Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘reading challenge’

I have a problem.

It’s an addiction.

They say the first step in overcoming an addiction is to admit you have a problem.

I do…

I read too much.

I drink a little wine, I go on Barnes and Noble…My Public Library…NetGalley and I gather books, and books, and books.

Anyone tired of me talking about my addiction? Fingers crossed that someday it’ll snap into place and I’ll start some type of 12 step program…But then I’d have nothing to write about on this blog…

So back to the reading and my TBR: To Be Read for all y’all who were wondering what the heck that stood for.

Bought books and won books take a backseat to those time sensitive books from NetGalley [they expire in about 50 days] and My Public Library [they expire in about 21 days]. This means I have quite the stack of titles that, apparently, I was so excited about I just had to actually PURCHASE them. Taking hard-earned dollars away from where my money should be going…Like bills…and savings…and stocking my wine fridge… I’m not even going to attempt to tally up all the green that was spent on a needtohaveit book binge rather than, say, dinner.

But Remember: Bob Harper says I need to focus on today and not the mistakes of the past…He’s so supportive like that.

Which brings me to not one but TWO TBR Reading Challenge options:

Option 1:

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

Hosted by My Reader’s Block

Levels of the Challenge:

  • Pike’s Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile/s
  • Mt. Vancouver: Read 25 books from your TBR pile/s
  • Mt. Ararat: Read 40 books from your TBR piles/s
  • Mt. Kilimanjaro: Read 50 books from your TBR pile/s
  • El Toro: Read 75 books from your TBR pile/s
  • Mt. Everest: Read 100+ books from your TBR pile/s

Rules of the Challenge:

  • Once you choose your challenge level, you are locked in for at least that many books. If you find that you’re on a mountain-climbing roll and want to tackle a taller mountain, then you are certainly welcome to upgrade.
  • Challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2012.
  • You may sign up anytime from now until November 30th, 2012.
  • Books must be owned by you prior to January 1, 2012. No ARCs (none), no library books. No rereads. [To clarify–based on a question raised–the intention is to reduce the stack of books that you have bought for yourself or received as presents {birthday, Christmas, “just because,” etc.}. Audiobooks may count if they are yours and they are one of your primary sources of backlogged books.]
  • Books may be used to count for other challenges as well.

Option 2

2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

Hosted by The Book Vixen and others

Levels of the Challenge:

  • 1-10 books – A Firm Handshake
  • 11-20 books – A Friendly Hug 
  • 21-30 books – A Sweet Kiss 
  • 31-40 books – Love At First Sight 
  • 41-50 books – Married With Children

Rules for the Challenge:

  • This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2012 – Dec 31, 2012.
  • Any genre, length or format of book counts, as long as it is a book that’s been sitting on your shelf for some time now. Only books released in 2011 and earlier! NO ARCs and 2012 fresh-off-the-press releases allowed!
  • You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
  • You can move up levels, but no moving down.
  • Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2012, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.
  • At the end of each month one of the hosts will post a wrap-up. Every wrap-up will have its own unique theme, a mini-challenge, a giveaway and place for you to link up your reviews from this month. For each review you link up, you will get one entry in a drawing of one book of choice from Book Depository. It’s open to INTERNATIONALS. For participating in the mini-challenge you will get +1 entry.
  • If you miss a wrap-up post + giveaway, you can link up your reviews next month. Do not, however, try to link up one review twice – we will be checking 😉
  • December is a wrap-up for the whole year. All the book reviews you linked up January-November + the ones you’ll link up in December will be entered into a HUGE giveaway – 12 books, 12 winners, INTERNATIONAL.
  • You don’t have to follow all the hosts to join the challenge, but you do have to follow all of us to be entered in giveaways!

So what do you think? One option sound better than the other? I def. need to join one of these challenges…I can’t go one more year with that pile getting any bigger!

Seriously…Bob will start to give me a look like this:

I gotta keep Bob happy…Help me pick a challenge, and join one yourself!

Read Full Post »

I love the Fall. It’s one of the things I miss most living in Southern Florida. No crisp days built for sweaters, no apple cider, no houses decked out in mums and corn stalks. It just doesn’t look right when it’s still 90 something out. So right about now I’m yearning for a little Fall theme-y-ness. Something to put me in the mood.

Then poof!

What did I stumble across but this Halloween themed Reading Challenge:

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge

(affectionately known as the R.I.P. Challenge)

Ooooh, I do love me some horror, some scary, some things-that-go-bump-in-the-night stuff around the month of October. In the past I’ve done Frankenstein, The Crucible, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde during that urge to read some Halloween-esque books. This Reading Challenge asks you to read books that fall into the following genres:

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

The blog Stainless Steel Droppings has hosted this reading challenge for the past 6 years. If you’d like to join up just click the image above to find more info. Know that if you’re new to challenges (or just really busy reading other things) this challenge comes with levels. Including one that asks you to read just one book.

I’ve chosen:

Which means I’ve agreed to read 4 scary books between now and October 31st.

Now for the books…Hmm…I’ll admit I’m not really a Scary Story buff…

I may or may not have nightmares after watching/reading scary stuff and may or may not wake up in the middle of the night and have to open every door and space big enough to hold a person in my house so as to unmask the killer…before he finds me but kills my little white dog first. Killers are always doing something mean like that…making the victim watch their dog die so they feel sadness as well as horror at their own death. And I am completely convinced that this will happen to me around 3am some morning. Yep, that’s about the same time of night I also think the pillows on my couch have turned into a ghost…or perhaps a skeleton wearing a top hat. Skeletons are fancy you know.

So…Knowingly risking a few good nights of sleep, I’d love some book suggestions. I’m currently considering:

The Poisoned House

The Shining

Dark Souls

Again, if you’re a kind reader and want to suggest some spine-tingling tales the criteria for the books are as follows:

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

Wish me luck! And hope I don’t keep the hubs up at night with my killer-prevention-tactics 😉 I swear, I check the guest room closet too even though I couldn’t fit in another shoebox…you can never be too careful, lol

Read Full Post »