Hug a Book--It's Like a Tree =)

Upon a friend's recommendation (thanks Kristyn!), I decided to enter the "2010 Busy Bookworm Challenge." I'm excited because, as it stands, I already read quite a bit, but now instead of feeling like a lazy slug every time I'm reading, I can feel like I'm actually accomplishing something. I decided for this first challenge I'm going to try to tackle one book a month. Here's my list:

1. Kiterunner by Khaled Hosseini

2. Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan Review
3. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan Review
4. The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan Review
5. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan Review
6. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
7. Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
8. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Review (sort of)
9. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
10. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
11. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
12. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Technically the first item on my list, "Kiterunner," might be cheating, because I finished reading that novel before I knew about this challenge. But I just finished it a couple of days ago, and I read the book in January, so I figure it probably counts. Items 2 through 6 are titles that are part of the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series, and originally I had included only the first book on my list because I didn't want nearly half of my list swallowed up by one series. But Clinton advised me to put all five of them on the list, stating that it was really difficult to stop at just the first novel. Plus I really want to get through as much of the series as possible before the movie comes out.

Most of my other chosen books (with the exception of Kaffir Boy) are classics that, for whatever reason, I never read growing up, so I would love to be able to read them now (better late then never). My other strategy for choosing these books was I tried to consider those enduring literary titles that would make a good addition to my classroom library as soon as I'm finished with them.

*Off-list books completed (updated 11/24/10):

• The Host by Stephenie Meyer
• The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp by Rick Yancey
• The Capture by Kathryn Lasky
• The Lone Wolf by Kathryn Lasky