Jayne's Books

Monday, December 31, 2012

2013 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge

I did this one last year and had some minor success with it.

Here are the basic rules:

The Rules:

Challenge will run January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013. Participants can join anytime throughout the challenge.
Create an intro post, linking back to this post.
Sign up with the Linky below. Please link to your challenge intro post, not your blog home page.
Chose your own books from the list. You can decide to read books only on the Top 25 list or from the entire recommendation list. You do not have to make a list of books before the challenge begins.
All forms of books acceptable (audiobooks, eBooks, etc.)
Rereads do not count towards the completion of the challenge. The challenge is about discovering books that are new to you.
You don't need a blog to participate.
Reviews, while always appreciated, are not mandatory.

Here are the ones that I am going to attempt to read:

• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

• Divergent by Veronica Roth

• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

• The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

• A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harknes
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer
• The Snow Child be by Eowyn Ivey
• North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell

I am aiming for Level II

Challenge Addicts 2013

Hi, my name is Melissa and I'm a Reading Challenge Addict.

Here are the challenges that I am participating in this coming year:

• Back to the Classics
• Book Blogger Recommendation
• Chunkster Challenge
• Ebook Challenge
• Embarrassment of Riches Challenge
• Foodies Read Challenge
• Historical Fiction Challenge
• The Off the Wall Challenge
• Outdo Yourself Challenge
• TBR Pile Challenge
• Tea & Books Reading Challenge
• War Through the Generations Challenge

Clearly I am doing the In-Flight Challenge.

Off The Shelf Challenge 2013

BA’s 2013 Off the Shelf Reading Challenge

About: The Off the Shelf Reading Challenge is probably the most popular challenge there is on BA. The goal? To read books on your shelves that have gone unread for far too long. Selecting books from the year before (in this case, 2012 and before), read as many of the unread ones as you can. It’s up to you if you want to keep them or give them away afterwards, the main goal is to turn those unread books into read ones.

The Finer Deets

The Main Rule: Do not include books acquired during 2013, it defeats the purpose, read those books from before 2013 started.
Running dates for all 2013 challenges: 1st of January – 31st of December 2013
Sign-Ups are accepted until the 16th of December 2013.
Formats: All BA Challenges are eBook, audio, short story, and graphic novel friendly.
Crossovers: You’re welcome to crossover with BA’s challenges. Include as many books across all the challenges as you can, I always say.

How To Sign-Up and Join In

Choose Your Level: Choose a challenge level listed below.
Sign Up Post: Create a post on your blog, in a group, or on a forum (where possible) to let others see what you’re aiming for (a predefined list of books is optional).
Grab The Badge: Download or grab the badge and place it in your sign up post. Then link back toBookish Ardour.
Link Up: Grab the direct URL to your sign up post, not your blog, click the Mr Linky graphic and enter your link.
Blogless? Don’t worry, you can sign up with your social network profile (YouTube, Twitter, GoodReads, Shelfari included), just make sure you link to your review list, shelf, tweet, or category. If you don’t have any of those feel free to comment.
Your Reviews: Reviewing is optional! But if you do review it would be great for you to share them by submitting them on thereview page.
Finished: When you’re done it’s completion post time and you can share these on the completion/wrap-up page.

Challenge Levels

Tempted– Choose 5 books to read
Trying – Choose 15 books to read
Making A Dint – Choose 30 books to read
On A Roll – Choose 50 books to read
Flying Off – Choose 75 books to read
Hoarder – Choose between 76-135 books to read
Buried – Choose between 136-200 books to read

Since I am doing this in conjunction with a couple of other similar challenges, I am going to aim for the Trying level.

Progress:
1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
2. The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
3. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
4. A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley
5. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
6. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
7. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
8. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
9. The Book Thief by Martin Zusak
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

E-book Reading Challenge 2013

This is a first for me. I could have signed up for this one last year, but I didn't know how much I would love reading on my e-readers (yes, I have multiple e-reading devices). And so this one seemed natural for me to join this year.

Its pretty simple: all you need to do is to read on a device like your Kobo, Kindle, computer, or whatever other e-device you use for reading (and I am assuming this means your smartphone and/or tablet). Here are the guidelines:

This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2013 – Dec 31, 2013.
Anyone can join, you don’t need to be a blogger. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to sign-up in the comments. You can post reviews to any book site (i.e. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Goodreads, etc).
Any genre or length of book counts, as long as it is in ebook format.
You can plan your books in advance or as you read them.
When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the E-Book Reading Challenge.
You can move up levels, but no moving down.
Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2013, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.

Levels:

Floppy disk – 5 ebooks
CD – 10 ebooks
DVD – 25 ebooks
Memory stick – 50 ebooks
Hard drive – 75 ebooks
Server – 100 ebooks
Human brain – 150 ebooks

At the beginning of each month there will be a roundup post for you to add your reviews for that month. The linky will remain open for the remainder of the year, so if you forget, feel free go back and add them when you remember.

There will be a giveaway at the end of the year for eveyone who achieves their goal level (or higher).

I am going to aim for Floppy Disk

Chunkster Challenge 2013

All things being said, I did complete this one last year and can hardly believe it (guess I really do like chunksters). And yes, I am going to be doing this one again this year as well.
Here are the details for the challenge:

Definition of a chunkster:

A chunkster is 450 pages or more of ADULT literature, whether non-fiction or fiction. A chunkster should be a challenge.

If you read books in large print, your books will need to be 525 pages or more. The average large type book is 10-15% larger or more so it’s a fair estimate.

The rules:

No audio books. (There are exceptions to this rule.)
No e-books allowed. This was discussed in much detail in the 2011 challenge. The short version: a chunkster isn’t a challenge if you’re reading it on an e-reader. (There are exceptions to this rule.)
Essay, poetry, and short story collections will be allowed. Collections have to be read in their entirety to count. If you’ve needed a reason to finally pick up your copy of The Collected Works Of ____ now is the time.
Books may crossover with other challenges.
Anyone may join. (If you don’t have a blog, just leave a comment on this post with your challenge level and your progress throughout the challenge.)
You don’t need to list your books ahead of time.
Once you’ve picked a level, that’s it. You’re committed to it!

You must pick a level of participation:

The Chubby Chunkster – this option is for the readers who want to dabble in large tomes, but really doesn't want to commit to much more than that. FOUR Chunksters is all you need to finish this challenge.
The Plump Primer - this option is for the slightly heavier reader who wants to commit to SIX Chunksters over the next twelve months.
Do These Books Make my Butt Look Big? - this option is for the reader who can't resist bigger and bigger books and wants to commit to SIX Chunksters from the following categories: 2 books which are between 450 - 550 pages in length; 2 books which are 551 - 750 pages in length; 2 books which are GREATER than 750 pages in length (for ideas, please refer to the book suggestions page for some books which fit into these categories).
Mor-book-ly Obese - This is for the truly out of control chunkster. For this level of challenge you must commit to EIGHT or more Chunksters of which three tomes MUST be 750 pages or more. You know you want to.....go on and give in to your cravings.

I am going to aim for The Chubby Chunkster this year.

1. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (720 pages)
2. The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau (496 pages)
3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (522 pages)
4. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (837 pages)
5. Emma by Jane Austen (512 pages)
6. Moby Dick by Herman Melville (640 pages)

2013 Historical Fiction Challenge

This is another challenge that I did manage to complete this past year and with no problem. And I am doing it again, since I enjoyed it so much. Here are the details the ladies over at Historical Tapestry have laid out for the coming year:

Each month, a new post dedicated to the HF Challenge will be created. To participate, you only have to follow the rules:

everyone can participate, even those who don't have a blog (you can add your book title and thoughts in the comment section if you wish)
add the link(s) of your review(s) including your name and book title to the Mister Linky we’ll be adding to our monthly post (please, do not add your blog link, but the correct address that will guide us directly to your review)
any kind of historical fiction is accepted (HF fantasy, HF young adult,...)

During these following 12 months you can choose one of the different reading levels:

20th century reader - 2 books
Victorian reader - 5 books
Renaissance Reader - 10 books
Medieval - 15 books
Ancient History -25+ books

You can tailor the challenge to suit you in whichever way you like!

I am going to aim for Ancient History.

The 2013 TBR Pile Challenge

I know what some of you are thinking, didn't she just sign up for a TBR Pile Challenge? You might think that with the other one, depending on the order you read the posts, but whatever...

This one is fairly simple to read 12 books off of one's TBR pile during 2013, basically one a month.

Here are the specifics from RoofBeamReader:

Each of these 12 books must have been on your bookshelf or “To Be Read” list for AT LEAST one full year. This means the book cannot have a publication date of 1/1/2012 or later (any book published in the year 2011 or earlier qualifies, as long as it has been on your TBR pile – I WILL be checking publication dates). Caveat: Two (2) alternates are allowed, just in case one or two of the books end up in the “can’t get through” pile.

Crossovers from other challenges are totally acceptable, as long as you have never read the book before and it was published pre-2012!

*Note – You can read the books on your list in any order; they do not need to be read in the order you have them listed. As you complete a book – review it, and go back to your original list and turn that title into a link to the review - that will keep the comments section here from getting ridiculously cluttered.

UPDATE: I’ve decided to make a small change/addition to this year’s challenge. On the 15th of each month, I’m going to post a “TBR Pile Check-In.” This will allow participants to link-up their reviews from the past month and get some recognition for their progress. There will also be small mini-challenges and giveaways to go along with these posts (Such As: Read 6 books by the June Check-in and be entered to win a book of your choice!). I’m hoping this will help to keep us all on track and make the challenge a bit more engaging/interactive. If it goes well, maybe I’ll keep this format for future years.

Here are my books that I wish to read:
1. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (1855)
2. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (1937)
3. The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley (2010)
4. A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley (2011)
5. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (2006)
6. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (1996)
7. Water for Elephants by Sara Guerin (2006)
8. The Passage by Justin Cronin (2010)
9. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson (2005)
10. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt (2011)
11. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
12. Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier (1997)

Alternates:
1) The Devil Wears Prada by Laura Weisberger (2003)
2) Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (1938)