It begins

I've started a couple of blogs over time, but never stuck with them.  I doubt this one will last the winter break, but I'll give it a shot.  Since I've written so many scholarly papers, I probably won't be a very entertaining blogger but this is mainly for me so it shouldn't matter.

I started this to keep track of the books I read in 2013.  I've joined two reading challenges so far and plan and joining at least one more.

The first challenge is the 100 Novels of the 20th Century challenge (on goodreads.com).  I decided to do the lowest level which means I will be reading 10 of the novels on the list.  My current list that I think I will read is:

1. 1984 by George Orwell

2. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller 

3. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad 

4. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells 

5. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand 

6. The Call of the Wild by Jack London 

7. On the Road by Jack Kerouac 

8. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway 

9. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien 

10.An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser

They were chosen because either they sounded interesting or I already own the book and just haven't read it yet.

The second challenge that I joined was the "You have the right to remain silent" reading challenge.  This one focuses on crime novels.  As with the previous challenge, I committed to the lowest level (ex-con) and will read one book from each category.  This one should be pretty easy as this is a genre that I do enjoy.

Elementary My Dear Watson - Of course we start with Sherlock Holmes.
The Little Grey Cells of Agatha Christie
True Crime - A book which is based on a real incident (can be fiction or non-fiction).
Watching the Detectives - The central character is a member of the police.
Outside The Law - The central character is a lawyer, private detective, criminal (i.e not a member of the police).
Come Up To The Lab - Central character is a doctor/medical examiner.
Things Ain't What They Used To Be Historical Crime (i.e a book that is not set in the present).
Crime in a Cold Climate - A book that is written by an author from/set in Scandinavia (Norway, Finland, Sweden).

I'm still looking for one more challenge to join.  I'll be back when I do.