Wednesday, December 10, 2008

My Year of Reading Dangerously, 2009




Welcome to the 2009 edition of the My Year of Reading Dangerously Challenge! We had a great time in 2008, and I hope many of you will join us for the next installment.

We're making the challenge EVEN EASIER this year! I know, we didn't think it was possible either! Instead of hosting a list of "dangerous reads" this year is all about you.

Your job: Read 12 books you deem "dangerous." between January 1st and December 31st 2009. They may be banned or challenged books, new-to-you genres, books that seem to inhabit a permanent space on your stacks, or authors you're afraid of. The possibilities are endless! If it's dangerous to you, it's challenge-worthy to us!

Instead of breaking the year down into monthly Mr. Linky's, we'll be hosting one ongoing Linky this year. We'll post updates and notices to participants in sticky posts at the top of the blog, but your reading will be the centerpiece of this site. Whenever you finish a dangerous book, come leave the link to your review so other participants can ogle your accomplishments.

In the meantime, if you're interested in joining us, leave a comment on this post, so we can start building a list of participants on our sidebar. And while you're here, take a gander at our "recommended" list for 2009. These are books we love or want to read for ourselves!

Recommended, 2009

  • The Awakening by Kate Chopin (feminist)
  • A Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstoncraft (feminist)
  • A Passage to India by EM Forester (classic)
  • Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (classic)
  • The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (contemporary/literary)
  • A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (dystopia)
  • Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (sci-fi, among other things)
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (classic, african-american)
  • On the Blue Shore of Silence by Pablo Neruda (poetry)
  • Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (southern lit)
  • Persepolis I and II by Marjane Satrapi (graphic novel/memoir)
  • Night, Dawn, and Day by Elie Wiesel (holocaust)
  • Inferno, by Dante (classic/poetry)
  • Beasts, by Joyce Carol Oates (contemporary/novella)
  • My New York Diary, by Julie Doucet (graphic novel)
  • Man in the Dark, by Paul Auster (contemporary/literary fiction)
  • Hotel World, by Ali Smith (contemporary/stream of consciousness)
  • Lysistrata, by Aristophanes (classic/Greek)
  • American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang (graphic novel/race and ethnicity)
  • Living Dead Girl, by Elizabeth Scott (young adult)
  • The End of America, by Naomi Wolf (politics)
  • The Waste Land, by T.S. Eliot (poetry)
  • O Pioneers!, by Willa Cather (classic)
  • Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs (classic/slavery)
  • The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers (classic)
  • Contact, by Carl Sagan (contemporary/sci-fi)

You can link to your blog post about the challenge here!

70 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oooh, I would like to sign up!!! YAY! How does this work? I can't wait to get started!

jessi said...

I'm in: http://casual-dread.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-year-of-reading-dangerously.html

Vasilly said...

I'm in. Can the list be flexible?

Andi said...

Welcome, Cupcake! You can post about it on your blog: a possible pool of reads you're interested in or you can wait til January and just start reading! Either way, I'll add your link to our sidebar in a few days.

Jessi, thanks for coming along for the ride!

Thanks for joining us NV! The list can absolutely the flexible. I need to add that to the post as a matter of fact!

Andi

Lynda said...

I'm in:
http://lyndasbookblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-year-of-reading-dangerously-2009.html

Grilsgood said...

What have I go to lose. I'll try this one too inspite of having no idea what to read.

Unknown said...

I'd like to join. Here's my post.

katrina said...

I'd like to join, I'll probably just create a list as I go along. I'll post a link up tomorrow

Becky said...

I'm in! This looks like too much fun :)

Here is my list.

http://blbooks.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-year-of-reading-dangerously-2009.html

Nise' said...

Just can't pass up a reading challenge.

Jenny said...

OK Got to live dangerously no idea yet what I'll read but I'm sure I can come up with something dangerous.!!

Anonymous said...

I'm in, I'm in!! Please add me too. I'm on my way out and won't be able to post on my blog until much later though.

Sharon said...

I failed miserably this year, but would absolutely love to give it another try for 2009! Please count me in. I'll be doing a post shortly.

Anonymous said...

I'm in!

http://www.insearchofgiants.com/2008/12/book-challenges-my-year-of-reading.html

Sharon said...

Here's the link to my post:

http://exlibris.typepad.com/ex_libris/2008/12/dangerous-reading.html

B. Nagel said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
B. Nagel said...

I'm in. Does it count if you re-read dangerous books or are they diminished in dangerosity?

Tracee said...

I'm in and am really looking forward to this one. Thanks for the recommedations! I'll post about it later today:)

Elizabeth said...

Andi! I'm joining you! I've actually been patiently waiting since I started my book blog to get to join this challenge - YAY!

Jodie said...

I'm so in.

Bob said...

I am definitely on board but I refuse to read Gone with the Wind again. To do so would have me curled up in the corner gently sobbing.

Unknown said...

I'm in! It's a great idea and I'll probably make up my list using intimidating-to-me authors, challenged books and books I bought but haven't read in years...

My blog can be found at htttp://cozymurders.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Ignore the 20 after my name. It was for another challenge and I forgot to remove it. It sounds like fun!

Judy/Intergalactic Bookworm

http://intergalacticbookworm.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Count me in! I've already come up with 6 titles, and I have about a dozen others I'm considering. Thanks for a fabulous challenge!

julochka said...

oooh, looks like fun!! can't wait to compile my list!! :-)

Anonymous said...

Hi, I need to stretch myself so I'm keen to have a go. I have my first book chosen...the rest I'll figure out soon enough!

Vasilly said...

Count me in! Do I have to make a list now or can I put books down as I go?

Andi said...

Vasilly, feel free to make your list up as you go. That's probably what I'll do, too. I'm a mooood reader for sure!

stacey @ bookthirty said...

I've got it all posted in my sidebar, book choices and everything! And awaaaaaay we go! :)

Anonymous said...

Cool challenge! I thought this might be a good kick start for tackling those of my books which, untouched, none the less fill me with dread.

Or then again, can I just opt for "mild peril?!"

Anonymous said...

I'm excited about this. I'm going to read 12 nonfiction books because I don't generally read them.

Margo said...

I'm in too!! and i've already read one of your "dangerous'' books!! The Awakening by Kate Chopin. this is my first time doing this challange *im a new blogger and slow at grasping how to book blog with flair! my blog is

http://bookwormbarista.blogspot.com

thank you for adding me!

Andi said...

Thanks to all of you who are joining in! We're excited to have you onboard for 2009!! I'll get your names added to the sidebar in the next couple of days.

Genna said...

What a great way to start 2009!

Cheryl said...

Count me in! I am most excited about this challenge and this marks my first year doing reading challenges. Happy New Year!

http://www.alainnotebook.com/2009/01/reading-challenges.html

Laina said...

Is it cool if they cross over with other challenges?

Ann Marie said...

I failed to complete last year's challenge as college got in the way towards the end but I plan on signing up again this year and actually finishing it. I'll link to my list when I chose the books.

claire said...

I just signed up! Thanks for this challenge. :)

HoneyBee said...

This will be my first book challenge. I went to the bookstore and purchased Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Anton Chekov. I almost purchased books by Aristotle, Machiavelli and Socrates, but I better ease into this. This is agreat challenge!

Anonymous said...

Okay. So I've compiled the beginnings of a list, and read my first book, and reviewed it...

Here is the link for my list, and individual reviews will be linked from there.

http://sarahbbc.wordpress.com/and-now-for-something/my-year-of-living-dangerously-2009/

Have never participated in a challenge before; hope this is right?

Kim L said...

Sign me up!! Woohoo. Kim L.

I'll be posting my list sometime later today. Thanks for posting suggestions! With the new rules I think I'll have a much better chance of finishing this year. Yay!

Anonymous said...

sounds great looking the "recommended" to see what I can use from there... then I'll go to my shelves... books I have had there for years...

Awkward Librarian said...

I'm in this year. Here's the post about my take on the challenge including a link to my goodreads bookshelf for the challenge and the first book that I'm reading.
http://readingsarah.blogspot.com/2009/01/you-can-all-return-from-edge-of-your.html

Unknown said...

I'm loving these already! I have millions (well, lots) of books on my shelves that I haven't read!

Medical Librarian said...

What a fun, flexible challenge. This is my first ever book challenge, so I'm anxious to get started. Thanks!

Grilsgood said...

I know I signed up, could you check for me. Lindy/CT

Julie (ASmAcc) said...

Count me in! I'm interested to see what exactly qualifies as a dangerous book to me!

Lulu said...

I just signed up for your challenge. Looking forward to it. I will be here

http://luluslibrary.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-year-of-reading-dangerously.html

Thanks for hosting

Live2Read said...

Count me in, this sounds great.

http://live2read-live2read.blogspot.com

Claire said...

I'm in! This looks so great!

Wendy said...

Well I *thought* I had signed up for this a while ago...but apparently not! Anyway, I'm signed up now. And I actually finished my first book for the challenge which was a genre I typically steer clear of: Magical Realism. And I rather enjoyed it :)

Anne said...

Here I go!

http://aphaeresis.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-year-of-reading-dangerously.html

Anonymous said...

I have my list up on my blog, it turned out to be mostly classics.
wish me luck -- http://myspace.com/epiphany_renee

Jodie said...

So I put the link to my first book into the Mr Linky already up. I hope that's the right way to do it...

LBC said...

I'm signing up. My name is Laura and I will be posting at http://ldscarletletter.wordpress.com.

McNeill's Dirty Dozen said...

We're starting a little late, but we are in!

JoAnn said...

This looks like fun! I've picked my first couple books, but am still thinking about the rest. Here is my post:
http://lakesidemusing.blogspot.com/2009/02/my-year-of-reading-dangerously.html

Grilsgood said...

If you want to read my revies I now have a review only blog

http://lindysbookmobile.spaces.live.com/default.aspx

The list of books completed for each challenge is on A Novel Challenge

Claire said...

I put a link to my first book review on the linky thing.... Hope I did it right!

Sandra said...

I need to do this challenge. Count me in please. I will be back with a link to a post and my list of books. Thank you.

Wendy said...

I finished my third book for this challenge here.

Cath said...

I would like to sign up, too. This is amazing!

Do you mind if I link to your blog from mine? I just discovered it today but I love it already.

Kathleen said...

Me, me!

Donna Woolfolk Cross said...

How about a dangerous heroine? I'm Donna Woolfolk Cross, author of "Pope Joan", and I think Joan is a very dangerous woman (in the best sense of the word), for her very existence raises the thorny question of women as priests. Also, with the movie version of my novel due out in 2009, you might well find yourself reading a book banned by the Vatican!

For more information about both book and movie, go to www.popejoan.com.

Greetings to all the others here who love reading dangerously!

Candi said...

I'm in- It's late May already but I'm sure I can do 12 books. I have Uni holidays coming up soon which includes a roadtrip so will have plenty of reading time. Will consider some books and post my list in the next few days

http://candi-apieceofme.blogspot.com/

Wendy said...

I've finished my fifth book for this challenge - a literary classic: Midnight's Children, by Salman Rushdie. Here is my review.

Wendy said...

I finished #6 for the year. THE SUSPICIONS OF MR. WHICHER - non fiction (true crime/historical)

Jodie said...

I think this is my second read for this challenge so far:

'Empress of the World' - Sara Ryan http://bookgazing.blogspot.com/2009/07/empress-of-world-sara-ryan.html

Wendy said...

I've completed the challenge...here is my wrap up post.

Ghost Mannequin said...

Great post really enjoyed reading it!