2012 Reading Challenges

I love participating in reading challenges. In 2011, I participated in 15 total. Well technically I still I have a couple that I am working on! I think they are fun and help give me some direction to my reading. Some of the challenges I have chosen for next year are old favorites, and others are some new ones for me.

So without further ado, here is the first round of challenges I will be signing up for 2012. I say first round, because I am sure there will be some more!

A perennial favorite challenge of mine is Literary Escapisms New Authors Challenge. I am not a big series reader. I seem to read a lot of new-to-me authors every year. In 2011, I challenged myself to read 50 and read 72, making the vast majority of authors I read new-to-me! I will again choose the highest level which is 50 new authors for 2012.

Last year was the first year I participated in Book Obsessed's The 50 States Reading Challenge. I am still working on it and it is really entertaining to see where across the country my books take me. Believe me, I find myself seeking out books in different states! So yes, I really want to participate in this challenge again even if I don't end up finishing it.

This will be the third year that I will have participated in Beth Fish Read's What's in a Name Challenge. I love this challenge because the categories are different every year and it really makes me think about what I need to read to match the categories! This year you need six books to match the different categories. Each different title should include a topographical feature; something you'd see in the sky; a creepy crawly; a type of house; something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack; and something you'd find on a calendar.

This is a new-to-me challenge and I am excited to be joining in! My Book Retreat has started the Non-Fiction Non-Memoir Challenge. I read a lot of non-fiction and sure, a lot of them are memoirs but many more are purely to teach me something so I am looking forward to seeing just how many a year I read. Since I have never tracked these numbers before, I am going to join in at the Elementary Level which is 5 nonfiction books.

Another new-to-me challenge is Rose City Reader's European Reading Challenge 2012. The goal of this challenge is to read as many books as you can by authors from different European countries or books set in different European countries as you can, trying to reach all 50 sovereign states. I read a lot of books set in Europe thanks to my obsession with books set during WWII so I think I should do pretty well on this. I am definitely excited to give this one a try! I am going to go big on this one and challenge myself to the Five Star Level, working towards reading at least five books by different European authors or set in different European countries.

What challenges are you thinking about for 2012?