2012 Challenges

For the better part of the last three months of 2011, things were pretty quiet around the blog. Bad, I know. But as you may have already read in my New Year post, I got into a bit of a reviewing rut, so I ended up just ignoring the reviews piling up around me. This year I have decided to start afresh and, to keep myself motivated, I have decided to participate in a few challenges.

For a while, I contemplated doing an 100+ Reading Challenge, but I decided not to in the end, as I know I will have a rather full year ahead of me with university stuff. So, I am not going to pressurise myself in any way to read a specific number of books in total. Instead, I have decided to take part in some other smaller challenges (smaller referring to the number of books I have to read so as to complete them) and all of them different to the smaller ones I did last year.

So, without any further ado, behold the challenges list!

First, we have the Tea & Books Reading Challenge, hosted by Birgit from The Book Garden.

For this challenge, the aim is to read books that are 700 pages long or more. There are 4 levels to this challenge and I am going to aim for the 2nd level, the Berry Tea Devotee, which requires 4 books to be read. That means one every three months, which should be feasible. Right now, I have only found three books that I own that also fit the description and they are:

- A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

- The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk

- The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet

Secondly, we have the Sci-Fi: Not Just for Stormtroopers Challenge, hosted by Ellie from Curiosity Killed The Bookworm.

I decided to participate in this challenge so that I could get to read some other sci-fi books. I got to read quite a lot of dystopia last year and I would like to read some of the other themes that can be found in the sci-fi genre (such as "zombie viruses, genetic engineering gone awry, time travel, steampunk, extreme weather, space exploration and, of course, aliens", as Ellie says).

I am going to aim to read 6 books (as in 1 every two months), which I think should be ok! I'm really looking forward to reading books for this challenge!

Next, we have the 2012 Harry Potter Reading Challenge, hosted by Penelope at The Reading Fever.

The aim is - rather obviously - to read all the Harry Potter books! It's been ages since I last read the 7th HP book, so I am looking forward to re-reading them this year!! Oh, Ron, how I've missed you!

And last but not least, we have the 2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge, hosted by a lot of people!

Just to keep myself on track and not be blindsided by all the new books I will get in 2012, I am going to aim for the "A Sweet Kiss" level and read 21-30 books that have been sitting on my shelf for quite some time. Though I hope to go up a level or two!


Here is all the info for this one:

Challenge Guidelines:

• This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012.
• As we would like to see quality reviews linked up to our monthly wrap-ups, only bloggers can enter. Sorry about that!
• 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.
• When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the 2012 TBR PILE Reading Challenge (You need to include the info + host list + challenge button. You can also grab the button code and add it to your sidebar!)
• 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 it's 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'll get +1 entry in the giveaway.
• 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!  

Levels

1-10 - A Firm Handshake

11-20 - A Friendly Hug

21-30 - A Sweet Kiss (This one is the one I'm going for - for starters!)

31-40 - Love At First Sight 

41-50 - Married With Children


Hosts:
Evie from Bookish - @SeoEvie
Nicole from All I Ever Read - @Nicoleabouttown
Bonnie from Hands and Home - @HandsHomeBlog
Donna from Book Passion for Life - @BookPforLife
Caitlin from Watch YA Reading - @Caitlingss
Rie from Mission To Read - @Missiontoread
Vicky from Books, Biscuits & Tea - @alouetteuette
Christa from Hooked on Books - @ChristasBooks
Jenna from Fans of Fiction - @fansoffiction
Angel from Mermaids Vision - @mermaidvisions

Schedule:

January - Donna (Theme: Let It Snow + Book Cover Challenge)

February - Nicole (Theme: Un-requited Love/Love Gone Wrong + Advice Column Challenge)

March - Rie (Theme: Green or Pinched + Green Cover Challenge)

April - Bonnie (Theme: Easter + Mini Challenge)

May - Christa (Theme: MayDay - Disaster Books! + Cover Disaster Challenge)

June - Jenna (Theme: Camping + Sentence Challenge)

July - Rie (Theme: International Day + Cover Comparison Challenge)

August - Angel (Theme: Summer Memories + Send Your Fav Character On Vacation Challenge)

September - Nicole (Theme: Life Changing Books + Mini Challenge)

October - Caitlin (Theme: Thanksgiving Theme + Share-A-Book Challenge)

November - Vicky (Theme: Spooky Halloween + Book Puzzle Challenge)

December - Evie (Theme: Xmas Bliss + Book Bachelor Challenge)

And I do believe that sums it all up! New challenges this year! Hope they all end up being fun to complete! I will be keeping track of my progress in the form of a page this time around, as it will be much easier to update than this post (plus, it will always be easy to find!). You can find the page here!

2011 Challenges - How did I do??

I spent the better part of the day today trying to update all my challenge lists from last year, as well as trying to look through all of the new challenges available for this year and deciding which ones to go for. For now, I will just focus on last year's challenges.

So, in 2011, I signed up for 6 challenges:
- 100 Books In A Year Challenge 2011 (hosted by Book Chick City)
- British Books Challenge 2011 (hosted by The Bookette)
- Dystopia Challenge (hosted by Bookish Ardour)
- Victorian Literature Challenge (hosted by Subtle Melodrama)
- 1st In A Series Challenge 2011 (hosted by A Few More Pages)
- 2nds Challenge 2011 (hosted by A Few More Pages)

(The links above lead to my sign-up/keeping-track posts for those particular challenges.)

As you will be able to see if you click on the above links, I didn't do too badly! I managed to complete 5 out of the 6 challenges!! Yay me!

For the 100 Books In A Year Challenge: I actually ended up reading 124 books last year. Which I have no idea how I am going to top. Because I know I have a busy year ahead of me, I set my Goodreads Challenge to 100 books again, which I might increase if I see that I am doing better than I thought I would be!
Challenge completed! 


For the British Books Challenge: Another success here! The aim was to read 12 books by British authors and I managed to get my total up to 31!!!!! I know that some bloggers out there who also participated in this challenge managed to read more than 50 books by British authors, but I am seriously happy about my own accomplishment!
Challenge completed!

For the Dystopia Challenge: This one is actually one challenge that I thought I would do better... I aimed to read 15 books during the year and I only just completed it, by reading 16 dystopian books in total. I'm still happy I managed to complete it though!
Challenge completed!

For the Victorian Literature Challenge: This is the one I failed miserably at.... I went for one of the lowest levels (I can't remember if it was actually the lowest one there was), and the aim was to read 5-8 books published during the years of the reign of Queen Victoria. I managed to finish 3 (The Scarlet Letter, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and The Picture of Dorian Gray) and tried starting The Moonstone (which I just gave up on), so I failed. But it's still an accomplishment, isn't it? I don't know if I would have read those particular books this year if it hadn't been for this challenge! So, I suppose it's plus! But still...
Challenge failed.

For the 1st in a Series Challenge: Another one I did pretty well on! I aimed for 12 books, but actually got round to reading 32(!!!) books that were first in a series!
Challenge completed!

For the 2nds Challenge: This one I really only just completed! I aimed to read 12 books and I read 12 books. So, success!
Challenge completed!


All in all, I didn't do too badly, did I?? You can click on the links to get to my lists of books or you can just click on my Reviews A-Z page to see all the books I have read since I started blogging!

The post with the signups for the challenges I have decided to participate in this year will probably go up sometime tomorrow, so keep an eye out for that!

Did you take part in any challenges last year? How did you do?

Happy New Year!

(source)

I know I have been a terrible blogger as of late, but this year I am going to change a few things. To be fair, I have always been lax as to when I post stuff on the blog, apart from the odd meme or two, but I got into a big reviewing slump last year. At some point around October, I realised I had such a backlog of reviews to write that I couldn't remember half of what I wanted to write in the first place. So, for this year, I have decided that I am not going to struggle to review each and every one of the books that I read. I did read 120 odd books this year, which would have meant 120 odd reviews. I'm pretty sure I wrote about 100 of them, but I got to a point where it was a struggle to say anything interesting about some of the books that I read.

So, for 2012, I am going to start afresh, and will start posting reviews of the book I read this year. Occasionally, when I happen to be in a reading slump or something similar, I will post reviews of the books I read last year but ended up not posting a review of.

The main reason I have decided to do this is because I love blogging and I love being part of the blogging community, but it just got to be a little too much. It felt like homework. So, now, I am taking the pressure off my shoulders! After all, I am doing an MSc! I do not need the added pressure!

I would like to thank everyone who stuck with me through this! Thank you for being patient and not unsubscribing! You don't know how much it means to me! And now, to thank you for that, I promise to start posting regularly again! I will post again in a couple of days when I figure out which challenges I am going to participate in for this year, as well as to see how I did with last year's challenges!

Also, to end this post, I would like to invite you to visit a new collab blog I'm doing with two friends I met through book blogging! Anne, Kate and I will be blogging over at The PAKt every week, so please come and check it out!

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
First published by Simon & Schuster BFYR (this edition by Simon Pulse in 2010)


Book #1 in the Hush, Hush series






Description (from Goodreads):
For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her...until Patch comes along.
With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment, but after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is far more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.
For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life.

My thoughts
Hush, Hush was one of those books I had been avoiding. I remember seeing it in the bookshop half a year or so ago and thinking 'Not another fallen angel book'. Not that I've read many of them, but I just had the feeling it would be the same all over again. (Which I know is a pretty unfair generalisation to make, but I still made it.) I had pretty much decided I wasn't going to read it, when a copy of it became available on Bookmooch. I decided to give it a try and I have to say I am very glad I did so.

Hush, Hush was definitely nothing like Fallen (by Lauren Kate - which is the one I can compare to). Patch is a completely different fallen angel to Daniel. He's dark and sinister and works in a completely different way. But before I get onto the characters in this story, I must say something about the story itself.

Hush, Hush tells the story of Nora Grey. Nora lives with her mother in a house in the middle of nowhere. She goes to school with her best friend Vee, with who she also sits during Biology class. But then, quite unexpectedly, their teacher decides everyone should change seats and sit with someone they haven't chosen (as a sort of experiment). That's how Nora ends up meeting Patch. The thing about Patch is that, even though Nora says she doesn't like him, she's very attracted to him, making matters rather difficult. Patch seems to know so much about her; even more than her friends and that unnerves her.

One thing I noticed about this book is, once again, the absence of parental figures. Nora's father is dead (and there's obviously something sinister going on - judging from that very frustrating and teasing first chapter of Crescendo at the end of the book), but her mother never seems to be there. The author did come up with a good idea for having her absent for such long periods in time, but still, it's becoming a little too commonplace, seeing characters without parental supervision/guidance in books. As for the actual characters, Nora was ok, Patch was more than ok (and a little bad-ass too!) and I couldn't really connect with Vee.

I am very glad I decided to give this book a chance, in the end! It sure wasn't what I expected and I liked that. I am definitely hoping to read Crescendo sometime soon!

Rating: 8/10


Author:
Becca Fitzpatrick is an American author. She has a degree in health, which she abandoned in favour of telling stories. Her first book, Hush, Hush, debuted as a New York Times bestseller. She lives in Colorado.
The other books in her Hush, Hush series are:

Crescendo  |  Silence (Out on the 4th of October)

Read for the: 100 Books In A Year Challenge 2011, 1st in a Series Challenge

Once Upon A Read-a-thon - Final Update

Final update for my first readathon! If I may say so, it was a very successful one for me, especially regarding the fact that I read next to nothing on Monday. Since the previous update, I only managed to finish Love Story, but then again, I had to go and see Harry Potter at the cinema. More on that later!

Previous update: 857 pages (=2.5 books)

Since then I read:
Love Story by Jennifer Echols (129 pages - Finished!)

Bringing my total up to: 986 pages (=3.5 books)


Yay for me! I am veeery happy I read so many pages!

To summarise, the books I read were:

Woot woot! 

Today's mini challenges were rather interesting ones. I've chosen not to participate in the Matchmaking one, as I tried thinking about possible matches and just sat there with no ideas whatsoever. I really am useless at things like that. Just as I am useless with casting actors for certain roles. For the other challenge, we are supposed to recommend two books to Ashley from Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing. Here are my two picks:

Book #1 (any book): If I had to choose any book to recommend to anyone, it would have to be The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. That book is one of my favourites ever. It's got a lot of mystery going on and the plot twists are just masterful. Things come out of nowhere, literally. I actually knew there were going to be plot twists (because someone let it slip on twitter) and I still didn't see them coming. I know novels with historical elements (as for the most part it's about a story from 50 years ago) aren't everybody's cup of tea, but urge you all to give it a try.

Book #2 (a book from the readathon): Out of the books I read for this readathon, Paranormalcy was definitely my favourite! The writing is so much fun! It makes sense as the narrative of a 16 year old girl, without seeming overdone or anything. But, honestly, if you haven't read it, you should probably give it a try if only for Lend. Weird name, but he's one of the loveliest male characters I've read about! And for the fact that every paranormal creature you had ever thought of (or hadn't) is in there!

And now onto the part that will make all of you jealous! :P

I went to see Harry Potter at the cinema tonight and holy cow was it amazing!! Honestly. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Yup, they've changed quite a few things, but if you try not to think about them, they've really made an amazing film. (I know I'm saying amazing too much.)

What really caught me off guard was the number of times I actually laughed out loud to some scenes. It was such a lovely touch. Amidst all that chaos, there were a few moments that were just priceless and gave the scenes a bit of levity for a few moments, before returning to the whole chaos thing. (God, what an awful film review that was.)

And oh em gee with that kissing scene.... It was so sweet and cute and lovely and .... just perfect. Really.

And I'm going to see it again on Saturday with boyfriend.

Well, that's all from me for now. I had such fun with this readathon and rather think I was quite successful! I will definitely try one of these again! Many thanks to all the girls who organised it and everyone who came up with all the mini-challenges.

Once Upon A Read-a-thon Update #2

Time for my second update! :)
I think I've done very well considering my rather slow start!

Previous update: 466 pages

Since then I have read:
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White (30 pages - Finished!)
A Season of Eden by Jennifer Laurens (234 pages - Finished!)
Love Story by Jennifer Echols (127 pages - Half way through!)

Which brings my total up to: 857 pages


Books I have finished:
Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr (half of it)
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
A Season of Eden by Jennifer Laurens
=2.5 books


I'm going to participate in a couple of challenges, too, so here are my entries!


Challenge #1
Sabrina from YA Bliss is asking us to name our top 3 love triangles, as part of her challenge! Here are mine:

Meghan, Ash & Puck from The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa

Granted, I know I've only read the first book in the series, but the triangle is underlying even from book #1. You can see there is something there, just waiting to happen. Can't wait to read the rest of the books in the series to see what happens!

Katniss, Peeta & Gale from The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

This is one of my favourite series ever. I really loved both Peeta and Gale for different reasons, and I really liked that you were never sure who Katniss was going to choose in the end, despite what each one of us hoped for while reading the book. 

Melanie, Wanda, Jared & Ian from The Host by Stephenie Meyer

This is a bit of a weird triangle, as there are 4 people involved, but as two of them were sharing a body, I'm counting it. Melanie and Wanda want Jared, Wanda also likes Ian, Ian wants Wanda and Melanie wants Jared, but doesn't like the fact that Wanda also likes him. Talk about complicated. But I think Stephenie Meyer handled it in a lovely way.

Challenge #2

Casey from The Bookish Type is hosting a rather different challenge! Here is what we have to do!

Pick any book from your readathon pile and write a fake synopsis based solely on the cover. The synopsis does not have to be related to the actual book at all, just the pretty, pretty cover.

Here is my entry:

Everyone has always thought of Nadia Valle as being a little odd. Ever since the day her mother died in that awful flash flood three years ago, Nadia disappears every time there is a storm brewing. No one knows where she goes. Except for Gavin, who lives next door to Nadia and has been in love with her for years. Every time there is a storm, he also disappears, to make sure that Nadia is all right. Then one day, something weird happens. Something that will suck both Nadia and Gavin into a strange new world, with all sorts of creatures roaming it. Maybe Nadia knows more about it than she's letting on?

 Gosh, that's bad! Which is why I will never be an author! (Not that I planned on being one, or anything.) It was fun writing though!

P.S.: I'm going to Harry Potter tonight!!!!!!  :-D

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

I had actually never read this book, when I noticed this book in a bookshop for only 4 euros. I only just got round to reading it though, so here is my review.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by R. L. Stevenson
First published by Longmans, Green & Co. in 1886 (this edition by HarperPress in 2010)






Description: (from back cover)

'All human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil.'

After taking an elixir created in his laboratory, mild mannered Dr Jekyll is transformed into the cruel and despicable Mr Hyde. Although seemingly harmless at first, things soon descend into chaos and Jekyll quickly realises there is only one way to stop Hyde. Stevenson's quintessential novella of the Victorian era epitomizes the conflict between psychology, science and religious morality, but is fundamentally a triumphant study of the duality of human nature.


Opinions:
I kept hearing about this story for years and years, but only vaguely knew what it was about. I can honestly say that having now read the book, it wasn't really what I was expecting.


We all know the basic plot. We have one man, Dr Jekyll, who drinks some sort of potion he makes and is promptly transformed into Mr Hyde. The difference between these two men is not limited to their appearance, but goes as far as their actual character. Dr Jekyll is described as a mild mannered man, whereas Mr Hyde is said to be evil personified (or maybe that's too harsh). He seems to repel each and every character in the book.


I don't know why, but I remember that, at some point, I used to think that Dr Jekyll was the evil one and Mr Hyde the good one. I was a little embarrassed when someone pointed out that it was the opposite. Though I think that my assumption that Dr Jekyll was the evil one came from the fact that he is a doctor (just like Frankenstein, who created his monster).


I don't want to spoil the book, so I can't really get into many details. The book is less than 100 pages long, so I have to be careful not to give any information away that could potentially ruin the book for someone who has not yet read it. The book is told in the third person, through the eyes of the people in the immediate circle of Dr Jekyll or through letters. This actually gives it an air of mystery, as everyone has a view of what is going on, but have no means of knowing why each thing is happening.


The story actually want to show the duality of human nature. Dr Jekyll stands for the good part in a person, whereas Mr Hyde stands for the evil part of the same person. Thus, Hyde really acts like a mask, behind which Jekyll is free to do anything he wants. One thing that stood out (to me) was the fact that Dr Jekyll is described as a tall and healthy man, with a pleasant face, but Mr Hyde is presented as a man of short stature and looks that make people want to look away from him. I always imagined Hyde as a tall, muscular sort of fellow, who was probably a bit of a bully because of his size. So I was quite surprised to see that was not the case.


All in all, it was a good book, if a little short. I think it could have done with a little more development and it wouldn't have been at all tiring. I liked the setting of the book and the message it was trying to get across. A book that people should read. I, for one, think I should have read this book years ago. It's not really scary. It's more mysterious, really. So, just go read it if you haven't!


Rating: 7/10


Author:
Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish poet and novelist and is regarded as a leading representative of Neo-romanticism in English literature. He was greatly admired by many well-known authors, such as Jorge Luis Borges, Rudyard Kipling, Vladimir Nabokov and Ernest Hemingway. He published his first book at the age of 33 and died of an apparent cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 44. During his relatively few years of writing, he managed to write an impressive number of novels, short stories, poetry and travel writing, a list of which you can find HERE.
His most well-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Counts as Book #28 in my 100 Books In A Year Challenge and as Book #14 in my British Books Challenge 2011!

Also counts toward the Victorian Literature Challenge.

Other challenges - Progress

As I mentioned in this post, I have decided to join a few more challenges this year. The only reason I decided to participate in these extra challenges is because I was already planning on reading quite a lot of books that qualify for these challenges anyway!

So, here I have a post to keep myself up to date with my progress for these particular challenges.

1. The Dystopia Challenge (hosted by Bonnie of Bookish Ardour)

Aim: To read 15 dystopian books in 2011 (Contagion level)
The books:
1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
2. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
3. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
4. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
5. Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
6. Specials by Scott Westerfeld
7. Extras by Scott Westerfeld
8. Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien
9. Divergent by Veronica Roth
10. 1984 by George Orwell
11. The Host by Stephenie Meyer
12. Sleepwalking by Nicola Morgan
13. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
14. The Declaration by Gemma Malley
15. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
16. The Pledge by Kimberly Derting




2. The Victorian Literature Challenge (hosted by Bethany of Subtle Melodrama)


Aim: To read 5-9 books that were published during the years of the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) (Great Expectations level)
The books:
1. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (pub. 1850)
2. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (pub. 1868)
3. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by R.L. Stevenson (pub. 1886)
4. The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde (pub. 1891)
5. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (pub. 1847)




3. The 1st In A Series Challenge (hosted by Katy of A Few More Pages)


Aim: To read 12 books that are the first in any series (Series Expert)
The books:
1. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
3. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
4. The Messenger of Athens by Anne Zouroudi
5. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
6. Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder
7. Lament by Maggie Stiefvater
8. The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening + The Struggle by L.J. Smith
9. Immortal by Gillian Shields
10. Wings by Aprilynne Pike
11. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams
12. Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
13. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
14. Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready
15. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
16. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
17. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
18. Wildefire by Karsten Knight
19. Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien
20. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
21. The Declaration by Gemma Malley
22. Fury by Elizabeth Miles
23. Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz
24. Divergent by Veronica Roth
25. Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren
26. Jessica's Guide To Dating On The Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey
27. The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima
28. I heart New York by Lindsey Kelk
29. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
30. The Pledge by Kimberly Derting
31. Glimmerglass by Jenna Black
32. The Sleeping Doll by Jeffery Deaver




4. The 2nds Challenge (hosted by Katy of A Few More Pages)


Aim: To read 12 books that are the second in a series or it is the second time you have read a particular author. (A full plate)
The books:
1. Pretties by Scott Westerfeld (series)
2. The Hunger Games: Burning Fire by Suzanne Collins (series)
3. Babylon Revisited by F. Scott Fitzgerald (author)
4. Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan (series)
5. Linger by Maggie Stiefvater (series)
6. Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick (series)
7. Slam by Nick Hornby (author)
8. Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder (series)
9. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (author)
10. Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl (series)
11. Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr (series)
12. The Sleeping Doll by Jeffery Deaver (author)

New challenges!!

Looking around many different blogs I came across many different challenges, other than the two I have already signed up to. They crossover with the ones I am already participating in and many of the books I already own can count towards completing them.
So, the challenges I have decided to go for are:

1. The Dystopia Challenge





This challenge is hosted by Bonnie of Bookish Ardour. She has actually set up another blog (you can find it here) where you can find info about all the challenges hosted by her.
In this Dystopia challenge you have to choose a level that you are going to aim for. There are quite a few levels to choose from (taken directly from her blog):

1. Asocial–  Choose 5 books to read
2. Contagion – Choose 15 books to read
3. Soldier – Choose 30 books to read
4. Drone – Choose 50 books to read
5. Conditioned – Choose 75 books to read

For extra hard challenges

1. Brainwashed – Choose 76-125 books to read
2. Totalitarian – Choose 126-200 books to read

I have to say, if anyone manages one of the two last ones, I will have to congratulate them! Anyway, I am going to aim for somewhere in the middle, as in the Contagion level. I already own (or plan on owning) quite a few dystopian novels, so I think 15 will be manageable. I'll probably end up reading more than 15, but I'm not sure I'll manage to reach 30, so I'm aiming low.

2. The Victorian Literature Challenge

This challenge is hosted by Bethany of Subtle Melodrama. In this challenge, the aim is to read books that were published during the years of the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). Again, you get to choose the number of books you will aim to read. The levels available are (taken directly from her blog):

Sense and Sensibility: 1-4 books.
Great Expectations: 5-9 books.
Hard Times: 10-14 books.
Desperate Remedies: 15+ books.

In this challenge, I will be aiming for the second level, Great Expectations. I have already found some books I would love to read for this challenge (of which I own 5), so once again, I am aiming low!

3. The 1st In A Series Challenge

This challenge is hosted by Katy of A Few More Pages. The aim is to read a certain number of books that are first in a series. Again, you can choose the level you are to aim for. The levels available are (taken directly from her blog):

• Series Novice: Read 3 books that are the first in any series.
• Series Lover: Read 6 books that are the first in any series.
• Series Expert: Read 12 books that are the first in any series.
• Series Fanatic: Read 20 books that are the first in any series.

In this challenge I am going to aim for the third level, Series Expert. That means quite a few books, but I already own 6 books that I plan to read in the immediate future and I am pretty sure I will end up reading more than 6 1st's!

And last, but not least,

4. The 2nds Challenge

This challenge is also hosted by Katy of A Few More Pages. In this challenge, the aim is to read EITHER books that are 2nd in a series OR books that are written by authors you've only read once before (this being your second novel of theirs). The levels are as follows (taken directly from her blog):

• Just a spoonful - Read 3 books that are 2nd in a series or the second time you've read the author. 
• A few more bites - Read 6 books that are 2nd in a series or the second time you've read the author.
• A full plate - Read 12 books that are 2nd in a series or the second time you've read the author.
• All you can eat - Read 20 books (or more) that are 2nd in a series or the second time you've read the author.

I am going to aim for the third level (A full plate). I think I can manage that number of books, seeing as I am going to be reading quite a few books that are first in a series. I'll just try to combine these two challenges, wherever possible!

This means that I have added quite a few extra books in my reading pile... Fortunately, quite a few of them crossover, so the list will not be as long (I hope...) Wish me luck!