2013 Genre Variety Reading Challenge

This is the first year that I will be hosting the Genre Variety Reading Challenge. If there is already a challenge similar to this, please can you let me know as I don’t want to encroach on anyone’s ideas. This is just something that came to me that I hope will be fun and that others will enjoy.
But what is it?
The challenge is to read books from different genres throughout the year. I have found that blogging has opened my eyes to so many genres that I would never have tried before, simply from recommendations, and the idea of this challenge is to keep that going. The challenge is to read a large variety of genres within one year.
Other Important Info;
Runs from January 1st 2013 until December 31st 2013. Sign ups will be open until December 1st 2013.
There are five levels to challenge yourself too. You may move up a level but not go down a level. These are all outlined below. Please mention in your sign up post which level you will aim for.
The genres you choose to read are up to you. As long as every book is different, whichever genre you wish to read you can.
Every month there will be a post on this blog to link up to your update post / review(s)
There will be a giveaway at the end of the challenge, and maybe a few within the year but these are TBD.
To sign up, you will need to write a post saying which level you are challenging yourself too and then use the linky list. Non-Bloggers may post in the comments of this post.
Any book formats are accepted.
Novellas and Novels are all accepted for this challenge.
YA, NA and Adult books all count towards this challenge.
New sub-genres are accepted. (for example, paranormal-romance, or historical-romance)
Levels:
Careful; 6 different genres, 6 books
Cautious; 12 different genres, 12 books
Branching; 18 different genres, 18 books
Avid Reader; 24 different genres, 24 books
Champion; 30 different genres, 30 books
Categories; This is just a list of the vast variety of genres you have to choose from. I have probably missed a lot, so feel free to branch off from this. These are just suggestions.
Contemporary Historical Paranormal Fantasy Romance Sci-Fi Crime Thriller Adventure Non-Fiction Women’s Fiction Chick-Lit Dystopian Epic Fantasy Western Comedy Horror MANfiction Self-Help Biography Auto-biography Religious Fairy Tales Classics Erotica Short Stories Travel Guides

I am going to go for the Branching Level of 18 different genres, 18 books.

My TBR List:

Contemporary -- One Day by David Nicholls
Historical -- Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir
Paranormal -- Velveteen by Daniel Marks
Fantasy -- The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Romance -- Whisper Cape by Regan Walsh
Thriller -- Next by Michael Crichton
Nonfiction -- Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
Women's Fiction -- Barefoot by Elin Hilderbrand
Chick Lit -- Baby Proof by Emily Giffin
Dystopian -- Matched by Ally Condie
Horror -- Terror by Night by Ambrose Bierce
Biography -- The Private World of Georgette Heyer by Jane Aiken Hodge
Fairy Tales -- The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Anderson
Classics -- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
Science Fiction -- The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
Short Stories -- Selected Stories of O. Henry
Erotic -- Beauty or the Bitch by Jasmine Haynes
TBD

2013 Nerdy NonFiction Reading Challenge

From Bookmark to Blog:

Welcome to the 2013 Nerdy Non-Fiction Challenge!!
Last year I got the urge to read more non-fiction books after all that dystopian and fantasy I read, so I created this challenge to help motivate me to do just that in 2013.
If you want to participate, feel free. If there's another non-fiction challenge going on that you would rather do, then go for it! My goal here is really just to encourage you all to read more non-fiction this year. I'm hoping to pick at least 10 of the categories and read both an adult and a children's book in each category. We'll see how it goes.
Levels:
Geek: 4-6 books in at least 2-3 different categories Dork: 7-10 books in at least 4-5 different categories Dweeb: 11- 14 books in at least 6-7 different categories Nerd: 15+ books in at least 8+ different categories
Categories:
* Health, Medicine, Fitness, Wellness * History- US, World, European, etc * Religion, Spirituality, Philosophy * Technology, Engineering, Computers, etc * Business, Finance, Management * Sports, Adventure * Food- Cookbooks, Cooks, Vegan Vegetarianism, etc * Autobiography, Biography, Memoir * Art, Photography, Architecture * Music, Film, TV * Self Improvement, Self Help, How To * Home, Garden * Science-Nature, Weather, Biology, Geology * Anthropology, Archaeology * Animals-Insects, Mammals, Dinosaurs, etc * Family, Relationships, Parenting, Dating, Love * Crime, Law * Poetry, Theatre * Politics, Government, Current Affairs * Literary Criticism/Theory * Cultural Studies * Travel * Crafts
* It is not necessary to pick your categories ahead of time, but try not to read more than two books in each category so you can broaden your horizons.
* The categories I listed are just suggestions. If you have a different category you'd like to add, let me know!
* When you write about the challenge or read/review a book, come back here and link up or leave a comment and tell me what you read and what you thought of it.
* If you're participating in a different non-fiction challenge, please feel free to still link up. It's always fun to see what other people have read in the different non-fiction categories.
Happy reading (and learning)!

I'm going for a the Nerd level of 15+ books in 8+ categories.

My TBR List:

Health, Medicine, Fitness, Wellness
History -- Almost America by Steve Tally
Religion, Spirituality, Philosophy -- The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
Technology, Engineering, Computers
Business, Finance, Management -- The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
Sports, Adventure
Food
Autobiography, Biography, Memoir -- Thomas Paine by Craig Nelson
Art, Photography, Architecture
Music, Film, TV
Self Improvement, Self Help, How To
Home, Garden
Science
Anthropology, Archaeology -- Collapse by Jared Diamond
Animals
Family, Relationships, Parenting, Dating, Love
Crime, Law
Poetry, Theatre
Politics, Government, Current Affairs
Literary Criticism/Theory
Cultural Studies
Travel
Crafts

2013 Sub-Genre Reading Challenge

From Book Dragon's Lair:

Requirements:
read three books from each genre
each book must be a different sub-genre (sub-genres can be found here at Writer's Digest)
each book counts only once for this challenge
books may overlap with other challenges
any format allowed (print, ebook, audio)
reviews are not necessary but a list of books read is.
a blog is not necessary, just comment that you want to join in
*addition* if you do have a blog, write up a post and link up
Now for the genres. . .
ROMANCE
Chick-Lit: often humorous romantic adventures geared toward single working women in their twenties and thirties.
Christian: romances in which both hero and heroine are devout Christians, typically focused on a chaste courtship, and mentioning sex only after marriage.
Contemporary: a romance using modern characters and true-to-life settings.
Erotica: also called “romantica,” a romance in which the bedroom doors have been flung open and sexual scenes are described in candid language.
Glitz/Glamor: focused on the jet-set elite and celebrity-like characters.
Historical: a romance taking place in a recognizable historical period.
Multicultural: a romance centered on non-Caucasian characters, largely African-American or Hispanic.
Paranormal: involving some sort of supernatural element, ranging widely to include science fiction/fantasy aspects such as time travel, monsters or psychic abilities.
Romantic Comedy: a romance focused on humor, ranging from screwball antics to witty interplay.
Romantic Suspense: a novel in which an admirable heroine is pitted against some evil force (but in which the romantic aspect still maintains priority).
Sensual: based on the sensual tension between hero and heroine, including sizzling sex scenes.
Spicy: a romance in which married characters work to resolve their problems.
Sweet: a romance centered on a virgin heroine, with a storyline containing little or no sex.
Young Adult: written with the teenage audience in mind, with a suitably lower level of sexual content.
HORROR
Child in Peril: involving the abduction and/or persecution of a child.
Comic Horror: horror stories that either spoof horror conventions or that mix the gore with dark humor.
Creepy Kids: horror tale in which children are often under the influence of dark forces and begin to turn against the adults.
Dark Fantasy: a horror story with supernatural and fantasy elements.
Dark Mystery/Noir: inspired by hardboiled detective tales, set in an urban underworld of crime and moral ambiguity.
Erotic Vampire: a horror tale making the newly trendy link between sexuality and vampires, but with more emphasis on graphic description and violence.
Fabulist: derived from “fable,” an ancient tradition in which objects, animals or forces of nature are anthropomorphized in order to deliver a moral lesson.
Gothic: a traditional form depicting the encroachment of the Middle Ages upon the 18th century Enlightenment, filled with images of decay and ruin, and episodes of imprisonment and persecution.
Hauntings: a classic form centering on possession by ghosts, demons or poltergeists, particularly of some sort of structure.
Historical: horror tales set in a specific and recognizable period of history.
Magical Realism: a genre inspired by Latin-American authors, in which extraordinary forces or creatures pop into otherwise normal, real-life settings.
Psychological: a story based on the disturbed human psyche, often exploring insane, altered realities and featuring a human monster with horrific, but not supernatural, aspects.
Quiet Horror: subtly written horror that uses atmosphere and mood, rather than graphic description, to create fear and suspense.
Religious: horror that makes use of religious icons and mythology, especially the angels and demons derived from Dante’s Inferno and Milton’s Paradise Lost.
Science-Fiction Horror: SF with a darker, more violent twist, often revolving around alien invasions, mad scientists, or experiments gone wrong.
Splatter: a fairly new, extreme style of horror that cuts right to the gore.
Supernatural Menace: a horror tale in which the rules of normal existence don’t apply, often featuring ghosts, demons, vampires and werewolves.
Technology: stories featuring technology that has run amok, venturing increasingly into the expanding domain of computers, cyberspace, and genetic engineering.
Weird Tales: inspired by the magazine of the same name, a more traditional form featuring strange and uncanny events (Twilight Zone).
Young Adult: horror aimed at a teen market, often with heroes the same age, or slightly older than, the reader.
Zombie: tales featuring dead people who return to commit mayhem on the living.
THRILLER/SUSPENSE
Action: a story that often features a race against the clock, lots of violence, and an obvious antagonist.
Comic: a thriller played for laughs, whether through a spoof of the genre or wisecracking interplay between the protagonists.
Conspiracy: a thriller in which the hero battles a large, powerful group whose true extent only he recognizes.
Crime: a story focused on the commission of a crime, often from the point of view of the criminals.
Disaster: a story in which Mother Nature herself is the antagonist, in the form of a hurricane, earthquake or some other natural menace.
Eco-Thriller: a story in which the hero battles some ecological calamity Ð and often has to also fight the people responsible for creating that calamity.
Erotic: a thriller in which sex plays a major role.
Espionage: the classic international spy novel, which is enjoying a resurgence with one important change: where spies used to battle enemy spies, they now battle terrorists.
Forensic: a thriller featuring the work of forensic experts, whose involvement often puts their own lives at risk.
Historical: a thriller taking place in a specific and recognizable historic period.
Horror: a story—generally featuring some monstrous villain Ð in which fear and violence play a major part, complete with graphic descriptions.
Legal: a thriller in which a lawyer confronts enemies outside as well as inside the courtroom, generally putting his own life at risk.
Medical: a thriller featuring medical personnel, whether battling a legitimate medical threat such as a world-wide virus, or the illegal or immoral use of medical technology.
Military: a thriller featuring a military protagonist, often working behind enemy lines or as part of a specialized force.
Police Procedural: a crime thriller that follows the police as they work their way through a case.
Political Intrigue: a thriller in which the hero must ensure the stability of the government that employs him.
Psychological: a suspenseful thriller in which the conflict between the characters is mental and emotional rather than physical—until an often violent resolution.
Romantic: a thriller in which the protagonists are romantically involved.
Supernatural: a thriller in which the hero, the antagonist, or both have supernatural powers.
Technological: a thriller in which technology Ð usually run amok Ð is central to the plot.
Science Fiction/Fantasy
Alternate History: speculative fiction that changes the accepted account of actual historical events, often featuring a profound “what if?” premise.
Arthurian Fantasy: reworkings of the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
Bangsian Fantasy: stories speculating on the afterlives of famous people.
Biopunk: a blend of film noir, Japanese anime and post-modern elements used to describe an underground, nihilistic biotech society.
Children’s Fantasy: a kinder, gentler style of fantasy aimed at very young readers.
Comic: fantasy or science fiction that spoofs the conventions of the genre, or the conventions of society.
Cyberpunk: stories featuring tough outsiders in a high-tech near-future where computers have produced major changes in society.
Dark Fantasy: tales that focus on the nightmarish underbelly of magic, venturing into the violence of horror novels.
Dystopian: stories that portray a bleak future world.
Erotic: SF or fantasy tales that focus on sexuality.
Game-Related Fantasy: tales with plots and characters similar to high fantasy, but based on a specific role-playing game like Dungeons and Dragons.
Hard Science Fiction: tales in which real present-day science is logically extrapolated to the future.
Heroic Fantasy: stories of war and its heroes, the fantasy equivalent of military science fiction.
High/Epic Fantasy: tales with an emphasis on the fate of an entire race or nation, often featuring a young “nobody” hero battling an ultimate evil.
Historical: speculative fiction taking place in a recognizable historical period.
Mundane SF: a movement that spurns fanciful conceits like warp drives, wormholes and faster-than-light travel for stories based on scientific knowledge as it actually exists.
Military SF: war stories that extrapolate existing military technology and tactics into the future.
Mystery SF: a cross-genre blend that can be either an SF tale with a central mystery or a classic whodunit with SF elements.
Mythic Fiction: stories inspired, or modeled on, classic myths, legends and fairy tales.
New Age: a category of speculative fiction that deals with occult subjects such as astrology, psychic phenomena, spiritual healing, UFOs and mysticism.
Post-Apocalyptic: stories of life on Earth after an apocalypse, focusing on the struggle to survive.
Romance: speculative fiction in which romance plays a key part.
Religious: centering on theological ideas, and heroes who are ruled by their religious beliefs.
Science Fantasy: a blend in which fantasy is supported by scientific or pseudo-scientific explanations.
Social SF: tales that focus on how characters react to their environments Ð including social satire.
Soft SF: tales based on the more subjective, “softer” sciences: psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc.
Space Opera: a traditional good guys/bad guys faceoff with lots of action and larger-than-life characters.
Spy-Fi: tales of espionage with SF elements, especially the use of high-tech gadgetry.
Steampunk: a specific type of alternate history in which characters in Victorian England have access to 20th century technology.
Superheroes: stories featuring characters endowed with superhuman strengths or abilities.
Sword and Sorcery: a classic genre often set in the medieval period, and more concerned with immediate physical threats than high or heroic fantasy.
Thriller SF: an SF story that takes on the classic world-at-risk, cliffhanger elements of a thriller.
Time-Travel: stories based on the concept of moving forward or backward in time, often delving into the existence of parallel worlds.
Urban Fantasy: a fantasy tale in which magical powers and characters appear in an otherwise normal modern context, similar to Latin American magical realism.
Vampire: variations on the classic vampire legend, recently taking on many sexual and romantic variations.
Wuxia: fantasy tales set within the martial arts traditions and philosophies of China.
Young Adult: speculative fiction aimed at a teenage audience, often featuring a hero the same age or slightly older than the reader.
Mystery/Crime

Amateur Detective: a mystery solved by an amateur, who generally has some profession or affiliation that provides ready access to information about the crime.
Child in Peril: a mystery involving the abduction or persecution of a child.
Classic Whodunit: a crime that is solved by a detective, from the detective’s point of view, with all clues available to the reader.
Comic (Bumbling Detective): a mystery played for laughs, often featuring a detective who is grossly unskilled (but often solves the crime anyway, owing to tremendous good luck).
Cozy: a mystery that takes place in a small town—sometimes in a single home—where all the suspects are present and familiar with one another, except the detective, who is usually an eccentric outsider.
Courtroom Drama: a mystery that takes place through the justice system—often the efforts of a defense attorney to prove the innocence of his client by finding the real culprit.
Dark Thriller: a mystery that ventures into the fear factor and graphic violence of the horror genre.
Espionage: the international spy novel—here based less on action than on solving the “puzzle”—is today less focused on the traditional enemy spies than on terrorists.
Forensic: a mystery solved through the forensics lab, featuring much detail and scientific procedure.
Heists and Capers: an “antihero” genre which focuses on the planning and execution of a crime, told from the criminal’s perspective.
Historical: a mystery that takes place in a specific, recognizable period of history, with much emphasis on the details of the setting.
Inverted: a story in which the reader knows “whodunit,” but the suspense arises from watching the detective figure it out.
Locked Room: a mystery in which the crime is apparently committed under impossible circumstances (but eventually elicits a rational explanation).
Medical: generally involving a medical threat (e.g., a viral epidemic), or the illegitimate use of medical technology.
Police Procedural: a crime solved from the perspective of the police, following detailed, real-life procedures.
Private Detective: Focused on the independent snoop-for-hire, these have evolved from tough-guy “hard-boiled” detectives to the more professional operators of today.
Psychological Suspense: mysteries focused on the intricacies of the crime and what motivated the perpetrator to commit them.
Romantic: a mystery in which the crime-solvers fall in love.
Technothriller: a spinoff from the traditional thriller mystery, with an emphasis on high technology.
Thriller: a suspense mystery with a wider—often international—scope and more action.
Woman in Jeopardy: focuses on a woman put into peril by a crime, and her struggles to overcome or outwit the perpetrator.
Young Adult: a story aimed at a teenage audience, with a hero detective generally the same age or slightly older than the reader, pursuing criminals who are generally less violent—but often just as scary—as those in adult mysteries.

My TBR List:

Romance

Contemporary -- P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern
Historical -- The Hostage by Susan Wiggs
Chick Lit -- Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin

Horror

Religious -- Year Zero by Jeff Long
TBD
TBD

Thriller/Suspense

Historical -- A Foreign Affair by Caro Peacock
Action -- Heat Stroke by Rachel Caine
TBD

Scifi/Fantasy

Vampire -- The Passage by Justin Cronin
Dystopian -- Crossed by Ally Condie
Epic Fantasy -- A Game of Thrones by George Martin

Mystery/Crime

Historical -- Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn
TBD
TBD

2013 Double Dog Dare Challenge

From Ready When You Are, C.B.:

The TBR Dare is back again for a third year; except this time it's much more intense. It's not just a dare, it's a double dog dare. Dakota and I double dog dare you to join in the fun.

But, remember, especailly those of you who do not participate in reading challenges, the TBR Double Dare is not a "reading challenge;" it's a dare.

We dare you, no we double dog dare you to join in the fun.

The rules are extreme, but you can change them to fit your needs. The TBR Double Dog Dare is meant to be fun, so rule number one is--have fun.

The goal of the TBR Double Dog Dare is to reduce the size of your TBR stack, to read those books you've had for years and always meant to get around to reading one day. January 1, 2013 just might be the day.

If you agree to the full Double Dog Dare, then you pledge to read only books in your TBR stack as of January 1, 2013 from the start of the new year until April Fool's Day. Your TBR stack is officially defined as the books you have purchased or have requested from the library as of January 1, 2013. This includes books that have not arrived in the mail or at the store yet. Dakota and I will be making exceptions only for books selelcted by my book club, and possibly not even those depending on what my book club selects. If you're a member of a book club, then you know how that works. You can make whatever exceptions you would like to or need to make.

We understand.

If you don't want to sign up for the full four months, you can sign up for whatever period of time you'd like. We think it's more fun if people spell out the details of their personal Double Dog Dare in a post on their blogs, but you may do as you like.

We've posted a button for the TBR Double Dog Dare and hope that you'll use it on your own blog to help us get the word out. And, if you'd like to post a link to this page or any page at Ready When You Are, C.B. featuring the Double Dog Dare, Dakota will make a special visit to your home to deliver a wonderful thank you gift. Not really. But she will let you pet her if you're ever in Vallejo, California and I can make some coffee and maybe some sandwiches.

I attempted to read from my owned books last year and failed miserably. I am recommitting myself to read from my shelves. And so I am joining this challenge. It will be hard, but I have to try. The only exceptions that I am going to make are book club selections (we choose monthly so no yearly schedule) and any books needed to complete series already started (e.g. Reached by Ally Condie).

Signature

2013 Get Steampunk'd Reading Challenge

Hosted at Bookish Ardour:

The Get Steampunk’d Reading Challenge is all about Steampunk! Read anything as long as it has that Steampunk theme, with steam-powered gadgets, dirigibles, and punked up Victorian dress.
Steampunk Examples: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore, Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, Boneshaker by Cherie Priest, The Difference Engine by William Gibson.
The Finer Deets
Running dates for all 2013 challenges: 1st of January – 31st of December 2013
Sign-Ups are accepted until the 16th of December 2013.
Formats: All BA Challenges are eBook, audio, short story, and graphic novel friendly.
Crossovers: You’re welcome to crossover with BA’s challenges. Include as many books across all the challenges as you can, I always say.
How To Sign-Up and Join In
Choose Your Level: Choose a challenge level listed below.
Sign Up Post: Create a post on your blog, in a group, or on a forum (where possible) to let others see what you’re aiming for (a predefined list of books is optional).
Grab The Badge: Download or grab the badge and place it in your sign up post. Then link back toBookish Ardour.
Link Up: Grab the direct URL to your sign up post, not your blog, click the Mr Linky graphic and enter your link.
Blogless? Don’t worry, you can sign up with your social network profile (YouTube, Twitter, GoodReads, Shelfari included), just make sure you link to your review list, shelf, tweet, or category. If you don’t have any of those feel free to comment.
Your Reviews: Reviewing is optional! But if you do review it would be great for you to share them by submitting them on thereview page.
Finished: When you’re done it’s completion post time and you can share these on the completion/wrap-up page.
Challenge Levels
Geared – Choose 5 books to read
Cogged – Choose 15 books to read
Goggle Mad – Choose 30 books to read
Victorian Lord/Lady – Choose 50 books to read
Inventor – Choose 75 books to read
Zephyr Pilot – Choose 76-135 books to read
Steampunk’d – Choose 136-200 books to read

I do love me some steampunk. And I had a few steampunk books lying around that I couldn't really fit into other challenges. I am excited to join this one. I am going to aim for the Geared level of 5 books. It may be increased as the year goes on...

My TBR list:

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
Ganymede by Cherie Priest
Dreadnought by Cherie Priest
Firelight by Kristen Callihan
TBD

2012 Reading Challenge Round-Up -- Finishing Edition

I hear 2013 calling my name. I think it's time to call 2012 quits and start my end of the year posts. In total I entered 27 reading challenges this year. Let's see how I did... Completed challenges edition.

I have a few challenges that I am trying to finish by the end of the year.

I won't finish this completely, but I can add four more titles to make a total of 95 TBR books read out of 150 goal.

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein (1/8/12)
Lost in Austen by Emma Campbell Webster (1/29/12)
Zombie Blondes by Brian James (2/4/12)
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (2/1/12)
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (1/21/12)
Regency Romance (3/23/12)
Sunshine by Robin McKinley (2/17/12)
Allison Hewitt is Trapped by Madeleine Roux (4/26/12)
Night of the Necromancer by Kyle West (2/3/12)
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dance by Katherine Howe (5/7/12)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (1/11/12)
Palace Circle by Rebecca Dean (3/8/12)
The Boys: The Big Ride (1/8/12)
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (1/12/12)
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (1/13/12)
Hatter M Vol. 1 (1/15/12)
Hatter M Vol. 2 (1/17/12)
Hatter M Vol.3 (1/18/12)
A Lady Never Tells by Candace Camp (1/23/12)
American Vampire by Jennifer Armintrout (2/2/12)
A Gentleman Always Remembers by Candace Camp (2/7/12)
An Affair Without End by Candace Camp (2/10/12)
The Long Weekend by Savita Kalhan (3/1/12)
Evermore by Alyson Noel (3/2/12)
Blue Moon by Alyson Noel (3/4/12)
Timeless by Gail Carriger (3/18/12)
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (4/8/12)
The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson (4/18/12)
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (4/26/12)
The Radleys by Matt Haig (4/28/12)
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray (5/15/12)
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (5/19/12)
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin (5/22/12)
Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein (6/1/12)
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake (6/5/12)
The Boys Volume 10 by Garth Ennis (6/7/12)
The Boys Volume 11 by Garth Ennis (6/12/12)
Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick (6/17/12)
The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan (6/27/12)
Intentions of the Earl by Rose Gordon (6/29/12)
Adrianna’s Fairy Tales by Adrianna White (7/5/12)
The Maiden’s Hand by Susan Wiggs (9/8/12)
At the Queen’s Summons by Susan Wiggs (9/11/12)
Rebel Angels by Libba Bray (7/6/12)
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville (7/7/12)
12th Night (anthology) (7/11/12)
Carole’s Christmas by Anne Glynn (7/11/12)
The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray (7/12/12)
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (8/6/12)
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (8/12/12)
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman (8/16/12)
The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman (8/20/12)
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (8/23/12)
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (8/29/12)
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love (9/2/12)
Richard III by Shakespeare (9/1/12)
Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare (9/1/12)
Twelfth Night by Shakespeare (9/1/12)
King Lear by Shakespeare (9/4/12)
Sadie Walker is Stranded by Madeleine Roux (10/2/12)
Persuasion by Jane Austen (10/3/12)
The First Days by Rhiannon Frater (10/4/12)
Fighting to Survive by Rhiannon Frater (10/5/12)
Siege by Rhiannon Frater (10/6/12)
Feed by Mira Grant (10/8/12)
Deadline by Mira Grant (10/14/12)
Blackout by Mira Grant (10/17/12)
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (10/91/12)
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson (10/30/12)
The Girl from Junchow by Kate Furnivall (11/5/12)
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (11/7/12)
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (11/8/12)
The Jewel of St. Petersburg by Kate Furnivall (11/11/12)
An Offer You Can’t Refuse by Jill Mansell (11/14/12)
Flower Fables by Louisa May Alcott (11/16/12)
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (11/16/12)
As You Like It by William Shakespeare (11/18/12)
Othello by William Shakespeare (11/19/12)
Pericles by William Shakespeare (11/19/12)
Cymbeline by William Shakespeare (11/19/12)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (11/21/12)
Poems of Emily Dickinson (11/23/12)
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (11/23/12)
Mythology by Edith Hamilton (11/27/12)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick (11/27/12)
The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees (12/1/12)
Bridge of Scarlet Leaves by Kristina McMorris (12/2/12)
Arthurian Romances by Chretien de Troyes (12/3/12)
The Boys Vol. 12: The Bloody Doors Off (12/5/12)
The White Pearl by Kate Furnivall (12/13/12)
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky (12/14/12)
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (12/19/12)
The Magician King by Lev Grossman (12/19/12)
Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan -- finishing this week
Batman: Earth One (12/19/12)

With my last four books that I am finishing this week, I will be completing this challenge, just in the nick of time.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (9/28/12)
The First Days by Rhiannon Frater (10/4/12)
Fighting to Survive by Rhiannon Frater (10/5/12)
Siege by Rhiannon Frater (10/6/12)
Feed by Mira Grant (10/8/12)
Deadline by Mira Grant (10/14/12)
Blackout by Mira Grant (10/17/12)
Sadie Walker is Stranded by Madeleine Roux (10/2/12)
The Girl from Junchow by Kate Furnivall (11/5/12)
The Jewel of St. Petersburg by Kate Furnivall (11/11/12)
Flower Fables by Louisa May Alcott (11/16/12)
Mythology by Edith Hamilton (11/27/12)
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (11/7/12)
The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees (12/1/12)
As You Like It by Shakespeare (11/18/12)
Cymbeline by Shakespeare (11/19/12)
Othello by Shakespeare (11/19/12)
Pericles by Shakespeare (11/19/12)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep? by Philip K. Dick (11/27/12)
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (11/8/12)
Persuasion by Jane Austen (10/3/12)
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (11/16/12)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (11/21/12)
Arthurian Romances by Chretien de Troyes (12/3/12)
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (10/19/12)
The Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison (10/22/12)
The Princess and the Bear by Mette Ivie Harrison (10/24/12)
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson (10/30/12)
An Offer You Can’t Refuse by Jill Mansell (11/14/12)
Poems of Emily Dickinson (11/23/12)
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (11/23/12)
Bridge of Scarlet Leaves by Kristina McMorris (12/2/12)
Not Quite What I was Planning (12/3/12)
Chocolate by Shara Aaron and Monica Bearden (12/4/12)
Social Q’s by Philip Galanes (12/4/12)
The Boys Vol 12: The Bloody Doors Off (12/5/12)
Words Words Words by David Crystal (12/6/12)
The Green Book (12/11/12)
Minigami by Gay Merrill Gross (12/11/12)
Sprezzatura by Peter D’Epiro and Mary Desmond Pinkowish (12/6/12)
Click edited by J. Courtney Sullivan and Courtney Martin (12/7/12)
A History of Egypt by Jason Thompson (12/7/12)
Active Liberty by Stephen Breyer (12/10/12)
Blue: 350 Inspiring Ways to Decorate with Blue by Lisa Cregan (12/10/12)
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky (12/14/12)
The White Pearl by Kate Furnivall (12/13/12)
The Magician King by Lev Grossman (12/19/12)
Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan -- finishing this week
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (12/19/12)
Batman: Earth One (12/19/12)

This one will easily be finished this week.

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (5/19/12)
The Subtle Knife — Philip Pullman (8/15/12)
The Amber Spyglass — Philip Pullman (8/20/12)
The Son of Neptune — Rick Riordan
The Magician King — Lev Grossman (12/19/12)
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children — Ransom Riggs (2/1/12)
Evermore — Alyson Noel (3/2/12)
Blue Moon — Alyson Noel (3/4/12)
Timeless — Gail Carriger (3/18/12)
Everneath — Brodie Ashton (4/1/12)

Just finished this challenge. Woo hoo!

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott — Kelly O’Connor McNees (12/1/12)
Palace Circle — Rebecca Dean (3/8/12)
The White Pearl — Kate Furnivall (12/13/12)
Suite Francaise — Irene Nemirovsky (12/14/12)
The Bridge of Scarlet Leaves — Kristina McMorris (12/2/12)
Lost in Austen — Emma Campbell Webster(1/29/12)
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane — Katherine Howe (5/7/12)
The Shadow of the Wind — Carlos Ruiz Zafon (4/8/12)
The Girl from Junchow — Kate Furnivall (11/5/12)
The Jewel of St. Petersburg — Kate Furnivall (11/11/12)

2012 Reading Challenge Round-Up -- Failed Edition

I hear 2013 calling my name. I think it's time to call 2012 quits and start my end of the year posts. In total I entered 27 reading challenges this year. Let's see how I did... Failed challenges edition.

Wow! Two years in a row I wanted to read this series and two years in a row I utterly failed...

Outlander (1991)
Dragonfly in Amber (1992)
Voyager (1994)
Drums of Autumn (1997)
The Fiery Cross (2001)

So close! Yet, I didn't complete it in time. Those Us and Xs are very hard to find. And I cheated a bit with the Q.

A — American Vampire by Jennifer Armintrout (2/2/12)
B — Bad Doings and Big Ideas by Bill Willingham (4/23/12)
C — Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (1/12/12)
D — Doctor Who: Through Time and Space (2/22/12)
E — The Boys Volume 10 by Garth Ennis (6/7/12)
F — Frostbite by Richelle Mead (6/22/12)
G — A Gentleman Always Remembers by Candace Camp (2/7/12)
H — Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein (1/8/12)
I – Intentions of the Earl by Rose Gordon (6/29/12)
J — The Joy of Scrapbooking by Lisa Bearnson (1/30/12)
K — Wonderland by Tommy Kovac and Sonny Liew (5/23/12)
L — A Lady Never Tells by Candace Camp (1/23/12)
M — The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore (2/11/12)
N — Sirena by Donna Jo Napoli (6/1/12)
O — Slanted and Enchanted by Kayla Oakes (9/16/12)
P — The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe (5/7/12)
Q — Social Q’s by Philip Galanes (12/4/12)
R — Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (2/1/12)
S — Fables: Super Group (2/2/12)
T — Timeless by Gail Carriger (3/18/12)
U —
V — The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg (4/20/12)
W — Fables: Witches by Bill Willingham (1/6/12)
X –
Y — The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs (2/26/12)
Z — Zombie Blondes by Brian James (2/4/12)

Failed, but a pretty decent showing considering my goal.

0-99 — This Book is Overdue by Marilyn Johnson (9/1/12)
100-199 — Haunts of San Jose by David Lee (9/1/12)
200-299 — The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs (2/26/12)
300-309 — Click edited by J. Courtney Sullivan and Courtney Martin (12/7/12)
310-319
320-329 — Liberty Defined by Ron Paul (9/3/12)
330-339 — The Green Book (12/11/12)
340-349 — Active Liberty by Stephen Breyer (12/10/12)
350-359
360-369
370-379 — Change.edu by Andrew Rosen (9/16/12)
380-389 — On Target by Laura Rowley (9/19/12)
390-399 – Social Q’s by Philip Galanes (12/4/12)
400-499 — Words Words Words by David Crystal (12/5/12)
500-599
600-699 — The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson (4/18/12)
700-709 — Slanted and Enchanted by Kayla Oakes (9/16/12)
710-719
720-729
730-739 – Minigami by Gay Merrill Gross (12/11/12)
740-749 — Blue by Lisa Cregan (12/10/12)
750-759 — Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun by Gita May (9/21/12)
760-769
770-779 — The Joy of Scrapbooking by Lisa Bearnson (1/30/12)
780-789
790-799 — Harry Potter Film Wizardry by Brian Sibley (1/29/12)
800-899 — Readings on Shakespeare’s The Histories (3/25/12)
900-909 — The Lost Millennium by Florin Diacu (9/12/12)
910-919 — Paris in Love by Eloisa James (5/16/12)
920-929 — Not Quite What I was Planning (12/3/12)
930-939 — Ten Discoveries that Rewrote History by Patrick Hunt (9/18/12)
940-949 — Sprezzatura by D’Epiro and Pinkowish (12/6/12)
950-959
960-969 — A History of Egypt by Jason Thompson (12/7/12)
970-979 – Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick (6/17/12)
980-989
990-999

Another overly ambitious goal, but I gave it a try anyway.

1982 — Blade Runner / Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (11/27/12)
1983 –
1984 –
1985 –
1986 –
1987 –
1988 — The Sandman Volume 1 Preludes and Nocturnes (6/4/12)
1989 –
1990 — The Sandman Volume 2 the Doll’s House (6/6/12)
1991 — Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein (1/8/12)
1992 — The Sandman Volume 4 Season of Mists (7/2/12)
1993 — The Sandman Volume 5 A Game of You (7/5/12)
1994 —
1995 — The Dark Compass by Philip Pullman (8/12/12)
1996 — The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg (4/20/12)
1997 – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
1998 — Reading’s on Shakespeare’s The Histories (3/25/12)
1999 — HP 2 by J.K. Rowling (2/22/12)
2000 — The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman (8/20/12)
2001 — Sprezzatura by D’Epiro and Pinkowish (12/6/12)
2002 –
2003 — HP 5 by J.K. Rowling (5/29/12)
2004 — Persepolis: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi (7/4/12)
2005 — The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (4/8/12)
2006 – Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick (6/17/12)
2007 — Lost in Austen by Emma Campbell Webster (1/29/12)
2008 — Hatter M Vol. 1 (1/15/12)
2009 — The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks by Max Brooks (1/7/12)
2010 — Fables: Witches (1/6/12)
2011 — Jack of Fables: The End (1/6/12)

This one was a bit of a joke. I think I knew signing up that I wouldn't complete it. Oh well!

1. Blue — Blue by Lisa Cregan (12/10/12)

2. Red — Fables: Rose Red (1/10/12)

3. Yellow —

4. Green — The Green Book (12/11/12)

5. Brown — Choclate by Shara Aaron and Monica Bearden (12/4/12)

6. Black — Blackout by Mira Grant (10/17/12) 7. White — The White Pearl by Kate Furnivall (12/13/12)

8. Other Color —

9. Word that implies color —

This one was a seasonal challenge with interesting qualifies. And yet I only finished 9 out of the 14 categories.

Read a book chosen for the U.S. 2012 World Book Night.
Read a book you were supposed to read in school, but either bailed on or Cliff-Noted.
Read a memoir or narrative nonfiction book. – Paris in Love by Eloisa James
Read a book in one calendar day. – The Frog Prince: A Fairy Tale for Consenting Adults by Stephen Mitchell
Read a book that you’ve always wanted to read but haven’t gotten around to yet. – Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Read a pair of books that have antonyms in the titles. – Beauty by Robin McKinley and
Read a book that is set in a place you’ve never been but want to visit. – The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe (Salem, Massachusetts)
Find a book written the year you were born that was later made into a movie. Read the book and watch the movie; compare. Or find a movie released the year you were born that was based on a book. Do the same thing.
Go into a bookstore or library. Pick any bookshelf. Read the third book from the left on the fourth shelf from the top
Read a book about which you’ve heard bad things. – Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
Read a trilogy (or any three consecutive books in a series). Total page count for all three books together must be at least 500 pages. – A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray; Rebel Angels by Libba Bray; The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

2012 Reading Challenge Round-Up -- Completed Edition

I hear 2013 calling my name. I think it's time to call 2012 quits and start my end of the year posts. In total I entered 27 reading challenges this year. Let's see how I did... Completed challenges edition.

I went for the highest goal on this one, 16 books, 16 categories. It really wasn't a hugely difficult challenge as I read nonfiction all the time. But it did encourage me to pick up different types of books. My favorite book from this challenge was the Science Fiction and Fantasy pick of The Magicians by Lev Grossman.

Classics – Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (11/8/12)
Biography – Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun by Gita May (9/21/12)
Cookery, Food, and Wine – Chocolate by Shara Aaron and Monica Bearden (12/4/12)
History – The Lost Millennium by Florin Diacu (9/12/12)
Modern Fiction – Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin (5/22/12)
Graphic Novel and Manga – Bad Doings and Big Ideas by Bill Willingham (4/23/12)
Crime and Mystery – Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (5/17/12)
Horror – The Long Weekend by Savita Kalhan (3/1/12)
Romance – An Offer You Can’t Refuse by Jill Mansell (11/14/12)
Science Fiction and Fantasy – The Magicians by Lev Grossman (1/21/12)
Travel – Paris in Love by Eloisa James (5/16/12)
Poetry – Poems of Emily Dickinson (11/23/12)
Journalism and Humor – The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs (2/26/12)
Science and Natural History – The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson (4/18/12)
Children’s and Young Adult – The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan (6/27/12)
Social Sciences and Philosophy – This Book is Overdue by Marilyn Johnson (9/1/12)

I had been meaning to read more classics. After reading only classics back in high school, I haven't really gotten around to any for a few years. This was my chance. My favorite read from this challenge was The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (a once very few years reread for me, but still awesome). I'm joining this one again next year.

19th Century – The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (8/6/12)
20th Century – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1/26/12)
Reread Classic – Persuasion by Jane Austen (10/3/12)
Classic Play – The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (8/29/12)
Classic Mystery/Horror/Crime – The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (4/26/12)
Classic Romance – Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (8/23/12)
Translated Classic – Arthurian Romances by Chretien de Troyes (12/3/12)
Classic Award Winner – A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (11/21/12)
International Classic – Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (11/16/12)

An odd challenge for me. I struggled to find books that I was already going to read to fit the topics. Once I did I really loved my choices. My favorite read was The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman, part of His Dark Materials trilogy.

Topographical Feature – The Bridge of Scarlet Leaves by Kristin McMorris (12/2/12)
Something in the Sky – Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (1/13/12)
Creepy Crawly – You are So Undead to Me by Stacey Jay (2/27/12)
Type of House – Palace Circle by Rebecca Dean (3/8/12)
Something from Your Pocket – The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman (8/16/12)
Something on a Calendar – The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees (12/1/12)

I always love reading books and then see the movie. It's even better when I have read the book before seeing the movie, but sometimes it just doesn't work out that way. My favorite combo was Do Androids... and Blade Runner. While the movie doesn't exactly follow the books it does have the same feel. Loved them!

Something Borrowed (Emily Giffin) (5/22/12)
Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep — Philip K. Dick) (11/27/12)
The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins) (1/11/12)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare) (1/27/12)
Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare) (8/28/12)
The Dark Compass (Philip Pullman) (8/12/12)
Richard III (Shakespeare) (8/28/12)
Persuasion (Jane Austen) (10/3/12)
Dorian Gray (The Picture of Dorian Gray — Oscar Wilde) (4/26/12)
Beastly (Alex Flinn) (4/15/12)
Kick-Ass (Mark Millar and John Romita Jr) (5/23/12)
Starship Troopers (Robert Heinlein) (6/1/12)
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter (Seth Grahame-Smith) (5/25/12)
The Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum) (8/6/12)
Tin Man (The Wizard of Oz – L. Frank Baum) (8/6/12)
Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen) (8/23/12)
The Importance of Being Earnest (Oscar Wilde) (8/29/12)
Twelfth Night (Shakespeare) (9/1/12)
Ran (King Lear – Shakespeare) (9/4/12)
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) (11/8/12)

J has been trying to get me to read more science fiction for years now. And I finally warming up to the genre, although I tend to go for softer scifi. My favorite read was Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein.

The Martian Chronicles — Ray Bradbury (11/23/12)
Snow Crash — Neal Stephenson (10/30/12)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick (11/27/12)
Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert Heinlein (1/8/12)
Starship Troopers — Robert Heinlein (6/1/12)

I super hard challenge to finish. I think I just picked a ton of mediocre books and it made it really difficult to finish. As it stands, I want to try to again next year, but with only 5 reads and hopefully better books. From this year, my favorite read was The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale.

The Goose Girl — Shannon Hale (11/7/12)
Mythology — Edith Hamilton (11/27/12)
Beauty — Robin McKinley (6/5/12)
Beastly — Alex Flinn (4/15/12)
The Frog Prince — Stephen Mitchell (5/14/12)
Sirena — Donna Jo Napoli (6/1/12)
Adrianna’s Fairy Tales by Adrianna White (7/5/12)
The Princess and the Hound — Mette Ivie Harrison (10/22/12)
The Princess and the Bear — Mette Ivie Harrison (10/24/12)
Flower Fables — Louisa May Alcott (11/16/12)

This was quite an interesting challenge. Out of the 12 we read, I had already read only four. So I got a ton more Shakespeare. My favorite is still A Midsummer Night's Dream, followed closely by Much Ado About Nothing.

January – A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1/27/12)
February – Macbeth (2/22/12)
March – Henry V (3/25/12)
April – Much Ado About Nothing (8/28/12)
May – Antony and Cleopatra (8/30/12)
June – Richard III (8/28/12)
July – As You Like It (11/18/12)
August – King Lear (9/4/12)
September – Cymbeline (11/19/12)
October – Twelfth Night (9/1/12)
November – Othello (11/19/12)
December – Pericles (11/19/12)

I adore zombies! Reading 24 zombie books was not difficult, but picking my favorite definitely is. I think I will have to choose the Newsflesh trilogy (Feed, Deadline, and Blackout), but only if you make me choose.

You are So Undead to Me — Stacey Jay (2/27/12)
Undead Much — Stacey Jay (2/29/12)
Allison Hewitt is Trapped — Madeleine Roux (4/26/12)
Night of the Necromancer — Kyle West (2/3/12)
Feed — Mira Grant (10/8/12)
Deadline — Mira Grant (10/14/12)
Blackout — Mira Grant (10/17/12)
Zombie Blondes — Brian James (2/4/12)
Sadie Walker is Stranded — Madeleine Roux (10/2/12)
The Dark and Hollow Places — Carrie Ryan (1/8/12)
The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks — Max Brooks (1/7/12)
Brains: A Zombie Memoir – Robin Becker (1/9/12)
Autumn: Purification – David Moody (1/24/12)
Autumn: Disintegration – David Moody (1/27/12)
The Stupidest Angel – Christopher Moore (2/11/12)
Rise Again — Ben Tripp (3/15/12)
The First Days — Rhiannon Frater (10/4/12)
As the World Dies — Rhiannon Frater (10/5/12)
Siege — Rhiannon Frater (10/6/12)
Eat, Slay, Love — Jesse Petersen (3/16/12)
Aftertime — Sophie Littlefield (4/5/12)
Hater — David Moody (7/19/12)
Dog Blood — David Moody (7/25/12)
Them or Us — David Moody (7/28/12)

This was a great chance to reread all seven HP books and rewatch the movies. I haven't read these in a few years, so lots of great fun.

HP and the Sorcerer’s Stone (1/7/12)
HP and the Chamber of Secrets (2/22/12)
HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban (3/29/12)
HP and the Goblet of Fire (5/13/12)
HP and the Order of the Phoenix (5/29/12)
HP and the Half-Blood Prince (6/22/12)
HP and the Deathly Hallows (9/28/12)

This was one of the easier challenges to complete. I turn to romance novels when I need a break from the heavy. I love predictable romances. My favorites were the 2nd and 3rd books of the Tudor Rose trilogy (The Maiden's Hand and At the Queen's Summons).

At the Queen’s Summons — Susan Wiggs (9/11/12)
Regency Romance (3/23/12)
A Lady Never Tells — Candace Camp (1/23/12)
A Gentleman Always Remembers – Candace Camp (2/7/12)
An Affair Without End – Candace Camp (2/10/11)
Definitely Not Mr. Darcy — Karen Doornebos (4/12/12)
Intentions of the Earl — Rose Gordon (6/29/12)
Twelfth Night (anthology) (7/11/12)
Carole’s Christmas by Anne Glynn (7/11/12)
The Maiden’s Hand by Susan Wiggs (9/8/12)

This was my own challenge. I started reading the Fables series in 2011 and fell completely in love with it. My goal this year was to finish the back catalog. Next year I'm definitely going to finish catching up with the published titles. My favorite was definitely Vol. 14 Wtiches. Amazing read!

Vol. 14 Witches (1/6/12)
Vol. 15 Rose Red (1/10/12)
Vol. 16 Super Group (2/2/12)
JF: Vol. 9 The End (1/6/12)
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love (9/2/12)

Another easy challenge for me. My favorite was The Hunger Games trilogy, but I also really loved Anna Dressed in Blood.

The Hunger Games — Suzanne Collins(1/11/12)
Catching Fire — Suzanne Collins (1/12/12)
Mockingjay — Suzanne Collins (1/13/12)
A Great and Terrible Beauty — Libba Bray (5/15/12)
Rebel Angels — Libba Bray (7/6/12)
The Sweet Far Thing — Libba Bray (7/12/12)
The Golden Compass — Philip Pullman (8/12/12)
The View from Saturday — E.L. Konigsburg (4/20/12)
Anna Dressed in Blood –Kendare Blake (6/5/12)
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher — Bruce Coville (7/7/12)
Ashfall — Mike Mullin (7/30/12)
Ashen Winter — Mike Mullin (8/2/12)

I also do love vampires. This challenge was dominated by my reading of the Vampire Academy series, but it was a good one. For my favorite, it was easily Sunshine by Robin McKinley. That one is going into my reread pile.

American Vampire — Jennifer Armintrout (2/2/12)
The Radleys — Matt Haig (4/27/12)
Sunshine — Robin McKinley (2/17/12)
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter — Seth Grahame-Smith (5/25/12)
Vampire Academy — Richelle Mead (6/11/12)
Frostbite — Richelle Mead (6/22/12)
Shadow Kiss — Richelle Mead (6/27/12)
Blood Promise — Richelle Mead (7/14/12)
Spirit Bound — Richelle Mead (7/15/12)
Last Sacrifice — Richelle Mead (7/19/12)

With J's influence, I really got into some comics this year. While I stay away from the big Marvel vs. DC debate, I found some great titles out there. My favorite was the first five volumes of The Sandman series. I will be finishing that series next year with my Neil Gaiman RC.

Hatter M Vol. 1 (1/15/12)
Hatter M Vol. 2 (1/17/12
Hatter M Vol. 3 (1/18/12)
The Boys: The Big Ride (1/8/12)
The Walking Dead Book 4 (4/22/12)
Manga Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1/27/12)
Doctor Who: Through Time and Space (2/22/12)
The Boys Vol. 10: Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker (6/7/12)
Doctor Who: The Forgotten (3/26/12)
Wonderland by Tommy Kovac and Sonny Liew (5/23/12)
Kick-Ass by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. (5/23/12)
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1910 (5/30/12)
The Sandman: Volume 1 Preludes and Nocturnes (6/4/12)
The Sandman: Volume 2 The Doll’s House (6/6/12)
The Boys Vol. 11: Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men (6/12/12)
The Sandman: Volume 3 Dream Country (6/30/12)
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (7/2/12)
The Sandman: Volume 4 Season of Mists (7/2/12)
Persepolis: The Story of a Return (7/4/12)
The Sandman: Volume 5 A Game of You (7/5/12)

Easy peasy. Although next year, I am putting myself on a library ban for at least the first four months (except for my book club selections).

Jack of Fables: The End(1/6/12)
Fables: Witches (1/6/12)
The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan (1/8/12)
The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks by Max Brooks (1/7/12)
Brains: A Zombie Memoir by Robin Becker (1/9/12)
Fables: Rose Red (1/10/12)
Autumn: Purification by David Moody (1/24/12)
Autumn: Disintegration by David Moody (1/27/12)
Undead Much by Stacey Jay (2/29/12)
The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore (2/11/12)
Rise Again by Ben Tripp (3/15/12)
You are So Undead to Me by Stacey Jay (2/27/12)
Manga Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1/27/12)
Fables: Supre Group (2/2/12)
Doctor Who: Through Time and Space (2/22/12)
Macbeth by Shakespeare (2/22/12)
Aftertime by Sophie Littlefield (4/5/12)
Eat, Slay, Love by Jesse Petersen (3/16/12)
Doctor Who: The Forgotten (3/26/12)
Everneath by Brodie Ashton (4/1/12)
Definitely Not Mr. Darcy by Karen Doornebos (4/12/12)
The Walking Dead: Book Four (4/22/12)
Bad Doings and Big Ideas by Bill Willingham (4/23/12)
The Frog Prince by Stephen Mitchell (5/14/12)
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (5/17/12)
Wonderland by Tommy Kovac and Sonny Liew (5/23/12)
Kick-Ass by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. (5/23/12)
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1910 (5/30/12)
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead (6/11/12)
Sirena by Donna Jo Napoli (6/1/12)
Beauty by Robin McKinley (6/5/12)
The Sandman Volume 1 Preludes and Nocturnes (6/4/12)
The Sandman Volume 2 The Doll’s House (6/6/12)
Frostbite by Richelle Mead (6/22/12)
Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead (6/27/12)
The Sandman Volume 3 Dream Country (6/30/12)
The Sandman Volume Season of Mists (7/2/12)

Another fairly easy challenge. Although those Es gave me some difficulty.

T – Rise Again by Ben Tripp (3/15/12)
O – The Boys Vol. 11: Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men (6/12/12)
B – The Zombie Surivival Guide: Recorded Attacks by Max Brooks (1/7/12)
E – Jack of Fables: The End (1/6/12)
F – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1/26/12)
R – HP and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (1/7/12)
A – Autumn: Purification by David Moody (1/24/12)
N – Night of the Necromancer by Kyle West (2/3/12)
C – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (1/11/12)
E – Evermore by Alyson Noel (3/2/12)
S – Harry Potter Film Wizardry by Brian Sibley (1/29/12)
B – The Boys: The Big Ride (1/8/12)
U – Undead Much by Stacey Jay (2/29/12)
F – Doctor Who: The Forgotten (2/26/12)
F – Beastly by Alex Flinn (4/15/12)
E – Eat, Slay, Love by Jesse Petersen (3/16/12)
N – Blue Moon by Alyson Noel (3/4/12)
B – Brains: A Zombie Memoir by Robin Becker (1/9/12)
A – Autumn: Disintegration by David Moody (1/27/12)
R – The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan (1/8/12)
G – The Magicians by Lev Grossman (1/21/12)
E – Everneath by Brodie Ashton (4/1/12)
R – Fables: Rose Red (1/10/12)

Time's Top 100 Novels Reading Challenge

Robert started 101 Books as a way to document his goal of reading Time Magazine's Top 100 Novels (since 1923). I decided this was a worthwhile reading challenge to add to my perpetual challenges. I will be adding this challenge to my Perpetual Reading Challenges page. Out of the 100 novels, I have already read 18. Here's the complete list:

The Adventures of Augie March (1953) by Saul Bellow
All the King’s Men (1946) by Robert Penn Warren
American Pastoral (1997) by Philip Roth
An American Tragedy (1925) by Theodore Dreiser
Animal Farm (1946) by George Orwell
Appointment in Samarra (1934) by John O’Hara
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (1970) by Judy Blume
The Assistant (1957) by Bernard Malamud
At Swim-Two-Birds (1938) Flann O’ Brien
Atonement (2002) by Ian McEwan
Beloved (1987) by Toni Morrison
The Berlin Stories (1946) by Christopher Isherwood
The Big Sleep (1939) by Raymond Chandler
The Blind Assassin (2000) by Margaret Atwood
Blood Meridian (1986) by Cormac McCarthy
Brideshead Revisited (1946) by Evelyn Waugh
The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927) by Thornton Wilder
Call it Sleep (1935) by Henry Roth
Catch 22 (1961) by Joseph Heller
The Catcher in the Rye (1951) by J.D. Salinger
A Clockwork Orange (1963) by Anthony Burgess
The Confessions of Nat Turner (1967) by William Styron
The Corrections (2001) by Jonathan Franzen
The Crying of Lot 49 (1966) by Thomas Pynchon
A Dance to the Music of Time (1951) by Anthony Powell
The Day of the Locust (1939) by Nathanael West
Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927) by Willa Cather
A Death in the Family (1958) by James Agee
The Death of the Heart (1958) by Elizabeth Bowen
Deliverance (1970) by James Dickey
Dog Soldiers (1974) by Robert Stone
Falconer (1977) by John Cheever
The French Lieutenant’s (1969) by John Fowles
The Golden Notebook (1962) by Doris Lessing
Go Tell it on the Mountain (1953) by James Baldwin
Gone With The Wind (1936) by Margaret Mitchell
The Grapes of Wrath (1939) by John Steinbeck
Gravity’s Rainbow (1973) by Thomas Pynchon
The Great Gatsby (1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Handful of Dust (1935) by Evelyn Waugh
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940) by Carson McCullers
The Heart of the Matter (1948) by Graham Greene
Herzog (1964) by Saul Bellow
Housekeeping (1981) by Marilynne Robinson
A House for Mr. Biswas (1962) by V.S. Naipaul
I, Claudius (1934) by Robert Graves
Infinite Jest (1996) by David Foster Wallace
Invisible Man (1952) by Ralph Ellison
Light in August (1932) by William Faulkner
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950) by C.S. Lewis
Lolita (1955) by Vladimir Nabokov
Lord of the Flies (1955) by William Golding
The Lord of the Rings (1954) by J.R.R. Tolkien
Loving (1945) by Henry Green
Lucky Jim (1954) by Kingsley Amis
The Man Who Loved Children (1940) by Christina Stead
Midnight’s Children (1981) by Salman Rushdie
Money (1984) by Martin Amis
The Moviegoer (1964) by Walker Percy
Mrs. Dalloway (1925) by Virginia Woolf
Naked Lunch (1959) by William Burroughs
Native Son (1940) by Richard Wright
Neuromancer (1984) by William Gibson
Never Let Me Go (2005) by Kazuo Ishiguro
1984 (1948) by George Orwell
On the Road (1957) by Jack Kerouac
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1962) by Ken Kesey
The Painted Bird (1965) by Jerzy Kosinski
Pale Fire (1962) by Vladimir Nabokov
A Passage to India (1924) by E.M. Forster
Play It As It Lays (1970) by Joan Didion
Portnoy’s Complaint (1969) by Philip Roth
Possession (1990) by A.S. Byatt
The Power and the Glory (1939) by Graham Greene
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961) by Muriel Spark
Rabbit, Run (1960) by John Updike
Ragtime (1975) E.L. Doctorow
The Recognitions (1955) by William Gaddis
Red Harvest (1929) by Dashiell Hammett
Revolutionary Road (1961) by Richard Yates
The Sheltering Sky (1949) by Paul Bowles
Slaughterhouse Five (1969) by Kurt Vonnegut
Snow Crash (1992) by Neal Stephenson
The Sot-Weed Factor (1960) by John Barth
The Sound and the Fury (1929) by William Faulkner
The Sportswriter (1986) by Richard Ford
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1964) by John Le Carre
The Sun Also Rises (1926) by Ernest Hemingway
Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) by Zora Neale Hurston
Things Fall Apart (1959) by Chinua Achebe
To Kill A Mockingbird (1960) by Harper Lee
To The Lighthouse (1927) by Virginia Woolf
Tropic of Cancer (1934) by Henry Miller
Ubik (1969) by Philip K. Dick
Under the Net (1954) by Iris Murdoch
Under the Volcano (1947) by Malcom Lowry
Watchmen (1986) by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
White Noise (1985) by Don DeLillo
White Teeth (2000) by Zadie Smith
Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) Jean Rhys

YA Across the USA Reading Challenge

I found this wonderful article the other day and thought it would be great to turn this into a reading challenge. So I'm adding it as a perpetual reading challenge. At the beginning of this challenge, I've read five of the books lists, Everneath, Blood and Chocolate, The Wizard of Oz, Ashfall, and Wake. 10% done. Now on to the other 45 books...

Mixing It Up Challenge Check-in #2

Let's take a look at my progress so far...

Classics —
Biography – ~~Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun by Gita May~~ (9/21/12)
Cookery, Food, and Wine –
History — ~~The Lost Millennium by Florin Diacu~~ (9/12/12)
Modern Fiction — ~~Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin~~ (5/22/12)
Graphic Novel and Manga – ~~Bad Doings and Big Ideas by Bill Willingham~~ (4/23/12)
Crime and Mystery — ~~Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie~~ (5/17/12)
Horror — ~~The Long Weekend by Savita Kalhan~~ (3/1/12)
Romance –
Science Fiction and Fantasy — ~~The Magicians by Lev Grossman~~ (1/21/12)
Travel — ~~Paris in Love by Eloisa James~~ (5/16/12)
Poetry –
Journalism and Humor — ~~The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs~~ (2/26/12)
Science and Natural History — ~~The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson~~ (4/18/12)
Children’s and Young Adult — ~~The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan~~ (6/27/12)
Social Sciences and Philosophy — ~~This Book is Overdue by Marilyn Johnson~~ (9/1/12)

Check it out 12 out of 16 done. Very excited by this! On to some questions from Ellie at Musings of a Bookshop Girl:

How are you getting on? Look at me go. I am very happy about my progress so far this year.

Have any of your not-so-familiar genres surprised you? The only genre that I really never read is mystery. I knew that it would be a problem genre, so I picked a classic. Can't go wrong with Agatha Christie...

Have you had any particularly good reads along the way? I loved The Magicians! So amazingly crazy book. I really need to read the sequel now. I also really loved The Ghost Map and The Lost Hero. Very good reads...

And do you reckon you'll hit your target by the end of the year? I am determined to finish this challenge. Only 4 more to go. I can do it, I can do it, I can do it. I have options for Romance and Classics, but need to dig for Poetry and Food.

Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge

The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge

How did I not add this one before now? I loved The Gilmore Girls! Now that I know about it, I am definitely adding this to my perpetual reading challenges.

My Progress: 77/341

(*Bolded* books that I've read.)

THE LIST

1984 by George Orwell
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Archidamian War by Donald Kagan
The Art of Fiction by Henry James
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Babe by Dick King-Smith
Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney
The Bhagava Gita
The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews by Peter Duffy
Bitch in Praise of Difficult Women by Elizabeth Wurtzel
A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays by Mary McCarthy
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Bridgadoon by Alan Jay Lerner
Candide by Voltaire
The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
Carrie by Stephen King
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman
Christine by Stephen King
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse
The Collected Short Stories by Eudora Welty
The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty by Eudora Welty
A Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
Complete Novels by Dawn Powell
The Complete Poems by Anne Sexton
Complete Stories by Dorothy Parker
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Cousin Bette by Honor’e de Balzac
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Cujo by Stephen King
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
David and Lisa by Dr Theodore Issac Rubin M.D
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
Demons by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Deenie by Judy Blume
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band by Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx
The Divine Comedy by Dante
The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
Don Quijote by Cervantes
Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhrv
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales & Poems by Edgar Allan Poe
Eleanor Roosevelt by Blanche Wiesen Cook
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn
Eloise by Kay Thompson
Emily the Strange by Roger Reger
Emma by Jane Austen
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Ethics by Spinoza
Europe through the Back Door, 2003 by Rick Steves
Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
Extravagance by Gary Krist
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore
The Fall of the Athenian Empire by Donald Kagan
Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World by Greg Critser
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
The Fellowship of the Ring: Book 1 of The Lord of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien
Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce
Fletch by Gregory McDonald
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger
Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers
Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut
Gender Trouble by Judith Butler
George W. Bushism: The Slate Book of the Accidental Wit and Wisdom of our 43rd President by Jacob Weisberg
Gidget by Fredrick Kohner
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels
The Godfather: Book 1 by Mario Puzo
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Alvin Granowsky
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford
The Gospel According to Judy Bloom
The Graduate by Charles Webb
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Group by Mary McCarthy
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry
Henry IV, part I by William Shakespeare
Henry IV, part II by William Shakespeare
Henry V by William Shakespeare
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
Holidays on Ice: Stories by David Sedaris
The Holy Barbarians by Lawrence Lipton
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III (Lpr)
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
How the Light Gets in by M. J. Hyland
Howl by Allen Gingsburg
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
The Iliad by Homer
I’m with the Band by Pamela des Barres
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Inferno by Dante
Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
Iron Weed by William J. Kennedy
It Takes a Village by Hillary Clinton
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
The Jumping Frog by Mark Twain
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Just a Couple of Days by Tony Vigorito
The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Lady Chatterleys’ Lover by D. H. Lawrence
The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 by Gore Vidal
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
The Legend of Bagger Vance by Steven Pressfield
Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
The Little Locksmith by Katharine Butler Hathaway
The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Lottery: And Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Love Story by Erich Segal
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
The Manticore by Robertson Davies
Marathon Man by William Goldman
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir
Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman by William Tecumseh Sherman
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
The Meaning of Consuelo by Judith Ortiz Cofer
Mencken’s Chrestomathy by H. R. Mencken
The Merry Wives of Windsro by William Shakespeare
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Miracle Worker by William Gibson
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion by Jim Irvin
Moliere: A Biography by Hobart Chatfield Taylor
A Monetary History of the United States by Milton Friedman
Monsieur Proust by Celeste Albaret
A Month Of Sundays: Searching For The Spirit And My Sister by Julie Mars
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall
My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and It’s Aftermath by Seymour M. Hersh
My Life as Author and Editor by H. R. Mencken
My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru by Tim Guest
Myra Waldo’s Travel and Motoring Guide to Europe, 1978 by Myra Waldo
My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin
Nervous System: Or, Losing My Mind in Literature by Jan Lars Jensen
New Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson
The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Night by Elie Wiesel
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism by William E. Cain, Laurie A. Finke, Barbara E. Johnson, John P. McGowan
Novels 1930-1942: Dance Night/Come Back to Sorrento, Turn, Magic Wheel/Angels on Toast/A Time to be Born by Dawn Powell
Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Old School by Tobias Wolff
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life by Amy Tan
Oracle Night by Paul Auster
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Othello by Shakespeare
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan
Out of Africa by Isac Dineson
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition by Donald Kagan
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Peyton Place by Grace Metalious
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Pigs at the Trough by Arianna Huffington
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain
The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker
The Portable Nietzche by Fredrich Nietzche
The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O’Neill by Ron Suskind
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Property by Valerie Martin
Pushkin: A Biography by T. J. Binyon
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
Quattrocento by James Mckean
A Quiet Storm by Rachel Howzell Hall
Rapunzel by Grimm Brothers
The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Rescuing Patty Hearst: Memories From a Decade Gone Mad by Virginia Holman
The Return of the King: The Lord of the Rings Book 3 by J. R. R. Tolkien
R Is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton
Rita Hayworth by Stephen King
Robert’s Rules of Order by Henry Robert
Roman Holiday by Edith Wharton
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
The Rough Guide to Europe, 2003 Edition
Sacred Time by Ursula Hegi
Sanctuary by William Faulkner
Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford
Say Goodbye to Daisy Miller by Henry James
The Scarecrow of Oz by Frank L. Baum
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette by Judith Thurman
Selected Hotels of Europe
Selected Letters of Dawn Powell: 1913-1965 by Dawn Powell
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Several Biographies of Winston Churchill
Sexus by Henry Miller
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Shane by Jack Shaefer
The Shining by Stephen King
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
S Is for Silence by Sue Grafton
Slaughter-house Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Small Island by Andrea Levy
Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway
Snow White and Rose Red by Grimm Brothers
Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World by Barrington Moore
The Song of Names by Norman Lebrecht
Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos by Julia de Burgos
The Song Reader by Lisa Tucker
Songbook by Nick Hornby
The Sonnets by William Shakespeare
Sonnets from the Portuegese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
A Streetcar Named Desiree by Tennessee Williams
Stuart Little by E. B. White
Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust
Swimming with Giants: My Encounters with Whales, Dolphins and Seals by Anne Collett
Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Term of Endearment by Larry McMurtry
Time and Again by Jack Finney
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Tragedy of Richard III by William Shakespeare
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The Trial by Franz Kafka
The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson
Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Ulysses by James Joyce
The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath 1950-1962 by Sylvia Plath
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Unless by Carol Shields
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
The Vanishing Newspaper by Philip Meyers
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
Velvet Underground’s The Velvet Underground and Nico (Thirty Three and a Third series) by Joe Harvard
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Walt Disney’s Bambi by Felix Salten
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
We Owe You Nothing – Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews edited by Daniel Sinker
What Colour is Your Parachute? 2005 by Richard Nelson Bolles
What Happened to Baby Jane by Henry Farrell
When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

21st Century Literature by Women Reading Challenge

List taken from a Book Riot Article by Cassandra Neace

I am a bit ashamed to say that I've only read three of these books. So, I'm adding this as one of my perpetual reading challenges. The ones I have read are bolded...

3/115

Megan Abbott – The End of Everything (2011)
Diana Abu-Jaber – Crescent (2003)
Diana Abu-Jaber -- Origin (2007)
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Purple Hibiscus (2003)
Chimananda Ngozi Adichie -- Half a Yellow Sun (2006)
Isabel Allende – Portrait in Sepia (2000)
Isabel Allende -- Ines of My Soul (2006)
Julia Alvarez – Before We Were Free (2002)
Julia Alvarez -- Saving the World (2006)
Margaret Atwood – The Blind Assassin (2000)
Margaret Atwood -- Oryx and Crake (2003)
Margaret Atwood -- The Year of the Flood (2009)
Anita Rau Badami – Can You Hear the Nightbird Call? (2006)
Aimee Bender – An Invisible Sign of My Own (2000)
Aimee Bender -- The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (2010)
Jane Borodale – The Book of Fires (2010)
A.S. Byatt – The Children’s Book (2009)
Susanna Clarke – Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (2004)
Edwidge Danticat – The Dew Breaker (2004)
Lauren B. Davis – The Radiant City (2005)
Lauren B. Davis -- Our Daily Bread (2011)
Lydia Davis – The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis (Short Fiction – 2009)
Kiran Desai – The Inheritance of Loss (2006)
Anita Diamant – Good Harbor (2001)
Anita Diamant -- The Last Days of Dogtown (2005)
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni – The Palace of Illusions (2008)
Emma Donoghue – Life Mask (2004)
Emma Donoghue -- Room (2010)
Jennifer Egan – A Visit from the Goon Squad (2012)
Louise Erdrich – The Plague of Doves (2008)
Lyndsay Faye – The Gods of Gotham (2012)
Gillian Flynn – Gone Girl (2012)
Kay Gibbons – The Life All Around Me (2005)
Xiaolu Guo – Village of Stone (2003)
Xiaolu Guo -- A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary For Lovers (2007)
Lauren Groff – The Monsters of Templeton (2008)
Lauren Groff -- Arcadia (2012)
Carol Guess – Gaslight (2001)
Jennifer Haigh – Mrs. Kimble (2003)
Jennifer Haigh -- Baker Towers (2005)
Jennifer Haigh -- Faith (2011)
Melinda Haynes – Willem’s Field (2004)
Alice Hoffman – The Dovekeepers (2011)
Helen Humphreys – Wild Dogs (2004)
Siri Hustvedt – The Summer Without Men (2011)
Joshilyn Jackson – Between, Georgia (2007)
Joshilyn Jackson -- A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty (2012)
Sue Monk Kidd – The Secret Life of Bees (2003)
Sue Monk Kidd -- The Mermaid Chair (2005)
Haven Kimmel – The Solace of Leaving Early (2002)
Barbara Kingsolver – Prodigal Summer (2000)
Barbara Kingsolver -- The Lacuna (2009)
Elizabeth Kostova – The Historian (2005)
Nicole Krauss – The History of Love (2005)
Nicole Krauss -- Great House (2010)
Aryn Kyle – The God of Animals (2007)
Jhumpa Lahiri – The Namesake (2003)
Jhumpa Lahiri -- Unaccustomed Earth (Short Fiction – 2008)
Ursula K. Leguin – Lavinia (2008)
Anne-Marie MacDonald – The Way the Crow Flies (2003)
Claire Messud – The Emperor’s Children (2006)
Lydia Millet – My Happy Life (2002)
Lydia Millet -- Oh Pure and Radiant Heart (2005)
Lorrie Moore – A Gate at the Stairs (2009)
Laura Moriarty – The Chaperone (2012)
Toni Morrison – Love (2003)
Toni Morrison -- A Mercy (2008)
Toni Morrison -- Home (2012)
Kate Morton – The House of Riverton (2006)
Alice Munro – Runaway (2004)
Alice Munro -- The View from Castle Rock (Short Fiction – 2006)
Eileen Myles – Inferno: A Poet’s Novel (2010)
Sena Jeter Naslund – Four Spirits (2004)
Audrey Niffenegger – The Time Traveler’s Wife (2003)
Audrey Niffenegger -- Her Fearful Symmetry (2009)
Joyce Carol Oates – I’ll Take You There (2002)
Joyce Carol Oates -- The Falls (2004)
Joyce Carol Oates -- A Fair Maiden (2010)
Heather O’Neill – Lullabies for Little Criminals (2006)
Julie Otsuka – When The Emperor was Divine (2002),
Julie Otsuka -- The Buddha in the Attic (2011)
Helen Oyeyemi – The Icarus Girl (2005)
Helen Oyeyemi -- Mr. Fox (2011)
Ann Pancake – Strange As This Weather Has Been (2007)
Ann Patchett – Bel Canto (2001)
Ann Patchett -- State of Wonder (2011)
Marge Piercy – Colours Passing Through Us (Poetry – 2003)
Francine Prose – Blue Angel (2000)
Nina Revoyr – Wingshooters (2011)
Marilynne Robinson – Gilead (2004)
Marilynne Robinson -- Home (2008)
Mary Doria Russell – A Thread of Grace (2005)
Mary Doria Russell -- Dreamers of the Day (2008)
Diane Setterfield – The Thirteenth Tale (2006)
Elissa Schappell – Blueprints for Building Better Girls (Short Fiction – 2011)
Sarah Schulman – The Child (2007)
Sarah Schulman -- The Mere Future (2009)
Mary Ann Shaffer – The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2008)
Lionel Shriver – We Need to Talk About Kevin (2003)
Marisa Silver – The God of War (2008)
Jane Smiley – Private Life (2010)
Ali Smith - Hotel World (2001)
Ali Smith -- The Accidental (2005)
Ali Smith -- There But For The (2011)
Zadie Smith – White Teeth (2000)
Zadie Smith -- On Beauty (2005)
Zadie Smith -- NW (2012)
Kathryn Stockett – The Help (2006)
Elizabeth Strout – Olive Kitteridge (2008)
Donna Tartt – The Little Friend (2002)
Jannette Walls – The Glass Castle (Non-Fiction 2005)
Karen Thompson Walker – The Age of Miracles (2012)
Sarah Waters – Fingersmith (2002)
Kathleen Winter – Annabel (2010)
Alissa York – Effigy (2007)

2012 Reading Challenges Update #3

I thought it would be a good idea to do a periodic checkup on my reading challenges. A way of reminding myself of my successes and failures. So here goes... Total Challenges: 8/27 29.6%

Total Spots: 470/742 63.3%

Individual Challenge Progress:

Goodreads 135/175 77.1%
Fall into Reading 1/50 2%
Semi-Charmed Summer 9/14 60% -- Failed**
Zombies 17/24 69%
Young Adult 12/12 100%*
Fantasy 8/10 80%
Vampires 10/10 100%*
Romance 10/10 100%*
Telling Tales (fairy tales) 5/10 50%**
Historical Fiction 4/10 40%**
Graphic Novels 20/20 100%*
Shakespeare 8/12 66.7%
SciFi 2/5 40%**
Outlander series 0/5 0%**
Mixing It Up 12/16 75%
Back to the Classics 5/9 55.6%
Harry Potter series 7/7 100%
Fables 5/5 100%
Read Your Name 23/23 100%
A to Z 23/26 88.5%
What's in a Name? 5 4/6 66.7%
Library 37/37 100%
Mount TBR 59/150 39.3%**
Dewey Decimal System 16/38 42.1%
Book2Movie 17/20 85%
MyYears 20/30 66.7%
Color Coded 1/9 11.1%**

*Successes: I've knocked off some more challenges. Yipee!!! Plus a few others are very very close to being completed. In fact, I plan on completing the zombie challenge during October's FrightFall Readathon (and possibly Dewey 24 Hour Readathon). I've also got an end of year plan to complete most of the challenges. I don't think I'll get them all, but I want at least a 75% on total challenges.

**Failures (Needs Improvement): Scifi, Telling Tales (fairy tales), historical fiction, and Outlander. For whatever reason, these just fell by the wayside. I want to focus on these, but fear that at least two won't be completed (definitely Outlander, maybe telling tales). I know the color coded challenge will not be finished and my Mount TBR challenge will not reach 150 by year's end (that would be almost 100 more books in three months. Even I'm not that voracious of a reader).

Fall Into Reading Challenge 2012

Very excited to add this challenge to my year end push. I have over 50 books to read to complete all the challenges I signed up for. I know all those won't happen, so I'm setting a goal of 50 books total. Here's the breakdown:

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

2, 3, 4. The First Days, Fighting to Survive, and Siege by Rhiannon Frater

5, 6, 7. Feed, Deadline, and Blackout by Mira Grant

8. Sadie Walker is Stranded by Madeleine Roux

9, 10. Girl from Junchow and The Jewel of St. Petersburg by Kate Furnivall

11. The Magician King by Lev Grossman

12. The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

13. Flower Fables by Louisa May Alcott

14. Mythology by Edith Hamilton

15. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

16. The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees

17. The Firemaster's Mistress by Christie Dickason

18. A Foreign Affair by Caro Peacock

19. Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

20, 21, 22, 23. As You Like It, Cymbeline, Othello, and Pericles by Shakespeare

24. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep? by Philip K. Dick

25. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

26. Persuasion by Jane Austen

27. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

28. Living History by Hilary Rodham Clinton

29. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

30. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

31. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

32. P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern

33. Arthurian Romances by Chretien de Troyes

34-50. TBD

From Callapidder Days:

Here’s a brief recap of how to be a part of Fall Into Reading 2012:

Make a list of books you want to read (or finish reading) this fall. Your list can be as long or as short as you’d like.

Write a blog post containing your list and submit it to this post using the Mr. Linky.

Get reading! The challenge goes from September 22nd through December 21st.

Check out other participants’ lists and add to your own to-read-someday pile, if you wish!

Write a post about your challenge experience in December, telling us all about whether you reached your goals and how Fall Into Reading went for you. But remember: this is a low-pressure challenge that should be fun.

Mount TBR Challenge Checkpoint

We're nearing the end of the year... time to check up on my progress. I am afraid that it's not that good. I let myself get side tracked with library books during the first half of the year. I am committing myself to doing better next year. I really want to cut down on the boxes of unread books stacked in the closet.

1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain (# of books read). If you're really ambitious, you can do some intricate math and figure out how the number of books you've read correlates to actual miles up Pike's Peak, Mt. Ararat, etc. And feel free to tell us about any particularly exciting adventures you've had along the way.

I'm only 59 miles out of 150.... That's 39.3%. I am so ashamed of myself. I have boxes upon boxes of books in the closet and I've only read 59 of those this year. And to make it even sadder, I've read 132 total books this year.

Austen in August Reading Challenge

Sign up over at Roof Beam Reader.

Welcome to the sign-up post for AUSTEN IN AUGUST, a reading event taking place next month! This event was inspired by a Twitter conversation that took place with @alliedanielson and @JillIsReading. I am especially excited about it, I think, because I own almost all of Jane Austen’s books, but I have only ever read two of them (Northanger Abbey and Pride and Prejudice). Also, considering that I will be finishing up with Allie’s Victorian Celebration at the end of July, it is fitting and appropriate to move on to the most famous of all pre-Victorians, Jane Austen!
So, for this event, the goal is to read as many of Jane Austen’s novels as you want/are able, during the month of August. Biographies and re-reads also count. I will post throughout the month (planning for Tuesdays and Fridays) on different subjects, as well as with my own reviews of the Austen books I finish. I will be offering giveaways and I am hoping that some participants will also be interested in writing guest posts or hosting giveaways of their own, to make this more interactive.
If you are going to participate, you can read any of Jane Austen’s novels, a biography about her, or any contemporary re-imaginings (such as Austenland or The Jane Austen Book Club, for example). All posts will help you qualify for prizes, which I’ll explain in a later post!

I plan on reading at least two Austen novels (probably Northanger Abbey and Persuasion) and a couple Austen-esque novels (possibly Midnight in Austenland). Plus I will be rewatching a few of the mini series/movies.

Mount TBR Mid Year Checkpoint

I haven't done one of these yet because frankly I'm scared to. I've been reading a ton this year, but a whole chunk has been library books. Oh well. Here we go.

My goal was Mt. Everest 100+ books.

Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain (# of books read). If you're really ambitious, you can do some intricate math and figure out how the number of books you've read correlates to actual miles up Pike's Peak, Mt. Ararat, etc.

And I have only read 40 books so far that counted. Boo! That's only 40% of the way there. I am really not doing very good. I somehow have to read 60+ books by the end of the year. I can probably do it, but I really need to avoid the library...

2012 Reading Challenges Update #2 -- Mid-Year Point

I thought it would be a good idea to do a periodic checkup on my reading challenges. A way of reminding myself of my successes and failures. So here goes...

Total Challenges: 1/25 4%

Total Spots: 325/696 46.7%

Individual Challenge Progress:

Goodreads 88/175 50%
Semi-Charmed Summer 7/14 50%
Zombies 14/24 58.3%
Young Adult 6/12 50%
Fantasy 6/10 60%
Vampires 5/10 50%
Romance 5/10 50%
Telling Tales (fairy tales) 4/10 40%
Historical Fiction 4/10 40%
Graphic Novels 14/20 70%
Shakespeare 3/12 25% **
SciFi 2/5 40%
Outlander series 0/5 0% **
Mixing It Up 8/16 50%
Back to the Classics 2/9 22%
Harry Potter series 5/7 71.4% *
Fables 4/5 80% **
Read Your Name 23/23 100% *
A to Z 20/26 76.9% *
What's in a Name? 5 3/6 50%
Library 33/37 88.2%
Mount TBR 38/150 25.3%
Dewey Decimal System 7/41 17.1%
Book2Movie 8/20 40%
MyYears 15/30 50%
Color Coded 1/9 11.1%**

*Successes: I finished the Read Your Name Challenge using all 23 letters of my full name. One done... many to go. I'm almost done with the Harry Potter, Fables, and A to Z Challenges.

**Failures (Needs Improvement): I really need to get moving on a couple of the challenges (Shakespeare and Outlander). I had also hoped to finish the Fables Challenges by now, but it got shoved on the back burner. Definitely by September...

I'm pretty happy with a total spot percentage of 46.7%. Close to halfway done...

Semi-Charmed Summer 2012 Challenge

Semi-Charmed Summer 2012 Book Challenge hosted at Semi-Charmed Kind of Life

Rules:

The challenge will run from May 1, 2012, to September 1, 2012. No books that are started before May 1 or finished after September 1 will count.

No re-reads! I want you to experience new books with this challenge.

Each book must be at least 200 pages long, unless otherwise noted.

A book can only be used for one category. If you want to switch the category later, that's fine, just be sure to account for that in your point total.

Each category may only be completed once, so the highest possible total is 200 points.

The first three people who finish the challenge will win a featured/guest post on my blog. If less than three people finish, the participants with the three highest scores will "win." Good luck!

The Challenge:

5 points: Read a book chosen for the 2012 World Book Night. 10: Read a book you were supposed to read in school, but either bailed on or Cliff-Noted. 10: Read a memoir or narrative nonfiction book. (Examples: Friday Night Lights, When the Game Stands Tall, The Devil in the White City, etc.) 15: Read a book in one day. (Must be at least 150 pages long.) 15: Read a book that you've always wanted to read but haven't gotten around to yet. 20: Read a pair of books that have antonyms in the titles. (For example: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Boy in the Suitcase, or The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Heart of Darkness, etc..) 20: Read a book that is set in a place you've never been but want to visit. 25: Find a book written the year you were born that was later made into a movie. Read the book and watch the movie; compare. Or find a movie released the year you were born that was based on a book. Do the same thing. 25: Go into a bookstore or library. Pick any bookshelf. Read the third book from the left on the fourth shelf from the top. (If it's not at least 200 pages, pick the next book to the right.) 25: Read a book about which you’ve heard bad things. 30: Read a trilogy. Total page count for all three books together must be at least 500 pages. (Remember, you can’t have read any of the books before!

Super excited about this challenge. It just sounds like so much fun! I am currently formulating my TBR list... more soon.