Reading Challenge from Goodreads YA Book Club!

I love reading challenges and I love things that get me to experience something I may not have otherwise.  I love new favorites too!  So, naturally, this sounded great to me.  I plan on tracking my progress there, but I want to track it here as well, since this is my new center for all things reading-related and I know my favorite reading friends will check here, but perhaps not there.  I added a few additional links, but this is pretty much copied from the Goodreads YA Book Club Spring Challenge and you can sign up and follow here as well!  

Welcome to YA Book Club's first Reading Challenge! 

Rules:

Duration: March 1, 2011 - May 31, 2011.
We are an YA Book Club, so all books should be young adult.
You have 3 months to read 12 YA books that satisfy following requirements:

1)  Read a book which is a Printz winner or honoree. The list of all winners and honorees can be found here.

2)  Read a book that is a new release published in March, April or May of this year. Goodreads offers lists of the most popular new releases by month, they might help you to make your choices.  Here are links to March, April and May.

3)  Read a book that is a part of a series.

4)  Read an author's debut novel.  A list I found for this is here.

5)  Read a book that is on one of the ALA's Best Books for Young Adults lists. Pick any year. The lists can be found here.

6)  Read a book set in a foreign country.  I found a list here to use.

7)  Read a book which is a book-in-verse, a graphic novel or epistolary (written in a form of a diary, letters, notes, etc.).

8)  Read a book written from a male POV.

9)  Read a book which was nominated for a month's pick in our group, but never won.  The old polls are here.

10)  Read 3 books that belong to 3 different genres of your choosing. You can pick from: science fiction, fantasy, paranormal, dystopia, mystery, urban fantasy, chick lit or horror.

Now my response:

1)  Revolver, by Marcus Sedgwick is probably my choice for the first challenge.  It takes place in the arctic and I love a book where the setting is so important it's almost a character itself.  I'm not set in stone for these choices though, so forgive me if I alter from the path and choose something else.  I once read a poem that I always thought of and I forget the title, but it goes something like, "The Arctic sun has seen many a strange thing, but the strangest it ever did see was the night on the barge of Lake Lamarge I cremated Sam McGee," and this story reminds me of it so much.  I don't remember who wrote that poem or if that's even how it actually went, so if anyone remembers it too, let me know your thoughts!

2)  This one is a tough one, because there are tons of good books coming out lately.  I think I'm interested in Wither (Chemical Garden #1), by Lauren DeStefano, because it's a dystopian and as many of you know, that's one of my favorite genres.  I also love books where women have to overcome a struggle (or are just faced with one, because being female myself, it's easier to relate to regardless of the outcome).  Unfortunately though, I just noticed it's not set to be released on the NookColor at this time, so we'll see how initial reviews look and maybe I'll buy an actual paper copy to try and read... UPDATE: Wither is now available to preorder on the NC!  Hurray!

3)  This one will be easy since I'm reading so many series right now.  I've already somewhere in The Mortal Instruments books, Maximum Ride, The Body Finder Series, The Septimus Heap Series, The Fablehaven books and a few others as well.  I heard that The Final Warning (Maximum Ride #4) wasn't as good as the previous books and I already thought that about the Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports (Maximum Ride #3), so I hope I'm not continually disappointed with this series.  *Sigh*

4)  Timeless, by Alexandra Monir looks good as one of the options for a debut novel.  I've already seen a few (good) reviews for this and lots of people have it on their wishlist, on top of all that, both B&N and Goodreads have it rated over 4 stars from all the votes so far and that's pretty awesome as all you review readers know!  It's also an interesting concept involving time travel, so I think it will definitely take me on an adventure. 

5)  After, by Amy Efaw is definitely my choice for ALA Best Books for Young Adults choice since I already have it and I've been meaning to read it for a long time.  This book is about a girl who refuses to admit she is pregnant and finally abandons her baby immediately after delivering her in a bathroom.  Apparently the writing is so brilliant the reader is able to care for the main character which seems quite the feat considering the circumstances!  I look forward to reading such a moving and interesting topic by such a talented writer. UPDATE: This book has officially been read!

6)  I truly love books set in other countries since I know I'll never see the whole world, it's a great way to experience other cultures.  So, I could read several for this option, but I'm going to read Sold, by Patricia McCormick and it starts in Nepal.  I chose this one since it's one of the ones I already have on my huge TBR list.  It's about a thirteen-year-old girl who journeys to India thinking she is going to "Happiness House" to make a better life, only to find out she's been sold!  It seems like a gripping tale.  Sold is a National Book Award finalist as well, so I'm sure it will be a worthwhile read.  This is also a LendMe book.  UPDATE: Revolution, by Jennifer Donnelly ended up as my choice for this challenge instead.  It took place mostly in France.  :)

7)  I also had this book selected pretty easily as well, since I have a graphic novel waiting to be read.  Chinese Born American, by Gene Luen Yang is a story blending comedy, stereotypes, cartoon-like art and Chinese fables.  It comes to life in vivid color on my NookColor.  It was a finalist of the National Book Award, a winner of the Michael J. Printz Award and the Eisner Award.  It tells three seemingly separate tales, but they all come together in the end and I've only looked at a few pictures, so I look forward to actually reading it.  This is also one of my LendMe books for all my LendMe friends out there.  I know you want me to keep better track, especially the first gen users out there that can't see my list!

8)  I have a lot of books from the male perspective on my TBR list, so I'll definitely pick one of them.  Possibilities include: The Maze Runner, by James Dashner, I Am Number Four, by Pittacus Lore, Supernaturalist, by Eoin Colfer or Hoot, by Carl Hiaasen just to name a few.  Hoot is also set in Florida and I've never been there, so I love reading about it or watching shows involving that area.  Swamps seem especially scary to me!  I've heard this is a good read and it's been on my TBR list for forever, so it will be great to finally read it!  (^_^)

9)  The Maze Runner, by James Dashner or Supernaturalist, by Eoin Colfer are two I already have from these lists, so I'll probably pick one of them.  I really want to get around to reading The Maze Runner too, because I've only heard great things about this book and everyone said if I loved The Hunger Games series I would love this too and it's certainly been awhile since I read that series so, I'm in the mood for another exciting, action-packed dystopian again too!  I look forward to seeing what all the hype is about.

10)  These will be my filler choices that are free to change based upon my mood and desire to switch things up.  I have 30-40 books TBR right now, so who knows?!  I will keep everyone updated if a book I've read will be one of these selections!  UPDATE: Hex Hall was the first selection for these options!