Stream of Suggestions Challenge: Review Linkup

June 1, 2010, to December 30, 2011

I’m still hoping some of you will join me for my Stream of Suggestions Reading Challenge. Read the sign-up post by clicking on the name of the challenge or the button above. The challenge isn’t too demanding, as you only have to read and review three books to complete it.

Once you’ve read and reviewed a book, link up to your review below and let me know in the comments!

The image used in the button is a picture of a stream near the Gabes Mountain trailhead in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee. This picture was taken by Brian Stansberry and is under Creative Commons license.

Rebooting the Stream of Suggestions Challenge

June 1, 2010, to December 30, 2011

Since I not only failed to review any of the books I read for my Stream of Suggestions Reading Challenge, but also never posted a linky for reviews, I thought I’d “reboot” this challenge by extending the deadline until the end of next year (in the hopes that this will also inspire a few more of you to join me!).

Here’s how I introduced the challenge the first time around (with slight modifications this time):

I often read nonfiction books in which the author mentions other books that sound interesting, but I rarely seek out those books. So the idea behind the Stream of Suggestions Reading Challenge is to read books based on author suggestions, starting with one book and following the “stream of suggestions” to see where it will take you...

Rules

1. Pick a book to start with (it can be any book, but nonfiction is probably easiest). This can be a book you’ve read in the last half of 2010.
   


2. The author of the next book must be mentioned in the previous book, either in the text itself or in the bibliography. (You don’t have to read the book mentioned; you can pick another book by the same author if you want.)
   


3. If you get stuck (no authors are mentioned or you can’t find their books easily or none of the ones mentioned is of any interest to you), you can go back one or two books and start again with a different author.


4. You can read as many books as you want (and you don’t need to decide in advance how many books you will read), but you need to read and review at least three books to qualify for the giveaway.


5. You don’t have to have a blog to participate, but you do need to post your reviews somewhere public (LibraryThing, Goodreads, Amazon, etc.) to qualify for the giveaway.


6. You don’t need to review all the books you read (but again you must review at least three to qualify for the giveaway).
   

Everyone who reads and reviews at least three books will qualify for the giveaway (each book reviewed will count as one entry). The prize will be the next book on your list, as long as it is available from the Book Depository and costs no more than $20 CAN. (The giveaway is therefore open internationally, as long as the Book Depository will ship to where you live.)

I’m awarding Abigailann at The Story Factory Reading Zone a bonus entry (in addition to the two she’s already entitled to), as she was the only person to do this challenge in 2010!

If you decide to join me in this challenge, feel free to grab the button and please sign up below!

The image used in the button is a picture of a stream near the Gabes Mountain trailhead in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee. This picture was taken by Brian Stansberry and is under Creative Commons license.

Announcing the Stream of Suggestions Reading Challenge

April 1, 2010, to April 30, 2011

Some of you may remember that I announced a reading challenge last month (which I called by a different name). Since a couple of you expressed an interest in this challenge, I thought I’d make it official, with a new name (thanks Mr. B!), a button* (my first!) and a Linky tool.

I often read nonfiction books in which the author mentions other books that sound interesting, but I rarely seek out those books. So the idea behind the Stream of Suggestions Reading Challenge is to read books based on author suggestions, starting with one book and following the “stream of suggestions” to see where it will take you...

Rules

1. Pick a book to start with (it can be any book, but nonfiction is probably easiest). This can be a book you’ve already read in April.
   
2. The author of the next book must be mentioned in the previous book, either in the text itself or in the bibliography. (You don’t have to read the book mentioned; you can pick another book by the same author if you want.)
   
3. If you get stuck (no authors are mentioned or you can’t find their books easily or none of the ones mentioned is of any interest to you), you can go back one or two books and start again with a different author.
4. In my case, I’m going to try to give priority to books I already own or that are available through my library system, but this is optional.
5. You can read as many books as you want (and you don’t need to decide in advance how many books you will read), but you need to read and review at least 4 books to qualify for the giveaway.
   

Everyone who reads and reviews at least 4 books will qualify for the giveaway. The prize will be the next book on your list, as long as it is available from the Book Depository and is under $20 CAN. (The giveaway is therefore open internationally, as long as the Book Depository will ship to where you live.)

My start-off book is Devotion: A Memoir by Dani Shapiro, which I will be reviewing soon. My next book will either be Will Yoga & Meditation Really Change My Life?: Personal Stories from 25 of North America’s Leading Teachers edited by Stephen Cope (which I took out of the library) or Yoga and the Quest for the True Self by Stephen Cope, which was the book Shapiro mentioned in Devotion (and which I recently bought at a library book sale).

If you decide to join me in this challenge, feel free to grab the button I made!

Edited to add:
This challenge has been “rebooted” and now runs until December 30, 2011. To join the challenge, please sign up here.

*The image is a picture of a stream near the Gabes Mountain trailhead in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee. This picture was taken by Brian Stansberry and is under Creative Commons license.

Library Loot (April 1) + a Reading Challenge

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva at A Striped Armchair and Marg at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post—feel free to steal the button—and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! Want to share your loot? Marg has the Mr. Linky this week!

I returned nine books to the library today and only took one out: Will Yoga & Meditation Really Change My Life?: Personal Stories from 25 of North America’s Leading Teachers edited by Stephen Cope. Finding this book has prompted me to finally blog about (and start) a personal reading challenge that’s been rattling around in my brain for quite some time.

My idea is to start from one book—I’ve chosen Devotion: A Memoir by Dani Shapiro, which I haven’t finished reading yet—and go from it to another author mentioned in the first book. In this case, Shapiro writes about coming across a book by Stephen Cope (Yoga and the Quest for the True Self, which she calls “a page-turner of yoga metaphysics”). I looked up Stephen Cope in my library catalogue and the only one of his books they have is the one I took out, Will Yoga & Meditation Really Change My Life? Since I’ve been taking a meditation class and I’m flirting with the idea of meditating every day (see item #36 in my 40/40 Challenge), this book sounds right up my alley. And the fact that it’s a collection of essays by 25 yoga and meditation practitioners means I’ll have lots of options for book #3!

Rules for the Reading Journey Stream of Suggestions Reading Challenge

1. The author of the next book must be mentioned in the previous book, either in the text itself or in the bibliography.
2. If I get stuck (no authors are mentioned or I can’t find their books easily or none of the ones mentioned is of any interest to me), I can go back one or two books and start again with a different author.
3. Priority should be given to books I already own or that are available through my library system. (The idea is not to encourage more book buying!)
4. My aim is to read at least 6 books between now and March 31, 2011.

Does anyone else want to try this with me? Let me know if you do!

Edited to add:
I’ve changed the name of this challenge and created a button and sign-up page, so please do join me if you’re interested!