New Challenges

After completing the Seconds Challenge, I find myself out of challenges. I went poking around the internet looking for some. I found some very interesting ones that were, unfortunately, too far underway for me to attempt. However, I did find two that have just started that I am going to attempt.

BangBang Challenge

First, the BangBang Challenge. This challenge is to basically read five books set during a war or time of conflict. This reading must be done between September 1, 2008 and February 28, 2009. I plan to read from the following:

1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (WW II)


2. War Trash by Ha Jin (Korean War)


3. Bridge Over the River Kwai by Pierre Boulle (WW II)


4. The Siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Ballard (Sepoy Rebellion)


5. Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson (Vietnam War)

Alternates include:

1. Charter House of Parma by Stendhal (Napoleanic Wars)


2. Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien (Vietnam War)


3. The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh (Vietnam War)

Book Awards II Challenge

I also want to attempt the Book Awards II Challenge. This challenge, which runs from August 1, 2008 through June 1, 2009 involves reading 10 award winning books. The catch is, you can only read two books for each award. I plan to to read the following books for this challenge:

1. The Book of Chameleons by José Eduardo Agualusa (Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, 2007)


2. Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee (Commonwealth Writer's Prize, 2000)


3. All The Names by Jose Saramgo (Nobel Prize, 1998)


4. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller, Jr. (Hugo, 1961)


5. On Beauty by Zadie Smith (Orange, 2006)


6. The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney (Costa/Whitbread, 2006)


7. Being Dead by Jim Crace (NBCC, 2000)


8. Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris (PEN/Hemingway, 2007)


9. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (NBCC, 2007 and Pulitzer, 2008)


10. Perfume by Patrick Suskind (World Fantasy Award, 1987)

Alternates are listed below. However, I will only count these if I run out of time. I would much prefer to read the books listed specifically for the challenge.

Alternates that are cross-overs from the BangBang Challenge:

1. Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson (National Book Award, 2007)


2. War Trash by Ha Jin (PEN/Faulkner, 2005)


3. Siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Ballard (Booker, 1973)

Alternates that I have already read during the challenge period, but not specifically for the challenge:

1. The Blind Assassin by M. Atwood (Booker, 2000)


2. Amsterdam by I. MacEwan (Booker, 1998)


3. Snow Country by Y. Kawabata (Nobel, 1968)


4. White Noise by D. Delillo (National Book Award, 1985)