Canadian Book Challenge 4
Final status,  52/13
I read about half of the 13 books recommended by Aritha van Herk, contemporary Canlit classics, and I’m glad I included this as part of the challenge because it kept me reading books that I wouldn’t have naturally taken reading time for. And I’ve also joined the…

Canadian Book Challenge 5
…which launched July 1st, so I’m look forward to reading the rest of Aritha van Herk’s recommendations as part of it! I’d actually almost finished Icefields when the fourth challenge rounded up, and loved it, so the fifth challenge is off to a great start already for me.
In process status, 7/13

  1. Thomas Wharton’s Icefields (1995)
  2. Louise Penny’s Dead Cold (2006)
  3. Louise Penny’s The Cruellest Month (2007)
  4. Four books in Jeff Smith’s Bone series (1991 onward)

How likely is it that I’ll complete this challenge? I’d bet all my books on it.

Foodie’s Reading Challenge
In process status, 2/12

What’s wrong with me? Am I too busy eating to read about eating?

Well, an extra ten pounds that I’ve become intimately acquainted with in the past few months might lead you to think so.

But, really, my lack of foodie reading seems to be more to do with obsessions in other reading areas, rather than a sudden lack of enjoyment in response to one of my favourite subjects! And, so, I’ve only read 2, even though my stack of options is teetering.

  1. Massimo Marcone’s Acquired Tastes (2010)
  2. Agnes Jekyl’s Kitchen Essays (1922)

How likely is it that I’ll complete? About as likely as it is that I’ll shed those ten pounds by year-end!

The GLBTQ Reading Challenge
In process status 7/15

Somewhere in the middle of the year I slowed down here because I’d been stuck on the idea of exploring authors that are new to me. But I really want to make time for a couple of favourite authors too (like Timothy Findley), so I’m going to do that and then go back to looking for some more “new” GLBTQ works to add to my list.

  1. Sarah Leavitt’s Tangles (2010)
  2. Billeh Nickerson’s McPoems (2010)
  3. Darren Greer’s Still Life with June (2003)
  4. Anthony Bidulka’s Amuse Bouche (Russell Quant #1, 2003)
  5. Kathleen Winter’s Annabel (2010)
  6. Tomson Highway’s Kiss of the Fur Queen (1998)
  7. Rose Tremain’s Sacred Country (1992)

How likely is it that I’ll complete? Nearly halfway at halfway through the reading year: good chance!

Heroine’s Bookshelf Challenge
In process status 2 /5

What could be better than reading for the heroine quotient? Not much. And both the books that I chose to read for this challenge had very different heroines. Admittedly, I am more fond of Maya Angelou’s biography (so fond that the remaining books in the series were immediately added to my TBR list), but Frankie Landau Banks would make some other reading girl a fantastic heroine I’m sure.

  1. Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969)
  2. E. Lockhart’s The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (2008)

Will I heroine-ically complete this challenge? Well, I’ve been in the middle of Beloved for more than ten years now, but this might be the challenge that gets that bookmark moving again!

POC Reading Challenge
In process status 12/25

As with the GLBTQ Challenge, I was aiming to choose authors new to me for this challenge, but I’m going to include a couple of favourites in this category mid-year too (Shani Mootoo and M.G. Vassanji, I’m looking at you!), and then I’ll move back into exploring territory.

  1. Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake
  2. Adwoa Badoe’s Between Sisters
  3. Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
  4. Thomas King’s Truth and Bright Water
  5. Lola Shoneyin’s The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives (2010)
  6. Tomson Highway’s Kiss of the Fur Queen (1998)
  7. Leila Aboulela’s Lyrics Alley (2010)
  8. Tishani Doshi’s The Pleasure Seekers (2010)
  9. Wendy Law-Yone’s The Road to Wanting (2010)
  10. Roma Tearne’s The Swimmer (2010)
  11. Anita Rau Badami’s Tamarind Mem (1996)
  12. Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie’s Aya de Yopougon (2005)

Chances of my completing this challenge? If I include a few favourites alongside new-to-me authors, it’ll be a snap. (Which makes me think of Aya’s recipe for Ginger Juice!)

I chose fewer challenges this year and I think my reading pace has slackened slightly because of it. But I’ve read so many great books that I’ve no right to complain.

Thanks to all the hosts and participants who make these so much fun!

How are you doing with your reading challenges this year?
Or, if you are all about your own reading lists this year, how’s that working out for you?