More Challenges

I was planning on spacing out my challenge posts to keep them all separate, but the time has come to just write the rest of them and get on with it. There are three more challenges I am planning on entering at this point, but I will probably also add the Birth Year Challenge again once it is announced.

I've been planning on participating in the Read A Myth Challenge for several months, but have never gotten around to writing my start-up post. The challenge has its own blog and encourages you to read - what else? - mythology. I have loved mythology ever since my AP English class in high school, where we did a unit memorizing some of the more famous myths, so I was very excited to expand my myth-reading horizons with this new challenge. I plan on level 3, Mimir: World Myth. There are eight different books I want to read, but with all the challenges I have already entered, I don't know if I will get to all of them. Level 3 calls for reading six different books, and one of them must be nonfiction, Karen Armstrong's A Short History of Myth, or the original text of a myth. I hope to read:

1. A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong
2. Mythology by Edith Hamilton
3. 'Til We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
4. Idylls of the King by Alfred Lord Tennyson
5. The Prose Edda
6. Penelopiaid by Margaret Atwood
7. Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
8. A book of Hawaiian mythology that has been lurking on my shelves since I went there five years ago

The next challenge I hope to enter is the Chunkster Challenge, which is also hosted at its own blog. I am hoping to complete the Chubby Chunkster level, which requires completion of at least four books over 450 pages. I would probably be able to aim for a higher level, but they do not allow ebooks (sad face) so I am aiming for the minimal level this year. I am planning on reading The Lord of the Rings in a read-along I am hosting and A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth for the South Asian Challenge, so this should be quite doable.

Finally, I am entering a challenge for people addicted to challenges, which also has its own blog. Last year was the first year I started blogging, and I didn't really get involved until October. I was able to enter and complete two challenges. I really love having my reading directed - I am competitive and goal-oriented, so the idea of challenges really appeals to me. I have joined seven challenges for this year (not counting this one) and will probably add one more once the Birth Year Challenge post is up, so I qualify for the second level, On the Roof. My challenges are:

• Back to the Classics Challenge hosted by Sarah Reads Too Much
• Victorian Challenge hosted by words, words, words
• South Asian Challenge hosted by skrishna's books
• Read A Myth Challenge
• Chunkster Challenge
• Just for Fun Challenge hosted by Dollycas's Thoughts
• Middle East Reading Challenge hosted by Helen's Book Blog

Here's to hoping I complete them all!