Re: 50 Book Challenge!!!

by xraineyesx Tue Jan 10, 2012 4:10 am

Okay, Kathyrn! Here I am signing on to this challenge again. Hopefully I'll actually make progress at least this time.

I don't have a list yet, but I plan on starting in the morning.

by Lara Wed Jan 11, 2012 3:11 am

Psst... >.> <.< ...Hi.

Date started: 1/1/12
Current Count: 2/100

Currently Reading:

Star Wars: Children of the Jedi

On Hold:

Finished Reading:

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Conviction

366 pages

Anthem

123 pages

Star Wars: Splinter of the Mind's Eye

304 pages

Star Wars: The Courtship of Princess Leia

374 pages

by **Sunwolf007** Wed Jan 11, 2012 1:24 pm

I'm going to make another try for it since I failed last year.

1. The Ashes of Worlds by Kevin J. Anderson
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24.
25.

Key
Bold means I’m currently reading a book.
If it has a slash through it, I’ve completed it.
* means I am rereading a book.

Benchmarks
- I have read 0 out of 25 books so far.
- Began: Jan 1st, 2012
- Reached 5 books:
- Reached 10 books:
- Reached 15 books:
- Reached 20 books:
- Reached 25 books:

by Moon Ray Wed May 09, 2012 4:06 pm

This is an interesting idea. What is my actual consumption rate?

I'll have to think a bit about what counts. Kids novels vs adult novels vs plays vs text books vs rereadings vs alternate languages... well, I'll come up with something to keep it fair.

Start Date: Wednesday, 9 May 2012

1. Sourcery, by Terry Pratchet
2. Princino de Marso, by Edgar Rice Burroughs
3. The Princess and the Snowbird, by Mette Ivie Harrison
4. Hexwood, by Diana Wayne Jones
5. A Perfect Blood, by Kim Harrison
6. The Red Pyramid, by Rick Riordan
7. Agatha H. And the Airship City, by Phil & Kaja Foglio
8. Fires of Aggar, by Chris Anne Wolfe
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42. The Dark Wife, by Sarah Diemer (22 June).
43. Adeptus Major, by Alex Mykals (21 June).
44. Shadows of Aggar, by Chris Anne Wolfe (19 June).
45. Black Blade Blues, by J.A. Pitts (18 June).
46. The Sublime and Spirited Voyage of Original Sin, by Colette Moody (16 June).
47. Insurgent, by Veronica Roth (16 June).
48. Ash, by Malinda Lo (15 June).
49. Cage the Darlings, by Elora Bishop (14 June).
50. Roses and Thorns, by Chris Anne Wolfe (13 June).

Edit 16 June:
I'd better start posting my reads, if I want to play... Currently working through a lesbian fiction reading list, among other things. Note: some of those fairy tales aren't worth a whole point by themselves; I'll have to reorganize how they're listed later.

I'll borrow some of Sunwolf's key:
Bold means I’m currently reading a book.
If it's dated, I finished it.

by Lara Thu Jan 10, 2013 6:11 pm

Yay, it's January! I can attempt to start this again!

Date started: 1/1/13
Current Count: 25/100

Currently Reading:

On Hold:

Winds of Change

Stalemate

Blind Alley

Finished Reading:

Winds of Fate

464 pages

The Little Princess

242 pages

The Killing Game

355 pages

The Face of Deception

480 pages

Quicksand

352 pages

The Fairy Godmother

432 pages

Eve

384 pages

Quinn

384 pages

Bonnie

373 pagse

Viva Jacquelina!: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Over the Hills and Far Away

368 pages

The Girl Who Gave Her Wish Away

280 pages

Eight Days to Live

416 pages

Flash Point

400 pages

Blindsided

226 pages

The Adults

307 pages

So Yesterday

225 pages

Orphan Train

288 pages

The Possibility Dogs

257 pages

Gone

558 pages

So You Want to Be a Wizard

400 pages

Deep Wizardry

356 pages

High Wizardry

368 pages

A Wizard Abroad

372 pages

The Wizard's Dilemma

432 pages

A Wizard Alone

352 pages

by The Thing Under The Sink Sun Jan 13, 2013 6:33 pm

Edit: I intend to read 50 books within a year; So pretty much the original challenge. Books will be picked randomly from the free books on offer in the Kindle store, so I will not know the title or author beforehand. Each book must be finished before I move on to the next. Books listed here are completed, aside from the last which will be my current read.

This is an interesting thread, not least because of how I access the site. I tend to come here via Kindle Fire, and there happens to be a specific app on my fun little toy which allows me to get free books from Amazon every day. The downside of this app is that I never know what I'm going to be reading next. The upside is that I never know what I'll be reading next.

Well, that and I never get to lick the pages anymore. I do love that old-book smell.

Finished today is The Princess of Dhagobad, a surprisingly engaging story about a girl and her slave. Next up, after I finish electrocuting myself with the kindle charger, is Heaven Preserve Us (a home crafting mystery). Apparently, it' s about people being poisoned with pickles.

So, yes. I'm meeting the challenge head- on. Or do I mean "teeth-on"?

1 The Princess Of Dhagobad by Anna Kashina
2 Heaven Preserve Us by Cricket McRae
3 Wired by Douglas E. Richards
4 ~~Big Girls Don't Cry by Gretchen Lane~~ (Too short, doesn't count.)
4 Oath of Swords by David Weber
5 Rubies of the Viper by Martha Marks
6 The Soulkeepers by G. P. Ching
7 Out of Time by Monique Martin
8 The Riddler's Gift by Greg Hamerton
9 Post Human by David Simpson (note: Sad

)
10 The Last Praetorian by Mike Smith
11 Storm Dancer by Rayne Hall
12 Cure (A Strandville Zombie Novel) by Belinda S. Frisch
13 A Clockwork Fairytale by Helen Scott Taylor
14 The Keeper and the Runestone by Paige W. Pendleton
15 Zero Point by Tim Fairchild
16 How to Date a Werewolf by Rose Pressey
17 Rex Rising by Chrystalla Thoma
18 Daughter of Time: A Time Travel Romance by Sarah Woodbury (Current of 50 randomly selected books)

by Guest Mon Jan 14, 2013 2:38 pm

That is an interesting way of going about the challenge, The Thing Under The Sink! I don't know if I could do that, because I'm rather picky with what I read, but I hope it works out for you Smile

by **Gadreille** Mon Jan 14, 2013 3:10 pm

Gadreille's 2013 Book Challenge

The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lost City of Z, David Grann
A Dance With Dragons, George R.R. Martin
Morning of Fire, Scott Ridley
Adam & Eve, Sena Jeter Naslund
The Coldest Winter, America and the Korean War, David Halberstam

Italicized titles are currently being read
Bold titles are finished
Regular titles are to be read

Total Books Read: 0

by Guest Mon Jan 14, 2013 6:05 pm

I will not be able to read 50 books this year, I can guarantee it. My only goal is to finally complete the Wheel of Time series, but I am starting over. I've read two already, and I am at the beginning of the third. By the end of the year, I do hope to have finished A Memory of Light.

1. *~~The Eye of The World~~
2. *~~The Great Hunt~~
3. *The Dragon Reborn
4. *The Shadow Rising
5. *The Fires of Heaven
6. *Lord of Chaos
7. *A Crown of Swords
8. *The Path of Daggers
9. *Winter's Heart
10. *Crossroads of Twilight
11. *Knife of Dreams
12. The Gathering Storm
13. Towers of Midnight
14. A Memory of Light

Key
If it has a ~~slash~~ through it, I’ve completed it.
* means I am rereading a book.
An underline number means I am currently reading that book.

Benchmarks
- I have read 2 out of 14 books so far.
- Pages Read: ...

by The Thing Under The Sink Mon Jan 14, 2013 7:19 pm

Ysopet wrote:That is an interesting way of going about the challenge

I disagree; it' s the only way of going about the challenge. No book I'm reading now is one I've read before: How else could I possibly find out which genre I prefer more than the rest? How can I truly find my own voice in amongst the words of those people who I've read? I can write like Lovecraft, should I choose to, but he' s not my real voice, any more than Terry Pratchett before him. As authors, I admire them both, and they're both favourites, but I need to become far more well- read before I can be satisfied that I'm speaking as me, and not aping another's style.

If I can do that by legally acquiring random, free books and reading them, then that's what I'll do.

Also, I need to update my list: I've just finished Wired and started my next one. Frankly, I'm not a fan of the way he infodumped characterisation and background, but I'm glad I gave it a chance. I normally wouldn't have.

by Syrena Tue Jan 15, 2013 12:07 am

I'm going to give this a try! Fifty books may be a bit much. But I will definitely try to get close! Plus, I think it will be interesting to see what kind of books I read throughout the year. I'm hoping to have a variety rather than my usual fantasy picks.

State Date: January 1, 2013
Current Count: 12 out of 50
Page Count: 4806

Currently Reading—

The Great Pearl Heist: London's Greatest Thief and Scotland Yard's Hunt for the World's Most Valuable Necklace

The Solitary House

On Hold—

The Art Forger

Jill Kismet: The Complete Series

Finished—

Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief

The Other Boleyn Girl

A Friend of the Family

Rhett Butler's People

Safe Haven

Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History

The Hundred Secret Senses

Dark Side of the Moon

Retribution

The Casual Vacancy

The Painted Girls

Thick as Thieves

by Lara Tue Jan 15, 2013 3:25 am

My Iris Johansen marathon continues!

I almost feel guilty, since everyone's being so varied. Buuut this is something I wanted to do, so *almost* is where it ends. XD

I really like the idea of reading random things, and not know what you'll read next!

by Syrena Tue Jan 15, 2013 9:45 pm

I think it is only a matter of time before the variation stops. At least, I know I won't continue to have much variance. I've got a pile of fantasy books waiting to be read. Many of them are by the same author, too.

But I would like to try keeping a more varied streak. I'm too picky to read something at random. I'm just hoping to do something close to random--if only to spice up my "to read" list.

by The Thing Under The Sink Tue Jan 15, 2013 10:45 pm

Syrena wrote: I'm too picky to read something at random. I'm just hoping to do something close to random--if only to spice up my "to read" list.

You're too picky to read random books? That' s weird, so am I. I hate romance, things that come off as a cross between sci-fi, fantasy and the bible (the type with multi-page songs) and books that infodump characterisation as if showing a character' s nature is a bother. If something doesn't hook my interest in the first paragraph, I put it back on the shelf.

Except I chose to do something different for the challenge.

I could easily have chosen 50 books I' d read before and thoroughly enjoyed, but that wouldn't have had any possibility of failure. Instead, I've chosen to only select books from the random ones selected by someone else via app, but only if they're free from Amazon, and added the clause that once opened they have to be read or I fail. The only exception is if the percentage read jumps from 1 to 30 in the space of 6 pages. I've got one like that; it' s the one crossed out on my list. Oh, and I won't read recipe books for this either: The plot tends to be a little flat, and the characters are not at all striking.

But that's my own personal challenge, to make things more interesting. I'm sure no-one signed anything that said they had to copy me. Plus, I'm a sucker for free stuff.

by Lara Mon Jan 28, 2013 2:21 am

My Iris Johansen marathon was stalled in its tracks when I accidentally left my book on the train. ):

Luckily, I had a spare book I had just bought in my bag. The Fairy Godmother, by Mercedes Lackey. And... it was amazing. Super rushed at the end, but I forgave all its faults because of its content.

It pokes some serious fun at all the cliches of fairy tales. =D

No clue what I'm going to read next. I could go back to Johansen, but I feel that if I do, I'm going to skip to her latest books and go from there, rather than reading all my others and saving those for last.

by **Kathryn Lacey** Wed Jan 30, 2013 3:15 pm

I have updated the first post with the links to each of your posts that house your list of books for faster/easier access. If the information in the first post isn't accurate, it's because you didn't list the number of books you've read, the number of books you wish to read, and/or the date you began reading. The other option is that I just missed those. Regardless, if you want a more accurate update, you'll want to place them somewhere easily accessed in your reading list. Otherwise, I'm limited to guessing which may or may not always be accurate. =D

by The Thing Under The Sink Thu Jan 31, 2013 3:31 pm

Kathryn Lacey wrote:I have updated the first post with the links to each of your posts that house your list of books for faster/easier access.

Am I the only one who feels super special now? I hope not; it'd prove just how very sappy I truly am if I were.

Thanks, Lacey.

Edit: My book post is updated, with necessary information at the top. Apologies for not making it clear what I was doing.

by **Kathryn Lacey** Thu Jan 31, 2013 3:56 pm

Updated!

by The Thing Under The Sink Thu Feb 21, 2013 3:39 am

Moving all my stuff from under the sink and then finding a new sink to lurk under is such an effort. Still, I'm reading the 18th book out of the 50 I challenged myself to, and it's only Feburary; I may have to try a more difficult challenge next.

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