Book A Day Summer Challenge

Book A Day Summer Challenge by Nerdy Book Club

 
I ran across this challenge on twitter, to read a book a day during the summer, and I thought, I could probably do this.  I have so many books stacked in piles around my house from a variety of genres that I thought it would be nice to read a bunch of them this summer and since I'm stuck on the couch with my feet up (two sprained ankles), the timing is perfect.

Book A Day Summer Challenge

So today marks Day #1.  My first official day of summer.  Yesterday I turned in my grades and cleaned my classroom.  Today I am reading and writing and driving my kids around town.

Book #1

The book I finished reading today was:  The Gendarme by Mark Mustian.  This is about WWI and the Armenian genocide.  It was so powerful.  This year marks the 100th anniversary of World War I.

I plan to read a variety of books for this challenge like novellas, graphic novels, audiobooks, children's books, poetry, short stories and more.  So excited to try this and see how it goes.  If I can read 5 books a week I will be happy.

I will try and update you periodically on this challenge.

If you have any good suggestions for a book I can finish in a day.  Please let me know.

Happy Reading!

2012 Reading Challenges

2012 Reading Challenges

This year I took on four reading challenges.   I was able to complete two of the challenges.  Completed challenges up first.

World War 1 Challenge completed-  I read 3 books that took place during World War 1.  

1.  Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
2.  A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
3.  The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian

What's in a Name 5 Challenge completed
I have read 6 books out of the 6 required.  Each book must have something in the title which corresponds to the category.   

1.  Something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack-  Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay 

2.  Something you'd see in the sky- Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool.   

3.  A book with a topographical feature (land formation)- The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

4.  A book with a creepy crawly in the title- Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol 

5.  A book with a type of house in the title - The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield

6.  A book with a something you'd find on a calendar - March by Geraldine Brooks

*These are the two challenges I didn't successfully complete but had a lot of fun trying.

The Pulitzer Prize Challenge.  

I read a total of 6 books for this challenge and my goal was to read 12.  It is hard to commit to reading a book a month especially when there are so many great books to read.  I am happy with my progress in this challenge.

1.  Tinkers by Paul Harding
2.   March by Geraldine Brooks
3.   A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
4.  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 

5.  Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

6.  The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields

Where are you reading Challenge was really fun.  The Goal is to read a book that takes place in each of the 50 different states.

I successfully kept track of the places I was reading about throughout the year.  I started off really good at the beginning and wrote everything down but by the end of the year, I was slacking and not keeping track as well.

I read books that took place in 5 Continents, 19 countries and 28 states.

Check out my map on Google Maps.

https://maps.google.com/maps/myplaces?

2012 Reading Challenges

2012 Reading Challenges

I have been giving some serious thought to what kind of reading I want to do in 2012 and the types of books I want to challenge myself to read more of. 

My personal reading challenge this year will be to read 12 Pulitzer prize winning novels, one Pulitzer book a month.  It has been a goal of mine to read all of these books for awhile now and every year they add a new winner and I find myself not able to keep up.  Maybe I will create a button and add a page to my blog in case other bloggers and readers want to join me.  What do you think?  Would you consider this as a reading goal in 2012?  Please let me know if you are interested.

I am also going to join Sheila from Book Journey for her Where Are You Reading? challenge.  This entails trying to read books that take place in each of all the 50 states.  You set up a map in google maps and pinpoint your books location.  You also upload a picture of the book to picassa web albums.  Since I only read about 75 books a year, 50 states may be hard to complete.  I am not planning to alter my reading plans but am curious to see what my reading map looks like at the end of 2012.  It must be the map loving, geography teacher part of me that is so excited for this interesting challenge. 

So far that is my plan for 2012.   I am still debating with myself on whether or not to add other reading challenges to my plate. 

Looking forward to reading in the New Year.

Reading Review and 2011 challenges

2010 Year in Review:
I started blogging in February of 2010 and haven't looked back.  Blogging has been a wonderful experience and has increased my knowledge of books, authors and the world wide web ten fold.  Last year I read 70 books and wrote 178 blog posts.  I participated in reading challenges, read-a-longs, and read-a-thons.  I really love read-a-longs and read-a-thons and hope to participate in many more although being a teacher it is hard to balance all that grading time when I would rather be reading.   I hosted my first Read-a-Thon in June where I tackled Moby Dick, I held contests and met lots of great authors and publicists.  I can't wait to see what new experiences are awaiting me in 2011.

2010 Challenges Completed.
I participated in the Graphic Novel Challenge and completed the intermediate level reading 4 graphic novels.
I participated in Young Adult Novel Challenge and read 20 young adult titles last year.  I am very  pleased with both challenges and plan to continue them this year and hope to increase my totals.

2011 Challenges
Graphic Novel Challenge:  I plan to complete the intermediate level
again this year and hope to increase the number of graphic novels read from 4 to at least 5.

YA Reading Challenge:  I plan to complete the Fun size level which is the same as last year reading 20 Young Adult Novels.  If you haven't read any YA lately you ought to give it a try and a lot of the novels are well written and deal with issues our youth confront everyday.

Historical Fiction Challenge:

This is the first time I am participating in this challenge and I pretty excited.  I love historical fiction, in fact historical fiction is my true love type of books.  Did you know I am a history teacher?  I am going to try and read 10-15 historical fiction books this year and succeed in reading the Struggling with Addiction level.

So there you have it.  I expect great things in 2011.