Announcing the Winners - Birth Year Reading Challenge 2020

I'm sure I'm not the only person to be happy to see 2020 in the rearview mirror! What an unusual year it was: lots of disruption, which provided lots of opportunities along the spectrum from, I don't know, sliding into a mush of inertia to remaking one's life completely. Here's hoping many good things come out of the great big global reset we have all experienced.

And now, without further ado . . . Congrats to the winners who persevered in their reading! 

PRIZES

These intrepid readers met their reading goals and will be choosing a nice used book from my library. (Finishers, you should have received an e-mail from me with the book list. If not, please let me know!)

Bev of My Reader's Block (6 candles)

Carolyn of Riedel Fascination (9 candles)

Jamie of Whatever I Think Of! (3 candles)

Neer of A Hot Cup of Pleasure (11 candles)

Hooray to each of you, and thank you for participating!

GRAND PRIZE

As the top 3 finishers, Neer, Carolyn, and Bev went into the random generator and Carolyn was chosen to receive a $25 gift card from Amazon. Congratulations, Carolyn! Now you can add to your already extensive home library! 

BARNBURNER PRIZE

Neer outpaced everyone by reading 11 books from her father's birth year (1940) in celebration of his 80th birthday! She'll be receiving a surprise prize package selected especially for her. Congratulations, Neer! 

Thank you to everyone who participated! I hope you had fun, despite my lack of attention to timely posting your updates. 

The Birth Year Reading Challenge will be on hiatus in 2021 while I deal with some personal chaos related to house repairs. Please think of it fondly! 

Challenges Update

Not just reading challenges: life challenges need an update as well.  

The day after Christmas I had a house fire. Fortunately, I was home at the time. The fire department arrived promptly and the damage was confined to a relatively small area. The firemen did a fantastic job of not inundating the books with water but believe me, you never want to see them unspooling a fire hose through your front door!

Most of the house survived and appears normal, but the electricity and water are turned off and some pretty big repairs are needed. I am staying with Kayak Guy, who is great in a crisis. Three of 4 cats are with me and seem to be fine. Missy is still missing. She is a former feral and I suspect she has gone into full survival mode. There is no sign of her in the area, but I haven't given up hope of locating her.

All this to say, I am seeing your comments but it may be some time before I can blog the updates and details. I will try to do it this weekend, but I can't make any promises because the things that need my attention change from day to day. 

If you would like an extension to finish things up, please consider it granted. Let's say January 15th.

Let's also say good-bye to this crazy and tragic year and hello to better days in 2021. 

Please love the people and creatures and things you love fiercely and keep your priorities straight. You never know when things may change.  

Happy New Year, everyone!

Birth Year Reading Challenge 2020 - Progress & Reviews

Welcome! This is where we track the sign-ups and the candles for the 2020 version of the Birth Year Reading Challenge. (Review the rules here.) It's going to be fun!

Please keep me updated on how you're doing (reviews and reactions would be nice, even if just 1-2 sentences). I'll post your progress and light your candles as quickly as possible.

Note: Sign-ups closed March 1, 2020.  

Bev of My Reader's Block (sign-up: 1947) (6 candles) Completed
1. Silver Wings for Vicki - Helen Wells (review)
2. Chinese Nightmare - Hugh Pentecost (review)

3. By Hook or by Crook - Anthony Gilbert (review)

4. The Whispering Death - Roy Vickers (review) 

5. The Clue of the Runaway Blonde/The Clue of the Hungry Horse - Erle Stanley Gardner (review)

6. Vicki Finds the Answer - Helen Wells (review)

Carolyn of Riedel Fascination (sign-up: 2011) (9 candles) Completed

1. From Warsaw to Winnipeg: A Tale of Two Cities - Stefan A. Carter (review)

2. Ghosts of the Titanic - Julie Lawson (review)

3. Stories I Only Tell My Friends - Rob Lowe (review)

4. The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern (review)

5. A Trick of the Light - Louise Penny (review)

6. Thank You Notes - Jimmy Fallon (review)

7. Sleight of Paw - Sofie Kelly (review)

8. The Cat, the Lady, and the Liar - Leann Sweeney (review)

9. The Haunting - Alan Titchmarsh (review)

Jamie Ghione of Whatever I Think Of! (sign-up: 1971) (3 candles) Completed

1. Go Ask Alice - Anonymous

2. The Planet of Junior Brown - Virginia Hamilton

3. Then Again, Maybe I Won't - Judy Blume

Neer of A Hot Cup of Pleasure (sign-up in comments here: 1940) (11 candles) Completed

1. Aunt Beardie - Joseph Shearing (review)

2. A Scream in Soho - John Brandon (review)

3. You'll be Surprised - Peter Cheyney (review)

4. The Grassleyes Mystery - E.P. Oppenheim (review)

5. Sweet Poison - Rupert Penny (review)

6. The Dogs and the Wolves - Irene N (review)

7. Deadly Nightshade - Elizabeth Daly (review)

8. Miss Hargreaves - Frank Baker (review)

9. The 24th Horse - Hugh Pentecost (review)

10. They Don't Dance Much - James Ross (review)

11. The Man Who Could Not Shudder - John Dickson Carr (review) 

Birth Year Reading Challenge 2020

NOTE: Sign-ups for this challenge closed March 1, 2020.

Welcome! The Birth Year Reading Challenge returns for another year!

What makes this challenge different from the others out there? In a word: PRIZES! Here at the Hotchpot Cafe, everybody wins.

Special thanks to Steven Depolo for permission to use his photo.

BIRTH YEAR READING CHALLENGE

What books were published the year you were born? This challenge encourages you to find out, and then read some of them. You might even draw some conclusions about what was going on in the literary world that year.

Wikipedia and GoodReads.com have lists of books by year published. Literary prize lists are a great source, and searching “best books of ______” will also give you interesting results.

Ready to join? Leave a comment and/or a link to your post, with your reading list. I promise no snarky comments will be made about your age.

RULES

1. Join anytime before March 1, 2020. The challenge ends at midnight EST on December 31, 2020.

2. If you're a prior participant in the BYRC and have already mined out the books from your birth year, you may substitute the birth year of a close family member as your year of choice. One year per participant per challenge, please.

3. Books may come from your TBR pile or list, but they don’t have to.

4. Overlaps with other challenges are allowed and encouraged.

5. Change your book list at any time.

6. Reviews and reactions are encouraged, but you don’t need to have a blog to participate.

7. All genres and formats are eligible. If it’s a book, it counts. But for the book to count toward the Grand Prize and the Barnburner Prize, it must be 100 or more pages long.

8. One candle is awarded for each qualifying book you read. There is no limit on how few or how many candles you can earn.

9. Candles will be tracked at a “Progress & Reviews page,” linked in the sidebar.

10. After you sign up, tell your friends! A sign-up post on your own blog would be very nice. Feel free to borrow the button for display on your blog, also.

PRIZES

When you meet your reading goal, you can select a book from my library – most likely an ex-library hardcover or a gently used trade paperback (a list will be provided) – and I’ll mail it to you. But keep reading because . . .

GRAND PRIZE

On January 1, 2021, the three readers who’ve earned the most candles will be entered into a drawing to win a $25 gift card from Amazon. You can be the kid in the candy store, and I can be the parent who foots the bill!

BARNBURNER PRIZE

The reader with the most candles on January 1, 2021, will receive a special customized prize package tailored to their reading interests.

Are you in? I hope so! Please sign up by leaving a message in the comments, with your reading list or link.

Announcing the Winners! - Birth Year Reading Challenge 2019

New year, new challenges, and all that jazz -- but first: it's time to announce the winners from the 2019 Birth Year Reading Challenge!

PRIZES

These intrepid readers met their reading goals and will be choosing a nice used book from my library. (Finishers, you should have received an e-mail from me with the book list. If not, please let me know!)

Jamie at Whatever I Think Of! (3 candles)

Neer, whose home is on Goodreads (5 candles)

Bev at My Reader's Block (7 candles)

Hooray to each of you, and thank you for participating!

GRAND PRIZE

Although she didn't complete her goal, Keslei at Snapshots of an Average Life (6 candles) joined the other 2 top finishers, Neer and Bev, for this drawing. Neer was chosen at random to receive a $25 gift card from Amazon. Congratulations, Neer!

BARNBURNER PRIZE

For reading 7 books from her mom's birth year (1947), Bev at My Reader's Block will be receiving a surprise prize package selected especially for her. Well done and congratulations, Bev!

Thank you to everyone who participated! I hope you had fun, and I invite you to sign up for the Birth Year Reading Challenge again in 2020. Sign-ups will be open until March 1, 2020.

Catching Up

And here we go! Lots of things are in play throughout my life right now, so here's another of those list-intensive posts . . . .

1. The reading challenges I'm hosting for 2019 are now closed. I think I'm caught up with everyone's sign-ups and books read so far. If you don't see yourself and your books, please give me a shout.

2. Prizes from 2018 are gathered and being posted soon. If you're a winner, I'll let you know when I actually make it to the post office.

3. Since my last post I landed a fabulous new job with a law firm and finished my first week this past week. Yay, me! I will miss doing water advocacy, and the fabulous people I got to work with on a daily basis for a supremely important cause. (I plan to keep volunteering, though.) After the semester ends, I suspect I will also miss teaching. BUT the new job pays more than the other 3 jobs combined, and comes with a generous benefits package. Ultimately, I had to make a practical decision . . .  and I was recruited by a good friend who's worked there several years and loves it. That made it especially difficult to resist.

4. Thanks to #3, I expect to recover my weekends -- rather than spending them getting ready for juggling 3 sets of responsibilities during the week to come. That should mean more time for outdoor fun, reading, and even blogging. We'll see if that holds!

5. Meanwhile, baseball season has started with the local college team. And my wild yard is producing multitudes of volunteer flowers with no prompting whatsoever from me. I'm even going to enter it into a contest for the most "river-friendly" yard, meaning no fertilizer, pesticides, watering, or other interventions. That makes it easy on Mother Nature and the river, as well as on the local wildlife large and small.

Life is good!

Thanks for your patience with my sporadic check-ins. I'll see you again soon! 

Announcing the Winners! - Birth Year Reading Challenge 2018

Goodbye to 2018 and hello to our winners in the 2018 Birth Year Reading Challenge! Congratulations to all!

PRIZES

These dedicated readers met their reading goals and will be choosing a nice used book from my library, to add to their 2019 (or whenever) TBR piles. (Winners: check your e-mail and if you haven't heard from me, please send me an e-mail at hotchpotcafe [at] gmail.com so I can send you the book list.)

Jamie at Whatever I Think Of!

Neer at A Hot Cup of Pleasure

Keslei at Snapshots of an Average Life 

Carolyn at Riedel Fascination

Darlene at Darlene's Book Nook

Well done, all!

If you met your reading goal but haven't gotten full credit on the progress page, please provide an update in the comments on that page. Then you too can receive a copy of the prize list and choose a new-to-you book.

GRAND PRIZE

Of the top 3 finishers, Jamie at Whatever I Think Of! was the lucky reader selected to receive a $25 gift card from Amazon. Congratulations, Jamie!

BARNBURNER PRIZE

For reading a whopping 30 books from her birth year (25 of which qualified by being over 100 pages), Keslei at Snapshots of an Average Life will be receiving a surprise prize package selected especially for her. Congratulations, Keslei!

Thank you to everyone who participated! I hope you had fun, and I invite you to sign up for the Birth Year Reading Challenge again in 2019! Sign up here anytime before March 1, 2019.

Birth Year Reading Challenge 2018 - My Wrap-Up

Aaaaand done! I finished early this year, perhaps because the books I chose included two books of poetry that made enjoyable reading and a third book that I couldn't wait to finish, and not in a good way.

Pablo Neruda remains one of my favorite poets (review). He captures an incredible amount of emotion with his startling imagery.

Denise Levertov has a fine ear for meter and a sharp eye for observation (review). I prefer poems that are slightly more concrete, where it's not so difficult to understand what's happening -- but that's just me.

Saul Bellow? No thanks! I've said all I'm going to say about that (review).

I'm not eligible for any prizes because this is my own challenge, but rest assured I've been buying myself little gifts, as I always do, during the holiday shopping.

I'll definitely be hosting the Birth Year Reading Challenge next year, too. It's a fun one!

Birth Year Reading Challenge 2019 - Progress & Reviews

Welcome! This is where we track the sign-ups and the candles for the 2019 version of the Birth Year Reading Challenge. (Review the rules here.) It's going to be fun!

Please keep me updated on how you're doing (reviews and reactions would be nice, even if just 1-2 sentences). I'll post your progress and light your candles as quickly as possible.

Note: Sign-ups are now closed.   

Jamie Ghione of Whatever I Think Of! (sign-up: 1971) - 3 candles (completed!)
1. Journey to Topaz - Yoshiki Uchida (review)
2. That Was Then, This is Now - S.E. Hinton (review)
3. Maigret and the Informer - Georges Simenon (review)

Bev of My Reader's Block (sign-up: 1947) - 7 candles (completed!)
1. Final Curtain - Ngaio March (review)
2. Murder at the Mardi Gras - Elisabet M. Stone (review)
3. Dr. Fell, Detective & Other Stories - John Dickson Carr (review)
4. And Hope to Die - Richard Powell (review)
5. The Fate of the Immodest Blonde - Patrick Quentin (review)
6. The Restless Corpse - Alan Pruitt (review)
7. The Bells of Old Bailey - Dorothy Bowers (review)

Beverly Baird of Bunny's Girl (sign-up: Year?)

Amy Edge of Grateful Crafter (info to follow)

Unknown (info to follow)

Jaymi Couch of Orange County Readers (sign-up: 1973)

Goldmoon of Quattro Passe Sulle Nuvole (sign-up: Year?) - 1 candle
1. The Princess Bride - William Goldman (1973) (review)

Keslei of Snapshots of an Average Life (sign-up: 1988) - 7 candles
1. Coming of Age in the Milky Way - Timothy Ferris (496 pages) (review)
2. The Third Magic - Welwyn Wilton Katz (218 pages) (review)
3. The Horsegirl - Constance Ash (232 pages) (review)
4. Storeys from the Old Hotel - Gene Wolfe (331 pages) (review)
5. Batman: The Killing Joke - Alan Moore and Brian Bollard (64 pages) (review)
6. The Psychology of Everyday Things - Donald A. Norman (257 pages) (review)
7. When the Tripods Came - John Christopher (240 pages) (review)

Neer of A Hot Cup of Pleasure (sign-up: 1940) - 5 candles (completed!)
1. Dusky Night - Victor Bridges (review)
2. House of Hatred - Victor Bayley (review)
3. All is Vanity - Josephine Bell (review)
4. The Wagoner's Halt Mystery - Michael Poole (review)
5. The Crimes of Laura Sarelle - Joseph Shearing (review)

Bernice Hopper at Newly Creative (sign-up: 1949)

Dominique Marie at Mique Reads (sign-up: 1983)

Lindsey at Pages of Learning (sign-up in comments: Year?)

Unknown (info to follow)

Kaila-Marie (sign-up: 1996)

Chelle3230 (list here: Year?)

Peggy PurplePenmore (list here: Year?)

Dimple Malhotra of Enthralling Dimple (list here: Year?)

Amy (list here: 1998)

Carolyn at Riedel Fascination (sign-up: 1973) - 4 candles
1. The Mystery in Dracula’s Castle - Vic Crume (review)
2. Masquerade in Venice - Velda Johnston (review)
3. A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax - Dorothy Gilman (review)
4. The Secret of Devil’s Cave -  Jennifer Hale

Birth Year Reading Challenge 2019

NOTE: Sign-ups for this challenge are now closed.

Here we go again! The Birth Year Reading Challenge returns for another year!

What makes this challenge different from the others out there? In a word: PRIZES! Here at the Hotchpot Cafe, everybody wins.

Special thanks to Steven Depolo for permission to use his photo!

BIRTH YEAR READING CHALLENGE

What books were published the year you were born? This challenge encourages you to find out, and then read some of them. You might even draw some conclusions about what was going on in the literary world that year.

Wikipedia and GoodReads.com have lists of books by year published. Literary prize lists are a great source, and searching “best books of ______” will also give you interesting results. (Feel free to comment and suggest other sources!)

Ready to join? Leave a comment and/or a link to your post, with your reading list. I promise no snarky comments will be made about your age.

RULES

1. Join anytime before March 1, 2019. The challenge ends at midnight EST on December 31, 2019.

2. If you're a prior participant in the BYRC and have already mined out the books from your birth year, you may substitute the birth year of a close family member as your year of choice. One year per participant per challenge, please.

3. Books may come from your TBR pile or list, but they don’t have to.

4. Overlaps with other challenges are allowed and encouraged.

5. Change your book list at any time.

6. Reviews and reactions are encouraged, but you don’t need to have a blog to participate.

7. All genres and formats are eligible. If it’s a book, it counts. But for the book to count toward the Grand Prize and the Barnburner Prize, it must be 100 or more pages long.

8. One candle is awarded for each qualifying book you read. There is no limit on how few or how many candles you can earn.

9. Candles will be tracked at a “Progress & Reviews page” in the sidebar.

10. After you sign up, tell your friends! A sign-up post on your own blog would be very nice. Feel free to borrow the button for display on your blog, also.

PRIZES

When you meet your reading goal, you can select a book from my library–most likely an ex-library hardcover or a gently used trade paperback (a list will be provided)–and I’ll mail it to you. But keep reading because . . .

GRAND PRIZE

On January 1, 2020, the three readers who’ve earned the most candles will be entered into a drawing to win a $25 gift card from Amazon. You can be the kid in the candy store, and I can be the parent who foots the bill!

BARNBURNER PRIZE

The reader with the most candles on January 1, 2020, will receive a special customized prize package tailored to their reading interests. 

Are you in? Welcome! Please sign up by leaving a message in the comments, with your reading list or link.

Reading Challenges Update

If you're part of the Birth Year Reading Challenge, the Dread & Read Challenge, or the Reading Naturally Challenge, this post is for you!

I apologize that I've gotten so far behind on your comments and reported progress. Thanks to Marina Jevdokimova's tactful comment, I realize I have lots of catching up to do! I'll get to that ASAP so please keep an eye open for updates, and thank you for your patience.

The Dread & Read Challenge is still open until December 1, as is the Reading Naturally Challenge. If you're feeling the urge to enter, there's still time. 

And if you happen to know it got to be (yikes!) November already, please explain it to me!

Hurry, Hurry

Time for a friendly reminder!

The Birth Year Reading Challenge sign-up window closes on March 1, 2018.

If you've been getting around to entering officially, that's fine -- but there's nothing like a deadline to make things snap into focus. (Believe me, I know.)

If you're really "all in" on this challenge, NOW is the time.

Sign up here.

Birth Year Reading Challenge 2018 - My Sign-Up

I'm good to go at least one more round in my actual birth year (1959), thanks to my total failure to read the books I identified way back in 2012. In this case, doing poorly pays off!

There's still plenty of time to join this challenge here, if you're inclined to read books from the year you were born or to honor someone dear to you by reading from their birth year. Quite a few new participants have signed up and of course, there are the prizes . . . .

It's going to be a fun year!

My list:

1. Henderson the Rain King - Saul Bellow (review). This will be my maiden attempt at reading Bellow, so that's a nice bonus.

2. 100 Love Sonnets - Pablo Neruda (review). In contrast, I already think Neruda is a wonderful poet, making this an easy choice.

3. With Eyes at the Back of Our Heads - Denise Levertov (review). Ditto for Levertov. I know people who like her work a lot, but I've only seen snippets and look forward to becoming better acquainted with her poems.

Announcing the Winners! - Birth Year Reading Challenge 2017

Goodbye to 2017 and hello to our winners in the 2017 Birth Year Reading Challenge! Congratulations to all!

PRIZES

These dedicated readers met their reading goals and can choose a nice used book from my library, to add to their 2018 (or whenever) TBR piles. Well done, all!

Bev Hankins at My Reader's Block

Becky at Becky's Book Reviews 

Carolyn at Riedel Fascination

If you met your reading goal but haven't gotten full credit on the progress page, please provide an update in the comments on that page or via a blog post. Then you too can receive a copy of the prize list and choose a new-to-you book.

GRAND PRIZE

Of the top 3 finishers, Becky at Becky's Book Reviews was the lucky reader selected to receive a $25 gift card from Amazon. Congratulations, Becky!

BARNBURNER PRIZE

For reading a whopping 17 books from her birth year, Bev Hankins at My Reader's Block will be receiving a surprise prize package selected especially for her.

Thank you to everyone who participated! I hope you had fun, and I invite you to sign up for the Birth Year Reading Challenge again in 2018! 

Birth Year Reading Challenge 2017 - Reading Wrap-Up

I had a fun time with the BYRC this year and finished the final book just in the nick of time! December 29 was cutting it a bit close, and I had to stay up until 3 a.m. the night before, but all in all, no complaints.

The Flame Trees of Thika was a delightfully funny and wise memoir of Africa, romanticized in a way that suited me perfectly (and please don't make me take off those blinders just yet, okay?). I liked it enough to put various other works by Elspeth Huxley on my TBR list. 

Some aspects of Allen Drury's Advise and Consent seemed rather dated (Washington, D.C. women are almost entirely decorative, for example, and the one who's not is described as a formidable grandmother, needlessly focusing on her reproductive status rather than her accomplishments, in my eyes) but was engaging, troubling, and reassuring all at once--a pretty tall order, nicely filled.

Life Studies and For the Union Dead was an uneven blend of clever memoirish sketches and ahead-of-its-time poetry, and an interesting and surprisingly modern introduction to the work of Robert Lowell.

This ragtag reading list resulted in a thoroughly enjoyable challenge experience. I'm already pondering what I'll choose for the 2018 version.

Look for the Birth Year Reading Challenge 2018 here, if you're interested in joining the fun.

Birth Year Reading Challenge 2018 - Progress & Reviews

Welcome! This is where we track the sign-ups and the candles for the 2018 version of the Birth Year Reading Challenge. (Update: This challenge closed on March 1, but you can still review the rules here.) It's going to be fun!

Please keep me updated on how you're doing (reviews and reactions would be nice, even if just 1-2 sentences). I'll post your progress and light your candles as quickly as possible.

Bev at My Reader's Block (sign-up post: 1947) (4 candles)
1. Another Woman's House - Mignon G. Eberhart (review)
2. Terror in the Town - Edward Ronns (review)
3. Untidy Murder - Frances & Richard Lockridge (review)
4. What Beckoning Ghost - Douglas G. Browne (review)

Russell Nelson (details to follow: 1945)

Jamie Ghione at Whatever I Think Of! (sign-up post: 1971) (5 candles) Completed
1. Katy and the Big Snow - Virginia Lee Burton
2. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - Robert C. O'Brien
3. Leo the Late Bloomer - Robert Kraus
4. Hotel For Dogs - Lois Duncan
5. The Palm at the End of the Mind - Wallace Stevens

Neer at A Hot Cup of Pleasure (sign-up post: 1940) (3 candles) Completed
1. While She Sleeps - Ethel Lina Whaite (review)
2. The Department of Queer Complaints - Carter Dickson (review)
3. Lonely Magdalen - Henry Wade (review)

Keslei at Snapshots of an Average Life (sign-up post #1 and sign-up post #2: 1988) (30 candles) Completed
1. The Devil's Arithmetic - Jane Yolen (review) (170 pages)
2. Kirsten Saves the Day - Janet Shaw (review in comments) (67 pages)
3. Changes for Kirsten - Janet Shaw (review in comments) (64 pages)
4. A Girl from Yamhill - Beverly Cleary (review) (352 pages)
5. The Incredible Painting of Felix Clousseau - Jon Agee (review) (32 pages)
6. Every Dog Has His Day - John Erickson (review) (118 pages)
7. In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World - Virginia Hamilton (review) (161 pages)
8. Ten Kids, No Pets - Ann M. Martin (review) (176 pages)
9. Thornyhold - Mary Stewart (review) (207 pages)
10. The Minstrel in the Tower - Gloria Skurzynski (review) (64 pages)
11. Something Under the Bed Is Drooling - Bill Watterson (review) (128 pages)
12. Black Star, Bright Dawn - Scott O'Dell (review) (112 pages)
13. Lost in the Dark Unchanted Forest - John Erickson (review) (124 pages)
14. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho (review) (182 pages)
15. Night of the Crash-Test Dummies - Gary Larson (review) (104 pages)
16. The Lives of Christopher Chant - Diana Wynne Jones (review) (240 pages)
17. Matilda - Roald Dahl (review) (256 pages)
18. Catwings - Ursula K. Le Guin (review) (40 pages)
19. Sourcery - Terry Pratchett (review) (326 pages)
20. Mossflower - Brian Jacques (review) (373 pages)
21. The Mermaid Summer - Mollie Hunter (review) (118 pages)
22. Touching the Void - Joe Simpson (review) (218 pages)
23. Behind Rebel Lines - Seymour Reit (review) (101 pages)
24. Cat's Eye - Margaret Atwood (review) (462 pages)
25. Wyrd Sisters - Terry Pratchett (review) (360 pages)
26. The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver (review) (246 pages)
27. The Way Things Work - David Macaulay (review) (384 pages)
28. The Outlaws of Sherwood - Robin McKinley (review) (360 pages)
29. Lost Star - Patricia Lauber (review) (106 pages)
30. The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul - Douglas Adams (review) (324 pages)

Erin-Joi at Erin-Joi's Random Thoughts (details to follow: 1968)

Kimberly (via Goodreads: 1991)

Goldmoon at Quattro passi sulle nuvole (sign-up post: 1973) (1 candle)
1. Momo - Micheal Ende (review)

Melody Coe (details to follow: 2000)

Bookish Owl at Bookish Owlette (sign-up post)

The Girl, James at Real Life Protagonist (sign-up post: 1990) (1 candle)
1. Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton (review)

Linda (details to follow: 1945)

Tania at Durante el conticinio (sign-up post: 1983) (1 candle)
1. The Witches - Roald Dahl (review)

Charlotte at The Musings of a Bookaholic (sign-up post: 1998)

Carolyn at Riedel Fascination (sign-up post: 1972) (6 candles) Completed
1. Surfacing - Margaret Atwood (review)
2. The Late Mrs. Fonsell - Velda Johnston (review)
3. Nobody Likes Trina - Phyllis A. Whitney (review)
4. Scuffy the Tugboat - Tibor Gergely (review)
5. The House Of Broken Dolls - Dorothy Daniels (review)
6. Uncle Robert’s Secret - Wylly Folk St. John (review)

Susan at Chickenfoot (details to follow)

Darlene at Darlene's Book Nook (1970) (wrap-up post) (1 candle) Completed
1. Deliverance - James Dickey (review)

J.G. at Hotchpot Cafe (host - not eligible for prizes) (sign-up post: 1959) (wrap-up) (3 candles) Completed
1. 100 Love Sonnets - Pablo Neruda (review)
2. Henderson the Rain King - Saul Bellow (review)
3. With Eyes at the Back of Our Heads - Denise Levertov (review)

Birth Year Reading Challenge 2018

It's baaaaack! After being resurrected in 2017, the Birth Year Reading Challenge returns, raring to go for another year.

What makes this challenge different from the others out there? In a word: PRIZES! Here at the Hotchpot Cafe, everybody wins.

Special thanks to Steven Depolo for permission to use his photo!

BIRTH YEAR READING CHALLENGE

What books were published the year you were born? This challenge encourages you to find out, and then read some of them. You might even draw some conclusions about what was going on in the literary world that year.

Wikipedia and GoodReads.com have lists of books by year published. Literary prize lists are a great source, and searching “best books of ______” will also give you interesting results. (Feel free to comment and suggest other sources!)

Ready to join? Leave a comment and/or a link to your post, with your reading list. I promise no snarky comments will be made about your age.

RULES

1. Join anytime before March 1, 2018. (Edit: This challenge is now closed.) The challenge ends at midnight EST on December 31, 2018.

2. If you're a prior participant in the BYRC and have already mined out the books from your birth year, you may substitute the birth year of a close family member as your year of choice. One year per participant per challenge, please.

3. Books may come from your TBR pile or list, but they don’t have to.

4. Overlaps with other challenges are allowed and encouraged.

5. Change your book list at any time.

6. Reviews and reactions are encouraged, but you don’t need to have a blog to participate.

7. All genres and formats are eligible. If it’s a book, it counts. But for the book to count toward the Grand Prize and the Barnburner Prize, it must be 100 or more pages long.

8. One candle is awarded for each qualifying book you read. There is no limit on how few or how many candles you can earn.

9. Candles will be tracked at a “Progress & Reviews page” in the sidebar.

10. After you sign up, tell your friends! A sign-up post on your own blog would be very nice. Feel free to borrow the button for display on your blog, also.

PRIZES

When you meet your reading goal, you can select a book from my library–most likely an ex-library hardcover or a gently used trade paperback (a list will be provided)–and I’ll mail it to you. But keep reading because . . .

GRAND PRIZE

On January 1, 2019, the three readers who’ve earned the most candles will be entered into a drawing to win a $25 gift card from Amazon. You can be the kid in the candy store, and I can be the parent who foots the bill!

BARNBURNER PRIZE

The reader with the most candles on January 1, 2019, will receive a special customized prize package tailored to their reading interests.   

Are you in? Welcome! Please sign up by leaving a message in the comments, with your reading list or link.

Almost December

It's such a cliche to lament how quickly the year passes and the new year comes on . . . so I'll skip that part.

One of the realities of this time of year is that reading challenges are nearing their deadlines. I'm not going to make a few of mine, unless I put on a tremendous push (highly unlikely with my schedule). I've already hatched a plan to minimize failure by being strategic about this last month, salvaging what I can.

Meanwhile, the challenges I'm hosting are also coming to an end.

The Birth Year Reading Challenge has been going great guns, which is lovely to see via the progress page. This is by far my most popular challenge. Those of you who're participating may want to check your progress, to make sure you're meeting your reading goals and eligible for a prize in January. But no worries if you're lagging a bit. I've only read 1 of the 3 books on my list, so I'm not much of an example -- whereas Bev at My Reader's Block has set the pace.

The Reading Naturally Challenge is new this year and sign-ups are still open until December 1, so if you want to dive in with what you've already read so far, feel free. Multiple categories should make it easy to find something you qualify for. I haven't done very well on this one at all, but I haven't given up, either. The progress page tells the tale. Check in if you're reading along, to make sure the prizes don't elude you in the 11th hour. That said, the inimitable Carolyn of Riedel Fascination is leaving the lot of us in the dust!

Last but not least, the Dread & Read Challenge, another newbie, also remains open for sign-ups until December 1. Why not fill it with one of the books you finally got around to this year? I'm still procrastinating my dreaded books like crazy, and maybe I'm not the only one! It's been pretty quiet at the progress page, and I suspect Neer of A Hot Cup of Pleasure is going to swoop in soon with those other books she's happy to get off her TBR list. This one may come down to the wire. Still, it's prizes for everyone who reads what they said they'd read, so you have nothing to lose. 

Onward! Strategically, of course.

Time Flies

Just a friendly reminder: If you're joining the BYRC this year, you need to be signed up before March 1.

Sign up in the comments here, and/or check the progress page here to make sure I have you listed.

And if you have any idea how March can be just around the corner already (yikes!), please let me know ASAP!

Birth Year Reading Challenge 2017 - My Sign-Up

I've got to do my own challenge, right?

And by that I mean I've got to do my own challenge. No slacking when you're the host!

Books published in (gasp) 1959:

1. Life Studies for the Union Dead - Robert Lowell (NBA Poetry winner) (review)
2. Advise and Consent - Alan Drury (Pulitzer winner) (review)
3. The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood - Elspeth Huxley (review)

These turned out to be a nice mix: one from the TBR shelf, one that I'll have to buy or borrow, and one that I'm able to get from Paperbackswap, just for the asking. Also, two prize-winners from the on-going list reading project, and one just for fun.

Now to get down to the business of reading . . . .