The Reading Challenge Group discussion

I don't want to make 2016 too difficult for myself as I have a little one on the way and I am pretty sure they will take up a lot of my time :-)

I identified my main problem as the TBR of Doom so I will focus on the TBR Challenge.

TBR CHALLENGE

- Will run all year.
- Books included must be owned by the member (in physical or electronic form) BEFORE Jan. 1, 2016
- Four Levels of 5 books each

Level One (5 TBR books) = List Tickler
1. Mitsuba
2. Zakuro
3. Tonbo
4. Tsukushi
5. Yamabuki

Level Two (10 TBR books) = List Tamer
6. The House on Mango Street
7. The Nursery, February 1877, Vol. XXI. No. 2 A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers
8. The Velveteen Rabbit
9. Les Fantômes Des Victoriennes: Anthologie
10. Babe: The Gallant Pig

Level Three (15 TBR books) = Captain of the Shelf
11. A Woman's Work is Never Done
12. An Ideal Husband
13. The Road from Roxbury
14. Les Malheurs de Sophie
15. Chronicles of Avonlea

Level Four (20 TBR books) = Master of All Dust Bunnies
16. What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist—the Facts of Daily Life in 19th-Century England
17.
18.
19.
20.
Dance of Book Joy ensues!

Books read:


1. Mitsuba
2. Zakuro
3. Tonbo
4. The Sleeper and the Spindle
5. Lyra's Oxford
6. Tsukushi
7. Yamabuki
8. The Trees
9. The House on Mango Street
10. Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life
11. Bilingual Children : a guide for parents and carers
12. Growing Up with Two Languages: A Practical Guide
13. Bonding With Your Bump
14. The Unmumsy Mum
15. At the Edge of the Orchard
16. The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag
17. The Nursery, February 1877, Vol. XXI. No. 2 A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers
18. The Velveteen Rabbit
19. The Diary of Lena Mukhina: A Girl's Life in the Siege of Leningrad
20. Between Shades of Gray
21. Les Fantômes Des Victoriennes: Anthologie
22. Fashion in the Time of Jane Austen
23. Fingersmith
24. Babe: The Gallant Pig
25. Quiet the Mind
26. A Woman's Work is Never Done
27. An Ideal Husband
28. The Road from Roxbury
29. Les Malheurs de Sophie
30. Swan Boy
31. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
32. Chronicles of Avonlea
33. Mog the Forgetful Cat
34. How to Be a Victorian
35. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
36. The Cranes Dance
37. Les Royaumes du Nord
38. Les Royaumes du Nord
39. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
40. Toxic In-Laws: Loving Strategies for Protecting Your Marriage
41. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
42. Dogs
43. Max's Wagon
44. Oh Where, Oh Where?
45. The Last Queen of India
46. The Acorn
47. Contes et légendes de Suisse
48. The Gentle Sleep Book: A Guide for calm babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers
49. What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist—the Facts of Daily Life in 19th-Century England
50. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
51. Bunny and Bee Animal Friends
52. Peek-a-Boo Baby
53. Bunny and Bee: Favouite Colours
54. Deux ombres sur le pont
55. Southern Ruby
56. The Bonniest Companie
57. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
58. Solomon Crocodile
59. The Japanese Lover
60. Baby-led Weaning: Helping Your Baby to Love Good Food

Just finished my first book of the year, Mitsuba. It feels good after being stuck in a reading slump for months.

Also read its sequel, Zakuro. I love Aki Shimazaki's writing.

Read the The Sleeper and the Spindle, by Neil Gaiman. While the illustrations were beautiful, the story itself was quite meh. I'm glad I didn't buy it.

5. Lyra's Oxford
6. Tsukushi

7. Yamabuki

I finished The Trees yesterday and it was amazing. I feel like I have a book hangover now!

Thiss month, I also managed to finish level 1 of the TBR challeenge, which makes me happy.

I'm in a bit of a reading slump at the moment, so I have only read two books in February (better than nothing, though!):

The House on Mango Street was quite disappointing. I think I was expecting a novel so the format was a bit strange.

Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life was a very enlightening read.

I've now completed level one of the TBR Challenge!

Bilingual Children : a guide for parents and carers
Growing Up with Two Languages: A Practical Guide
Bonding With Your Bump

14. The Unmumsy Mum
This was hilarious!

Here are the reads of these past couple of months. I find myself struggling to read a bit but I keep going. I am hoping the Readathon will help me a great deal, especially now I am on maternity leave and will have more time to read (until Baby arrives, that is!!).

15. At the Edge of the Orchard
16. The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag
17. The Nursery, February 1877, Vol. XXI. No. 2 A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers
18. The Velveteen Rabbit
19. The Diary of Lena Mukhina: A Girl's Life in the Siege of Leningrad
20. Between Shades of Gray
21. Les Fantômes Des Victoriennes: Anthologie

Good luck on the readathon, Camille! And congrats on the baby. :)

Camille wrote: "Here are the reads of these past couple of months. I find myself struggling to read a bit but I keep going. I am hoping the Readathon will help me a great deal, especially now I am on maternity lea..."

Congratulations from me too!

Thank you, ladies. Still waiting on the little one to arrive, but in the meantime I can catch up on reading!

Here are the last few books I read:

22. Fashion in the Time of Jane Austen
Very interesting introduction to the fashion of the time, with plenty of nice illustrations.

23. Fingersmith
It was nice but I thought there was too much going on. It ended up reading like some sort of TV drama.

24. Babe: The Gallant Pig
I very rarely think that a film adaptation is better than the original book, but in the case of "Babe", it is! Or maybe I should have read it when I was a child. I love the film, so I couldn't help comparing. There is so much more in the film.

25. Quiet the Mind
Nice introduction to meditation with pictures.

26. A Woman's Work is Never Done
A bit dry.

And I can finally say I have reached level 3 of the TBR Challenge, so maybe I will be able to finish a challenge this year!

Nice going Camille :O)

Thank you :-)

27. An Ideal Husband - quite fun
28. The Road from Roxbury
29. Les Malheurs de Sophie - this was so mean, I thought it would be cute!
30. Swan Boy
31. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - reread
32. Chronicles of Avonlea - very sweet.

I have finished level 3 of the TBR challenge, 5 books to go!

33. Mog the Forgetful Cat
34. How to Be a Victorian
35. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
36. The Cranes Dance
37. Les Royaumes du Nord
38. Les Royaumes du Nord
39. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
40. Toxic In-Laws: Loving Strategies for Protecting Your Marriage

10 books to go to complete my Goodreads challenge of 50 books.

I have now finished my Goodreads challenge of 50 books.
I have 4 books to go to finish all the levels of the TBR Challenge.

41. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

42. Dogs
Cute story with really pretty drawings.

43. Max's Wagon
Love the illustrations.

44. Oh Where, Oh Where?
Nothing special.

45. The Last Queen of India
Really interesting topic that I knew nothing about, I want to read more books by this author now.

46. The Acorn
I liked the story but found the illustrations to be quite ugly.

47. Contes et légendes de Suisse
Reread of a children's book I had. I loved to read tales as a child. This one is good but not amazing.

48. The Gentle Sleep Book: A Guide for calm babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers
I love this one.

49. What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist—the Facts of Daily Life in 19th-Century England
Very good to check information that is unknown to us now, but a bit "dry". I would use it more as a dictionary than to read from A to Z. The huge glossary at the end is quite useful.

50. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

51. Bunny and Bee Animal Friends
Cute illustrations.

52. Peek-a-Boo Baby

53. Bunny and Bee: Favouite Colours

54. Deux ombres sur le pont
Reread of a children's book, not as good read as an adult but still interesting.

55. Southern Ruby
Newest novel by my favourite contemporary author, I really enjoyed the topic and learning about New Orleans.

56. The Bonniest Companie
I really don't like modern poetry and this is no exception.

57. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

58. Solomon Crocodile
I know a lot of people dislike the fact that Solomon doesn't change and is still really annoying at the end, but it is so fun and the illustrations are great.

59. The Japanese Lover
I loved it at the start as I found the issues it raised very interesting, but the end was quite disappointing. I ended up being bored.

60. Baby-led Weaning: Helping Your Baby to Love Good Food