2011 Reading Challenge; An introduction.

I'm starting a new reading challenge this year. I'm posting the rules here and you can play along too, if you like. Let me know if you are going to try it or like the sound of it. The rules are pretty flexible. Also, if you have any good book recommendations or any books you have in your TBR pile (to-be-read) that you would like to share go ahead and leave me note :)

I'm going to try and blog along as I go. I'll try and give some reviews/ratings of the books.

Rules:

• Must be novels (e.g. cannot be graphic novels, but a novella would count) they can be in written, e-book, or audio format.
• You have 365 days to complete the challenge from the day you start.
• Re-reads are allowed.
• Can be your choice of fiction or non-fiction unless otherwise noted.
• If you read the books from each of the below category challenges it will equal at least 25 books total. You may choose to do less and pick any number of them you like.
• You may not use the same book for more than one category below. You may overlap with other challenges.

The Category Challenges:

1. 1 must be from your current to-be-read list/shelf/pile-
2. 1 must be of a new genre for you, or a genre you don’t read often-
3. 1 must be fiction-
4. 1 must be non-fiction-
5. 1 must be from a new-to-you author-
6. 1 must be published in the last year (e.g. 2010)-
7. 1 must be written before you were born-
8. at least 2 must start with one of your initials (e.g.- Mary Elizabeth Smith may choose a book that starts with M and a book that starts with an E or S, or She may do 3, one with M, one with E, and one with S)-
9. 1 must be an anthology-
10. at least 1 must be from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list http://dft.ba/-1001books (list compiled from actual book http://dft.ba/-actualbook ) or a book from a similar list.
11. 1 must be an award winner-
12. 1 must be from a series-
13. 1 must be local (e.g. in a local setting, from a local author, about a local person, etc)-
14. 1 must be distant (e.g. set on a different planet, an author from another country, etc)-
15. 1 must be someone else's pick (e.g. a book from the staff picks at the bookstore or library, a book recommended by a friend, etc)-
16. 1 must be a banned book-
17. 1 must be a childhood classic-
18. 1 must have a place in the title (e.g. The Kitchen House, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Out of Africa, etc)
19. 1 must have a name in the title (e.g. Emma, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, etc)-
20. 1 must have a lead character of the opposite gender than you-
21. 1 must be a quickie (under 200 pages)
22. 1 must be a biography
23. 1 must be from the New York Times Best-Seller List (any year or list is fine)
24. 1 must be in another media (was made into/from a play, movie, videogame, etc)