My 2015 reading challenge commitments

Aussie Author Challenge 2015In addition to committing to the 2015 Aussie Author Challenge at the Kangaroo level, I’m going to stretch myself a little further with the following challenges in 2015:

The Eclectic Reader Challenge 2015

(http://bookdout.wordpress.com/challenges/eclectic-reader-challenge-2015/)

eclecticreader15Okay, so I came two titles short of completing this 12 book category challenge in 2014 – the True Crime and Alternate History Fiction were my downfall. BUT this annual challenge is a great one for promoting diversity in your reading list (which is my overall goal this year) so I’m going to give it another crack in 2015.

The 12 categories nominated for this year are:

1. Retellings (of fairytale, legends or myth) – The Beast’s Garden by Kate Forsyth
2. A book set in a country starting with the letter S (eg. Sweden, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Slovakia) – The Room by Jonas Karlsson, Sweden
3. PI Crime (fiction featuring a private investigator) – Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic
4. A novel published before you were born – Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh
5. Contemporary romance – The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes
6. Fiction for foodies (fiction featuring food/food related business) – The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones
7. Microhistory (Non Fiction) – Longitude by Dava Sobel
8. Science Fiction set in space – The Void by Timothy S Johnston
9. Sports (Fiction or Non fiction) – The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
10. Featuring diversity – Wave by Hoa Pham
11. Epistolary Fiction (fiction written in the format of letters/emails/diary entries) – Martin Harbottle’s Appreciation of Time by Dominic Utton
12. Middle Grade/YA Adventure – Northern Lights (His Dark Materials Trilogy) by Philip Pullman

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2015 Audiobook Challenge

(http://thebooknympho.com/2014/12/sign-up-2015-audiobook-challenge/)

audio2015For a good year or two I listened to audiobooks almost religiously during my daily commute – I loved them. I’m not sure why my audiobook consumption dropped off in 2014, but it did, and my work commute just hasn’t been the same. A couple of technical issues may have been the catalyst for the decline, but those are now resolved.

I’m going to commit to the Stenographer level (can listen while multi-tasking, 10 – 15 audiobooks) and see how I go.

1. Cairo by Chris Womersley, narrated by Damien Warren-Smith
2. Present Darkness by Malla Nunn, narrated by Rupert Degas
3. The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes, narrated by Elizabeth Bower, Ben Elliot, Nicola Stanton, Steven France
4. In The Morning I’ll Be Gone by Adrian McKinty, narrated by Gerard Doyle
5. Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh, narrated by Robert Hardy
6. Resistance is Futile by Jenny T Colgan, narrated by Lucy Price-Lewis
7. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, narrated by Simon Vance & Vanessa Benjamin
8. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, narrated by Ian Holm
9. Under the Net by Iris Murdoch, narrated by Samuel West
10. Northern Lights (His Dark Materials Trilogy) by Philip Pullman, narrated by Philip Pullman (details)

2015 Non-fiction Reading Challenge

(http://www.theintrovertedreader.com/2014/12/2015-nonfiction-reading-challenge.html)

Nonfiction 2015Put simply I really need to read more non-fiction.

Whenever I find the time to read a biography or travel essays etc I really enjoy them but for some unknown reason they only rarely make it to the top of my reading pile.

I am going to commit at the Dilettante level (1-5 non-fiction books), and more specifically I am challenging myself to read at least 5 non-fiction titles.

1. What is The Business of Literature? by Richard Nash
2. Lion Attack! by Oliver Mol
3. Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
4. Longitude by Dava Sobel
5. A Short History of Stupid by Bernard Keane & Helen Razer

2015 Australian Women Writers Challenge

(http://australianwomenwriters.com)

aww-badge-2015This is another great initiative promoting the work of talented Australians and I’m committing to this challenge at the Miles level (6 books) as it forms the perfect subset to my Aussie Author Challenge review target.

1. Only the Animals by Ceridwen Dovey
2. Nanoparticles by Charlotte Wood
3. Trio by Geraldine Wood
4. Present Darkness by Malla Nunn
5. The Lost Swimmer by Ann Turner
6. The Trivia Man by Deborah O’Brien

With still half of the year remaining, decided to up the challenge to Franklin Level (10 titles) …

7. Wave by Hoa Pham
8. The Bit in Between by Claire Varley
9. The Beast’s Garden by Kate Forsyth
10. Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic
11. Good Money by J M Green
12. Olmec Obituary by LJM Owen

Back to the Classics Challenge 2015

(http://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/announcing-back-to-classics-challenge.html

backtotheclassics2015BUTTONClassics are another area I need to do better in. Just like non-fiction, when I find time to read a classics I normally enjoy it immensely, they just rarely make it to the top of my reading pile.

I am going to target completion of 6 of the 12 classic categories:

1. A 19th Century Classic
2. A 20th Century Classic
3. A Classic by a Woman Author – Under the Net by Iris Murdoch (1954)
4. A Classic in Translation – Farabeuf by Salvador Elizondo (1965)
5. A Very Long Classic Novel
6. A Classic Novella – The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
7. A Classic with a Person’s Name in the Title – The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)
8. A Humorous or Satirical Classic – Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh (1930)
9. A Forgotten Classic
10. A Nonfiction Classic
11. A Classic Children’s Book – The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
12. A Classic Play

I will add links to my reviews against these lists as they are completed.

Are you committing to any reading challenges for 2015?