2012 Book Challenges Wrap Up

2012 Challenges

My A-Z Book Challenge

A - Aurelia
B - Bless Your Heart Tramp, Becoming Sister Wives, Brain Matters
C - Cairo
D - Death By Petticoat, The Darkening Dream, A Dance with Dragons
E - The Enchantress of Florence, Envy
F - Four Thousand Year of Uppity Women, The Fault In Our Stars
G - The Garden Intrigue, The Goddess Test, A Great & Terrible Beauty
H - The Hunger Games
I - If I Have a Wicked Stepmother..., The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Indian Captive
J - The Jinx
K - A Kingdom's Possession, The King's Mistress
L - The Last Boleyn, The Lady of the Rivers, Let's Pretend this Never Happened, Life with Lily, Literacy for the 21st Century
M - Mistress of Rome, The Magician's Nephew, The Magic Warble, The Mermaid Chair, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, The Murderer's Daughters
N
O - Oh My Gods!
P - Peter and the Starcatchers
Q
R - Reluctant Disciplinarian, Rebel Angels, 
S - Scary School, The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, Sister Wife, Salem Witch Tryouts, Saving CeeCee Honeycut, Special Education for Today's Teachers
T - A Treasury of Royal Scandals, To Marry an English Lord
U - Unending Devotion
V
W - The Wedding Dress
X
Y - Your Best Birth
Z

As you can see I didn't finish my own challenge. For shame. Let me hang my head..... Ok I'm back. I think that since I only read 50 books this year, I actually did quite well. The only ones I didn't do were N, Q, V, X, and Z. Not sure how I didn't manage to find and N or a V, but Q, X, and Z are excusable. :) Better luck next year. PS. Sign ups are up for the 2012 A to Z Challenge.

Picture Book Challenge - Level 3 : 24 books (Finished June 6th!)

Current Tally - 27

Mr Brown Can Moo, 1 Moose 20 Mice, Dear Zoo, Star Wars ABC, One Two Buckle My Shoe, Old Hat New Hat, Jamberry, Hop on Pop, Alice in Wonderland, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Romeo and Juliet, The Sea of Bath, Old MacDonald Had a Farm, Are You my Mother?, Eyes & Nose Fingers & Toes, I am a Bunny, Barney's Book of Opposites, Sesame Street Who am I?, Moo Baa LaLaLa, RS' Cars and Trucks From A to Z, Almost Bedtime, On the Track...There and Back, How Many Kisses Do You Want Tonight?, Sharing is Caring, Night Night Blessings, 10 Minutes Til Bedtime

I managed to finish this one back in June. It wasn't surprising since CJ and I read at least two books a night. He's turning into quite a bookworm and it makes me so proud. :)

Eclectic Reader Challenge

Genres

1. Literary Fiction - The Enchantress of Florence
2. Crime/Mystery Fiction - Aurelia by Anne Osterlund (there was a mystery in it, so it counts!)
3. Romantic Fiction : The Garden Intrigue by Lauren Willig
4. Historical Fiction : Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn
5. Young Adult : If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where is My Prince?
6. Fantasy : The Jinx
7. Science Fiction - A Kingdom's Possession by Nicole Persun
8. Non Fiction : Death By Petticoat
9. Horror : The Darkening Dream
10. Thriller /Suspense - Rebel Angels 
11. Classic : The Magician's Nephew
12. Your favourite genre - Historical Fiction : The Last Boleyn 

This one was a toughie, I'll admit. I didn't think I was going to be able to finish it, but I did. I just don't like crime/mystery fiction all that much, so it was hard for me to find one. But I snuck one in there at the last second. So woohoo. 

I also just barely finished 50 books this year. That is crazy for me. I'm more like a 75 books per year kind of gal. I don't even have excuses like I read Game of Thrones or big books like that again. I did re-read the Gemma Doyle Trilogy, but those aren't too crazy long. 

2012 Reading Challenge

Lindsey has completed her goal of reading 50 books in 2012!

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50 of 50 (100%)

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I actually signed up for about 5 more challenges, but as the year went on, it became quite obvious I wasn't going to finish them, so I just deleted them from my challenge page. Oh well. I do have my 2013 challenges ready to go. That page will be up soon. 

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An Illustrated Year - Picture Book Challenge

 

2012 Picture Book Challenge - completed!!

I probably finished this ages ago. We read about 6 books a day, but I just never sat down and put all the books down after we finished them. I finally started doing that every once in a while, and just tonight, we made it to 27 books. My original goes was 12, but then I upped it to 24. The challenge is still open, if you want to join. Just click on the image above to be taken to An Abundance Of Books.

Here are the picture books CJ and I read. Most of these we read at bedtime.

1. Mr Brown Can Moo
2. 1 Moose 20 Mice
3. Dear Zoo
4. Star Wars ABC
5. One Two Buckle My Shoe
6. Old Hat New Hat
7. Jamberry
8. Hop on Pop
9. Alice in Wonderland Board Book
10. Pride and Prejudice Board Book
11. Jane Eyre Board Book
12. Romeo and Juliet Board Book
13. The Sea of Bath
14. Old MacDonald Had a Farm
15. Are You my Mother?
16. Eyes & Nose Fingers & Toes
17. I am a Bunny
18. Barney's Book of Opposites
19. Sesame Street Who am I?
20. Moo Baa LaLaLa
21. Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks From A to Z
22. Almost Bedtime (Eeebee's Adventures)
23. On the Track...There and Back (Thomas and Friends)
24. How Many Kisses Do You Want Tonight?
25. Sharing is Caring
26. Night Night Blessings
27. 10 Minutes Til Bedtime

If you are looking for some great picture books or board books for your toddler, these are all great choices. CJ's favorites are the ones in bold. I hope you find some new goodies!  Pin It

2012 Challenge (7) - An Abundance of Books' 2012 Picture Book Reading Challenge

This is the last one, I promise!! 

I think since I have a toddler who loves books, this one will be easiest.

Click on the picture to be taken to the sign-up blog.

The Details

• Timeline: January 1, 2012- December 31, 2012
• Select your level:

                     Level 1 - Read 12 picture books

                     Level 2 - Read 16 picture books

                     Level 3 - Read 24 picture books

• You don't have to select your books ahead of time, you can just add them as you go.  If you do list your books in the beginning, you can always change them later on.
• Crossovers with other challenges count.
• Digital books count
• Re-reads count as long as you read them in 2012 and you post a new review for the book.
• You can join anytime

I'm going for level 2 - Read 16 picture books. I'm pretty sure I can do 24, but I will start with 16.

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Join my A-Z Book Challenge!

In 2011, I challenged myself to read a book starting with each letter of the alphabet. Well, I failed, but just barely. So I've decided to re-challenge myself in 2012, and invite all of you along! So here goes.

Technical Stuff

This challenge will run from January 1st, 2012 until December 31st, 2012.

You can join anytime.

If you are blogger, leave the link to your actual post about this challenge.

If you are not a blogger, leave a link to where you will be keeping track of this challenge.

So there are two different ways you can set up your own A-Z challenge.

A - Make a list now of 26 books, picking one for each letter of the alphabet. For example: A - Atonement B- Black Beauty C - The Count of Monte Cristo D - Dances with Dragons etc.

OR

B - The lazy way (how I do it) : Make a list on your blog from A-Z. Throughout the year, as you go along, add the books you are reading to the list. Hope that by the end of the year you have read one book for each letter. Towards the end of the year, you can check and see which letters you are missing and find books to fit.

Each month, I will add another challenge to this main challenge. It might to read a book with both A and Z in the title or to read a book with 3 words that all start with the same letter. I might host a few random giveaways too for good measure. If you've got some idea for the mini-challenges, send them my way!

Since it is really hard to find titles beginning with X, the letter X just needs to be in the title somewhere.

So to join along....
1. Write a blog post about this challenge and whether you are going go with A or B.
2. Add the button to your blog.
3. Attach yourself to the linky.
4. Follow my blog so that you can see when I post the monthly challenge!


Thanks Liz for asking which kind of book blogs can join. Answer: ANY KIND. You don't even have to have a book blog. Any blog at all or no blog at all. All are welcome.

Thanks Darlene for asking and yes both e-books and audiobooks count.

<a href="http://www.babiesbooksandsigns.com/p/z-challenge-2012.html "> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/munkyluver/a-zchallenge.jpg"/></ a>

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2012 Challenge (5) - 2012 TBR Pile

This one is similar to one of the other challenges for 2012. Information and sign-ups can be found here. The goal is to read books that have been on your To-Be-Read list for a long time. There are 5 levels. You can move up a level (read more books than your goal) but you can't move down a level. 
I'm going to go for 12 books off of my to-be-read list, which is the "friendly hug" level. 
This one is a little different as each month there will different themes and giveaways. Click on the button or the link above to see the full details. 
Here's the 12 books I will be attempting to get off of my to-be-read list in 2012.
1. Atonement - Ian McEwan2. Eragon - Christopher Paolini3. Princess Academy - Shannon Hale4. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel - Louise Murphy5. The Unburied - Charles Palliser6. The Alchemist - Paolo Coelho (unless I manage to read it before the end of the year.)7. The Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger (Yep, English teacher who hasn't read it. That's me.)8. My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult9. The Host - Stephenie Meyer10. The Shack - William P Young11. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman12. American Wife - Curtis Sittenfeld13. The Mermaid Chair - Sue Monk Kidd (in case I do finish The Alchemist before 2012.) Pin It

2012 Challenge (4) - Off the Shelf 2012

Go to Bookish Ardour to sign up.

The challenge : Another simple one. Read books that you already have on your bookshelves. They can be audio or e-book shelves as well. There are 7 levels.

Challenge Levels

1. Tempted– Choose 5 books to read
2. Trying – Choose 15 books to read
3. Making A Dint – Choose 30 books to read
4. On A Roll – Choose 50 books to read
5. Flying Off – Choose 75 books to read
6. Hoarder – Choose between 76-135 books to read
7. Buried – Choose between 136-200 books to read

I'm going to go for the 3rd level, "making a dint". Since I already am participating in the weekly TBR Interventions, where you choose one book from your shelf to read, I should be able to read at least 30 books. I might get more, but I want to take into consideration that I have books that I need to read in order to review as well. 

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2012 Challenge (3) - Outdo Yourself

Sign ups are here.

The Challenge: This is a simple one. Just read more books in 2012 than you read in 2011. There are 4 levels: Getting my heart rate up – Read 1–5 more books 

     Out of breath – Read 6–10 more books 
     Breaking a sweat – Read 11–15 more books 
     I’m on fire! – Read 16+ more books

In 2011, I challenged myself to read 52 books. So far, I've read 53. I'm hoping to hit 60 by December 31st. So I'm going to challenge myself to read 75 books in 2011. I am hoping to get to the "breaking a sweat level" of 11-15 more books. It would be awesome if I could get to the "I'm on fire level" too. We shall see! 

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2012 Challenge (2) - YA Mythology Challenge

Sign up at For Those About to Read.

The challenge: Read 10 young adult/middle grade novels that incorporate any type of mythology (Greek, Roman, Norse, etc.) in the story line. 

• The challenge will run from January 1, 2012 – December 31, 2012.

• You can join anytime by filling out the form below

• Books must be read in 2012

• If you are a blogger, you must write a sign-up post that links back to this challenge page (Please use the image above in the post).

• If you are not a blogger, just leave a link to your account on Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, LibrayThing, etc.

Not sure what to read? Check out the YA Mythology Challenge Goodreads List

I didn't know any books, so I'm stealing them from other participants. Let me know if you know of any good ones!

1. Fury - Elizabeth Miles
2. Abandon - Meg Cabot
3. The Lost Hero - Rick Riordan
4. Oh.My.Gods. - Tera Lynn Childs
5. Nobody's Princess - Esther Freisner
6. The Goddess Test - Aimee Carter
7. Starcrossed - Josephine Angelini (suggested by Tiffany @ For Those About To Read)
8.
9.
10.

I still need 3 more books readers, let me know of some good ones! Pin It

2012 Challenge (1) - Classics Challenge

Since I didn't start this blog until April, I wasn't aware of all the Book Challenges across the blogsophere until it was too late. Well, I will be remedying that next year. I did have one challenge. My goodreads' challenge for this year was to read 52 books. I figured with a baby, I probably wouldn't be able to read as much, so I limited myself to a book a week. I actually managed to finish my challenge last week. Wahooooo! It turns out, it is possible to read while nursing. Or to read while the baby is using your body as his personal pillow/bed. That's how I managed to finish.

The first challenge I will be participating in is the Classics Challenge from November's Autumn. Head over her blog to join. The rules are as follows.

The challenge:
Read seven works of literature in 2012. Only 3 of them may be re-reads.

How it works:
On the 4th of each month, go to November's Autumn and follow the prompt in a blog post. Each prompt will be general enough that you can answer it with whichever book you are reading that month.

For the rest of the rules, check out this post.




My list isn't official yet, but here is what I am going to try to read in 2012. I'm giving myself 12, even though you only have to read 7. I have all of these books on my shelves already, and the starred ones are already on my Nook.

The List
1. Faust - Goethe
2. Alexandria - EM Forster
3. Dubliners - James Joyce
4. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket - Edgar Allen Poe
5. The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baron Orczy
6. The Magician's Nephew - CS Lewis
7. The Borgias - Alexandre Dumas*
8. House of Mirth or Age of Innocence- Edith Wharton*
9. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne*
10. The Murder at the Vicarage - Agatha Christie*
11. The Prince and the Pauper - Mark Twain* (re-read)
12. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett* Pin It