Remember how the other day I was dying for a long term challenge? Well I found one!

I'll be taking part in the Speculative Fiction Challenge 2011. I adore SF in all its forms, probably more than any other genre, and there's loads of it sitting on my shelf that I've been dying to read. The challenge is to read and review at least 12 Spec-Fic books over the course of 2011, and share them with the rest of the group (does anyone else forsee a problem in suddenly being told about loads of brilliant SF?? I can hear my student loan crying in anticipation). Between modern paranormal fiction, old 50s sci-fi, space opera, steampunk, fantasy and all the other mini-genres within SF, I think this should be one of the most entertaining challenges I've done...

If any of you think you might fancy this, head over to the sign-up post at Floor to Ceiling Books (which is a super book blog- just look at the photos of all the book shelves!)

I'm not going to make a definitive list of what I'm going to read (don't know what I'm getting for Christmas yet!), but I can tell you that it will include The Hunger Games, which I've been meaning to read for ages, a rereading of Poison, my favourite kids' horror/fantasy, and a good old crack at Ilium once I've read the Iliad... Probably the Star Wars novelisations and the Faythe Sanders series, too...

Now I just have to restrain myself from starting them until the 1st!

Edit: Well, I found several. I shall also be doing the Back to the Classics Challenge 2011:

 

In which you have to read: 

1. A Banned Book
2. A Book with a Wartime Setting (can be any war)
3. A Pulitzer Prize (Fiction) Winner or Runner Up:  a list can be found here
4. A Children's/Young Adult Classic
5. 19th Century Classic
6. 20th Century Classic
7. A Book you think should be considered a 21st Century Classic
8. Re-Read a book from your High School/College Classes

the Series Challenge Season 5:

 In which you have to read at least 3 books of a series in order to get up to date with it. Again, I'm thinking Faythe Sanders, or possibly re-read some Eddings or Robert Jordan? 

Sadly, there's no badge :(

the TBR Challenge 2011:

In which you have to read 12 books which have been sat on your shelf for at least a year (I'll do a separate post with a list in a moment).

and the What's in a Name Challenge 2011:

The rules are: read one book in each of the following categories:

1. A book with a number in the title: First to Die, Seven Up, Thirteen Reasons Why
2. A book with jewelry or a gem in the title: Diamond Ruby, Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Opal Deception
3. A book with a size in the title: Wide Sargasso Sea, Small Wars, Little Bee
4. A book with travel or movement in the title: Dead Witch Walking, Crawling with Zombies, Time Traveler's Wife
5. A book with evil in the title: Bad Marie, Fallen, Wicked Lovely
6. A book with a life stage in the title: No Country for Old Men, Brideshead Revisited, Bog Child 

And I think that's probably enough!