Book Challenge #2

So this time, I'm not going all crazy.. I'm doing a SINGLE book challenge and I'm giving myself backup options so that way when I find a book that is absolutely unbearable, I can quit reading it and move on to another book in that category.

I picked Erin's challenge because it's on FB and easy for me to keep up (convenience is the key to my heart.. ok, and puns) with and zero pressure and because #goldengirlsclub4ever.

Categories:

My goal is to always find books from my to-be-read (TBR) list first.  If I don't have any books on my TBR list that meet the criteria, then I will search outside of my list.  That said, almost all of these came from my TBR list.. #win

5 points: Read a book, any book that is at least 200 pages long: 

• Any of the backups listed here that I didn't read for another category.
• All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr  
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman  

10 points: Read a book that begins with the letter “D”:

• Dataclysm: Who We Are (When We Think No One's Looking) - Christian Rudder
• Did You Ever Have a Family - Bill Clegg
• Double Edged Secrets: U.S. Naval Intelligence Operations in the Pacific During World War II – W.J. Holmes

10 points: Read a book with a four word title:

• The Sea of Tranquility - Katja Millay 
• All the Bright Places - Jennifer Niven  

15 points: Read a book with one of the following words in the title: “mother(s)”, “father(s)”, “son(s)”, “daughter(s)”, or “child(ren)”:

• The Children of Húrin – J.R.R. Tolkin, Christopher Tolkin
• The Piper’s Son – Melina Marchetta

20 points: Amazon ranks their “most popular authors”, and they update this list hourly. Based on when you make your book list, look at the top 100 authors, and pick a book to read from one of those authors, but here’s the catch – it needs to be an author new to you…one of the most popular authors, yet you’ve never read them before. http://www.amazon.com/author-rank:

• The Lightning Thief – Rick Riordan 
• Terms of Use – Scott Allan Morrison
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

20 points: Read a book set in any country in Asia. (In previous challenges, we’ve been to Europe, Latin America, and a country you’ve never visited. Stick around, we’ll tour the world!):

• The Bonesetter’s Daughter – Amy Tan
• Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini (reread)
• Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress - Dai Sijie, Ina Rilke

25 points: Read a book with a “Season” in the title. (I start the challenge in Summer and end in Autumn; many of you start in Winter and end in Spring…so the title of your book should have Summer, Autumn/Fall, Winter, or Spring in the title.): 

• Summerlong – Dean Bakopoulos 

30 points: Read a book that will make you laugh from this list. (submitted by Bernadette):

• This Is Where I Leave You – Jonathan Tropper  
• Bossypants – Tina Fey 
• Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal – Christopher Moore 
• Essays of E.B. White – E.B. White 
• The Princess Bride – William Goldman
• A Walk in the Woods – Bill Bryson 

30 points: Read a book that is a friend or family member’s favorite book (or the favorite book of another participant from this challenge). (submitted by Peggy):

• The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
• Double Edged Secrets: U.S. Naval Intelligence Operations in the Pacific During World War II – WJ Holmes 

35 points: Read a book published the year you were born (1986). (submitted by Meredith):

• James Herriot’s Dog Stories – James Herriot 
• All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten – Robert Fulghum 

I've acquired most of the books on this list already, which means happy reading to me come January 1st!  I'll probably make my way through all of the books on this list, even after the challenge is over, because I have some pretty good books listed here.  Also, yay for having a used bookstore nearby!  That said, Erin does a challenge round for those who finish the first round and having all these backups could get me into the challenge round!  We'll see.  I'm not aiming to win, just to read.  But my competitive streak has been pretty strong lately.


Books I'm still looking for (ya know, if you have a copy you want to send me so I can save some House dollas):

• All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten – Robert Fulghum 
• Double Edged Secrets: U.S. Naval Intelligence Operations in the Pacific During World War II – WJ Holmes 
• Essays of E.B. White – E.B. White 
• Summerlong – Dean Bakopoulos 
• The Piper’s Son – Melina Marchetta
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman