I’m currently working through the Author A-Z challenge, which is taking much longer than the original timeframe of 2008. Since some of my reading priorities have changed (I’m favouring “lighter” reading over literary/classical works), I’m not sure when I’ll finish it, but I’m loath to abandon it or change the list. So I’ll keep plugging away at it.
In the meantime, some more reading challenges for this year and beyond.
I. 10 Books from my Library
The books in my personal library tend to sit neglected on my shelf for a while (often for years) before they get read. Here’s my challenge: to read ten books I own in 2009, especially the oldest ones. The list below are some suggestions for me, but they may change. So far I’ve already read two, so I’m 20% of the way there!
01. IN & OZ, by Steve Tomasula (finished 11 Jan)
02. Amberlight, by Sylvia Kelso (finished 23 Mar)
03. Firebird, by Kathy Tyers
04. Fusion Fire, by Kathy Tyers
05. Crown of Fire, by Kathy Tyers
06. King Rat, by China Miéville
07. Un Lun Dun, by China Miéville
08. Shadowbridge, by Gregory Frost
09. Landscape Painted With Tea, by Milorad Pavic
10. Bright of the Sky, by Kay Kenyon
II. Graphic Novels in June-July
I love graphic novels and want to read more. Starting in June (a month after Free Comic Book Day) and ending in July (Comic-Con International is at the end of the month), I’ll read as many graphic novels, illustrated books, and comic books as I can. Some that I’ve flagged (because I own many of them):
- The Red Star: The Battle at Kar-Dathra’s Gate, by Christian Gossett et al.
- The Red Star: Nokgorka, by Christian Gossett et al.
- The Red Star: Prison of Souls, by Christian Gossett et al.
- Griffin & Sabine trilogy, by Nick Bantock
- Tales From Outer Suburbia, by Shaun Tan
- Iron West, by Douglas TenNapel
- Galactic Geographic: Annual 3003, by Karl Kofoed
- Flight (collections), edited by Kazu Kibuishi
- Daisy Kutter: The Last Train, by Kazu Kibuishi
- Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall, by Bill Willingham
- Jack of Fables: The (Nearly) Great Escape, by Bill Willingham et al.
- V For Vendetta, by Alan Moore
And one for whenever I finish the Author A-Z challenge:
III. 5 Nobel Laureates
So far I’ve read John Steinbeck, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Rudyard Kipling, Samuel Beckett, William Faulkner, T. S. Eliot and Saul Bellow to various degrees. This challenge is to read five Nobel Literature laureates who are from underrepresented nations and/or not white. Based on what I’ve heard of them, I’ve chosen:
- One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Gárcia Márquez (1982)
- Children of the Alley, by Naguib Mahfouz (1988)
- Soul Mountain, by Gao Xingjian (2000)
- Age of Iron, by J.M. Coetzee (2003)
- My Name is Red, by Orhan Pamuk (2006)
Wow, all very recent laureates. Maybe next challenge will be to read older Laureates!
If you have any recommendations for graphic novels and Nobel laureates, please post them here. I’m always looking for more good books to read.
This can be a quick one. Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you’ve read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.
