So Many Challenges, So Little Focus!

This morning, I finally got around to reading all of my Bloglines subscription-feeds. And, upon reading Wendy's "A Novel Challenge" blog posts, I've discovered a ton of new & interesting challenges -- blogger BOOK challenges, to be exact! -- for the 2008 reading year!

The two that caught my eye, most definitely, were:

* the 2008 Themed Reading Challenge

and

* the 8 Books in 8 Categories in 2008 Challenge!

Then, of course, there's my very own TBR Challenge, which will be continued in 2008 (year 2!). Changes are in the making for that group / challenge, but they're not huge... the best one being that anyone will be able to join, any time throughout the year -- no more "cut-off-date"! :-D

I also have personal challenges in mind:

• trying to read a few Classics (again)


• catching up / keeping up with my Reviewing
  (I have a great deal of books on that pile, waiting to-be-read!)


• attempting to keep reading my OWN books, instead of those from the library

Now, my *problem* with all of these wonderful challenges is that... I have very little FOCUS. I seem unable to pile so much upon myself, as I get overwhelmed, and then don't complete ANY of them!

Like this year (2007), for example...

I started my TBR Challenge to knock off some books on my TBR mountain that had been calling to me for way too long! The challenge is to read 12 TBR books, one each month. How many have I read so far? Only 3. [hangs head in shame] :-(

I joined in on the Classics Challenge earlier in the year, thinking I'd finally get around to reading some of the books in that category... I've been collecting the "Classics", after all, swearing that I'd read most of them some day! And, I read only 2, out of the 5 on my list. The other 3 are still sitting on the top of my bookshelf, staring at me, saying "Why haven't you read us yet? You said you were going to!"

I joined the Chunkster Challenge ... and, surprisingly!, I finished it! Mind you, I only chose to read 2 books for that challenge... but I did it! (Luckily, they were both books on my TBR Challenge list, as well!) I finally read "Middlemarch" by George Eliot, and "Envy" by Sandra Brown! Yay!

Then I created yet another challenge: Christian Genre Challenge (and, thankfully -- knock-on-wood -- I'm doing okay with it, so far!)

So, the question of the day is, "DO I DARE SIGN UP FOR THESE NEW CHALLENGES? JUST A COUPLE OF THEM?!"

Part of me screams "Nooooooo!" (I've been frustrated this year by not having the "freedom" to just read what I want from my shelves... just for the heck of it --- which brings to mind the fact that I should really join in on the just4thehelluvit challenge! LOL)

But, another part of me just cannot resist a new challenge ... especially when it's book-related! I want to try! I want to take part, and be included! LOL

What to do? What to do?

Guess I'll have to "chew" on this one for a while... ;-)

Almost Overwhelmed With Reading!

I am almost overwhelmed by the amount of reading I'm telling myself to do this year... or, that I've *challenged* myself to take on. LOL

Here are the books that I desperately want/need to get to in the next 12 months:

REVIEW BOOKS "TBR" (to be read):

1. Saving Alice - David Lewis


2. The Secret Life of Becky Miller - Sharon Hinck


3. Mozart's Sister - Nancy Moser


4. How to Make Peace With Your Mom - H. Norman Wright


5. River Rising - Athol Dickson


6. Letter Perfect - Cathy Marie Hake


7. A Woman's Place - Lynn Austin


8. Generation NeXt Parenting - Tricia Goyer


9. Across the China Sky - C. Hope Flinchbaugh


10. Jesus: An Intimate Portrait... - Leith Anderson


11. Reclaiming Nick - Susan May Warren


12. Things We Once Held Dear - Ann Tatlock


13. Freefall - Kristen Heitzmann

F2F BOOK CLUB "TBR":

• FEBRUARY: Moloka'i by Alan Brennert


• MARCH: The Birth House by Ami McKay
*DNF*

• APRIL: [--not reading this month's selection--]


• MAY: Abide With Me by Elizabeth Strout


• JUNE: Snow Flower & the Secret Fan by Lisa See

2007 TBR CHALLENGE:

ORIGINAL 12:

1. Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone (book 1) - J.K. Rowling


2. Middlemarch - George Eliot [C, CH]


3. The Wise Woman - Christian Jacq


4. Passage - Connie Willis


5. The Surgeon - Tess Gerritsen


6. Premonition - Randall Ingermanson


7. Shadow Baby - Ami Mcghee


8. Envy - Sandra Brown [CH]


9. Bethesda - Paul A. Nigro


10. The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde


11. Deja Dead - Kathy Reichs


12. The Tea Rose - Jennifer Donnelly

** C means this is also on my Classics Challenge list.
** CH means this is also on my Chunkster Challenge list.

ALTERNATES:

• Messy Spirituality - Mike Yaconelli


• Inkspell - Cornelia Funke


• How To Be Good - Nick Hornby


• Flabbergasted - Ray Blackston


• The Rule of Four - Caldwell/Thomason


• Deep In the Valley - Robyn Carr


• Dying Declaration - Randy Singer


• Double Vision - Randall Ingermanson


• The #1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith


• If I Had You - Deborah Bedford


• Her Daughter's Eyes - Jessica Barksdale Inclan


• The Codex - Douglas Preston


• Preparing Your Son for Every Man's Battle - Stephen Arterburn


• The Empress File - John Sandford

** NOTE: I had 24 Alternates here, but I removed the ones that were *extra* because our Challenge group has decided to allow only 15 Alternates. ;o)

So, as you can see, that's a LOT of reading! Mind you, the "Alternates" list for the TBR Challenge is a list of "possibilities"... I don't presume to get them ALL read this year. They're there in case one of my original 12 doesn't suit my tastes at the time that I pick it up. I could also read my Alternates on top of my original 12 -- as sort of "extra credit" (even though they don't count for the Challenge prizes -- but, I'm not "eligible" for the prizes, anyhow! :-P).

Lastly, below, are my books for the Classics Challenge:

1. The Aspern Papers - Henry James


2. Middlemarch - George Eliot


3. A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle


4. Persuasion - Jane Austen


5. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

I finished "The Aspern Papers" last night. So, one down, and four more to go!

I'm really anxious, though, to get to my Review books. They've been put on hold since before Christmas, and I feel really badly about that. They need to get read -- they're basically "top priority" to me, right now. As soon as I'm finished reading "Middlemarch" (and I'm just over halfway through now), I'll be starting in on those Review books!