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Reading challenges to tempt you, part IV: Types of books

Next up in the challenges list is types of books. These are books defined by something other than their subject matter. I have found challenges for listening to audio books, reading free e-books, long books, library books, translations and books of short stories. I am not counting short stories as a genre because they can be about anything as long as they are collection of short stories.

This reminds me of a challenge I thought up and was going to host in 2012. I was going to call it The Long and the Short of it. It was meant to be a challenge to read books under 150 pages and over 450 pages long. Level 1 was to be 3 long and 6 short ones, level 2 was to be 6 long books and 12 short ones, and level 3 was to encompass 12 long books and 26 short ones. An extreme level was to be offered, with 12 long books and 52 short ones but as you'll know if you stop by here regularly, I got fed up with restrictive challenges and decided to take it easy in 2012. I am putting this idea out here in the hope that someone will be willing to host it instead of me.

As in the earlier posts, you can click either on the link or badge for each challenge to go to the sign-up page.


The Book Garden is hosting the Tea & Books Challenge.

Join up if you're planning to read some really long novels this year, 700 or more pages long.

No re-reads or large type books, please!

There are 4 levels, and the challenge runs through the whole year. Crossovers are allowed and reviewing is not mandatory.


This next challenge could be incorporated into the previous one - as long as the rules are  followed ;-)


The Chunkster Reading challenge is being hosted on its own dedicated blog. It runs throughout 2012 and the challenge is to read books of 450 pages or more.

There are 4 levels. No audio books or ebooks are allowed. They can be both fiction and non-fiction, and essay collections, short stories and poetry are allowed (perfect incentive for those who want to tackle one of the Norton Anthologies).

Blog ownership is not necessary and you don't need to list the books ahead of time. Reviews are not mandatory, but are strongly encouraged.

Visit the hosting page for some suggestions for what to read, and to read the rules in full.

It may be possible to cross part of this next challenge with one or both of the above, especially if you can fit The Lord of the Rings and/or A Game of Thrones into it.


Martina Bookaholic is hosting the Book2Movie Challenge.

This one is a bit involved, but might be well worth doing if you are both a bibliophile and a movie buff.

Whole year. Each month you commit to reading 1 book and watching the movie based on it, in one of 12 given categories (plus a bonus category).

Reviews must link back to the originating blog, but don't otherwise seem to be mandatory.

I did not see a deadline for signing up.


This challenge can be crossed with any of the other challenges in this post and, for that matter, all the challenges listed in this whole series of posts except the TBR challenges.


Jamie of The Eclectic Bookshelf is hosting the Support your Local library Challenge.

The challenge is simple: Read books from your local library.

There are 4 levels and anyone can join.

You don't need to have a blog, but you are expected to link to at least your book-list even if you don't blog.

Audio books and ebooks are allowed, but re-reads are not.

I did not see a deadline for signing up.




The Library of Clean Reads is hosting a Short Story Reading Challenge.

It runs throughout the year and there is no deadline for joining.

It can cross over with other challenges as long as short stories are involved. Books for all ages are allowed, and both fiction and non-fiction.

There are 4 levels (and boy, would I have finished this one in style in 2010...)

Reviewing is assumed but you don't need to link to them.

Missie of The Unread Reader and Kelly of Reading the Paranormal are hosting the Why Buy the Cow? Reading Challenge.

As the name implies this is about reading free books. But not just any free books - they must be ebooks, offered for free and legally downloaded.

The challenge runs throughout 2012, there are three levels with a minimum limit of 12 books, but no maximum number. Cross-overs are allowed. 

If you link your reviews back to the hosting page you are eligible to win prizes, with monthly drawings, so sign up as soon as possible!


 If you are one of those people who never have time to read but do have a long(ish) commute or a job that doesn't demand your full attention (fish factory, anyone? I wish mp3 players had been invented when I was doing that kind of work), this challenge is perfect for you. Simply grab your smartphone or mp3 player and download some audio books and join: 



The Audio Book Challenge, which is being hosted by Teresa of Teresa's Reading Corner.


There are 4 levels and the challenge goes from one end of the year to the other.

I did not see a deadline for joining, but there will be a special monthly challenge as an incentive to stop by every month.




  
This final challenge is special to me, as I am a translator myself, and I am tempted to join, but I'll probably pass now and (maybe) do it next year.


The Introverted Reader is hosting a Books in Translation Challenge.

The goal is self-explanatory: Read books in translation.

Choose one of four levels. 

Challenge runs from January 7 to the end of the year.

Any genre and format is allowed, as are crossovers. You need not be a blogger, but reviewing seems to be required.




If you know of a reading challenge covering types of book and you would like me to cover it in the follow-up post to this series, just leave a link in a comment to this post and I will take a look at it.

Comments

Dorte H said…
Well, reading books in translation is one challenge that does not tempt me. I much prefer to read them in the original language :)
Bibliophile said…
But could you read Arnaldur Indriðason or Boris Akunin in the original?
Dorte H said…
Nope :)

But reading English, German & Scandinavian novels in translation does not coung as a challenge for me so I´d rather join one that challenged me to read as much as possible in the original language.

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