I’m really excited about the challenges I’m participating in this year. I’m probably being overly ambitious, so wish me luck!
Serena and I are doing things a bit differently this year on War Through the Generations. We’re calling it the 2014 War Challenge With a Twist, and instead of focusing on a single war for the whole year, we’ll be posting a review linky for a different war every two months (though you can read from any war throughout the year and add your review links later).
Here’s the schedule:
January/February: Gulf Wars (Gulf War/Operation Desert Storm and Iraq War/Operation Iraqi Freedom)
March/April: French and Indian War
May/June: Korean War
July/August: World War I (100th Anniversary)
September/October: World War II
November/December: Vietnam War
There are different levels of participation; I signed up for the Intermediate Level, which involves reading 2+ books on one war and at least 1 book on all the others.
If you’re interested in participating, we’d love to have you join us. For more information and to sign up, click here.
I’m signing up for the Ancient History level of at least 25 books for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2014 at Historical Tapestry. I originally wanted to sign up for the highest level of 50+ books, but I think it’s safer to shoot for 40, given that I read 37 books for this challenge last year.
I’m also signing up for the Dive Into Poetry Challenge 2014, hosted by Savvy Verse & Wit. I’m going to commit to the Dip Your Toes level and read up to 2 poetry books this year. There are several options for this challenge, so I hope you’ll see how easy it is to get your feet wet in terms of reading poetry.
I’m also signing up for the 2014 European Reading Challenge, hosted by Rose City Reader. I’m going for the Five Star (Deluxe Entourage) level, which calls for at least 5 books by different European authors or books set in different European countries.
I’m signing up for the Dilettante level for the Nonfiction Reading Challenge 2014, hosted by The Introverted Reader. That means I will read 1-5 memoirs or other nonfiction books.
Literature and War Readalong 2014
I plan to participate in 6 of the monthly discussions of war-related books hosted by Beauty Is a Sleeping Cat.
April: Toby’s Room by Pat Barker (WWI)
May: Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo (WWI)
July: The Lie by Helen Dunmore (WWI)
August: Undertones of War by Edmund Blunden (WWI)
October: Phoenix and Ashes by Mercedes Lackey (WWI)
December: Letters From a Lost Generation by Vera Brittain and Four Friends (WWI)

January 1 – December 31
Finally, I decided to create My Personal Jane Austen Challenge for myself. In 2012, I really enjoyed participating in the Exploring the Many Genres of Jane Austen Challenge, hosted by the late Shanna of Existing’s Tricky. I decided to revisit her challenge and create different categories. So I plan to read at least 14 Austen and Austen-inspired books in the following categories:
Books by Jane Austen
Modern Adaptation
Graphic Novel
Mystery
Jane Austen as a Character
Sequel
Retelling
Minor Character in Lead Role
Short Stories
From the Hero’s POV
Paranormal
Young Adult
Alternate Setting
Outside the Box
What challenges are you committing to in 2014?
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