Tag: wrap-up

R.I.P. VIII Challenge Wrap-up

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I’m a bit late to the game here, but the eighth annual R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril event officially ended on October 31.

RIP VIII

The purpose of this event was to read books that fell within the genres of mystery, suspense, thriller, dark fantasy, gothic, horror, supernatural, or anything else sufficiently dark/spooky/autumnal. I attempted Peril the First, which asked me to read at least 4 books that met the challenge criteria.

RIP VIII peril the first

Fortunately, I managed to do a lot of perilous reading in September and October! Here’s what I read:

  1. Luis Fernando Verissimo, The Club of Angels
  2. Rhys Bowen, Royal Blood
  3. Isaac Asimov, A Whiff of Death
  4. Seanan McGuire, Chimes at Midnight
  5. Amy Patricia Meade, Million Dollar Baby
  6. Maggie Stiefvater, The Dream Thieves
  7. Robin McKinley, Shadows
  8. Ellery Queen, The Roman Hat Mystery
  9. Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes

Links will take you to my reviews. Overall, my favorite books were The Club of Angels, Chimes at Midnight, and The Dream Thieves. My least favorite was undoubtedly Something Wicked This Way Comes.

Did you participate in R.I.P. VIII? If so, what did you read? What were your favorite and least favorite books of the challenge? (Also, don’t forget to link to your wrap-up posts here!)

Bout of Books 8.0 Wrap-Up

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Bout of BooksAs of 11:59 p.m. last night, Bout of Books 8.0 is officially over. I have to admit, I didn’t actually reach most of my goals: I didn’t manage to read every day (Sunday fail), and I only finished one book instead of the two I’d hoped for. But I did participate in way more than three mini-challenges, so at least I had some success! I really enjoyed doing the challenges…they were all very creative and very different from one another. The read-a-thon also motivated me to read more than I otherwise would have, so I’m glad I participated, even if I didn’t 100% meet my goals. And as always, it was so much fun to meet other bloggers! Thanks to all those who stopped by my blog…I’ve definitely found some great new people to follow!

Once Upon a Time VII Wrap-Up

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Today marks the end of Carl’s Once Upon a Time VII event, which takes place every spring and which asks participants to read books from the genres of fantasy, fairy tales, mythology, and folklore.

Once Upon a Time VII

As always, there were many challenge levels to choose from, and I picked Quest the First: Read 5 books that fit into any of the requested genres.

Quest the First VII

I achieved my goal by reading the following:

  1. Mary Stewart, The Crystal Cave — The first book in a series retelling the Arthurian legend from Merlin’s point of view.
  2. Diana Wynne Jones, Fire and Hemlock — A contemporary (in the 1980s) interpretation of the folk ballads “Thomas the Rhymer” and “Tam Lin.”
  3. Robin LaFevers, Grave Mercy — A YA historical fantasy featuring romance and convent-trained assassins.
  4. Marie Brennan, A Natural History of Dragons– — A fantasy novel set in a world similar to 19th-century England, but with dragons.
  5. Robin LaFevers, Dark Triumph — Book 2 of the killer nuns!

I wasn’t a big fan of The Crystal Cave, but I liked all the other books I read for this challenge! Spring is the perfect time for a little magic, in my opinion. Looking forward to Carl’s R.I.P. challenge this fall!

24-Hour Read-a-Thon Wrap-Up

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24 hour read a thon

Another 24-hour read-a-thon has come and gone! I really enjoyed myself this year…I think I did more mini-challenges than ever before, and I visited a lot of new blogs. I also liked all of the books I chose to read, although I wish I could have read even more. Altogether I read from 4 books, finished 2, and read 1 from beginning to end — 823 pages total. Here are my answers for the end-of-event meme:

Which hour was most daunting for you? — Uh, whatever hour I stopped! I think it was Hour 17.
Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? — I’d definitely recommend Gemma Burgess’ A Girl Like You, which I read this year, and also anything by Kristan Higgins or Julie James if you’re into romances. Last year I read Tina Fey’s Bossypants and found it a quick and hysterical read!
Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? — I honestly don’t have any complaints this year; from my perspective, everything seemed to go really smoothly!
How many books did you read? — See above. 🙂
What were the names of the books you read? — A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan (last half), A Girl Like You by Gemma Burgess, The Birth of Blue Satan by Patricia Wynn (first 100 pages or so), and The Count of Monte Cristo (about 7 chapters).
Which book did you enjoy most? — Really liked all of them!
Which did you enjoy least? — I honestly don’t have a least favorite.
If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? — I wasn’t a cheerleader, but I do want to thank all of you who cheered for this read-a-thon. Your hard work kept my morale high!
How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? — Oh, I’ll definitely be back. 🙂 I will certainly be a reader, but I’d love to host a mini-challenge at some point too.

Bout of Books 6.0 Wrap-up

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Bout of Books Read-a-ThonAs of yesterday, the Bout of Books 6.0 Read-a-Thon is officially over. I did accomplish my goal of reading every day, but ultimately I didn’t read as much as I wanted to. Overall, I read 280 pages of Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove. This isn’t totally insignificant, but the book is so long that 280 pages feels like a mere drop in the bucket! Still, I’m glad I participated in this read-a-thon; some days it was the only motivation I had to read at all! Hope everyone else had a fun and productive experience.

Back to the Classics 2012 Challenge Wrap-Up

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With only two weeks to spare, I’ve finally finished the Back to the Classics Challenge hosted by Sarah Reads Too Much!

The challenge was to read nine classics, one in each of the following categories. The definition of a “classic” was kept pretty open, but I tried to limit myself to books that are widely acclaimed, frequently studied, and/or generally accepted as Western classics. Here’s what I read:

19th century classic: Jules Verne, Around the World in Eighty Days
20th century classic: Evelyn Waugh, A Handful of Dust
Reread a classic: Jane Austen, Emma
Classic play: Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie
Classic mystery/horror/crime: Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon
Classic romance: Daphne Du Maurier, Jamaica Inn
Classic in translation: Aristotle, Poetics
Award-winning classic: Booth Tarkington, Alice Adams
Classic set in a country you’ll never visit: Edwin A. Abbott, Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions

My favorite book of the challenge was definitely Emma (is anyone really surprised by that?), but I also really enjoyed Around the World in Eighty Days. My least favorites were The Maltese Falcon (sorry, Dashiell!) and Jamaica Inn. I’m glad I participated in this challenge, since it gave me the motivation I needed finally to pick up some of these books!

Vintage Mysteries 2012 Challenge Completed!

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Today I completed the 2012 Vintage Mystery Challenge hosted by My Reader’s Block!

The challenge was to read eight vintage mysteries (published before 1960) that fit within a particular theme. I chose the “Golden Age Girls” theme, which required me to read eight vintage mysteries written by women. Here’s what I read:

  1. M.M. Kaye, Death in Kenya
  2. Georgette Heyer, Why Shoot a Butler?
  3. Josephine Bell, Death at Half-Term
  4. Josephine Tey, Brat Farrar
  5. Georgette Heyer, The Unfinished Clue
  6. M.M. Kaye, Death in Zanzibar
  7. Josephine Tey, The Man in the Queue
  8. Anna Katharine Green, The Leavenworth Case

Strangely enough, my favorite and least favorite books from this challenge were both by Josephine Tey! I really liked Brat Farrar, but The Man in the Queue did nothing for me. I enjoyed this challenge overall, though, and I look forward to starting the 2013 Vintage Mystery Challenge in a few short weeks!

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril VII Wrap-up

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Well, another October is over, thus ending the R.I.P. VII event at Stainless Steel Droppings.

This event asked participants to read books from the following genres:

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

My goals were to read at least two novels and some short stories that fit the criteria. Happily, I managed to exceed my expectations! Here’s what I read:

  1. Seanan McGuire, Ashes of Honor (fantasy/supernatural)
  2. Susanna Clarke, The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories (gothic, dark fantasy, short stories)
  3. Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book (dark fantasy/horror)
  4. Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon (mystery/thriller)
  5. Maggie Stiefvater, The Raven Boys (fantasy/supernatural)
  6. Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl (thriller)

So I’m pleased with my perilous reading this fall and look forward to next year’s R.I.P. event! What did you read?

24-Hour Read-a-Thon Wrap-up

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Well, the October 2012 24-hour read-a-thon has officially come to an end.

I participated until about 12:30 am, a little more than 16 hours. Here’s the end-of-event survey:

  1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Hour 17, the hour in which I fell asleep!
  2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? The Westing Game was great because it was an engaging mystery but also a short children’s book. For read-a-thons, short is good.
  3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Not really; I think it went pretty well!
  4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I appreciated that the posts for each hour kept track of all the ongoing challenges and challenge winners. It’s great to have everything centrally located like that!
  5. How many books did you read? Three, plus a little bit of a fourth.
  6. What were the names of the books you read? The Assassin’s Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, My One and Only by Kristan Higgins, and a little bit of The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.
  7. Which book did you enjoy most? Honestly, all of them!
  8. Which did you enjoy least? N/A.
  9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? I wasn’t a cheerleader.
  10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Oh, I’ll definitely be back for more read-a-thons! I’ll be a reader, and I’d like to host a mini-challenge at some point.

Sure, my progress wasn’t super amazing — only 3 books (and less than 900 pages) read. But I had fun, and I got to read all day long, so I’m not complaining! Congratulations to all who participated, especially those who made it through all 24 hours! And thanks to everyone who stopped by — I really appreciate it!

What’s in a Name 5 Challenge Wrap-Up

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Today I completed the What’s in a Name 5 challenge, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

The rules were to read one book in each of the following categories in 2012. (The list of categories is taken directly from the Beth Fish Reads blog.)

  1. A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title: Elizabeth Chadwick, The Marsh King’s Daughter
  2. A book with something you’d see in the sky in the title: Sharon Shinn, Dark Moon Defender
  3. A book with a creepy crawly in the title: Jean Webster, Daddy-Long-Legs
  4. A book with a type of house in the title: Natasha Solomons, The House at Tyneford
  5. A book with something you’d carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title: Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book
  6. A book with a something you’d find on a calendar in the title: Jules Verne, Around the World in Eighty Days

I love challenges that involve the titles of books; they provide  a chance to get creative and read a variety of different genres and styles. If there’s a What’s in a Name 6, I’ll definitely sign up!