Reading Challenge Addict Challenge Sign-Up Post

 

 

So, because of the number of reading challenges I decided to join in on this year I thought I might as well join in on this one.

 

There are 4 levels you can choose which are:

• Easy as Pie: 1-5 Challenges (Entered & Completed)
• On the Roof: 6-10 Challenges (Entered & Completed)
• In Flight: 11-15 Challenges (Entered & Completed)
• Out of This World: 16+ Challenges (Entered & Completed)

Rules:

The newest edition of the challenge will begin on January 1 and end on December 31, 2013.

1. Write a starting post joining the challenge and outlining your challenges.
2. Track all of your challenge accomplishments - good & bad.
3. Stop by to join in on  the mini-challenges, updates & extra giveaways throughout the year.
4. Comment like crazy and offer support for your fellow addicts.
5. Have FUN!

I'm going for level 2, On The Roof as so far I've joined up for the following challenges:

1) What An Animal Challenge
2) Mt TBR Challenge
3) Colour Coded Challenge
4) Ebook Challenge
5) Genre Variety Challenge
6) A-Z Title Challenge

There may end up being more, but I'm not sure what else takes my fancy just yet.

Has anyone else joined in on this challenge yet?

Michelle



2013 A-Z Reading Challenge Sign--Up

 

 

Ok, so I couldn't help joining in on another challenge for next year. I decided that this one will be pretty easy to keep track of so why not sign up to it too!!

Technical Stuff
This challenge will run from January 1st, 2012 until December 31st, 2013.
You can join anytime.

Crossovers to other challenges are allowed and encouraged!

So there are two different ways you can set up your own A-Z challenge.

A – Make a list now of 26 books, picking one for each letter of the alphabet. For example: A – The Azalea Assault B- Blue Monday C – Crops and Robbers D – A Deadly Grind etc.

OR

B – Make a list on your blog from A-Z. Throughout the year, as you go along, add the books you are reading to the list. Hope that by the end of the year you have read one book for each letter. Towards the end of the year, you can check and see which letters you are missing and find books to fit.


I'm going with plan B as I don't like to plan my books too far ahead because they always change no matter what I decide so I'll just keep track of the letters as I go and hope that I end up filling the whole alphabet by the end of the year.

Who else is joining in on this challenge for 2013??

Michelle

The Dusty Bookshelf 2012 Challenge Wrap-Up Post

 

 

This year I competed in The Dusty Bookshelf Challenge hosted by Books, A True Story. This was my first time competing in this challenge and I thought it would be a great way to try and get some of the really old books on my shelves finally read. 

 

I went for the Dust Bunny level which was to read 5-10 books and I managed to get through 6 so Yay, I have completed a challenge!!

 

These are the dusty books I managed to read this year:

 

1) The Potato Factory by Bryce Courtenay - Absolutely loved this book and can't wait to read the sequel soon.

2)  The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - Not my cup of tea. I found it very boring and much preferred the old movie.

3) Dixie City Jam by James Lee Burke - JLB is one of my favourite all time authors so naturally I loved this book.

4) The Murder Book by Jonathan Kellerman - Wasn't a big fan of this. A bit too slow moving for me.

5) The Echo by Minette Walters - Worst book read this year. Enough said.

6) Stanley and Sophie by Kate Jennings - Second worst book read this year :-)

 

So, I'm glad I made a tiny dent in some of the older books I had taking up room on my shelves and can't wait to try and get through some more in 2013!

 

 

What An Animal Reading Challenge VI Sign-Up

This challenge begins on January 1st 2013 and is one that I think will be super easy for me considering how much I love reading animal related books.
It's hosted by Socrates Book Reviews so head on over if you wish to join in on the fun of this challenge!

The rules are really simple...


1. Read at least 6 books that have any of the following requirements:


a. there is an animal in the title of the book

b. there is an animal on the cover of the book

c. an animal plays a major role in the book

d. a main character is (or turns into) an animal (define that however you'd like).

2. The animal can be any type of animal (real or fictitious)--dog, cat, monkey, wolf, snake, insect, hedgehog, aardvark...dragon, mermaid, centaur, vampire, werewolf...you get the idea...


3. Challenge runs from Januar 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013. That’s a full year to read at least 6 books (you can read more if you’d like). 


4. Books can be fiction or nonfiction.


5. You may make a list of books at the beginning of the challenge or you can just list them as you find them.


6. Book titles may be swapped out at anytime (assuming you made a list to begin with).


7. Crossovers with other challenges are permitted and encouraged.


8. You don't have to have a blog or write a review, but you can if you want to.
 If you don't have a blog, just post in the comment section that you'd like to join. You can post your books in there.

9. Books can be in any format of your choice (print, audio, ebooks)

I'm hoping that this will be an easy one for me to complete and I already have at least 6 animal related books in mind but I won't start posting until I start reading them.

Will anyone else be joining me on this challenge?

Michelle

2013 Colour Coded Reading Challenge Sign-Up

Ok, so I may be going a little overboard with the challenges I am committing myself to now but I just can't resist. It's like an obsession!!

 

This Colour Coded Reading Challenge is hosted by My Reader's Block and looks like quite a fun challenge to do.

 

Here are the rules:

*Read nine books in the following categories.

1. A book with "Blue" or any shade of Blue (Turquoise, Aquamarine, Navy, etc) in the title.

2. A book with "Red" or any shade of Red (Scarlet, Crimson, Burgandy, etc) in the title.

3. A book with "Yellow" or any shade of Yellow (Gold, Lemon, Maize, etc.) in the title.

4. A book with "Green" or any shade of Green (Emerald, Lime, Jade, etc) in the title.

5. A book with "Brown" or any shade of Brown (Tan, Chocolate, Beige, etc) in the title.

6. A book with "Black" or any shade of Black (Jet, Ebony, Charcoal, etc) in the title.

7. A book with "White" or any shade of White (Ivory, Eggshell, Cream, etc) in the title.

8. A book with any other color in the title (Purple, Orange, Silver, Pink, Magneta, etc.).

9. A book with a word that implies color (Rainbow, Polka-dot, Plaid, Paisley, Stripe, etc.).

* Any book read from January 1 through December 31, 2013 will count.

*Crossovers with other challenges are fine.

*Everyone who completes all nine categories will be entered in a year-end drawing for a book-related prize package.

*Please post about the challenge on your blog. Sign ups accepted until Nov 30, 2013.

*Please sign up using the Linky on the site here. Give your name & blog and use a direct link to your challenge post as your url. Please don't connect to just your home page. Links to a list on GoodReads or other social media sites are also acceptable.

*Please use the Review Page to post review links and a final wrap-up post when you finish the challenge.

I've already started looking at my TBR books to see what colour categories they will all fit into so I can't wait to get started on this one!

Will anyone else be joining me on this challenge?

Michelle

Mount TBR Reading Challenge Sign-Up

Yep, I'm going for another challenge next year and this is one that I'm excited about because I have so many books I already own that are just screaming for me to pick them up and read them.

This challenge is hosted by My Reader's Block and is an incentive to get through as many books that you owned prior to 1st January 2013 as you can during the year.

 

Challenge Levels:

Pike's Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile/s

Mount Blanc: Read 24 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Vancouver: Read 36 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Ararat: Read 48 books from your TBR piles/s
Mt. Kilimanjaro: Read 60 books from your TBR pile/s
El Toro: Read 75 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Everest: Read 100 books from your TBR pile/s
Mount Olympus (Mars): Read 150+ books from your TBR pile/s

And the rules:
*Once you choose your challenge level, you are locked in for at least that many books. If you find that you're on a mountain-climbing roll and want to tackle a taller mountain, then you are certainly welcome to upgrade.

*Challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2013.

*You may sign up anytime from now until November 30th, 2013.

*Books must be owned by you prior to January 1, 2013. No ARCs (none), no library books. No rereads. [To clarify--based on a question raised last year--the intention is to reduce the stack of books that you have bought for yourself or received as presents {birthday, Christmas, "just because," etc.}. Audiobooks and E-books may count if they are yours and they are one of your primary sources of backlogged books.]

*You may count any "currently reading" book that you begin prior to January 1--provided that you had 50% or more of the book left to finish in 2013.

*Books may be used to count for other challenges as well.

*Feel free to submit your list in advance (as incentive to really get those books taken care of) or to tally them as you climb.

*A blog and reviews are not necessary to participate.

 

 

Due to not wanting to overextend myself I'm just aiming for the first level on this one which is Pike's Peak. If I do better than that then I'll be very pleased with myself.

 

Will you be joining in on this challenge next year?

 

Michelle

2013 Ebook Challenge Sign-Up

Yep, it's that time of year where we start to think about all the challenges we want to join in on next year so expect some more of these posts in the coming weeks.

 

The 2013 Ebook Challenge is encouraging readers to expand past just physical books to embrace ebooks in all forms, whether on Kindle, Kobo, computer, or any other reader. This challenge is hosted by Workaday Reads so head on over there to sign up!

 

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'll go for Level 3: DVD for this challenge as I seem to be reading a lot more ebooks these days since I got my Kindle for Mother's Day. I still love the feel of reading a physical book but I've come to realise the convenience of using my Kindle and am now in love with it also.

Will anyone else be joining in on this challenge?

Michelle

2013 Genre Variety Reading Challenge Sign-Up

This challenge is hosted by A Daydreamer's Thoughts and is a great way to challenge yourself to get out of your confort zone and read a variety of genres that you wouldn't normally read.

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 to. 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 suggested list of genres you can choose from:

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'm going to aim for the Careful level as I'm still trying to expand my horizons into different genres and don't want to overextend myself too much.

Will you be joining in on this challenge??

Michelle

Quarterly Challenge Update (July-Sept 2012)

So, it is the end of another quarter of 2012. Seriously, where is this year going???

At the start of 2012 I decided to join in on the following three reading challenges:
The 15,000 Page Challenge, The Chunkster Challenge and The Dusty Bookshelf Challenge.

                                       

 

15,000 Page Challenge
This challenge is obviously to try and read at least 15,000 pages over the year.
* As at the end of March I had managed to finish 5 books with a total of 2,253 pages.
* As at the end of June I managed to finish another 19 books with a total of 4,953 pages.
* Now, at the end of September I've managed to read another 14 books with a total of 4,468 pages. This means I've read a total of 11,674 pages so far this year and I think I am easily on track to get to the 15,000 page mark by the end of the year. Yeehaa!

Chunkster Challenge (Complete!!)
I went for Level 2 in this challenge 'The Plump Primer' where I have to try and read 6 chunksters during the year. A Chunkster is a book of 450 pages or more. I managed to read two books over the 450 page mark as at the end of March and also managed to read another two up to the end of June. For the September quarter I managed to read the following Chunksters:
1) A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin - 835 pages
2) Fifty Shades Darker - E.L. James - 537 pages
3) Pledged - Gwynneth White - 503 pages
4) Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins - 472 pages

Overall, I've surprised myself with this challenge as I didn't think I'd get to as many books over 450 pages as I have. I can't believe I've read 8 already and there's still three months to go. I may have to up my level on this now.

The Dusty Bookshelf Challenge

Again I went for Level 2 in this challenge 'Dust Bunny' where I have to read between 5-10 books. Basically this challenge is to read as many books that you can that you already own which have been accumulating dust on your bookshelf. It doesn't include any newly purchased books. Up to the end of March I managed to read four dusty books but only managed to read another one up to the end of June. For the September quarter I didn't manage to get to any of my old TBR books (sigh...) I really did try but I had too many review commitments and fell behind due to my work and study picking up. Oh well, I will concentrate on this challenge a bit more between now and the end of this year.

So, that's an update on my progress so far. I'm pretty pleased with how I've been going, especially with the 15,000 Page Challenge as I didn't think I'd get anywhere near that by the end of the year but I've surprised myself with how many pages I actually read over a period of time.

Here is my March Quarterly Update and my June Quarterly Update posts if interested.

I hope everyone else is going well with any challenges you have joined or set yourself this year.

Michelle xx

Quarterly Challenge Update (April-June 2012)

At the start of 2012 I decided to join in on the following three reading challenges:
The 15,000 Page Challenge, The Chunkster Challenge and The Dusty Bookshelf Challenge.

                                      

 

15,000 Page Challenge
This challenge is obviously to try and read at least 15,000 pages over the year. As at the end of March I had managed to finish 5 books with a total of 2,253 pages. As at the end of June I've managed to finish another 19 books with a total of 4,953 pages. This means I've read a total of 7,206 pages so far this year and am pretty much on track to get to the 15,000 page mark by the end of the year. Yay!

Chunkster Challenge
I went for Level 2 in this challenge 'The Plump Primer' where I have to try and read 6 chunksters during the year. A Chunkster is a book of 450 pages or more. I managed to read 2 books over the 450 page mark as at the end of March and also managed to read another two up to the end of June. These were:
1) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (454 pages); and
2) Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James (514 pages)

This means that I only have another two books to go for this challenge. Another Yay!
The Dusty Bookshelf Challenge

Again I went for Level 2 in this challenge 'Dust Bunny' where I have to read between 5-10 books. Basically this challenge is to read as many books that you can that you already own which have been accumulating dust on your bookshelf. It doesn't include any newly purchased books. Up to the end of March I managed to read 4 dusty books but only managed to read another 1 up to the end of June which was:
1) The Echo by Minette Walters

There were just too many good new books out this past quarter that I wasn't interested in my old ones. I've recently started a monthly meme called Random Reads now though which I hope will start to force me to get through at least 1 book a month that's been on my bookshelves for ages.
So, that's my progress so far. I'm pretty pleased with how I've been going, especially with the 15,000 Page Challenge as I didn't think I'd get anywhere near that by the end of the year and it's now looking like I might just make it after all.

Here is my March Quarterly Update post if interested.

I hope everyone else is going well with any challenges you have joined or set yourself this year.

Michelle xx

Quarterley Challenge Update

At the start of 2012 I decided to join in on three reading challenges. I'd never been part of a reading challenge before and knew I'd struggle a bit due to having a small toddler as well as my CPA studies which of course take up an enormous amount of my time, but I thought it would still be fun to join in and see how I go regardless.

The three challenges I joined up for were the 15,000 Page Challenge, The Chunkster Challenge and The Dusty Bookshelf Challenge.

                                      

 

15,000 Page Challenge
This challenge is obviously to try and read at least 15,000 pages over the year. As at the end of March I had managed to finish 5 books with a total of 2,253 pages. These were as follows (including a link to my review if applicable):
1) The Potato Factory - Bryce Courtenay (739 pages)
2) The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde (254 pages)
3) Dixie City Jam - James Lee Burke (512 pages)
4) The Murder Book - Jonathan Kellerman (437 pages)
5) Dead in the Family - Charlain Harris (311 pages)

I was hoping to rack up a bit more than that but it's still not a bad effort with everything else I've had going on.
Chunkster Challenge
I went for Level 2 in this challenge 'The Plump Primer' where I have to try and read 6 chunksters during the year. A Chunkster is a book of 450 pages or more. The books I've read so far that qualify are:
1) The Potato Factory - Bryce Courtenay (739 pages)
2) Dixie City Jam - James Lee Burke (512 pages)

I'm pretty confident I'll get through another 4 somehow during the rest of the year.
The Dusty Bookshelf Challenge

Again I went for Level 2 in this challenge 'Dust Bunny' where I have to read between 5-10 books. Basically this challenge is to read as many books that you can that you already own which have been accumulating dust on your bookshelf. It doesn't include any newly purchased books. The books that I've read for this challenge so far are:
1) The Potato Factory - Bryce Coutenay
2) Dixie City Jam - James Lee Burke
3) The Murder Book - Jonathan Kellerman
4) The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

I really should just concentrate on this challenge and nothing else. I've still got so many books on my shelves at home that I've had for years and never read and it's certainly a good way to save money. I could probably do at least 5 years of this challenge alone and still not get through my books at home. I know, it's pretty sad and I do feel guilty for buying new ones so often when I really don't need to. 

So, once my CPA exam is over for this semester in the first week of May I'm going to be locking myself away for about a week to do nothing but read so I can improve on this effort a bit during the next quarter.

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend so far.

Michelle xx