MobileRead Book Challenges discussion

My focus this year will be the two main book club groups of which I'm a member:
Flights of Fantasy and After Earth.

Read in 2016 - Book Club Tallies:


Flights of Fantasy :

2014 Reads: [00] || 2015 Reads: [01] || 2016 Reads: [01]

After Earth :

2015 Reads: [00] || 2016 Reads: [00]

FoF Group Reads 2014 :


✓ 1. Steelheart (Reckoners #1) ~ 01/14
2. The Book
3. Swan Song
✓ 4. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1) ~ 01/14
✓ 5. Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle #1) ~ 02/14
✓ 6. Earth Abides ~02/14
7. Gardens of the Moon (The Malazan Book of the Fallen #1)
8. Mr. Shivers
9. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (Fairyland #1)
10. Shadowland
✓ 11. Ready Player One ~ 03/14
12. Lord of the Silver Bow (Troy #1)
13. Seraphina (Seraphina #1)
14. The Madman's Daughter (The Madman's Daughter #1)
✓ 15. * Shards of Honor ~ 04/14 (Vorkosigan Saga #s1 & 2 Chronological)

*The reveiw is of Cordelia's Honor, an omnibus which pairs Shards of Honour with its direct sequel Barrayar.

16. Vicious (Vicious #1)
17. Blood Song (Raven's Shadow #1)
18. Let the Right One In
19. Dealing with Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles #1)
✓ 20. The Martian ~ 01/15
21. The Alchemist of Souls (Night's Masque #1)
22. The Last Policeman (The Last Policeman #1)
23. The Strain (The Strain Trilogy #1)
24. The Amulet of Samarkand (Bartimaeus Sequence #1)
25. The Goblin Emperor
26. Red Rising (Red Rising Trilogy #1)
27. Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch #1)
28. Blindsight (Firefall #1)
29. The Painted Boy
30. The Minority Report
31. The Dragon's Path (The Dagger and the Coin #1)
32. The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart
33. The Troop
34. Bird Box
35. Revelation Space (Revelation Space #1)
36. Ysabel
37. The Steel Remains (A Land Fit for Heroes #1)
38. The Company
39. Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
40. Sabriel (Abhorsen #1)
41. Pandora's Star (Commonwealth Saga #1)
42. Dead Weather and Sunrise (The Chronicles of Egg #1)
43. Consider Phlebas (Culture #1)
44. Maplecroft (The Borden Dispatches #1)
45. The Girl with All the Gifts
46. Dust (Jacob's Ladder #1)
47. The Great and Secret Show (Book of the Art #1)
48. The Dark Lord of Derkholm (Derkholm #1)
49. Retribution Falls (Tales of the Ketty Jay #1)

FoF Group Reads 2015 :


✓ 1. The Rook (The Checquy Files, #1) ~ 02/15
2. Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #1)
3. Snowblind
4. Mister Monday (The Keys to the Kingdom, #1)
5. The Night Circus
6. The Gone-Away World
7. Dragons at Crumbling Castle
8. Sharp Objects
9. Leviathan Wakes (Expanse #1)
10. Pines (Wayward Pines #1)
11. Blackbringer (Faeries of Dreamdark #1)
12. The Innocent Mage (Kingmaker, Kingbreaker #1)
13. The Six-Gun Tarot (Golgotha #1)
14. Daemon (Daemon #1)
15. Ex-Heroes (Ex-Heroes #1)
16. The Carpet People
✓ 17. The Stand ~circa 1990
18. The Shining Girls
19. London Falling (Shadow Police, #1)
20. The Atrocity Archives (Laundry Files, #1)
21. The Neverending Story
22. The Gates (Samuel Johnson, #1)
23. Revival
24. Fahrenheit 451
25. Off to Be the Wizard (Magic 2.0 #1)
26. The Thief of Always
27. Discord's Apple
28. Pump Six and Other Stories
29. Song of Kali
30. Too Many Curses
31. The Dead Run
32. All You Need Is Kill
33. Angelmaker
✓ 34. Dogsbody ~ 06/16
35. The House of Shattered Wings
36. Doctor Sleep (The Shining, #2)

FoF Group Reads 2016 :


✓ 1. Stations of the Tide ~ 01/16
2. Uprooted
3. Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1)
4. Midnight Never Come (Onyx Court #1)
5. To Your Scattered Bodies Go (Riverworld #1)
6. The Killer Next Door
7. The Martian Chronicles
8. Quag Keep (Quag Keep (Greyhawk) #1)
9. A Head Full of Ghosts
10. Rebel Mechanics (Rebel Mechanics #1)
11. Odd Thomas (Odd Thomas, #1)
12. Weaveworld
13. The Archived (The Archived, #1)
✓ 14. Lexicon ~04/15

After Earth Group Reads 2015 :


1. Before I Go To Sleep
2. Karen Memory
3. The Windup Girl
✓ 4. Lexicon ~ 04/15
5. The Supernatural Enhancements
6. Kindred
7. The Dragon's Path (The Dagger and the Coin, #1)
8. Alif the Unseen
✓ 9. The Fairy-Tale Detectives (The Sisters Grimm, #1) ~ 3/14
10. Station Eleven
11. The Mangle Street Murders (The Gower Street Detective, #1)
12. Magonia (Magonia, #1)
13. The City's Son (The Skyscraper Throne, #1)
14. Daughter of Hounds
15. Frankenstein
16. MARY: The Summoning (Bloody Mary, #1)
17. The Traitor Baru Cormorant
18. Ship Breaker (Ship Breaker, #1)
19. Luna: New Moon
20. Hood (King Raven, #1)

After Earth Group Reads 2016 :


1. The Garden of Stones (Echoes of Empire #1)
2. Midnight Robber
3. Truthwitch (The Witchlands, #1)
4. A Song for Arbonne
5. The Lie Tree
6. In the Night Garden (The Orphan's Tales, #1)
7. Fledgling
8. The Lions of Al-Rassan
9. Europe in Autumn (Fractured Europe Sequence, #1)
10. The Forbidden Library (The Forbidden Library, #1)
11. United States of Japan
12. The Good Fairies of New York
13. Hild (Light of the World #1)
14. Dream London (The Dream World #1)

Non-Group Reads 2016 :


Lawn Boy
Dear Heart, I Hate You

Also Updating My:


Group Read Tracking List at Flights of Fantasy

Challenge List at MobileRead

Beyond 2016


Even though I do not intend to participate in a series challenge in 2016, I do want to return to it at some point, so I'm copying my points system here.
(view spoiler)[My Series Challenge Goal: [TBD] Series Book(s) Every Month

Points & Rules are based on the original 2014 Challenge, as well as my own Personal Tweaks.

Scoring Chart:

1. Complete Monthly Goal = 50 points
Explanation :(view spoiler)[ If your goal is one series book/month, you will get this 50 upon completion of that book. If your goal is 2 books/month, you will get the 50 after finishing both. There aren't partial points, so if you only finish one, you won't get the 50. (hide spoiler)]

2. Read any book in a series that isn't the 1st = 10 points.

3. Re-read any book, including the first book, in a series = 10 points.
Explanation :(view spoiler)[ The thought here is that you might re-read a first book in order to refresh your memory in preparation for continuing with unread series books. So no penalty for doing that. Re-reads of books beyond the first will simply score as regular series books in #2. (hide spoiler)]

4. Read the 1st book in a New Series after completing Monthly Goal = 10 points.
Explanation: (view spoiler)[This simply cancels out the penalty from starting a new series, since you earned the right to do so . (hide spoiler)]

5(a). Write a Review (5 sentences or more) of your Series Book = 25 points.
5(b). Short Reviews (fewer than 5 sentences) = 5 to 20 points (5 points per sentence).

Penalties:

6(a). Begin a New Series before completing the Monthly Goal = -10 points.
6(b). Begin a New Series before completing the Monthly Goal without spending a NSC = -10 points.
Explanation: (view spoiler)[This is intended to curb obsessive series starting without finishing. This penalty is waived when using an earned credit. (hide spoiler)]
-Books chosen for FoF or AE group reads are exempt from this penalty and may be read without using a credit.
-Books chosen as Group Reads for a group other than FoF or AE will incur 1/2 penalty of -5 points.

Completing Series Bonus Points:

7. Complete a Duology (2 books) = 15 points.

8. Complete a Trilogy or Small Series (3-4 books) = 20 points.

9. Complete a Medium to Large Series (5-9 books) = 30 points.

10. Complete a Huge Series (10 or more books) = 40 points.

Sub Series Bonus Points:

11. Begin a Sub-series = 10 points.

12. Complete a Sub-series (2 or more books) = 20 points.

13. Complete a Series that has 2 or more Sub-series = 25 points.

Bonus Stories Bonus Points:

14. Read a Stand-Alone that takes place in the same world as the main series = 10 points.

15(a). Short Stories = 2 points each.
15(b). Short Story Anthologies / Collections = 10 points.
Explanation: (view spoiler)[
If there is only one story in a collection or anthology that pertains to a particular series, for instance, "Dirty Magic"from Hotter Than Hell, then it counts as 2 points (In this case, towards Kim Harrison's Hollows series).
However, if all of the stories in the collection or anthology pertain to the same series, for instance, Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files, then it counts as one series book and therefore = 10 points, once all stories have been read. (hide spoiler)]

"New Series" Credits:

16. Completing the Monthly Goal = 1 NSC

17. Completing a Trilogy or longer series earns 1 NSC.
-Abandoned series do not qualify for NSCs

18. A New Series Credit can be purchased for 500 points .

Abandoned Series:

Series dropped after a minimum of 2 books can earn 1/2 of the normal "Complete a Series" points (based on the number of books already published at the time the series was abandoned), but they do not qualify to receive any NSCs.

HAVE FUN! :-)
(hide spoiler)]

I'm adding my I'll Read Anything Once list as well.
(view spoiler)[
The Challenge: Read at least one book from each category throughout the year.
While I will only count a category one, I will keep track of how many books I've read for any given category - choosing only one category for said books.

Categories:

Action/Adventure
AutoBiography/Biography
Award Winner
Banned or Challenged
Chick-Lit (Women's Literature)
Classics
Crime Fiction
Cyberpunk
Drama
Dystopian
Educational
Erotica
Espionage
Fantasy
Free for All (Freebie, Open Slot)
GoodRead Author
Gothic
Graphic Novels
Hard-Boiled
Historical Fiction
Horror
Humour
Juvenile Fiction
LGBT
Literary Fiction
Magical Realism
Mobile Read Author
Mystery
Mythology
Noir
Non Fiction
Paranormal
Philosophical
Poetry
Post-Apocalyptic
Pulp Fiction
Religious/ Christian Fiction
Romance
Science Fiction
Speculative Fiction
Steampunk
Supernatural
Survival
Thriller
Translated Work (Formerly Foreign)
True Crime
Urban Fantasy
Victorian
War
Western
Young Adult
Zombies
(hide spoiler)]

Series to Consider (in no specific order) for 2017
* Indicates a series that I would like to reread and get caught up.


1. Storm Front* by Jim Butcher
2. Dead Witch Walking* by Kim Harrison
3. Dark Lover* by J.R. Ward
4. Clean Sweep* by Ilona Andrews
5. Magic Bites* by Ilona Andrews
6. Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
7. Truthwitch by Susan Dennard
8. Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch
9. The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross
10. Requiem's Song by Daniel Arenson
11. Cordelia's Honor* by Lois McMaster Bujold
12. Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set by Brandon Sanderson
13. The Harry Bosch Universe series by Michael Connelly

Reserved

First. That's an awful lot of header posts. :)

LOL! I ran out of them this year and had to move a few things around, so I'm just trying to be prepared.
I'm pretty sure I'll be removing a few after the new year starts unless I come up with some ridiculous way to use them all. Unfortunately, I didn't add enough to have an intro post or two, as well as, one for every month. I should have added 2 or 3 more. :)

Sub-headings, sub-headings, sub-headings.

If I made a post for every country...

I missed it!! *pout*

Homeinmyshoes wrote: "Sub-headings, sub-headings, sub-headings.

If I made a post for every country..."

lol

I think I'm all set for 2016, but I'm not quite ready to let those extra reserved slots go, yet.

I know I won't be adding the monthly tallies, like this: (view spoiler)[

January Reads
FoFBC 2014 Reads: [01] || FoFBC 2015 Reads: [00]
FoF Series Reads: [08]
ITAO Reads: [03]
MRBC Reads: [00])

(hide spoiler)], nor will I be doing any book cover - specific posts, like I started this year.
They're too time consuming, even when I set them up early.

I am, however, keeping an overall tally for each book club, by year, which I've added to the second post. Plus, I will also continue to use the same set up for my regular updates, like this (view spoiler)[

2015 Read #01

The Martian
Author: Andy Weir
ITAO Category: Survival
Review: HERE
Series Challenge Info: N/A
Series: N/A
Book#: 00
Monthly Goal [00 / 01]
Points:
Total: N/A
Grand Total: N/A

(hide spoiler)], sans the series challenge or ITAO info, since I won't be doing those this year. The series name and book number will stay, though.

I'm going to try to start with books I already own, which are mostly from the 2014 selections, but as we know, the nature of reading can be a fickle thing.

My biggest challenge, other than reading of course, will be to make sure that I add the upcoming monthly selections to my lists, and to my "Book Challenge" wishlist on Amazon, so that I don't lose track of them. The wishlist is also a good way to keep an eye out for price drops as well.

With that I wish you all a very happy 2016 with lots of wonderful reads in your future!

:-D

Nyssa wrote: "I'm going to try to start with books I already own, which are mostly from the 2014 selections..."

I may change this up a bit. So that I don't spend most of the year only reading past selections, I think I want to try to read at least one current selection at the beginning of each month or two and then work on past selections for the rest of the month.

I am totally going to try to read books I own in 2016. At least as many books I own and library books as possible.

I'm trying to go on an Amazon diet PLUS I just need to stop buying so many books and not reading them.

But I am the queen of re-reads. I think I may get to a lot of Andre Norton in 2016 cause I'm starting to feel the desire to read The Turning Cycle (Witch World).

MrsJoseph wrote: "But I am the queen of re-reads."

I'm trying my damndest not to do any rereads until GR has their rereading system in place (or until 2017, whichever comes first).

I just used some of my Christmas money to catch up on a couple of series that I want to continue, but I will need to reread the earlier books first.

If GR doesn't come through before then, I guess I'll continue to pad my annual challenge accordingly, but I definitely want to reinstate the series challenge in 2017.

Just completed my first book of 2016!


2016 Read #01

Stations of the Tide
Author: Michael Swanwick
Review: 3 Stars
Series: N/A

Woohoo!

Homeinmyshoes wrote: "Woohoo!"

:) Thank You!

Up next is The Dragon's Path/Leviathan Wakes (except my edition has the names listed the other way around).

Homeinmyshoes wrote: "Woohoo!"

^
yaaaaay!

Lol Thank you, Mrs. J!

You know you should get an award for finishing that one! I wish I could, too.

MrsJoseph wrote: "You know you should get an award for finishing that one! I wish I could, too."

Aww! You are too kind!

It wasn't that bad....most of the time.
In all seriousness though, there were some really interesting parts. I'm just wondering if he was on drugs when he wrote it. lol

Needing a way to bend time so that I can complete Leviathan Wakes, and read the following books:

-Cinder
-Truthwitch
-The Beginning

all in the month of February.

That's a few big books. I wish you luck. I'm hoping to get through three or four books this month. Not sure how I'm going to do that though.

Homeinmyshoes wrote: "That's a few big books. I wish you luck. I'm hoping to get through three or four books this month. Not sure how I'm going to do that though."

^this

I wish you luck.

Maybe try audio?

Thank you both!! I need it! :)

I don't think audio is the medium for me. I tend to tune out constant talking.
If it's a radio show, that's one thing, but even when I started listening to the Potter series I found myself missing sections because I had tuned it out without realizing it.

I can even be listening to music and suddenly realize that I actually missed the song that was just playing.

Nyssa wrote: "Thank you both!! I need it! :)

I don't think audio is the medium for me. I tend to tune out constant talking.
If it's a radio show, that's one thing, but even when I started listening to the Pott..."

I do that a lot, too. I normally can't do audio but I've managed to do it pretty well in the car. When alone.

Nyssa wrote: "Needing a way to bend time so that I can complete Leviathan Wakes, and read the following books:

-Cinder
-Truthwitch
-The Beginning

a..."

Well. seeing as I'm still reading Leviathan Wakes, the rest of this isn't happening.

I'm moving Truthwitch ahead of Cinder, and will hopefully get to it in the next week, at the very least.

I was beginning to believe that I would not be updating this thread, again, at all this year. It's been a very busy (for better and for worse) 2016!

I love that I've been able to return to school, but I so miss my leisure reading time, and I know I will miss it again come August.

While this is technically my 6th read of the year (yes I did read my Biology textbook from cover to cover), it is only my 2nd "for me" read (besides Spy vs Spy Missions of Madness which has no words). The others were either for school or for work.

2016 Read #02

Dogsbody
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Review: 4 Stars
Series: N/A

Yay! And glad it was a 4-star read. When you've got so little time to read for yourself, don't want any duds! :)

Christa wrote: "Yay! And glad it was a 4-star read. When you've got so little time to read for yourself, don't want any duds! :)"

Thanks! :)

Another one bites the dust!

We totally want to hear what you're reading for school.

HomeInMyShoes wrote: "We totally want to hear what you're reading for school."

Oh! Thanks. Two of the books are textbooks (Biology & Math). I included them on my shelf, I just didn't post about them here. The other is a book assigned to a class that I will be covering when the kids start their new school year in August. The regular teacher made sure I had a copy as well. Unfortunately, I had an issue or two with the selection (so I made sure that my review did not post on FB).

2016 Read #1.5

Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen
Review: 2 Stars
Series: Tales to Tickle the Funnybone

Woot!

It's progress. :-)

2016 Read #03


Dear Heart, I Hate You
Author: J. Sterling
Review: 3 Stars
Series: N/A