2009 Mini-Challenges: A Novel Challenge

I know I said I was not going to do a challenge because I am a slow reader, but I saw this one over at Caribous Mom and couldn't resist it. You have to complete the 12 mini challenges throughout the year, in any order, and blog about it.

Here are the 12 challenges:
1. Read a collection of short stories and either blog about it, OR tell the group about what you read. Jigs and Reels by Joanne Harris.
2. Read a play. Blog about it, OR tell the group about your experience. The Witch of Edmonton by William Rowley, Thomas Dekker and John Ford, 1658
3. Read a nonfiction book; write a review on your blog or post it to the group. Somewhere Towards The End by Diana Athill

4. Read 2 essays from the same collection; write a review on your blog or tell the group about what you read. Helene Cixous and Edward Said
5. Go to a book event; blog about it or tell the group about it.
6. Borrow a library book, read it and review it on your blog (or tell the group about it). A Vegetable Gardeners Year by Dirty Nails
7. Read a book by a new to you author. Do a little research on the author…do they have a blog? How many books have they written? Have they won any prizes? Where do they live? etc… Blog about the book you read and the author OR tell the group about them. I have read Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
8. Make a donation. You can either donate to an organization that supports reading OR make a physical donation of a book (or books) to ANYONE. Blog about it or tell the group what you did. BookCrossing, Oxfam and Book Swap
9. Promote literacy. This is wide open - use your imagination. You could give a child a book, or read a book to someone who cannot read, or volunteer at an event which promotes literacy, or donate to your local library, or write something on your blog with a link to a group which promotes literacy, or anything in between. The only rule with this one is that you must PROMOTE literacy in some way… Book Swap at work
10. Participate in a buddy read or Group discussion. This can be a face to face group, an on-line group or a one on one discussion with a friend who read the same book. Either way, blog about your experience or share with the group. Did the discussion give you greater appreciation or insight into what you read? The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
11. Read a book outside your comfort level or from a genre you don’t normally read. Blog about it, or tell the group about it. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
12. Read a classic (defined as anything published before 1970). Tell us why it fits the category of being a classic. Write a review or tell the group about the book. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

It sounded like fun and quite manageable so I have signed up and I'll blog about it as I go along. Red text is my completed task for each one!