2017 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge

The Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge involves reading a book whose title starts with each letter of the alphabet. I always have fun with this one! I don't make a list ahead of time. I just fill books in as I go and then spend December panicking to fill in my missing letters! :D

I'll list the books I read for this challenge below:

A: American Gods by Neil Gaiman
B: The Birthday Party of Dread (Fangbone, Third Grade Barbarian, #3) by Michael Rex
C: The Crown (The Selection #5) by Kiera Cass
D: Darkwood by M.E. Breen
E: The Egg of Misery (Fangbone, Third Grade Barbarian, #2) by Michael Rex
F: Firelight (Amulet #7) by Kazu Kibuishi
G: The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike
H: Happily Ever After by Kiera Cass
I: The Island of Dr. Libris
J: Jughead, vol. 1 by Chip Zdarsky and Erica Henderson
K:
L:
M: Mooncake by Frank Asch
N: Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon
O: The One (The Selection #3) by Kiera Cass
P: Princess Princess Ever After by Katie O'Neill
Q: The Queen and the Cure by Amy Harmon
R: A Recipe for Bees by Gail Anderson-Dargatz
S: Shade's Children by Garth Nix
T: Twin Spica, vol. 6 by Kou Yaginuma
U: Until Midnight (Alienated
V: A Vision of Fire (The Earthend Saga #1) by Gillian Anderson and Jeff Rovin
W: Wondrous Strange (Wondrous Strange #1) by Lesley Livingston
X:
Y:
Z:

2017 Mount TBR Reading Challenge

I will once again be starting out the Mount TBR Reading Challenge by aiming for Pike's Peak: 12 books off my TBR pile. I've reached that peak the last two years so I know it's achievable. I'm hoping that this will be the year when I'm finally able to upgrade to a higher peak. We'll see! I am also joining the Goodreads group for this challenge this year, in hopes that the group atmosphere will further encourage me.

I will list the books I read for this challenge below.

1. The One (The Selection #3) by Kiera Cass
2. Elfangor's Secret (Megamorphs #3) by K.A. Applegate
3. The Surprise Party (Fear Street #2) by R.L. Stine
4. Anishnaabe World: A Survival Guide for Building Bridges between Canada and First Nations by Roger Spielmann
5. The Heir (The Selection #4) by Kiera Cass
6. The Crown (The Selection #5) by Kiera Cass
7. The Reunion (Animorphs #30) by K.A. Applegate
8. The Overnight (Fear Street #3) by R.L. Stine
9. Blood of the Dead (Undead World Trilogy #1) by A.P. Fuchs
10. Wondrous Strange (Wondrous Strange #1) by Lesley Livingston
11. The Epic of Gilgamesh
12. Mooncake by Frank Asch

Success!

2016 Reading Challenges: How Did I Do?

In 2016, I participated in a total of 11 challenges that span the calendar year, with my usual mixed success, but overall I'm happy! I finished school this year and that allowed me to read more than I've had time for in recent years. I'm still getting used to the whole concept of having free time, so I'm hoping to make time for even more reading in 2017!

Let's see how I did in each of my 2016 challenges:

First, there was my own challenge, the Anne Rice Challenge. I brought it back this year after taking a year off from hosting, and only one other person joined. (Yay Carol of Open Page! You rock!) So the lack of interest drained my own enthusiasm and I didn't even end up getting to any of my Anne Rice books.

Result: EPIC FAIL
Original goal: 6 to 10 books
Read: 0 books

Next, there's the Mount TBR Reading Challenge hosted by My Reader's Block. I've been doing this challenge for the last 5 years (wow!) and didn't succeed in it until 2015. Well, in 2016, I passed with flying colours! Hooray!!

Result: SUCCESS
Original goal: 12 books
Read: 18 books

A new one for me this year was the Read the Books You Buy Challenge, hosted by The Book Date. This was always going to be a tough one for me because I tend to buy a lot of books and not get to them any time soon. (Hence my 800+ book TBR pile...) But I have been buying fewer books lately so I thought maybe I could improve. Nope.

Result: EPIC FAIL
Original goal: read 40-60% of the books I bought this year
Read: 5% of the books I bought (2 out of 38)

One challenge that I always think I'll do better than I actually do on is the Finishing the Series Challenge, hosted by Bea's Book Nook. I did end up reaching my goal, but didn't actually finish any of the series that I planned to (though I did get further in them than I was!).

Result: MODERATE SUCCESS
Original goal: finish 3 to 6 series
Actually finished: 3 series

Next up is the Dystopia Reading Challenge, hosted by Cornerfolds. This is one of those challenges that I totally could have completed had I just tried to complete challenges instead of reading willy-nilly.

Result: NOT QUITE
Original goal: 6 to 10 books
Read: 5 books

This year I did the NetGalley Reading Challenge, hosted by Fictively, in hopes of getting my NetGalley score up to snuff. I didn't do very well, but on the bright side, my NetGalley score didn't go down, either! :D Ultimately I've resolved to only take one NetGalley book at a time and make sure I review it, which will ensure that my score will slowly creep up.

Result: FAIL (but at least I did something)
Original goal: read and review 5 to 10 NetGalleys
Actually accomplished: read and reviewed 2 NetGalleys

I also did the Banned Books Challenge, hosted by Buckling Bookshelves. I think I was doomed to fail this one simply because it's too specific. I know there are a lot of banned/challenged books out there but I just don't happen to read very many of them in any given year.

Result: FAIL
Original goal: 3 to 5 books
Read: 2 books

Next up is always a favourite of mine: the Alphabet Soup Challenge, hosted by Escape with Dollycas Into a Good Book. I was SO CLOSE! I even had X. I ended up missing just 6 letters, and I even own books for all those letters and just didn't squeeze them in in time. Next year I'll beat this one! I've actually set aside a pile of books starting with the less common letters to read early in 2017 to improve my chances. :)

Result: FAIL
Original goal: read a book for every letter of the alphabet
Actually accomplished: 20 letters, just missing J, K, Q, V, Y, and Z.

I was surprised by how badly I did on the LGBTQIA Challenge hosted by Pretty Deadly Reviews. I only read two books with an LGBT+ main character, though minor characters appeared in a few others.

Result: FAIL
Original goal: 6 to 12 books
Read: 2 books

I always participate in the Women Challenge, hosted by Peek-a-booK! As usual I completed the highest level of this challenge no problem, but I did notice that this year only about 40% of the books I read were written by women, down from a bit over half in past years.

Result: SUCCESS
Original goal: 20 books
Read: 34 books

One big area of improvement in my reading this year is in the Diversity on the Shelf Challenge hosted this year by The Englishist. In a way I almost feel like I cheated, since my high number of books for this challenge is because of several graphic novel series, but still, a full 25% of the books I read in 2016 were by or about people of colour!

Result: SUCCESS
Original goal: 7 to 12 books
Read: 21 books

In summary, I completed four challenges and failed seven. Honestly that's pretty typical for me, but I have fun tracking the books I read for them anyway. :) And I did beat my Goodreads reading goal for the first time since 2012: as of now I'm at 84 and I hope to squeeze in a few more by year's end! Now I'm off to sign up for a bunch of 2017 challenges!

Read-a-Thon hours 23 and 24: 5:00 - 7:00

Currently reading: Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin

Pages read these hours: 90

Pages read so far: 1148

Books finished:

1. The Sickness (Animorphs #29) by K.A. Applegate
2. Amulet, vol. 6: Escape from Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi
3. Stop in the Name of Pants! (Georgia Nicolson #9) by Louise Rennison
4. Feathers by Jorge Corona
5. The New Girl (Fear Street #1) by R.L. Stine

Food consumed: None.

Status report: Made it to the end! Here's my end of event survey:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? I had a few sleepy hours right at the start, and a few more around hour 18 or so.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? The Georgia Nicolson books by Louise Rennison are very enjoyable to read in one sitting.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next season? Nope!
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I really like the Facebook group. I'm not very active on Twitter and find Facebook more natural to engage with other read-a-thoners.
5. How many books did you read? I just about finished my 6th book.
6. What were the names of the books you read?
1. The Sickness (Animorphs #29) by K.A. Applegate
2. Amulet, vol. 6: Escape from Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi
3. Stop in the Name of Pants! (Georgia Nicolson #9) by Louise Rennison
4. Feathers by Jorge Corona
5. The New Girl (Fear Street #1) by R.L. Stine
6. Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin
7. Which book did you enjoy most? I'm loving Anything but Typical.
8. Which did you enjoy least? The New Girl, mostly because the main character was too stupid.
9. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I always do! I just like to be a reader for the whole thing.

Read-a-Thon hours 21 and 22: 3:00 - 5:00

Currently reading: Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin

Pages read these hours: 79

Pages read so far: 1058

Books finished:

1. The Sickness (Animorphs #29) by K.A. Applegate
2. Amulet, vol. 6: Escape from Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi
3. Stop in the Name of Pants! (Georgia Nicolson #9) by Louise Rennison
4. Feathers by Jorge Corona
5. The New Girl (Fear Street #1) by R.L. Stine

Food consumed: None.

Status report: Since my energy drink I haven't dozed at all! Finishing strong! I have 116 pages left in this book, so it's possible I might just finish book number 6 by the end. Either way I'll be thrilled with my accomplishments this read-a-thon. In other news, this book is awesome.

If you're in the mood for a giggle and don't mind sacrificing 7 minutes of reading time, enjoy Jenny, one of my favourite Flight of the Conchords videos.

Read-a-Thon hours 19 and 20: 1:00 - 3:00

Currently reading: Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin

Pages read these hours: 95

Pages read so far: 979

Books finished:

1. The Sickness (Animorphs #29) by K.A. Applegate
2. Amulet, vol. 6: Escape from Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi
3. Stop in the Name of Pants! (Georgia Nicolson #9) by Louise Rennison
4. Feathers by Jorge Corona
5. The New Girl (Fear Street #1) by R.L. Stine

Food consumed: Most of a 550mL can of Monster and a few strawberries.

Status report: Uuuugh, so tired. Must carry on! Doing so well! Starting book 6! Almost at 1000 pages with 4 hours to go!

This hour's YouTube video brought to you by the fact that it's 3:00 AM here.

Read-a-Thon hours 17 and 18: 23:00 - 1:00

Currently reading: The New Girl (Fear Street #1) by R.L. Stine

Pages read these hours: 73

Pages read so far: 884

Books finished:

1. The Sickness (Animorphs #29) by K.A. Applegate
2. Amulet, vol. 6: Escape from Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi
3. Stop in the Name of Pants! (Georgia Nicolson #9) by Louise Rennison
4. Feathers by Jorge Corona

Food consumed: Some strawberries, and I just started my giant can of Monster!

Status report: Aaaaand, the sleepiness hits! With 6 hours to go it's getting tough. But I just brought out the Monster so that should help me bounce back. I also did some jumping jacks.

I think now's a good time to bring out the big guns, energetic YouTube video-wise:

Read-a-Thon hours 15 and 16: 21:00 - 23:00

Currently reading: The New Girl (Fear Street #1) by R.L. Stine

Pages read these hours: 135

Pages read so far: 811

Books finished:

1. The Sickness (Animorphs #29) by K.A. Applegate
2. Amulet, vol. 6: Escape from Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi
3. Stop in the Name of Pants! (Georgia Nicolson #9) by Louise Rennison
4. Feathers by Jorge Corona

Food consumed: Oreos

Status report: Still going strong! I always have a lot of energy in the late evening. And I'm four books in, so feeling accomplished! I'm also very pleased with my page count so far; looks like I might set myself a new record this read-a-thon.

This hour's YouTube video is less energetic, but is definitely interesting! Learn some facts about the difficulties encountered by translators of the Harry Potter books:

Read-a-Thon hours 13 and 14: 19:00 - 21:00

Currently reading: Feathers by Jorge Corona

Pages read these hours: 82

Pages read so far: 676

Books finished: The Sickness (Animorphs #29) by K.A. Applegate, Amulet, vol. 6: Escape from Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi, Stop in the Name of Pants! (Georgia Nicolson #9) by Louise Rennison

Food consumed: Water! I drank water like a grown up type person!

Status report: And one of the big books is done! Time for a nice graphic novel. I just picked this one up at the library yesterday.

For this hour's YouTube video, it's the multilingual version of Let It Go! Since I love both Frozen and languages, this is one of favourite videos. Enjoy!

Read-a-Thon hours 11 and 12: 17:00 - 19:00

Currently reading: Stop in the Name of Pants! (Georgia Nicolson #9) by Louise Rennison

Pages read these hours: 65

Pages read so far: 594

Books finished: The Sickness (Animorphs #29) by K.A. Applegate, Amulet, vol. 6: Escape from Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi

Food consumed: Cheese pizza and a couple more Pull n Peels.

Status report: Got distracted a little more during these hours, bringing down my page count, but my tummy's feeling better! And I'm getting into the part of the day when I, extreme night owl that I am, feel at my best. Onwards and upwards!

And now it's time for my favourite Epic Rap Battle of History: Nikola Tesla vs Thomas Edison!

Read-a-Thon hours 9 and 10: 15:00 - 17:00

Currently reading: Stop in the Name of Pants! (Georgia Nicolson #9) by Louise Rennison

Pages read these hours: 84

Pages read so far: 529

Books finished: The Sickness (Animorphs #29) by K.A. Applegate, Amulet, vol. 6: Escape from Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi

Food consumed: One cranberry ginger ale.

Status report: A good two hours of solid reading. My stomach hurts, though. Why do read-a-thons always make my stomach hurt? I haven't even eaten anything out of the ordinary. It's a mystery.

Random fun video time! It's Beauty and the Beat Boots by Todrick Hall!

Read-a-Thon hours 7 and 8: 13:00 - 15:00

Currently reading: Stop in the Name of Pants! (Georgia Nicolson #9) by Louise Rennison

Pages read these hours: 80

Pages read so far: 445

Books finished: The Sickness (Animorphs #29) by K.A. Applegate, Amulet, vol. 6: Escape from Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi

Food consumed: two avocado and tomato sandwiches.

Status report: Walked on a treadmill while reading for a little bit, which helped keep me awake. But since getting back I've only been sleepier, so that was obviously not a long-term solution.

For this afternoon's video, why not the Supernatural Parody song!

Read-a-Thon hours 5 and 6: 11:00 - 13:00

Currently reading: I just finished Amulet, so I'm about to start Stop in the Name of Pants! by Louise Rennison.

Pages read these hours: 158

Pages read so far: 365

Books finished: The Sickness (Animorphs #29) by K.A. Applegate, Amulet, vol. 6: Escape from Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi

Food consumed: One Pull n Peel. Just about to eat lunch!

Status report: Starting to feel a bit more alert. Eager to eat lunch. A quick graphic novel perked me up and I'm now ready to get into a longer novel.

This hour's upbeat YouTube video is Oh No! by Marina and the Diamonds:

Read-a-Thon hours 3 and 4: 9:00 - 11:00

Currently reading: Amulet, vol. 6: Escape from Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi

Pages read these hours: 113

Pages read so far: 207

Books finished: The Sickness (Animorphs #29) by K.A. Applegate

Food consumed: One grande double chocolately-chip frappuccino.

Status report: Uuuugh mornings are SO awful. I'm actually getting sleepier, despite the caffiene. Perhaps more food will help. In other news, The Sickness was an excellent Animorphs book.

For this update's random YouTube video, enjoy Genghis Khan by Miike Snow, one of my favourite music videos! Those dance mooooves!!

Read-a-Thon hours 1 and 2: 7:00 - 9:00

Currently reading: The Sickness (Animorphs #29) by K.A. Applegate

Pages read these hours: 94

Pages read so far: 94

Books finished: None yet.

Food consumed: A bowl of cereal, and I just started in on a double chocolately-chip frappuccino.

Status report: Considering how much I intensely hate mornings, things are going well! I haven't even fallen asleep. I'm sleepy and cranky but also cozy in my bean bag chair and reading at a good pace. And now I have sweet, sweet caffeine.

I am the exact opposite of a morning person. Here, enjoy this Julian Smith video on the subject!

Read-a-Thon Opening Questionnaire

 It's time for the opening meme!

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Probably the strawberries.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I'm the pround auntie of three little niblings: two are my sister's kids (one was just born a few weeks ago!) and one is my close friend's baby.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? The last few read-a-thons, I've done less frequent updates. Today I'll be returning to my old habit of updates every 2 hours, which I think keeps me more engaged!

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon: Let the Games Begin!

Good morning one and all!! It's 7:00 a.m. here in the middle of Canada and that means Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon has begun!!

(If you know me at all you'll realise I wrote this last night, and am probably not at all cheerful right now as mornings are horrible.)

The situation for this read-a-thon is as follows: as usual, I have booked the day off work. I do not have to go to any weddings, showers, or other social engagements, unlike my last few read-a-thons. AND, for the first time in 3 years, I am not in school, so I am quite a bit less sleep-deprived this time! So I'm feeling very excited and optimistic about the next 24 hours.

I chose more books for my read-a-thon stack this time than I normally do, so I'll have plenty of choices on hand throughout the day. (Plus, you know, the thousand other books I own.) Here's what I've got picked out, along with page counts:

• Feathers by Jorge Corona (graphic novel) (160 pages)
• Amulet, vol. 6: Escape from Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi (graphic novel) (213 pages)
• Twin Spica, vol. 4 by Kou Yaginuma (manga) (190 pages)
• Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin (195 pages)
• The Sickness (Animorphs #29) by K.A. Applegate (152 pages)
• Elfangor's Secret (Megamorphs #3) by K.A. Applegate (208 pages)
• Stop in the Name of Pants! (Georgia Nicolson #9) by Louise Rennison (286 pages)
• The One (The Selection #3) by Kiera Cass (323 pages)
• The New Girl (Fear Street #1) by R.L. Stine (168 pages)
• The Surprise Party (Fear Street #2) by R.L. Stine (167 pages)

FrightFall Read-a-Thon 2016 Wrap-Up

So, as usual, week-long read-a-thons don't really work for me! As it turns out, I can book a weekend off for a 24 hour read-a-thon, but I can't magically make more time in a week for reading. And I usually end up forgetting that I'm doing them.

Anywho, this is what I ended up reading:

• Deadlight Jack by Mark Onspaugh (the last 36 pages)
• Bone, vol. 5: Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border by Jeff Smith
• Amulet, vol. 4: The Last Council by Kazu Kibuishi (but I didn't finish it until after the read-a-thon ended)
• Dracula by Bram Stoker (the first 3 hours and 11 minutes of the audiobook)

FrightFall Read-a-Thon 2016!

It's been a while since I've felt like I had time to do one of these week long read-a-thons! This seemed like the perfect time to try one again, since I have a very large pile of library books checked out right now that I need to make time for. FrightFall is a flexible read-a-thon that only requires that something you read is horror.

The books I've picked out for the read-a-thon are as follows:

• Deadlight Jack by Mark Onspaugh (36 pages remaining)
• Amulet, vol. 4: The Last Council by Kazu Kibuishi
• Bone, vol. 5: Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border by Jeff Smith
• Scary Myths and Legends from Around the World
• The Iron Wyrm Affair by Lilith Saintcrow (to start if I have time)
• Dracula by Bram Stoker (audiobook for my walks to work)

I want to finish Deadlight Jack (a horror novel), read a few short library books (one of which is scary stories, so that counts!), and spend my remaining time starting on The Iron Wyrm Affair. Throughout, I'll listen to the Dracula audiobook on my commutes.

MRS by Noa Grey

Title: MRS
Author: Noa Grey
Publication Date: August 16, 2016
Length: 271 pages

After advice columnist Hope Jackson dies, women everywhere are struggling to figure out their relationship and life problems without her guidance. MRS tells the stories of three such women: Mims, whose daughter died of suicide and whose husband has been distant ever since; Rory, who just lost her job and her boyfriend in the same day; and Sarah, whose husband is in jail and whose kids seem to hate her.

Each of these women goes through huge changes over the course of the book, rediscovering themselves as they search for solutions to their problems. I really enjoyed the hope and optimism in this story; even as bad things happen to the characters they seem to be constanting growing and moving towards achieving happiness in their lives.

I was expecting the characters' lives to be a little more intertwined, based on the summary (which actually uses the phrase "intertwined lives"). They actually don't even know each other, though they each have indirect connections to each other through mutual friends, and the ending does tie them together a bit more. It was really almost like reading three separate stories and jumping between them. However, I did like reading each of the stories involved, and really felt for Mims, Rory, and Sarah.

4 stars.

Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Reading Through Dewey Decimal: An Ongoing Personal Challenge

I started working at a library as a shelver in 2015, and I constantly see books on the shelves that I want to read. Working there makes me want to read about every subject and learn all kinds of new things. So I got the idea to read a book from every division of the Dewey Decimal Classification system!

The DDC splits information up into 10 classes (eg. the 200s are Religion, the 400s are Language, etc.), which are further divided into 100 divisions (eg. the 180s are Ancient, Medieval, and Eastern Philosophy, the 660s are Chemical Engineering, etc.). The 040s are unassigned, which leaves 99 divisions to read from.

I don't read anywhere near 99 non-fiction* books in a year (I don't know if I've read 99 non-fiction books in my life...), so this will be an ongoing challenge with no real deadline.

(* Note: Technically the DDC covers fiction, too, but I'm sticking to the non-fiction section of the library, since they don't use Dewey Decimal for fiction. There is, however, fiction in the non-fiction section, mainly in the 800s (Literature). So some fiction may be included in this challenge.)

This is just a personal challenge I'm doing, but if you're doing something similar please let me know in the comments below! I'll be curious to see what people find to read, particularly in areas that aren't in one's normal areas of interest.

I will be tracking my progress on the Reading Dewey page of this blog.

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

Title: Boy Meets Boy
Author: David Levithan
Publication Date: September 9, 2003
Length: 6 hours (audiobook)

Boy Meets Boy is a sweet teen romance story that takes place in a town that has more than the average amount of acceptance for LGBT+ people. Gay students are totally accepted by their peers, and a trans girl named Infinite Darlene is both the homecoming queen and the quarterback. The story is told by Paul, who meets the new boy, Noah, and falls head over heels. Of course, complications ensue, including an ex-boyfriend who suddenly needs Paul's help, and a best friend (Joni) who starts dating a total jerk.

I enjoyed the setting of this novel. While it's often described as utopian, David Levithan has said that he intended it to be basically the real world as it is currently becoming. Basically it's one town in which progress has been made to the point where LGBT+ people are just accepted for who they are. (It's not the whole world; just one town over is Paul's friend Tony, whose religious parents are more familiar to people living in the real world.) It was refreshing to read a story about gay characters whose biggest problems are misunderstandings with new boyfriends.

Tony was one of my favourite characters, showing the most growth over the course of the story. He goes from hiding his whole life from his parents to finally standing up to them and forcing them to see him as he really is.

One warning: I'm assuming it's because this book is over a decade old, but the treatment of Infinite Darlene is not the greatest. Throughout the story she seems to be pretty clearly portrayed as a trans girl, but then near the end they suddenly call her a drag queen. So, that was weird. In my mind she will remain definitely a girl, no matter how much football she plays.

On the audiobook: I listened to the Full Cast Audio production of this book, and it was excellent. I've read reviews of this book saying that the narrative was flat, but I think it's impossible to see it that way when hearing it read by Nicholas Robideau, who portrayed Paul in this edition. Good acting, music, and other sounds combined to make this better than the average audiobook I've listed to.

4 stars.

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon: The Late Hours (23:00-4:30)

Well, for the first time ever, I gave up early on a read-a-thon! From 11:00 until perhaps 2:00 or so, I was reading The Girlfriend by R.L. Stine, and it was sufficiently scary and suspenseful to keep me awake. However, when I finished that one and switched to The Prairie Dog Conspiracy by Eric Wilson, the exhaustion hit me. I also wasn't feeling great, so I decided to call it a night a couple hours early. I think that my everyday level of exhaustion lately was just too much for staying up for 24 hours to be physically possible! By the next read-a-thon, I will have substantially less homework, and hopefully will be better rested and able to complete the whole thing.

Total books read: 3.5
Total pages read: 833

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon: The Busy/Grumpy Hours (11:00-23:00)

So, I ended up being out of the house for a lot of the daytime hours. I carried a book with me and read when I could. Over the last 12 hours all I read was the Spike Omnibus, which is 465 pages long. I chose that book for the busy hours because I figured the graphic novels would go faster so I'd feel like I was making progress even when I wasn't reading steadily. I didn't take into account that this was also the longest book on my pile!

So basically I spent a chunk of this time out and about (granted, having fun with friends and with babies!) and another chunk of this time grumpy that I wasn't able to spend the whole read-a-thon at home reading. Oh well. Time to make the most of the overnight hours, when no one's awake to distract me! :D

Total pages so far: 614
Total books so far: 2

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon: The Early Hours (7:00-11:00)

Happy read-a-thon day!!!

I'll be updating sporadically throughout the day. I have a few places I have to be today (Alas, the whole world refuses to pause for the read-a-thon! What gives?), but I'll still be reading for the majority of the 24 hours.

Behold, my TBR pile!

So far, in the first 4 hours (parts of which were very sleepy), I have read The Attack (Animorphs #26) by K.A. Applegate, which is 149 pages long, so that's my total as of now! Not terribly impressive, but the first hour I was barely awake and after that there were constant minor interruptions! So hopefully my speed will improve and I'll make it through my pile by the end. :)

Happy reading everyone!

2016 Diversity on the Shelf Challenge

I'm happy to see someone's hosting this challenge again! This will be my third time participating. The first time made me realise that almost everything I read is by white people. The second time made me a little more aware of that and I did a bit better, but still way off balance. In hopes of continuing this trend, I'm moving up a level this year to 2nd shelf, challenging myself to read 7-12 books by or about people of colour.

Update: It is October and I've passed 12 books! So I'm now in the 3rd shelf level of 13 to 18 books. With all these graphic novels I've been reading I might just reach the 4th shelf!

Update: It's December 11th and I'm so pleased with my progress! I'm now up to 21 books, putting me firmly on the 4th shelf! If I can squeeze in 4 more by year's end (and I've got 3 in my pile at the moment) I'll reach the top level of the challenge!

I'll list the books I read for this challenge below.

1. Stealing Nasreen by Farzana Doctor
2. Sugar Falls: A Residential School Story by David Alexander Robertson
3. Princeless, vol. 2: Get Over Yourself by Jeremy Whitley
4. Princeless, vol. 3: The Pirate Princess by Jeremy Whitley
5. Princeless, vol. 1: Save Yourself by Jeremy Whitley
6. Amulet, vol. 1: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi
7. Amulet, vol. 2: The Stonekeeper's Curse by Kazu Kibuishi
8. Amulet, vol. 3: The Cloud Searchers by Kazu Kibuishi
9. Twin Spica, vol. 1 by Kou Yaginuma
10. The Good Little Book by Kyo Maclear
11. Twin Spica, vol. 2 by Kou Yaginuma
12. Twin Spica, vol. 3 by Kou Yaginuma
13. Deadlight Jack by Mark Onspaugh
14. Amulet, vol. 4: The Last Council by Kazu Kibuishi
15. Amulet, vol. 5: Prince of the Elves by Kazu Kibuishi
16. Beyond the Hundred Kingdoms (The Courageous Princess #1) by Rod Espinosa
17. Amulet, vol. 6: Escape from Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi
18. Twin Spica, vol. 4 by Kou Yaginuma
19. The Unremembered Lands (The Courageous Princess #2) by Rod Espinosa
20. Twin Spica, vol. 5 by Kou Yaginuma
21. Xander's Panda Party by Linda Sue Park

Honourable mentions:

1. Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer - Takes place in future China and therefore I assume most characters are Chinese, including Kai.
2. Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer - If Kai is in fact Asian then this one would count too, but again, it isn't made clear.

2016 Women Challenge

I'm always happy to sign up for the one challenge I never fail! :) A little over half of everything I read is written by women. But even though the challenge is easy for me, I like that it keeps me aware of the genders of the authors I read. I will once again be signing up for the level of Wonder Woman, requiring me to read 20+ books written by women.

I'll list the books I read for this challenge below.

1. Winds of L'Acadie by Lois Donovan
2. Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon
3. Stealing Nasreen by Farzana Doctor
4. Room by Emma Donoghue
5. No Humans Involved (Women of the Otherworld #7) by Kelley Armstrong
6. Allegiant (Divergent #3) by Veronica Roth
7. Born With Teeth by Kate Mulgrew
8. Dead Boy by Laurel Gale
9. Small Saul by Ashley Spires
10. Fairest of All (Whatever After #1) by Sarah Mlynowski
11. The Attack (Animorphs #26) by K.A. Applegate
12. Word Nerd by Susin Nielsen
13. The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
14. Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape by Jenna Miscavige Hill
15. Startled By His Furry Shorts (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson #7) by Louise Rennison
16. The Insomniacs by Karina Wolf
17. Love Is a Many Trousered Thing (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson #8) by Louise Rennison
18. The Selection (The Selection #1) by Kierra Cass
19. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne
20. The Exposed (Animorphs #27) by K.A. Applegate
21. The Experiment (Animorphs #28) by K.A. Applegate
22. Binky to the Rescue by Ashley Spires
23. MRS by Noa Grey
24. The Elite (The Selection #2) by Kierra Cass
25. The Good Little Book by Kyo Maclear
26. Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer
27. Squirmy Wormy: How I Learned to Help Myself by Lynda Farrington Wilson
28. The Sickness (Animorphs #29) by K.A. Applegate
29. Stop in the Name of Pants! (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson #9) by Louise Rennison
30. Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin
31. Stars in Her Eyes (Sparkstone Saga #1) by Clare C. Marshall
32. Roses and Rot by Kat Howard
33. Xander's Panda Party by Linda Sue Park
34. Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer