by Kay | Jan 2, 2015 | Reading Challenges |
I am heading into a whole new world of challenges this year – most of them exploring genres I am very new too! From Audiobooks to Graphic Novels, these challenges cover the whole literary spectrum.
The Graphic Novel/Manga Challenge – Complete (kinda)
The Challenge? To read graphic novels, collected trade editions, manga, comic strip collections, comic books. In print or digital.
The Host? The lovelies over here.
Level? Bronze Age: read and review 24 books during the year
Thoughts? I think I made it through at least 24 last year (during my noobie-comic binge!) so I think I can keep it up this year!
Progress:
- Alpha and Omega Volume 1 – DNF! Review to come.
- Daredevil, Vol. 7: Hardcore by Brian Michael Bendis – 4 stars
- Thor: God of Thunder, Vol. 3: The Accursed by Jason Aaron – 1.5 stars
- Bodies by Si Spencer – 4 stars
- Saga, Volume 2 by Brian K. Vaughan – 4 stars
- Daredevil, Vol. 8: Echo by David W. Mack – 2.5 stars
- Ms. Marvel, Vol. 2: Generation Why by G. Willow Wilson – 5 stars
- Avengers Undercover Vol. 2: Going Native by Dennis Hopeless – 1 star
- Ms. Marvel, Vol. 3: Crushed by G. Willow Wilson – 5 stars
- Original Sin: Hulk vs. Iron Man by Mark Waid – 3 stars
- Original Sin: Thor & Loki: The Tenth Realm by Al Ewing – 4 stars
- Captain Marvel, Vol. 1: Higher, Further, Faster, More by Kelly Sue DeConnick – 5 stars
- Captain Marvel, Vol. 2: Stay Fly by Kelly Sue DeConnick – 5 stars
- New Avengers, Vol. 4: Perfect World by Jonathan Hickman – 4 stars
- Captain Marvel, Vol. 3: Alis Volat Propriis by Kelly Sue DeConnick – 5 stars
- Rocket Raccoon, Vol. 2: Storytailer by Skottie Young – 4 stars
- Avengers: Time Runs Out, Vol. 1 by Jonathan Hickman – 3 stars
- Avengers World, Vol. 4: Before Times Runs Out by Frank Barbiere – 3 stars
- Avengers: Time Runs Out, Vol. 2 by Jonathan Hickman – 3.5 stars
- Avengers: Time Runs Out, Vol. 3 by Jonathan Hickman – 4 star
- Avengers: Time Runs Out, Vol. 4 by Jonathan Hickman – 3 stars
- Gotham Academy, Vol. 1: Welcome to Gotham Academy by Becky Cloonan – 4 stars
- Superior Iron Man, Vol. 1: Infamous by Tom Taylor – 4 stars
- Superior Iron Man, Vol. 2: Stark Contrast by Tom Taylor – 3 stars
- Thor: God of Thunder, Vol. 4: The Last Days of Midgard by Jason Aaron – 4.5 stars
- Spider-Gwen, Vol. 0: Most Wanted? by Jason Latour – 4 stars
The Audiobook Challenge – Complete
The Challenge? To find a new love for audios or to outdo yourself by listening to more audios in 2015 than you did in 2014.
The Host? Book Nympho and Hot Listens
Level? Weekend Warrior (I’m getting the hang of this) 5-10
Thoughts? I listened to a bunch of audio books in the days leading up to the new year (another example of book binging!) – taking me from a “never listened to one before” gal to an audiobook appreciator. I think I can manage another 10 this year for sure!
Progress:
- Legends of the Ferengi by Ira Steven Behr – 4.5 stars
- Emissary by J.M. Dillard – 3 stars
- Warped by K.W. Jeter – 2 stars
- The Devil’s Heart by Carmen Carter – 2 stars
- Ship of the Line by Diane Carey – 4 stars
- Prime Directive by Judith Reeves-Stevens – 3 stars
- Star Trek Next Generation: Imzadi by Peter David – 2 stars
- Windows on a Lost World by V.E. Mitchell – 3 stars
- Star Trek Cacophony: A Captain Sulu Adventure by John Malloy – 3 stars
Deal Me In! Challenge on hold
The Challenge? To read 52 short stories in 2015
The Host? Bibliophilica
Level? The “Full” Deal Me In challenge – all 52 stories
Thoughts? I am VERY excited about this one! I came across the 2014 sign-up post a few months ago and KNEW I had to take part. I am still tinkering with my list, but one thing won’t be changing: the Spades are all for Sherlock! See my story list here.
Goodreads Challenge
Kay has
read 7 books toward her goal of 75 books.
by Kay | Dec 29, 2013 | Reading Challenges |
It’s the most wonderful time of the year: challenge season! I always love joining reading challenges, and this year is no exception. 🙂 
Hosted by Read. Sleep. Repeat. – I did really well with my series in 2013, and next year is going to be even better! I am shooting to complete/get up to date with 7-11 series (Gold Badge). Totally feasible… right? Right. Plan to complete (completed in bold):
- Forever Trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater
- Gallagher Girls Series by Ally Carter
- Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy by Laini Taylor
- Mercy Series by Rebecca Lim
- Razorland Trilogy by Ann Aguirre!
- Immortal Beloved Trilogy by Cate Tiernan
- Succubus series by Richelle Mead
- Alpha & Omega series by Patricia Briggs
Hosted by Coffee Bean Bookshelf – This challenge pushes us to read books published before January 1st 2014… so, basically what we currently have on our shelves! I am going to shoot for 20 books… though please GOD let me read more than that! I really need to work on clearing off my shelves!
- Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell
- Goblin Secrets by William Alexander
- Horde by Ann Aguirre
- Shadows by Paula Weston
- Fair Game by Patricia Briggs
- Succubus Heat by Richelle Mead
- Succubus Shadows by Richelle Mead
- Succubus Revealed by Richelle Mead
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
- Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs
- The Maze Runner by James Dashner
- Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter
- Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
- A Clash of Kings by George R R Martin
- Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter
- Until I Die by Amy Plum
- United we Spy by Ally Carter
- Eve and Adam by Katherine Applegate and Micheal Grant
- Mosaic by Jeri Taylor
- Q-In-Law by Peter David
- Dark Mirror by Diane Duane
- Fallen Heroes by Dafydd ab Hugh
- The Valiant by Michael Jan Friedman
- Relics by Michael Jan Friedman
Goodreads Challenge – Complete!
Kay has completed her goal of reading 53 books in 2014!
Abandoned Challenges
Hosted by Bookmark to Blog – It’s been years since I’ve tried to do a themed challenge! I always used to, well, fail completely at them. But this year I have hope! Also, the Key Words allows for tweaking i.e. “Cinder” or “Ashes” for the key word ‘Fire’.
- JAN– Angel, Secret, Clock, Black, Day, Wild – Goblin Secrets by William Alexander
- FEB– Her, Life, Night, Red, Dark, Island – Shadows by Paula Weston
- MAR– Forever, Inside, Storm, Sky, Flower, Stay – Forever by Maggie Stiefvater?
- APR– Star, Light, Never, Princess, Break, Clear
- MAY– Dawn, Death, End, Lost, Beautiful, And
- JUN– Color, Beyond, Found, Place, Grave, Road
- JUL– Crash, Ship, Prince, Whisper, Sun, Of
- AUG– Forgotten, Down, True, Run, Danger, Me
- SEP– Number, Take, Shadow, Ice, Who, After
- OCT– Ocean, Blood, Still, Out, The, Fate
- NOV– Into, Sound, Blue, House, My, Last
- DEC– Kiss, Fire, Ruin, White, Promise, Infinity
by Kay | Dec 10, 2013 | Events for the Bookish, Reading Challenges |
So, you might have heard that I am shooting for the near impossible: reading 18 books in December in order to complete my Goodreads challenge. I’m on track so far… but I can feel a lull coming on. Spotting the End of the Year 2013 Readathon hosted by Jenny from Juliababyjen’s Reading Room and Dana from Danasquare was just the motivation I needed!
They’ve got daily challenges and events scheduled – so there is plenty to keep me motivated. I am going to be using this post for daily updates and to post my challenge entries. It should be fun!
Progress
5/12 read!
I’ve got to get through 18 books before January 1st, and 12 books during this readathon.
December 9 – The TBR Pile
My TBR Pile for this challenge is based off my December TBR posted a few days ago:
- The Sign of Four by ACD – 3 stars
- Endgame by Ann Aguirre – 5 stars
- Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
- The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett
- I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter – 3.5 stars
- Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
- Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle
- Succubus Heat by Richelle Mead
- Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell
- Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
- The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle
- Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas – 3 stars
- Letters from Santa Claus by J.R.R. Tolkien
– 4 stars
December 10 – Teaser Challenge
All you have to do is open the current book you are reading to a random page and post 2 sentences. – Book Loving Hippo
So, I am cheating on this challenge a bit! But this quote is too funny to select just two sentences from…
“You’re never going to let me live this down, are you?”
“Probably not. It is possible, however, that in five hundred turns, neural decay will set in, and I will no longer recall how hilarious this is.”
“You’re an evil, evil Bug.”
– Endgame by Ann Aguirre
December 13 – Favorite Book-to-Movie Release in 2013
Today’s challenge is hosted by Falling for YA.
Quite predictably, my favourite Book-to-Movie adaptation of the year is Catching Fire. Surprise, Surprise. BUT, if TV Shows counted, I’d say my favourite adaptation is the TV show Elementary. That show is beyond fantastic and probably edging out Sherlock (BBC) as my favourite Sherlock Holmes adaptation!
December 14 – Seasonal Challenge
This challenge is hosted by Book Briefs. We’ve got to choose books we’ve read in 2013 to fit these categories…
Recommend a book good for a snow day:
Letters from Santa Claus by J.R.R. Tolkien
Recommend a book good for a rainy day:
These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman
Recommend a book good for a beach day:
Heist Society by Ally Carter
Recommend a book good for a spooky night:
Sweetly by Jackson Pearce
by Kay | Nov 22, 2013 | Reading Challenges |
I’ve decided to embrace the Christmas spirit this year, and have signed up for the Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge hosted by The True Book Addict. It sounds like quite a bit of fun, and gives me an excuse to buy some books that have been sitting on my wishlist for a couple of years!
Details:
- challenge will run from Friday, November 22, 2013 through Monday, January 6, 2014 (Twelfth Night or Epiphany).
- cross over with other challenges is totally permitted AND encouraged!
- These must be Christmas novels, books about Christmas lore, a book of Christmas short stories or poems, books about Christmas crafts, and for the first time…a children’s Christmas books level!
I am going for the Mistletoe level (2-4 books) and for Fa La La La Films (watching Christmas movies – which I usually do anyhow!). I am also taking part in the Christmas Spirit Read-a-Thon this weekend (Friday, November 22 through Sunday, November 24).
My Christmas to-tackle list:
- Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
- Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle
- Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas
Readathon Updates:
I started the Sherlock Holmes’ novel The Sign of the Four on Saturday. Perfect wintery novel… I always think Victorian-setting novels make for the best snowed-in reads. Just add candlelight et voila!
On Sunday, I mostly read Rick Yancy’s The 5th Wave. I said to myself, “As God is my witness, I am going to FINISH this BLOODY BOOK.” And behold, I succeeded. Yay!
by Kay | Jan 5, 2013 | Reading Challenges |
I’ve got quite a few, rather specific, reading/blogging resolutions for 2013. I’ve read that specificity and planning are the keys to successful resolutions, so this year I’ve got some concrete plans.
1. Read My Favourites
It isn’t “normal” to hoard your favourite authors and then not read them: but then, I’ve never been accused of being normal!
Some of my favourite authors and series are sitting on my TBR pile – guaranteed good reads that I haven’t got to yet. This might seem mad to you, but I like to hoard books that I know I am going to like… problem is, sometimes I get to them and the magic has worn off (or I’ve forgotten the name of the main character). This year I won’t let that happen! Here’s a few that I will definitely be reading:
- Endgame by Ann Aguirre
- Fire by Kristin Cashore
- Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
- Blue-Blooded Vamp by Jaye Wells
- Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
- Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
2. Finish the sequels
2012 saw quite a few books started and then left unfinished, many of them sequels to series I’ve genuinely enjoyed in the past. The three below I put down for very good reasons at the time, but they are still haunting me… and I really want to move on and read their sequels:
- Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
- A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
- The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien
3. Relax and enjoy whatever it is I’m reading… but remember the books!
I felt a wee-bit guilty about all the fanfic I read last year… but it was all so good. This year I am going to try not to feel guilty… while also picking up more books. I know the two can coexist – I’ve done it before!
4. Remember my challenges
I always go a bit challenge-mad at the end of the year… and then never complete them. While I am self-aware enough to know that probably won’t change, I want to try this year! Even if I don’t complete them, I would like to make some solid attempts. This year I’ve signed up to:
- NewAuthors Challenge
- The TBR Double Dog Dare (1 Jan. to 1 Apr.)
- The Feminist Reads Challenge
- Book to Movie Challenge
- YA Contemporary Challenge
and am keeping track of them all
here.
5. Schedule posts
I am a chronic sufferer of bloggers block – it’s official. My plan for 2013: schedule posts when I am having a blogging-high so that I don’t feel too guilty during my blogger-slumps!
6. Make the move to WordPress
I’ve gotten rather fed up with blogger, especially since Google took it over. My experience with wordpress has, on the other hand, been nothing but brilliant. However, making the move will take time that I don’t currently have. Maybe this summer? Let’s hope!And… that’s all! I don’t think I’ve set the bar too high – most of these are things I’d like to do anyways. ♥
by Kay | Jan 5, 2013 | Reading Challenges |
Another year, another bout of challenges… and I loooove challenges. This year I’ve chosen a bunch of new-to-me challenges, and I am super excited about them all.
Year-long Challenges
Completed!
The aim of this challenge is to read books by new-to-us authors. I’ve taken part in Literary Escapism’s mini-challenges for this New Authors Challenge before, and found loads of great books from it. This year, I’m going all the way and will read 15 books – hopefully most from my TBR pile.
- Sarah Dessen (Last Chance)
- Ally Carter (Heist Society)
- Saci Lloyd (Quantum Drop)
- Jackson Pearce (Sweetly)
- John Green (The Fault in Our Stars)
- Neil Gaiman (Neverwhere)
- Ruta Sepetys (Out of the Easy)
- Elizabeth George (The Edge of Nowhere)
- Amanda Sun (Ink)
- Katie McGarry (Dare You To)
- Susan Ee (Angelfall)
- Faith Erin Hicks (The Adventures of Superhero Girl)
- Eve Silver (Rush)
- Alice Hoffman (Survival Lessons)
- Rick Yancey (The 5th Wave)
Completed!
The Feminist Reads Challenge at The Hiding Spot (sign up page)
This challenge encourages you to read books that can be considered “feminist” reads. How we define feminism is up to us, but Sara at The Hiding Spot gives us this great quote for inspiration:
“I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat.”– Rebecca West
I’m going for just 5 books, but I honestly think most of the books I read are feminist books so I will get more than that done.
- Heist Society by Ally Carter – Girl decides to save her father by pulling off the greatest art heist ever. Can’t get any more equal-opportunities than that!
- Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead – Some might not agree with me, but I have always thought Rose was the ultimate female character.
- Scarlet by Marissa Meyer – Scarlet was the perfect YA feminist character. She doesn’t let any social barriers stand in her way!
- Angelfall by Susan Ee – Angelfall’s heroine easily meets my definition of a feminist role model. The fact that she was female was only secondary to her situation and she sorted out anyone who disagreed.
- The Adventures of Superhero Girl by Faith Erin Hicks – This is the ultimate Feminist comic! Absolute must for… everyone.
- Outpost by Ann Aguirre – Deuce doesn’t let an entire horde of puritans tell her what she can and can’t do as a woman. She’s having none of it.
This is a double challenge: to review books and their movies. Since I’ve got quite a few I’d like to read before their films come out, this is the perfect challenge for me! I’m going for 3 books, “Movie Fan” level, and plan to tackle:
- Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
- Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
- The Two Towers by JRR Tolkien – I’m half way through this and keep meaning to finish it. I plan to pair it up with a rewatch of the movie!
Mini Challenges and Dares!
COMPLETE: 1 January to 1 April
The TBR Double Dog Dare at Ready When You Are, CB (sign up here)
This challenge is super brilliant, and may just be my favourite of the year. It’s not a challenge, it’s a dare: to read books only from our TBR piles until the beginning of April. Seeing as how I really, really need to deal with my mounting TBR pile, this dare is exactly what I need!
- Last Chance by Sarah Dessen
- Heist Society by Ally Carter
- Sweetly by Jackson Pearce
- Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
ETA: OK, so I cracked and read a few new-to-my-shelves books. I’d apologize but… they were all really good!
