Semi-Charmed Winter 2014 Reading Challenge – updated preliminary list

I wrote an initial preliminary list of books to read for the Winter 2014 Reading Challenge the day the categories came out (I got a bit overexcited), but today is the day of the preliminary lists linkup and I’ve had some more time to think about what to read, so here is my updated preliminary list. Books subject to change depending on what I can get hold of cheaply and whether my picks actually turn out to have enough pages to count for the challenge…

5 points: Freebie! Read any book that fits the general rules. – To be decided

10 points: Read a book written by an author who has published at least 10 books. – So many authors! I’ll have to let you know on this one too.

10 points: Read a book of short stories. –  Different Seasons by Stephen King (hopefully novellas are short enough to count!)

10 points: Read a book with a food in the title. — Coffee is not a food, so I’m still thinking about this one. I’ve found a few possibilities so will have to see what I can get hold of cheaply.

15 points: Read the first book in a series that is new to you (so no rereads for this one!). — The Various by Steve Augarde. I bought this a while ago but hadn’t read it yet and I just discovered that it’s the first in a trilogy. Perfect!

15 points: Read a book that was originally written in a language that is not your native language. — I’m thinking of reading a book in German that was originally written in French for this. I hope that doesn’t make me seem like a show off!

15 points: Read a book written by a local author (either an author from your state if you live in the United States, or from your country if you live somewhere else). — Technically I only  need a German author, but I’m going to try and find a Karlsruhe one for this. To be confirmed.

20 points: Read a “bookish book” (in which books play an important role, e.g. the setting involves a bookstore or library, a major character is an author, or a book that celebrates reading and books. Examples: The Book Thief, The Shadow of the Wind, The Thirteenth Tale, etc.) — The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows.

20 points: Read a book with a direction in the title (e.g. north, south, east, west or any combination of those). — I’ve orded a book called  Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea. I hope it arrives soon!

25 points: Read a book from a genre you don’t usually read. — I went through several “genre” book lists on Good Reads and didn’t find a single genre where I hadn’t read anything! I think science fiction is probably my least read genre though, and Jan has suggested Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, so that’s currently my plan.

25 points: Read a book with a song lyric in the title. Be sure to tell us the song name and artist as well! — My current ideas are A Room With a View by E. M. Forster  (song A Room With a View by Danish singer Tina Dico) or Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer (song of the same name by Sara Bareilles). I’m still kind of hoping to find something more interesting though, i.e. where the book title is a lyric from a song without book and song having the exact same title.

30 points: Read two books with a different meal in each title (e.g. breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper, brunch). — I am hopefully going to read The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams for this (sequel to Dirk Gently’ Holistic Detective Agency), but I have a horrible feeling it may have less then 200 pages… For my second book, I’ve chosen Lunch Money by Andrew Clements. It’s actually surprisingly difficult to find books with meals in the title!

If you are joining in with the challenge, write a post with your preliminary reading list then head over to Megan’s blog to link up. Looking forward to seeing what you’re all going to be reading this winter!