Classics Spin #7

It is time for the Classics Club Spin again! I love this challenge and the way it inspires me to read more challenging books from my TBR list. To play, make a list of 20 books before next Monday, August 11. On that day, a number will be chosen, and your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to read the selected book by October 6. No matter what, you win! :) (For more details, visit the Classics Club blog).

The event hosts suggest making a list with 5 books you can't wait to read, 5 books you dread, and so on, but I've just been recycling my lists from each spin and filling in the blanks of ones I have managed to read with the next books on my 50 classics list. So...

1. The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
2. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
3. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
4. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
5. A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy
6. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
7. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
8. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
9. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
10. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
11. Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck
12. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
13. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
14. Summer by Edith Wharton
15. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
16. Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
17. The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
18. Silas Marner by George Eliot
19. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
20. Elizabeth and her German Garden by Elizabeth van Arnim

Once Upon a Time Final Post

I never wrote my finishing-up post for Once Upon a Time VIII, which finished up on June 21st. I only ended up reading one book off my original list, but I did read five books (even more, actually), which was my goal. I always love this challenge and look forward to the second challenge hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings in the fall!

1. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
2. The Mad Scientist's Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke
3. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
4. 'Twixt Firelight and Water by Juliet Marillier
5. Prickle Moon by Juliet Marillier
6. Abhorsen by Garth Nix
7. Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

Classics Club Spin #5!!

Guys, I love the Classics Club Spin. I missed the last one or two but am excited to participate in this next one. I am lazy and worked 48 hours last week so I'm not going to explain all the rules to you, but go here if you're curious and want to learn more. 

Here's my list (Basically the same list from last time with new books to fill in the gaps left... because I do want to read these books!)

1. The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton
2. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
3. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
4. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
5. A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy
6. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
7. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
8. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
9. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
10. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
11. Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck
12. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
13. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
14. Summer by Edith Wharton
15. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
16. Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
17. The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
18. Silas Marner by George Eliot
19. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
20. Night by Elie Wiesel

Shakespeare Month, 2 mini-reviews, and hey, it's been a while

So... blogging. It's not so much been happening lately. The sad thing is I can trace the demise of my blogging life to when I started working night shifts. The good news is that I am back on days soon, hopefully for a long while, and it is New Year's Day, harbinger of all the best intentions. I can't promise I'll be perfectly consistent, but I'm not throwing in the towel yet, even if my "currently reading" button hasn't changed in over a year. (I'm still reading tons, just not writing on it).

I'm not going to be terribly organized about this because to be honest, the most important thing to me is to just keep going when I can. So this post is going to be random and all over the place.

First off, The Classics Club is hosting Shakespeare in January, a celebration of the Bard and his works. I have the best of intentions of reading all of his works at some point in my life, so I am looking forward to jumping head-first into this. I'd like to read/listen to 3 Shakespeare plays. I have an audiobook version of Hamlet and would also like to read King Lear and Richard II. They will be hosting a different event every month and while I don't plan on participating in every event, many of them appeal to me so plan on seeing more of that.

Finally, I finished two books today so I'm going to review them. I can't always keep up with blogging about all the books I read -- I read too many and have so many other obligations that sometimes they fall by the wayside. However, I have been fortunate enough to receive many great books from publishers and NetGalley and I want to attempt to review as many as I can. So... on with that.

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

First of all, have you ever read the blog Hyperbole and a Half? I have been reading it for years and it is hilarious. She writes about her memories and simple every day emotions and events with a humor and bluntness that is refreshing and laugh-out-loud funny. I was very excited to see that Allie Brosh was writing a book from her blog; however, I was disappointed at how much of her content was simply repeated in the book. I was hoping to see more new stories. While there were some scattered throughout the book, they didn't quite live up to the original blog posts. Honestly, I'd recommend simply visiting her blog -- you could easily spend hours there (I have). However, if you want to get to the best-of posts quickly, the book is the way to go.

3 stars

Insurgent by Veronica Roth (Divergent #2)

I read Divergent about 18 months ago, and I liked it decently, although to me it didn't measure up to The Hunger Games, to which it is frequently compared. While I liked it, I wasn't overly excited to dive into the remaining books in the trilogy. However, with the final book finally out and the buzz surrounding the movie, I decided it was finally time to finish this series. I found Insurgent to be more compelling than Divergent. The characters and their choices are more complex than I sometimes see in YA and especially dystopian YA -- there are so many nuances to each decision. In that sense, Insurgent reminded me of Mockingjay. A war is being fought but there are more than just two sides, and each side has many flaws as well as merits. The adventure of the story kept me invested, and the many twists kept me reeling. While Insurgent is not a book that shattered my illusions or had a lasting impact on me, it was an entertaining read.

3 stars

R.I.P. VIII

So, RIP VIII. Guys. I look forward to this all year, every year.

RIP is a reading challenge hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings celebrating all those spooky, fall-like stories -- mystery, suspense, thrillers, dark fantasy, gothic, horror, supernatural, and anything else that evokes those spooky feelings. 

I am going to participate in Peril the First, which is reading four books that fit the above categories. I have no idea how much time I am going to have to read because I am going back to work full time tomorrow (eek) but here are some of my ideas:

* Bellman and Black by Diane Setterfield

* The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (reread)

* Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (also my classics spin read)

* Hamlet by William Shakespeare

* The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

* The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

* The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

There are always so many that I want to read each year. Any spooky book suggestions?

And the lucky number is...

#4! I will be reading Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen before October 1st. This is my last Austen and I might have to sniffle a bit, but I'm looking forward to it. What are you going to be reading?

Classics Club Spin #3

Hooray, it is time for another Classics Club Spin. I love this extra challenge to work on my classics list!

Here's how to play (from the website):

At your blog, by next Monday, Aug 19, list your choice of any twenty books you’ve left to read from your Classics Club list – in a separate post.This is your Spin List. You have to read one of these twenty books in August & September. (Details follow.) So, try to challenge yourself. For example, you could list five Classics Club books you are dreading/hesitant to read, five you can’t WAIT to read, five you are neutral about, and five free choice (favorite author, rereads, ancients — whatever you choose.)
Next Monday, we’ll post a number from 1 through 20. The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on your Spin List, by October 1. We’ll have a check in when October arrives, to see who made it the whole way and finished the spin book.

 In the past I have come up with categories and listed them. This time, I am just going straight through the unfinished and un-started books on my list. So without further ado, here is mine:

1. The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton
2. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
3. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
4. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
5. A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy
6. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
7. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
8. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
9. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
10. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
11. Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck
12. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
13. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
14. Summer by Edith Wharton
15. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
16. Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
17. The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
18. Silas Marner by George Eliot
19. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
20. Night by Elie Wiesel

  

Classics Club Spin #2

I am so excited that The Classics Club is doing another spin.  It is a perfect way to force myself to get through those classics that I want to read, but that often fall by the wayside in favor of those tantalizing YA and fantasy epics (nerd alert, nerd alert). The last time I had to read Wings of the Dove, which was my most dreaded, and I finished it in only a few days and felt an enormous sense of accomplishment, so, woot for that. (It's Saturday and I don't have to be articulate).

If you missed the last post, the spin goes like this: You pick 20 books off your reading list. It is encouraged though not required to vary it -- 5 books you can't wait to read, 5 books you dread, etc. Then, on Monday they will announce a number, and you are supposed to read that book by July 1.

So, without further ado...

Books I'm Dreading:
1. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
2. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
3. Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
4. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
5. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Books I'm stoked for:
6. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
7. Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
8. A Room With a View by E.M. Forster
9. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
10. Elizabeth and her German Garden by Elizabeth Von Arnim

Re-reads:
11. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
12. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
13. The Hounds of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Books I Know Essentially Nothing About:
14. Evelina by Fanny Burney
15. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
16. Silas Marner by George Eliot
17. The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather

Brontes
18. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
19. Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
20. Villette by Charlotte Bronte

The Shakespeare Project

I don't have much in the way of literary training. I write a book blog because I read a lot of books and recommend a lot of books to a lot of people. I dabble in almost every genre, and heavily in the classics. 

However, I feel like to really be considered a connoisseur of the English language, one has to read everything available by William Shakespeare. 

So that is my quest -- read the complete works of Shakespeare by... the time I die. 

I toyed with reading them all in some type of organized fashion, but I think that would burn me out too quickly, so I'm just going to do it haphazardly. As you can tell, this project isn't especially organized. But it should be fun. :)

Once Upon a Time VII

I've become much choosier with my challenges this year, but I honestly just can't get enough of the seasonal challenges hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings. I'm looking forward to participating in the Once Upon a Time Challenge, which runs from March 21st to June 21st. 

I will be reading one book in each of the four categories: fantasy, folklore, mythology, and fairy tale.

Potential choices are:
Fantasy - The Heir of Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier
Mythology - The Goddess Inheritance by Aimee Carter
Fairy Tale - Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
Folklore - Italian Folk Tales by Italo Calvino

I'm also looking forward to participating in this "quest" by reading A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare to begin my "Shakespeare Project" (more about this in the future).

I love this challenge and am excited to get started!

The Classics Club Spin

The Classics Club has a fun idea for this spring -- take 20 books off our lists, number them, and they will give a random number. Then we have to read that book before April 1. We are challenged to have different categories of five books each. I don't have quite five rereads on my list so I shifted the numbers a bit, but here are my choices:

Rereads:
1. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
2. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
3. My Antonia by Willa Cather

"Whatever" classics: (Want to read, but not excited or dreading)
4. Villette by Charlotte Bronte
5. Elizabeth and Her German Garden by ... can't remember and too lazy to look up
6. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (same case with the author)
7. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
8. The Book of Tea by Kazuo Ishigaro

Beastly Classics:
9. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
10. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
11. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
12. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (beastly due to the dark subject matter, or so I've heard)
13. Paradise Lost by John Milton
14. Wings of the Dove by Henry James

Classics I Can't Wait to Read:
15. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
16. A Room With A View by E.M. Forster
17. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
18. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
19. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
20. If On a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino

R.I.P. VII Challenge

You guys, it is time for my favorite book event of the year. I had so much fun with R.I.P. last year that I have been checking Stainless Steel Droppings' site obsessively for the announcement about the event. While it isn't required to post about the event in order to participate, I was so excited I just had to spread the word.

The challenge runs from right now until October 31st, and the rules are to have fun and share it with others. Pretty simple, right? The books you read for R.I.P. VII generally come from the genres of mystery, suspense, thriller, dark fantasy, gothic, horror, supernatural, or anything else with a moodiness that seems to fit in with the challenge. I absolutely ABSOLUTELY love the fall and the creepiness of Halloween, so I can't wait to dive into some of these books. There are different levels, or "Perils," to the extent of which one can participate. I plan on participating in:

This Peril is to read four books that fit into the broad parameters of R.I.P. VII (although I may read more if I have time!). I plan on reading:

1. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
2. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
3. Enshadowed by Kelly Creagh
4. Dracula by Bram Stoker

And any others that pop up that sound good to me.

I also plan on reading several short stories by Edgar Allan Poe that are together in the Nevermore Poe Collection. I have an over-the-top-fan-girly-love for the Nevermore books by Kelly Creagh and I am excited to read some Poe stories that fit together with those stories.

So hurry and sign up! It should be a fun several weeks!

The Magnificent Post of UPDATES!

I was thinking I should update you all on my life, because I know you are just dying to know all about it (ha). And I was also thinking I should do a handy mid-year update on the challenges in which I am (attempting) to participate. Then I thought, perhaps I shall combine all these lovely things together. Et voila. This post.

Personal updates: This has been a crazy summer for The Husband and me. I have been working hard to   finish my nursing degree, doing crazy things like working night shifts and working three twelve-hour shifts in a row and other madnesses (I know many of you do the same thing. I admire and respect you). Fortunately I am on a floor that I love (children's oncology) and I hope to work in a similar field once I graduate and get my first real job. The Husband left me for Officer Basic Training Camp and has been gone for the last month. He has just over two weeks left before he returns. Unfortunately, while we have been able to talk on the phone every day up to this point, he may not have good cell phone service for the next couple of weeks. Le sigh. At least we are past the halfway point.

Also, we have been preparing to move to Los Angeles. We were lucky enough to get the apartment in their student housing that we most coveted, and we are getting really excited to leave this desert and live by the sea. I have lived in suburbs and small cities my entire life, excepting the 5 week adventure I had in Paris, so I am very intrigued to see what this new lifestyle is like. I think I'll be ready to leave by the end of our 4-year time there, but for now I am very excited. 

And finally... there will be three of us living together in LA. We are expecting a baby boy in mid-November, and so far everything has been great, minus a month of morning sickness and the mass amounts of exhaustion I have been experiencing (whoever said you are less tired in the second trimester apparently didn't have the same pregnancy I am having). I'm excited to meet the little creature that is currently doing acrobatics inside of me.

So those are the life updates. On to the challenge updates...

Challenge Updates:

In the Chunkster Challenge I have read 3/8 books. I need to read two more books that are over 750 pages and three more that are over 450 pages. I am feeling confident about this challenge because I am currently in the middle of three chunksters. Now if I can only prod myself to finish I will be almost done with the challenge.

I have read 0/2 books for the Victorian Celebration, and as the end of the challenge is drawing near, I probably won't finish. I would have loved to participate, but with the way that school has been this semester I suppose some things had to fall by the wayside.

As of yet, 0/50 books in the Classics Club challenge. Fortunately, I have 4.5 years to finish this one. :)

Finally, a challenge in which I am doing well! I have completed my goal for the European Reading Challenge, reading 3 books that take place in 3 different European countries. I've honestly probably surpassed this goal, but I stopped keeping track after I completed the challenge.

In the South Asian Challenge I have completed 1/5 books. I am planning on reading more later in the year, so hopefully I will have time to get to those and complete this challenge.

I've read 1/7 in the Award Winning Reads Challenge. I am hoping to get to more this year, but this one might end up falling by the wayside for me. I want to complete all these challenges but it is looking as though that probably isn't a reality. We will see.

I've read 3/7 books in the Harry Potter Reading Challenge and almost finished with the fourth book. I know I am going to finish this one because I have all the audiobooks lined up, just waiting for me. 

I've read 5/9 books in the Mixing It Up challenge. I am pretty sure I will be able to finish this one by the end of the year -- one of the joys of being an eclectic reader.

I've read 1/3 books in the New Adult Challenge. While of course I will be thrilled to finish the challenge, this is another one that might fall by the wayside this year.

Only 2/10 in the Alex Awards Challenge, which is shameful because it is my challenge. I am in the middle of an Alex Award book and have big plans to read others by the end of the summer, so hopefully I will pull through. 

Only 1/9. *Buries head in shame*

1/7 here. I am sad because I've forgotten about the monthly prompts the last couple of months. I will have to do one this month!

Honestly, I had completely forgotten about this challenge and haven't been keeping track. Perhaps that will have to change soon. 

Whew, that is all. I always get a little too enthusiastic when I sign up for challenges. However, I think it is a good thing because I add books to my TBR that I never would have thought to read otherwise. We'll see how it all went come December. 

Alex Awards Challenge Update

Hi everyone! I just wanted to post a little update on the Alex Awards Challenge for participants and any late joiners. For those just now hearing about the challenge, the Alex Awards are awards given out each year by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) honoring books that are written for adults that have a special appeal to young adult audiences. As an eclectic blogger that loves both genres, I was really excited about the fact that this perfect crossover exists (thanks to Asheley for telling me about it in the first place).

My own progress in the challenge has been a bit slow -- I keep getting distracted by review books and library books. I've read two books so far, The Glass Castle and Girl in Translation, and really loved both of them, so I am excited to dive a bit deeper into my TBR list to complete my goal of reading 10 books by the end of this year.

If you are looking for books to read, visit the Alex Awards page to find lists of the winners (10 each year) and nominees (which are also eligible for the challenge). 

If you've read Alex Award-winning or nominated books this year, you can link to them on the review page. 

If you haven't joined the challenge and want to, please join on the intro page. We'd definitely love to have you!

Let me know if you have any further questions, and I will do my best to answer them. :)

New Challenges!

You all know that I am incapable of resisting the siren call of a new challenge. I'm not sure what it is -- whether it is the idea of reading more books, or wanting to be included, or just being a spazzoid -- but I can't resist. There are two events coming up in which I plan to participate, so I thought I would bring them to your attention in case you are interested as well!

The first is the Once Upon a Time event hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings. Last year's R.I.P. VI was the most enjoyable challenge I have ever been involved with, so I want to give this one a try. The challenge runs from March 19, 2012 to June 19, 2012 (so, spring). Because I have a lot of other books on my TBR at the current moment, I am participating in "The Journey" level.

"The Journey" obligates me to read just one book that is folklore, mythology, fairytale, or fantasy. While I hope to read more, this is one I know I can do. I am definitely planning on reading Goddess, Interrupted by Aimee Carter and am hopefully also going to squeeze in some fantasy -- maybe Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier. I'm looking forward to participating!

The second event is A Victorian Celebration hosted by A Literary Odyssey, and is held from June 1, 2012 to July 31, 2012. I am definitely planning on reading North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, and if I am really feeling ambitious I may squeeze in some Charles Dickens as well.

Aren't these buttons gorgeous, by the way? Whoever designed them did a fabulous job. I'm excited to begin my reading for these challenges, and am looking forward to seeing what others read as well!

Introducing The Classics Club

I'm very excited to join The Classics Club, which is a Goodreads group that is the brainchild of Jillian at A Room of One's Own.

The main idea is to make a list of 50, 100, or 200 classics you would like to read in the next five years. The Goodreads group is a home to discuss these classics, post reviews, and talk about progress. Classics Club discussions can also be facilitated on Twitter with the hashtag #theclassicsclub.

I am going to opt for the 50 classics list, due to the fact that there are several other genres I read. My list includes some rereads because I read quite a few classics when I was younger and I think I will benefit significantly from reading them again. So... here they are! I will also be putting my list under the Challenges tab.

1. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
2. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
3. The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton
4. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
5. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
6. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
7. Wings of the Dove by Henry James
8. Paradise Lost by John Milton
9. A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy
10. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
11. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
12. My Antonia by Willa Cather
13. Dracula by Bram Stoker
14. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
15. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
16. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
17. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
18. Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck
19. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
20. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
21. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
22. Summer by Edith Wharton
23. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
24. Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
25. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
26. The Portrait of A Lady by Henry James
27. Silas Marner by George Eliot
28. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
29. Night by Elie Wiesel
30. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
31. The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura
32. The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather
33. Elizabeth and her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim
34. If On a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
35. Evelina by Fanny Burney
36. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
37. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
38. Villette by Charlotte Bronte
39. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
40. Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
41. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
42. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
43. A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
44. The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
45. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
46. The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
47. The Hounds of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
48. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
49. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
50. Agnes Gray by Anne Bronte

Drumroll please... Challenge Wrap-ups!

I had a love-hate relationship with challenges this year. At times I wanted to just throw in the towel and not do any more. However, considering how many I signed up for, I am pretty happy with how I ended up doing. So here's the breakdown...

Incomplete

I did 2 out of 4 on this challenge.

I read 3 out of 8 for this challenge.

While I managed to read some poems and essays for this challenge, my goal was to finish a whole book of essays, which I didn't do.

Almost complete

I've read 7 out of 8 books, and I am almost done with the last book. It should be done by tomorrow night, so I'm considering this challenge to be done.

I've started my one book for this challenge (which I am the only person participating in, I think). I don't think I will be done with it by January 1st, but I will finish it within the first week of January, and it's my challenge, so I think I can accept the late work. Haha.

Complete!!

I finished my goal of 4 chunksters of 450 pages this year. This year I am going to up my goal to 8 chunksters, 3 of which will be over 750 pages. 

I managed 12 South Asian books this year, which was my goal. This year my goal is to read fewer; I love South Asian books but I want to read in some different areas this year. 

I read 12 books that were just for fun this year, 1 for every month. Honestly, I don't think I needed to challenge myself to read books for fun... it was easy, which is why although I enjoyed this challenge, I won't be participating again this year. 

I read 5 out of 5 Victorian classics. This was a fun challenge, and while I am not officially participating again, I am going to read more Victorian classics in the future. 

I read my 2 planned Christmas books this year, and they were great for putting me in the Christmas mood.

I read two Jane Austen books, which was my goal.

In the GoodReads reading challenge, my goal was to read 88 books this year. I read 139, which is more than I ever thought I could read. This year I aim to read 111, because I am planning on reading more thick and difficult books. 

I also participated in numerous read-alongs, which was a blast. Despite my unfinished challenges, I feel like I accomplished a lot this year and I am looking forward to next year's reading!

Sunday Salon: They just keep coming...

You guys. I know I have a problem -- I keep signing up for more and more challenges, after complaining about them so much this year. But I am a very goal-motivated person, and my obsessive, type-A brain doesn't allow me to just read at random. And I think I am going to do better next year because I have been signing up for smaller numbers.

Before I barrage you with some more challenges, I thought I'd just update a little on what's going on in my life. This week is finals week for my husband and I, so it is a little bit hectic around here. However, it will all be worth it in the end because on Friday we are leaving our chilly little corner of Utah for a couple of days in Los Angeles with my grandma, and then on Sunday we are leaving on a six-day cruise to Mexico with my immediate family and husband. We'll get back on Christmas Eve and fly to northern California to spend a few weeks with my husband's family. I already know there will be at least two San Francisco trips, and I can't wait! I might be a little MIA during those weeks, not that anyone will really care, because I'm sure everyone else will be MIA as well. But in case you are wondering, that is what's up. I'm going to try and schedule some posts, but depending on how this week goes, they may or may not happen.

Anyway, there are three more challenges that I am joining this week. I won't say it's the last of them, because who really knows.

The European Reading Challenge 2012, hosted by Rose City Reader, runs from January 1, 2012 to January 31, 2013. The idea is to read books either set in Europe or by a European author. The hitch is that each book that counts must be from a different country.

I am signing up for the Three Star Business Traveler level. I already have several review books set in France, and I am sure that I'll read something set in England as I plan on reading both Shakespeare and Dickens this year. I signed for one level up so it can be a bit of a challenge for me to find another country.

I will be participating in S. Krishna's Books' South Asian Challenge again this year (and I just managed to finish it this year, hooray!) This year I read 12 books, but next year I am just planning on reading 5 books. I haven't chosen them all yet, but I know I am hoping to read:

*A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
* Toads and Diamonds by someone I currently can't remember
* Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (a reread)

Finally, I will be participating in the Award Winning Reads Challenge hosted by Basically Amazing Books and The Reading Housewives. I looked on my TBR and found thirteen books I wanted to read... so I have decided to make the goal of seven. I don't think I could get through all of them, but I want to read them all eventually, so I am adding them all to the list and I will read them as I am in the mood. Potential reads:

* How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
* Black Juice by Margo Lanagan
* Speak by Laurie Halse Andersen
* The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
* The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
* The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
* Bridge to Terabithia by Katerine Paterson
* Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
* Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
* The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
* An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
* Looking for Alaska by John Green
* The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

Okay, that's all for now. Unfortunately, you can probably expect many more challenges forthcoming. :) We will see.

Sunday Salon: Challenge FRENZY

SHappy pre-Thanksgiving, Americans, and happy almost-Christmastime, people who celebrate Christmas, and happy winter, everyone else. I started that sentence out wanting to be so very politically correct but it came back and bit me in the butt, as usual. I am looking forward to this week -- I plan on going home to Boise for Thanksgiving, if the weather cooperates. My parents are hosting Thanksgiving at our house for the first time ever, and we are excited to be in control of a few things. Mostly, the fact that we are having dinner at 2pm instead of 6pm.

Remember how a few weeks ago, I was feeling so wishy-washy about challenges and how I wasn't sure if I wanted to do them anymore since I couldn't possibly finish them all this year? Well, about that... so many interesting challenges have popped up this month that I want to join them all. Le sigh. So here are all the ones that I am interested in. Will I finish them all? Assuredly not. Will I enjoy tracking down the books I want to read for them and then ignoring them completely? Of course.

The Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge. Because, as evidenced by the madness that went on during R.I.P. VI, I am very much a seasonal reader. I'm just planning on doing two rereads this year, so the level is Mistletoe:

:: Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher - Comfort reading at its best. I'm pretty into comfort reading right now, as I'm sure you'll be seeing on the blog in a couple of weeks, so this fits right in.

:: Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan - Loved this one last year, and I've dipped into it a few times since last year. I'm excited to revisit, probably on my lovely CRUISE!

Shakespeare Reading Month. I love The Bard, and it's been way too long since I've read any of his plays. I went through a phase in high school when I read most of the comedies, but I've never touched the histories, so I am going to pick up either Henry VIII or Richard III. I'll also continue my slow trek through the sonnets.

The 2012 Harry Potter Reading Challenge is too perfect for me -- I was planning on rereading all of the Harry Potters and then watching the movies next year, probably in the summer, although I've had a hankering lately and might cave sooner. I might do all audiobooks this time, we will see.

November's Autumn is hosting a classics challenge that is a little different. You read seven different classics, and then on the fourth of each month you return to the webpage and answer a question about the classic that you read. This overlaps perfectly with the other classics challenges I am participating in, and I love the idea of everyone answering a prompt about the classic they are reading, so I couldn't resist. {And also, how gorgeous is the name November's Autumn? It made me feel like Anne of Green Gables, geeking out about it.}

And then, as an eclectic blogger, how could I resist Ellie's Mixing it Up Challenge?  The premise of this one is to read books in different genres. Ellie lists sixteen, and I am going for the level of the Mixing Bowl, meaning I will try from 9-12 different categories. Many of them will be categories I am used to, just because that is the nature of the beast, but I am going to try a graphic novel, some humor, and maybe even a travelogue -- all things I haven't experienced before. Hooray!

And then, this morning, I stumbled across the New Adult Challenge. So many people have been saying they wish there were books about adults in their early twenties, and I couldn't agree more, being in that range myself and working on a novel that fits into that range. So I am going to try out this challenge at the Just Graduated level and read 3 books. I am probably going to read The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons and get my little fingers on the Jessica Darling books. Or possibly read The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta, because Jellicoe Road was fantastic.

Okay, and finally, finally, {unless I forgot someone}, the Wolf Hall readalong. I have been wanting to read this baby, and was happy to see this excuse for it. I love readalongs, and haven't been participating in any but my own for months. The schedule is:
{November 28} - Open the book.
{December 4} - Post about parts 1 and 2
{December 11} - Post about parts 3 and 4
{December 18} - Post about parts 5 and 6

I might cheat and post on Saturday, because I like my Sunday Salon posts and I don't like double-posting. We'll see.

I'm not even going to tell myself no more, because that just seems to invite me to give in on more and more challenges. Even though I know I'm going crazy, I can't wait for all of these. I love thinking about the new year and what I will read. I love thinking about books, period. I hope that I possibly inspired you to check out something new. Now I have to go update my sadly abandoned challenge page!