I’ve been thinking about Reading Challenges for next year. At first I thought I would only do one or two, because I start out full of enthusiasm and then find that by listing the books I want to read often ends up with me forgetting about them and reading something completely different. I’m very much a ‘mood’ reader. This made me feel a bit pressured when I remembered that I haven’t read the books/finished a particular challenge.
But then I realised that the pressure is purely of my own making, and as I really enjoy making lists and seeing which books I already own would fit into a challenge, I’ve decided to go ahead, make my lists and if I do complete the challenge, so much the better. This of course, means that I’m not treating it as a ‘challenge’, but then I don’t consider reading is or should be a ‘challenge’. I think I’ll call it ‘themed reading‘.
My books fit so well into this theme, so I’m signing up for The War Through the Generations:World War 1 Challenge.
Here are the details:
The challenge will run from January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2012.
The books, whether fiction or non-fiction must have WWI as the primary or secondary theme and occur before, during, or after the war, so long as the conflicts that led to the war or the war itself are important to the story. Books from other challenges count so long as they meet the above criteria.
- Dip: Read 1-3 books in any genre with WWI as a primary or secondary theme.
- Wade: Read 4-10 books in any genre with WWI as a primary or secondary theme.
- Swim: Read 11 or more books in any genre with WWI as a primary or secondary theme.
And these are my books:
- All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque – a book I mean to read each year. I started it a couple of years ago and never finished it. I’ll have to start again.
- The Ghost Road by Pat Barker – set in 1918 as the War came to an end. This is the third in the trilogy. I haven’t got the first two, so hope this stands well on its own.
- Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain. This is Vera Brittain’s autobiography. She was 21 in 1914. I finished reading it in March – absolutely fascinating.
- Chronicle of Youth by Vera Brittain. This is her war diary 1913 – 1917 on which she based Testament of Youth.
BooksPlease 