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Since I am officially starting my 101 in 1001 challenge on the first day of class tomorrow, I have spent the weekend getting organized and preparing for any tasks that I want to start right away. The first task I am going to attempt is task # 13: Do a Goodreads challenge and post my points, no matter how badly I do. I have decided to try the Fall/Winter challenge that will be starting on September 7th and ending February 22nd. But before I get ahead of myself, let me explain what a goodreads challenge is.

Goodreads is a website that I use to find books, make a to-read list, and record and review books once I've finished them. One of the groups I am in on Goodreads holds a reading challenge every Fall/Winter, Spring, and Summer. How do the challenges work? The members and mods come up with different tasks or requirements for books to read, and each task is worth a certain number of points, from 5 to 25. In the end, the person with the most points, or the first person to finish every task, is the winner. Let me show you the list of tasks, and the books I have chosen to fulfill each one.

FALL/WINTER TASKS:

September 7, 2009 – February 22, 2010

5 Points
 
1. September is Library Card Sign-Up Month: Go to the library and check two books out and read them.
-V for Vendetta by Allan Moore, The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. LeGuin

2. Pick a person who was born in September-February and read a book about them, by them, or pertaining to their subject of expertise. For example, Marie Curie was born on November 7th. Read a book about her, written by her, or about Chemistry/Physics. (I suggested this task!)
- The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin

3. Read a book with a winter word: snow (snowball, snowflake are fine), ice, candy cane, cold, presents, gift, reindeer, Santa, sled, blizzard, frost, igloo, mittens, fireplace, chilly, angel, white, tree, Christmas, winter, wonderland, bells, elves/elf, miracle,
- Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

4. Read a book with a fall word- leaf/leaves, turkey, autumn, fall, pumpkin, acorn, thanksgiving, apple, hayride, harvest, pilgrims, Indians, feast, thanks,
- Classic Stories 1: The Golden Apples of the Sun & R Is for Rocket by Ray Bradbury

5. Banned Books Week - September 26−October 3, 2009. Celebrate your freedom to read .Read a book on the banned or challenged book list.
http://deletecensorship.org/downloads/bo...
- The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

6. September is Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. Read a book about a person struggling with an addiction or with the name of a drug/alcoholic drink in the title.
- A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick

7. Read a scary/spooky/horror novel in honor of Halloween OR a book with a vampire, witch, werewolf, or ghost as one of the main characters
- The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice

8. Don't Ask Don't Tell became Public Law No: 103-160 on November 30, 1993. Read a book about LGBT issues, with an LGBT main character, or by an LGBT author. (I suggested this task!)
- How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity by Micheal Cart

10 Points
1. Legend Johnny Cash died on September 12th: Read a book about or by your favorite artist/musician/band/composer.
- The Heroin Diaries by Nikki Sixx (He's not my favorite be any means, but none of my favorites have written books.)

2. Back To School: Read a book that was on a required reading list for high school that you never read OR read a book that a teacher recommended to you.
- The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon. this was recommended to me by Al Miller, my Contemporary Lit professor from last year. Thanks Al!

3. Read a book that was really hyped that you swore you would never read.
- Julie and Julia by Julie Powel. I was just going to skip this and watch the movie.

4. Veteren’s Day: Read a book set primarily during a war (the war cannot be a fictitious war)
- Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone. It is set during Vietnam.

5. Read 2 books that have 2 words that are synonyms: for example..reading Little Woman & The God of Small Things
- Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson, and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

6. For Valentines Day, read a romance or an erotica novel.
- The Erotic Spirit: An Anthology of Poems of Sensuality, Love, and Longing by Sam Hamill

7. Read a book by an author who uses their initials as part of their name ( JD Salinger, JK Rowling etc)
- Possession by A.S. Byatt

8. Read a non-fiction book about a subject you find fascinating but truly don’t know much about. You must share with the group a few interesting things you learned before you can claim your points.
- The History of the End of the World – Jonathan Kirsch. I am borrowing this book from Skye's room mate. He is very nice. Thank you Levon!

15 Points
1. Read a book primarily set during one of these holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanza.
- Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

2. Around the World: Read 2 books set in 2 different countries that are different from where you live and that you have never traveled to before.
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and Life of Pi by Yann Martel

3. September 24, 1992: Sci Fi Channel (now called Syfy Channel) is launched. Read a book set in an alternate universe.
- The Dispossessed: an Ambiguous Utopia by Ursula K LeGuin

4. Read a book with an orange, red, yellow, gold, or brown cover,--the colors of leaves in fall.
- Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk (The cover is yellow)

5. October 2nd is Farm Animal Day: Read a book with a farm animal in the title--cow, pig, horse, sheep, goat, chicken, etc. or with a main character who lives on a farm.
- All Creatures Great and Small – James Harriot

6. West Side Story" premiers on Broadway, 1955 on September 26th-- read a play or a book that a Broadway play was based on or a book that was based on a Broadway play. The minimum page number can be negotiable on this one if you are reading a play. Please ask but try to stay above 60 pages.
- Wicked by Gregory Maguire

7. Read both a historical fiction and non-fiction set in the same period
-
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak and War and Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust by Doris L Bergen.

8. Use a random word generator (
http://watchout4snakes.com/creativitytoo...) to pick a word. This word must be in the title of the book you read for this challenge. You can use the Pick a new word button only 4 times. I would suggest changing the parameters to very common word or common. The word should be a noun, adjective, or verb.
- My random word was fire, so I am reading Fire by Kristin Cashore.

20 Points:
Read a book by two contemporary British authors.
- Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams, and something by Terry Pratchett.


25 Points
1. Pick one of the following American literary movements from the PBS website and read 2 books from 2 different authors in this literary movement. (
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americannovel/ti...) There will be a dropdown that says Literary Movements. There will be a blurb about each along with some important authors in each movement.
- I chose the Romantic movement, and I am reading Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov and Collected Short Stories by Edgar Allen Poe

2. - Read a known classic and THEN read a book of Entertainment Weekly's List called "The New Classics:" The 100 Best Books of the Last 25 Years
(
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20207076... After reading both write a tiny review in our thread about whether or not you think the "new" classic has the ability to stand the test of time.
- My classic is Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare and the "new classic" is America (The Book) by Jon Stewart.

3. Read a "pair" of books: A classic and then a contemporary book that was inspired by it.
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

4. Read a book that is mentioned in a song (or if a song mentions an author you can just pick a book by that author) and then also listen to that song.
- The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. There is a song of the same name by Reba McEntire

5. Read 2 books from Time's Top 100 novels list(http://www.time.com/time/2005/100books/t...)
- Beloved by Tony Morrison and Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

6. Expanding Your Horizons: Read 2 books either written by 2 authors of these cultures, about one of these cultures or with a main character from 2 of these cultures.
A. African/African-American.
B. Asian/Asian-American
C. Hispanic/Latin American
D. Indian/Indian-American
E. Middle Eastern
F. Native Peoples
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou and Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

7. Read a book that has to do with your BEST and WORST subject in school.
My best subject was English, so I chose The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. My worst subject was physics, which I never even took, so I chose Physics for Future Presidents by Richard A. Muller

8. In honor of 9/11-- read a fiction/nonfiction book about a disaster (or a character who is experiencing one) --can be natural (tornado, flood hurricane etc.) or manmade (Titanic, fires, bombing, etc.)
- Panic in Level Four by Richard Preston

Total Books Read: 4
Total Points: 20

Let's just hope that I can finish enough of these by February 22nd that I don't look like a complete fool, yes? It's a good thing that I have all of Christmas break!



Greyson E. Leybourne
8/23/2009 06:08:11 am

Hey Emily! That's quite a HUGE list of bb books! I have something that might help you.

For
3. Read a "pair" of books: A classic and then a contemporary book that was inspired by it.

The very first thing that came to my mind was Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith. I haven't read the second one, and I brought the first one to college to try and finish. Good luck with your quest!

Reply
8/23/2009 06:26:56 am

Sounds like you've got a lot of reading ahead of you! Wow! Good luck, sweetie.
For the number 3 "pair" book challenge, there have got to be a bunch of books based on Shakespeare plays. Should be fairly easy to track one down.

Reply
Shawen
8/25/2009 08:16:06 am

Oh yes I definitely second that Pride and Prejudice (and Zombies) pairing. Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books of all time, and I'm hoping to read the Zombies one soon :)

Reply



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    Emily

    I am a music education major at UNC-G, and I play the oboe. My hobbies include reading, watching movies, playing music, and spending time with my friends. I am very liberal and concerned about a number of current issues. The purpose of this blog is to chronicle my progress in completing 101 pre-set tasks in 1001 days, as well as to document my life and to comment on current events.

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