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

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.

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:

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