2011 "Show Me the Free" Reading Challenge

Like so many others, I have downloaded MANY free ebooks from various sources (mostly from Smashwords and Amazon) that are sitting on my Droid X or Sony and have yet to be read and loved. Basically, if it looked interesting, I grabbed it! So I've decided to enter Missie's "Show Me the Free Reading Challenge" at The Unread Reader.  The challenge is to read at least 12 legally obtained free books in 2011, review those books, and share those reviews. It's a challenge that's right up my alley, so we'll see how it goes!

Here is how it works:

• Should you choose to participate in this challenge, your goal is to read at least twelve (12) legally obtained e-books which you got for FREE for your e-reading device. While twelve is the minimum there is no maximum limit.
• Anyone can join. You don't have to be a blogger, and you don't have to live in the United States. 
• Any E-Reader will work for this challenge, including: iPad, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Sony Reader, enTourage. 
• Please Note: If you don't have an e-reading device, you can still join in with Amazon'sFree Kindle Reading Apps which you can download for your iPhone, iPad, Mac, PC, Blackberry and more.
• The challenge runs from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011. You can join at anytime.
• e-books in ANY genre count for this challenge as long as it was FREE at the time that you downloaded it.
• Every month in 2011, I will make a post for the Show Me The Free Reading Challenge so you can link your reviews. 
• Those that link their reviews will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a different prize each month, such as an Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card, a bookmark, or aGelaSkins for your E-Reader. Winners will be announced at the end of each month.

Challenge Guidelines:

• If you blog, create a post announcing your participation in the challenge. Please include a link back to this post.
• Non blogger must publish reviews on some type of public domain such as Goodreads, Shelfari, LibraryThing, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble to enter the monthly giveaway.
• When you post your book review, you MUST say how you obtained the free read. Please make your source clear.
• You can list your books in advance or list them as you read them.
• Crossovers to other reading challenges is acceptable, but galley e-books DO NOT count. Again, this is a Reading Challenge to read as many of the FREE e-books legally offered for your e-reader. To get started, check out the Top 100 Free books on Amazon, or theFree e-books on Barnes & Noble. 
• Any linked reviews that do not meet the guidelines will not be entered into the monthly drawing for the prize of the month. 

Levels:
Coupon Clipper: 12 Books
Penny Pincher: 24 Books
Super Saver: 30+ Books 


So here I go, on my first (ever) reading challenge as a blogger. Heck, probably my first reading challenge *ever*-- unless you count the contest every year in grade school to read as many books as you could. I won the first one, and my mom wouldn't let me log all my books after that, because I could easily win them all and that just "wasn't fair." It was a bummer, the next challenge had better prizes, and all the teachers kept saying things like "Grace, you'd better get reading, Sarah's getting ahead of you!" I couldn't tell them "my mom won't let me tell you how many I read!" But I digress...