"Off the Shelf" Reading Challenge Complete!

This was the first reading challenge I've participated in, and thankfully, with a month to spare, I've completed it!


I took the Off the Shelf Challenge by Bookish Ardour, who is hosting several challenges next year as well, including the 2012 Off the Shelf Challenge.  Go here to check out those challenges!


So for this challenge, I chose to read 15 books that I owned that had just been sitting there, waiting to be read for months or even years.  I took the challenge quite seriously, and all of the books that I read for this challenge were purchased before 2011.  Which was hard, because I was given LOTS of books this year by a couple of friends who were cleaning up their shelves, and I bought quite a few as well - more than I normally would have because of Borders closing.  But I've read lots of other books this year, not just the 15 for this challenge.


And I prevailed!  Here is a complete list of the 15 books that I read for this challenge, with links to my reviews:

1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
2. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
4. Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams
5. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
6. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
7. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
8. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams
9. Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
10. Night by Elie Wiesel
11. Harry Potter Schoolbooks Box Set by J.K. Rowling
12. Harry Potter:  Film Wizardry by Brian Sibley
13. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
14. Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams
15. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Book One) by Rick Riordan

Now, a few of those books might seem like really easy reads.  And some of them really were.  But regardless of how long or short, easy or hard, these were all books that have been on my bookshelf for a while, and I've wanted to read them, but never did for one reason or another.  And now, I'm glad to say that I've read them!  Thanks, Bookish Ardour, for hosting a challenge that I really needed and enjoyed!

Next year I won't be participating in this challenge again, but I'll be doing a completely new challenge by my good friend Courtney from Abducted by Books!  She'll be hosting the 15,000 Page Challenge.  The goal is to read 15,000 pages in 2012, and she'll be giving away prizes for the person who reaches the goal by reading the least amount of books (like if someone reads 15 1,000-page books) and also to the person who reaches the goal by reading the most amount of books (like if someone reads 100 150-page books).  I'm going for the latter option, and I've already got tons of books picked out!  That prize is mine!  (Maybe.)