Sunday, November 29, 2009

The Complete Booker 2010 Challenge: Information & Signups


The Complete Booker originated in August, 2007 to bring together book lovers and book bloggers interested in reading winners of The Man Booker Prize for Fiction.  In 2008 we also began posting reviews of short- and long-listed nominees.  The challenge blog is now approaching 300 posts, and well over 200 of these are reviews.  If you're working towards reading the entire winners list, do you need a little motivation to continue?  Have you thought about joining, but shied away from the commitment to read such a long list of books?  There are many ways to approach the Booker Prize list, and The Complete Booker aims to please.  So in 2010, there will be additional ways to participate.


Announcing The Complete Booker 2010 Challenge !!
  • The challenge runs from January 1 - December 31, 2010.
  • There are several levels of participation:
Winners Circle:  read at least 6 winners
Contender:  read at least 6 shortlisted nominees
Longshot: read at least 6 longlisted nominees
Booker Devotee: choose a year, and read all 6 shortlisted works from that year
Booker Fanatic: choose a year, and read all 13 long- and shortlisted works from that year
  • Overlaps with other challenges are permitted.
  • Book selections don't have to be posted right away, and lists may be changed at any time.
  • SIGN UP using Mr. Linky below. Please link directly to a specific post about this challenge.
  • Post your reviews:
    • If you'd like to be a contributor to this blog, please email the moderator (an email address is required, so comments to this post won't work).
    • Mr. Linky will also be available for those who do not wish to become contributors. 
  • Have fun!

37 comments:

  1. This is a great challenge! I am already trying to read all the Bookers, so it will be nice to have some more company!

    I will probably be a Booker fanatic for 2010 and I have a few years nearly complete, so will hopefully become a Booker Devotee for those. I'll try to write a post soon.

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  2. Since, at last count, I've read 19 Booker winners -- plus scores of other long- and short-listed Booker nominees -- so, yes, sign me up for the 2010 Challenge.

    I'm about one hour's reading time away from making that 20 Award winners read... I'm almost (less than 100 pages to go) done with Hilary Mantel's amazing Wolf Hall (highly recommended) plus I've completed four others, which were included in this summer's 2009 longlist...and my fiction reading usually gravitates to the Booker lists, so this should be a fun challenge.



    MEL

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  3. @Jackie, Mel: happy to hear you'll both be continuing the Booker madness here! As contributors to the blog you're able to post reviews so please continue to do so -- they are a treasure!

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  4. Looking forward to participating; Thanks for hosting :)

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  5. I'm still working on reading the winners, so the Winner's Circle level is for me. Thanks for the push to stay on task! I'm looking forward to participating.

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  6. Good, now that I signed up, I have another incentive to put more of these books on my TBR list; and then actually read them.

    Malcolm

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  7. okay- I'm in!
    I've been collecting Booker winners lately and I think I need to join!

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  8. I'm in - thanks for hosting this!

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  9. I am in need of some motivation, so I am going to join this challenge in the hope that it will get me started on all those Booker Prize winners I have started collecting.

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  10. Brilliant challenge! I've read some but by no means all, so this is a perfect motivator. Many thanks for hosting.

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  11. I'm thrilled to see so many new faces here! Thanks to all for signing up for the challenge!

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  12. I've signed up for the Winners Circle and I've got 8 waiting for me on my bookshelf, so I think it'll be a good year! Thanks, Laura!

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  13. Possibly dumb question: is there a link to a list of each grouping? Shortlisted and Winners Circle, etc? A printable list perhaps? Can't wait!!!

    Thanks! Amy

    http://www.theblacksheepdances.blogspot.com

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  14. @Amy, look at the blog sidebar under "Complete Booker Information," and you will see a link to Winners and shortlists through 2008 (PDF). This is courtesy of the Booker Prize website. As of today the list has not been updated for 2009, although you can find this information elsewhere on the official site.

    Also in the sidebar, further down, is the complete list of Booker Prize winners.

    If these aren't what you're looking for, let me know and I'll try to help!

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  15. Laura, that was a great help. But please let me confirm: I can choose books from the lists that go back as far as I want? If I select 6 winners, it can be any six winners since the Booker Prize was instituted? Or I can pick shortlisted titles? Do I submit my list of choices TBR to this site or just keep it on my site? I'm just confused of the different years. Also, do I need to do a review of each to submit? I'm sorry to be a dunce! Strange thing is, I've read many of the titles already, should I count those or just keep adding to them?

    my email is gingercatranch at gmail dot com if that helps.

    Thanks!

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  16. Amy, I replied to your questions by email ... thanks!

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  17. I've been doing The Complete Booker since 2008. I've signed up for this challenge and posted my link. I've done well with the short and longlists but need to read more of the older winners I think. Thank you for the encouragement.

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  18. I'm so sorry. Would you mind removing my first link please. The second one is the correct one. Thank you.

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  19. I've only read on so far, but I'm excited to get started!

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  20. With two-and-then-some months of 2010 gone by, I'm "on-target" (to meet -- and hopefully surpass) -- the Winners Circle challenge: reading six ManBooker winners during the year.

    I've just finished "Last Orders," which, together with "Vernon God Little" and "The English Patient," are three Booker winners I've completed during 2010. My total to date is 23.

    As I was reading -- and very much enjoying -- Graham Swift's "Last Orders," it confirmed something I've held for quite a while: that in the Booker winners (and the other books nominated in each respective year for the long- and the short-list), you get wonderful, challenging fiction.

    MEL

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  21. That's great progress, Mel! I'm glad you're enjoying the books as well.

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  22. Along with joining this great challenge, I posted a page with ALL current reading challenges. Let me know if you want me to add any other information about this one. I hope it brings even more readers to Complete Booker Challenge!
    Reading Challenges.

    Rachelle (Bibliobabe)

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  23. Thank you very much, Rachelle!

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  24. I just bought "The Line of Beauty" at a used book store... and there was a love note inside :-) I think this is a good sign!

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  25. Well, I've reached my first goal -- the Winners Circle -- having just finished "Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha" -- I now have read six ManBooker Winners since the first of the year, and I hope to add quite a few more before the end of 2010.

    A question: is it a problem to obtain the books that won the Award during its first 10 years of existence? Are public libraries a good place to find them?


    MEL

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  26. Congratulations, Mel! Great job reading 6 before mid-year. You're on a roll!

    As for the earlier winners, I've found it a mixed bag. My library system is pretty good and I was able to find all but three of the first 10. Holiday and The Elected member were difficult to find online at a decent price, and I was lucky to find two friends who could lend me copies. I bought Something to Answer For from the Book Depository (a UK-based online bookseller with free shipping). Good luck!

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  27. Looks like I've only read 12 of the winners, and several of the short-listed books - lots of reading to catch up on!

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  28. Welcome, Julia! I hope you enjoy reading Booker Prize winners.

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  29. Am picking This Year and going for FANATIC... really looking forward to having a bit more structure to my usual haphazard book choosing...


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  30. Welcome NoodleBubble! I hope you enjoy the challenge.

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  32. With 2010 almost history now (five more days to go), it's time for an accounting (of the Booker winning books I've read this year as part of the 2010 Challenge). I even surprise myself with the announcement that in 2010 I've read 13 Bookers.

    The titles I completed this year include: Vernon God Little, The English Patient, Last Orders, Staying On, The Gathering, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, In a Free State, Heat and Dust, Something to Answer For, The Elected Member, G, Moon Tiger, and Rites of Passage.

    Assuming there have been 44 Booker winners since the Award was begun, I've now completed 33 of them, leaving me eleven more to go.

    I plan to continue the quest...although one challenge will be to locate some of older titles. Although, in these days of using the computer to reserve library books, inter-library loans can be very helpful when you need to find that hard-to-find book.

    Another challenge is the books themselves. Not all of them are page-turners nor do all hold one's interest. Personally, I found G and Something to Answer For tough going, but I continued reading until I'd come to the inside back cover of the dust jacket.


    MEL

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  33. Way to go Mel, that's quite an accomplishment. At this rate you should be able to complete the winners list in 2011. Good luck finding some of those older titles! I found that a bit of work but also part of the fun. And it feels good to be able to say you've completed the winners list.

    By the way, as a contributor to this blog you have the ability to create posts (not just comments), and I'd love to hear more about your reading via posts over the coming year. Happy New Year to you!

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  34. Just a quick question: am I right in assuming that to be able to say we've read all past Booker winners, we must finish the two that tied for the prize in 1974 (The Conservationist and Holiday) and the two that did the same in 1992 (The English Patient and Sacred Hunger)?

    I'm hopeful of finishing them all either by the end of this year or shortly into 2012.

    Currently, I've taken a little bit of what I call "a Booker break" -- finishing works of non-fiction that interest me, and in that regard I would recommend two works, both recently published -- Ron Chernow's biography of George Washington, and Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken, her exhilarating story of U.S. airman Louie Zamperini's internment in several Japanese POW camps during World War II.

    Now that I've returned both of those to my local library, it's time to resume my Booker quest.



    MEL

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  35. Mel, to answer your question: I'd say yes, to read them all you'd want to read both winners in those years. Of course that's just my opinion, there are no laws in this area ;)

    I have the Hillenbrand on my wishlist; I've heard it's outstanding. I'm glad you're back on your Booker quest! You may want to check out the 2011 Challenge Page for motivation.

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