Wednesday, December 30, 2015

2016 LGBTQIA Challenge


This reading challenge is for books that feature a main character who is LGBTQIA. This goes well with my ongoing efforts to diversify my reading. I'll be starting off easy with level Orange - 6-12 books.

I'll list the books I read for this challenge below.
  1. Stealing Nasreen by Farzana Doctor
  2. Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
Honourable mentions:
  1. MRS by Noa Grey: The friend of one of the main characters is a lesbian.
  2. Deadlight Jack by Mark Onspaugh: There is a lesbian couple in the extended cast of characters (the parents of the missing boy at the centre of the plot).
  3. Roses and Rot by Kat Howard: There is a side character who is bi or pan.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

2016 Alphabet Soup Challenge


An alphabet challenge!! I used to love the A-Z Reading Challenge, which sadly hasn't happened in the last couple of years, so I'm glad to find another challenge with the same idea! The goal is to read one book with a title starting with each letter of the alphabet. Technically for Q, X, and Z you're allowed to use a book with the letter anywhere in the title, but that's not how I roll. I have books already on my to-read shelf starting with every letter except X, and it's easy to find X books at the library (pro-tip: graphic novels).

I won't be choosing my books ahead of time. I'll just fill in the spots beside the letters below as I read, and gradually find books for the letters I'm missing.

A: Allegiant (Divergent #3) by Veronica Roth
B: Born With Teeth by Kate Mulgrew
C: Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon
D: Dead Boy by Laurel Gale
E: The Exposed (Animorphs #27) by K.A. Applegate
F: Fairest of All (Whatever After #1) by Sarah Mlynowski
G: The Girlfriend by R.L. Stine
H: Hollow City (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #2) by Ransom Riggs
I: The Insomniacs by Karina Wolf
J:
K:
L: The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
M: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: The Graphic Novel by Ransom Riggs and Cassandra Jean
N: No Humans Involved (Women of the Otherworld #7) by Kelley Armstrong
O: Out From Boneville (Bone #1) by Jeff Smith
P: Princeless, vol. 1-3 by Jeremy Whitley
Q:
R: Room by Emma Donoghue
S: Stealing Nasreen by Farzana Doctor
T: That Is Not a Good Idea by Mo Willems
U: The Unremembered Lands (The Courageous Princess #2) by Rod Espinosa
V:
W: Winds of L'Acadie by Lois Donovan
X: Xander's Panda Party by Linda Sue Park
Y:
Z:

Sunday, December 20, 2015

2016 Banned Books Challenge


I found another challenge to join! For the Banned Books Challenge I'll be trying to read some books that have been banned or challenged. Yay intellectual freedom! I'm going for the level of Trouble-Maker, which requires me to read 3 to 5 banned or challenged books.

I'll list the books I read for this challenge below.
  1. The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
  2. Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

Thursday, December 10, 2015

2016 NetGalley Reading Challenge


Now this is a challenge I really need to do! My NetGalley score is... not good. I've pretty much left it alone in the last year or so, but for a while I was requesting way too many books, not even realising that I'd never be able to read them all in time. Much the way I buy books, actually...

I'd need to do the Hardcore level (41+ books) to get my score back up to the recommended 80%, but that's just not realistic for me while I'm still in school. So I'll be starting out with the Easy level (5-10 books), and then if I'm doing really well I can move up a level later in the year. As long as I read every single book I request on there, I'll at least be bumping my score up little by little!

I'll list the NetGalleys I read this year below, and link them to the reviews as I write them. (And for this challenge, I really need to actually get around to writing them!)
  1. MRS by Noa Grey
  2. Deadlight Jack by Mark Onspaugh

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

2016 Dystopia Reading Challenge


I love dystopias, and according to my Goodreads shelves I currently have 17 of them on my TBR pile. So, I will be joining the Dystopia Reading Challenge with an initial goal of Rebel, which requires reading and reviewing 6 to 10 dystopias. I'm planning to finish a few of the series I'm in the middle of, and maybe discover some new ones along the way.

I'll list the books I read for this challenge below.
  1. Allegiant (Divergent #3) by Veronica Roth
  2. The Selection (The Selection #1) by Kierra Cass
  3. The Elite (The Selection #2) by Kierra Cass
  4. Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer
  5. Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

2016 Finishing the Series Reading Challenge


It's time to do another Finishing the Series challenge! I am in the middle of SO MANY series. I need to finish a few of them. In particular, I need to finish some of the popular YA series that I'm at constant risk of spoilers from. (I haven't read Allegiant yet. I have already gotten spoilers from that one and need to read the book before I get any more.)

I'm signing up for Level 3 (Experienced), which requires completion of 3-6 series. I don't know how many I'll get to, but some of the series I'd like to finish include Divergent (1 book left), Chaos Walking (2 books left), The Selection (3 books left plus some short stories), Maze Runner (2 books left [that are out already] plus some short stories), The Lunar Chronicles (2 books left plus some short stories), and Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (3 books left). That's just off the top of my head! Hopefully I get through a few of those, at least.

I'll list the series I finish below throughout the year.
  1. The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis
  2. Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
  3. The Faceless One by Mark Onspaugh

2016 Read the Books You Buy Challenge


In a way, it's kind of strange to be signing up for both this challenge and the Mount TBR Reading Challenge. But Mount TBR has me chipping away at the mountain, while this challenge should help me keep the mountain from growing, so in a way they complement each other.

From what I gather from my Goodreads shelves, I bought about 98 books in 2015 (seriously?! I felt like I was doing better than that...), and of those I read... 6. Yes, really. What's the point of buying books (especially new books) if I'm not going to read them any time soon?

So, I will be joining this challenge at the level of Moderately Successful, meaning that I'll be aiming to read 40-60% of the books I buy in 2016.

I'll list all the books I buy below, and strike them out as I read them.
  1. The Good Book: A Humanist Bible compiled by A.C. Grayling
  2. The Earth, the Gods and the Soul: A History of Pagan Philosophy from the Iron Age to the 21st Century by Brendan Myers
  3. Your Mouth Is Lovely by Nancy Richler
  4. The Free World by David Bezmozgis
  5. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
  6. The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
  7. Inheritance (The Inheritance Cycle #4) by Christopher Paolini
  8. More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
  9. The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook: A Guide for the Serious Searcher
  10. The Counterfeit Family Tree of Vee Crawford-Wong by L. Tam Holland
  11. I, Bificus by Bif Naked
  12. Tale of the Blue Monkey (Ghosts of Fear Street #29) by R.L. Stine
  13. Son of Slappy (Goosebumps Most Wanted #2) by R.L. Stine
  14. The Streets of Panic Park (Goosebumps Horrorland #12) by R.L. Stine
  15. Trapped in the Circus of Fear (Give Yourself Goosebumps Special Edition #3) by R.L. Stine
  16. Slappy's Nightmare (Goosebumps Series 2000 #23) by R.L. Stine
  17. The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1) by Julie Kagawa
  18. The Crown (The Selection #5) by Kiera Cass
  19. Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay
  20. Hexed (The Witch Hunter #1) by Michelle Krys
  21. Library of Souls (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #3) by Ransom Riggs
  22. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne
  23. Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer
  24. I've Got Aspergers, So I'm Better Than You. Shh... Don't Tell Mom! by Adam Schwartz
  25. Transcendent by Katelyn Detweiler
  26. Dangerous Girls (Dangerous Girls #1) by R.L. Stine
  27. Valkyrie Rising (Valkyrie #1) by Ingrid Paulson
  28. My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares
  29. Where It Began by Ann Redisch Stampler
  30. Someone Else's Life by Katie Dale
  31. Tombstone Blues (Thunder Road #2) by Chadwick Ginther
  32. Knit Two (Friday Night Knitting Club #2) by Kate Jacobs
  33. Web of Angels by Lilian Nattel
  34. Two Viking Romances by Anonymous
  35. Along Came a Wolf (The Yellow Hoods #1) by Adam Dreece
  36. Enslavement (One Bright Future #1) by Melinda Friesen
  37. Red Nexus by Benoit Chartier
  38. Doc Christmas by Neil Enock

Monday, December 7, 2015

2016 Mount TBR Reading Challenge



In 2015, I finally completed this challenge!! So I will once again be signing up for the lowest level, Pike's Peak, which only requires me to read 12 books from Mount TBR. Since going back to college my reading time has been sadly limited (it's December and I'm sitting at 39 for 2015... still hoping to go nuts and hit 50!). Also, I recently started working at a library: awesome for me, bad for my TBR pile!

I'll list the books I read for this challenge below, and link to reviews as I publish them.
  1. No Humans Involved (Women of the Otherworld #7) by Kelley Armstrong
  2. Allegiant (Divergent #3) by Veronica Roth
  3. Sugar Falls: A Residential School Story by David Alexander Robertson
  4. The Attack (Animorphs #26) by K.A. Applegate
  5. Spike Omnibus by various authors
  6. The Girlfriend by R.L. Stine
  7. The Prairie Dog Conspiracy by Eric Wilson
  8. Hollow City (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #2) by Ransom Riggs
  9. Startled by His Furry Shorts (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson #7) by Louise Rennison
  10. Love Is a Many Trousered Thing (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson #8) by Louise Rennison
  11. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
  12. The Exposed (Animorphs #27) by K.A. Applegate
  13. The Experiment (Animorphs #28) by K.A. Applegate
  14. The Elite (The Selection #2) by Kiera Cass
  15. The Sickness (Animorphs #29) by K.A. Applegate
  16. Stop in the Name of Pants! (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson #9) by Louise Rennison
  17. The New Girl (Fear Street #1) by R.L. Stine
  18. Stars in Her Eyes (Sparkstone Saga #1) by Clare C. Marshall

2016 Anne Rice Challenge - My Challenge Goals


This is my sign-up post for the 2016 Anne Rice Challenge. If you want to join the challenge, sign up here!

I'm signing up for this challenge at the level of Lestat de Lioncourt, which means I want to read 6 to 10 Anne Rice books. I currently own 10 of her books that I haven't read yet, so I plan to keep reading those in publishing order and see how many of them I can fit into 2016. These are the 10 books I have (though it's unlikely I'll get to all 10 of them):

  • Servant of the Bones
  • Violin
  • Pandora (New Tales of the Vampires #1)
  • Vittorio the Vampire (New Tales of the Vampires #2)
  • Merrick (The Vampire Chronicles #7)
  • Blood and Gold (The Vampire Chronicles #8)
  • Blackwood Farm (The Vampire Chronicles #9)
  • Blood Canticle (The Vampire Chronicles #10)
  • Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt
  • Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana

2016 Anne Rice Challenge - Sign Up Post


Copy the code below to add the challenge badge to your blog!

It's back!!! In 2012 and 2013 I ran the Anne Rice Reading Challenge, but then I went back to school and haven't had time to set it up since. I'm still in school, but I missed it so much I decided to bring it back anyway! The challenge is simple: read Anne Rice books! Set a goal for how many you want to read, and then go for it.

Rules:
  • Ebooks and audiobooks count.
  • Rereads and crossovers with other challenges are likewise just fine.
  • You can change your level at any time.
  • The challenge goes from January 1 to December 31, 2016.
  • If you read, for example, the edition that has the first 3 Vampire Chronicles books together in one volume, that still counts as 3. We're going by how the books were originally published.
  • All books written by Anne Rice count, including those written under a pseudonym.
  • You can sign up at any time from now until November 30, 2016.

Levels:
  • Louis de Pointe du Lac (1 to 5 books)
  • Lestat de Lioncourt (6 to 10 books)
  • Armand (11 to 15 books)
  • Marius de Romanus (16 to 20 books)
  • Maharet (21 to 25 books)
  • Akasha (26 or more books)

(Because I've been asked in the past, I'll just clarify that these levels are indeed named according to the ages of various vampires, and are in no way meant to indicate my preference for them or anything like that.)

To sign up, please leave a comment on this post and include a link to your sign up post (not just the main page of your blog). If you're not a blogger, feel free to link to your Goodreads profile or wherever you'll post about the challenge. I'll edit this post with the list of participants. Once the challenge starts I'll make a post with a review link-up.

Participants
  1. Lianne @ The Towering Pile
  2. Carol @ Open Page