The Reading Challenge Group discussion

My challenge for 1013 was 50 books, I read more than 100 (I included everything in the total, from books I read to/with my kids to cooking books, to personal development and non fiction), so I put 100 as my target for 2014.

I decided to join some challenges to push my comfort zone a bit, after all they are called challenges :-)

[EDIT] I realised I can't edit this initial post to keep it up to date as it has become too long, so I separated the challenges into different posts in July

I have pledged 12 books on this group Genre Challenge (1 book each month):
Progress: 67/12

January - Historical ✔
1. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens ****

February - Romance/Chick-Lit ✔
2. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent ***
2.a The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion ****
2.b Wabi Sabi Love: The Ancient Art of Finding Perfect Love in Imperfect Relationships by Arielle Ford ***

March - Young Adult ✔
3. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore ***
3.a Wonder by R.J. Palacio *****
3.b The Fault in Our Stars The Fault in Our Stars by John Green ****
3.c Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell ***

April - Humour ✔
4. Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson ***
4.a Bossypants by Tina Fey * (read about 60%)
4.b Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern ****
4.c One for the Money by Janet Evanovich ***

May - Fantasy/Science-Fiction ✔
5. Infinity Blade: Awakening by Brandon Sanderson **
5.a Unwind by Neal Shusterman **
5.b The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker ****

June - Contemporary ✔
6. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty ***
6.a The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro ***

July - Utopian/Dystopian ✔
7. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer **
7.a Red Rising by Pierce Brown ****
7.b Anthem by Ayn Rand ***
7.c 1984 by George Orwell ****
7.d Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey *****



remaining months are on page 2 in this thread :-)


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for 2014 turn off your TV reading challenge (two books per month) (https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...), I'll fill up the second part of the year later on :
Progress: 31/24

January-Guilty Pleasure ✔
1. The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles ****
2. Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, #1) by Robin Hobb (read in December 2013)
The Railwayman's Wife by Ashley Hay ***

February-Fairy Tale/Retelling ✔
3. Taliesin by Stephen R. Lawhead ***
4.The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales by by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm ***

March-Based on a True Story ✔
5.Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks ****
6. The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz: A True Story of World War II by Denis Avey **

April-Read a Classic ✔
7. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo ***
8. Jane Eyre Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë The Iliad by Homer ****

May Biographies/non-fiction ✔
9.The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven: A Remarkable Account of Miracles, Angels, and Life Beyond This World by Kevin Malarkey **
10. Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard Liz Murray ****

June Sci fi/fantasy ✔
11. The Golem and the Jinni (read in May) Dune by Frank Herbert ***
12.The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood *****

July New Release ✔
13.Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson ****
14. The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman****



remaining months are on page 2 of this thread


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Recommended by 2014 reading challengers
(5 books in the year) https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4... , I had a little trouble selecting books in this challenge as I have read so many books from this list)
Progress: 5/5 (Completed 12/06/14)

1. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman ****
2. The Fault in Our Stars The Fault in Our Stars by John Green *****
3. Unwind by Neal Shusterman **
4. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn *****
5. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty ***



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Randomizer Yearly Challenge (one book per month) from my to read list (currently standing at 285, but ever increasing)
Progress: 12/12

I might try to slip some of these books in my other challenges during the year.

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This space is reserved for the books that I will read that are not part of challenges, however some books can be double ups (for example A tale of two cities was one of my challenges choice but is also here under Classics, as I'd like to tally up how many classic I can read in 2014 :)


Children and YA books
Read books: 23
The list has been moved below in this thread

Classics
Read books: 42
The list has been moved below in this thread

Non fiction
Read books: 56
The list has been moved below in this thread

(Other/Non challenges related) Fiction
Read books: 30
The list has been moved below in this thread

Number of books read from my to-read list: 81
at the end of 2013 my to-read list included 285 books, I wonder if at the end of 2014 will it be less? :P


Looking forward to reading some great books this year ...

Good luck Kiwi! For you 100 books is perfectly within reach.

Thanks Luffy!

:-)

good luck luffy. I got to 71 last year but this year my goal is 1 or more books a week until the end of the year.

Its great to see how invested you're getting into the Genre Challenge!

I can vouch, A Tale of Two Cities is an amazing read!

Good luck with your challenge Amber!

Holly: I'm really looking forward to Tale of two cities. It has been on my to-read list for a long time and I had so many people recommending it to me.
This year I will read/re-read some of the classics, Les Miserables huge volume is staring me from my bookcase, I'm planning to read it in April, Tale of two cities seems more approachable :-)

thanks Kiwi! ^_^

I moved my challenges book update in this thread.

19 books read in January with 3 books of 5 stars rating already, 2014 looks like a great year!

Lorah: my favorites were Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, I love the writing style, I will definitely read more from this author. The second favourite was the audiobook for The Pig Scrolls by Gryllus the Pig by Paul Shipton. I listened to this with my 7 yo son who is into Greek mithology, hilarious even for adults!

Iasa: LOL, I agree completely. My TBR is now standing at 281, 4 fewer than at the beginning of the year, but I have done some culling recently and added some more books to compensate. BTW, I am in awe of the speed you read!

good luck with your reading challenges!

Just finished the Count of Montecristo, one of the books which were long standing in my to-read list. I ended up enjoying the story but strangely not liking any of the its characters. 4 stars from me

Thanks Lorah, yes, it took a while but the book is worth it IMO.
I listened to the audible version, so I could carry on my day activities, this may be an option if you are short on time but keen on the unabridged version.

That's exactly the idea. I was introduced to audio books with the Harry potter series that I listened to with my kids.

Some narrators truly enhance the story, for instance I really liked the Game of Thrones read by Roy Dotrice, and now when I want to read a long book I seek if the audio version is available.

I finished Burial rites , I choose it on the basis of brilliant reviews on Goodreads, however I have to say I'm disappointed, I expected more. The author writes well and some passages are very evocative but in the end it left me wanting something more, 3 stars from me.

way to go Lorah, let me know what you think of the book

I finished The Alloy of Law, Sanderson is one of my favourite authors. To me, this novel is not at the same level as the other Mistborn books (if you like fantasy you must read the Mistborn trilogy), but as the author himself admitted in the intro, this book is a spin-off and as such is an enjoyable read for fantasy fans, 4 stars.

Now I'm on to The Rosie Project as my choice for Chic-lit (Burial rites) let me a little bit down. I started last night, I find it really funny.

Finished The Rosie project, I really enjoyed it, a proper fresh chick-lit/romance book which was the purpose of the Genre Challenge. I have to admit that I preferred the first 3/4 of the story, where the nerdy nature of Prof Tillman really shines, not so keen on the romance part, as expected. Still a easy 4 stars from me.

Finished . It contained some good points to improve love relationships, but I felt the author frequent endorsement/advertisement of her sister/friend/acquaintance etc. books non-genuine and not always relevant to the points she is trying to get across.

Also the fact that she uses her own love story as a model relationship e.g. "Me and Brian did this/ Me and Brian tried that" becomes tiring after a while.

So, I finished my February Genre challenge for Chic-lit/Romance, I have lots of YA books to read in March. Therefore I decided to have an early start on my other March "Based on a true story" Genre challenge and I started Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks, all I can say is WOW.

This book entranced me from the first pages, I'm already 40% into it, it is soo good that I feel it migth become one of the favourites for the year!

Hi Iasa, Year of wonders had fizzed out a bit for me (I'm 60% through), the plague topic is quite depressing, the stories of the different people in the village are really good though.
I have checked the reviews of this book and it seems that it is quite polarizing, either you love it or hate it. We'll see ...

Hey Kiwi are you going to add Hunterto your list since you read it? just curious.

Hi Amber, yes, I did, it's under (Other/Non challenges related) Fiction, at the bottom of my lists :-)

Finished Year of Wonders, like many others I felt disappointed by the finale, despite this I enjoyed this book and I give it a 4 stars.

Lots of YA books to read in March, I will start with I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore.

Finished I Am Number Four, a bit too predictable, 3 stars. I decided to read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green next, as it is a group read and I can't wait :-), Wonder will be next

I finished The fault in our stars in one day, I think it deserves all the hype, 5 stars from me. Wonder is next :-)

Lorah, I am number four was a good read, but I was not impressed by it. Fault in our stars is def. a must read.

I would also recommend Wonder, which I finished reading last night and I adored.

I'm reading , for the "based on a true story" challenge. It is actually a true story of a man who swapped places with a Auschwitz prisoner. Amazing story, I hope the book is a good read.

Hi Lorah, the series is called Lorien Legacies, there are four books so far, and maybe it gets better in the subsequent books (at least according to the reviews).
Wonder is really good, if you can get it from the library I encourage you to read it, it is not a long book and an easy read too.

Reading Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson, long book but it's a sci-fi classic. I've been looking forward to reading this book, it's part of my randomiser challenge (attempting to bring down my TBR list, as if :-)

Finished The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch in one day. I'm now returning to the month's genre challenge with Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Hi Lorah, I'm ejoying the book so far, I'm 30% trough. It's a cute story, but I have got the feeling there will be more action/revelations coming

Finished Eleanor & Park it's a 3 1/2 stars for me, but I'm giving it a 4 because I like how the feelings of the two protagonists were described which made the story strangely absorbing for me. I was left wishing there could be more though and the ending was a bit of a disappointment for me.

Finished The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, it's a 4 1/2 stars but I'm rating 5 stars.

I am really struggling with my April choices, I want to read Les Miserables for my classic challange, but after 1K pages of by Patrick Rothfuss, I'm not too kin on reading a long book next. I will probably read this during the Easter holiday later in the month.

The alternative is to pick a 'Humour' book, the problem here is that it's not my genre, I don't know what to pick? mmmm.... off do do some research in this area....

{edited to add} Bossypants seems to be quite popular, I'm giving it a go

Abandoned Bossypants, but read Sh*t My Dad Says. It's quite foul-mouthed and therfore not suited to everyone, but I found it hilarious in parts. It's a 3 1/2 stars, but I rated it 4 stars because I'm nice :-)

Today started One for the Money

Kiwi - I read Bossypants last month and while it wasn't as good as I had hoped it would be, I enjoyed. I'm sorry you didn't like it. Have you tried any of Christopher Moore or David Sedaris? They tend to be really reliable, funny reads so that may be an option for your Humour challenge.

I did read David Sedaris's Me Talk Pretty One Day I liked it in parts.
I'm enjoying One for the Money and I might read another humour book for April while I take a big breath before starting les Miserables...

I liked One for the Money a good 3 stars.
Continuing with the monthly genre challenge I decided to read The Nerdist Way: How to Reach the Next Level which will also count towards my randomiser tbr list.

I am also spending my reading time on the classics this month, 3 big books: The Iliad, The Odyssey and les miserables. This should fill up my reading time for the upcoming Easter vacation

.... another one bites the dust.... I'm about 1/3 in "the nerdist way" but I'm not enjoining it as I thought I would.
It's another disappointment from my tbr list, I need to review this list and keep only the books I am convinced I will enjoy.

I am reading All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum and this is more interesting.

I also started listening to Les Miserables, I'm loving it so far

Ok, reviewed my tbr list and removed quite a few, now it stands at 235 :-)

Lorah, I have found that I was a bit overwhelmed when I joined Goodreads and I added quite a few books that I wasn't really convinced about but looked good at the time or books I was planning to read with my kids but in the meantime they have moved on (and so have I).
Nowadays I am far more picky and I add only the ones that come highly recommended :-)

BTW, The husband's secret is still on my tbr list, I see you've given it a 5 stars, I can't wait to read this book

Finished re-reading The Iliad by Homer, it is just as great as I remembered. I am planning on re-reading The Odyssey later in the year.
This month I am planning to finish Les Miserables, which I have started and love it so far, I am approaching the battle of Waterloo, which is apparently the most "dreaded" part.

I am realising that, as much as I like reading new fiction books, I love the classics!

Awesome Kiwi. I moderate a book club on here that is a classic book club called Tattered Tales and we read a classic a month as the group read. Feel free to join in! ^_^

thanks for the suggestion Amber, sounds great

thanks for the encouragement Sandy

and good luck with your challenges!

No problem Kiwi! ^_^

I saw that you read The Iliad? What did you think of it?

Holly, I absolutely loved it, I was planning to read The Odyssey in April as well but I had to postpone as I started Les Misérables and that took a while :p

I am back from my month long trip, I am happy to have finished Les Misérables in April. I loved the book although I found some parts very hard going, I'm glad I read it though, it was one of my to-read commitments for this year.

I have started May with few books, The Bad Beginning which I found adorable, other books like Infinity Blade: Awakening by Brandon Sanderson and Unwind by Neal Shusterman were disappointmenst for me. The former is a book from one of my favourites authors and although I like the writing, there wasn't much of a story to it, so meh. The other came from my "Recommended by" reading challange, I loved the idea a lot but I found it was very predictable and the characters unidimensional, too bad because the other recommended by books in the list were outstanding.

At present for the month genre challange (Fantasy) I'm reading The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker which I am enjoying.

I have lots to catch up and so many books to read LOL

Well done for getting through Les Mis! I got through about 70% of it and I really wish I'd continued it.

Victor Hugo is definitely one to go off on one about sewage systems or something. There's a whole section on the Battle of Waterloo, like 50 pages, and only the last line has something to do with the story. Congrats for reading it though! I'm hoping to get through some of the massive books over the summer!

I had read about half of Les Mis my senior in year in high school, and finally got to read the whole thing last year. I had trouble with the Waterloo and sewage sections, too.

LOL yep the Waterloo long battle description was quite a challenge for me, it made me wonder weather my intention to read the unabridged version was a sane one, the book story was just beginning so it was so tempting to skip ahead...I found the sewage part slightly better as I was engaged in the story and I was itching to read ahead

I can see there were several disappointments but overall you've read some Fabulous books so far this year. Go, you!

Finished , I really liked this fairy tale that has an interesting an oriental flair, 4 stars from me