Herding Cats!

Here's another challenge I just have to join; it's based on a fantastic idea. Plus, this might just be the best reading challenge name, ever. May I present, 342,745 Ways to Herd Cats, OR tl;dr. The challenge is hosted by Bottle of Shine, and goes like this. Everyone submits a list of ten books they love. The list is compiled, and everyone reads four new books from the list. So, this challenge introduces us to other people's favorites.

It was a bit of a challenge putting the list together, but I've put together ten books I love. Without further adieu, my list is:

1. The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
2. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
3. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
4. Song of the Lark by Willa Cather
5. Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
6. White Teeth by Zadie Smith
7. Brick Lane by Monica Ali
8. Beloved by Toni Morrison
9. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
10. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

I'm all excited to go check out others' favorites.

Sunday Salon: The Challenge Bug

I have recently discovered the joy of reading challenges, and I've discovered that there are many, many more of them in the book blogger community than I'd ever thought. It all started with me signing up for a few reading challenges on Librarything. I started with the 50 Book Challenge: read fifty books in a calender year. The 50 book challenge was my gateway drug. I then joined the 888 Challenge: read eight books in each of eight categories. This was quickly followed by the Dewey Decimal Challenge and its cousin, the Library of Congress Classification challenge. These are more long-term projects that involve reading something from each number of the Dewey Decimal System, and each category in the LC catalog. As I've gotten more into blogging and visiting other people's blogs, I've discovered that there are loads of reading challenges out there. I've decided to join several more. This week I joined the RIP III challenge, hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings. This is the perfect seasonal challenge. It involves reading a certain number (you choose, 1, 2, or 4) of scary books between now and Halloween. I've joined the Book around the States Challenge, reading a book set in each state of the union plus DC. I've also got myself in line to join The Second Canadian Book Challenge: read thirteen books by Canadian authors by next July. I've also just discovered and plan to join up with 342,745 Ways to Herd Cats. This challenge requires every participant to compile a list of ten books they love. These lists are compiled into one giant reading list and every participant then reads four books that are new to them. There's a great long and eclectic list from which to choose. I've got several more challenges in the hopper too. I'd join all of them today, except I need to blog about each of them and five posts in a day by yours truly is a little bit much. You'll see much more blogging about reading challenges in the coming weeks. So, how about you? Are you involved in reading challenges? Which are your favorites? Want to pimp a challenge you're hosting? That's cool too; I'm always looking for new ones!