03 July 2007

Wherein I sign up for another reading challenge ...


Because I apparently have a) no self-control, and b) so much spare time, I signed up for The Armchair Traveler Reading Challenge. The basic idea is to read six books between July 1 and December 1, 2007, that are either about traveling to an existing place, or where the place is an important aspect of the story. It just appealed to me, and since it's a six-month challenge, I thought I wasn't biting off more than I could chew by adding this one to the already mentioned Book Awards Reading Challenge. The Armchair Traveler rules say you can cross-list your choices with other challenges, but I decided to try reading different books than those I chose for the other challenge.

So, before I grab my poor, heel-less toe-up sock from the workshop on Sunday, and try to learn how to Pick Up The Wraps, here are the titles for my latest, ahem, reading adventure:

1. The Bookseller of Kabul, by Asne Seierstad (Afghanistan)

2. House of Spirits, by Isabel Allende (Chile)

3. Defending Baltimore Against Enemy Attack : a Boyhood Year During World War II, by Charles Osgood (Baltimore, Maryland, USA)

4. Suite Francaise, by Irene Nemirovsky (France)

5. Devil in the White City, by Eric Larson (Chicago, Illinois, USA)

6. In Sunshine or in Shadow, edited by Kate Cruise O’Brien and Mary Maher (Ireland)


The rules also allow for substitution, so here are those possibilities:

1. Two Towns in Provence, by M.F.K. Fisher (France)
2. Italian Backgrounds, by Edith Wharton (Italy)
3. Pictures from an Expedition, by Diane Smith (Montana, USA)
4. Coastliners, by Joanne Harris (France)
5. A Clearing in the Distance, by Witold Rybczynski (USA)
6. Rice Bowl Women, edited by Dorothy Blair Shimer (China)


(I'm not even going to mention the fact that I also have substitutions for my substitutions ...)

3 comments:

the wicked witch of the east said...

i do hope you get some of those done by the 21st madam, because as you're well aware, we are inching our way to a literary milestone... ;)

Anonymous said...

So, how many books can you read at a single time, my dear?

Anonymous said...

You've got some interesting choices there! That challenge did look good but....but...I've vowed no more challenges.

Substitutes for your substitutes....not to mention the books you actually read that aren't even on the radar right now.