Reading Challenges 2010

2010 is turning out to be the year of nothing-will-going-as-per-plan.
I havent had time for the blog, or to read even...but better late than never..I'm making my lists..and catching up on reviews.

The 2010 YA Reading Challenge:

I enjoyed participating in this one last year. Hosted by J. Kaye's Book Blog, there's 4 levels. I'm entering in the The Mini YA Reading Challenge – "Read 12 Young Adult novels". List to come sooooon. Click on the link for challenge info.

The 2010 100+ Reading Challenge.

I'm not so sure 100 is going to be doable (is that a word?) this year, but i'm going to give it a try.

Also hosted by the wonderful J Kaye, click on the link for more info.

2010 1st in a Series Challenge

Now hosted on Royal Reviews, there's 4 levels again. I'm going with Fascinated - "Read 6 novels that are first in a series."

2010 Fantasy Reading Challenge

Fantasy has now become by favourite genre... so i'm going all out on this one and opting for level 4: Obsessed – Read 20 Fantasy Fiction novels.  I really wanted to participate in this challenge last year, but found it only towards the year end. This challenge is also hosted by the lovely ladies at Royal Reviews. I absolutely love the challenge logo.

 

Finish that Series Challenge

Now this is a challenge made for me. I have tons of books to read for this one. Hosted on Royal Reviews, I'm going for Addicted – Finish 5 series.

Historical Fiction Challenge

Another Royal Reviews challenge i really wanted to sign up for last year. I'm playing it safe and going with Curious – Read 3 Historical Fiction novels.

Wish I'd Read that Challenge

Another Great challenge on Royal Reviews. I'm going with Fascinated – Read 6 books for this one.

Read more...

The Countdown Challenge 2010

Yippee, another challenge !!!
I like the ones I've been doing so far, and this one seems like it has potential to get me reading more genres besides paranormal if I chose my books right.

So here goes
The goal of this challenge is to read the number of books first published in a given year that corresponds to the last digit of each year in the 2000s — 10 books from 2010, 9 books from 2009, 8 books from 2008, etc. The total number of books required, therefore, is 55.

Challenge lasts from 9/9/09 through 10/10/10. It is hosted by 3M at 1morechapter. Head on there for more info

My tentative list:

2010

1. Voices of Dragons - Carrie Vaughn
2. Ash - Malinda Lo
3. First Drop of Crimson - Jeaniene Frost
4. Silver Borne - Patricia Briggs
5. Archangels' Kiss - Nalini Singh

2009

1. Thorn Queen - Richelle Mead
2. Fire - Kristin Cashore
3. Heart's Blood - Juliet Marillier
4. Hand of Isis - Jo Graham
5. When Seducing a Duke - Kathryn Smith
6. The Forest of Hands and Teeth - Carrie Ryan
7. Twenty Boy Summer - Sarah Ockler

2008

1. Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout
2. Personal Demon - Kelley Armstrong
3. When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris
4. Panic - Michael Lewis

2007

1. The Gargoyle - Andrew Davidson
2. And Then He Kissed Her - Laura Lee Guhrke
3. Dirty - Megan Hart

2006 

1.  
2.  

.
.
.
2001

Read more...

Lynn Viehl's Darkyn Series Reading Challenge

I have a couple of books from this series on my TBR pile so i figured i might as well give this one a try.

This challenge is hosted by J Kaye, and very simply is to read the entire series by Dec 2010

Here's the series in order:

Darkyn

1. If Angels Burn (2005)

2. Private Demon (2005)

3. Dark Need (2006)

4. Night Lost (2007)

5. Evermore (2008)

6. Twilight Fall (2008)

7. Stay the Night (2009)

Head on here to see more info and sign up

Read more...

Reliquiae Challenge

Yeah yeah, i know. But this one has an awesome pic and my paranormal high isn't done yet

Also, the explanation was really really interesting:

We’ve been roaming for quite some time in a world owned by vampires, werewolves, ghosts, witches and all sorts of fantastical beings, and the inevitable has happened, we’ve been bitten. We can’t seem to stop ourselves trying out new authors, drooling over gorgeous covers, adding series to our wish lists and watching out for new releases. It’s almost like a disease, though it only gets worse!
So setting out to find if there are any ailing souls like us out there we’ve decided to host a new challenge, and thus Reliquiae was born. Please come join us on this journey, grab your sunglasses, don’t forget your broom and spell book, be sure to pack some nourishment and you can even bring your black cat along. But beware, you’re not coming back!

Click here for more info

I've chosen the Haunted Nights category which is 6 books, book list coming soon.

Read more...

July 2009 Reading Challenge - Paranomal Creatures Redux

The July Reading challenge on Goodreads is called the Paranomal Creatures Redux. The challenge is to read one book for each popular paranormal creature/s listed below:


1. vampires - A Girl's Guide to Vampires by Katie MacAlister OR Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

2. werewolves - Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs

3. shifters - Destiny Kills by Keri Arthur

4. gods/goddesses/immortals - The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter

5. demons/angels - Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione

6. witches/warlocks/sorcerers/mages - Dime Store Magic by Kelley Armstrong

7. fae/fairies -Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

8. aliens/space cowboys - Gabriel's Ghost by Linnea Sinclair OR Kiss of Midnight by Lara Adrian

9. psychics/ghosts/humans with paranormal abilities -Shadow Game by Christine Feehan or Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris

Since i don't have all these books yet, i'm guessing some of the list will definitely change, but this is the plan so far.

Read more...

Summer Reading Challenge 2009

Umm.. yes yes, another reading challenge :)

This one is the Summer Reading Challenge 2009
Start date: June 21, 2009
Finish date: September 21, 2009
Hosted By: A Southern Daydreamer Reads

Simply make a list of books you want to read this summer.

So here's mine:

1. Sahara - Clive Cussler
2. Atlantis Found - Clive Cussler
3. Bitten - Kelley Armstrong
4. The Kite Runner - Khalled Hosseni
5. On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan
6. The Road -Cormac McCarthy
7. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
8. Dark Destiny - Christine Feehan
9. Dark Demon - Christine Feehan
10. Dark Curse - Christine Feehan
11. Shakespeare's Landlord - Charlaine Harris
12. Blood Bound - Patricia Briggs
13. Slave to Sensation - Nalini Singh
14. Destiny Kills - Keri Arthur
15. Playing With Fire - Katie MacAlister

Read more...

June 2009 Reading Challenge

The Paranormal Romance group on Goodreads as a June Challenge going on that sounded like too much fun to read.. so here goes: June's challenge is to pick nine books from Good Reads' Paranormal Romance shelf. Here's my list...starting with Bitten already

Lover Avenged
You Slay Me
Angels' Blood
Cry Wolf
Moon Called
Dark Destiny
Dark Demon
Dark Curse
Bitten

Read more...

Book Awards Challenge III

This may just be my height of gleefulness or stupidity, seeing as i have yet to review the last 3 books i read for Book Awards II, but I'm signing up for Book Awards III as well.

Link here to sign up

5 books from 5 different awards during July 1, 2009 through December 1, 2009.

And for another dose of foot in mouth disease (Seeing as i only read 2 of my initially planned reads for the II challenge) here's my planned list of books:

1. Khalled Hosseni - The Kite Runner (Alex Awards)


2. Ian McEwan - On Chesil Beach (British Book Awards 2008, Galaxy Book of the Year 2008)


3. Cormac McCarthy - The Road (Pulitzer, The National Book Critics 2006)


4. Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 1961)


5. Christopher Moore - A Dirty Job (The Quill Book Award for General Fiction 2006)

Read more...

Book Awards Reading Challenge II - DONE!!!

I did i did. I did read award winning books and for most of it, actually liked the books as well.

So this is one more challenge over and done with.


I am about 25 books behind in my reviews, and I've finally accepted that I'm not going to be reviewing all of them
But that still leaves me with 3 more reviews to write for this challenge which ends today. Since i wanna do a good job on those, I'm just jotting a 2 line review for now to mark this post as complete and then I'll link the review later on this week once I've finally finished typing 'em.

1) Arundhati Roy - The God of Small Things (Booker Prize)

2) Mark Haddon - The Curious incident of the dog in the night-time (Whitbread Book of the Year, 2003)

3) A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry (Scotiaback Giller Prize (1995); Booker Prize Nominee (1996); IMPAC Dublin Award Nominee (1997); Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction (1996)

4) Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 1) by Charlaine Harris (Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original in 2001)

5) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (Newbery Medal 2009, Cybils Award in Middle Grade Fantasy and Science Fiction 2008)

6) Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (Man Booker Prize 1998)

7) The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (Irish Book Award - Children's, 2007)

8) The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1953); Nobel Prize for Literature (1954) A book which started out so well for me and then that damn thing with the fish went on and on. Yes, i know, its about the human spirit, testing yourself, self-validation and all the other fancy words. And i did just that by enduring till the end of the book.

9) The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (Man Booker Prize 2008) As an Indian, i have too many things that i wanna say about this book, but as a book this did make interesting reading. I surprised myself by really liking the style of writing too. See review here

10) Life of Pi - Yann Martel (Man Booker Prize, 2002) The best of 'em all this one was. I've never heard a name lovelier than Richard Parker. A story within stories, as amazing a read as it was every page, its when you realise the book is more than just the surface adventure that it truly moves to the number One position on a 'will read again' list.

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Once Upon a Time III

Found this challenge on readingadventures which seems pretty superb and will fit well with what I'm reading lately

Once Upon a Time III challenge is an annual event where the focus is on fantasy, fairy tales, mythology and folklore, and runs from March 21 to June 20.

Fantasy: a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting.
Fairy tale: a fictional story that may feature folkloric characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, and talking animals, and usually enchantments, often involving a far-fetched sequence of events.
Folklore: the traditional beliefs, legends, customs, etc., of a people; lore of a people; The traditional beliefs, myths, tales, and practices of a people, transmitted orally.
Mythology: a body of myths, as that of a particular people or that relating to a particular person; a set of stories, traditions, or beliefs associated with a particular group or the history of an event, arising naturally or deliberately fostered.


There are different levels, and I'm chosen Quest the First:


Read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time III criteria. They might all be fantasy, or folklore, or fairy tales, or mythology…or your five books might be a combination from the four genres.

My tentative list of books:

Dark Demon by Christine Feehan
The Graveyard Book by Niel Gaiman
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Dark Elf Trilogy - Vol I - Homeland
Julie Garwood - Highlands' Lairds 01 - The Secret
Inkheart - Cornelia Funke

Read more...

1st in a Series Challenge 2009

I seem to be on a roll reading all these book series, so i might as well stop denying myself one more challenge. I didn't think I'd be able to do 12, but now that looks like a possibility

1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate.

2. Read 12 books that are the first in any series. You may read & list your chosen books any time during the year.

3. Challenge begins January thru December, 2009.

4. You can join anytime between now and December 31, 2009

This one is hosted by J Kaye, and you can sign up here

My lists of Series so far:

1. Stephenie Meyer: Twilight Series - Twilight

2. Charlaine Harris: Southern Vampire Series - Sookie Stackhouse Dead Until Dark

3. J.R.R. Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Rings

4. Sherrilyn Kenyon: Dark Hunter Series: Fantasy Lover

5. Keri Arthur: Riley Jenson Series - Full Moon Rising

6. Christine Feehan: Carpathians - Dark Prince

7. J.R. Ward: Black Dagger Brotherhood - Dark Lover

8. Lisa Kleypas: Wallflowers - Devil in Winter

9. Jeaniene Frost: Night Huntress - Halfway to the Grave

10. Katie MacAlister: Aisling Grey Series - You Slay Me

11. Nalini Singh - Guild Hunter Series - Angels' Blood

12. Patricia Briggs - Mercedes Thompson Series - Moon Called

Read more...

2009 Young Adult Book Challenge

I didn't think i'd be reading any YA books, i haven't read any before. But i read all the Twilight Series, and more of the YA ones wont hurt i guess. So here goes:

1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate.

2. Read 12 Young Adult novels. No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.

3. Challenge begins January through December, 2009.

4. You can join anytime between now and December 31, 2009.

This challenge is posted by J Kaye and you can sign up here

YA books read so far:

1. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

2. Twilight - Stephenie Meyer

3. New Moon - Stephenie Meyer

4. Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer

5. Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer

6. Midnight Sun - Stephenie Meyer

7. The Princess Bride by William Goldman

8. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

9. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

10. Graceling - Kristin Cashore

11. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

Read more...

The Chunkster Challenge 2009

Yes. Another challange. Since i've planned to read the mama-sized books anyway, makes sense doing this challenge.

*A chunkster is 450 pages or more of ADULT literature (fiction or nonfiction) Don't complain folks, I read all thousands of pages of the Twilight series and they were good, but not a challenge. A chunkster should be a challenge.
*If you read large type books your book will need to be 525 pages or more I asked around and the average LT book is 10-15% longer or more so I think that was a fair estimate.

Here to sign up

I'm doing option 3- the Mor-book-ly Obese challenge

Mor-book-ly Obese - This is for the truly out of control chunkster. For this level of challenge you must commit to 6 or more chunksters OR three tomes of 750 pages or more. You know you want to.....go on and give in to your cravings.

Completed:

1. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (716 pages)
2. The Navigator by Clive Cussler (560 pages)
3. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien (576 pages)
4. Jacquot and the Angel - Martin O'Brien (544 pages)
5. Dark Demon (Carpathians, #16) by Christine Feehan (531 pages)
6. Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier (560 pages)

Read more...

2nds Challenge, 2009

This one seems simple and easy enough to do
J. Kaye is hosting another challenge called the 2nds Challenge, 2009

Very simply, you read 12 books that are by authors you have only read once. It doesn't need to be a series. Just an author that you have only read one of their books.

Challenge runs from 1/1/09 to 12/31/09.


My list of authors so far:

1. Mitch Albom: The 5 people you meet in Heaven (Previously read Tuesdays with Morrie)

2. Keri Arthur: Kissing Sin (Previously read Full Moon Rising)

3. Christine Feehan: Dark Secret (Previously read Dark Prince)

4. Jeaniene Frost: One Foot in the Grave (Previously read Halfway to the Grave)

5. Charlaine Harris: Living Dead in Dallas (Previously read Dead Until Dark )

6. J. R. Ward: Lover Eternal (Previously read Dark Lover)

7. Lisa Kleypas: Scandal in Spring (Previously read Devil in Winter)

8. Stephenie Meyer: New Moon (Previously read Twilight)

9. J. R. R. Tolkien: The Hobbit (Previously read The Lord of the Rings)

10. Katie MacAlister : Fire Me Up (Previously read You Slay Me )

11. Patricia Briggs: Blood Bound (Previously read Moon Called )

12. Nalini Singh: Slave to Sensation (Previously read Angels' Blood )

Read more...

January is National Just Read More Novels Month...

...Meaning you read as many books as you can in January.

i know its only the 7th day today, but since the first 5 were part of the relaxing and nothing-else-to-do holidays, i did read quite a bit already. Also, i have this strange habit of having to read something when i'm eating at home in India, so got a lotta reading done during all 3 meals of the day
The challenge being you read as many (only) novels as you can in these 31 days. All the rules are here
This is my probable reading list for January (yes, slow month this, nothing else to do) so i think i shall go for the Gold badge with 10+ reads









1. The God of Small Things: Arundhati Roy
2. The 5 people you meet in Heaven: Mitch Albom
3. The Navigator: Clive Cussler
4. The Lord of the Rings (Fellowship of the Ring) : J.R.R. Tolkien
5. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
6. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
7. New Moon - Stephenie Meyer
8. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
9. Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer
10. Midnight Sun - Stephenie Meyer
11. Jacquot and the Angel - Martin O'Brien
12. False Impression - Jeffrey Archer
13. The Hobbit (Or There and Back Again) : J. R. R. Tolkien
14. Treasure : Clive Cussler (read half)
15. The Treasure of Khan: Clive Cussler (read half)

Read more...

Book Awards Reading Challenge II

I never thought I'd be eagerly making a posting like this one. This seems a bit in contradiction with what i stated when i started this blog which was that award winning books will most probably not be featured here. And here i am making promises to read 10 of them by June 2009.


See, I went through the list of books that have been winning awards, and some of em i do like/wanna read.. So here goes...another reading challenge.



Rules:

1. Read 10 award winners from August 1, 2008 through June 1, 2009.
2. You must have at least FIVE different awards in your ten titles.
3. Overlaps with other challenges are permitted.
4. You don't have to post your choices right away, and your list can change at any time.
5. 'Award winners' is loosely defined; make the challenge fit your needs, keeping in mind Rule #2.
6. SIGN UP using Mr. Linky below.
7. Have fun reading!

Ok, here's my tentative list of books:

1. Arundhati Roy - The God of Small Things (Booker Prize)
2. Mark Haddon - The Curious incident of the dog in the night-time (Whitbread Book of the Year, 2003)
3. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry (Scotiaback Giller Prize (1995); Booker Prize Nominee (1996); IMPAC Dublin Award Nominee (1997); Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction (1996))
4. Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 1) by Charlaine Harris (Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original in 2001. )
5. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (Newbery Medal 2009, Cybils Award in Middle Grade Fantasy and Science Fiction 2008)
6. Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (Man Booker Prize 1998)
7. Ian McEwan - On Chesil beach (British Book Awards / Galaxy Book of the Year 2008)
8. Cormac MacCarthy - The Road (Pulitzer, The National Book Critics 2006)
9. Yann Martel - Life of Pi (Man Booker Prize, 2002)
10. Khalled Hosseni - The Kite Runner (Alex Awards)

Read more...

New Author Challenge

OK, yes. I am going challenge crazy today.

This one seems like a swell idea tho. I already have a couple of authors i would like to read but haven't yet..

My target for 2009: 25 new Authors

The idea is to read 50 (or as many as you want) new authors throughout 2009. Here are the guidelines:

1. The challenge will run from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009.
2. Since this is an author challenge, there is no restriction on choosing your novels. They can definitely be from other challenges.
3. I want this to be an easy challenge, so you state how many new authors you want to try this year and then that’s your challenge. For me, I’m trying another 50 new authors. If you want a number given to you, try for either 25 or 50.
4. Add your name to the Mr. Linky below. If you do not have your own blog, you can join the group blog here.
5. Bloggers or Non-Bloggers alike are welcome
6. When you read a new author, write your review (either at your site or the group blog) and then come back here and post a link to your review.

This challenge is hosted by Literary Escapism Sign up here

My List of Authors read so far:

1. Anna Campbell
2. Arundhati Roy
3. Charlaine Harris
4. Christine Feehan
5. Ian McEwan
6. J. R. R. Tolkien
7. J.R. Ward
8. Jeaniene Frost
9. John Boyne
10. Keri Arthur
11. Lisa Kleypas
12. Martin O'Brien
13. Neil Gaiman
14. Rohinton Mistry
15. Sherrilyn Kenyon
16. Stephenie Meyer
17. William Goldman
18. Katie MacAlister
19. Nalini Singh
20. Patricia Briggs
21. Lara Adrian
22. Lora Leigh
23. Beth Kery
24. Kristin Cashore
25. Shiloh Walker

Read more...

The 2009 - 100+ Reading Challenge

Found this Challenge on Reading Adventures and i cannot wait for 2009 to begin to get going with this one. With all the travelling, holidaying and lazing around, no way i think i've done a 100 this year



So here's the challenge (originally posted by J Kaye):




1) You can join anytime as long as you don’t start reading your books prior to 2009.
2) This challenge is for 2009 only. The last day to have all your books read is December 31, 2009.
3) You can join anytime between now and December 31, 2009.
4) If you don’t have a blog, please join our Yahoo Groups.
5) When you sign up under Mr. Linky, list the direct link to your post where your 100+ books will be listed. If you list just your blog’s URL, it will be removed.
6) All books count: children’s, YA, adults, fiction, non-fiction, how-tos, etc.
7) Feel free to post in the comment section or on Yahoo Groups your monthly progress as well as your favorite books that month.



I already have a lotta books in my to read list, and with the 50+ books i bought at the library sale recently, there's no shortage of things to read - i only have to get started.

My Mini library at home

Planned so far:

• Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't by Jim Collins
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Read more...