chasing bawa

Seems to be the season for announcing challenges. I don’t know what it is about reading challenges but I think I’m drawn to them like a moth to a flame because they put a structural emphasis to my reading and gives it a pattern and some sort of rationale. Instead of reading random books and quickly forgetting about them as soon as I switch genre, they make me think about the plot, character and histories within each book and allows me to connect them with other books, the bigger picture and my life. I quite like that, it makes me feel as though I am part of something fluid yet tangible.

I have seen many mouthwatering challenges popping up all over the blogging world and have finally succumbed to several. I was going to write separate posts for each, but I’m already getting confused myself and have decided to put it all under one roof.
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The South Asian Author Challenge
January 1st – December 31st 2010

Here is a challenge I cannot possibly ignore. The South Asian Author Challenge is hosted by the lovely Swapna of S. Krishna’s Books who also hosted the Clear Off Your Shelves Challenge. Busy lady!

The rules are a little tricky so I’ll need to choose my books carefully:

There are two requirements for a book to qualify for the South Asian Author Challenge, both of which must be met:

1) The author must be of South Asian descent. It doesn’t matter if they’re third or fourth generation, or are only half South Asian – I’m pretty flexible on this issue.

2) The book must be about South Asia in some way. It doesn’t have to be set in South Asia, as long as it’s about the culture or history in some way. On the other hand, it can be set in South Asia and not be about South Asians.

I think I will attempt 5 books in this challenge, maybe more depending on what I find on my up-coming trip to Sri Lanka. Some of the books will be from my list in preparation for the Galle Literary Festival 2010 posted here to which I also want to add Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children which I found the other day on my TBR shelf and Story Wallah a collection of short stories by South Asian writers edited by Shyam Selvadurai.
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The Flashback Challenge
January 1st – December 31st 2010

Seems like I’m addicted to challenges. I keep finding more and more that I want to join especially if it fits in with what I’ve been planning to or have been thinking about reading for a while. The Flashback Challenge is hosted by Aarti at Booklust and Kristen M at We Be Reading. Aarti is also one of the hosts of the Women Unbound: A Book Challenge together with Care of Care’s Online Book Club and Eva of A Striped Armchair. It’s a longish challenge so that gives me time to try and clear my TBR shelf and complete my other challenges.

The Flashback Challenge is exciting because now I get to reread my favourite book of all time. Yes, it’s the beautiful The Secret History by Donna Tartt. I don’t think I’ve looked at it since I first finished it in the summer of 1993 when I was revising for my first year finals. I think I’ve been a little scared to revisit what was a sensational reading experience, just in case I don’t like it so much. But you know, I like rereading books, and I normally do so when I’m back at home on holiday. I don’t know how many times I’ve read Anne of Green Gables, The Witching Hour and all of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels plus all the manga I have at home including Asterix.

I will also be giving Joe Abercrombie’s The Blade Itself another shot. I read this a few years back and didn’t really feel the love (he is one of the brightest stars of fantasy together with my favourite Scott Lynch), so I want to see whether it will be better second time around.

I will be opting for the Bookworm level which means I will be rereading upto three books. I think that’s doable.

My final book will probably be a Terry Pratchett which takes me neatly to…
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The Terry Pratchett 2010 Challenge
December 1st 2009 – November 30th 2010

See, another challenge I cannot bypass. I seem to be addicted to reading challenges and I’m also addicted to Terry Pratchett’s Discworld. So this is like a dream come true. Reading Adventures is hosting the Terry Pratchett 2010 Challenge. I’ve read most of Terry Pratchett’s books except for his latest two, Nation and Unseen Academicals and his childrens books which form The Bromeliad. So I think I’ll be tackling those first before doing some rereads. I generally tend to reread Terry Pratchett’s books as part of my comfort reading package: bath, book and cake.

I will be participating as a Guard of the City Watch (my favourite group of characters together with the assassins of the Assassins’ Guild and the wizards of Unseen University) which means I will be reading/watching tv adaptations of 4-5 books.

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The Thriller and Suspense Challenge
January 1st – December 31st 2010

I found the following two challenges on Melody’s Reading Corner and will be joining them because 1) my favourite genre is mystery and 2) I am determined to decrease my TBR pile next year.

The Thriller and Suspense Challenge is hosted by Book Chick City. The challenge is to read 12 mysteries in 2010 and the books can crossover into other challenges. This is great as I probably read more mysteries than any other genre. I’ll be posting about some of the prospective titles a little later.

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The Original TBR Challenge
January 1st – December 31st 2010

After completing the Clear Off Your Shelves Challenge, I feel more optimistic about doing this. It was fantastic to go through my TBR shelf and slowly start reading some of the books that have been sitting there for over a year. All the books I have are books that I actually want to read. It’s just that I want to read everything so reining in my enthusiasm when confronted with the library and bookshops is really tough. And since I’ve started reading book blogs, it’s even tougher. There are just so many intriguing books out there.

Instead of the TBR ‘Lite’ Challenge, I think I will try the Original TBR Challenge for 2010, both hosted by MizB’s Reading Challenges. The Original TBR Challenge is a bit more hardcore: you have to make a list of 12 books to read from your TBR pile to read in 2010 and you cannot change that list after January 1st. However, you can make an alternative list of 12 books from which you can substitute books. So not bad. I’ll just have to have a long hard think about which books to read so that I can read a book for several challenges at once (since I’m doing so many challenges I have a feeling I will end up very dazed and confused). I’ll be posting my list up soon once I have a quick scrutiny of my TBR pile and see what treasures I can find.

*You can find my list here.