Tag: reading challenges

2017 Reading Challenge Sign Up Time!

Posted on by Dana

I love reading challenges. After not having the best reading year this year, I’m hoping that I can jump start things with a few challenges that looked interesting to me. Here are some of the reading challenges I’m trying in 2017.

Wild Goose Chase Reading Challenge 2017The Wild Goose Chase Reading Challenge 2017 is “designed to be fun, frivolous and filled with feathers.” In other words, it challenges participants to pick a range of books from an eclectic list of seven categories: 1) a book with a word or phrase relating to wildness in the title, 2) a book with a species of bird (or the word “bird”) in the title, 3) a book with an exotic or far-flung location in the title, 4) a book with an object you might hunt for in the title, 5) a book with a synonym for chase in the title, 6) a book with a means of transport in the title, and 7) a book with an object you might take on a search or hunt in the title. It looks like fun to me. I’m not sure right now which books I might select, but I like the idea of going on a “wild goose chase” to find fun titles that fit the criteria.

European Reading Challenge 2017I love to read books set in Europe, but if I’m honest with myself, I have to admit most are set in the UK with a sprinkling in France. Perhaps the European Reading Challenge 2017 will help me try some different settings. The idea is to read books set in one of “50 sovereign states that fall (at least partially) within the geographic territory of the continent of Europe and/or enjoy membership in international European organizations such as the Council of Europe.” I am going to go for the FIVE STAR (DELUXE ENTOURAGE) level and “read at least five books by different European authors or books set in different European countries.”

If some of my other favorite challenges run again next year, I’ll do them as well. I always love doing the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge and the Reading England Challenge. The R. I. P. Challenge is my absolute favorite, but it’s not usually announced until August. I’ll keep my eyes open for other interesting challenges as well.

I have two other challenge-related goals for 2017:

  1. Link up my reviews on challenge sites and participate more. I usually do the reading, but I forget to follow up with linkups, and I almost never read others’ reviews. I’d like to try being more involved with the challenges next year.
  2. Read books set in Asia and Africa. I want to broaden my book settings a bit, and I admit these two continents are the ones I have visited most rarely in my reading (and if I am fair, South America, too, but I’d really like to make this more doable by focusing on two continents). I already have a list and some ideas. I don’t want to make it an official challenge—more of a personal one.

Once the year ends, I will change my Reading Challenges page to reflect 2017 challenges.

If you know of any good challenges that might interest us readers, clue us in the comments.

Related posts:

Review: The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South, John T. Edge
R. I. P. Challenge XII
Review: We Were Eight Years in Power, Ta-Nehisi Coates

Sunday Post #45: Rainy Day Reading

Posted on by Dana

Sunday Post

I ask you: is there anything better than sitting inside on a rainy day, listening to the rain fall as you read and sip a hot beverage of your choice? Especially if it also happens to be fall, and even better, October? I live in New England, and our falls are just perfect. My favorite season.

I haven’t written a Sunday Post in a really long time. I’m making good progress with the R. I. P. Challenge. I read the second two Miss Peregrine books, Hollow City and Library of Souls. I have two other contenders currently on the nightstand: The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte and The House Between Tides by Sarah Maine. Progress on my other challenges is mixed.

nanowrimo_2016_webbadge_participantI don’t know that I’ll be able to do 50,000 words this November, but I’ve signed up again for NaNoWriMo. I have an idea that I’m very excited about, but it will involve some research, and I don’t have a ton of time to do it. Still, I do have some, and if I can prioritize some things a bit this month, perhaps I can be ready to go on November 1. I’m returning to my favorite: historical fiction. At any rate, I have a Scrivener file ready to rock and roll with some notes and preliminary sketches. I am thinking about whether or not to get involved with some local events. My experience with writing groups has been decidedly negative up until this point. Not in terms of discouraging feedback or anything, but more in terms of finding a group who takes writing seriously and isn’t, you know, weird.

It’s a nice long weekend. I have Monday off. We are still talking about what we might want to do since it’s rare these days that my husband, my kids, and me all have the same day off. If it’s raining still, I’m not sure we’ll go out, but I was hoping we could go into Boston and look around, but if we’re going to do that, we need to make some plans.

Well, I’m going to curl up with the coffee and book again. I have some reading to do. Enjoy what’s left of your weekend!

The Sunday Salon

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I Suck!

2015: Reading Year in Review

Posted on by Dana
New Year Magic
New Year Magic, Zlatko Vickovic

On the last day of the year, I always like to reflect on my reading year. This year, Goodreads has created a really handy infographic with some interesting statistics from the reading year. I wish they allowed for downloading and embedding. I was fascinated to learn that I had read 20,722 pages this year. That particular statistic is not one I’d ever thought about before. I read 62 books, which is more than I’ve ever read in a single year before. That works out to an average book length of 332 pages. It’s also an average of almost 57 pages each day. I suppose Goodreads calculates the number of pages in each book I marked “read” to determine the total for the year, but I should mention that some of the books are audio books. Still, those should count as pages read, I suppose, because it works out to be the same thing. Sometimes when you are listening, it’s not so obvious how long books are. I mean, yes, it took me forever to listen to The Fiery Cross, but I didn’t realize it was over 1,400 pages long. No wonder! It took me so long to finish listening to that book that I have been somewhat reluctant to commit to the next book in the series! The Fiery Cross book is over 55 hours long to listen to, but the next one is 57 hours long!

Some reading statistics:

  • Total books: 62
  • Total fiction books: 44
  • Total nonfiction books: 10
  • Total drama books: 4
  • Total poetry books: 4
  • Total audio books: 16
  • Total re-reads: 15
  • Graphic novels/memoirs: 5

My favorite books of the year broken down into some random categories (re-reads not considered—I already knew I loved them or I wouldn’t have read them again):

Children’s

 

Reviews:

Young Adult (YA)

   

Reviews:

Adult Fiction

         

Nonfiction

   

Reviews:

Audio Books (re-reads considered if I have never listened to them before)

 

Reviews:

My least favorite reads of the year:

I know it’s bad form to lump a couple of classics in with that group, but aside from a few nuggets of wisdom, I didn’t enjoy reading either Candide or Walden. I usually like Neil Gaiman quite a lot, but Trigger Warning didn’t do it for me. I should mention that I didn’t rate any of the books I finished this year less than three stars, which for me means it was okay—not bad, just okay. I am no longer patient with books that I don’t like. I am much more likely to stop reading books that are sitting on two stars at about 50 pages in. My point is even my least favorite reads of the year weren’t bad.

Reading Challenges

2015 Reading Challenge

2015 Reading Challenge
Dana has
completed her goal of reading 52 books in 2015!
hide

I was able to meet the challenge of reading a book a week for the first time ever this year. I’m really excited about that because it’s been an unreachable goal of mine for some time. In fact, as you can see, I surpassed this goal by reading 62 books! Last year, I read about half that number.

I completed the R. I. P. Challenge by reading four R. I. P. books from September 1 to October 31. The books I counted toward this challenge included:

I completed the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge by reading 20 books from January 1 to December 31. I determined a book was historical fiction if it was set in a time that was reasonably outside the time in which it was written, either partially or totally. Thus, books like Song of Solomon and Revolution count because a substantial portion of both books is set in a time before the book was written. The books I counted toward this challenge included:

I did not complete the Reading England Challenge, having read 10 out of 12 books from January 1 to December 31. The books I counted toward this challenge included:

I did not complete the Literary Movement Reading Challenge, having read 5 out of 12 books from January 1 to December 31. The books I counted toward this challenge included:

Medieval—The Lais of Marie de France
Renaissance—As You Like It, William Shakespeare
Enlightenment—Candide, Voltaire
Romanticism—The Annotated Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
Transcendentalism—Walden, Henry David Thoreau

I stalled out after Walden took me too long to finish, and I couldn’t keep up after that.

I completed the Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge, having read 62 books from January 1 to December 31, thus outdoing my previous number of books read in a year.

I did not complete the Back to the Classics Reading Challenge, having read 7 out of 9 books from January 1 to December 31. The books I counted toward this challenge included:

In the coming year, I plan to have a Reading Challenges page so I can more easily keep track of what I’ve read. This post was very hard to write because I had to look all of this up. 😥

Finally, here is my map for the Where Are You Reading Challenge:

I wouldn’t have guessed this from the first six months, which was slow-going until I stopped worrying about a couple of challenges, but 2015 turned out to be my best reading year yet. I read some truly great books and returned to some favorites, too.

Related posts:

A Room with a View, E. M. Forster
Review: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis, narrated by Michael York
Thursday Next: First Among Sequels

2016 Reading Challenges

Posted on by Dana

I love to do reading challenges! I will probably sign up for a few more if I find some that interest me.

This year, I want to try to focus on addressing the long list of books I have wanted to read for a while and books I already have on my shelves (I’m sure that will make my husband happy). To that end, I’m going to do the 2016 Mount TBR Challenge and the Shelf Love Challenge 2016.

I like to give myself some wiggle room, and it’s hard for me to commit when I’m not sure what awesome books I might come across that are either not already on my TBR list or shelves, so I’m going with 12 books, Pike’s Peak level, for the Mount TBR Challenge and 11-20 books (“pat your shelves on the back”) for the Shelf Love Challenge.

I live in New England and love to read books set in my adopted home, so I was excited to find the Reading New England 2016 Challenge. I think I’ll try for the Six-State Challenge of 6+ books set in New England, at least one for each state.

Finally, I’m also signing up again for the Reading England Challenge, though I’m pulling back a notch from this year because I think I should branch out and try to read books set in other places. I read a lot of books set in England. I think I’ll commit to Level 2, 4-6 counties.

Stay tuned. Are you participating in any fun and interesting challenges? Please share!

Update 1/1/16

2016 HF Reading Challenge Button 2I am pleased to find that Passages to the Past is running the Historical Fiction Challenge again this year. I love this challenge. Historical fiction is my favorite genre. I am signing up for the Medieval Level of 15 books. I was able to achieve Medieval Level in 2015, but I didn’t quite make Ancient History Level at 25 books. If it looks like I might be able to do that after all, I may change my goal, but for right now, I wanted to make sure my goal was reachable.

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Review: The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova
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2015 Reading Challenges

Posted on by Dana

One of the reasons I keep signing up for reading challenges, even though my completion rate the last few years has not been stellar, is that challenges make me think about reading books I might otherwise not read, and they help me classify my reading. You might be wondering why reading needs to be classified. Well, perhaps it doesn’t, but I like to do it for some reason. It’s like tagging on Goodreads or Shelfari. It gives me something to hang the book onto, and for some reason I like it.

Each year, I think this year is going to be my year. In truth, I do need to make more time for reading, and around December, when I start reflecting on my reading year, I think also about what I want to read the next year. The older I get, the less patience I have for books that don’t grab me, and I haven’t had a really excellent reading year for quite a long time. Sometimes, reading challenges help me focus and select books. I don’t always select books I wind up enjoying, but when I’m on a good book streak, there’s nothing like it.

I am signing up for the following reading challenges in the hopes that they’ll contribute to a great reading year in 2015.

Reading Challenge 2015The Reading England Challenge looks like a great deal of fun. Typically, English and/or British reading challenges have a broader focus on the country as a whole (or even the entire UK). This challenge shakes things up a bit by asking readers to “travel England by reading, and read at least one book per however many counties of England you decide to read.” I already keep track of the settings for each book I read, and this seems like an interesting way to explore the country a little more purposefully and thoughtfully. I’d love to try to do 12+ counties, and in the spirit of going big or going home, I’m going to shoot for that level. I already read so many books set in England—the challenge here will be to try to select books from a variety of places in England.

literary-movement-reading-challenge-buttonThe Literary Movement Reading Challenge speaks to my English teacher side. I don’t always stretch myself to read outside of favorite genres and literary movements, and this challenge could be just the thing to encourage me to try some books I’ve been meaning to read. Weirdly, I am excited about the constraints in this challenge, and I’m looking forward to selecting potential books.

OY2015_bannerThis year, I expect I will probably meet my goal of reading 30 books. Even in my best year, I didn’t make it to 52 books, and I’d really like to do that, just once. It could be this is the year. To that end, I’m signing up for the 2015 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge with the goal of reading at the I’m on Fire! Level of 16+ books more than I read in 2014.

backtotheclassics2015BUTTONThe English teacher in me is also excited by the Back to the Classics Challenge. I’m going to shoot for completing nine categories in this particular challenge. If I’m able to complete all twelve categories, that’s great, but for this particular challenge, I decided to aim for the middle.

As I have the last few years, I’ll also join the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge once the challenge details are posted, as well as the R.I.P. Challenge once it happens.

4aFinally, I want to do the Where Are You Reading Challenge as I have done the last couple of years. I really enjoy keeping track of the settings for the books I read.

I don’t want to bite off too much more than I can chew, and I left several challenges this year completely untouched because they went perhaps a bit too much out of my usual reading habits, but I do hope to make a dent in these challenges as well as read a lot of young adult fiction next year, mainly so I can talk books with students and not feel out of the loop.

Updated 1/7/15 to add: The Historical Fiction Challenge is open! I’ll be attempting to read 10 books for the Renaissance Reader level.

2015 HF Reading Challenge Button_FINAL

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R. I. P. Challenge 2014

Posted on by Dana

R. I. P. ChallengeIt’s time again for my favorite reading challenge, the R. I. P. Challenge. It’s hard to believe this is the ninth year. I don’t think I participated until the third one. I absolutely love this time of year for reading creepy stories.

I like to do Peril the First, which is to “read four books, any length, that you feel fit (the very broad definitions) of R. I. P. literature.” I have been gathering together my list of potentials, and I plan to select my reads from the following list of books:

Aside from More Than This, I’m not sure which of these books I’ll choose. They look like a good list.

   

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Once Upon a Time Challenge
R.I.P. Challenge
Sunday Post #28: One Month of Reading
Vincent Van Gogh

Reading Challenges and Goals for 2014

Posted on by Dana

Vincent Van GoghAh, yet another year in which I failed to complete most of the reading challenges and goals I set for myself. That’s fine. There is next year! Hope springs eternal and all that. I’ll do a recap of this year shortly, but I’m blaming my failures on three things: 1) the Doctor, 2) soapmaking, and 3) work. Not precisely in that order, but you get the idea.

But I do have some goals in mind for next year, and I have some reading challenges in mind, too.

I have tried and failed to read 52 books the last couple of years. I think perhaps that one year I read 50 was a fluke, especially given my current schedule. I have zero commute, so I can’t read books on the way to work anymore. I didn’t realize how much extra reading time that gave me, I guess. My goal for 2014 is a more modest 30 books. I actually did come close to reading 30 books this year, so perhaps reading 30 books is a goal that is within my grasp. I am all for challenging myself, but I hate the feeling of frustration that comes with falling so short of my goals that I actually give up and don’t read. That really happened to me this year. Stupid, yes. I didn’t say it made sense.

2014 Historical Fiction ChallengeI love participating in the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge each year. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres. I plan to shoot for the Victorian Reader level of five books. I hope I will read more, and if I do, that’s great, but seeing as one of my other goals is to try to get through some books I’ve been wanting to read for a long time and try to stay on top of new releases better, I don’t want to box myself in too much by taking on a large number in any one genre.

As I have the last couple of years, I also plan to create my reading map and participate in the Where Are You Reading Challenge. Google Maps is more difficult to use with their new interface. I am hoping I don’t have to fight it too much.

When they come along, I hope to participate in Carl‘s challenges the Once Upon a Time Challenge and the R.I.P. Challenge. Actually, the R.I.P. Challenge is a must for me every year, but it’s been a while since I did Once Upon a Time.

Foodies ChallengeI always like to do something a little different, so this year, I’ll be trying out the Foodies Challenge. I’m not sure what I’ll read yet, but I’ll participate at Short Order Cook level (1-3 books). It might be just what I need to finally read [amazon text=For All the Tea in China&asin=0143118749], [amazon_link id=”0500286965″ target=”_blank” ]The True History of Chocolate[/amazon_link], [amazon_link id=”0393343618″ target=”_blank” ]Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil[/amazon_link], [amazon_link id=”0061288519″ target=”_blank” ]97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement[/amazon_link], or [amazon_link id=”0385340869″ target=”_blank” ]The Cookbook Collector[/amazon_link]. Or maybe I could finish [amazon_link id=”0142001619″ target=”_blank” ]Salt: A World History[/amazon_link]! Anyone participating in this challenge looking for a good novel might try [amazon_link id=”B0043RSJQS” target=”_blank” ]The Kitchen Daughter[/amazon_link], which is an excellent foodie read.

2014 Witches and Witchcraft ChallengeOne final challenge: the 2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge. I love reading about witches, and I have few books I’ve been meaning to read forever that would be perfect. Perhaps it will even prompt me to pick up [amazon_link id=”0143123629″ target=”_blank” ]Shadow of Night[/amazon_link] (All Souls Trilogy, Bk 2). I’ll go for Initiate level (1-5 Witchy books). We have a goal of visiting Salem again now that we’re so close. For the record, Salem is one the most awesome places to visit. You should try to get there if you can.

Update, 12/29: Thanks to Iliana, I have discovered the Postal Reading Challenge. I love the idea of focusing on epistolary novels. As I told Iliana, I used to collect stamps as a child, and I already have one book in mind for the challenge A History of Britain in Thirty-six Postage Stamps. I’ll go for the Postcard Level of four books. I hope I can figure out three other books to read.

Also thanks to Iliana, by a circuitous route, I found out about the 2014 Book Bingo Reading Challenge. I couldn’t resist that one. Using your reads to play Bingo? I mean, how much fun is that? Sold!

So that’s it. I think these are much more reasonable goals. Of course, it must be said one should shoot for the stars and all that, but I’m hoping by setting obtainable goals, I’ll feel less discouraged about my reading this year.

Image Vincent Van Gogh

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Top Ten Tuesday adapted from http://www.flickr.com/photos/ceasedesist/4812981497/

Top Ten 2013 Reading Goals

Posted on by Dana

Top Ten Tuesday adapted from http://www.flickr.com/photos/ceasedesist/4812981497/

I do have some goals for reading this year:

  1. Read 52 books. That was also my goal last year, but I felt short by about half.
  2. Read at least Game of Thrones in the Song of Ice and Fire series.
  3. Read at least The Pillars of the Earth in whatever that series is called. I Googled it, but did not find an answer. Maybe I didn’t Google hard enough.
  4. Read at least two books set in France. If I can’t go there in person…
  5. Take advantage of free books. I need to use my school library, public library, Kindle book lending, Overdrive, PaperBackSwap, and NetGalley more.
  6. Read at least ten books in my back catalog of to-read books. Including some books I had to have that are still untouched on my shelf several years later.
  7. Complete the reading challenges I joined (and participate more actively on the challenge websites with comments and reviews).
  8. Figure out a way to listen to audio books now that I’m not commuting.
  9. Finish Les Misérables on DailyLit.
  10. Make more time for reading.

Do you have any reading resolutions?

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R.I.P. Challenge VII

R.I.P. Recap

Posted on by Dana

I did not complete the R.I.P. Challenge this year. It’s absolutely my favorite challenge of the year, but I only managed to read one book that could be considered part of the challenge, and it wasn’t even one of the books I planned to count. By the way, I did make a soap inspired by Attica Locke’s The Cutting Season. I call it Vanilla Sugar Cane. Its ingredients are olive oil, water, coconut oil, palm oil, sodium hydroxide, sweet almond oil, cocoa butter, and castor oil, along with a vanilla sugar fragrance that is an exact duplicate of Bath & Body Works’ Warm Vanilla Sugar fragrance—one of my favorites. I can’t wait until this soap is ready.

I did not manage to finish Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes, and I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I’m giving up on it because it just didn’t do anything for me. I don’t know what’s wrong with me because it has all the elements I usually like in books: a creepy carnival visiting a small town in the fall; lots of imagery; a story that can be read on multiple levels. I think ultimately, I don’t care much for the characters. I have seen the movie (many years ago), and I liked it, so I can’t explain why the book is just not appealing to me. I find it is not difficult to put down, and I keep looking at it, thinking I should pick it up. At this point, I’ve maxed out my library renewals, and I just don’t have a desire to try to finish it. I feel like I’m giving the book the old, “It’s not you, it’s me,” speech. But I really feel like it is me. People love this book. I did make a soap inspired by Mr. Crosetti’s cotton candy. It was pink and cotton-candy scented. However, as the soap cured, it turned a deeper shade closer to purple. My feeling is it now looks like appropriately dark and twisted cotton candy, and Mr. Dark would approve. I will probably just gift it to the kids in my family for Christmas.

I enjoyed the challenge I set for myself of thinking of an appropriate soap inspired by the books I read for this challenge. I am not sure I’d want to do it for every challenge or every book, but it was fun, and just like the books, I was really pleased with how the Vanilla Sugar Cane Soap came out from the very start, and as it cures, it is shaping up into a very nice soap, just like the book. On the other hand, I was initially pleased with the Cotton Candy Soap, and over time, I found my enthusiasm cooled as the soap changed a funny color, which mirrors my feelings for the book on which I based it.

This year is shaping up to be a bad reading year for me all the way around. I am already feeling a pull to re-read [amazon asin=0143105434&text=Wuthering Heights]. I recognize the signs: I start Googling things related to the book and looking for film versions on Netflix. And I don’t have time. I have other books I’ve committed to read. That book is a damned siren.

So how did you do with the challenge this year? How’s your reading year shaping up as we slide into the final two months?

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Sunday Salon—October 16, 2011
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R.I.P. Update

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, William Joyce

Posted on by Dana

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris LessmoreOK, I admit that I did not read this book in the hardcover edition linked to the left. I first encountered the story of [amazon asin=1442457023&text=The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore] in the form of the short film, and then downloaded the iPad app. If you have an iPad, do yourself a favor and download this wonderful multimedia children’s story, especially if you are a book nerd. You’ll love the story. It was written for you.

The story begins as Mr. Morris Lessmore is writing his story in the French Quarter of New Orleans when he is beset by a hurricane that rips the very words from his pages. Despondent, he doesn’t know where to go or what to do. Suddenly, he sees a beautiful girl being carried by flying books. Noticing Morris’s despair, she sends him her favorite book, and he follows the book to a magical library where he becomes caretaker and lends books to other folks who need them.

This is a fantastic story about the power of reading. The film is perhaps even better than the book, as it tells the story about the importance of words without using any words at all. I love the messages about how we breathe new life into old books and make them live again by reading them, and that they live in us and in turn give us life. The animation in the film is beautiful, and it reminds me of the opening story sequence in the movie Up. The digital storybook on the iPad has a narrator who reads the story, and you can interact with elements on each page. For example, on the page when Morris first enters the library, you can touch the books and hear famous lines from classic literature. You can write on Morris’s book. You can spell out words with the alphabet cereal Morris feeds the books. It’s an amazing immersive experience. My eight-year-old son loved it. We sat down and read it together this afternoon, and of course, it took him only a minute to figure out how to manipulate the book. The book is currently $4.99 in the App Store. If you have an iPad, do yourself a favor and get it.

Rating: ★★★★★

This book counts as my fantasy/sci-fi selection for the Mixing it Up Challenge.

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