2015 Bookish TBR Pile Reading Challenge

I realize that this is going to be a bit redundant, but because I am doing Adam's TBR Challenge as well, I thought that this would be a natural for me as well.

Here are the guidelines for this challenge:

1. The challenged will run from January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2015. The sign up link below will remain open until January 16, 2015 at 11:30am.
2. Anyone can enter! You don't have to be a blogger, just as long as you review the book you've read. You can review on your book on your blog, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, etc.
3. Any genre, length, or format of book counts as long as it is a book that's been sitting on your self for some time. Short stories and novellas do count! The only stipulations that the book must have been released in 2014 or earlier. No 2015 ARCs or 2015 fresh-off-the-press releases allowed.
4. On the 25th of every other month (see schedule below), we will post a wrap-up for the previous two months. These posts will be done by one our bloggers and will contain new linkys for you to add your own wrap-up posts. If you did not sign up by January 17, this is where you can sign up as well.
5. To help you tackle your TBR piles we will also be hosting Read-A-Longs on months that do not have wrap-ups. Voted on by challenge participants, Read-A-Longs will have two post dates: the first half of the book and the second half. Please note: You do not have to take part in our Read-A-Longs to participate in the TBR Pile Challenge. You can participate in all of them, some of them, or none of them. This aspect of the challenge is entirely optional.
6. There will be two giveaways - July and December. Giveaway details will be explained once the giveaway post goes up. We don't want to overwhelm you with too many details now  :)
7. You don't have to follow Bookish to join the challenge, but you do have to follow us to be entered in the giveaways.

How many books are you planning to read for this challenge?

1-10 A Firm Handshake

11-20 A Friendly Hug

21-30 First Kiss

31-40 Sweet Summer Fling

41-50 Could This Be Love?

50+ Married with Children

I am going to do 11-20 (A Friendly Hug) and here are the books that I am planning on attempting:

• Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantal (2009)
• The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis (1954)
• Such a Pretty Face by Cathy Lamb (2010)
• A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin (2010)
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)
• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (1889) 
• Outlander by Diana Galbaldon (1991)
• Peace Shall Destroy Many by Rudy Wiebe (1972)
• A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews (2004)
• The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1982)
• The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey (2011)
• North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (1856)
• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
• Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver (2012)

I will link up with title as I complete them.  If you wish to join, you can join over at Bookish.

The Official 2015 TBR Pile Challenge

I am going to attempt this once again and hopefully I will get more of the books completed on this list completed this time around.  This is my third time trying to conquer Adam's TBR Challenge and hopefully I do better than last year.

My TBR Challenge list:

• Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantal (2009)
• The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis (1954)
• Such a Pretty Face by Cathy Lamb (2010)
• A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin (2010)
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)
• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (1889) (I hope to conquer this book this coming year!)
• Outlander by Diana Galbaldon (1991)
• Peace Shall Destroy Many by Rudy Wiebe (1972)
• A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews (2004)
• The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1982)
• The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey (2011)
• North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (1856)

Alternates

• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
• Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver (2012)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling (#hpreadalong)

Title: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter #3)
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 317
Published: 1999
Challenges: Harry Potter Readalong
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Personal

Description: Harry Potter, along with his best friends, Ron and Hermione, is about to start his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry can't wait to get back to school after the summer holidays. (Who wouldn't if they lived with the horrible Dursleys?) But when Harry gets to Hogwarts, the atmosphere is tense. There's an escaped mass murderer on the loose, and the sinister prison guards of Azkaban have been called in to guard the school... (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: This is probably my favourite Harry Potter book, along with the Half-Blood Prince.

What I liked about the book is how the HP universe expands from the first two books to the village of Hogsmede and introduces the reader to such characters as Remus Lupin, Sirus Black and a number of other characters that become important in forthcoming books.  I also liked how the book became a little bit darker, but also retains some of the lighter elements of the first two books in the series and how the book adds a little bit more to the overall story arc.

Bottom line: This is probably the best one of the Harry Potter books because while the book is still fairly lighthearted like the first two, but still has is able to bring the darker side of the series and carry momentum throughout the book by giving the reader a bit more understanding to Harry's dad's life at Hogwarts and also introduces us to several new characters that are going to prominent throughout the last 3 books of the series.  Recommended for those that are a fan of the Harry Potter series.

Rating: 5/5

Pages for 2014: 27,932

A Sudden Light - Garth Stein

Title: A Sudden Light
Author: Garth Stein
Pages: 416
Published: 2014
Challenges: I Love Libraries
Genre: Paranormal
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description: In the summer of 1990, fourteen-year-old Trevor Riddell gets his first glimpse of Riddell House. Built from the spoils of a massive timber fortune, the legendary family mansion is constructed of giant, whole trees, and is set on a huge estate overlooking Puget Sound. Trevor’s bankrupt parents have begun a trial separation, and his father, Jones Riddell, has brought Trevor to Riddell House with a goal: to join forces with his sister, Serena, dispatch Grandpa Samuel—who is flickering in and out of dementia—to a graduated living facility, sell off the house and property for development into “tract housing for millionaires,” divide up the profits, and live happily ever after.

But Trevor soon discovers there’s someone else living in Riddell House: a ghost with an agenda of his own. For while the land holds tremendous value, it is also burdened by the final wishes of the family patriarch, Elijah, who mandated it be allowed to return to untamed forestland as a penance for the millions of trees harvested over the decades by the Riddell Timber company. The ghost will not rest until Elijah’s wish is fulfilled, and Trevor’s willingness to face the past holds the key to his family’s future. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: When I started the book during this past fall's 24-hour Dewey's Readathon, I was hopeful that I would be able to get through the book in fairly short order.  But through a number of circumstances, it took me a bit longer than anticipated.  There were times that the book outright creeped me out, but there were also times in which I felt that book got a little too longwinded and dragged as a result.  It also felt that in some places that the book went off in tangents that didn't seem to make sense to me.  And as a result, I never got a sense of what the book was about.

Bottom line: While I had hoped to like the this book, it fell a little short for me.  Now if you are a fan of paranormal fiction with a little bit of a mystery thrown in, you probably would enjoy this book.  Recommended.

Rating: 2.75/5

Pages for 2014: 27,615

Sunday Salon - Right Now (12/28/14)

Time 10:27 am Pacific

Place My living room

Listening to… Nothing

Eating...  Just finished off breakfast

Watching... Eagles vs Giants

Reading... Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Planning... What challenges to do for the coming year

Feeling... A little bit on edge; coffee sometimes makes me a little edgier

Loving... That I can get a certain book set that I have had my eye on; may even consider upgrading to the hardcopy version as a result (see below)

Wanting... To calm down a bit

Thinking... How I am going to get through the day

Looking forward to... Christmas dinner with my family 

Here are the latest book reviews that I have been working on since my last Sunday Salon post that I posted book reviews:

• Discovery of Witches, A by Deborah Harkness (Nov. 2014)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (Nov. 2014)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (Dec. 2014)
• Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (Dec. 2014)
• New York Christmas, A by Anne Perry (Dec. 2014)
• Mistletoe Promise, The by Richard Paul Evans (Dec. 2014)

Here are my bookish Christmas gifts from my parents and sister:

• Stone Mattress: Nine Tales by Margaret Atwood

• Emma by Alexander McCall Smith (part of the Austen project series)

• gift card from my parents and sister to ChaptersIndigo

I will be posting my top 10 books from 2014 next week, at least that is the plan. And sometime before Jan. 1 I will be posting my final reviews for 2014 and my challenges for 2015. Hope you have a relaxing Sunday!

The Mistletoe Promise - Richard Paul Evans

Title: The Mistletoe Promise
Author: Richard Paul Evans
Pages: 272
Published: 2014
Challenges: Christmas Spirit, I Love Library Books
Genre: Christmas
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description: Elise Dutton dreads the arrival of another holiday season. Three years earlier, her husband cheated on her with her best friend, resulting in a bitter divorce that left her alone, broken, and distrustful.

Then, one November day, a stranger approaches Elise in the mall food court. Though she recognizes the man from her building, Elise has never formally met him. Tired of spending the holidays alone, the man offers her a proposition. For the next eight weeks—until the evening of December 24—he suggests that they pretend to be a couple. He draws up a contract with four rules:

1. No deep, probing personal questions
2. No drama
3. No telling anyone the truth about the relationship
4. The contract is void on Christmas Day

The lonely Elise surprises herself by agreeing to the idea. As the charade progresses, the safety of her fake relationship begins to mend her badly broken heart. But just as she begins to find joy again, her long-held secret threatens to unravel the emerging relationship. But she might not be the only one with secrets.  (via Goodreads)

Thoughts:  Picked up this book from the library because I have read a couple of his of other Christmas themed books in the past so I thought I would enjoy this selection.  And to a degree I enjoyed the read, as it was a nice break from the rather heavy reading between my regular reads and the Harry Potter Re-Readalong that I am engaged with.

Bottom line: It was a quick and enjoyable and romantic read that could be easily read amongst the hustle and bustle of the Christmas/Winter holiday season.  Recommended.

Rating: 3/5

Pages for 2014: 27,199

A New York Christmas - Anne Perry

Title: A New York Christmas (Christmas Stories #12)
Author: Anne Perry
Pages: 176
Published: 2014
Challenges: Christmas Spirit, I Love Library Books
Genre: Mystery
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description: December, 1904. Jemima Pitt, now twenty-two, agrees to act as a “suitable companion” to her friend Delphinia, who is traveling to New York to be married to Brent Albright, toast of New York high society. Jemima is excited about the prospect of a Christmas adventure in a strange big city, but little does she expect to be enlisted on a top secret mission by Brent’s brother Harley, to track down Delphinia’s estranged mother. After some detective work and a little luck, they manage to locate her lodgings—but to their horror, they find Maria dead. Truly her parents’ daughter, Jemima is determined to unmask the killer, and enlists the aid of handsome young police officer Patrick Flannery to do it. And along the way she comes to learn an important lesson about staying true to oneself, no matter the cost. Once again, as only she can, Perry delivers a darkly suspenseful, ultimately heart-warming novel that truly captures the essence of the holiday spirit. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: Felt that the book was okay, but also a bit simplistic and was able to finish within a couple of reads.  

Bottom line: It was a nice, light holiday read that required little or no thought.  Recommended.

Rating: 2.75/5

Pages for 2014: 26,927