European Reading Challenge 2017

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Rose City Reader is hosting her annual European Reading Challenge!  Since I have a large pile of books from various countries to read, I'm signing up.  (I'm also going to do a reading map, which I haven't done in a few years, since Google has made it a coherent process again.)  Gillion says:

Welcome to the 2017 European Reading Challenge – where participants tour Europe through books.  And have a chance to win a prize. Please join us for the Grand Tour!

THE GIST: The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. You can participate at different levels, but each book must be by a different author and set in a different country – it's supposed to be a tour. (See note about the UK, below)

WHAT COUNTS AS "EUROPE"?: We stick with the same list of 50 sovereign states that fall (at least partially) within the geographic territory of the continent of Europe and/or enjoy membership in international European organizations such as the Council of Europe. This list includes the obvious (the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy), the really huge Russia, the tiny Vatican City, and the mixed bag of Baltic, Balkan, and former Soviet states.

THE LIST: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Vatican City.

NOTE: Even after Brexit, the United Kingdom is still one country, in Europe, that includes England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. So one book from any one of these four counts as your one book for the United Kingdom. I'm not going to be a stickler about it because challenges should be about fun not about rules. However, when it comes to winning the Jet Setter prize, only one book from one of the UK countries will count.


LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION

 FIVE STAR (DELUXE ENTOURAGE): Read at least five books by different European authors or books set in different European countries.
FOUR STAR (HONEYMOONER): Read four qualifying books.
THREE STAR (BUSINESS TRAVELER): Read three qualifying books.
TWO STAR (ADVENTURER): Read two qualifying books.
ONE STAR (PENSIONE WEEKENDER): Read just one qualifying book.


There's more to it, so pop on over and see what the rules are.  I will be signing up for the Five Star level, and hopefully will get into a deathmatch with Maphead over who reads most (it will be him).

Comments

  1. Esther | Chapter AdventuresDecember 8, 2016 at 10:17 AM

    This is a pretty cool challenge! I was thinking of doing a similar personal challenge, the "around the world" reading challenge. That way means a book from each country, but that might prove hard :(

    ReplyDelete
  2. JeanDecember 8, 2016 at 2:15 PM

    It's not easy to get a book from every single country (North Korea?) but you can give it a darn good try. It wouldn't fit well in a year-long challenge, though--there are 192 countries! If you devise a 5-year project, I'll sign up for sure! Hm, maybe I would say something like "if you hit 185 our of 192, you win," thus giving an out for the really tricky ones. Maybe we should put our heads together and form a club? The Reading Around the World 5-Year Club?

    ReplyDelete
  3. JeanDecember 8, 2016 at 2:55 PM

    Hmmmm, I think I like this idea....

    ReplyDelete
  4. Esther | Chapter AdventuresDecember 9, 2016 at 8:11 AM

    That's a pretty cool idea! I like it :D I'm going to give it a thought and get back to you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Esther | Chapter AdventuresDecember 13, 2016 at 7:42 AM

    I've been thinking this through and I'd love to do it, but maybe next year because it's going to be a bit of a hectic year for me and I want to do it right, you know? I want to prepare stuff for the blog so people can join in and we can discuss all of our choices :)
    I have some ideas and I'm going to work on them and let you know next year :D It's going to be pretty cool!

    ReplyDelete
  6. JeanDecember 13, 2016 at 11:37 AM

    Hey Esther, I'm going to email you when I get home so we can chat properly...

    ReplyDelete

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