Reading Challenge

The Intro:

I've joined:(The picture is a link, so if you're interested, click it to read the original post & join.)

The RULES (for my own reference as much as for anyone else's edification):

1) "Romance" doesn't mean books-with-no-plot-and-no-reason-to-read-them-other-than-the-sex-scenes (although those count, too). Romance is a broad term, and in this instance, refers to any book in which two protagonists fall in love with each other.

2) This Challenge involves reading at least 5 books that fall into the category described in the first rule sometime during the year of 2009.

3) These books are to be read between January 1 & December 31, and then the reader who so spontaneously joined this challenge is to write a review & link it to the bookworm's original post.

4) The reading choices, which can be changed at any time, are to be linked with one of the graphics on the bookworm's original post (note the Jane Austen Book Club pic. above).

5) If interested, be sure to go to the bookworm's original post & leave a comment.

My Choices:

1) TwilightYeah, yeah, I know. I could barely stand reading it the first time. But I want to give it another shot. It does involve romance, and I like vampires, and maybe I gave the hype surrounding this book too much credence. I didn't see anything in the rules for this challenge that prohibited re-reading. So I'm going to re-read this book, and write a review, and see if I really dislike this book as much as I originally did, or if I think converting to Mormonism is a good idea.

2) The Jane Austen Book Club
I've heard mixed reviews of this book. I watched the movie version of it, and rather liked that, making me think I might like the book. Unfortunately, it's very hard to write books that deal with Austen matter well. But I'm willing to give this a shot.

3) The Notebook
I really didn't like this movie. I would probably like it even less, now, as my cynicism seems to increase as the years pass. But my mother loved the book, so I'm interested in reading the novel. I usually like the books better than the movies made from them.

4) 13 Little Blue Envelopes
To be honest, I'm not sure if this is a romance. If it's not, I'll modify my list after reading it. I recently read Let It Snow, of which Johnson is one of the authors. I liked her story best. And I love her blog. (If you haven't read it, you should - Ms. Johnson is a funny woman.) I got the impression it was a romance from reading the back cover in the bookstore. But reading the Amazon reviews is making me dubious. So this is my questionable fourth choice.

5) Mr. Darcy Presents His Bride
As I indicated previously, I am a huge Austen fan. That adjective is not meant to denote my girth, (which is, admittedly, larger than I desire,) but rather, my adoration for the works of Jane Austen. So every once in awhile, I try to read a book which is written by another avid Austen fan. I'm not (yet) a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America or anything quite so hardcore, involving monetary compensation other than that required to purchase books, but I do love a good novel. And I don't think anyone can honestly claim Ms. Austen didn't write good novels. Six of them, in fact. The reviews of this novel aren't as lukewarm as some others, so I will cross my fingers that this book will be fabulous.

The Conclusion:

Well, that's it for this post. With the exception of number four, I definitely picked four romance novels, and hopefully will have good reviews to write for them all. Even Twilight. We shall see.

Wish me luck, and if you like to read yourself, join me.