Double Bagging

"Hi, I'm Laura R and I'm a signing-up-for-challenges addict."
"Hi Laura!"

Yeah, I have issues! But, since I started this blog in January this year, I missed all the fun and exciting signing up for challenges furore that apparently happens in November! And, let's face it, there are many great challenges out there!

This time, though, I'm being smart (ish- smart would be not signing up for lots of challenges...) and double bagging on my challenges. What the heck am I talking about? Well, I'm going to be taking part in Allie at A Literary Odyssey's Shakespeare Reading Month in January, which is great because I can get Othello from the Back to the Classics Challenge read, as well as possibly a couple of other plays and probably Shakespeare by Bill Bryson again (even though I should probably read one of my other Shakespeare books instead... oh well!) And yes, I do often sign up to things Allie is doing, but that's basically because 1) she's awesome, and 2) she keeps doing group reads of books I have and haven't read yet, and I can't think of a good reason not to! (On this note, I'm also group reading Sense and Sensibility with her in December, but I was already reading that for Austen in Advent!)

Anyway, speaking of books I haven't read yet, I'm also signing up for Adam's TBR Challenge, which I realise sounds kind of similar to the Off the Shelf Challenge I also announced my intentions about yesterday BUT I have a plan. And this plan is double bagging! So, for Adam's challenge you have to commit yourself to 12 books that you've had on your shelf for a year or more and if you don't read them you DIE. Ok, maybe not that, but you'll feel a bit ashamed of yourself and unaccomplished come New Years Eve 2012, and that'll really interfere with all the laying about I do on that day (no really, I hate New Years Eve. But anyway). SO, my plan is, take those 12 books, count them for the TBR Challenge but also 12 of my 30 books for the Off the Shelf challenge, and I've only got 18 books left to read for that challenge, which I'll probably achieve with Stephen King books alone!

So, instead of rambling anymore (that's really annoying, isn't it?) here are the twelve books (and 2 reserves) that I'm going to read for the TBR Challenge come 2012:

1. Watership Down by Richard Adams
2. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
3. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
4. Restoration by Rose Tremain
5. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
6. Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter
7. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
8. Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
9. The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates
10. Once There Was A War by John Steinbeck
11. In Love and Trouble by Alice Walker
12. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson

And in case a couple of those don't pan out (I'm looking at you, Long Walk To Freedom and Fear and Loathing...):

13. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
14. The Godfather by Mario Puzo

Doesn't that sound exciting?! You probably didn't notice, but I haven't put any Back To The Classics titles on there because for some reason I think it's a challenge that can't be combined with any other (apart from the Shakespeare reading month but that doesn't count because, you know, not a challenge!). So yeah, that's it. If I say I'm going to sign up for any more challenges, please come over here and shake me and make me stop because I'm just going to be unhappy next year if I do and it'll all end in tears!