Reading Challenge Addict

I just found this challenge this morning and thought that I ought to take part in it. I have signed up for a boatload of challenges this year.
Here they all are:
At Ms. Martin Teaches Media:2011 YA Debut Author2011 YA Reading Challenge
At this blog:2011 Mystery & Suspense2011 Futuristic & SF2011 E-Book2011 Romance2011 Shifter2011 Horror & Urban Fantasy2011 Paranormal Romance 2011 Show Me the Free2011 Read Me Baby, 1 More Time
You can see the links to all these challenges in my sidebar. The one thing I do have to say is that a lot of the books I choose this year will be in more than one category. Yesterday's book - The Iron Queen - was YA Reading, Romance, Paranormal Romance and an E-Book.
I keep a spreadsheet - which can be seen here - and plan to do a monthly update of my progress on each challenge.

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? (Jan. 3, 2011)

It's Monday, What are you reading is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.  

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading? is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

I had a really good reading week this past week. I was home at my brother's in Duluth and the weather was the kind that kept me indoors except for one trip to Black Bear Casino. I got to spend my time reading, blogging and just hanging out.

Here is what I read through Friday:

I finished The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook. I thought it was an excellent steampunk mystery/romance and I loved the world building even though I would hate to live in the world. My review will be posted on Jan. 6.

I read The Genius Files: Mission Unstoppable by Dan Gutman. This was a fun, middle grade adventure with wonderfully quirky characters. I have the eARC from NetGalley. The book will be published on Jan. 25 and my review is scheduled for Jan. 3 on Ms. Martin Teaches Media.

Anna and the French Kiss was a book that has received some glowing reviews. I enjoyed this contemporary young adult romance and thought it was well-written. You can check out my review here. I think my high school romance readers will love it.

Perilous by Tamara Hart Heiner is a suspenseful read by a new author. The book suffers from "first book syndrome" but I can see potential for the author. I will be reviewing the book on Jan. 6 and the author will be guest posting on Jan. 10 at Ms. Martin Teaches Media.

Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John was also extremely well reviewed. I enjoyed this contemporary young adult story of a deaf girl who is managing a teen rock band. I think this one will appeal to my high school students too. Especially if they are interested in rock music. The review will be posted on Jan. 12.

Love Me to Death is a thriller (or maybe romantic suspense) by Allison Brennan. It was creepy and spine-chilling. I loved it. Ms. Brennan will be guest posting on my blog on Jan. 21 as part of her blog tour. I will be posting my review on Jan. 20.

Queen of Shadows by Dianne Sylvan is urban fantasy. I read a wonderful review of the book and had to have it. I really enjoyed both the hero and heroine in this one. He is the vampire in charge of the Southeastern United States and she describes him as a ninja computer geek (and hot, really hot). She is a musician who is also an empath and who is going crazy because she can't shut out other people's emotions. Look for my review on Jan. 12.

The Heart of Winter is an anthology with stories by Maggie Shayne, Linda Winstead Jones, and Day Leclaire. I received this eARC from NetGalley and Harlequin. All of the stories were very entertaining and romantic.  My review will be posted on Jan. 8 but the book should be available for purchase now. 

I am currently reading another eARC that I got from NetGalley and Harlequin Teen. The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa is the third in the series. I have enjoyed the other two entries in the series and have high hopes for this one as well. 

Next week?

I really haven't decided yet. I know that the new Jayne Ann Krentz book - In Too Deep: Book One of the Looking Glass Trilogy will be waiting when I get home. That one has to be next. I am also expecting some of the new 2011 YA Debut Author books to arrive and I am very eager to read them. Also waiting for me should be the next books in the Pink Carnation series. There are so many choices and so little time.

Have a great reading week!

In My Mailbox (Jan. 2. 2011)

The weekly In My Mailbox post is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It is fun to see what everyone else gets in their mailboxes, shopping bags, and library visits. Kristi is taking a break for a while from hosting this meme.

I guarantee that your TBR pile will grow when you see all the wonderful books everyone gets. You will discover lots of great blogs and lots of books that you won't be able to live without.

I thought being away from my home for Christmas Break would keep the mailbox numbers low this week. And it would have but I forgot about NetGalley, buying books for my Kindle, and the free books for Kindle. As you can see, I made ample use of those resources to get some new books.

From NetGalley and Harlequin, I received:

A Creed in Stone Creek by Linda Lael Miller - I used to read her romances all the time but haven't for a while. This seemed like a good opportunity to try her again.

Deadly Vows by Brenda Joyce - I have read all the other Francesca Cahill historical mysteries and was pleased to see that there was a new one available.

The Heart of Winter is an anthology of romances centered around winter. It contains novellas by Maggie Shayne, Linda Winstead Jones and Day Leclaire. I have already read this one and have the review scheduled for January 8.

These are my "blame other bloggers" purchases. I saw them in Teaser Tuesday posts or IMM posts or blog reviews and decided that I had to have them.

Against the Wind by Kat Martin is romantic suspense. I decided to do a Romantic Suspense Challenge this year and thought this book would be a good start.

Queen of Shadows by Dianne Sylvan is urban fantasy. I read a really great review of this book and had to have it. I finished it in the wee hours of New Year's Day and made it my first book of 2011. My review will be posted on Jan. 12.

How to Wed a Baron by Kasey Michaels just appealed to me. I like historical romances and have liked many of Kasey Michaels' books. 

Finally, here are the free books for my Kindle that I downloaded this week. Luckily, I signed up for the Show Me the FREE Reading Challenge this year. Maybe I'll finally take the time to read some of the many free books that are on my Kindle.

Pardon me for not listing all the authors and titles but I'd rather be reading. I think that they can be seen in the pictures. 

That was my week. What did you get this week? I'll be travelling most of the day today but will try to check out your links when I get home this evening. 

2011 Read Me Baby, 1 More Time Challenge

I swear this is the last challenge I'm signing up for in 2011 (unless something really good comes along ;-)).


The 2011 Read Me Baby, 1 More Time Challenge is hosted by Kate at Midnight Book Girl.


Here are the rules:

Read Me Baby, 1 More Time is for those of you who love to re-read your favorite books or those of you who want to re-visit a book from your past.  The rules are simple, for a book to qualify you simply have to have read it at least once before, and the re-read has to be complete.  For instance, there are some books I re-read from cover to cover, and there are other books that I just read certain scenes from when I need a little comfort-before-bed reading.  Just reading a few scenes doesn't count for this challenge.


Here's the tiers for you to choose from:


Trip Down Memory Lane: 1-3 re-reads
Reliving the Past: 4-8 re-reads
Back To The Future: 9-12 re-read
Groundhog Day Reader: 13-20 re-reads

I love to re-read. I don't think year goes by that I don't re-read the Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold or the Liaden series by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. There are also a number of other books that I would like to read again this year. I'm signing up to be a Groundhog Day Reader.

2011 Show Me the FREE Challenge

I have decided to take part in the 2011 Show Me the Free Challenge at The Unread Reader. I love my Kindle and I really love getting free books for it. I currently have 150 tagged "free" in my LibraryThing account and haven't added the new books I downloaded just today. Now, I need a push to actually read the free books I download instead of saving them all for "someday."

My goal is to read twelve of them this coming year. That puts me at the Coupon Clipper level for this challenge. There will also be opportunities to link reviews and win prizes. You can find out all about this challenge here and sign-up for it here.

If you have an ereader, why don't you join me?

Out With a Bang Readathon Wrap Up & Giveaway

I started strong on the challenge but day 3 was my undoing. After reading two books each on days one and two, I was confident going into day 3. However, I ran into a book that I just couldn't get into. Here are the books I finished.

Along with doing a lot of end of year blog posts, updating challenge progress bars, signing up for still more challenges and general time wasting, I did manage to read Queen of Shadows by Dianne Sylvan. Since I finished it after midnight, I'm counting it as my first book of 2011. I read 300 pages of it on Dec. 31 and the final 100 after midnight.

Does anyone want a copy of the ARC of The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor? The writing style reminds me of classic literature which is definitely not my thing. Click on the title to read about the book at Amazon. If you would like it, leave your email address in the comments and I'll draw a winner using Random.org (or maybe slips of paper in a hat) later this week. I'll ship this heavy ARC to the US or Canada.

I read a total of 1742 pages during the readathon and 4 3/4 books. I didn't participate in any of the mini-challenges this time. I just concentrated on reading and getting my blogs ready for 2011.

December and Year End Reading Reports

I got lots of reading done this December especially during my Holiday vacation. I read a total of 25 books and 8,500 pages. 


My annual total this year was 283 books and 93,190 pages. Here are the numbers of books I read for the various challenges I did last year. Books could be counted in more than one challenge.


Middle Grade Books: 37
YA Debut Author: 46
YA Reading: 105
Paranormals: 188
RYOB: 271
Flashback Challenge: 23
E-books: 73
Bottoms Up Challenge: 14 (I said I'd read 36)
TBR Challenge: 6 ( I said I'd read 12)


Here is the link to my 2010 Challenge Spreadsheet. It has a complete list of the books I read.


I completed most of the challenges and really exceeded some of them. Some of them look like I didn't complete them but that is only because I kept moving the bar higher as I reached each goal. 


However, I didn't get as deep into my TBR stack as I wanted to. I failed at the TBR Challenge and the Bottoms Up Challenge.


In December I added 66 books to my LibraryThing account. Currently 53 are still on the TBR pile. I am not entirely certain but it looks like I added 847 books to LibraryThing in 2010 which is kind of incredible. Next year I plan to add a collection to keep track of the number of books I add in 2011.


That's all for now. 2010 is done. Here comes 2011.