Sunday Salon: Reading, Read, To Read #38

Happy Sunday everyone! I've been thinking about challenges--reading challenges that is--lately. Thinking about which ones I want to host next year, and which ones I'd be happy to let go. And of course, that leads me to think about which ones I want to join next year. What makes a reading challenge special? What factors make a challenge so enjoyable that they become a "must" for participants. The thing is I don't think these "factors" can be replicated. I don't think there's any one perfect way to host a challenge. (Though if Carl wanted to teach a class on how to be a perfect host, I'd be ready to sign up.) So I'm asking you what makes you enthusiastic about a challenge? What can the host do to keep you motivated? Other than giving away things, I mean. (Most of the time giveaways hold little sway over whether or not I join a challenge or finish a challenge. I know that they can be great fun though. It's just that I like reading as its own reward.)

I probably should ask you which challenges you want to see return for the 2010 season. But there are some that I've just lost interest in so completely that I wouldn't want to bother with hosting anymore. The two that I have NOT lost interest in are the 18th and 19th Century Women Writers Reading Challenge and the It's The End of the World challenge. Would anyone be interested in continuing the 42 Challenge??? I'll probably start a poll in the sidebar.

One thing going on in the bloggy world that I hope to take part in....is Rebecca's idea for a Dead Author Blog Tour. Since she mentioned it last Monday, I've been thinking and thinking about it. How much fun it would be. How much I would LOVE to see this happen.

Movies this week:
Steel Magnolias

What I read in a previous week, but reviewed this week:

Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs. 1914. 262 pages.
Outlaw: The Legend of Robin Hood: A Graphic Novel. 2009. Tony Lee, Sam Hart, Artur Fujita. Candlewick Press. 160 pages.
Ash by Malinda Lo. 2009. Little, Brown. 272 pages.

What I read this past week and reviewed:

The Indigo Notebook by Laura Resau. 2009. Random House. 336 pages.
Gifted: Out of Sight, Out of Mind. Marilyn Kaye. 2009. Kingfisher. 229 pages.
Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse by Victor Gischler. 2008. 324 pages. Simon & Schuster.
Vampire A Go-Go by Victor Gischler. 2009. Simon & Schuster. 338 pages.

What I read this past week and haven't reviewed yet:

The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong. 2009. HarperCollins. 357 pages.

What I've read and really, really need to review:

The Other Mr. Darcy by Monica Fairview. 2009. Sourcebooks. 327 pages.

What I'm currently reading:

A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
Twilight of Avalon by Anna Elliott
Rampant by Diana Peterfreund
Vampire Kisses: The Beginning by Ellen Schreiber
Monsters And The Curse of Frankenstein by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler
Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez

What I'm just fooling around that I'm reading:

Going Bovine by Libba Bray
The Highwayman's Footsteps by Nicola Morgan
Putting the Amazing Back Into Grace by Michael Horton
The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope

What I've abandoned:


© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews