Anyone who knows me well knows how I'm always looking for a good book about World War II. I've always been drawn to this period, especially stories about the Holocaust and the Nazis. (My mother's family were German dissenters and were sent to a labor camp, where one of my uncles died as an infant. At least that's what I was told, but my grandparents and uncle who were there are no longer with us.)Several months ago, I decided to devote a significant portion of my reading time in 2009 to books about WWII, and after discussing this with my good friend Serena at Savvy Verse & Wit, we thought it would be a good idea to launch a reading challenge. Since Serena most enjoys reading about Vietnam, we knew we had to create a space for many war-related reading challenges over the long term.
Thus, War Through the Generations: Reading Challenges was born. We spent a few months hammering out our goals, setting up the blog, pondering buttons and banners, and we're finally ready to go live. Thanks to Monica at Monniblog, we have an awesome banner and some rockin' buttons!
In addition to the reading challenges, we plan to use the blog as a place to share stories we come across in the news or personal war stories, as war has touched many lives. We want it to be a place for discussion, and not just about books.We hope you will visit War Through the Generations to learn more about the WWII challenge, which begins January 1. (To jump right to the sign up page, click here.) Many of you already have committed yourselves to several challenges for the new year, but we hope you'll consider ours as well. We only ask that you commit to reading 5 WWII-related books next year (which isn't a lot for us bookworms) and set a realistic reading goal for the challenge. Participants who meet or exceed their reading goals will be entered into a drawing when the challenge ends on December 31, 2009 (so long as you sign up and state your reading goal by January 31).
So be sure to check out War Through the Generations to sign up for the challenge, and feel free to contact us with any comments, questions, or suggestions via email at warthroughgenerations AT gmail DOT com.
**Please note: Sign ups are taking place at the War Through the Generations blog only.**
17 comments:
I'll be definitely joining this one. Great challenge idea ladies!
Dang you Anna and Serena! You both know this is a challenge that I WILL NOT be able to resist, right? I read so many WWII books that I even have a tag for them on my blog. Out of curiosity I just looked to see how many reviews I have under it and it looks like twenty! If I read twenty books in 2008 about WWII, I think reading five will not be a long stretch for me. I'll be joining up!
this sounds like a wonderful challenge. great job on the blog as well.
http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/
Hey, chick. AWESOME idea.
I just finished A Blessing on the Moon, which is a Holocaust novel of an odd sort. Want it? I'd be glad to pass it along to you.
Dar: We'd be glad to have you!!
Natasha: So glad to hear you'll be signing up! 20 WWII books is a lot for one year. I hope I can plow through that many or more. I can't wait!
Naida: Thanks so much! I hope you'll join us!
Susan: Thanks! Maybe you'll consider joining us if you're not too busy?? Oh, and I sent you an email!
This is SO cool, Anna. You know, you hinted about this a few months ago to me and I HOPED this was what you were doing!!!
I think it's great that you'll be focusing on a different time period each year.
Yay - how exciting!
Shana
Literarily
Shana: I'm glad you're excited about it! I knew it was something that would interest you.
While I'm not much into reading about wars, I know that there's a big interest in military history, especially WWII. Please keep an eye out for my post tomorrow on your and Serena's new blog. Congrats to you both. I know you have put a lot of work into this. :D
P.S. I'm so sorry I haven't responded to your email. I've been super busy lately.
Hey Anna,
You sure did get lotsssssssssss done for 4 days!! :) atleast your house is clean and decorated and your people..well fed!! :)
Its time you take it easy now!!
Yea i feel i did some more shopping than i should have too!
Awesome to know you guys are up and running! I'll blog about it too, and hopefully send some more people your way.
Oh and I have some images I wanted to send you for your banner (ideas...) so I'll email you!
(If I forget... give me a good hard poke! haha)
i m checking it now ok?!
Oh, the pain. I don't know if I can avoid this one. I read war books all the time. WWII is my "favorite" war, if there is such a thing, but I've also begun to read a lot of Civil War fiction and nonfiction. Sigh. I may not be able to resist.
Jeannie: Thanks for posting about the challenge blog. I really appreciate your help spreading the word. And take your time responding to my email; I know you're really busy with school and all!!
Keyomi: I don't know how to take it easy! There's always something that needs to be done, and if there isn't, I'll invent something! LOL
Monica: Thanks so much for everything!! You are a gem, and I appreciate everything you've done to help us!!
Veens: So glad to have you on board!!
Bookfool: I know what you mean. I can't really say I'm going to "enjoy" these books (especially the nonfiction ones) because that's not really the right word!! I hope you give in to the temptation and sign up!!
When I was in Normandy in 2000, I met a German man who fought in D-Day. He had some fascinating stories and even gave me a copy of his memoir (in German).
I sometimes enjoy reading books that are set during wars, but I'm wary about joining challenges since I am doing so badly on the ones I joined this year. But I will keep this in mind.
Lenore: What a great story. We'd love for you to join us.
All week I've been meaning to tell you (and Serena) what a great idea I think this challenge is. The only reason I won't join is because I did the Themed Reading Challenge on WW2 this year, and I don't think I can handle doing it again so soon.
Nymeth: That's understandable! I hope you'll be watching from the sidelines to cheer us on! ;)
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