Yes, we are starting this new series right now!

Introducing…

Yay!

So, what does this book challenge consist of? Here are the list of posts:

The 30 Day Book Challenge

Day 01 – Best book you read last year
Day 02 – A book that you’ve read more than 3 times
Day 03 – Your favourite series
Day 04 – Favourite book of your favourite series
Day 05 – A book that makes you happy
Day 06 – A book that makes you sad
Day 07 – Most underrated book
Day 08 – Most overrated book
Day 09 – A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 10 – Favourite classic book
Day 11 – A book you hated
Day 12 – A book you used to love but don’t anymore
Day 13 – Your favourite writer
Day 14 – Favourite book of your favourite writer
Day 15 – Favourite male character
Day 16 – Favourite female character
Day 17 – Favourite quote from your favourite book
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character whom you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time

Doesn’t it look exciting?

 

You can expect the first post tomorrow. I know I said last week that I will stagger the posts a little further apart until I actually leave, but now I’ve noticed that I’ve so many posts that I can let them post every day, even now when I am not gone yet. Yes, I’ve written way too much for some of them. For some of them, I was not sure what on earth I should write. But it was great fun (I’ve been working on this for months).

 

Anyway, what can you expect from me in this challenge? Well, maybe the easiest thing would be to tell you the kind of things that I read. Then you can decide for yourself whether you would be interested in following along with me in this challenge.

These days the largest part of my reading consists of everything that I have to read for class. I am not too happy about this. I am not crazy about many of the books that I have read or still have to read, but so far I have been lucky. There were very few books that I hated and couldn’t get through. I have read colonial and postcolonial, modernism, classics, renaissance and am now facing a term of the Romantics. I’m not looking forward to many of the books staring at me from my university shelf right now. One of them is Wuthering Heights. I tried to read it once and I was nearly bored to death. Another one is A Portrait of a Lady. I watched the movie once and Nicole Kidman annoyed me so much I nearly threw a cushion at the screen. I can only hope the novel is better. But I haven’t got much hope.

I’m digressing again! What I meant to say was that while I usually spend my time on these genres listed, what I prefer to read is fantasy. I’m hesitant to call myself a fantasy buff (because I haven’t read many of the titles that are considered the staples of fantasy reading these days), but it is still my favourite genre. I also love historical fiction (but not the romantic kind), I like science fiction and I read the occasional classics. I can’t stand romances and I’m none too fond of fluffy reads. People always tell you to switch off your mind whilst reading. If I have to do that to like a book, I’d rather not read it.

So, I like fantasy. But which fantasy? Lord of the Rings! I also love Harry Potter, though I haven’t read it in years – it is true that it does always stay with you. And then a series that you will meet far too often in this challenge… the Discworld-series by Terry Pratchett. It’s just so much fun: I love all of it!

 

Don’t worry, these are not the only books that I can talk about and will be writing about! I read wider than that!

 

The other thing is… about comments whilst I am gone. Of course comments are always welcome, but I will not be taking comment moderation off. This means that if you have commented two or three times here before, your comments will still be approved automatically. However, if you have not commented before, or if you are suddenly using a different account to comment, your comments will go into the moderation queue. All of them will be saved, they will simply not show up on the posts until I get back to approve them. (I might pop by when I am supposed to be on holiday, if the world starts to annoy me too much and do a little comment moderation. But don’t count on it. ) I could have taken this moderation off, but this blog receives too much spam and I don’t want to chance it. I just wanted you to be aware of this.

 

Lastly, I thought all of you interested parties might be interested in a peek at the books that I will be taking away with me. All of them are books that I have not read before. Half of them are from second-hand bookstores.

Oh, the choices about which ones to take and which ones to leave! The English title of that Dutch book is They Came to Baghdad, in case anyone was wondering. Yes, I have read the English one. The two at the bottom are part of my reading list for next semester. I should probably get started on them, before I get as pressurised as I was this semester again! Also, my father is probably going to complain about the amount of books that I want to drag along. He always complains. And then he finds space for them anyway. Look:

Like most rulers, that ruler is 30cm (a.k.a. 1 foot) long. Yep, that’s how high my stack of books are!

 

And that’s it! I suppose this is goodbye for now! I’ll be back in a month or so. Except, you know, if I’m in an accident. Or my laptop gets stolen. Or I die. Or someone else dies… Except for all those “excepts”, I’ll be back. And I probably shouldn’t joke about death. Also, I promise faithfully to get my bum into gear again and to return with cartoons to place this blog back on its original path.

 

If anyone misses me (hah!) come visit me on my Tumblr. The queue is well-stocked with Discworld stuff! And the other places you can find me is, as always, listed in the sidebar.

 

Love,

PS. I actually don’t wear glasses, but I wanted to do one of those stereotypical “reader” images for my header, so I played about with an old pair of my mother’s glasses. I was struggling to see the camera!