I appreciate the way that the 2010 Challenge seems to draw attention to all our different sources for reading material. Did you buy it new? Did you buy it from a charity shop? Because a ‘net friend suggested it and something they said about it tipped the scales in its favour? Because you’d never heard anything about it at all but found something about it irresistible? Did you pick it up because it was for another reading challenge, or has it just been on your shelves so long that you can barely remember acquiring it? Has it just been published or was it published before you were born?

I  joined on April 9/2010 and with the exception of #8, which required books from other challenges, I managed to fill each segment’s requirements using books that weren’t already going towards another challenge (and, yup, that was a real challenge).

  1. Young Adult – Any book classified as young adult or featuring a teenage protagonist counts for this category.
    (1) Sherman Alexie –  The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007)
    (2) Joan Bauer – Squashed (1992)
  2. T.B.R. **– Intended to help reduce the old T.B.R. pile. Books for this category must be already residents of your bookshelves as of 1/11/09.
    (1) Jonathan Franzen – The Corrections (2001)
    (2) Nicola Beauman – A Very Great Profession (1983)
  3. Shiny & New Bought a book NEW during 2010 from a bookstore, online, or a supermarket? Then it counts for this category.
    Second-hand books do not count for this one…
    (1) Dionne Brand – Ossuaries (2010)
    (2) Shyam Selvadurai – Swimming in the Monsoon Sea (2005)
  4. Bad Blogger’s *** Ones you’ve picked up purely on the recommendation of another blogger count for this category
    (1) John McNally – After The Workshop 2010 (Sasha’s review; My review)
    (2) Sam Savage – The Cry of the Sloth 2010 (Nancy Pearl’s review; My review)
  5. Charity – Support your local charity shops with this category, by picking up books from one of their shops.
    (1) Jane Gardam – Going Into a Dark House (Oxfam Shop by a friend)
    (2) Suzette Mayr – Venous Hum (Friends of the Library)
  6. New in 2010 – Those books newly published in 2010 (whether it be the first time it is has been released, or you had to wait for it to be published in your country, it counts for this one!)
    (1) Andrea Levy – The Long Song (2010)
    (2) Gina Ochsner – The Russian Dreambook of Color and Flight (2010)
  7. Older Than You – Read two books that were published before you were born, whether that be the day before or 100 years prior!
    (1) Cicely Hamilton – William: An Englishman Persephone No. 1 (1919)
    (2) Arnold Bennet – Riceyman Steps (1923)
  8. Win! Win! Have a couple of books you need to read for another challenge? Then this is the category to use, as long that is, you don’t break the rules of the other challenge
    (1) Joan Barfoot – Dancing in the Dark (1982)
    (2) Hiromi Goto – Half World (2009)
  9. Who Are You Again? For those authors you have never even heard of before!
    (1) Andrew Kaufman – The Waterproof Bible (2010)
    (2) Monique RoffeyThe White Woman on the Green Bicycle (2009)
  10. Up to You! The requirements for this category are up to you! The only requirement is that you state it in your sign-up post.
    (1) Sherman Alexie – Reservation Blues (1995)
    (2) Sherman Alexie – Indian Killer (1996)