Notable Books Challenge to Close

The first post to the Notable Books Challenge blog was in August of 2007. Since that time, hundreds of reviews have been published here by many bloggers enthusiastic about the Notable Books lists, including The New York Times Most Notable.

But, 6.5 years is a long time and there have been a lot of changes and challenges in my life - especially over the last year or so. My energy for blogging has dipped - I no longer have the drive to administer multiple blogs and I no longer want the pressure to maintain this blog or the challenge.

Because I get the stats, I know there are readers still coming here and reading the reviews. It is a nice resource to readers to have this site...and so, the site will stay open (at least for awhile) and the reviews already posted will remain.

The site will be closed for new posts beginning January 1, 2014. What does that mean? Well, I will be removing all the authors from this site (except myself) beginning December 31st. 

I want to take a moment to thank everyone who has contributed to The Notable Books Challenge blog - your insights, reviews, and participation have helped it become a popular blog amongst literary readers. I hope you will choose to keep your reviews posted here, but if you choose to delete any reviews, that needs to happen before December 31st.

Thank you all!

Looking Ahead to 2010

Beginning January 1, 2009, this challenge became a PERPETUAL Challenge. What does this mean? It means that participants may work through the Notable Lists found on this blog at their own pace...reading as many or as little as they wish. My only request is that at the beginning of each new year, participants set goals for the books they would like to read for the year. These goals are not "set in stone" and can be changed at any time, but will serve as a guideline for each individual.

Please feel free to post your goals for 2010 for this challenge. You may read from ANY notable list on this blog:

All lists
2007 Lists
2008 Lists
2009 Lists
2010 Lists

Participants on this blog are encouraged to challenge themselves to read books from the lists and post reviews to this blog. Cross posting to personal blogs is permitted (and encouraged!).

The "rules" are simple.

1. IF you are not currently a member of this blog and would like to become a member, post a comment to this post with your email address. You will then be invited to join the blog. **Please note, to protect the privacy of your email address we will delete your comment as soon as we send you the invitation to join.
2. You may join the challenge WITHOUT joining the blog. Simply leave a comment on this post with a link to the post on your blog about the challenge and your goals. If you do not have a blog, simply leave your goal list in the comments.
   
3. Please only post reviews about notable books listed on the blog
4. Label your posts this way: using your name and the list name (example: Wendy, 2007 NYT Most Notable). Please do not use the title of the book in your labels. To search for reviews on specific books, please use the Blogger Search feature in the upper left hand corner of the blog.
5. You create your own reading list; there is no minimum number of books to read. Feel free to substitute out books on your list or change your list to meet your personal reading needs and goals. THIS IS A PERPETUAL CHALLENGE.
   
6. Overlaps with other challenges are allowed.

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly - HAVE FUN!!!

Honored with a BBAW Nomination

Members of the Notable Books blog have been honored with a BBAW Nomination in the Best Literary Fiction blog category. This category is described as follows:

This blog covers primarily literary fiction. The reviews are of a high caliber and get you to think on some of the deeper issues that literary fiction brings up.

This year panels of bloggers will short list blogs in each category based on pre-set criteria. When I was notified of our nomination, I provided five links to reviews from our blog which I felt best represented the Literary Fiction blog category. The time line for short lists and voting are as follows:

• August 21 Nominee information is due by 11:59 PM EST
• August 22—September 4 Panelists review blogs and submit scores based on the following criteria: Quality of Writing, Originality and Diversity of Content, Audience Engagement, and Visual Aesthetic and Functionality.
• September 7 Shorlists are announced and voting begins
• September 12 —Voting closes at 11:59 PM EST

For more information, and to follow all the nominations and activities for BBAW, visit the BBAW blog.

CONGRATULATIONS to all members of Notable Books blog for this tremendous honor!!!

Spam Comments

Due to some repetitive and annoying spam comments, word verification is now in effect for this blog. Thank you to Michelle who spent her morning cleaning up the spam comments and setting up the blog to help prevent this in the future. I do not want to go to comment moderation, but if we continue getting an overload of spam on the blog, that is what we will do.

For those of you subscribed to comments, my apologies for a mailbox full of junk.

Co-Administrator for this Blog

Please join me in welcoming Michelle (3M from 1More Chapter) as co-administrator of this challenge blog. Michelle is a motivated reader of the Notable lists and has agreed to assist me in keeping up with new Notable lists and general blog maintenance.

Feel free to contact either Michelle or myself with any questions!

In Memory of Dewey

Dewey was a member of this challenge, as she was a member of so many events and challenges in the book blogging community. She was a tireless community builder among the book blogs and she will be missed beyond words. Her passing came as a shock and surprise to most of us...just a reminder of how quickly life can change.

Those readers who would like to be involved in keeping her many projects going and those who would like to share their thoughts and memories, are encouraged to visit Book Blogs where a wonderful discussion has been taking place.

The Notable Challenge - Changes for 2009

I have decided to make ONE BIG change to this blog:

Beginning January 1, 2009, this challenge will be a PERPETUAL Challenge. What does this mean? It means that participants may work through the Notable Lists found on this blog at their own pace...reading as many or as little as they wish. My only request is that at the beginning of each new year, participants set goals for the books they would like to read for the year. These goals are not "set in stone" and can be changed at any time, but will serve as a guideline for each individual.

Some things are still the same:

The Notable Books Blog includes notable book lists from a variety of sources. Notable book lists here begin with 2007 lists.

Participants to this blog are encouraged to challenge themselves to read books from the lists and post reviews to this blog. Cross posting to personal blogs is permitted (and encouraged!).

The "rules" are simple.

1. Sign up by posting a comment to this post with your email address. You will then be invited to join the blog. **Please note, to protect the privacy of your email address I will delete your comment as soon as I send you the invitation to join.
   
2. Please only post reviews about notable books listed on the blog
3. Label your posts this way: using your name and the list name (example: Wendy, 2007 NYT Most Notable). Please do not use the title of the book in your labels. To search for reviews on specific books, please use the Blogger Search feature in the upper left hand corner of the blog.
4. You create your own reading list; there is no minimum number of books to read. Feel free to substitute out books on your list or change your list to meet your personal reading needs and goals. THIS IS A PERPETUAL CHALLENGE.
   
5. Overlaps with other challenges are allowed.

Looking Ahead to a New Year

It is already mid-way through September and the nights are getting cooler. Fall is the time when many of the notable book lists start appearing. I will be posting the new notable lists for 2008 as I find them...Already the Kiriyama Prize winners and finalists for 2008 have been announced, as well as the ALA Notable Books for 2008 and the 2008 International Reading Association notable books. Typically the New York Times announces its list in November, and the Christian Science Monitor announces its best books in December.

Readers for the Notable Books Challenge may start posting their to-read lists for 2009 at any time. Please feel free to post reviews of books you have already read from the 2008 lists.