TwentyEleven Challenge

I apologize for the lack of posts here lately. I haven’t been too busy with work since the new year came, but I have been busy meeting up with friends and finding quiet times to read hence the silence. I’ve only read one book in 2011 so far, and ever since I decided not to set a number of books that I need to read this year, I think I have gone easy on myself.

But a reading year won’t be that fun if we don’t join any reading challenges, right? So here’s my first reading challenge for 2011, and it’s the one I’ve been thinking of joining since 2010.

One of my goals in 2011 is to explore other genres and not just stick to the ones I’ve been reading lately. I’ve learned that variety is always good in reading as it stops you from having the (dreaded?) slump, and it gives you more chances to discover things you like or don’t like in literature. Darren‘s TwentyEleven challenge seemed like one of those challenges that would help me do just that, and so it is the first challenge I’m joining for 2011. :)

There are eleven categories in the challenge, and each participant should read a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 2 books in each category, to reach the 20 books in the challenge. Each book can only be counted for one category, and it must be read from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011. The book read can be also counted for another challenge, so it doesn’t have to be exclusive for this challenge.

Here are the categories, and the books I know from my TBR that could possibly fit the category:

  1. To YA or not YA…
    Okay, this one works like this… Tend to read more Young Adult than Adult Fiction books then read one or two adult fiction titles, vice-versa if you don’t tend to read much Young Adult.

    • Havah: The Story of Eve by Tosca Lee
    • On the Edge by Ilona Andrews
  2. …With a Twist.
    This one focuses on sub-genres, read a lot of chick-lit, then try a paranormal romance! Fantasy? Why not give some Steampunk a go, like a bit of Space-Opera in your Sci-Fi then pick up a military Sci-fi book. Like your Contemporary Literature, give a Young Adult Contemporary a chance. Well hopefully you get the idea!

    • Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (SciFi)
    • Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières (Historical)
  3. Hot off the Presses.
    Read a book published (in your country) in 2011? Then it counts for this category.

    • Blue Angel, White Shadow by Charlson Ong
    • TBD
  4. It Wasn’t Me! (aka Bad Bloggers*)
    Books in this category, should be ones you’ve picked up purely on the recommendation of another blogger count for this category (any reviews you post should also link to the post that convinced you give the book ago).
    * Bad Bloggers: Is hosted by Chris of Stuff as Dreams are Made on.

    • Howl’s Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones (recommended by Chachic)
    • Dust City by Robert Paul Weston (reviewed by Chelle)
  5. Show it Who is Boss!
    Tackle that overflowing T.B.R. pile! Books for this category must be already residents of your bookshelves as of 1/12/10.

    • The Scarlet Thread by Francine Rivers (bought in January 2007 :o)
    • The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis (bought in 2008)
  6. Bablefish.
    Read books that are translated from a language that is not your own.

    • TBD. Any suggestions? :)
  7. Will-Power? What Will-Power? (aka: The Henry Ward Beecher Memorial.)
    You know that quote I have in my blog-header… “Where is human nature so weak as in a bookstore?” Recognise yourself in it? Then this is the one for you! Bought a book NEW during 2011? Then it counts for this category. Second-hand books do not count for this one, but, for those on book-buying bans, books bought for you as gifts or won in a giveaway also count.

    • Haven’t bought anything in 2011…yet! Wait for this one. :P
    • Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (bought January 9, 2011)
    • Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta (bought January 10, 2011)
  8. Mind the Gap.
    Need just one more book to compete that duology/trilogy/series then read it for this one! (Obviously as this is for that final book you need to complete it, then you can’t read two books from the same series! And it clearly can’t be your first or penultimate read!)
    Because not everyone reads a series in order, this is for the last book you need to read, not necessarily the last book in the series…

    • The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa
    • My Soul to Keep by Rachel Vincent
  9. Back in the Day.
    Re-read an old favourite or two for this category.

    • Will have to choose between a Sarah Dessen or a Jasper Fforde book, since I am planning to marathon their books as their new ones get released this year :)
  10. Way Back When.
    Read books that were published before you were born for this one, whether that be the day before or 100 years prior!

    • Emma by Jane Austen
    • Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll
  11. Slim-Pickings
    Got a novella you want to read? Then this one is the one for you! Any books between 90-150 pages count.

    • Rage by Jackie Morse Kessler
    • Reaper by Rachel Vincent

Of course, the books listed here can still change as the year goes on. Flexibility is the key to reading challenges, I figured.

Are you joining the TwentyEleven challenge? Or are you joining other challenges? Do share them so we can cheer each other on. :)

23 Thoughts on “TwentyEleven Challenge

  1. Tricia on January 5, 2011 at 8:31 pm said:

    Good luck with the challenges! I only challenged myself to only 70 books this year :)

    • Thanks Tricia! I don’t want to set a specific number for this year for a change, but I do hope I reach a hundred again. :)

  2. Good Luck, Tina! :)

  3. Wow what a great challenge! I joined to Steampunk and 2011 debut author challenge so far, but this makes me want to join another one. So very original categories. I really like the catetegory in which you read a novel recommended by a fellow blogger. Good luck with it:)

    • I’m not much of a Steampunk fan, but I should try reading that this year. I’d join the Debut Author Challenge, but there are too many books to list! Plus sometimes it takes forever for the debut authors’ books to get here.

  4. For those translated, why not try something by Gabriel Marquez? :) Or Jostein Gaarder?

    • I used to have Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder but I never finished it. I’ve never read Gabriel Marquez either. See how I’m such a book snob sometimes? :))

  5. I can think of a couple of classics which I think may have been originally written in French. Gaston Le Roux’s phantom of the Opera; Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame & Les Miserables; Jules Verne’s A Journey to the Center of the Earth; 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (a good read save for the many scientific talk which isn’t my bag) and Antoine De Saint Exupery’s The Little Prince (a personal favorite)
    This one’s originally in Spanish I think. Roberto Bolaño’s The Savage Detectives. :P

    This is a great challenge to start the year. Very unique. I normally don’t do fist pumps but I am going to make an exception. You can do this Tina! (Fist Pump) :P

    • I have a friend who’s a big big fan of Les Miserables. Maybe Phantom of the Opera would be a better choice, since I know there is a YA retelling of that book. Hmm I’ll think about it. :)

      Thanks for the fist pump and the suggestions, Tin! :)

      • There’s a YA retelling of Phantom? I’ll to look into that. I have seen snippets of the movie though with Gerard Butler as the phantom. I didn’t know he could sing :)
        And oh, I forgot to add Perfume by Patrick Suskind (originally written in German) I have heard a lot about this one and the story seems really interesting. And for a more recent book (2001) Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s Shadow of the Wind (Spanish) :P

        • Yes, there’s a retelling of Phantom – The Jumbee by Pamela Keyes. :) It’s available in Fully Booked.

          I saw copies of Perfume earlier, and I think some of my friends have read it and liked it too. I’ll note that. Shadow of the Wind – that too. But for this one, I think I’ll just borrow a copy from my friends. :D

  6. All of Tin’s suggestions are really good ones. Anything Haruki Murakami or Paolo Coelho should also be good.

    I also back up your choices of Ender’s Game and Howl’s Moving Castle. ^^v Also try anything Ursula Le Guin (she writes YA and adult fantasy and science fiction, best known for The Dispossessed, the Earthsea series, The Left Hand of Darkness).

    • I have one Haruki but it’s his running book. I have friends who are big fans of Haruki though, so maybe I can borrow from them. I am kind of afraid of his books though, it’s really not something I would read. :D

      I’ve seen Le Guin’s books in Fully Booked! There are good reviews on The Left Hand of Darkness, right?

      • It’s a really, really good take on gender issues on our own planet, by having a setup on a different planet. ^^

        A Wizard of Earthsea is a short (YA-level fantasy) book but also shows how most awesomely incredible she is.

        • Noted! I’ll look for a copy when I’m out of my self-imposed ban. Too many non-book related purchases recently (clothes, gadgets) that I need to stop buying books for a while. :P That, or I can find someone to lend me a copy instead. Hehe.

  7. For your Bablefish, I’d recommend one of the Haikasoru books (http://www.haikasoru.com/). They translate science fiction, fantasy and horror from Japan, and you can find a lot of their titles at Fully Booked (sometimes in the SFF section, sometimes with the manga). Some of their titles are YA friendly too. :)

  8. This seems to be a good challenge. You will be dared to read different book genre which I think is awesome. Good luck Tina! :)

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