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Reading Challenges 2013

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After my less than stellar performance in my 2011 reading challenges, I decided to cut back in 2012 and only chose three. I did create my own ‘Magazine Reading Challenge‘ that I pretty much ignored, but I plan to try it again this year, and will update the post shortly.

But the three I signed up for? I completed all of them easily. When setting myself the reading challenges last year, I think I lost sight of the operative word.

Challenge.

It strikes me that maybe it wasn’t so bad that I tried and failed three challenges in 2011. I completed 2012’s challenges almost effortlessly – they weren’t really challenges at all.

With this in mind, I am signing up for a few more challenges this year. I’m not going overboard – I’ve decided to focus on getting my TBR pile down above all else – but I want to have more fun with my reading.

As usual, I found all the challenges through the A Novel Challenge directory.

Books read for this challenge so far:
7. Milk, Sulphate, and Alby Starvation, by Martin Millar (review forthcoming)
8. The New Girl, by Emily Perkins (review forthcoming)
9. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson (review forthcoming)

I’m signing up for Mt. Vancouver – and aiming to read 36 books. That’s three more books than I read in total this year! Will I make this goal? WHO KNOWS. But I’m going to try.

And to that end, I’m also signing up for…

I read for this challenge:

I’m giving myself one exception – long-awaited review copies – but otherwise, this is it. I’m only allowed to read books that I owned before January 1st 2013, until April Fool’s Day. GULP.

Bookmark To Blog

Books read for this challenge so far:

I have quite a few non-fiction books on my TBR that I was really excited about getting when I bought them or got them from the library, but have yet to get around to reading. I’m aiming for the lowest level, ‘Geek’, as I can’t see myself managing more than four non-fiction books! Even two would be more than I’ve managed for the last few years!

2013 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge hosted by The Book Vixen

Books read for this challenge so far:
2. Small Change, by Miriam Nash (poetry, by a friend, not sure I can review, link goes to publisher instead)
3. Vampire Kisses: Blood Relatives, Vol 1, by Ellen Schreiber (tiny manga, don’t feel like reviewing it)
11. Milk, Sulphate, and Alby Starvation, by Martin Millar (review forthcoming)
12. The New Girl, by Emily Perkins (review forthcoming)
13. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson (review forthcoming)

This year I only read 33 books. Which is an improvement on last year. But still. I want to read more. Many more. I’m going for the top level – I’m on fire! – which means that I need to read at least 49 books.

Artwork used (with permission) for this button is Anglerfish by Vlad Gerasimov.

Books read for this challenge so far:
 1. I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have To Kill You, by Ally Carter
2. Spellbound, by Cara Lynn Shultz
3. Pushing the Limits, by Katie McGarry
4. The Secret of Ella and Micha, by Jessica Sorensen
5. St Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, by Karen Russell

7. Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi
8. The New Girl, by Emily Perkins (review forthcoming)
9. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson (review forthcoming)

This is my third go at the New Author Challenge. It’s a pretty low-pressure challenge, there’s only one link-up for the whole year. I’m only going to pick 15 new authors as my basic goal, though I might change it later on. This is because I want to read lots of sequels this year! Which brings me to…

Books read for this challenge so far:

I’m aiming to read ten sequels. This is definitely going to be a challenge! I hardly ever seem to get around to reading them, though I did manage five last year.

And apart from the Magazine Reading Challenge, that’s it! It seems like a lot, but I’m hopeful. Have you signed up for any reading challenges this year? How do you feel about them in general?

Reading Challenges 2012

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2011 didn’t go so well on the reading challenge front. As you can see on my Reading Challenges 2011 post, I completed four challenges and failed to complete three.

The Fantasy Reading Challenge was easy, as it only required three books. The New Author Challenge was easy too, as most of the books I read qualified, and I already had most of the books I needed on my TBR for the GLBT and Book Blogger Recommendation challenges.

I think the flaw in my plan was my commitment to getting my TBR down. I didn’t have a lot of time for reading last year and so I only read 21 new books. I counted re-reads for the challenges but that didn’t help much – I was still trying to cover all the challenges with as few books as possible. My TBR didn’t have enough British multi-ethnic YA on it, basically. I hit the library for a few books but I was also working under my rule that I must read three owned books to every library book (another method I use to try to get my TBR down).

My TBR is still at over 160 books. I gained too many books and read too few for it to shrink last year. So although I really enjoyed participating in all those challenges last year, and despite the fact that I’d like to join some of the horizon-broadening challenges and to support the British Books Challenge again (I love British YA, as evidenced here), I can’t. I really, really need to get my TBR down. I just don’t have the space for any more books. My room is far too crowded and now I’m receiving the odd review book, I need to redouble my efforts to shrink the TBR. Therefore I am limiting my reading challenges this year to those that I can complete just with books from my TBR.

New Author Challenge 2012

This was easy, and it’s nice to be able to just read down the linky and see when people have reviewed books by authors I’ve read so that I can comment on them. My goal is 15.

1. Night School, by C. J. Daugherty
2. The Book of Blood and Shadow, by Robin Wasserman
3. Under the Never Sky, by Veronica Vossi
4. Journey to the River Sea, by Eva Ibbotson
5. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
6. Bunheads, by Sophie Flack
7. The Dud Avocado, by Elaine Dundy
8. Bright Young Things, by Anna Godbersen
9. Saving June, by Hannah Harrington
10. Blue Bloods, by Melissa de la Cruz
11. Defiance, by C. J. Redwine
12. My Soul to Take, by Rachel Vincent
13. Ash, by Malinda Lo
14. Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life, by Bryan Lee O’Malley
15. The Iron King, by Julie Kagawa

 

2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge

I’ve got 27 YA books on my TBR so it should be easy to read enough for Level 1, The Mini YA Reading Challenge – Read 12 Young Adult novels. Plus I’ve read three already! Great start to 2012!

1. The Boy Book, by E. Lockhart
2. The Treasure Map of Boys, by E. Lockhart
3. Night School, by C. J. Daugherty
4. The Book of Blood and Shadow, by Robin Wasserman
5. Under the Never Sky, by Veronica Vossi
6. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
7. Real Live Boyfriends, by E. Lockhart
8. Bunheads, by Sophie Flack
9. Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins
10. Bright Young Things, by Anna Godbersen
11. Adorkable, by Sarra Manning
12. Where She Went, by Gayle Forman

 

I’m signing up for level 2: 11-20 – A Friendly Hug. Further motivation to get working on my TBR!

1. Night School, by C. J. Daugherty (received for review in 2011)
2. Wayward Girls and Wicked Women, edited by Angela Carter (had been on TBR since 2008!)
3. Journey to the River Sea, by Eva Ibbotson (bought in 2011)
4. Good Bones, by Margaret Atwood (another one bought in 2008!)
5. Povídky: Short Stories by Czech Women, edited by Nancy Hawker (and another!)
6. The Dud Avocado, by Elaine Dundy (got in 2010 – on TBR nearly two years)
7. Bright Young Things, by Anna Godbersen (won in 2011)
8. Blue Bloods, by Melissa de la Cruz (picked up at Atom Bloggers’ Evening in 2011)
9. Masquerade, by Melissa de la Cruz (ditto)
10. Ash, by Malinda Lo (bought in 2011)
11. We’re So Famous, by Jaime Clarke (not going to review, as I didn’t rate it that highly)

 

And finally, I’ll be posting about it shortly, but I am running my own challenge, the Magazine Reading Challenge. I’ll go into more detail in the other post, but basically, I have loads of literary magazines sitting around and have I read more than about two cover to cover? NO. This is a challenge specifically intended to get my magazine TBR down and to encourage me to review them too!