Oh Okay. If you’re gonna twist my arm.

You didn’t? Well someone did.

Considering how poorly- – okay, okay, how pitifully, I performed in my Challenge reading for 2008, I am taking a different tack for 2009.

I am only going to do 4 (maybe 5) challenges with two of them being perpetual, meaning no deadlines. I also plan on overlapping as much as possible. Why set myself up for failure, which is what I pretty much did last year.

So here is the projected Challenge lists for 2009. The actual books I plan on reading will be listed/sublisted in  the tab at the top of this blog.

9 for 2009
This looks like a fun way to get through that TBR stack overflowing on my shelves. The premise is simple. Read 9 books from 9 categories. Any genre, any type (Graphic, Audio, Poetry, etc.) The categories are unique and fun. Click on the above link to see for yourself!

The 999 Challenge
If you are familiar with the 888 challenge, then no explanation is necessary. However, if you haven’t, it is a bit much to explain so I would advise clicking on the link to check it out. Not that it is difficult, other than the amount of books you need to commit to reading. But you do get to choose your own categories and there is an overlap allowance that will help.

The Year of Readers
This is a year-long read-a-thon for charity. I have chosen to read for First Book. First Book is a nonprofit organization that works to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. They provide an ongoing supply of new books to children participating in community-based mentoring, tutoring, and family literacy programs.

The Notable Book Challenge (perpetual)
You may read as many books as you like. Or a few. But as this is a challenge, the moderator asks that at the beginning of the new year, participants set their goals in terms of which books they would like to read. These goals are not set in stone, so no pressure, no worries. The blog linked above has lists from which to find “notable” books suitable for the challenge.

The Pulitzer Project (perpetual)
This one is simple. Quote, “The goal of the participants of this site is to read all 81 books that have won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. There is no time limit.”

If none of these sound very interesting or if you plan on spending sometime on a deserted island and want to enjoy your time being stranded, check out the A Novel Challenge blog where you can find a reading challenge to suit your obsession needs.