Rich and Strange, by Patricia McKillip; and Hannah's Garden, by Midori Snyder
• Book of a Thousand Days, by Shannon Hale
• Briar Rose, by Jane Yolen
• The Young Merlin Trilogy, by Jane Yolen
• Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, by May Gibbs
• Seven Wild Sisters, by Charles de Lint
  
• Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham, by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Solstice Wood, by Patricia A. McKillip

B's Reading Challenge, 2008 (ongoing)

No Rules...just books my husband really likes and would like me to read sometime.

1. Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad
2. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera
3. Immortality, by Milan Kundera
4. Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, by Jose Saramago
5. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, by Jose Saramago
6. The Curtain, by Milan Kundera
   

The Sci Fi Experience, 2008 (COMPLETED)

1. First Meetings in Ender's Universe, by Orson Scott Card
2. The Green Book, by Jill Paton Walsh
3. Wolf of Shadows, by Whitley Streiber

Expanding Horizons Challenge, 2008 (COMPLETED)

1. Tales Our Abuelitas Told: A Hispanic Folktale Collection, by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy
2. Far Away and Long Ago: A Childhood in Argentina, by W. H. Hudson (ARGENTINA)
   
3. My Invented Country: A Memoir, by Isabel Allende (CHILE)
4. Short Stories by Latin American Women: The Magic and the Real, edited by Celia Correas Zapata
   
5. Where the Flame Trees Bloom, by Alma Flor Ada (CUBA)
   
6. Under the Royal Palms, by Alma Flor Ada (CUBA)
   

Japanese Literature Challenge, 2007 (COMPLETED)

1. The Big Wave, by Pearl S. Buck
2. Thousand Cranes, by Yasunari Kawabata
3. The Bells of Nagasaki, by Takashi Nagai

Hometown Challenge, 2007 (COMPLETED)

1. The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale (SALT LAKE CITY)
   
2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, by Sherman Alexie (SEATTLE)
   

Book-To-Movie Challenge, 2007 (COMPLETED)

1. The African Queen, by C. S. Forester
2. The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri
3. The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo