Historical Fiction 2014 Challenge Sign-up

January 2, 2014Leave a comment

A new year means a new historical fiction challenge hosted by Historical Tapestry!

The goal is very simple: read a certain number of historical fiction books in 2014. Any subgenre is welcome, including YA, fantasy, and mystery. There are several levels for this challenge, and I’m once again going to attempt Ancient History (at least 25 books). As always, I have tons of historical fiction on my TBR list, so my goal shouldn’t be too hard to accomplish! Click here for more information and to sign up.

Bout of Books 9.0 Sign-up

December 20, 2013Leave a comment

It’s time to sign up for the 9th edition of the Bout of Books read-a-thon! Here’s how it works, as per the Bout of Books team:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 6th and runs through Sunday, January 12th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 9.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog.

As you can see, the fun begins on January 6 and lasts through January 12. There will be a ton of fun mini-challenges and a chance to win prizes, so join us! I’m looking forward to kicking off 2014 with some great books!

What’s in a Name 2014 Challenge Sign-up

December 10, 2013December 10, 20132 Comments

Time to sign up for next year’s What’s in a Name Challenge, hosted by The Worm Hole!

The rules are simple: Read a book for each one of the designated categories sometime in 2014:

A reference to time (Eleven Minutes, Before Ever After)
A position of royalty (The People’s Queen, The Last Empress, The Curse Of The Pharaoh)
A number written in letters (The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, A Tale Of Two Cities)
A forename or names (Rebecca, Eleanor & Park, The Unfinished Work Of Elizabeth D.)
A type or element of weather (Gone With The Wind, Red Earth Pouring Rain)

Categories and examples are taken verbatim from the host’s web page.

I have really enjoyed this challenge in the past, and I’m looking forward to finding titles for each one of these categories! Click here for more information and to sign up.

2014 Monthly Motifs Challenge Sign-up

November 11, 20132 Comments

What do you know, I found another 2014 challenge that looks like fun! This one’s called the Monthly Motifs Challenge, hosted by Bookmark to Blog:

The challenge host has picked a different theme for each month, and the goal is to read at least one book per month that fits that month’s theme. Here are the motifs (taken verbatim from the challenge sign-up post):

Jan- Around the World
Choose a book to read that takes place in a country different than the one you live in or choose a book written by an author that is from a country different than your own.

Feb- Award Winner
Read a book that has won recognition or a literary award. Here’s a list of literary awards to help you get started on your search: Literary Awards.

Mar- Fairy tales or Fairy Creatures
Read a fairy tale retelling or a book with fey/fairies in it.

Apr- Short & Sweet
Read a collection of short stories or anthologies.

May- Mystery, Murder, & Mayhem
Read a murder/mystery book, a book in which someone dies of mysterious causes, or a book in which a mystery must be solved.

June- A Long Journey
Read a book in which the character(s) take a trip, go on a quest, or find themselves on a journey toward something, etc.

July- Assassins, Warriors, & Rebels
Read a book in which the main character is one of these things or fights against one of these things.

Aug- Alternate Reality
Read a book that’s set in the future, on another planet, in another dimension, or in an unknown world. A Dystopian book will count this month as well.

Sep- Book to Movie
Read a book that has a movie based off of it. For an extra challenge, see the movie as well.

Oct- The Witching Hour
There’s been a lot of zombies lately, but this year include a ‘witchy’ book in your scary reads- a book about a witch or a book that has witches in it.

Nov- An Oldie but a Goodie
Pick a book published before 2000 that you’ve always wanted to read, but just never got to. Or pick a book set in the past (before 2000).

Dec- That’s a Wrap
Finish a series you’ve been meaning to finish or read the next book in a series you started but never finished.

I’ve definitely got some ideas for most (if not all) of these motifs already! If you’re interested, go here to get more info and sign up!

2014 TBR Pile Challenge Sign-up

November 11, 20132 Comments

As someone whose TBR pile is out of control, I think the 2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge will be not only fun, but necessary!

The basic idea is to read books that have been sitting on your shelves unread for a while. Pretty much everything counts, as long as it’s something you owned before January 1, 2014. There are many levels for this challenge, and I’m going to aim for “First Kiss,” which entails reading 21-30 books from my TBR shelves. It looks like there will be monthly discussion posts and an opportunity to win prizes, so click here for more information and to sign up!

Vintage Mystery Bingo Sign-up

November 11, 20135 Comments

Once again, it’s that special time of year…time to sign up for next year’s reading challenges! And my first pick for 2014 is one of my favorites, the vintage mystery challenge hosted by Bev at My Reader’s Block.

Every year, the basic idea is the same: Read a bunch of vintage mysteries, with “vintage” being defined as anything published before 1960. But every year, Bev spices things up a bit with some sort of interesting twist on the theme. This year, challenge participants will be playing BINGO on either the Golden Age card, the Silver Age card, or both! Click here to see the cards, get more information about the challenge, and sign up!

I’m going to commit to a fairly simple challenge: one straight-line BINGO (either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) on the Golden Age card.

It will be a challenge, but I’ve got a lot of vintage mysteries on the TBR list for 2014! I know I’ll be starting off the year with Rex Stout’s Fer-de-Lance, which could work for a number of spaces. Beyond that, I’ll just have to see how it goes!

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril VIII Sign-up

August 26, 201322 Comments

The long-awaited R.I.P. VIII reading event is here!

R.I.P. is a bookish event that happens every year from September 1 through October 31. To get into the spirit of fall, readers choose books that fit into one (or more) of the following genres:

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.
Or anything sufficiently moody that shares a kinship with the above.

One of the great things about R.I.P. is that you can pick your degree of difficulty. There are multiple levels for the challenge — including an option to read only one book that fits the criteria — and you can also choose to watch movies or read short stories within the above genres.

As you can see, I’ve chosen Peril the First, which requires me to read at least 4 books that qualify for the challenge. I am planning to read: (1) The Club of Angels by Luis Fernando Verissimo; (2) Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire; (3) A Whiff of Death by Isaac Asimov; (4) Royal Blood by Rhys Bowen; (5) The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater; (6) Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury; (7) The Roman Hat Mystery by Ellery Queen; (8) Million Dollar Baby by Amy Patricia Meade; and (9) Shadows by Robin McKinley.

Are you planning to participate in R.I.P. VIII? What are you going to read?

Bout of Books 8.0 Sign-up

August 12, 20132 Comments

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 19th and runs through Sunday, August 25th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 8.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

I’ve always enjoyed this read-a-thon in the past, so I’m excited to do it again this summer! I haven’t figured out what my personal goals will be yet, but I’ll be posting them shortly before the event kicks off. There are over 200 participants, so clearly all the cool kids are doing it. Click here to sign up!

Once Upon a Time VII Challenge Sign-up

March 20, 2013March 20, 201310 Comments

Contrary to what the weather gods would have us believe, it’s springtime once again…which means it’s time for Carl’s annual Once Upon a Time Challenge!

The purpose of the challenge is to celebrate the joy and wonder of spring by reading books in the following four genres: fantasy, fairy tales, mythology, and folklore. There are many different ways to participate in the challenge, but I’m going to aim for Quest the First, which requires me to read 5 books that fit into the above genres.

I’m hoping at least to read Mary Stewart’s Merlin books, which would certainly fit within the mythology category. Also on my “maybe” list are The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen, Spirit’s End by Rachel Aaron, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, Child of the Prophecy by Juliet Marillier, and Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire. Looking forward to a magical spring!

Bout of Books 6.0 Goals and Progress

January 2, 2013January 14, 201323 Comments

Happy New Year! I’ve sadly neglected this blog for the past couple of weeks, as I’ve been busy traveling and making merry. But with the arrival of 2013, I’m ready to jump back into blogging — and what better way to do that than joining the Bout of Books 6.0 read-a-thon? Here’s some info about the event, taken directly from the BoB website:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 7th and runs through Sunday, January 13th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 6.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. -From the Bout of Books 6.0 team

For this read-a-thon, I’m not going to set myself any specific goals other than to read every day. I just plan to read as much as possible and enjoy myself! I’ll edit this post every day of the read-a-thon with my daily progress, so stay tuned!

Monday 1/7: I probably picked the worst time to start reading a very long book, but what can you do? Today I read a mere 18 pages of Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove, a Pulitzer-winning Western weighing in at over 900 pages. My new goal is to finish it during the read-a-thon, but I definitely won’t make it at this rate!

Tuesday 1/8: Thirty-three more pages in Lonesome Dove! I’m doing so well on this read-a-thon! </sarcasm> But it’s fun to participate anyway. I did do Ms. Buff‘s mini-challenge about our favorite book cover and our funniest book cover. My answers were:

I totally love the new covers for Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series. Here are links to books 1 and 2, The Eyre Affair and Lost in a Good Book. As for funniest cover, I definitely have to go with Lords of Desire. OK, guy, your sword is really big; we get it!

Wednesday 1/9: Here’s my entry for today’s mini-challenge at Booking in Heels:

Original sentence from p. 48 of Lonesome Dove: “I might do that,” Dish said.

“I might do that,” Dish said. “But eloping with you would hurt my family grievously! Bowl would have a meltdown – and surely Knife and Fork wouldn’t be too pleased with me either.” “None of that matters,” replied Spoon, “for I love you so. Run away with me!”

Also, I actually had a respectable reading day, with 56 more pages read.

Thursday 1/10: Seventy-two pages read in Lonesome Dove. I’m up to p. 193 now, which is pretty good, I guess…but then, I still have about 750 more pages to go!

Friday 1/11: A bad reading day — only 12 more pages read! Hopefully I can make some real progress over the weekend.

Saturday 1/12: A dismal 9 pages. I am really failing at this read-a-thon…although I guess I’m achieving my goal to read every day. I just wish I’d had more time and energy to devote to reading this week!

Sunday 1/13: I couldn’t resist the New Year’s resolution mini-challenge at Ex Libris! The idea is to pick one or several characters from a novel of your choice and make up what their New Year’s resolutions would be. Obviously I had to pick Pride and Prejudice, as it’s my favorite book in all the world! It was way too much fun to make up resolutions for some of the characters:

Elizabeth Bennet resolves not to make fun of people…unless they REALLY deserve it!
Jane Bennet resolves to stop thinking about a certain gentleman who has stopped pursuing her. If only he weren’t so sweet and charming and perfect!
Lydia Bennet resolves to break the hearts of at least 10 officers.
Mr. Bingley resolves to stand up to Mr. Darcy for once…ahem, maybe tomorrow!
Mr. Darcy resolves NOT to fall in love with Miss Elizabeth Bennet.
Caroline Bingley resolves to get Mr. Darcy’s ring on her finger — by any means necessary!
Lady Catherine de Bourgh resolves to stay exactly the same. You can’t improve on perfection!

Also read 80 pages on this last day of the read-a-thon. At least I didn’t let the whole weekend go to waste!