Do You Need a Challenge to Read?

Does it count if you make a New Year's resolution two weeks into the New Year? I think so! Long ago, I gave up resolutions that were meant to remold me or to improve upon my basic nature. It's not that I’m perfect; it's that, like the heads on Mount Rushmore, my habits seem to be set in stone. New Year's promises quickly fly out the window.

A few years ago, I was dared to try a reading challenge. Asking a reader to read, really! Well, Farmer McGregor, I said, throw me in the briar patch, where I'll be right at home.

Really, all I needed to do was expand and perk up an activity that already occupied a great deal of my time.

That particular challenge was The Global Reading Challenge, and I was to read books from as many countries as I could, providing I eventually read something from each of the seven continents. I completed the challenge and enjoyed the entire experience.  I even found something written by a denizen of Antarctica––and no, it was not a Penguin book.

This Global challenge died a natural death and it's somewhere out there waiting for CPR. Seattle school children are doing some sort of global challenge and I don't qualify. I don't live in Seattle, otherwise you might see me tearing up those YA books.

On the other hand, the great number of reading challenges that do abound on the World Wide Web in 2015 floored me.

The only constant among these challenges is that books must be actually finished, chewed and digested, as Francis Bacon would have it:

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention" (Francis Bacon: The Essays).

One year, I joined the Chunkster Reading Challenge. What's a chunkster? Well, it's an adult or YA book, nonfiction or fiction, that's 450 pages or more. I thought I would reread Paul Scott's The Raj Quartet and a few other doorstops, but why I thought I could read about a dozen of these was nothing but hubris. Big fat F for me.

This challenge is typical of most challenges. One uses some good sense mixed with optimism to predict how many of the books specified will be read throughout the year. Some of the challenges require a link to a site to keep track of what's been read and often a paragraph or more to prove you are not fudging your accomplishments.

I was looking into the 2015 Nonfiction Reading Challenge, which is, of course, to read some history or memoirs or anything not fictional. Like most challenges, it has levels you can choose:

Dilettante--Read 1-5 non-fiction books
Explorer--Read 6-10
Seeker--Read 11-15
Master--Read 16-20

Then there's the 2015 TBR Pile Reading Challenge which is perfect for me, The New Author Challenge, The Authors A-Z Reading Challenge (Austen to Zola), and many more.

Do you want to improve your mind? Try the Back to the Classics Challenge or The Dive into Diversity Reading Challenge.

I have a load of books that I want to read one more time before divesting myself of them. It might be that The Re-Read Challenge might have the added benefit of helping my housekeeping skills.

Here on Read Me Deadly, we have an appreciation for British literature and I am tempted by the Reading England 2015 challenge, the goal of which is to travel England by reading, and to read at least one book that takes place in each county in the country according to how many books you challenge yourself to.

For instance, you might aim to read three books from three separate counties and you might choose some of Ann Cleeves's Vera Stanhope books from Northumberland, Murder in the Cotswolds by A. B. Guthrie, Jr., or one of the Dalziel/Pascoe series by Reginald Hill that take place in Yorkshire.

My favorite challenge is one on PopSugar, which gives the reader a choice from a wide range of books, spanning many time periods and genres, and it's the easiest to follow. You can print up this list and check them off as you read. The best part is that you answer to nobody but yourself.

A book with more than 500 pages
A classic romance
A book that became a movie
A book published this year
A book with a number in the title
A book written by someone under 30
A book with nonhuman characters
A funny book
A book by a female author
A mystery or thriller
A book with a one word title
A book of short stories
A book set in a different country
A nonfiction book
A popular author's first book
A book from an author you love that you haven't read yet
A book a friend recommended
A Pulitzer Prize winning book
A book based on a true story
A book at the bottom of your TBR
A book your mom loves
A book that scares you
A book more than 100 years old
A book based entirely on its cover
A book you were supposed to read in school but didn't
A memoir
A book you can finish in a day
A book with antonyms in the titles
A book set somewhere you have always wanted to visit
A book that came out the year you were born
A book with bad reviews
A trilogy
A book from your childhood
A book with a love triangle
A book set in the future
A book set in High School
A book with a color in the title
A book that made you cry
A book with magic
A graphic novel
A book by an author you have never read before
A book that you own but have never read
A book that takes place in your home town
A book that was originally written in a different language
A book set during Christmas
A book written by an author with your same initials
A play
A banned book
A book based on or turned into a TV show
A book you started but never finished

The easiest challenge of all is from Goodreads, because all you have to do is predict how many books you will read this year and log them on to the Goodreads site and a record is kept for you. It's my kind of reading challenge because there is very little guilt involved if your eyes are bigger than your reading time.

But in the end I don't need a challenge to read, though sometimes I do need one to improve my reading selections.

Let's Not Put Off Reading Something Extraordinary

It's January 2nd, time for us procrastinators to begin working on a list of resolutions. No, no, not for 2009. Let's not waste any more time fretting about THAT list. Let's grip our pencils and work on 2012. Sister Mary Murderous, with her series challenge, has given us a timely shove in a good direction. Fellow dilly dalliers, this is a situation almost unique in our chronically late lives. Right now, we're not too late. Let's pick something extraordinary to read.

What will it be? A series we've always wanted to try but somehow never got around to starting? (Ahem. Let's not start down the road of self-recrimination. We're working on our long-standing tardiness now.) A series we read long ago that is now half shrouded by the fog of time? Will we explore a mystery genre we've never or rarely tried before? An author highly recommended by someone whose opinion we trust? Books set in a country we're curious about but have never visited? A book set in our hometown to see if a writer's insights agree with our own? Something that appears on a list of "the year's best" that sounds too good to miss?

I'll start with that last question first and work backwards. (There's something fitting about that for a procrastinator.) Here are some books appearing on "best of 2011" lists that I plan to read (and WILL read because they're on my list of resolutions):

The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht. "At 24, Obreht became the youngest writer on The New Yorker’s coveted '20 Under 40' list. Her debut novel examines what happens when a young doctor in a Balkan country investigates her grandfather’s mysterious death" (Miami Herald).

Plugged by Eoin Colfer. "From the author of the 'Artemis Fowl' series, a bang-up crime novel for adults starring an Irish bouncer at a seedy casino in New Jersey" (Washington Post).

Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante. "This spooky thriller about a retired orthopedic surgeon suffering from dementia is both a poetic portrait and a page-turner" (Chicago Tribune).

See, that wasn't so hard! I'm sure you can find plenty of books that sound good to you on "best-of" lists. Try major newspapers. Ask your friendly independent bookseller. Or look at Sister Mary Murderous's list in the older posts of Read Me Deadly. In the next few weeks the rest of us will be posting more.

On to books set in my home state of Colorado. I've read John Dunning's Cliff Janeway series about a cop-turned-bookseller who pursues crime and first editions in Denver (Janeway investigates the death of a book scout in Booked to Die, first in the series). Learning about rare books while reading Dunning's books is as much fun as solving his mysteries. I've also read some of Stephen White's thrillers with psychologist Alan Gregory and attorney Lauren Crowder in Boulder. I liked Manner of Death, in which people connected with Gregory's clinical residency are killed. I'm now tempted to go white-water rafting on the Arkansas River near Salida with Beth Groundwater's guide Mandy Tanner in Deadly Currents.

I'll turn now to places I'd love to visit. South America? My books have taken me to several South American countries: Brazil with Leighton Gage's Mario Silva and Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza's Inspector Espinosa. Argentina with Ernesto Mallo's Superintendent "Perro" Lascano, a police detective in Buenos Aires during Argentina's military rule in the late 1970s. In the first book, Needle in a Haystack, Lascano investigates how three bodies ended up on a river bank. Juan de Recacoechea took me to Bolivia in American Visa, a book I talked about in a previous post. What else could I read set in South America? I'd love any suggestions.

On to India. What else could I read set there? Perhaps further visits with Paul Mann's George Sansi (first book is Season of the Moonsoon, which finds Sansi investigating a Bollywood corpse) or Tarquin Hall's Vish Puri, who began a detective agency in Delhi called Most Private Investigators Ltd. We meet Puri for the first time in The Case of the Missing Servant, as he works for a client suspected of killing a maid who had disappeared.

I've never been to Hong Kong and Georgette recommends William Marshall's highly imaginative (read "bizarre") Yellowthread Street Station series by William Marshall, starting with Yellowthread Street. I've traveled across Asia with John P. Marquand's Mr. Moto. In Southeast Asia, I recommend the Poke Rafferty books set in Thailand by Timothy Hallinan (first is A Nail Through the Heart) and books involving Sonchai Jitpleecheep, John Burdett's Bangkok police detective. I've enjoyed books by Laura Joh Rowland set in Japan. I'd like to try other books set in Japan and perhaps Read Me Deadly readers could suggest some.

Let's head from Asia toward Europe.  I'd love to read the Erast Fandorin series set in 19th-century St. Petersburg, Russia by Boris Akunin or complete the Arkady Renko series by Martin Cruz Smith. I'd like to try a book by Czech writer Josef Škvorecký or read a Jana Matinova book set in Bratislava, Slovakia by Michael Genelin. Has anyone read Zygmunt Miloszewski's book Entanglement, set in Warsaw, Poland?

I'd like to read all of the Quirke books by Benjamin Black (John Banville), Ken Bruen's Jack Taylor books and the latest Stuart Neville book set in Belfast and featuring Jack Lennon.

I don't have to travel far from home if I read David Carkeet's darkly comic From Away or Louise Penny's Three Pines police procedural series set in Quebec, recommended by Sister Mary Murderous. What other books are suggested by people whose book opinions I like? I know that Maltese Condor likes the Walt Longmire books about a sheriff in Absaroka, Wyoming, and Periphera likes George Dawes Green, author of The Caveman's Valentine. I'm eying his book Ravens, about a couple of two-bit crooks who set up a hostage situation. I'm also intrigued by writer Jonathan Lethem. Both Periphera and Georgette liked his Motherless Brooklyn, involving a protagonist with Tourette's syndrome who investigates the death of his boss. Georgette likes George P. Pelecanos, whose hardboiled books are set in Washington D.C. I've only read a couple of them but that was enough to make me want to read more.

I could try more forensics books. Other than Postmortem, the first Kate Scarpetta book by Patricia Cornwell, I haven't read many of those. Perhaps a book by Kathy Reichs? Who else? I haven't read many books of gothic suspense other than Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White and The Moonstone, the famous Victorian novel involving the disappearance of a priceless gem; and Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, in which Maxim de Winter's new wife tries to decipher the puzzles of Manderley and the death of Rebecca, wife No. 1. These are some genres that deserve more reading. I highly recommend the above books to people who haven't yet read them.

It's been years since I read Raymond Chandler's classics. His Philip Marlowe books, set in Los Angeles, are too good to be forgotten. Dashiell Hammett's books and short stories are fading from my memory. Dorothy L. Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey and Margery Allingham's Albert Campion. The Nigel Strangeway series by Nicholas Blake. Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö's Martin Beck series. Arthur Upfield's Inspector “Bony” Bonaparte books, set in Australia. Agatha Christie's Jane Marple. All of these series could use my re-reading.

Series I've meant to try but haven't yet include Cornelia Read's Madeline Dare books (the first is A Field of Darkness), the Charlotte “Charlie” McNally series about an investigative reporter by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Prime Time is first), the Erlendur Sveinsson books by Arnaldur Indriðason and the books featuring Omar Yussef Sirhan by Matt Beynon Rees. I'd love to hear your opinions on these or any other suggestions you might have.

These are some ideas for books to read in 2012. Of course, I could see if some of them are already on my shelves here at home. But searching through my books already waiting to be read will have to wait for another day. I'll procrastinate about that. Right now I'm not going to wait to write my list of books I resolve to read in 2012. And you shouldn't either. See you on the Challenges page of Read Me Deadly!

2012 Resolution: Become a Serial Killer

Hold on, hold on. You don't have to leap up and start checking your window and door locks; it's not what you think. This is a reading challenge. But first, a little story about how I got the idea.

My brother-in-law, Jeff, is thorough by long habit and practice. He is the designated pot scrubber among all his family and friends, because nobody else is so single-minded in ensuring that every tiny mark is scoured away.

Jeff's approach to the arts is similar. Back when he was a teenager living in what's called "Chicagoland," he listened to radio superstation WLS religiously and collected and kept (to this day) each week's "Silver Dollar Survey" of the most popular songs.

Jeff used his allowance judiciously, carefully choosing which 45s to spend his money on, and giving careful attention to both the A and B sides. He made sure to get his money's worth, playing each new acquisition over and over––and over again. My husband, who is terrible at remembering song lyrics, can still remember every word and note of Neil Sedaka's "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (and its followup hit, "I'm Living Right Next Door to an Angel"), after Jeff kept it spinning on the turntable for a few weeks. I will not go into the incident of near-homicide at Jeff's house a few years back, when he had "La Vida Loca" on his CD player's infinite repeat.

But enough about music and on to books. Not surprisingly, Jeff's thoroughness carries through to his book-reading habits. When he likes a mystery, he often chain-reads through the whole series. Last year, he read (re-read in some cases) all of Ngaio Marsh's Roderick Alleyn series and all of Earl Derr Biggers's Charlie Chan books. (See Jeff's review of Yunte Huang's Charlie Chan here.) This year, it was Lindsey Davis's Marcus Didius Falco series. (Jeff plans to write a guest post for us about the Falco series, which I hope we'll see soon.)

I've never read an entire series over the course of a few months. The idea interests me, though, because it seems to me that it would allow for a better view of how a protagonist evolves over the course of the series and how the writer's skills develop and, maybe, wane.

Inspired by Jeff's example, then, I propose a reading challenge for 2012: Choose a mystery series and read (or re-read) every book in the series during the course of the year.

I will set up a new page here on Read Me Deadly where we can discuss the challenge, give each other suggestions about what series to choose, report on what we've chosen to tackle, and write in from time to time to report on progress and observations. To visit the page, please click on the "Challenges" link near the top of the home page.

See you there!