Upcoming Challenges

You might have noticed this by now if you follow Becky's Book Reviews regularly. I can't resist a challenge. Seriously. Even if I have fifty books to read, if I see a new challenge...I'll increase my tbr pile because I just can't say no.

This Friday marks the beginning of MotherReader's 48 Hour Reading Challenge.

1. The weekend is June 8–10, 2007. Read and blog for any 48-hour period within the Friday-to-Monday-morning window. Start no sooner than 7:00 a.m. on Friday the eighth and end no later than 7:00 a.m. Monday. So, go from 7:00 p.m. Friday to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday... or maybe 7:00 a.m. Saturday to 7:00 a.m. Monday works better for you. But the 48 hours do need to be in a row.

2. The books should be about fifth-grade level and up. Adult books are fine, especially if any adult book bloggers want to play. If you are generally a picture book blogger, consider this a good time to get caught up on all those wonderful books you’ve been hearing about. No graphic novels. I’m not trying to discriminate, I’m just trying to make sure that the number of books and page counts mean the same thing to everyone.

3. It’s your call as to how much you want to put into it. If you want to skip sleep and showers to do this, go for it (but don’t stand next to me). If you want to be a bit more laid back, fine. But you have to put something into it or it’s not a challenge.

4. The length of the reviews are not an issue. You can write a sentence, paragraph, or a full-length review.

5. For promotion/solidarity purposes, let your readers know when you are starting the challenge with a specific entry on that day. When you write your final summary on Monday, let that be the last thing you write that day, so for one day, we’ll all be on the same page, so to speak.

6. Your final summary needs to clearly include the number of books read, the approximate hours you spent reading/reviewing, and any other comments you want to make on the experience. It needs to be posted no later than noon on Monday, June 11.

7. Sign up in today’s comments. You’re welcome to post the challenge on your site to catch the bloggers that come your way but don’t come mine. Point them to today’s post to sign up. On Friday, June 8, I’ll have a starting-line post where you can sign in to say you’re officially starting the challenge.

But this isn't my only challenge coming up...

I've signed up for two other challenges. Each with their own blog.

Book Awards Challenge

1. Read any 12 award-winning books from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008. Please look on the sidebar for eligible books from the Pulitzer, Booker, etc. prize lists. Also feel free to pick non-fiction books or other prize winners not listed.

EDIT: Any book from an author who has won the Nobel Prize for Literature will be accepted. However, at least SIX of your twelve books must be actual book prize winners.

2. Books may be cross-posted with other challenges.

3. You may post your challenge books just on your blog, or you may also contribute to this blog by giving your email address in a comment to this post. I will email you an invitation to be a contributor. Please write your email address in a manner similar to the following: janedoe AT hotmail DOT com. You must be a blogger member in order to contribute.

4. There will be prizes.

1st prize: 5 credits or in-stock books from paperbackswap.com
2nd prize: 3 credits or in-stock books from paperbackswap.com
3rd prize: 1 credit or in-stock books from paperbackswap.com

Everyone who completes 12 books for the challenge will be entered once into the drawing. For every book over 12 completed, you will receive one more chance for the prize. For example, if you complete 14 books, you will receive 3 chances.

5. Anyone may participate, but to be eligible for the prize, you must sign up by November 1, 2007. To participate in this blog, you must sign up before January 1, 2008.


Summer Reading Challenge is the other challenge I've joined. This challenge is a relaxed one. Each participant creates their own challenge. They are not competing against one another...they are simply motivating themselves to keep reading all summer long. And it's always fun to read other people's reviews. So I look forward to that. The goal of that one is to post an update on the blog each week sharing what you've read. If you want to join this challenge, you better hurry up. The deadline to sign up is June 7th!

I learned about both of these challenges through the wonderful blog of Amanda, A Patchwork of Books.