2011 South Asian Author Challenge

S. Krishna's Books is hosting this challenge this year.  Below are the rules.  This challenge is completely out of my comfort zone so I'm looking forward to the challenge!!


What books are eligible for the 2011 South Asian Challenge?

There are two ways for a book to qualify for the South Asian Challenge

1.A book must be by a South Asian author. For these purposes, South Asia includes the following countries: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and the Maldives. There are no limitations on what the book can be about.

2.A book must be about South Asia. In this case, it can be set in a South Asian country or be about South Asians living abroad. It can also be a biography or memoir of a South Asian, or of a non-South Asian traveling or working in South Asia. In this case, the author does not need to be South Asian, as long as the subject matter focuses on the region, peoples, or cultures in some way.

Any type book qualifies, as long as it meets one of the two guidelines above - a cookbook, short story or essay collection, travel guide, etc...AND if only part of a book is about South Asia it still qualifies.

Other guidelines:

•Everyone is encouraged to participate.

There are several levels of participation:

•South Asian Encounter - 1 book
•South Asian Wanderer - 3 books
•South Asian Explorer - 5 books
•South Asian Adventurer - 7 books
•South Asian Hero/Heroine - 10 books
•South Asian Guru - Over 10 books (you can set your own goal)

I'm looking to read 7 books for this challenge:

1. Brick Lane - Monical Ali
2. The 20th Wife - Indu Sundaresan
3. The Feast of Roses - Indu Sundaresan
4. The Splendor of Silence - Indu Sundaresan
5. Gifted - Nikita Lalwani
6. The Space Between Us - Thrifty M Umrigar
7. The Dowry Bride - Shobhan Bantwal

2011 War Through the Generations Challenge

I'm joining this challenge because it is so different from anything I've ever participated in before. This is forcing me to read a few books I probably would never have picked up before. I'm choosing to read three books about the Civil War era. All three books are fiction:

1. Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
2. Enemy Women - Paulette Jiles
3. Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier

2011 YA Reading Challenge

This challenge should be super easy for  me.  The majority of books that I currently read are YA. This challenge is hosted by Jamie loves YA and looks fun!  The rules are below:

1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate. Create a post about the challenge and link your challenge post up in the linky below.
--Non-Bloggers: Post your list of books in the comment section of the wrap-up post.
2. There are four levels:
--The Mini YA Reading Challenge – Read 12 Young Adult novels.
--The "Fun Size" YA Reading Challenge – Read 20 Young Adult novels.
--The Jumbo Size YA Reading Challenge – Read 40 Young Adult novels.
--The Mega size YA Reading Challenge – Read 50+ Young Adult novels.
3. Audio, eBooks, paper, re-reads all count.
4. No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.
5. The Challenge starts on January 1, 2011 and goes until December 31, 2011.

I'm looking to read at least 20 YA books, but could and most likely will read more:

1. Sarah, Plain and Tall - Patricia MacLachlan
2. Number the Stars - Lois Lowry
3. If I Stay - Gayle Forman
4.  What I Saw and How I Lied - Judy Blundell
5. Jellicoe Road - Melina Marchetta
6. Bitter End - Jennifer Brown
7. Fallout - Ellen Hopkins
8. I Heart You, You Haunt Me - Lisa Schroeder
9. But I Love Him - Amanda Grace
10. Hearts at Stake - Alyxandra Harvey
11. Fearscape - Simon Holt
12. Ruby Red - Krysten Gier
13. Forgive My Fins - Tera Lynn Childs
14. The Iron King - Julie Kagawa
15. Firespell - Chloe Neill
16. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs
17. Cloaked - Alex Flinn
18. Chain Reaction - Simone Elkeles
19. The Juliet Spell - Douglas Rees
20. Pretty Little Liars - Sara Shepard

ALL READ AND CHALLENGE COMPLETED!!

Historical Fiction Challenge 2011

The ladies at Historical Tapestry are hosting the 2011 Historical Fiction challenge.  Historical Fiction is actually what brought me back to reading after many years away and I'd like to read a bit more of this year then I've read in the past.  The rules are simple:

•Any kind of historical fiction is accepted (HF fantasy, HF young adult,...)

•You can overlap this challenge with others kind of challenges

•During these following 12 months you can choose one of the different reading levels:

1.Severe Bookaholism: 20 books

2.Undoubtedly Obsessed: 15 books

3.Struggling the Addiction: 10 books

4.Daring & Curious: 5 books

5.Out of My Comfort Zone: 2 books
The challenge will run from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2011.

I'll be joining at Level 3.  Here is my tentative list for 2011

• Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
• Memoris of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
• The Boyleyn Inheritance - Philippa Gregory
• Pope Joan - Donna Woolfolk Cross
• The Tea Rose - Jennifer Donnelly
• Forever Amber - Kathleen Winsor
• The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B - Sandra Gulland
• Here Be Dragons - Sharon Kay Penman
• The Kitchen Boy - Robert Alexander
• The Bronze Horseman - Paullina Simons

Review: Size 12 Is Not Fat

Title: Size 12 Is Not Fat
Author: Meg Cabot
Pages: 345
Rating: 4/5

HEATHER WELLS ROCKS!

Or, at least, she did. That was before she left the pop-idol life behind after she gained a dress size or two—and lost a boyfriend, a recording contract, and her life savings (when Mom took the money and ran off to Argentina). Now that the glamour and glory days of endless mall appearances are in the past, Heather's perfectly happy with her new size 12 shape (the average for the American woman!) and her new job as an assistant dorm director at one of New York's top colleges. That is, until the dead body of a female student from Heather's residence hall is discovered at the bottom of an elevator shaft.

The cops and the college president are ready to chalk the death off as an accident, the result of reckless youthful mischief. But Heather knows teenage girls . . . and girls do not elevator surf. Yet no one wants to listen—not the police, her colleagues, or the P.I. who owns the brownstone where she lives—even when more students start turning up dead in equally ordinary and subtly sinister ways. So Heather makes the decision to take on yet another new career: as spunky girl detective!

But her new job comes with few benefits, no cheering crowds, and lots of liabilities, some of them potentially fatal. And nothing ticks off a killer more than a portly ex-pop star who's sticking her nose where it doesn't belong . . . (megcabot.com)

I finished this one a few weeks ago and am just now getting around to writing the review.  This was actually my last read of 2010.  This is the second Meg Cabot book that I've read and I really really enjoyed it.  She is a wonderful author with a fun way with words.

Size 12 is Not Fat introduces readers to Heather Wells, a quirky ex pop star turned assistant dorm director.  Heather is full of energy, funny, and just plain suspicious of everyone around her.  Especially when several of the dorm residents are found dead in the elevator shafts.  I loved reading about Heather, and how she went about solving the mystery.  Plus, her relationship with her boss and landlord Cooper is a nice (looking) extra edition to the story.  I love how Heather swoons over him and he seems almost clueless.  It will be exciting to see where Cabot takes this relationship in the coming books. 

There are two more books written so far in this series: Size 14 is Not Fat Either and Big Boned.  I have both of these and dabbled with Size 14 but ended up getting distracted by other things and haven't gotten back to it.

All in all, I recommend these to readers who are looking for a light, fun read with a bit of mystery tossed in!

Memorable Memoirs Reading Challenge 2011

Melissa @ The Betty and Boo Chronicles is hosting this challenge for the second year in a row. Melissa states:

About the Challenge: If you enjoy reading memoirs or really haven't explored them as much as you'd like to, then this is the challenge for you. Anything that in your mind qualifies as a memoir will meet the challenge requirements. Letters, diaries, autobiographies, books on writing memoirs ... in my book, they all count as Memorable Memoirs. Books, e-books, audiobooks are all fine.

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2011. You can sign up anytime from now and throughout 2011, but don't start reading until January 1, 2011.

Requirements: It's up to you! I want this to be a fun and low-key challenge, yet one that will be worthwhile of your valuable reading time. If that means reading one memoir, that's great. If that means reading three dozen, even better. You decide what works for you. Overlaps with other challenges are more than fine ... even encouraged. :)

Write a post (or include your intention to participate in this along with other challenges) on your blog (if you don't have a blog, you can just leave a comment). Tell us how many Memorable Memoirs you're planning on reading. You don't need to list your books in advance, but if you want to, we'd love to see which ones you're thinking about. You can always change them later. (I'll create a list of possibilities based on some of my own memoir reading and that which participants did last year.)

For this challenge I would like to read ten memoirs.  I'm not sure if I'll get through all of them, but I have so many ones that sound amazing on my shelves that I couldn't pass them up.  Here's the list:

1. The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls
2. Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
3. The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch
4. A Girl Names Zippy - Havien Kimmel
5. The Color of Water - James McBride
6. Dewey - Vicki Myron
7. The Tender Bar - JR Moehringer
8. Falling Leaves - Adeline Yen Mah
9. Stolen Lives - Malika Oufkir
10. Breath, Eyes, Memory - Edwidge Danticat

Romance Reading Challenge 2011

Romance has never been a genre that I've really been tempted with but this is the year I'm expanding my horizons.  Therefore, I'm giving the romance challenge a try.  This challenge is hosted at The Bookworm.

1. "Romance" isn't limited to steamy Harlequin novels. There is a huge selection of books in this category such as contemporary romance, historical romance, romantic suspense and paranormal romance to name a few. As long as the story has romantic love between the two main characters your selection will fit this challenge. The novels do not need to have a happy ending either, there can also be unrequited love.

2. Choose at least 5 novels to read. You can change your choices at any time. Crossovers between other challenges are fine.
3. Read them at your own pace in 2011 then post the link to your review(s).

My book choices for 2011 include:

• Forgive My Fins: Tera Lynn Childs
• Chain Reaction: Simone Elkeles
• Welcome to the Great Mysterious - Lorna Landvik
• The Juliet Spell - Douglas Rees
• But I Love Him - Amanda Grace

ALL READ AND CHALLENGE COMPLETED