Books

Well, I finished another reading challenge and this is the fourth time I’ve done this challenge, having participated in #2, #3, and #5 previously.  It’s always a fun one and thanks to bethfishreads for hosting.  The categories and the books I read are below and they are eclectic!

Up or Down or its equivalent in the title– Rise to Rebellion: A Novel of the American Revolution, by Jeff Shaara

Something you’d find in your Kitchen– Stake and Eggs, by Laura Childs

Party/Celebration– State Fair (Benni Harper Mystery #14), by Earlene Fowler

Fire or its equivalent-Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1), by Marissa Meyer

An Emotion-Love Mercy (Love Mercy Johnson #1), by Earlene Fowler

Lost or Found or its equivalent-The Lost Art of Gratitude (Isabel Dalhousie #6), by Alexander McCall Smith

 

 

The challenge runs from January 1, 2013 and ends December 31, 2013 and you must choose the level you wish to participate:

Level 1 – Snoop – Read at least 6 books
Level 2 – Investigator – Read 7-12 books
Level 3 – Super Sleuth – Read 13 or more books

I’m going to be a Level 2 Investigator this year.  I’ve got some series I’m working on and want to keep going.

So I’ve finished my first reading challenge of the year and it’s only April.  I have a bunch more cozies to read this year so I could have definitely gone to Level 3 but I was trying to be realistic when I signed up.  Silly me.  I had planned to read the next couple volumes of several of my ongoing series, but once I got going on the Benni Harper series, I just couldn’t stop.  Now I need to finish that series and get back to the ones I was originally going to do for this challenge.  🙂 I really liked Maisie Dobbs so that’s a new one to work on, and of course I read the new Flavia book as soon as it came out!  This was a fun challenge and it inspired me to discover a whole new world of cozy mysteries.  Just this year I’ve picked up some new authors at my second-hand store to try out, but they will have to wait for next year!

Stake & Eggs (Cackleberry Club, #4) by Laura Childs
Fool’s Puzzle (A Benni Harper Mystery #1) by Earlene Fowler
Irish Chain (A Benni Harper Mystery #2) by Earlene Fowler
Kansas Troubles (A Benni Harper Mystery #3) by Earlene Fowler
Goose in the Pond (A Benni Harper Mystery #4) by Earlene Fowler
Dove in the Window (A Benni Harper Mystery #5) by Earlene Fowler
Speaking from Among the Bones (Flavia de Luce, #5) by Alan Bradley
Mariner’s Compass (A Benni Harper Mystery #6) by Earlene Fowler
Seven Sisters (A Benni Harper Mystery #7) by Earlene Fowler
Maisie Dobbs (Maisie Dobbs, #1) by Jacqueline Winspear
Arkansas Traveler (A Benni Harper Mystery #8) by Earlene Fowler
Steps to the Altar (A Benni Harper Mystery #9) by Earlene Fowler

2012’s stats are a bit on the high side and I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to maintain this pace in 2013.  I did read 47 books on my TBR shelf and got most of those off to other readers and out of my house, so that was an accomplishment.  Here are my statistics for 2012 from my book journal:

Books read: 196
Pages read: 56,851

Of the books read:

• Non-fiction: 11
• New-to-me novelists: 55
• Continuing series books: 95
• Re-reads: 25
• Audio-books: 25
• Various book club: 17
• Challenges completed: 6 of 6
• Ongoing tally of Newbery winners: 64 of 91

2011:
132 books; 39,641 pages; 15 non-fiction; 42 new-to-me novelists; 54 series; 12 re-reads; 33 audio-books; 0 of 0 challenges completed; 59 of 90 Newbery
2010:
152 books; 46,899 pages; 3 non-fiction; 37 new-to-me novelists; 25 series; 19 re-reads; 28 audio-books; 5 of 5 challenges completed; 50 of 89 Newbery
2009:
73 books; 23,576 pages; 3 non-fiction; 31 new-to-me novelists; 36 series; 5 re-reads; 48 of 88 Newbery
2008:
79 books; 32,031 pages; 8 non-fiction; 15 new-to-me novelists; 31 series; 19 re-reads; 42 of 87 Newbery
2007:
44 books; 17,069 pages; 3 non-fiction; 8 new-to-me novelists; 15 series; 13 re-reads; 38 of 86 Newbery

I accomplished all my 2012 challenges and even went beyond on some, and now it’s time to sign-up for 2013 challenges.  A new year ahead full of lots of reading possibilities!

 

“For this challenge I have chosen ten key words associated with each month in 2013. Your task is to read one book each month whose title includes one or more of the key words for that month.”  Monthly Key Words:

I like this challenge and I participated in #2, #3 and #5, so here I go again.  Between January 1 and December 31, 2013, read one book in each of the following categories:

1. A book with up or down (or equivalent) in the title
2. A book with something you’d find in your kitchen in the title
3. A book with a party or celebration in the title
4. A book with fire (or equivalent) in the title
5. A book with an emotion in the title
6. A book with lost or found (or equivalent) in the title

Read nine books in the following categories between January 1 and December 31, 2013.

1. A book with “Blue” or any shade of Blue (Turquoise, Aquamarine, Navy, etc) in the title.
2. A book with “Red” or any shade of Red (Scarlet, Crimson, Burgundy, etc) in the title.
3. A book with “Yellow” or any shade of Yellow (Gold, Lemon, Maize, etc.)in the title.
4. A book with “Green” or any shade of Green (Emerald, Lime, Jade, etc) in the title.
5. A book with “Brown” or any shade of Brown (Tan, Chocolate, Beige, etc) in the title.
6. A book with “Black” or any shade of Black (Jet, Ebony, Charcoal, etc) in the title.
7. A book with “White” or any shade of White (Ivory, Eggshell, Cream, etc) in the title.
8. A book with any other color in the title (Purple, Orange, Silver, Pink, Magneta, etc.).
9. A book with a word that implies color (Rainbow, Polka-dot, Plaid, Paisley, Stripe, etc.).

The challenge runs from January 1, 2013 and ends December 31, 2013 and you must choose the level you wish to participate:

Level 1 – Snoop – Read at least 6 books
Level 2 – Investigator – Read 7-12 books
Level 3 – Super Sleuth – Read 13 or more books

I’m going to be a Level 2 Investigator this year.  I’ve got some series I’m working on and want to keep going.

In 2009 I participated in their WWII challenge and not the War Through the Generation’s 2013 reading challenge will be the American Revolution. The challenge will run from January 1, 2013, through December 31, 2013.

Rules:

This year you have options when reading your fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, etc. with the American Revolution as the primary or secondary theme.
Books can take place before, during, or after the war, so long as the conflicts that led to the war or the war itself are important to the story. Books from other challenges count so long as they meet the above criteria.
Dip: Read 1-3 books in any genre with the American Revolution as a primary or secondary theme.
Wade: Read 4-10 books.
Swim: Read 11 or more books.

I’m going to Wade and read 4-10 books this year.

Challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2013 and books must be owned by you prior to January 1, 2013.  Last year’s levels were slightly different and I made it up Mt. Ararat with 40 books and almost made it to 50 by the end of 2012.  I kept getting distracted by library books and newly purchased used books.  So I’m for this challenge again so that I can clear another shelf.

I’m signing up for Mt. Vancouver!

Pike’s Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile
Mount Blanc: Read 24 books from your TBR pile
Mt. Vancouver: Read 36 books from your TBR pile
Mt. Ararat: Read 48 books from your TBR piles
Mt. Kilimanjaro: Read 60 books from your TBR pile
El Toro: Read 75 books from your TBR pile
Mt. Everest: Read 100 books from your TBR pile
Mount Olympus (Mars): Read 150+ books from your TBR pile

I started this challenge on a whim because I thought it sounded fun and interesting.  So during the course of my normal reading, I marked my list if the book I finished took place in a state I needed.  This actually worked fine for half the states and then I decided that I wanted to actually finish the challenge.  So I looked through books I had around the house that I hadn’t read to see how many I could find that worked for states I needed.  This actually got me through 45 states.  Then I had to go to the library to search for interesting books for the last five.  So I was surprised that I did this challenge without much struggle, which goes to show that I am pretty well-rounded, geographically speaking!

And which books did I give 5 stars? Alabama, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Alabama: Inside Out & Back Again, by Thanhha Lai

Alaska: Black Star, Bright Dawn, by Scott O’Dell

Arizona: Listening Woman, by Tony Hillerman

Arkansas: Philip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon Maybe, by Bette Greene

California: A Time of Troubles, by Pieter Van Raven

Colorado: The Secret School, by Avi

Connecticut: The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare

Delaware: The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls, by Julie Schumacher

District of Columbia: Talking God, by Tony Hillerman

Florida: Turtle in Paradise, by Jennifer L. Holm

Georgia: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, by Beth Hoffman

Hawaii: Under the Blood-Red Sun, by Graham Salisbury

Idaho: Double Jeopardy, by Steve Roos

Illinois: Fair Weather, by Richard Peck

Indiana: A Girl Named Zippy, by Haven Kimmel

Iowa: A Thousand Acres, by Jane Smiley

Kansas: May B., by Caroline Starr Rose

Kentucky: The Coffin Quilt, by Ann Rinaldi

Louisiana: Keepsake Crimes, by Laura Childs

Maine: Like the Willow Tree, by Lois Lowry

Maryland: Stepping on the Cracks, by Mary Downing Hahn

Massachusetts: The Shape of Mercy, by Susan Meissner

Michigan: Bud, Not Buddy, by Christopher Paul Curtis

Minnesota: The Birchbark House, by Louise Erdrich

Mississippi: Mississippi Trial, 1955, by Chris Crowe

Missouri: The Shepherd of the Hills, by Harold Bell Wright

Montana: Dancing at the Rascal Fair, by Ivan Doig

Nebraska: Worth, by A. LaFaye

Nevada: Lost December, by Richard Paul Evans

New Hampshire: Nothing But the Truth, by Avi

New Jersey: The Fighting Ground, by Avi

New Mexico: The Fallen Man, by Tony Hillerman

New York: Two Suns in the Sky, by Miriam Bat-Ami

North Carolina: On Agate Hill, by Lee Smith

North Dakota: The Children’s Blizzard, by David Laskin

Ohio: Trouble Don’t Last, by Shelley Pearsall

Oklahoma: True Grit, by Charles Portis

Oregon: The River, by Mary Jane Beaufrand

Pennsylvania: The Wedding Quilt, by Jennifer Chiaverini

Rhode Island: Black Duck, by Janet Taylor Lisle

South Carolina: Death by Darjeeling, by Laura Childs

South Dakota: The Indian Agent, by Dan O’Brien

Tennessee: Eggs in Purgatory, by Laura Childs

Texas: Flygirl, by Sherri L. Smith

Utah: When the Emperor was Divine, by Julie Otsuka

Vermont: Witness, by Karen Hesse

Virginia: With the Might of Angels, by Andrea Davis Pinkney

Washington: A Turn in the Road, by Debbie Macomber

West Virginia: Miss Julia to the Rescue, by Ann B. Ross

Wisconsin: Ida B. . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World, by Katherine Hannigan

Wyoming: The Traitor, by Laurence Yep

Bonus Book:  How the States Got Their Shapes, by Mark Stein