Now that the dissertation is in (this accounts for my recent small bout of quietness - more on this soon, I hope), it is challenge-joining time. I am trying to be more moderate this year, and to make my way through as much of Mt. TBR as possible (whom did I pick up that designation for my unread book pile from? I can't remember.).

So, Challenge #1: The Pub (2008) Challenge. Its rules:

1. Read a minimum of 8 books published in 2008. (Library books are acceptable!)
2. No children’s/YA titles allowed, since we’re at the ‘pub.’
3. At least 4 titles must be fiction.
4. Crossovers with other challenges are allowed.
5. Titles may be changed at any time.

The link above will take you to the challenge's site, where you can join, see a list of participants, or find collections of reviews.

It is hard to form a list for this challenge, since many of the books I will hopefully include on it haven't yet been released and haven't come to my attention. Nonetheless, here are a couple I hope to start out with:

• The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur by Daoud Hari (March 2008)
• The Story of Forgetting by Stefan Merril Block (April 2008)

In fact, I have already read the first of these, although I haven't had a chance to blog it yet (soon, I hope!). Both are courtesy of LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.