Dewey's Books Challenge

I've been finding keeping up with challenges difficult as I am so fickle with choosing books to read in advance and then picking something completely different up later! I decided not to join any challenges in 2009, but have chosen to make a couple of exceptions. The first is Dewey's Books Challenge, a wonderful way to honour and celebrate the life of Dewey, one of our most beloved book bloggers who is sorely missed. I haven't posted about her passing before as I never seem to find the right words, so this is my way of honouring Dewey, and all the wonderful reviews she has shared with us in the past. I am very grateful to Chris and Robin for designing and hosting this challenge.

So to the challenge! Either:

1. Pick one book from each of the 6 years that Dewey has archives of. You can access her archives by clicking on the archive link in the sidebar of her website. It’s a dropdown menu. For instance, you would read one book that she reviewed in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 for a total of six books.

2. The other option is to read 5 books that Dewey reviewed, which can be from any year.

The rules are simple! Choose either option 1 or 2 from above and read your five or six books between January 1st and December 31st 2009 (though the challenge unofficially starts now). Check back to the Dewey's Books page to update on the challenge, mini-challenges and giveaways, and post your reviews on the Mr. Linky’s on the Dewey's Book Challenge Reviews blog.

The most important thing is to enjoy yourselves and remember that we are celebrating a blogger who has made such an impact on so many people. If you sign up by January 1st, you'll be entered into the prize draw for one of Dewey's infamous chocolate monkeys! So I'm heading on over to Dewey's blog to peruse her many many reviews. Happy reading.

Win John Lawson's Witch Ember and The Raven

Another exciting little raffle is up on J.Kaye's Book Blog. To enter, visit the blog and post comments on her reviews of Witch Ember and The Raven. A comment on one enters you once; comment on both and be entered twice! If you blog about this raffle, include a link to your blog in your comments, and your chances to win are doubled! Hurry though, the raffle ends today.

Readathons, challenges and giveaways..

Its soon time for the big 24-hour readathon, hosted by Dewey on 28th June. See here for more details and to sign up. Although I would love to participate, I work 12 hours shifts 7 days a week, and have a very limited supply of books with me! Depending on our workload, I may be able to pop in as a cheerleader to support you hardy readers! I look forward to all your readathon updates.

Valentina is celebrating her 1st blog birthday by giving away any book she has reviewed to three lucky readers. All you need to do is post a comment on her page, and if you post about it, your name will get thrown in the draw twice! The deadline is Friday 13th June at midnight (GMT+1).

To encourage people not to dismiss graphic novels without giving them a try, Dewey is giving away a copy of We Are On Our Own by Miriam Katin, a graphic novel about Katin's childhood as a Jew in World War II Hungary. All you have to do is visit the Graphic Novels challenge blog and read and comment on at least two of the posts there, and write a post in your blog letting your readers know about the Graphic Novels challenge and telling them that they can join at this half-way point through the challenge and read only half the books required (i.e. three). Don't forget to write a comment on Dewey's giveaway page afterwards. I would join the challenge right now if I weren't on a ship West of the Shetlands with no graphic novels to hand! I'll have to wait another couple of months!

Waterstones Writing Competition

For those in the UK who don't already know, Waterstones Booksellers are holding a competition for budding writers. The prize is a place on a four and a half day nature writing course with the Arvon Foundation in Shropshire in August, with tutors Niall Griffiths and Anna Pavord. The deadline is the 1st June 2008, see here for details. Good luck!

Struggles, pleasant surprises and giveaways...

Have you ever struggled desperately with a book that you were determined to love? Did you give up, or battle on? If you gave up, have you regretted it? Have you tried again, or do you intend to? Or did you carry on, and half way through discover that you really do like the book after all?!

I'm currently reading The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel. I've been meaning to read this book for a very long time, but my TBR pile is so disgustingly big, I've only just gotten around to it. I'll admit, that within the first 3 or 4 chapters, I was very ready to give up. It wasn't that I disliked the book or the characters. I was simply finding it boring. Auel has obviously done her research and her descriptions of the Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon people and their way of life is genuinely astounding. I just really didn't want or need a 3 page description of harvesting a plant, or curing leather into a sling. I felt that it detracted from my enjoyment of the story, and prevented me from becoming involved with the characters and their plight. (Or so I thought.)

I was disappointed. This book has been recommended to me by several people, and the editorial reviews were quite frankly gushing! I perserved, something I tend to do with books and which is perhaps sometimes my failing (as pointed out my Nick Hornby in his Polysyllabic Spree). Was there any real need for me to carry on? If I am not enjoying a book, would it not simply be better to put it down and pick up another, perhaps returning to the disagreeable book at a later time and/or place? In this case I carried on, and to my great pleasure found myself becoming more and more involved. I am now 400 pages in and really enjoying it. Perhaps not to the extend of reading the rest of the series (though that may depend on the ending of this book!), but certainly enough that I am very glad to have continued reading! I may not like the ending..I still have almost 200 pages left to go (!), but the journey has seemed worth it. Auel's detailed descriptions of prehistoric man, and the world (s)he live in, is fascinating and though not what I usually expect from my fictional reading...educational. I'll get back to you when I'm done!

Another pleasant surprise these past few days is that I am being relieved at our next port call in sunny Darwin. Yay, I get to go home! By the time I'm back, I will have probably missed the bluebells, and the fabulous Living Crafts Festival at Hatfield House (an annual tradition of mine and highly recommended), but at least I get to snuggle my cat, catch up with my best friend who I haven't seen in person for a disgusting amount of time (sorry hun!) and visit my favourite local bookshop where I can spend all the money I've earned these last 8 weeks on books that you wicked little bookpeople have recommended to me. I hope you all feel guilty. Yes, you.

Meanwhile...Melody is giving away three books at her Reading Corner: Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, Little Face by Sophie Hannah and From Black Rooms by Stephen Woodworth. Pop a comment in if you are interested!

Competitions galore!

So I'm bobbing around on the sea off the coast of Western Australia and we are sooo close to the end of this job...and another cyclone has popped up and headed this way. The bookshops of Australia are looking so very far away :( - so to cheer myself up, I've entered my name in two great little competitions...you should all do the same!

Kim at Bold.Blue.Adventure is celebrating her 100th post by giving away four books, with a $15 Amazon gift card for international readers. So pop your name into the draw here by Saturday 26th April to be in with a chance of winning The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, Space by James Michener and The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards.

Andi at Tripping Toward Lucidity: Estella's Revenge is giving away a copy of The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming! Pop your name into the draw here before Friday 25th April, and advertise the giveaway on your blog for your name to go into the draw twice!

p.s. i am actually working for the oil industry on this job...oh the irony..