2016 Reading Challenges

Here are details of all the reading challenges I'm taking part in this year.

Goodreads 
Goodreads is the only way I keep track of my reading and my TBR piles and I've been getting better each year at how many books I can read. In 2015 I managed to read just over 150 so I've set it to 125 and see how we go.

A to Z 
I'm sort of unofficially doing this challenge. I was told about it by friend and colleague Alyce and it sounds like fun, a bit different. I believe it's hosted by a reading group on Goodreads and there are a few ways you can do it, for example by title or author or series; I'm doing it by title and have already got a few lined up. 

Classics 
Sophie has convinced me to give this one a try and after my degree, I've been meaning to read all those books I should have already read. Hosted by Stacey at The Pretty Books, you can sign up here. On my list so far is: Pride and Prejudice, The Hobbit, Tell-Tale Heart, Alice In Wonderland, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and Northanger Abbey.

British Books
This year it is hosted by Kirsty over at The Overflowing Library, sign up here. I usually read quite a few UKYA books, it's a genre I enjoy anyway, so this way I can properly keep track.

I've also been challenged by my fiance to read his all time favourite book: White Wolf by David Gemmell, along with (hopefully/maybe) The Lord of the Rings.

Bout of Books 13: sign up and goals

"The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 11th and runs through Sunday, May 17th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 13 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog."

Yes, it's that time again! Starting Monday, I want to read at least three books, which are books 2 to 4 (Legacy, Fracture and Resistance) of the Night School series by CJ Daugherty. Depending on how my reading goes over the weekend, I will also be reading/finishing Finding Cherokee Brown by Siobhan Curham. 

A few titles that I could read, if all goes well, include: The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson by Paige Toon, We Are All Made of Molecules by Susan Nielson and Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens. Let me know which ones I should read first, because otherwise I'll just flip a coin. 

There we have it. I also want to comment and tweet more this time around, find some new blogs and new bloggers to cheer on. Let me know if you're taking part and what you're reading! Good luck!

Bout of Books 11: sign up and goals

"The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 11 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team"

Yes it's that time again! I've been reading quite slowly recently (toothache apparently gives me headaches) and I have a couple of books that I need to get to asap (library books mostly) and a readathon is the perfect way to get back into the swing of things. 

What I hope to read:
Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E Smith
The Duff by Kody Keplinger
A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger

Now, as of right now, I'm two stories in to Dracula's Guest (of which there are 9) so in theory I shouldn't have much left by Monday. And I have no idea when Isla is going to turn up, so there's that as well. Either way, I'm aiming for 5-6 books over the week, which I think I can manage.

Are you signing up? Any idea what you might read next week? Let me know and we can cheer each other on!

YALC: read-a-thon

Having booked tickets to London Film and Comic Con, to go to the first Young Adult Literature Convention, it took me a couple of days to realise that I haven't read a book by some of the authors I will be seeing. And I just think that's a bit rude. So, naturally, I've decided to raid my library and make amends and read at least one book by the authors I will be seeing on the Saturday (because that's the day I'm going). I'm gonna be honest, I picked Saturday because of Malorie Blackman and Rainbow Rowell, but I am going to miss meeting Tanya Byrne and Sarra Manning on the Sunday - I'm sorry, I couldn't afford a hotel!

Here is the list of authors appearing on the Saturday and my reading status:
Amy McCulloch
Andrew Lane 
Andy Robb - read Geekhood
Byrony Pearce - read Weight of Souls
Catherine Johnson
Charlie Higson - read Young James Bond
CJ Skuse - read Dead Romantic and Rockoholic
Darren Shan - read A Living Nightmare (Cirque du Freak 1)
Derek Landy
Emma Viecelli
Frances Hardinge
Holly Bourne - read Soulmates
James Smyth
Jonathan Stroud 
Kim Curran
Lucy Saxon 
Malorie Blackman - read Hacker
Marcus Sedgewick
Natasha Ngan 
Patrick Ness 
Rainbow Rowell - read Attachments, Eleanor and Park, Fangirl
Sarah Crossan - read Breathe and Resist
Sarah McIntyre
Steve Cole
Tim O'Rourke
Will Hill

Wow, that wasn't as many I thought! A few I've heard of but haven't read because it's not my genre or target audience but I will try them. And honestly, some I haven't heard of at all, which makes me feel bad.  

Fast forward a few weeks and Carly, Michelle and Jess have announced they are hosting a YALC read-a-thon at the end of June. Er, yes please! So bring on my goals:
 
I'm going to buy Pretty Bad Things by CJ Skuse; borrow the following from the library: Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman, Geekhood 2 by Andy Robb, The Oathbreaker's Shadow by Amy McCulloch, The Screaming Staircase by Jonathon Stroud. I also have Take Back the Skies by Lucy Saxon, courtesy of Netgalley. Making that a total so far of 6. Not sure if that's over ambitious but even if I over-run, I will read all these damn books!

Just need to figure out where I'm going to get a copy of The Elites by Natasha Ngan, and which Patrick Ness/Marcus Sedgewick book to read. Any suggestions?

Lucky 14 Reading Challenge: sign up

Books to Share is hosting this fantastic challenge that I just had to sign up for! Check out all the details here. Basically you have to read a book for each of the challenges, which are listed below, along with my chosen book.

1. Visit The Country: Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys - New Orleans in the 50's, still counts right?

2. Cover Lust: Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan - I won a US hardback copy, ooh months ago and it sounds so good!

3. Blame it on Bloggers: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare - definitely Sophie's fault!

4. Bargain All The Way: Beautiful Chaos by Gary Russell - a Doctor Who novel, re-published to celebrate the 50th anniversary. 

5. (Not So) Fresh From the Oven: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater 

6. First Letter’s Rule: Anomaly by Krista McGee 

7. Once Upon a Time: Dracula and Other Horror Stories by Bram Stoker - yeah, that's definitely older than me!

8. Chunky Brick: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl - 562 pages, eep!

9.  Favourite Author: Paper Towns by John Green - one of the only books of his I haven't read and I've had on my shelf for months

10. It’s Been There Forever: Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly - bought for my dissertation but never used

11. Movies vs Books: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - technically a re-read but it was years ago 

12. Freebies Time: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time by Mark Haddon - Christmas present from The Boyfriend

13. Not My Cup of Tea: Heat Wave by Richard Castle - a crime novel, based on my favourite TV series Castle

14: Walking Down the Memory Lane: The Mediator series by Meg Cabot - my favourite books by her and the series that got me into fantasy genre.

Ebook Reading Challenge

I've found another reading challenge! This one is an ebook challenge, to read as many ebook as you can this year. As I'm beginning my love affair with my kindle, I thought this would be perfect! Check out the guidelines below:

Challenge Guidelines:

1. This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2013 – Dec 31, 2013.
2. Anyone can join, you don’t need to be a blogger. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to sign-up in the comments. You can post reviews to any book site (i.e. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Goodreads, etc).
3. Any genre or length of book counts, as long as it is in ebook format.
4. You can plan your books in advance or as you read them.
5. When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the E-Book Reading Challenge.
6. You can move up levels, but no moving down.
7. Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2013, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.

Levels:

1. Floppy disk – 5 ebooks
2. CD – 10 ebooks
3. DVD – 25 ebooks
4. Memory stick – 50 ebooks
5. Hard drive – 75 ebooks
6. Server – 100 ebooks
7. Human brain – 150 ebooks

I think I'm going to attempt the CD level, but I'm feeling confident that I could move up to DVD level with 25 books. You can still sign up here. 

2013: Reading Challenges and Resolutions

It's 2013! Happy New Year everyone! 

This year I'm broadening my horizons and will be attempting Faye from A Daydreamer's Thoughts reading challenge, at the cautious level with 12 different genres:

1. Contemporary - The Fault in our Stars by John Green. Also got Adorkable by Sarra Manning and Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green
2. Historical - Dance the Moon Down by R.L.Bartram. Also got Code Name Variety by Elizabeth Wein
3. Paranormal - Velveteen by Daniel Marks
4. Urban fantasy - Two Weeks Notice by Rachel Caine. Also got the Demon Trappers series
5. Fantasy - Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas
6. Romance - Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone
7. Women’s Fiction - The Making of Us by Lisa Jewell
8. Dystopian - All these things I've done byGabrielle Zevin
9. Fairy Tales - Grimm Fairy Tales
10. Steampunk - Lady of Devices by Shelley Adine 
11. Science fiction - Eve and Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate 
12. Cultural classic - Beloved by Toni Morrison. 
13. Horror - American Psycho (for uni, if I can sum up the courage) or Slide 

First up is Beloved, as I'm studying that in a few weeks, and Two Weeks Notice.

I'm also doing the Goodreads challenge again, I read 65 in 2012 - this year I'm going to aim for 70, mostly as I don't know what I'm going to be doing after May when I hand in my dissertation! Scary thought.

As for resolutions, I don't always make them. This year, there are a few things I want to achieve:

1. Work hard at university - I'm a lazy person but I really want a first on my dissertation and to graduate with pride. 
2. Find a job - after I graduate this summer, I will be thrown into the real world with minimal experience, and I'm not above begging for advice or help!
3. Worry less. Work for what I want but don't worry about the unforeseeable future when I can't do anything about it.
4. Enjoy myself. It's my last few months of university, I don't want to waste them. 
5. Smile more and frown less. I'm too young for lines on my forehead!
6. Appreciate the little things. Whether it be an afternoon uninterrupted by computers with my boyfriend or shopping with my mum. 

2013 Genre Variety Reading Challenge

Faye, of A Daydreamer's Thoughts, has created her own reading challenge for next year, which I am going to attempt! My first proper reading challenge, I'm really excited I've already planned what I'm going to read!

So the information, courtesy of Faye:
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

I was going to be really boring and just start at careful level, but even though I might one or two books short, I'm going to try cautious. Let's see how that works out! And of course, I'll still be at university so depending on whether I can sum up the courage to read American Psycho, I may read more! You can sign up here!

1. Contemporary 
2. Historical 
3. Paranormal
4. Urban fantasy 
5. Fantasy 
6. Romance 
7. Women’s Fiction
8. Dystopian
9. Fairy Tales 
10. Steampunk

I'm going to post updates separately and periodically starting in the new year. Wish me luck!