Weekly Geeks #9 and Show & Tell

This week on Weekly Geeks our challenge is to update our challenges! And since it's Show & Tell day today, I thought "Why not share this with the rest of the class?"

For those of you unfamiliar with reading challenges, the idea is to commit to read a specific number of books with a specific theme within a set amount of time. The reasons people sign up for challenges vary - I'll give you my reasons as I update you on my challenges. Oh, and if you'd like to read the reviews I've written for any of the books I've completed so far, just click here.

Here are the 4 challenges I'm involved in, in order by ending date. Click on the challenge logos to link to the challenge host sites.

#1: Irresistible Review Challenge

This challenge just makes sense to me. The idea is to read books that you wouldn't have decided to read had it not been for another bloggers excellent review. So really, it just means actually committing to read some of the books I've been adding to my TBR list.

Completion Date: September 1, 2008

Completed Books: 2
Last Chance to See, by Douglas Adams
Stone Creek, by Victoria Lustbader

Completed Books: 1
King Solomon's Mines, by H. Rider Haggard

Completed Books: 5
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Life is So Good, by George Dawson
Midnight's Children, by Salman Rushdie
In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan
and one more TBD


#2: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge



This is the very first challenge I ever signed up for. Why? I figured it would be easy, since much of what I want to read fits into this challenge.

Completion Date: October 1, 2008

Completed Books: 5
Suite Francaise, Irene Nemirovsky
The Good Earth, Pearl Buck
Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks
Cane River, Lalita Tademy
Water for Elephants, Sarah Gruen

To Be Read: 1
Cannery Row, John Stienbeck


#3: "Lost" Books Challenge


I absolutely LOVE the tv show Lost, so I had to join this challenge. Even though I'm only just now starting Season 3 I'm completely addicted! I'm hoping that reading some of these books (which were all mentioned on the show at some point) will give me further insight into the complexity of the show.

Completion Date: December 31, 2008

Completed Books: 0

To Be Read: 5
The Turn of the Screw, Henry James
Island, Aldous Huxley
Moby Dick, Hermann Melville
The Mysterious Island, Julies Verne
The Survivors of the Chancellor, Jules Verne


#4: 1% Well Read Challenge

As I mention in my left sidebar, the list of 1,001 books you must read before you die seems a bit daunting to me. This challenge makes the list much more doable - you only have to read 10% of the list! And since there are so many interesting books on the list I'm up for THIS challenge.

Completion Date: February 28, 2009

Completed Books: 0

In Progress: 2
King Solomon's Mines, H. Rider Haggard
Some Experiences of an Irish RM, E. Somerville

To Be Read: 8
The Moor’s Last Sigh, Salman Rushdie
Delta of Venua, Anais Nin
A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
Cannery Row, John Steinbeck
Phineas Finn, Anthony Trollope
The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton
Mrs. ‘Arris Goes to Paris, Paul Gallico
100 Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Alternates - I'm giving myself alternates on this one, just in case ...
The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood
The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Truman Capote
The Leopard, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
Herzog, Saul Bellow
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe

So that's my update. I'm pretty sure I can complete all these book on schedule ... wish me luck!