Grab a Book & Play Booktivity! discussion

New Year Challenge 2023
Duration: month of January

Happy New Year Everyone! 🤓

Spell-out one/more of the ALL -CAPPED traditions of the NEW YEAR 🎉🥳

TIMES SQUARE
BALL DROP
JANUARY 1st
20 TWENTY/THREE
Ring -shaped CAKES
Rice PUDDING
GRAPES
FIREWORKS
AULD LANG SYNE
RESOLUTIONS
BABY NEW YEAR
Old FATHER Time
BLACK-EYED Peas
CHAMPAGNE
A TOAST

CHALLENGE RULES
• one book per letter
• use 1st letter of Title (exclude A, An, The)
• use 1st letter of Author's FIRST/LAST name
• use 1st letter of Main Character's FIRST/LAST name

FOR EACH BOOK READ
• LINK to Title
• INDICATE Author
• GIVE DATE you finished book

Ratings are optional 😊
I wish you the best in finding GREAT BOOKS & GOOD AUTHORS throughout this new year ✌️

🎉 👏 Congratulations 👏🎉
Donna 🥳
SouthWestZippy 🥳
Beverly 🥳
Carol 🥳
Robin P 🥳
Book Concierge 🥳
Jonquil 🥳
Koren 🥳
JennH 🥳

Participants
Updated 1/31/23

🍾🥂Book Concierge - GRAPES (6/6) C
Licha-Olivia - FIREWORKS (6/9)
Diana S - CHAMPAGNE (6/9) A TOAST (4/6)
🍾🥂Robin P - BALL DROP (8/8) C
🍾🥂Beverly - CHAMPAGNE (9/9) C
🍾🥂JennH - BABY NEW YEAR (11/11) C
🍾🥂Carol - RING-SHAPED CAKES (15/15) C
🍾🥂Donna - CHAMPAGNE (9/9) C
🍾🥂SouthWestZippy - CAKES (5/5) C
Cara - CAKES (0/5)
🍾🥂Koren - FIREWORKS (9/9) C
Marilyn - GRAPES (2/6)
🍾🥂Jonquil - TIMES SQUARE (11/11) C

New Year Challenge 2023
Begins: 01Jan23 / Ends: 31Jan23


6 / 6 completed

Grapes
G - GOLDY is mc / Dying for Chocolate ✔ – 05Jan23
R - Rick Riordan / Southtown ✔ – 06Jan23
A - ANGLADA, Maria Àngels / The Violin of Auschwitz ✔ – 10Jan23
P - Padma Lakshmi / Love, Loss, and What We Ate ✔ – 17Jan23
E - EDWARD is mc / The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane ✔ – 01Jan23
S - Second-Worst Restaurant in France ✔ – 15Jan23

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New Year Challenge 2023
Duration: month of January

FIREWORKS
9/9 Letters: completed 2/16/23

F: Flanagan, John; Scorpion Mountain (1/2/2023)
I: Ida (mc) Forbidden Shifters Complete Series (Books 1-6): A Wolf Shifter Paranormal Romance (book 4) Selena Scott (2/2/23)
R: Raphael (mc) Forbidden Shifters Complete Series (Books 1-6): A Wolf Shifter Paranormal Romance (book 2) Selena Scott (1/21/23)
E: Esther Greenwood (mc) The Bell Jar (audiobook) Sylvia Plath (1/10/23)
W: Witchlings Claribel A. Ortega (1/21/23)
O: Other Emily (The) Dean Koontz (2/1/23)
R: Return of the TemujaiJohn Flanagan (2/16/23)
K: Kaya (mc) Forbidden Shifters Complete Series (Books 1-6): A Wolf Shifter Paranormal Romance (book 3) (1/24/23)
S: Selena Scott; Forbidden Shifters Complete Series (Books 1-6): A Wolf Shifter Paranormal Romance (book 1) (1/15/23)

New Year Challenge
Books Reads: 6/15

Spell-out: CHAMPAGNE (6/9)


C - Carson, Melody - The Happy Camper (1/15/23) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
H - Henrietta Lacks in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (1/22/23) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ardone, Viola - The Children's Train (1/13/23) 3.5 ⭐⭐⭐
Mila Pavlichenko in The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn (1/10/23) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
P - The Phoenix of Destiny (Geronimo Stilton and the Kingdom of Fantasy: Special Edition): An Epic Kingdom of Fantasy Adventure by Geronimo Stilton (1/27/23) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A - The Amazing Voyage by Geronimo Stilton (1/30/23) 3.5 ⭐⭐⭐
Goyer, Tricia - Walk It Out: The Radical Result of Living God’s Word One Step at a Time CR
N
E

Spell-out: A TOAST (4/6)



Aiken, Joan - The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1/25/23) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Telgemeier, Raina - Sisters (1/7/23) ⭐⭐⭐
Old Yeller by Fred Gipson CR
Amor Towles's The Lincoln Highway (1/13/23) 3.5 ⭐⭐⭐
Stuart Woods Reckless Abandon (1/20/23) 3.5 ⭐⭐⭐
Taggart, Caroline - The Book Lover's Bucket List: A Tour of Great British Literature CR

New Year Challenge
Books Reads: 8/8 1/27

B - Blues for Mister Charlie - James Baldwin (author works too) - Jan 2
A - Another Brooklyn - Jacqueline WoodsonJan 5
L - Louise Erdrich - The Sentence Jan 9
L - Love & Saffron: A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love - Kim Fay- Jan 24
D - main character Will Darling - Slippery Creatures - K.J. Charles - 1/27
R - Susan Rogers author of This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You - Jan 1
O - Alice Oseman author of Heartstopper: Volume One - Jan 1
P - Peach Blossom Spring - Melissa Fu Jan 7

I'm going to try for CHAMPAGNE
9/9

C Curtis Sittenfeld, Sisterland FINISHED 1/12
H Kristin Harmel, The Forest of Vanishing Stars FINISHED 1/8
A Adriana Trigiani, Brava, Valentine FINISHED 1/3
M Mechelle Morrison, Kairos FINISHED 1/19
P Louise Penny, A World of Curiosities FINISHED 1/3
A Donna Andrews, The Penguin Who Knew Too Much FINISHED 1/22
G Game of Scones by Mary Lee Ashford FINISHED 1/22
N Elizabeth Nyamayaro, I Am a Girl from Africa
E Laura A.H. Elliott, 13 on Halloween FINISHED 1/25

New Year Challenge 2023
January 1st - 31 st

✔B - Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood 1/24/23 - Dr Bee Konigswasser
✔A - Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie 1/12/23
✔B - Fogged Inn by Barbara Ross 1/29/23
✔Y - Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi 1/23/23

✔N - His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik 1/11/23
✔E - The Vanishing Type by Ellery Adams 1/9/23
✔W - Wonton Terror by Vivien Chien 1/6/23

✔Y - An Arrow to the Moon by Emily X.R. Pan 1/27/23 - Hunter Yee
✔E - Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen 1/21/23
✔A - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by /V.E. Schwab 1/16/23 - Addie LaRue
✔R - The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan 1/21/23

New Year Challenge 2023
15/15 - Done 1/25

Robert Rotstein - We, the Jury - 1/3
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot - 1/25
Never Been Kissed - Timothy Janovsky -1/4
Gundenkauf, Heather - The Overnight Guest - 1/15

Subway Slayings - C S Poe - 1/12
How to Howl at the Moon - Eli Easton - 1/1
Ariella, Zoelle - Play by Heart - 1/24
Parker Williams - On the Same Page - Parker Williams & K C Wells - 1/7
Elly Griffith - The Lantern Men - 1/15
Dylan's Dilemma - K C Wells - 1/25

Clark, Tracy - Runner -1/4
Ashe, Gregory - Transposition - 1/6
K.C. Wells - Before You Break - 1/2
Estrada, Miguel - Seven Sins - 1/19
Snow Killer, The - Ross Greenwood - 1/6

New Year Challenge
9 / 9

✔C ~~ Land of Big Numbers: Stories ~~ 3 Stars ~~ 04Jan23

✔H ~~ Head On by John Scalzi ~~ 4 Stars ~~ 05Jan23

✔A ~~ Alma Katsu, author of ~~ The Hunger ~~ 4 Stars ~~ 03Jan23

✔M ~~ Mary Roach, author of ~~ Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void ~~ 3 Stars ~~ 09Jan23

✔P ~~ A Place at the Table ~~ by Saadia Faruqi ~~ 4 Stars ~~ 02Jan23

✔A~~ Abdulrazak Gurnah, author of ~~ Memory of Departure ~~ 3 Stars ~~ 09Jan23

✔G ~~ Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child ~~ 4 Stars ~~ 07Jan23

✔N ~~ Catherine Newman, author of ~~ We All Want Impossible Things ~~ 4 Stars ~~ 02Jan23

✔E ~~ Every Heart a Doorway ~~ by Seanan McGuire ~~ 4 Stars ~~ 06Jan23

New Year Challenge
5/5--Finished

C--What Stands in a Storm: Three Days in the Worst Superstorm to Hit the South's Tornado Alley by Kim Cross 1/24/23
A--Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess, Russia, 1914 by Carolyn Meyer 1/15/23
K--The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan 1/14/23
E--Dogtown: Death and Enchantment in a New England Ghost Town by Elyssa East 1/17/23
S--Taste: My Life through Food by Stanley Tucci 1/5/23

CAKES (0/5_

C
A
K
E
S

New Year Challenge 2023
Duration: month of January
9/9

F-Fox, Michael J. No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality finished 1/16
I-I Had My Underwear On The Entire Time: A Memoir of Discovering Family through Genetic Genealogy by Michael Blair finished 1/19
R-Ramsey, Charles Dead Giveaway: The Rescue, Hamburgers, White Folks, and Instant Celebrity... What You Saw on TV Doesn't Begin to Tell the Story... finished 1/27
E-The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir by Paul Newman finished 1/11
W-Wier, Dwayne (main character) The Decision to Kill: A True Crime Story of a Teenage Killer and the Mother Who Loved Him gy Leslie Ghiglieri finished 1/2
O-Olsen, Gregg American Mother: The True Story of a Troubled Family, Greed and the Cyanide Murders That Shook the World finished 1/15
R-Rico Geurriero They All Became Famous Except Us: Good Times Comedy Club finished 1/27
K- Kashner, Sam and Schoenberger, Nancy Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century finished 1/5
S-The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult finished 1/1

New Year Challenge 2023
Begins: 01Jan23 / Ends: 31Jan23

2/ 6 completed

Grapes
G
R
✔A--Alice Hoffman, author of Magic Lessons--1/7/23

P

✔E--Emma Straub, author of This Time Tomorrow--1/27/23

S

I avoided picking a challenge word with vowels like E and darned if I didn't read a book with a character named Eric and a title starting with the word Everything!

Oh No! 🥴

Updated message #8: 3/9

New Year Challenge 2023

11/11 DONE


T Threadneedle Cari Thomas 1/5
I I Buried a Witch Josh Lanyon 1/2
M May Day Murder Jennifer David Hesse 1/13
E Everything to Lose Danielle Girard 1/9
S Shadow Ridge M.E. Browning 1/9
S Sweep of the Heart Ilona Andrews 1/9
Q Quiche of Death Mary Lee Ashford 1/3
U Under the Cold Bright Lights Garry Disher 1/5
A Adrift Jana Deleon 1/4
R Ring in the Year with Murder Auralee Wallace 1/2
E Exit Strategy Jen J. Danna 1/3

Challenge Complete! Thank you!

That's Great Donna! 👍

Done, message 19, looking forward to February.

Update message # 4 - Challenge completed - 17Jan23


New Year Challenge 2023
Begins: 01Jan23 / Ends: 31Jan23


6 / 6 completed

Grapes
G - GOLDY is mc / Dying for Chocolate ✔ – 05Jan23
R - Rick Riordan / Southtown ✔ – 06Jan23
A - ANGLADA, Maria Àngels / The Violin of Auschwitz ✔ – 10Jan23
P - Padma Lakshmi / Love, Loss, and What We Ate ✔ – 17Jan23
E - EDWARD is mc / The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane ✔ – 01Jan23
S - Second-Worst Restaurant in France ✔ – 15Jan23

.

New Year Challenge
5/5--Finished

Update on message #8: Challenge completed.

Update on Message #10 - Finished.

Finished, see Message 7

Great! 👍

Finished! Message 14

Wonderful 👍

Challenge completed!