My second reading challenge (which actually starts before the first) is the 9 Books for 2009 reading challenge, which is hosted by Isabel from Books and Other Stuff. The challenge runs from December 27, 2008, to December 27, 2009, and the idea is to read books already on our stacks. There are nine categories:- Long: The House at Riverton by Kate Morton. At 480 pages this is only borderline long in my books, but I was having trouble finding a book over 500 pages in my TBR pile.
- Free: Between Friends: A Year in Letters by Oonagh Berry and Helen Levine. A friend gave me this book recently and I’m really looking forward to reading it.
- Dusty: A Candle to Light the Sun by Patricia Blondal. I was thrilled to find a book by a Canadian writer I’d never heard of when I bought this book years ago. It’s about time I read it!
- Used: The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett. I picked this book up for $1 at a recent book fair.
- Letter: The Story of Avis by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. Not only is my name Avis but my blog name starts with an “s,” so this book is perfect for this category (and also happens to be a book I’ve had for years).
- Strange: The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer. OK, I’ll admit it, I mainly want to read this book because Joss Whedon is in the book trailer. I’m not usually that interested in either Superman or Cain and Abel, but hopefully I’ll enjoy the book anyway.
- Cover: Toward Amnesia by Sarah Van Arsdale. I bought this book primarily because the cover reminded me of another cover. I actually love both covers, so Tethered by Amy MacKinnon could be an alternate for this category.
- Alive or Not: A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews. This book was shortlisted for the Giller Prize and won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction in 2004. It has also been highly recommended to me.
- Distance: Made in Heaven by Adèle Geras. The author was born in Jerusalem, which is well over 1000 miles from Montreal!
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Books read and reviewed for this challenge:
This list will be updated throughout the year.
Thanks for joining my challenge.
ReplyDeleteYour list is interesting!
You're the second blogger to mention the Giller Prize. I need to check it out so I can discover interesting writers!
I love the categories in this challenge, Isabel. I really wanted to do one that was themed for 2009, but reading 81 books or whatever the 999 challenge calls for is way beyond me. Nine is much more up my alley!
ReplyDeleteDo check out the Giller Prize; if I'm not mistaken it's Canada's top literary prize (in terms of money given out). You can find a list of past winners here.
Are you so excited about Dollhouse? :) I hope it's a success!
ReplyDeleteI am, Amy, I can't wait! (Too bad it's two more months until it starts.) Are you a Whedon fan too?
ReplyDeleteAvis, this one sounds like fun, and I DO need to read some of the books I already have sitting on my bookshelves!
ReplyDeleteShana
Literarily
Shana, sorry it's taken me so long to reply to your comment! I agree, I need some motivation to read the books that have been sitting on my shelves for a while...!
ReplyDeleteThese look interesting. Have you gotten to the _Letters_ yet? I'd be curious to hear how you liked it...
ReplyDeleteFunny you should ask, Brogan, because it's the only book on this list that I've read so far and I just finished reading it! I will hopefully be posting a review one of these days soon! (Thanks for reminding me that I need to get to these books!)
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