Really Random Tuesday: Canadian Bookshelf Win & Personal Reading Challenge

For the past two months, Canadian Bookshelf, “the one-of-a-kind resource for discovering, discussing, and indulging in Canadian books,” has been running The Personal Book Shopper Contest, hosted by Julie Wilson aka Book Madam. To enter the contest, participants are asked to describe themselves in five words. Three winners are then chosen at random, and a rotating panel of book people (librarians, booksellers, publishers, authors and book bloggers) selects books for the winners based solely on the words they submitted.

I entered the contest for the first time last month and, thinking I was being clever, decided to describe myself using only words that begin with the letter “q” (inspired in part by Marie at Daisy’s Book Journal, who had described herself as quiet and quirky among other things). My five words were thus quiet, quirky, questioning, Québécoise and quibbler. I considered and discarded quixotic—I don’t think it’s an accurate descriptor—but I didn’t even think of queer until too late!

As you may have guessed, I was one of the three winners last month, and I won nine books! (I was very surprised by this since the previous month the panelists had each picked only one book for each winner.) The books selected for me are the following:

• You Comma Idiot by Doug Harris (Goose Lane)
  
• ManBug by George K. Ilsley (Arsenal Pulp Press)
  
• The Three Fates of Henrik Nordmark by Christopher Meades (ECW Press)
  
• Breakfast with Cora: An Autobiography by Cora Tsouflidou, trans. by Dawn M. Cornelio (McArthur & Company)
  
• Cigar Box Banjo: Notes on Music and Life by Paul Quarrington (D&M Publishers)
  
• Chorus of Mushrooms by Hiromi Goto (NeWest Press)
  
• Sandra Beck by John Lavery (House of Anansi)
  
• Apocalypse for Beginners by Nicolas Dickner, trans. by Lazer Lederhendler (Vintage Canada)
  
• Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel (Unbridled Books)

Not only did I win nine books, but eight are books I’d never heard of before. (I reviewed Last Night in Montreal in 2009, but gave away my ARC, so I’m happy to get another copy.) Since most of these books are not only new to me but also not the type of book I’d likely have picked up on my own (with the exception, perhaps of Chorus of Mushrooms), I’ve decided to create a Personal Canadian Bookshelf Challenge for myself: I want to read and review all these books between now and the end of next summer.

Oh and keep an eye out for the next Personal Book Shopper Contest in September: I just might be one of the panelists!
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Really Random Tuesday is hosted by Suko at Suko’s Notebook. Feel free to join in, copy the button and link back to Suko’s blog.

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.

Book Clubs and Reading Challenges...

First, some super exciting news: it looks like I’m going to be joining a face-to-face book club! Two friends of mine recently decided they want to start one, and I pretty much invited myself to join them. The first book we’ll be reading is The Birth House by Ami McKay (which I’ve actually already read, but I don’t mind rereading it). I think the second book they’ve picked might be The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. If this gets off the ground, I’m planning to suggest we read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen next!

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I also recently discovered the 2011 “The Women of Science Fiction” Book Club at Dreams and Speculation, which I’m officially joining via this post. Of the 13 selected books, the only one I own and haven’t read is The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin. I’m also interested in rereading both Doomsday Book by Connie Willis and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. In addition, my local library has copies of Cordelia’s Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold, China Mountain Zhang by Maureen McHugh and Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon. Finally, I'd also really like to read Mappa Mundi by Justina Robson and the bonus book, Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree, Jr. It’s probably unrealistic to think I’ll read more than six books for this club, and even that’s a lot, so I’ll have to pare down this list at some point!

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I’m also officially joining the Memorable Memoir Reading Challenge hosted by Melissa at The Betty and Boo Chronicles. I’ve already read two memoirs for this challenge (Devotion: A Memoir by Dani Shapiro and Let’s Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship by Gail Caldwell, both of which were great books)—I just need to review them! Other books I might read for this challenge include:

• An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken
• First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria by Eve Brown-Waite
• Nice Recovery by Susan Juby
• Special Exits: A Graphic Memoir by Joyce Farmer
• The Merry Recluse: A Life in Essays by Caroline Knapp
• Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven: A Memoir by Susan Jane Gilman

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Finally, I’m taking the plunge and joining the Readers Imbibing Peril (R.I.P.) V Challenge hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings at the Peril the Second level, which means reading two books in the following genres: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Dark Fantasy, Gothic, Horror or Supernatural. My plan is to read at least two of the following four books:

• Life Sentences by Laura Lippman
  
• The Singer’s Gun by Emily St. John Mandel
• The Sister by Poppy Adams
• The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale

Have you read any of the books I plan on reading? Are there any you would particularly recommend (or disrecommend)? Do you have any advice for a first-time book clubber?

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.

Reading challenge 6: Random Reading Challenge

Yeah, I know, like I need to sign up for yet another challenge, right? Except this one is hard to resist (and I’ve already read a book for it!). The Random Reading Challenge is hosted by Wendy at caribousmom and runs from August 1, 2009, to July 31, 2010. The idea is to put the spontaneity back in our reading by choosing books randomly from our TBR stacks. (For all the details, head over to Wendy’s blog.) I’ve decided to stick with Level I and read six books, with the option to upgrade as I go along, if possible.
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Books read and reviewed for this challenge:
This list will be updated throughout the year.

Reading challenges update

As some of you may remember, I’ve signed up for five reading challenges this year: War Through the Generations, 9 Books for 2009, the Essay Challenge, the LibraryThing Author Challenge and the New Author Challenge. I thought it was about time I updated you on my progress so far. (Note that numbered books are reviewed; clicking on those links will take you to my review.)

Hosts: Anna from Diary of an Eccentric and Serena from Savvy Verse & Wit
Challenge blog: War Through the Generations
Goal: 5 books
Number of books read: 2
Number of books reviewed: 0

What I’ve read so far:
The Pages in Between: A Holocaust Legacy of Two Families, One Home by Erin Einhorn
Coventry by Helen Humphreys

What’s left to read:
Berlin Solstice by Sylvia Fraser
Resistance by Anita Shreve
The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

Host: Isabel from Books and Other Stuff
Challenge blog: 9 Books for 2009
Goal: 9 books
Number of books read: 1
Number of books reviewed: 0

What I’ve read so far:
Between Friends: A Year in Letters by Oonagh Berry and Helen Levine

What’s left to read:
A Candle to Light the Sun by Patricia Blondal
Made in Heaven by Adèle Geras
The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett
The Story of Avis by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
Toward Amnesia by Sarah Van Arsdale

Host: Carrie at Books and Movies
Challenge blog: Books and Movies
Goal: 6 books
Number of books read: 3
Number of books reviewed: 1

What I’ve read so far:
1. Pathologies: A Life in Essays by Susan Olding
The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade by Thomas Lynch
A Troubled Guest: Life and Death Stories by Nancy Mairs

What’s left to read:
Her Fork in the Road: Women Celebrate Food and Travel edited by Lisa Bach
Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters by Annie Dillard
Small Wonder: Essays by Barbara Kingsolver
The Merry Recluse: A Life in Essays by Caroline Knapp

(I know I’ve got an extra book on this list; I intend to read three of these four.)

Host: Dawn at She Is Too Fond of Books
Challenge blog: She Is Too Fond of Books
Goal: 10 books (the challenge is at least 5)
Number of books read: 6
Number of books reviewed: 3

What I’ve read so far:
1. Love and Other Natural Disasters by Holly Shumas
2. Crossed Wires by Rosy Thornton
3. Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
The Opposite of Love by Julie Buxbaum
Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos

What’s left to read:
Midwife of the Blue Ridge by Christine Blevins
First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria by Eve Brown-Waite
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
Annie’s Ghosts: A Journey into a Family Secret by Steve Luxenberg
Tomato Girl by Jayne Pupek

(Again, I have an extra book on this list; I intend to read at least four of these five.)

Host: Jackie at Literary Escapism
Challenge blog: Literary Escapism
Goal: 25 books
Number of books read: 17
Number of books reviewed: 8

What I’ve read so far:
1. Love and Other Natural Disasters by Holly Shumas
2. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker
3. The Only True Genius in the Family by Jennie Nash
4. In the Woods by Tana French
5. Crossed Wires by Rosy Thornton
6. Sister Wife by Shelley Hrdlitschka
7. Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel
8. Katherine’s Wish by Linda Lappin
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
The Opposite of Love by Julie Buxbaum
Skin Deep by E. M. Crane
The Next Big Thing by Johanna Edwards
The Local News by Miriam Gershow
Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos
What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman
In Summer Light by Zibby Oneal
Willing Spirits by Phyllis Schieber

What’s left to read:
TBD
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In total, I signed up to read 55 books, of which I’ve read 24 (with 5 books that count twice) and reviewed 9 (with 3 books that count twice). So I’m on track for reading the books, but not so much for reviewing them!

Reading challenge 5: New Author Challenge

Yup, I’m joining yet another challenge this year, my fifth so far, the New Author Challenge hosted by Jackie at Literary Escapism. Like all the others I’ve joined, this one runs from January 1 to December 31, 2009. The idea is to read authors who are new to us and there’s no set number to aim for. I’m going to try for 25. Unlike for the other challenges I’m doing this year, I won’t create a list for this one in advance.
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Books read and reviewed for this challenge:
This list will be updated throughout the year.

1. Love and Other Natural Disasters by Holly Shumas
2. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker
3. The Only True Genius in the Family by Jennie Nash
4. In the Woods by Tana French
5. Crossed Wires by Rosy Thornton
6. Sister Wife by Shelley Hrdlitschka
7. Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel
8. Katherine’s Wish by Linda Lappin
9. The Local News by Miriam Gershow

Reading challenge 4: LibraryThing Author Challenge

I’m so happy Dawn at She Is Too Fond of Books is hosting the LibraryThing Author Challenge again! This is the fourth challenge I join this year. The challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2009, and Dawn asks that we commit to reading at least five books by LibraryThing Authors. I have several on my shelves from last year’s challenge that I still haven’t read, plus a few more I’ve acquired since:

• Midwife of the Blue Ridge by Christine Blevins
• The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff
• The Last Queen by C. W. Gortner
• Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
• The Many Lies & Secrets Sorrows of Josephine B. by Sandra Gulland
• Tomato Girl by Jayne Pupek
• Love and Other Natural Disasters by Holly Shumas

There are others on my wish list that I’d like to read (if I manage to acquire them sometime this year):

• The Language of Light by Meg Waite Clayton
• Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos
• Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
• In Hovering Flight by Joyce Hinnefeld
  
• The Book of Bright Things by Sandra Kring
• The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond

Check out my results for last year’s LT Author Challenge.
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Books read and reviewed for this challenge:
This list will be updated throughout the year.

1. Love and Other Natural Disasters by Holly Shumas
2. Crossed Wires by Rosy Thornton
3. Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel

Reading challenge 3: Essay Challenge

I’m super excited about the third challenge I’m joining this year because one of my resolutions for next year is to read more essays. So when I saw that Carrie at Books and Movies was hosting the Essay Reading Challenge, I knew I had to join in. The challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2009, and Carrie asks that we pick whether we want to read 10, 20 or 30 essays. I figure I’ll read at least 30!

The books I want to read are:

• For Keeps: Women Tell the Truth about their Bodies, Growing Older, and Acceptance edited by Victoria Zackheim (27 essays)
• Her Fork in the Road: Women Celebrate Food and Travel edited by Lisa Bach (33 essays)
• The Merry Recluse: A Life in Essays by Caroline Knapp (63 essays)
• Pathologies: A Life in Essays by Susan Olding (15 essays)
• Small Wonder: Essays by Barbara Kingsolver (23 essays)
• Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters by Annie Dillard (14 essays)

If I managed to read all those books, I’ll have read 175 essays! (I may be being a bit too ambitious, but we’ll see!)
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Books read and reviewed for this challenge:
This list will be updated throughout the year.

1. Pathologies: A Life in Essays by Susan Olding

Reading challenge 2: 9 Books for 2009

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!

Again, I reserve the right to tweak my list!
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Books read and reviewed for this challenge:
This list will be updated throughout the year.

Reading challenge 1: War Through the Generations

The first reading challenge I’m joining in 2009 is the War Through the Generations’ reading challenge on World War II, hosted by Anna from Diary of an Eccentric and Serena from Savvy Verse & Wit. The challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2009.

The minimum commitment is five books, although hopefully I’ll read more. So far I’m thinking of reading the following (I reserve the right to add and subtract from this list throughout the year):

• Berlin Solstice by Sylvia Fraser
• The Night Watch by Sarah Waters
• The Pages in Between: A Holocaust Legacy of Two Families, One Home by Erin Einhorn
• Resistance by Anita Shreve
• Spies by Michael Frayn
• The Longest Night: Voices from the London Blitz by Gavin Mortimer

I realize there are six books on my list, but I’m not sure I’ll get around to the last one, so my personal challenge is still to read at least five.

What challenges are you joining in 2009?

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Books read and reviewed for this challenge:
This list will be updated throughout the year.

LibraryThing Author Challenge 2008 completed!

I’ve completed my first official reading challenge! I joined the LibraryThing Author Challenge late so I didn’t get to read and review as many books as I’d hoped, but the two I did review I loved!

Click on the images to read my reviews.

Dawn at She Is Too Fond of Books is threatening to host this challenge again in 2009—I hope she does because I’d love to do it again. Hopefully a few more folks will join us next time! Pop by her blog to read about the results of the LT Author Challenge. Congratulations to Sandra at Fresh Ink Books, who won the $20 book store gift card.

LibraryThing Author Challenge 2008

About a month ago now, I came across Dawn’s LibraryThing Author Challenge on her blog, She Is Too Fond of Books, and I’ve been meaning to officially join ever since. So here goes...

Given that the challenge ends on November 30, I’m not going to attempt to read any new LT authors, just ones whose books I already own. I have six possible candidates:

• The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff (which I’m currently reading)
• Midwife of the Blue Ridge by Christine Blevins
• No One You Know by Michelle Richmond
• Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
• Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger
• The Many Lies & Secrets Sorrows of Josephine B. by Sandra Gulland

It is highly unlikely that I’ll read them all, but we’ll see!

Other books by LT authors that I’ve already read (though not within the time period of this challenge) are:

• The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton (read review)
  
• Aberrations by Penelope Przekop (read review)
• Have You Found Her by Janice Erlbaum (read review)
  

This is my first official challenge! Check out Dawn’s post for all the details. It’s not too late to join!