Beastmomma

Welcome to the World Party Reading Challenge, where each month we will celebrate both a US holiday/observance AND a different country. Because what better way to party than with a book. The idea is to read more international literature, but Fizzy Thoughts used US holidays and observances as the inspiration.

**Update, the challenge has changed hosts and rules.  The new details are below**

The challenge is about getting a real sense of place, of delving into a country’s history and culture through fiction and fabulous characters.

Each month Suzi will write a post on a particular country with a selection of novels for you to consider reading. Suzi will choose one of those novels and discuss it in greater detail, including some fascinating facts related to the story that Suzi digs up from the internet or possibly her own travels.

You can then choose one of the novels from the list or tell us about something else you have read set in that country. You’ll be able to post comments, and links to your own blog where you discuss the book (or books!) For more details on the new challenge, go over here.  The countries and the order in which we are reading are listed below:

• October – Afghanistsan: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini You can find my review here.
• November – Turkey: My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk. You can find my review here.
  
• December – Greece: Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières. You can find my review here.
  
• January – Iran
• February – England
• March – Ireland
• April – Jamaica
• May – Pakistan
• June – Russia
• July – Spain
• August – Thailand
• September – India: Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil You can find my review here. 

The books listed below are the ones I read for the original challenge.  Looking forward to going around the world again.

• April – April Fool’s Day – France.  I read Chocolat by Joanne Harris. I finished right in the middle of the month on April 14th.  You can find my review here.
• May – May Day – a communist country of your choice, past or present. I read Everything is Broken by Emma Larkin. It is set in Burma. I finished the book on May 19th. You can find my review here.

I think that I may have an addiction to challenges, but I also feel determined to expand my reading horizons.  Anyway, here is a challenge that promises to take me around the world through the pages of a book.  Because I am feeling crazy, I decided to sign up for the Medium Level.  More information can be found on the challenge blog. Here are the details:

The Medium Challenge
Read two novels from each of these continents in the course of 2010:
Africa: (1) This Child Will be Great:Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa's First Woman President written by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Liberia). I completed the book in December 10th. You can find my review here.
Asia:(1) Shanghai Girls by Lisa See (China). I completed the book in March 2010. My review is here. (2)Two Souls Indivisible by James Hirsch (Vietnam). I completed the book in April 2010. My review is here. (3) Everything is Broken by Emma Larkin (Burma). I completed the book on May 19, 2010. It is a bonus read for this continent. My review is here. (4) The Geometry of God by Uzsma Aslam Khan (Pakistan). I completed the book on August 26th. My review is here. I realized that if this challenge was all about Asia and Europe, I would be finished already. (5) A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I finished the book at the end of October. Even though I am WAY over on the Asia, I still think the books are worth sharing. You can find my review here.
Australasia: (1) The Book Thief by Mark Zusak (Australia). I completed the book on December 27th. You can find my review here.
Europe: (1) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (Sweden). I completed the book in January 2010.  My review is here. (2) Chocolat by Joanne Harris (France). I finished the book on April 14th.  My review is here.

North America (incl Central America): (1)  Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (Canada).  I completed the book in February and you can find my review here.  (2) A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (United States) I complete the book on April 30th. You can find my review here.
South America
Try to find novels from twelve different countries or states.

**Turns out that I am not quite the world traveller that I hoped.  Looking at my reading pattern, I would have aced this challenge if I could have spent almost all the time in Asia.  I am going to try again in the hopes that I will have a better outcome in 2011**

This challenge is hosted by Bookworms and Tea lovers; I thought it would be a good way to attempt to broaden my horizons.  The rules are below:

Read 12 books in 2010, one book for each of the following countries:

1. Belgium
2. France: I read Chocolat by Joanne Harris and finished it on April 14th. You can find my review here.
3. Ireland
4. Luxembourg
5. Monaco
6. The Netherlands
7. Switzerland
8. Northern Ireland (part of the UK, which I split up)
9. England (part of the UK, which I split up): I read The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield and finished it in October. You can read my review here.
10. Wales (part of the UK, which I split up)
11. Scotland
12. Channel Islands

The rules for this challenge:

A book can only count for 1 country.

It has to be a fiction book.

Audio books and e-books are allowed.

Up to 3 books may have been read before the starting date of 1 Januari 2010, but the rest have to be read between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2010.

I decided to join the South Asian Author Challenge hosted by S.Krishna because the fabric pictured in the button reminded me of my wedding outfit.  Just kidding.  Actually, I want to read more South Asian writers and thought this would be a good way to accomplish that goal.

What books qualify for the South Asian Author Challenge?

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.

What are the dates of this challenge?

January 1, 2010 – December 31, 2010

How many books do I have to read for the South Asian Author Challenge?

There are four different commitment levels:

3 books

5 books

7 books

10 books

Can I change challenge levels after January 1?

You can’t move down (change from 10 to 7 – that defeats the purpose of it being a challenge!) but you can move up if you find you just love South Asian authors and want to read more of them than you expected!

Now.... drum roll please... my commitment level is THREE BOOKS! I need to start of slowly and see how the year goes before committing to more books.  

1. The Geometry of God by Uzsma Aslam Khan I finished the book on August 26th. My review is here. I cannot believe how slowly I have started on this challenge.  The author is Pakistani and the book takes place in Pakistan.

 The World Citizenship Challenge, hosted by Eva is a reading challenge that invites participants to get to know the world better and become true world citizens. The challenge begins January 1st, 2009 and ends December 31st, 2009. However, you can join any time before the challenge ends. The challenge blog is here.

You do not have to make a reading list ahead of time.

There will be monthly mini-challenges that you can choose whether or not to participate in.

There will be prizes.

There are six categories of books: politics, economics, history, culture or anthropology/sociology, worldwide issues, and memoirs/autobiographies. You can learn more about each category, and see a suggested reading list, but clicking on its tab.

There are six levels of participation to choose from; I am going to chose the minor level.

The Minor Level You’ve taken a couple classes in World Citizenship and decide to go ahead and get the minor. After all, you’ll learn more stuff and you can still have a practical major! For this level, you need to commit to three books, from at least two different categories.

As I read the books, I will list them on this post.