Another Challenge: Take a Chance

This is a challenge that I have to actually attend to, unlike most of the other ones I sign up for.  I figure I'll try for a book a month, although with my history I'll probably spend December frantically racing through the categories.  Anyway, The Take a Chance Challenge is all about trying out new ways of finding books, with ten methods ranging from various book-picking web sites to random walks in the library.  Thanks, Jenners, for setting up this excuse to read more books!

I'm going to try #2 first; I think I have at least two family members reading this blog, so if one of them could please comment with a book suggestion, I can get started.  This is a TEST.

The ten categories are:

1. Staff Member’s Choice: Go to a bookstore or library that has a “Staff Picks” section. Read one of the picks from that section.  Our library has a hot picks section out front, but I'm not sure if it is Staff Picks or just new books.  I'll look closer tomorrow.
• The Snow Goose, Paul Gallico.  This ended up being a family book club selection.
2. Loved One’s Choice: Ask a loved one to pick a book for you to read.  See above.  This will be my February book. Actually I ended up with three books, so I guess I'll overachieve.
• MM recommended Spymaster's Lady
• Birgit suggested The House on the Strand
• Susan lent me her Kindle to try The Heir
3. Blogger’s Choice: Find a “Best Books Read” post from a favorite blogger. Read a book from their list.  This would have been good to do in January, when everyone posted their lists.  I guess I'll do some archive diving
• From Jenny's Books: Curse of the Wolf Girl.  I didn't love it as much as she did, but mainly because it hit hard against a few personal pet peeves.
4. Critic's Choice: Find a “Best of the Year” list from a magazine, newspaper or professional critic. 
• Room, by Emma Donoghue (Economist pick from 2010)
5. Blurb Book: Find a book that has a blurb on it from another author. Read a book by the author that wrote the blurb.  Clearly this should be a book I love.  Hmm. Jack Campbell blurbs Elizabeth Moon.  Got it!  He has a new book coming out at the end of April.
• Dreadnaught, Jack Campbell
6. Book Seer Pick: Go to The Book Seer and follow the instructions there. Read a book from the list it generates for you.  This is a bit risky, since the book seer doesn't suggest much genre reading.  On the other hand, it will double up one of my 20/11 challenge picks.  I gamed it a bit by waiting till I finished a Jennifer Crusie book, but I came out with Simply Irresistible by Jill Shalvis.
• Simply Irresistible, by Jill Shalvis
7. What Should I Read Next Pick : Go to What Should I Read Next and follow the instructions there. Read a book from the list it generates for you.  Never tried this before. I put in Jo Walton as an author I liked, and then picked Tooth and Claw as the book I particularly liked. The top recommendation was The Ghost in the Little House by William Holtz, which I'm actually planning to read anyway, so perfect.  And very odd.
• Ghost in the Little House, William Holtz
8. Which Book Pick: Go to Which Book and use the software to generate a list of books. Read a book from that list.  Who knew there were so many options for volition-less people to select their next book?
• Strange Blood, Lindsay Jayne Ashford
9. LibraryThing Pick: Go to LibraryThing’s Zeitgeist page. Look at the lists for 25 Most Reviewed Books or Top Books and pick a book you’ve never read. Read the book.  Hmm, I glanced at the Top Books while making the link, and I've read them all, except the two I tried and DNF'ed.  
• The Help, Kathryn Stockett
10. Pick A Method: Pick a method for finding a book from the choices listed below (used in previous versions of the challenge): 1) Random Book Selection.  2) Public Spying.  3) Random Bestseller.  I'll probably do the library random book selection, since I tend to do that anyway.
• Rosa's Bus: The Ride to Civil Rights, Jo. S. Kittinger