Thursday 2 January 2014

2014 Challenges

I'm new to this book blogging thing, but I had no idea there were so many yearly challenges. I've always thought new years resolutions were pretty arbitrary (making a change in your life takes dedication over a long time, no matter what the date), but I'm very impressed by the creative ways that book bloggers plan to read over the next year. Reading about challenges of course made me want to enter them, and why not? These are the ones that stood out:

2014 Chunkster Challenge

There don't seem to be many requirements on this one. A 'Chunkster' is any book over 450 pages, which actually includes quite a lot. I'm going to aim to read 5 chunksters, including Middlemarch and Anna Karenina.

Back to the Classics 2014 Challenge

This is an interesting one- you are required to read books written before 1964 in specific categories:

  • A 20th Century Classic
  • A 19th Century Classic 
  • A Classic by a Woman Author
  • A Classic in Translation  
  • A Classic About War  
  • A Classic by an Author Who Is New To You
  • There are some optional categories as well, but at the moment I'm content with focusing on these six. The categories really get you thinking about what to read- I've already started planning (and hopefully some will overlap with the chunksters challenge!).


    This challenge is actually perfect for me- I've been saying I need to read more Shakespeare for ages, and I really want to properly read his plays. The edition I currently own is from the 1940s and is falling apart, so I don't think I'll feel guilty about buying new editions of some of the plays. I'm aiming for the lowest level, 'Occaisional theatre-goer', which requires reading 1- 4 plays (But we'll see if I manage more than that)

    2014 Victorian Reading Challenge


    Victorian novels are currently my favourite, so I felt like I just had to enter this challenge. The goal is to read two or more Victorian books. I was already planning to read more Thomas Hardy (Far from the Madding Crowd, The Woodlanders), George Eliot (Middlemarch, Silas Marner) and the Brontë sisters (Agnes Grey, Villette, Shirley), but I also want to try some new authors. I've only read a bit of Dickens and I've never read Wilkie Collins. Anyone have any suggestions?


    Classics Club


    This is something I see a lot of people doing and I think its a great idea. I do already have a list of books I want to read (it's very long), but as soon as I read one I add three more. Setting 50 or 100 books to read over 5 years seems like a good way to recognise an achievement (because 100 books is an achievement) and feel like you are getting somewhere with your reading. I'm currently working on a list.



    I really only intended to enter a couple of challenges but it seems like I was sucked in! I may be taking on too much for my first year of doing challenges, but I feel like they will give me an extra push to read within difficult categories.

    1 comment:

    1. Welcome to book blogging! I get a kick out of challenges. The Chunkster Challenge is new to me, too, though. I'm looking forward to it. I think I'll start with London by Edward Rutherfurd.

      Joy's Book Blog

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