Awesome Author Challege - Wrap-Up Post

The Awesome Author Challenge is an interesting challenge hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books where you get to read works by three awesome authors you have been recommended to you but whom you have not got around to reading yet. This blog was only four days old when I decided to sign up for this challenge, and, not being sure if I was up to a challenge, I decided to do it at the Easy level which meant reading three new authors. The books I read for this challenge were:

1) Gallows View by Peter Robinson
2) The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
3) Cotillion by Georgette Heyer

I must say I am very glad I participated in this challenge. I loved all three books and hope to read more by all these authors. I was particularly impressed by Georgette Heyer whom I had postponed reading for years in spite of many recommendations. Cotillion was so witty and well-written, I can't wait to read more by Heyer.

Thanks, Alyce, for hosting this challenge and helping me get introduced to three great authors!

Non-fiction Five Challenge

Trish is hosting the Non-fiction Five Challenge which will run from May 1 to September 30, 2010. Here are the rules from Trish's blog:

1. Read 5 non-fiction books during the months of May - September, 2010 (please link your reviews on Mister Linky each month; Mister Linky can be found at the beginning of each month on this (Trish's) blog)

2. Read at least one non-fiction book that is different from your other choices (i.e.: 4 memoirs and 1 self-help)

3. If interested, please sign up below with the link to your NFF Challenge post (all choices do not need to be posted and may change at any time)


I really look forward to participating in this challenge!

Reading Journal Challenge

The Reading Journal Challenge is hosted by Sea Benjamin at Reading With Sea. Here are the requirements:

Goal: To keep a journal that lists your monthly book purchases and reads.
Timeline: This challenge will be running from March 2010 through February 2011
Guidelines: Participants will keep a journal, which is to include the minimum information: Books bought and books read in each month.

I'm joining this challenge with the hope that I'll keep a better record of the books I buy and read.

March 2010

Books Bought

I hit the library used book sale in March, hence the unusually long list of book bought.

The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
A Place of Execution - Val McDermid
Through a Glass, Darkly - Donna Leon
Sad Cypress - Agatha Christie
Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories - Agatha Christie
Dumb Witness - Agatha Christie
The Daughter of Time - Josephine Tey
Hogfather - Terry Pratchett
Poem Stew

Books Read
Hangman's Holiday - Dorothy Sayers
Jane Austen for Dummies - Joan Klingel Ray
Gallows End - Peter Robinson
Lady Susan/The Watsons/Sanditon - Jane Austen

April 2010

Books Bought

The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Orczy

Ruth - Elizabeth Gaskell

Talking about Detective Fiction - P. D. James

The Butter Thief - Chris Murray and Kim Waters Murray

Books Read

Sad Cypress - Agatha Christie
Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes - Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein
The Murder Room - P. D. James
The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Orczy

A Mystery Challenge

Another interesting challenge from Kals at At Pemberley. It involves reading books by Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - two pioneers of detective fiction. Here are the rules:

1. This challenge is from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010.

2. You will have to read a minimum of 6 books in total: two Miss Marple mysteries, two Sherlock Holmes mysteries and two Hercule Poirot mysteries. You can of course, read more than 6 books if you want to.

3. The books you have chosen for this challenge can overlap with other challenges.

I'm in - thanks for hosting Kals!

Book read toward this challenge:

1) Sad Cypress - Poirot (finished April 2)

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One more challenge!

I have to say I'm enjoying signing up for challenges! This time is it the Typically Britsh Reading Challenge 2010 hosted by Book Chick City. I'm going for the highest level here - reading 8 books by British authors. I am a bit of a "britophile" and look forward to read British authors across genres.

List of Books:

1) Gallows End by Peter Robinson (finished March 19)

2) Lady Susan/The Watsons/Sanditon by Jane Austen (Mar 30)

3) Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie (finished April 1)

4) The Murder Room by P. D. James (finished April 15)

5) Cotillion by Georgette Heyer (finished May 2)

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Awesome Author Challenge 2010

Awesome Author Challenge 2010

Alyce at At Home with Books is hosting this very interesting challenge. According to Alyce, "The idea behind this challenge is to read works by authors who have been recommended to you time and again, but you haven't gotten around to reading them yet. These are the authors that everyone else tells you are awesome, thus the "Awesome Author Challenge" title."

I do tend to get in a rut with regards to the authors I read, and I'm hoping that participating in this challenge will motivate me to expand my horizons. I am going to do this challenge at the Easy level and try to read books by three authors.

1) Baroness Emmuska Orczy
2) Peter Robinson
3) Georgette Heyer

List of Books for this Challenge
1. Gallows End by Peter Robinson (finished March 19)
2. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy (finished April 22)
3. Cotillion by Georgette Heyer (finished May 2)

Classics Challenge 2010

Classics Challenge 2010

Here I go with my first real blog post, and participating in my first challenge. So as not to be too hard on myself, I decided to do the Classics Challenge 2010 offered by Trish as I'm planning on reading a number of classics anyway.

I am going to work at the Classics Snack level and try to read 4 classics and a bonus. As of now, the four classics I plan to read are:

Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell
Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy and
Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

My bonus book is going to be Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Shaffer and Barrows. This challenge will fit in well with my goal to read all the Gaskell works I haven't read yet; this is certainly the year of Elizabeth Gaskell for me, and I'm loving it so far!

Books finished for this challenge:

1) The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy (finished April 22)

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