Challenge Complete: Take A Chance

Jenners over at Life...With Books hosted a third round of her Take a Chance Challenge this year. I had eyed her 2010 challenge, but came across it late enough that I didn't think I could do it justice. So when she decided to sponsor it again, I couldn't resist. Especially after doing the Random Bestseller for Challenge #10 and coming up with a book on my TBR shelf that I was longing to read.

Here's the challenge in a nutshell: It's all about taking chances with your reading. Jenners posted ten challenges with different methods of finding books to read (Best Seller Lists, Staff Choices from libraries/book stores, getting a recommendation from a loved one, etc). We could choose as many of the challenges as we wanted, BUT if we completed all ten then there is a prize drawing at the end. So....I dove right in and did all ten.

It was a very fun challenge. I read all kinds of books that I would never have picked out all by myself. Which, of course, was the point. I'm so glad Jenners decided to run with this one again. Thanks, Jenners!

My List:
1. The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys [Staff Pick local library] (1/28/11)
2. Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon [Recommended by a dear friend] (2/11/11)
3. How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu [Book Blogger's Choice: "Best of 2010 at The Book Lady's blog] (4/10/11)
Bonus Read: The Girl in the Green Raincoat by Laura Lippman [not a "Best of" Choice, but recommended by DJ's Krimiblog] (2/15/11)
4. The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman [Critic's Choice: Top Ten of 2010 as chosen by NY Times Critic Janet Maslin] (5/2/11)
5. Hot & Bothered by Jane Isenberg (7/9/11) [Book Blurb (find a book with a blurb from another author; read a book by that author)--blurb found on The Last Matryoshka by Joyce Yarrow]
6. The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time by David L Ulin [Book Seer suggestion because I finished Howards End Is on the Landing by Susan Hill] (6/7/11)
7. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell (6/8/11) [What Should I Read Next? suggestion because I finished The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Sutterfield]
other suggestions: The Savage Garden by Mark Mills; The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay; or The Conjuror's Bird by Martin Davies
8. Elegance by Kathleen Tessaro [Which Book pick] (3/5/11)
9. The Book Thief [Most Reviewed] (8/31/1)
10. Robert Kennedy: In His Own Words by Edwin O. Guthman and Jeffrey Shulman (eds). [Using the Random Org link I was given the year 1988. This book was on the New York Times NonFiction Best Sellers list during the week that has my birthday in it.] 7/19/11

CHALLENGE COMPLETE 8/31/11