2018 Reading Challenge Roundup - Failed

Not too many challenges left uncompleted this year. I’m very happy with my progress.

Perpetual Reading Lists Challenge
Goal: 28/30 books 93.3%

1. The Origin of Satan by Elaine Pagels (1/12/18)

2. Arabian Nights (1/19/18)

3. Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning (3/17/18)

4. The Dark Tower by Stephen King (1/25/18)

5. The History of Love by Nicola Krauss (3/16/18)

6. Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen (7/31/18)

7. Ramses 2 by Anne Rice (3/7/18)

8. Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (2/7/18)

9. The Selection by Kiera Cass (6/6/18)

10. For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund (5/26/18)

11. Alice in Zombieland by Gina Showalter (4/20/18)

12. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins (2/9/18)

13. The Great Halifax Explosion by John Bacon (4/7/18)

14. Bachelor Nation by Amy Kaufman (4/13/18)

15. The Radium Girls by Kate Moore (4/27/18)

16. Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund (6/15/18)

17. A History of the Wife by Margaret Yalom (6/24/18)

18. The Last Castle by Denise Kiernan (6/26/18)

19. College Girls by Lynn Peril (8/28/18)

20. Pox Americana by Elizabeth Fenn (9/8/18)

21. Cocktails Across America by Diane Lapis and Anne Davis-Peck (9/11/18)

22. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer (10/23/18)

23. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (9/29/18)

24. Dracula by Bram Stoker (10/24/18)

25. Looking for Alaska by John Green (12/12/18)

26. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (11/24/18)

27. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken (12/7/18)

28. Nimona by Noelle Stevenson (11/27/18)

29. TBD

30. TBD

TBR Pile
Goal: 9/12 Books 66.7%

1. Nefertiti by Michelle Moran (1/23/18)

2. The Bostonians by Henry James (1/30/18)

3. Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (9/12/18)

4. The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman (5/4/18)

5. School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins (DNF)

6. Parasite by Mira Grant (6/20/18)

7. The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie (DNF)

8. Birthmarked by Carah O'Brien (5/23/18)

9. A Poisoned Season by Tasha Alexander

10. Stealing Fire by Jo Graham

11. The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant (3/21/18)

12. Little Bee by Chris Cleave (8/24/18)

13. The Firemaster's Mistress by Christie Dickason

14. An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin (10/20/18)

Reading Assignment
Goal: 11/12 Books  91.7%

1. January - Arabian Nights (1/19/18)

2. February - Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (2/7/18)

3. March - Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning (3/17/18)

4. April - The Words We Live By by Linda Monk

5. May - Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery (5/30/18)

6. June - A History of the Wife by Marilyn Yalom (6/24/18)

7. July - How to Fall in love with a Man Who Lives in a Bush by Emmy Abrahamson (7/31/18)

8. August - The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert (8/25/18)

9. September - The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (9/29/18)

10. October - Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant (10/31/18)

11. November - The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (11/20/18)

12. December - Strange Weather by Joe Hill (12/22/18)

Finishing the Series
Goal: 6/10 Series 60%

1. Chronicles of St. Mary's by Jodi Taylor

   • #5 No Time Like the Past (1/16/18)

   • #6 What Could Possibly Go Wrong (10/6/18)

   • #6.5 Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings (10/9/18)

   • #7 Lies, Damned Lies, and History (11/13/18)

   • #7.5 The Great St. Mary's Day Out (11/17/18)

   • #7.6 My Name is Markham (11/28/18)

   • #8 And the Rest is History

   • #8.5 A Perfect Storm

   • #8.6 Christmas Past

   • #9 An Argumentation of Historians

2. Witchcraft Mystery by Juliet Blackwell ✓

   • #6.5 A Haunting is Brewing (1/24/18)

   • #7 Spellcasting in Silk (1/26/18)

   • #8 A Toxic Trousseau (2/9/18)

   • #9 A Magical Match (11/14/18)

3. Fairwick Chronicles by Juliet Dark ✓

   • #3 The Stone Angel (2/4/18)

4. Bedwyn Saga by Mary Balogh ✓

   • #0.2 A Summer to Remember (3/10/18)

   • #1 Slightly Married (4/25/18)

   • #2 Slightly Wicked (4/25/18)

   • #3 Slightly Scandalous (4/25/18)

   • #4 Slightly Tempted (5/16/18)

   • #5 Slightly Sinful (5/16/18)

   • #6 Slightly Dangerous (5/16/18)

5. Cemetery of Forgotten Books by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

   • #2 The Angel's Game

   • #3 The Prisoner of Heaven

6. Strain by Guillermo del Toro

   • #2 The Fall

   • #3 The Night Eternal

7. Ramses the Damned by Anne Rice ✓

   • #2 The Passion of Cleopatra (3/7/18)

8. Hex Hall ✓

   • #1 Hex Hall (2/9/18)

   • #2 Demonglass (3/8/18)

   • #3 Spell Bound (3/14/18)

9. The Glamourist by Mary Robinette Kowal

   • #1 Shades of Milk and Honey (2/26/18)

   • #2 Glamour in Glass (3/30/18)

   • #3 Without a Summer

   • #4 Valour and Vaniety

   • #5 Of Noble Family

10. Edwardian Brides by Carrie Turansky ✓

    • #1 The Governess of Highland Hall (1/8/18)

    • #2 The Daughter of Highland Hall (1/9/18)

    • #3 A Refuge at Highland Hall (1/10/18)

Seasonal Series Summer
(June 21st - September 21st)
Goal: 24/25 Books 96%

1. Read a book from a fantasy series - Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire (7/20/18)
2. Read a book while drinking a cool drink - The Anomaly by Michael Rutger (6/29/18)
3. Read a book from a really hyped series - Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire (7/21/18)
4. Read a book with yellow on the cover - Give Up the Ghost by Juliet Blackwell (7/18/18)
5. Read while eating ice cream - Emily and the Dark Angel by Jo Beverley (8/15/18)
6. Read a book that's set in summer - The Stolen Bride by Jo Beverley (8/10/18)
7. Read a book from a YA series - Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco (8/14/18)
8. Read while having a picnic - Keeper of the Castle by Juliet Blackwell (6/28/18)
9. Read a book with LGBT+ characters - Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (7/14/18)
10. re-read a favorite book
11. Read a book that has blue on the cover - Symbiont by Mira Grant (7/4/18)
12. Read a book from a series that has four or more books - The Heir by Kiera Cass (6/23/18)
13. Free Space: read any book of a series - Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen (9/15/18)
14. Read a book while eating fruit - Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan (8/26/18)
15. Read a book that you're sure you'll love - A Ghostly Light by Juliet Blackwell (7/25/18)
16. Read a book where someone travels -The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert (8/25/18)
17. Read a book while on the go - Smoke and Iron by Rachel Caine (8/4/18)
18. Read a book from a contemporary series - Flirting with Forever by Gwyn Cready (9/13/18)
19. Read by a pool/ sea/ lake... - How to Fall in Love with a Man Who Lives in a Bush by Emmy Abrahamson (8/8/18)
20. Read a book that features an OTP or great love story - The Crown by Kiera Cass (6/24/18)
21. Finish a trilogy - Chimera by Mira Grant (7/13/18)
22. Read a book during 24 hours - Happily Ever After by Kiera Cass (6/22/18)
23. Read a book someone recommended to you - Little Bee by Chris Cleave (8/24/18)
24. Read a book while wearing sunglasses - Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day by Seanan McGuire (7/6/18)
25. Read a second book in a series - Lord Wraybourne's Betrothed by Jo Beverley (7/10/18)

Seasonal Series Spring
(March 20th - June 20th)
Goal: 22/25 Books 88%

1. Take a walk while listening to an audiobook - A Mad Zombie Party by Gena Showalter (6/4/18)
2. Read a book while drinking lemonade - Bachelor Nation by Amy Kaufman (4/13/18)
3. Read the first book in a series - If Walls Could Talk by Juliet Blackwell (4/4/18)
4. try to unhaul a book you've lost interest in
5. Read a book that's been on your shelves way too long - Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien (5/23/18)
6. Read with rain in the background -> real rain or sounds - NOS4A2 by Joe Hill (4/17/18)
7. Read a book with pink on the cover - Dead Bolt by Juliet Blackwell (4/6/18)
8. read a book from a middle grade series
9. Read a series with a new book coming out in 2018 - A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas (6/3/18)
10. Read a book of a series where the parents of the MC aren't dead - The Selection by Kiera Cass (6/6/18)
11. Read a book with character growth - Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter (4/20/18)
12. Read a book while eating chocolate - Through the Zombie Glass by Gena Showalter (5/6/18)
13. Free Space: read any book of a series - For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund (5/26/18)
14. read a book where only the first book of a series is out
15. Read a book set in the real world - Parasite by Mira Grant (6/20/18)
16. Read a book with a spring colors on the cover - Home for the Haunting by Juliet Blackwell (6/16/18)
17. Finish a duology - Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund (6/15/18)
18. Use a flower as a bookmark - The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman (5/4/18)
19. Read a book with great friendship - The Queen of Zombie Hearts by Gena Showalter (5/18/18)
20. Read a second book in a series - Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal (3/30/18)
21. Read a book while sitting outside - The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King (4/13/18)
22. Read a book that is (partly) set in spring - Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (5/29/18)
23. Read a book with green on the cover - Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery (5/30/18)
24. Read a book that includes an animal - Murder on the House by Juliet Blackwell (6/2/18)
25. Read a book under 300 pages - River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey (4/24/18)

The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Title: The Royal We

Author: Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing 2015

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 497

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Reading Assignment

American Rebecca Porter was never one for fairy-tales. Her twin sister Lacey was always the romantic, the one who daydreamed of being a princess. But it's adventure-seeking Bex who goes to Oxford and meets dreamy Nick across the hall - and thus Bex who accidentally finds herself in love with the eventual heir to the British throne. Nick is everything she could have imagined, but Prince Nicholas has unimaginable baggage: grasping friends, a thorny family, hysterical tabloids tracking his every move, and a public that expected its future king to marry a native. On the eve of the most talked-about wedding of the century, Bex reflects on what she's sacrificed for love -- and exactly whose heart she may yet have to break.

A fun re-imagining of the romance of Kate and Wills. I love reading Heather and Jessica’s fashion blog and have been meaning to pick up this book for awhile now. Overall, I really enjoyed this romantic romp through England and time. I really fell for many of the side characters, especially Freddie and Gaz. I did like Bex and her story told from her own perspective. The one thing I didn’t like: the ending. It felt really rushed and not quite satisfying. But I still really enjoyed the almost 500 pages I spent with Bex and Nick.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Title: The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next #1)

Author: Jasper Fforde

Publisher: Penguin 2003

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 373

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual; Reading Assignment; Seasonal Series - Eating Apple Pie

Fans of Douglas Adams and P. G. Wodehouse will love visiting Jasper Fforde's Great Britain, circa 1985, when time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously: it’s a bibliophile’s dream. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection. But when someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature and plucks Jane Eyre from the pages of Brontë's novel, Thursday is faced with the challenge of her career. Fforde's ingenious fantasy—enhanced by a Web site that re-creates the world of the novel—unites intrigue with English literature in a delightfully witty mix.

This book was such a delight! I immediately fell for Thursday Next and her motley crew of LiteraTecs, friends, enemies, and family. The characters are all such delights helping the plot to be even more entertaining. The overall world is way too much fun! I love the idea of literature being held to such high regard that people name themselves after various authors and characters. And then you add in the ability to jump into books. Holy moly! I am loving it so much! Way too much fun. I sped through this volume needing to know Hades’s next move and Next’s counter move. I loved visiting Thornfield and meeting Mr. Rochester. Can’t wait to read the next in the series!

Thursday Next

• #1 The Eyre Affair

• #2 Lost in a Good Book

• #3 The Well of Lost Plots

• #4 Something Rotten

• #5 First Among Sequels

• #6 One of Our Thursdays is Missing

• #7 The Woman Who Died a Lot

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

Title: The Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood #1)

Author: Melissa Albert

Publisher: Flat Iron Books 2018

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 359

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Reading Assignment; Share-a-Tea; Seasonal Series - Someone Travels

Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: Her mother is stolen away—by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother's stories are set. Alice's only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”

Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland superfan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother's tales began—and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong.

I've been waiting for this book to come off hold at the library. I've heard such good things about this volume. A dark fairy tale sounds right up my alley! Thankfully this book delivered on an amazingly creepy story with great characters and full of twists and turns. It took me awhile to move through this book not because it was bad but because I savored every paragraph. For most of the book I was a bit unclear as to whether the events I was reading were real or in some weird dream state. Sounds bad, but I loved it! I loved the questioning and dream-like state that most of the books existed in. Loved it!

Next up on the TBR pile:

How to Fall in Love with a Man Who Lives in a Bush by Emmy Abrahamson

Title: How to Fall in Love with a Man Who Lives in a Bush

Author: Emmy Abrahamson

Publisher: Harper 2018

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 231

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Reading Assignment; Modern Mrs. Darcy - In Translation; Seasonal Series - Read by the pool

Vienna: famous for Mozart, waltzes, and pastry; less famous for Julia, a Swedish transplant who spends her days teaching English to unemployed Austrians and her evenings watching Netflix with her cat or club hopping with a frenemy. An aspiring novelist, Julia’s full of ideas for future bestsellers: A writer moves his family to a deserted hotel in the dead of winter and spirals into madness! A homely governess loves a brooding man whose crazy wife is locked up in the attic! Fine, so they’ve been done. Doesn’t mean Julia won’t find something original.

Then something original finds Julia—sits down next to her on a bench, as a matter of fact. Ben is handsome (under all that beard) and adventurous (leaps from small bridges in a single bound). He’s also sexy as hell and planning to shuffle off to Berlin before things can get too serious. Oh, and Ben lives in a public park.

Thus begins a truth stranger than any fiction Julia might have imagined: a whirlwind relationship with a guy who shares her warped sense of humor and shakes up the just-okay existence she’s been too lazy to change. Ben challenges her to break out; she challenges him to settle down. As weeks turn to months, Julia keeps telling herself that this is a chapter in her life, not the whole book. If she writes the ending, she can’t get hurt.

My mom picked up this book at a free library event and thought I would like this quirky story. Unfortunately, most of it just fell flat for me. I was intrigued by the storyline. I loved the character of Ben. But... the writing was very juvenile. Choppy sentences. First person narration that read more like a blog post than a book. I don't know if it has something to do with the translator, or that's really how the book is written. All I know is that I kept having to stop reading with thoughts like "Is that really the sentence you want to put into print?" Some may like this little book, I didn't.

But what if the ending isn’t hers to write?

Next up on the TBR pile:

A History of the Wife by Margaret Yalom

Title: A History of the Wife

Author: Margaret Yalom

Publisher: Harper 2002

Genre: Nonfiction - Social Sciences; History

Pages: 464

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Reading Assignment; Perpetual - Nonfic Ad

How did marriage, considered a religious duty in medieval Europe, become a venue for personal fulfillment in contemporary America? How did the notion of romantic love, a novelty in the Middle Ages, become a prerequisite for marriage today? And, if the original purpose of marriage was procreation, what exactly is the purpose of marriage for women now? 

A very very very dense social science book but very interesting. I do appreciate Yalom's adherence to detail when examining marriage throughout history. This isn't the most uplifting book, but I was intrigued by the topic and the exploration of the historical record. 

Next up on the TBR pile:

Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery

Title: Anne of Avolnea (Anne Shirley #2)

Author: L.M. Montgomery

Publisher: 1909

Genre: Classics

Pages: 276

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Reading Assignment; Popsugar - Childhood Classic I've Never Read; Seasonal Series - Green on Cover

Following Anne of Green Gables (1908), the book covers the second chapter in the life of Anne Shirley. This book follows Anne from the age of 16 to 18, during the two years that she teaches at Avonlea school. It includes many of the characters from Anne of Green Gables, as well as new ones like Mr Harrison, Miss Lavendar Lewis, Paul Irving, and the twins Dora and Davy.

I liked this volume more than the first in the series. Anne at 16 is a much more interesting character than Anne at 11. And I loved the introduction of some new characters and residents of Avonlea. Overall it was a very fun read for the day.

Anne Shirley:

• #1 Anne of Green Gables
• #2 Anne of Avonlea
• #3 Anne of the Island
• #4 Anne of Windy Poplars
• #5 Anne's House of Dreams
• #6 Anne of Ingleside
• #7 Rainbow Valley
• #8 Rilla of Ingleside

Next up on the TBR pile:

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

Title: Darkfever (MacKayla Lane #1)

Author: Karen Marie Moning

Publisher: Bantam Books 2006

Genre: Paranormal Fantasy

Pages: 347

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual (Fantasy Project); Reading Assignment

When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death—a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone—Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae. . . 

As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As she begins to close in on the truth, the ruthless Vlane—an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women–closes in on her. And as the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac’s true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book—because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands. . . .

This novel was quite a disappointment for me. I was hoping for a fun paranormal fantasy and instead I got an extremely unlikable main character, a confusing storyline, and way too many unanswered questions. I don't mind when the first book in a series leaves things unanswered. I do mind when it seems like all we get are questions and nothing more. Plus, MacKayla is a horrid character. Her Barbie doll exterior and seeming interior were of no interest to me. I hope that she grows through the series, but I don't really have an interest in following her journey. Probably an entertaining book for some, but not for me. 

MacKayla Lane:

• #1 Darkfever
• #2 Bloodfever
• #3 Faefever
• #4 Dreamfever
• #5 Shadowfever
• #5.5 Fever Moon
• #6 Iced
• #7 Burned
• #8 Feverborn
• #9 Feversong
• #10 High Voltage

Next up on the TBR pile:

Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Title: Herland

Author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Published: 1915

Genre: Classics - Feminism

Pages: 128

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual (Feminism); Reading Assignment; Popsugar - About Feminism

Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) was an American sociologist, writer, and a lecturer for social reform. She was a utopian feminist. Her best remembered work today is her short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper".
"Herland" (1915) describes an isolated society comprised entirely of women who reproduce via parthenogenesis. The result is an ideal social order, free of war, conflict and domination. 

I've read and loved Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper", but somehow I never picked this one up. Thankful that I did as it's an interesting bit of feminist history. I immediately fell for the account of this utopian society populated only by women. Gilman allows the reader to feel the wonder and confusion along with her three main male characters. Her thoughts of motherhood and societal worth are interesting if a bit outdated. But reminding myself that she wrote this in 1915 gives me the correct lenses to read it through. I don't expected 21st feminist critique from her, but am fascinated by her early 20th century approach. 

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights

Title: The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights

Translated: Richard Burton

Publisher: 1932 version

Genre: Classics

Pages: 1049

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual (FanPro); Reading Assignment; Modern Mrs. Darcy - More than 500 pages

Full of mischief, valor, ribaldry, and romance, The Arabian Nights has enthralled readers for centuries. These are the tales that saved the life of Shahrazad, whose husband, the king, executed each of his wives after a single night of marriage. Beginning an enchanting story each evening, Shahrazad always withheld the ending: A thousand and one nights later, her life was spared forever. 

This volume reproduces the 1932 Modern Library edition, for which Bennett A. Cerf chose the most famous and representative stories from Sir Richard F. Burton's multivolume translation, and includes Burton's extensive and acclaimed explanatory notes. These tales, including Alaeddin; or, the Wonderful Lamp, Sinbad the Seaman and Sinbad the Landsman, and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, have entered into the popular imagination, demonstrating that Shahrazad's spell remains unbroken.

I would give this 5 stars, but I realize that they are issues with this translation and compilation. I really did enjoy many of the stories listed in this volume. They are full of intrigue and adventure. But after reading the wikipedia page on the work, I have wish I would have read the new Syrian translation and compilation. Burton's volume took many liberties in editing and adding elements of the stories. Darn Victorians! Maybe someday I will get around to reading a newer version of the tales and see how they compare. 

Next up on the TBR pile:

2018 Reading Assignment Reading Challenge

From Because Reading:

The Rules

• The 2018 Reading Assignment Challenge runs from January 1st to December 31st 2018. You may sign up anytime before October 1, 2018.

• You may only participate for the months AFTER you sign up (so if you sign up in February, January doesn’t count)

• Commit to reading 1, 2, 3, or 4 books a month and MAKE A LIST of the SPECIFIC books you will read in January – June. This is one of our changes… rather than committing for a year, you’re just picking the books for the first half of the year. You’ll make a new list and commit to a new number of books per month in June for July – December. So 2 books a month works for January – June, but only 1 for July – December? That’s fine!

• You may read any genre or any format (i.e., eBook, Audiobook, Paperback, Hardcover). But they must be published before January 1, 2018 and they must be at least 100 pages.

• Pick a level and make your list. REMEMBER: you’re committing to not just those books, but that number of books a month. You CANNOT read them all in one month.

• At the end of each month, cross off the book(s) you read. We will have a link-up each quarter for you to link your progress.

• Tweet your progress to #2018HW and keep an eye out for random tweets from us.

• There will also be a grand prize drawing in January 2019. The number of entries you get in the grand prize giveaway will depend on how you perform in the quarterly Report Cards and what percentage of books you read from your list.

The Levels

Reading Level 1:
12 books (1 book/month)

Reading Level 2:
24 books (2 books/month)

Reading Level 3:
36 books (3 books/month)

Reading Level 4:
48 books (4 books/month)

Note: This year DNFs count as having read the book – you will NOT need to replace books that you DNF.

The Quarterly Report Cards

You get a do-over. Every quarter.

Here’s what you’ll need to do every time you turn in your Quarterly Report Card:

• Report which books you read, during which months.

• Report which months, if any, you didn’t make it.

• Link to your review and/or reading progress on Goodreads showing you read the book(s).

• Your final grade for the quarter, based on this chart:

  • I made an A! Read all your books all three months of the quarter.

  • I made a B! Read all your books for two months of the quarter.

  • I made a C! Read all your books for one month of the quarter.

  • I made an F!Didn’t read all your books during any months of the quarter.

So what if you made an F for that quarter? Yeah, it stinks, but it’s a new quarter and you get a chance to start over with your spring semester list in January – June and your fall semester list in July – December. At the end of the year, when you enter the final giveaway you’ll get extra credit based on your grade for each quarter. To get the extra credit, though, you must have turned in your report card for that quarter.

We’ve come to realize that making a list for the whole year just doesn’t leave enough room for your mood to change, though. So the other do-over we all get is a second chance to make a reading list. You’re making two lists, the first one is due at the start of the challenge (January 1, or the first day you participate), with the books you’ll read in the Spring Semester (January – June). When July rolls around, you get to make a Fall Semester reading list with the books you’ll read July – December. This gives a lot more room for mood changes throughout the year.

And that’s it! This is a bit stricter than a lot of year-long challenges, but that’s because we want it to be a little harder and hopefully more satisfying when you rock it!

Time to Make Your Spring Semester 2018 Reading Assignment List!

Make the list of the books you WILL read for the challenge, picking your level. Remember you’re only picking the books for January -June. Also remember, you must read the number of books you say you will each month. If you have any questions now or at any point during the challenge, email Berls (berls@fantasyismorefun.com) or Michelle (limabean74@aol.com).

I'm going to attempt this challenge once again. I tried two years ago and failed miserably, but that's probably because I didn't pick books I was excited to get to... For January-June, I'm going to go with Reading Level 1 of 1 book per month. And here are my selections for the first half of the year:

• January - Arabian Nights
• February - Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• March - Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
• April - The Words We Live By by Linda Monk
• May - Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery
• June - A History of the Wife by Marilyn Yalom