Previous Years' Challenges

Back to the Classics Challenge 2017

Challenge Website

 1.  A 19th century classic - Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (finished 10/15/2017)

2.  A 20th century classic - The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers (finished 2/10/2017)

4.  A classic in translation

5.  A classic originally published before 1800

7.  A Gothic or horror classic - Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier (finished 3/21/2017)

8.  A classic with a number in the title - The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan (finished 6/3/2017)

9.  A classic about an animal or which includes the name of an animal in the title - The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (finished 3/10/2017)


10. A classic set in a place you'd like to visit - Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L. Sayers (finished 4/30/2017)

12. A Russian classic

Back to the Classics Challenge 2016







 5. A classic by a non-white author - Passing by Nella Larsen (finished 6/12/2016)


 7. A fantasy, science fiction, or dystopian classic - A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. (finished 4/20/2016)

 8. A classic detective novel - The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett (finished 6/1/2016)

 9. A classic which includes the name of a place in the title - Howard's End by E.M. Forster (finished 7/25/2016)

10. A classic which has been banned or censored - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (finished 10/5/2016)

11. Re-read a classic you read in school (high-school or college) - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (finished 1/25/2016)

Back to the Classics Challenge 2015


Challenge Website


2.  A 20th Century Classic - My Antonia by Willa Cather - finished 1/27/2015

3.  A Classic by a Woman Author - Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers - finished 2/28/2015

4.  A Classic in Translation - The Trial by Franz Kafka - finished 9/30/2015

5.  A Very Long Classic Novel - Middlemarch by George Eliot - finished 9/4/2015


7.  A Classic with a Person's Name in the Title - My Brother Michael by Mary Stewart - finished 2/7/2015


11.  A Classic Children's Book - My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara- finished 3/27/15
 
12.  A Classic Play - The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde - finished 10/12/15

Back to the Classics Challenge 2014

Challenge Website

Required:
1. A 20th Century Classic - The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway - finished 5/3/2014
2. A 19th Century Classic - Cranford by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell - finished 7/27/2014
3. A Classic by a Woman Author - Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - finished 4/20/2014
4. A Classic in Translation - Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak - finished 3/26/2014
5. A Classic About War - All Our Worldly Goods by Irene Nemirovsky - finished 7/11/2014
6. A Classic by an Author Who Is New To Me
 - The Paradise by Emile Zola - finished 2/22/2014

Optional:
1. An American Classic - Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston - finished 4/10/2014
2. A Classic Mystery, Suspense, or Thriller - Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers - finished 5/13/2014
3. A Historical Fiction Classic - Lamb in his Bosom by Caroline Miller - finished 4/2/2014
4. A Classic That's Been Adapted into a Movie or TV Series - The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton - finished 8/13/2014
5. Extra Fun Category: Write a Review of the Movie or TV Series adapted from Optional Category #4 - The Age of Innocence - watched 8/30/2014

American Revolutionary War Reading Challenge 2013

Challenge Website.
Goal - 4-10 books.  Completed 11/13/2013.

1. Rise to Rebellion by Jeff Shaara - finished 7/5/2013
2. A Catch of Consequence by Diana Norman - finished 8/14/2013
3. Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson - finished 9/25/2013
4. April Morning by Howard Fast - finished 11/13/2013
5. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson - finished 11/27/2013

Sketchbook Challenge 2013

Challenge Website.

January theme:  Artist Date
Journal page 1

February theme: Sweets
Journal page 1

March theme: Natural Surfaces
Journal page 1

April theme:  Spirals

May theme: Bowls
Journal page 1

June theme: Garden Doodles
Journal page 1

July theme: Into the Woods
Journal page 1

August theme: Journeys

September theme: Houses and Hideaways

October theme: Animal Companions

November theme: Moon and Stars

December theme: Holiday Colors

Sketchbook Challenge 2012

Challenge Website.

January theme:  Doodling
Journal page 1
Journal page 2

February theme:  Close-Up
Journal page 1

March theme:  Flowers
Journal page 1

April theme:  Open
Journal page 1

May theme:  Fruits and Veggies
Journal page 1

June theme:  Urban Sketching
Journal page 1
Journal page 2

July theme:  Circles
Journal page 1

August theme:  Shelter
Journal page 1

September theme:  Patterns
Journal page 1

October theme:  Cabinet of Curiosities
Journal page 1

November theme: Spice of Life
Journal page 1

December theme: Gifts
Journal page 1

World War I Reading Challenge 2012

Challenge Website.
Goal - 4-10 books.  Completed 5/5/2012.

1. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque - finished 1/19/2012
2. War Horse by Michael Morpurgo - finished 2/2/2012
3. The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West - finished 4/29/2012
4. A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd - finished 5/5/2012
5. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway - finished 6/26/2012
6. Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo - finished 6/29/2012
7. The Last Summer by Judith Kinghorn - finished 7/8/2012
8. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks - finished 8/20/2012
9. The Yellow House by Patricia Falvey - finished 9/2/2012
10. The Summer of Katya by Trevanian - finished 9/21/2012
11. The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman - finished 10/17/2012
12.  Strange Meeting by Susan Hill - finished 11/21/2012
13.  The Return of Captain John Emmett - finished 1/18/2013 
14.  The Gendarme by Mark Mustian - finished 2/26/13


Link to Reading List


Sketchbook Challenge 2011


Challenge Website.

January theme:  Highly Prized
Journal page 1
Journal page 2

February theme:  Opposites
Journal page 1

March theme:  Spilling Over
Journal page 1
Journal page 2

April theme:  Branching Out - Out on a Limb
Journal page 1

May theme:  Can't Resist This
Journal page 1
Journal page 2

June theme:  Pathways
Journal page 1

July theme:  Element

August theme:  Everyday Objects
Journal page 1
Journal page 2
Journal page 3

September theme:  Unfurl
Journal page 1

October theme:  View
Journal page 1
Journal page 2


November theme:  Imaginary Animals

December theme:  Trashed, Ruined and Decay

US Civil War Reading Challenge 2011

Challenge Website.
Goal - 3-5 books.  Completed 5/23/2011.

1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - finished 1/27/2011
2. March by Geraldine Brooks - finished 2/6/2011
3. All Other Nights by Dara Horn - finished 5/23/2011
4. The March by E.L. Doctorow - finished 7/18/2011 (audio book)
5. Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles - finished 8/5/2011
6. The Black Flower by Howard Bahr - finished 9/4/2011
7.  Shadow of a Quarter Moon by Eileen Clymer Schwab - finished 1/1/2012
8.  Pemberley Ranch by Jack Caldwell - finished 9/29/2012

Link to Reading List

New Author Challenge 2011

Challenge website.
Goal - 15 books.  Completed 11/05/2011.

1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett - finished 1/4/2011
2. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards - finished 2/15/2011
3. Coventry by Helen Humphreys - finished 2/20/2011
4. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon - finished 3/10/2011
5. The Fiction Class by Susan Breen - finished 3/27/2011
6. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov - finished 5/8/2011
7. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann - finished 7/2/2011
8. The March by E.L. Doctorow - finished 7/18/2011 (audio book) 
9. Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles - finished 8/5/2011
10. Letter to My Daughter by George Bishop - finished 9/7/2011
11. Two Rivers by T. Greenwood - finished 9/21/2011
12. Buffalo Land by William D. Berry - finished 9/22/2011
13. Shipping News by Annie Proulx -finished 10/20/2011
14.Watercolor Fast and Loose by Ron Ranson - finished 10/22/2011
15.Dinner at Antoine's by Frances Parkinson Keyes - finished 11/05/2011
16. Very New Orleans by Diana Hollingsworth Gessler - finished 11/11/2011
17. Keeping a Watercolor Sketchbook by Brenda Swenson - finished 11/12/2011
18. Raw Art Journaling by Quinn McDonald - finished 11/22/2011
19. Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie by Lauren Redniss - finished 12/07/2011

Off the Shelf Reading Challenge 2011

Challenge Website.
Goal - 5 books.  Completed 3/6/2011.

1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - finished 1/27/2011
2. March by Geraldine Brooks - finished 2/6/2011
3. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards - finished 2/15/2011
4. Coventry by Helen Humphreys - finished 2/20/2011
5. The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton - finished 3/6/2011
6. Abundance - A Novel of Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund - finished 4/24/2011
7. Lost in the City by Edward P. Jones - finished 5/28/2011
8. 1984 by George Orwell - finished 7/19/2011
9. Keeping a Watercolor Sketchbook by Brenda Swenson - finished 11/12/2011

2nds Challenge 2011

Challenge Website.
Goal - 3 books.  Completed 4/24/2011.

1. The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton - finished 3/6/2011
2. A Room with a View by E. M. Forster - finished 4/5/2011
3. Abundance - A Novel of Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund - finished 4/24/2011


I Want More Book Challenge 2011

Challenge Website.
Goal - 2-4 books.  Completed 3/19/2011.

1. March by Geraldine Brooks - finished 2/6/2011
2. Day After Night by Anita Diamant - finished 3/19/2011
3. All Other Nights by Dara Horn - finished 5/23/2011
4. The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver - finished 6/10/2011



New Author Challenge 2010

Challenge Website.
Goal - 15 books. Completed 9/7/2010.

1. The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent - finished 2/3/2010
2. Waiting by Ha Jin - finished 2/17/2010
3. In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien - finished 2/24/2010
4. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin - finished 3/7/2010
5. Loving Frank by Nancy Horan - finished 3/18/2010
6. Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors - finished 4/5/2010
7. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay - finished 4/11/2010
8. The Unwanted by Kien Nguyen - finished 5/5/2010
9. Queen of Camelot by Nancy McKenzie - finished 5/26/2010
10. The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff - finished 6/5/2010
11. Fatal Light by Richard Currey - finished 6/6/2010
12. In the Image by Dara Horn - finished 7/9/2010
13. Ghostwalk by Rebecca Stott - finished 7/28/2010
14. Paco's Story by Larry Heinemann - finished 8/13/2010
15. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers - finished 9/7/2010
16. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley - finished 9/20/2010
17. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi - finished 9/22/2010
18. A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton - finished 10/12/2010
19. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford - finished 10/25/2010
20. A Life in Hand - Creating the Illuminated Journal by Hannah Hinchman - finished 11/12/2010
21. Daisy Miller by Henry James - finished 11/27/2010 
22. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin - finished 12/4/2010 

Vietnam War Reading Challenge - 2010
Challenge Website.
Goal - 5 books. Completed 8/13/2010.

1. In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien - finished 2/24/2010
2. The Unwanted by Kien Nguyen - finished 5/5/2010
3. Fatal Light by Richard Currey - finished 6/6/2010
4. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien - finished 7/15/2010
5. Paco's Story by Larry Heinemann - finished 8/13/2010
6. Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien - finished 11/25/2010
7. Letter to My Daughter by George Bishop - finished 9/7/2011
8. Dragon House by John Shors - finished 12/21/2012 

Link to Reading List

WWII Reading Challenge - 2009
Challenge Website.
Goal - 5 books. Completed 7/26/2009.

1. A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell - finished 2/1/2009
2. Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson - finished 3/17/2009
3. The Cloud Atlas by Liam Callanan - finished 4/5/2009
4. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink - finished 4/15/2009
5. Agent Zigzag by Ben MacIntyre - finished 7/26/2009
6. Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian - finished 9/17/2009
7. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows - finished 12/5/2009
8. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut - finished 12/13/2009
9. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne - finished 12/25/2009
10. Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson - finished 1/14/2010
11. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay - finished 4/11/2010
12. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford - finished 10/25/2010
13. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - finished 11/10/2010
14.  Coventry by Helen Humphreys - finished 2/20/2011 
15. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake - finished 5/20/2012

Link to Reading List