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 Yesterday, I reviewed Resistance by Agnes Humbert, and I mentioned that this book should help stop future genocides. Well, history does repeat itself, as another one is currently happening in Darfur, Sudan. Natasha at Maw Books Blog has resolved to do something about Darfur, and has given us ways to get involved. Here is her post about her initiative for the month of September.
I’m going to commit to commenting on her posts throughout the month of September, in addition to writing this post. I also intend to pick up, read, and review some of Natasha’s suggestions, which she has listed right here.
It’s so easy to turn our heads and focus on our own problems, but something needs to be done. Natasha is willing to do her part; are you willing to help?
 I have read an unprecedented 12 books so far this month. Let’s just say my job didn’t start when I wanted it to. Fiance is visiting for a week starting tomorrow and then I expect to start working, but I’ve decided to up my challenge to 20 books. I’ve read so far:
- The Heartbreak Diet – Thorina Rose
- Bottomfeeder – Taras Grescoe
- Inda – Sherwood Smith
- Surviving Ben’s Suicide – C. Comfort Shields
- The Gunslinger – Stephen King
- When We Were Orphans - Kazuo Ishiguro
- My Antonia – Willa Cather
- Feather Man – Rhyll McMaster
- The Hollow Hills – Mary Stewart
- The Heretic’s Daughter – Kathleen Kent
- The Leper Compound – Paula Nangle
- The Deception of the Emerald Ring – Lauren Willig
So far, it’s been a good reading month. I hope it continues!
The Blue Archipelago is hosting The July Book Blowout, which sounds like a great idea, and I’m happy to participate! It’s hard to say how many books I will read – I am starting a new job and my favorite person, who I am lucky enough to call my fiance, is coming to visit for a week (yay!!), so I may have less reading time. Regardless, I’ve read 16 books this month, and I’d like to do the same next month, so I’m setting that as my goal. If I don’t get there, well, I’ll read some quick romances to round out the numbers. 
I’m not going to select the books out now, because my TBR pile is ever growing and I might want to pick something new up, and if any of my requested ARCs arrive, they’ll have to go up to the top. Just going to try to read everything I can!
It appears that I’m going to have a lot of time this summer until I leave for grad school in the fall. I haven’t managed to find a job, probably due to the economy and my location and my pesky sense of honesty about how long I’m going to be here, so I might as well embark on another challenge.
The 2008 Classics Challenge begins next month, on July 1st, and continues until December 31st. I don’t actually have that many unread classics, but I have enough for the rules of this challenge, which since I’m following option 1, are simple. I’m to read five classics, plus one “modern” classic of my choice, in the time given. My choices are:
My Antonia, Willa Cather
The Epic of Gilgamesh
The Mabinogion, Mair Jones
Adam Bede, George Eliot
Emma, Jane Austen
A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth (as my modern classic)
That last one may change – I have a lot of the modern classic options, so it depends more on what I feel like at the moment! I would like to read it though, so it’s on there for now. In addition, rereads are allowed, so I might actually decide to reread Jane Eyre or The Age of Innocence (my favorite books) just because I can, but we’ll see! I’m looking forward to reading these books.
On going through the lists for The Book Awards Challenge II, I realized that I really don’t read enough award winners. This is especially true considering some of the books on there are among my favorites. I also realized that I have 9 award winners on my unread pile (given that it is 100 books tall, this isn’t very many), so I think it is time to enroll in my first challenge.
The rules:
1. Read 10 award winners from August 1, 2008 through June 1, 2009.
2. You must have at least FIVE different awards in your ten titles.
3. Overlaps with other challenges are permitted.
4. You don’t have to post your choices right away, and your list can change at any time.
5. ‘Award winners’ is loosely defined; make the challenge fit your needs, keeping in mind Rule #2.
So I will be reading the 9 that I have, which means I will be acquiring one more award winner soon. Some of these books may have won multiple awards, but I am just listing the first that it came up under. The books are:
- Possession, A.S. Byatt, Man Booker Prize
- The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls, Alex Award
- Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich, Alex Award
- Quicksilver, Neal Stephenson, Arthur C. Clarke Award
- Lisey’s Story, Stephen King, Bram Stoker Award
- Eats, Shoots and Leaves, Lynne Truss, British Book Award
- A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth, Commonwealth Writers’ Prize
- On Beauty, Zadie Smith, Orange Prize
- Fugitive Pieces, Anne Michaels, Orange Prize
- The Inheritance of Loss, Kiran Desai, Man Booker Prize
Number 10 is fairly likely to change, considering I do not own it and I will probably read the other 9 first and see what I can pick up. Some of these books are in England, so I literally can’t read them until early October. Regardless, I think this challenge will be a great one and I am happy to participate.
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