Challenges

I created Booking in Heels a little late to join with most 2011 challenges, but I've more than made up for it for 2012! This page functions as kind of a master list for myself, but I've linked back to the original post for each one. I'll be updating this page as I progress.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Challenge

This is a challenge all of my very own! The plan is to read the original book for each character featured in the film above. You can find out more or sign up here!

So far in 2012, I've read:

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (Captain Nemo) by Jules Verne 
Dracula (Mina Harker) by Bram Stoker  Review here!
King Solomon's Mines (Allan Quatermain) by H. Rider Haggard Review here!
The Invisible Man (Rodney Skinner) by H.G. Wells Review here!
The Picture of Dorian Gray (duh) by Oscar Wilde
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde (also duh) by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Tom Sawyer) by Mark Twain
The Phantom of the Opera (The Phantom) by Gaston Leroux
The Final Problem (James Moriarty) by Arthur Conan Doyle 

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol.2 graphic novel. 

Mixing It Up Challenge

This is hosted by one of my favourite book bloggers - Ellie from Musings of a Bookshop Girl. The idea is to broaden your reading horizons by reading at least one book from each of the following categories. There are different levels of participation but I'm aiming for the full 16.

Classics Daughters of the Vicar by D.H. Lawrence
Biography
Cookery, Food and Wine Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
History An Utterly Exasperated History of Modern Britain by John O'Farrell
Modern Fiction Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Graphic Novels and Manga The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 2 by Alan Moore
Crime and Mystery Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie
Horror Dracula by Bram Stoker
Romance Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Science Fiction and Fantasy Reserved for the Cat by Mercedes Lackey
Travel
Poetry and Drama
Journalism and Humour Moranthology by Caitlin Moran
Science and Natural History
Children's and Young Adult Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez
Social Sciences and Philosophy The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson


You can sign up by clicking here.

Terry Pratchett Challenge

Ah, finally a simple challenge! This is hosted by Hannah over at Once Upon A Time and the basic idea is to set yourself a number of Discworld books to read... and then do so!

I'm going for seven books - that's not a lot, but is more than I usually read.

Hopefully, that'll turn out to be all of the Vimes books plus one or two more.

I've read 2 out of 7 books so far. 

1) Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
2) Snuff by Terry Pratchett

What's in a Name Challenge

I love fun challenges like this one! It's hosted by Beth Fish Reads and you can sign up by clicking here.

The idea is to read one book from each of the following categories - 

1. A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title: Black Hills, Purgatory Ridge, Emily of Deep Valley The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan
   
2. A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title: Moon Called, Seeing Stars, Cloud Atlas
   Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch
3. A book with a creepy crawly in the title: Little Bee, Spider Bones, The Witches of Worm
   Lord of the Flies by William Golding
4. A book with a type of house in the title: The Glass Castle, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Ape House
   Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut
   
5. A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title: Sarah's Key, The Scarlet Letter, Devlin Diary
   Red Glove by Holly Black
   
6. A book with a something you'd find on a calendar in the title: Day of the Jackal, Elegy for April, Freaky Friday, Year of Magical Thinking. 11.22.63 by Stephen King

 I'm on 6 books out of 6 right now.  

Telling Tales Challenge

This one is run by Bex at An Armchair by the Sea, and you can sign up here.

I've gone for Level 2 which means I have to read 10 books about fairytales, mythology or something similar by the end of 2012.

1) Reserved for the Cat by Mercedes Lackey (Puss in Boots)
2) Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright (Guess.)
3) The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines
4) Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story by Carolyn Turgeon


So far I've read 4 out of 10 books.


TBR Challenge
 

I know that everybody's signed up for this challenge, but hey, at least it's a useful one.  I have a TBR pile that contains more than a hundred books so my plan, as per the challenge, involved reading 50 books that I've owned since 2011 or before.

There are different levels of participation, but ideally I'd like half of everything I read in 2012 to be from this year or earlier.

I've currently read 32 books out of 50:

1) Rivers of London (Peter Grant series #1) by Ben Aaronovitch
2) Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie 
3) Daughters of the Vicar by D.H. Lawrence    
4) The Mozart Conspiracy by Scott Mariani 
5) Nemesis by Agatha Christie 
6) Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright 
7) The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy 
8) The Auschwitz Violin by Maria Angels Anglada 
9) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safron Foer
10) Dracula by Bram Stoker  
11) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol.2 by Alan Moore 
12) The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells 
13) Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut
14) Shopaholic & Sister by Sophie Kinsella
15) The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines 
16) The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho 
17) Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen 
18) Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine
19) Midnight Alley (Morganville Vampires series #3) by Rachel Caine 
20) Feast of Fools (Morganville Vampires series #4) by Rachel Caine 
21) The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender 
22) White Cat (Curseworkers series #1) by Holly Black 
23) Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
24) King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard
25) Bumped by Megan McCafferty 
26) Unnatural Issue (Elemental Masters series #7) by Mercedes Lackey
27) Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult 
28) Lord of Misrule (Morganville Vampires series #5) by Rachel Caine
29) The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas 
30) Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story by Carolyn Turgeon
31) Snuff by Terry Pratchett
32) Heroes of Olympus: The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan