Pokemon Indigo League Read Them All Thon

Here's the new challenge I hinted at last week.  I've joined the Pokemon Indigo League Read Them All Thon hosted by Read at Midnight.  The challenge started on August 14th and runs through September 4th, so I'm coming a little late to the party, but better late than never, right?

This challenge is inspired by the recent popularity of a game I'm sure you've heard of called Pokemon Go.  But also, it's inspired by the Indigo League that Ash had to work through in the beginning of the Pokemon cartoon.  Which is what I rushed home to watch after school when I was younger, so it is near and dear to my heart.  :)

For those not familiar with the situation, Ash had to battle 8 different elemental Pokemon gyms, earning a badge from each one, to try and help on his quest to be a Pokemon Master.  So for this challenge instead of battling Pokemon, we'll be reading books.  

Here's what my list looks like so far, with badge descriptions borrowed from the challenge organizer (in italics):

Pewter Gym: The First Book In A Series 

This Rock-type gym is the first gym Ash and the Pokemon player ever encounters. Finish this challenge to win a Boulder Badge. 

I will be reading The Isle of the Lost by Melissa de la Cruz, first in the Descendants series.

Cerulean Gym: A Book That Might Make You Cry 

This Water-type gym has a badge that looks like a droplet of your tear, so read a book that will rip your heart out. Finish this challenge to win a Cascade Badge. 

I'll admit, I struggled with this one. Books don't make me cry as much as movies do for some reason (I even cried at the end of Batman V. Superman. I am SUCH a sap!). So I turned to the trusty Goodreads looking for a book that was on my TBR that had notes it made someone cry and ended up with Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Vermillion Gym: A Book With Thunderous Hype 

Vermillion City is the home to Lt. Surge and his many Electric-type Pokemon. For this challenge, read a book that’s been hyped all over bestseller’s list and the internet. Finish this challenge to win a Thunder Badge. 

So I'm ashamed to admit I have not actually read the Percy Jackson books yet. So I figured this was as good a time as any to rectify that. I will be starting with The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (bonus: double qualification of "thunderous"!)

Celadon Gym: A Book That Focuses on Diversity 

Celadon Gym is one of my favourites, because of it’s colourful Grass-type aesthetics. Read a diverse book and you will earn yourself a Rainbow Badge. 

For this one I will be reading Drama by Raina Telgemeier. I've been looking for an excuse to pick up this book for ages.

Fuschia Gym: A Book With A Great Romance 

I’ve always been confused by the fact that a Poison-type gym has a heart-shaped badge. Can someone explain please. Read a book that features romance prominently and earn a Soul Badge. 

I don't normally read a lot of romance, but I've found myself reading more lately. I just borrowed a Kindle book from Lendle that fits this category, so I will be reading Bride of Pretense by Amanda Tru and Cami Wesley

Saffron Gym: A Book With Fantasy/Supenatural Elements 

Saffron City is where all the Psychic-types hang out, so for this challenge, read a bool with fantasy, magical realism, or paranormal elements. Finish this challenge to win a Marsh Badge. 

I've just recently started the Spirit Animals series, so for this one I will do the second book in the series, Hunted by Maggie Stiefvater

Cinnabar Gym: A Book With A Red Cover 

Cinnabar Island is famous for red earth and Fire-type Pokemon. For this challenge, read a book with a red cover. Complete this challenge to win a Volcano Badge. 

This one could have also qualified for the Thunderous Hype challenge, but I just picked up Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier, which features a very red cover.

Viridian Gym: A Book With Post-Apocalyptic Setting 

The final gym is home to a Team Rocket Leader (OK, if it’s been out 10+ years you can’t cry spoilers) and Ground-type Pokemon. For this challenge, read a book featuring a ruined, post-apocalyptic Earth. Finish this to win yourself an Earth Badge. 

I don't read a lot of dystopian, so I struggled with this one. But I think I will be going with Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.


So that's my plan so far. I suppose it's possible this list might change as I go along, but that's my plan so far.  Who knows if I will make it to the end, but I'm going to try!

In addition to earning badges, you have the option of doing the extra fun of evolving a pokemon.  You earn CP points to evolve your pokemon by finishing books.  I'm starting with Eevee, because it's been my favorite Pokemon forever.  So cute!

Not really a smart choice from a point perspective, but I figure my chances of being in the top points wise are pretty limited, so I'm just doing it for fun.

If you'd like to join the challenge yourself, make sure you check out Read At Midnight's post for all the details.  Happy reading!

Summer Book Trek wrap up

Well, this post is overdue since the Summer Book Trek ended on July 31st, but I figured it deserved a bit of a wrap up anyway.  Mostly because I am planning my next reading challenge already.  :)

I did pretty good for the Trek, finishing a total of 10 books.  I also won 3 books.  Yay!  The books I finished were:

Super Daisy! by Jennifer Griffith
The Duke's Undoing by G.G. Vandagriff
Samara: A Kilenya Romance by Andrea Pearson
Midian, A Kilenya Romance by Andrea Pearson
Dmitri: A Kilenya Adventureby Andrea Pearson
Rise of the Wolf by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Spirit Animals : Tales of the Great Beasts by Brandon Mull
Wild Born by Brandon Mull
And Something Blue by Paige Timothy
The Witching Moon by Janelle Daniels

You can see my sign up post to see how this finished list differed here.

Mom did pretty good too, finishing (I think) 3 books, which was good considering she started as late as she did.  Although she didn't end up finishing either of the books she planned on at first.  She also won 2 books!

So now it's onto the next thing.  Look for a post about my new challenge coming up in the next couple days.  And hopefully some reviews too, when I can get a chance to finish writing them!

Summer Book Trek 2016

Well, here I am again after a long break.  My reading has kind of suffered lately, although I have been reading, just not as much as I have in the past.  Mostly this has been because cross stitch has taken over as the preferred hobby in my life (which you can follow my adventures in that field on my other blog if you're interested.)  On top of that, some ongoing health issues and a crazy few months at work and I just lately haven't been reading as much.  Which is something my Goodreads Reading Challenge button delightfully informs me of every time I log in, that I'm 8 books behind schedule so far this year.

Anyway, that brings me to the reason for this post, the Summer Book Trek.  I found this on a Facebook page I follow that features new releases by LDS authors (writers who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).  Being LDS myself, I love me some LDS writers, and I thought what better way to jump start my reading than with a challenge?  It runs the whole month of July and you earn points for reading and reviewing books written by LDS writers.

The idea is to start by setting up a goal of what books you'll read throughout the challenge.  I'm really horrible at lists like that, because I almost always end up changing them later.  But, I do know there are a few books that I definitely will be getting to in this challenge.

First of, I know I will be reading Across the Ages by RaShelle Workman, The Duke's Undoing by GG Vandagriff, and Super Daisy by Jennifer Griffith.  Why do I know I'll get to those three specifically?  Well, they're all Kindle loans I accepted this week knowing this challenge was coming up, so I have a limited amount of time to read them before they are returned to the owner.

Beyond that, I would like to get to a few books I've had on my to read list for awhile that are by some of my favorite LDS authors.  And since Middle Grade and YA books are kind of my thing, there's a lot of those on the possibility list.  Right now I'm considering the two Spirit Animals books by Brandon Mull, the new Princess in Black books by Shannon Hale, Wings by Aprilynne Pike, Paranormalcy by Kiersten White, Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George, Rise of the Wolf by Jennifer Neilson, or The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry.

Of course, I also like sweet clean romances, which fit this challenge to a T, and I have tons of them I've bought for free or close to free for my Kindle that qualify for this challenge.  So I may eventually mix it up a bit.  But right now, I'm excited to get started and see how far I can get!

You can check out my Goodreads shelf I created for this challenge to see what all my options are.  And yeah, there's no way I'm going to read every one of these during July.  There's over 100 options after all.  Guess I'll have plenty of backups for the challenge next year!

If you'd like to join up for yourself, check out the Summer Book Trek page at this link: http://bit.ly/1GZuwPE

Reminder: One Month Left...

Would you like to win a new hardcover copy of Tamora Pierce's newest short story collection, Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales?  If so, you're in luck.  There's still a month left to sign up to participate in the Tamora Tamora Pierce Reading Challenge.  You only have to read one book to qualify as long as you write some sort of wrap up when you have finished your challenge. 

For those of you who have signed up, how are you doing?  Are you going to make your goal by the end of Decemeber? 

I have three books left, Terrier, Bloodhound, and Tortall and Other Lands (on my Kindle).  Now if I can just finish them with all the other reading I have to finish by January...

A new linky will be up soon for those of you who are finished and want to write your wrap up posts. 

Tomorrow starts A Shady Glade Christmas, so don't forget to come back and check in for that. 

Happy reading everyone!

Update on Tamora Pierce Reading Challenge

So I have some good news for some of you. A couple weeks ago some of my readers stumbled across my Tamora Pierce Reading Challenge, only to express disappointment that they had discovered it so late.

I figured why not spread the joy, so the challenge has been extended until the end of the year! Which is good for me too, since because of other commitments (*cough* Cybils *cough*) I didn’t meet my goal yet, but am on track to finish by the end of the year. The challenge will now finish on December 31, 2011.

I’ve also found a prize for us. At the end of the year, one participant in the challenge will be randomly selected to receive a brand new hardcover copy of Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales, Ms. Pierce’s new book that came out last February.

If you want to win, you need to have signed up to participate in the challenge using Mr. Linky on the original page. And if you haven’t signed up yet, what are you waiting for?  Signups remain open for the length of the challenge.  It only takes 1 book to participate, and you can read that by January, can’t you?

Blogoversary Reading Challenges

Ready to win some more points for the prize auctions at the end of the month?  Well, here's your chance.  Your second challenge is... the Blogoversary Reading Challenge!

Throughout this month there will be a series of book lists posted (guest posts, announcements, etc.).  You will get points for every book on these lists you read during this month.  Easy, right? 

I'll be collecting links from the various eligible posts here, so keep checking back to see which books are eligible. 

• Read something chosen from our Book Battle Reader's Choice Awards (or the ultimate winner)
• Read a historical fiction book from guest poster Erica's list
• Read a pirate themed book
• Read a book that guest poster Ashley  said changed her life

  

Challenge Details:
Points: +1 per book read
Deadline: September 30th. 
How To Enter:  One point for every book on the above linked list (updated throughout the month) you read during the month of September.  Rereads count, but they must be read IN SEPTEMBER.  Keep track of what you read, you will be asked to tally up during the prize registration on October 1st.

Introducing the Tamora Pierce Reading Challenge

UPDATE: By popular demand, the deadline for this challenge has been extended until January!  See this post for details.  Even if you're just now coming to this challenge, feel free to jump in at any time.

I know currently smack dab in the middle of a huge blog undertaking for the YA Bloggers Book Battle, and I need another project like I need a hole in my head.  But I had this idea come into my head a couple weeks ago and it's been hard to think of anything else.  So I present to you, the 2011 Tamora Pierce Reading Challenge!

<center><a href="http://theshadyglade.blogspot.com/2011/07/introducing-tamora-pierce-reading.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzh0GltRa2KTh6h_M6vqa8StXsuUyjMOx53e93U_t4_P_wJU9veIQD7ctrQ1m-f7oKAMz-lnqtGUegYoRhTriBZuTHKj0Fp3koJt9MxKv5Az_nyzlcAHGSP-XzgoRQFD7rFSJnrg/s320/pierce+challenge+button.jpg" /></a></center>

So why this challenge?  Well, Tamora Pierce is one of my all-time favorite authors, and she has a new book coming out October 25: Mastiff, the last book in the Beka Cooper trilogy.  To celebrate, from now until October 31, I'm going to reread some of my favorite Tamora Pierce books, finishing up with her newest book (a short story collection) out in February, Tortall and Other Lands, which I got for my birthday.  Since that's the only book of hers I haven't read from cover to cover yet.  :)

So I thought it would be fun to have others join me.  I know I'm not the only one out there who's a Tamora Pierce fan after all.  So set a goal to finish a set, or re-read your favorite.  And if you haven't tried her books yet, maybe you want to give them a try?  She has 27 "full" books currently published, not including books that she's edited, contributed a short story to, or her comic book series for adults.  So there's a little something for everyone out there.

And the fun doesn't stop here!  Check back for new posts every once in awhile celebrating all things Tamora Pierce, guest posts, features, and of course, there will be prizes!  I'm still deciding what the prizes will be, but will post as soon as I know that they are.  Once I've banged out the kinks, I'll post the details in the next week so you'll know exactly what you're winning.  The challenge prize has been posted here. If I get enough people to join in with me, I'll even add a Mr. Linky for you to post reviews of books if you're so inclined.

This reading challenge is totally low pressure.  You can set a goal as big or as little as you want.  Choose your challenge from the list below.  Some of her books are quite small and quick to finish, while others are more hefty.  So pick a goal you think you can reach:

Page - A good start for beginners.  Complete 1-4 books
Squire - For those ready for the next level, complete 5-8 books
Knight/Lady Knight - A steady challenge at halfway, complete 9-14 books
Duke/Duchess - For serious fans, complete 15-20 books
King/Queen - This level is for serious fans, and comes complete with a royal title, complete 21-26 books
Emperor/Empress - For diehard fans, think you can finish all 27 books?

If you want to join me, here's what you do:
This challenge runs from July 6th-October 31 December 31, but you can join at any time between now and then

• Choose a participation level, and create a list of the books you'd like to complete

• For bloggers, create a post on your blog about the challenge and include your list.  You can also grab the button above for your sidebar.

• Leave a direct link to your challenge post in Mr. Linky below.

• Non-bloggers are welcome too!  Leave your list in the comments of this post, or if link to a Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Shelfari, Librarything, etc. account.

• Spread the word: if you have a friend who you think will enjoy this challenge, let them know about it.  The more the merrier!

• Get reading!  Audiobooks also count for this challenge, so if you're too busy to read, you can also try listening.

• You are welcome to do update posts as you wish throughout the challenge.  Or not.  It's completely up to you.

• Report your results.  I'll be putting up another Linky at the end of October December for everyone to report how they did.

• Have fun!  Enjoy the feature posts, check out what other participants are reading, read some reviews.  But most of all, enjoy the process!

Being the diehard fan (and possibly insane) person I am, I will be attempting to complete the Empress level.  I'll list all my books after Mr. Linky (since it's a long list).  Will I be able to make it?  Hmmm... I sure hope so.  Don't worry though, I won't let this eclipse the other blogging activities I have going on!

Some come in and join the fun!  Feel free to let me know if anyone has questions, and sign up using Mr. Linky  below:



In attempting the Empress level, I will be attempting to read all 27 books.  And here's the order I'm completing them in (already half done with the first one!)

The Circle books
Circle of Magic series:
Sandry's Book
Tris's Book
Daja's Book
Briar's Book

The Circle Opens series:
Magic Steps
Street Magic
Cold Fire
Shatterglass

The Circle Reforged books:
The Will of the Empress (one of my favorites)
Melting Stones

The Tortall books
Song of the Lioness:
Alanna: The First Adventure
In the Hand of the Goddess
The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
Lioness Rampant

The Immortals:
Wild Magic
Wolf Speaker
Emperor Mage
The Realm of the Gods

Protector of the Small:
First Test
Page
Squire
Lady Knight

The Trickster:
Trickster's Choice
Trickster's Queen

Beka Cooper (first chronologically, but the newest books):
Terrier
Bloodhound
Mastiff (Recently released 10/25/11)

Standalone Tortall title: 
Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales

Clear Away The Clutter Read-A-Thon

Okay, so I had totally though I had posted this weeks ago, but it turns out I never fished it out of draft form. *forehead smack*

So since it starts TOMORROW, I figured I needed to finish this up quick.

As part of her Clear Away the Clutter Mini Challenge, Kate from The Neverending Shelf is hosting a Clear Away the Clutter Read-A-Thon. Yay! Here's a chance to read some of those books from my Clear Away The Clutter post.

Who can participate
Anyone!

When
Begins: 7am, Monday, April 5th
Ends: 11pm, Sunday, April 11th

You'll need to head over to Kate's post to sign up, but you should join me!

I'm setting really small goals because although this is a week long thing, I don't have Spring Break and I'm really busy with my job. So I don't know how much I'm going to be able to read. My goal is to read at least two hours a day. We'll see what happens...

Starting tomorrow I will be trying to spend my free time reading rather than blogging. I have several scheduled posts that will go up anyway, but if you email me I may be a little longer in responding. Again, we'll just have to see!

As far what I'm going to read, I'm pretty much sticking with my list from my original CATCC post. With these few additions:

Scripture reading (I do this every night, so why not count it?)
Green by Laura Peyton Roberts
The Wish Stealers by Tracy Trivas
Wherever Nina Lies by Lynn Weingarten (I started it weeks ago, I need to finish!)

Clear Away the Clutter Challenge

I've been meaning to post this for awhile now, but I've been busy with work. I've also been spending my free time trying to finish a project I'm working on rather than reading/blogging/writing reviews, but there you go. Plus, I've been waiting on new about a job... but more about that at another time.

This post is my sign up for the Clear Away the Clutter Challenge, hosted by Kate from The Neverending Shelf. Which is how my TBR stack feels right now (neverending I mean).

Anyway, you can check out all the details at the sign-up post, but the idea is that from March 1st to May 31st you read a stack of books you've designated to be "cleaned-out".

I am going for the Organizer level, which is to clean out and read at least 15 books. So here's my list for the challenge:

serafina67 *urgently requires life* by Susie Day
Pish Posh by Ellen Potter
They Never Came Back by Caroline B. Cooney
Emily the Strange: The Lost Days
The Great Race by Gary Blackwood
Three Good Deeds by Vivian Vande Velde
Click!: The Girl's Guide to Knowing What You Want and Making It Happen
The Debs by Susan McBride
Love, Lies and Texas Dips by Susan McBride
Dayan's Birthday
Both Side of Time by Caroline B. Cooney
Blackthorn Winter by Kathryn Reiss
The Humming of Numbers by Jodi Sensel
Letters From Rapunzel by Sara Lewis Holmes
Avalon Web of Magic: Cricles in the Stream
The Robe of Skulls by Vivian French

(Eh, too lazy to put up Amazon links right now. Will do it sometime later I think.)

So if you want to join me, head over to the challenge post to sign up. Now, I'm off to get reading!

Fall Into Reading 09: Update 1

One of the things someone mentioned they would like to see during my blogoversary was a weekly post on what I'm reading. So for now through December I'm going to try and update my Fall Into Reading list every Saturday. This not only will tell you all what I'm reading, but it will also help my update my FIR list more often. Which has always been a struggle for me in past reading challenges.

But I digress. Here's what my list currently looks like.

Currently Reading:
Eyes Like Stars: Theatre Illuminata, Act I by Lisa Mantchev Cleopatra's Daughter: A Novel by Michelle Moran
The Recipe for Gertrude: Volume 1 by Nari Kusakawa
The Robe of Skulls: The First Tale from the Five Kingdoms by Vivian French and Ross Collins Ghost Huntress Book 1: The Awakening by Marley Gibson


Still To Be Read:
The Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore
Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go by Dale E. Basye


Finished this week:
The True Adventures of Charley Darwin by Carolyn Meyer
Babymouse #11: Dragonslayer by Jennifer L. Holm and Matt Holm
A Practical Guide to Vampires by Lisa Trutkoff Trumbauer
The Banshee by Eve Bunting and Emily Arnold McCully
Halloween Night by Marjorie Dennis Murray and Brandon Dorman
Queen of Halloween by Mary Engelbreit
Cat Nights by Jane Manning
Ghost Files: The Haunting Truth by The Ghost Society
Magic Trixie by Jill Thompson


Added this week:
Oh My Goddess! Volume 32 by Kosuke Fujishima (finished)
Oh My Goddess! Volume 33 by Kosuke Fujishima (finished)
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters (currently reading)
Thumbelina: The POP Wonderland Series by Michiyo Hayano and POP (finished)


I'm adding one more category here and that's Cybils nominees. I haven't read any yet, so I don't have any to add here, but I will be reading a lot in the next few weeks. I still don't know which ones I'll be able to get ahold of, so rather than adding the whole list and subtracking as I read, I'm going to add them to these updates as I complete each one. You can also check out my progress with my sticky post at the top of the page. There's a ticker up there to show you how many of the 62 nominees in my category I've finished.

You can see how this week differs from my original list too.

Here's to a full week of reading!

Fall Into Reading 2009 September 22, 2009 - December 20 2009
Hosted by Callapidder Days
Sign Up Here

Fall Into Reading Challenge 2009

Fall Into Reading 2009 September 22, 2009 - December 20 2009
Hosted by Callapidder Days
Sign Up Here

So it's been awhile since I participated in either the Fall Reading Challenge or the Spring Reading Challenge hosted over at Callapidder Days every year. But in going through my archives over the past few weeks for my blogoversary posts (coming soon, by the way!) I realized how much I missed it. So I'm throwing my hat in the ring again this year.

For those of you who haven't heard of the Fall Into Reading Challenge, this is a really low-maintence challenge. Basically you just post a list of books you'd like to read from September 22 through December 20 and share your list with the other participants. So it's really easy to get started, and you can modify your list as you go along (I almost always do). Plus you're eligible for prizes, which I think is cool.

So this is my list for this year. I KNOW this will change, so I'm not putting many books on it yet. Especially if I make it onto a Cybils panel again this year (cross your fingers!). Thus far this list includes those books I want to finish reading, those I need to complete for my newspaper reviews this month and next month, and some Halloween books I want to get read and reviewed for October.

Fall Into Read Challenge 2009 List:
The True Adventures of Charley Darwin by Carolyn Meyer
Babymouse #11: Dragonslayer by Jennifer L. Holm and Matt Holm
A Practical Guide to Vampires by Lisa Trutkoff Trumbauer
The Banshee by Eve Bunting and Emily Arnold McCully
Halloween Night by Marjorie Dennis Murray and Brandon Dorman
Queen of Halloween by Mary Engelbreit
Cat Nights by Jane Manning
Ghost Files: The Haunting Truth by The Ghost Society
Eyes Like Stars: Theatre Illuminata, Act I by Lisa Mantchev
Cleopatra's Daughter: A Novel by Michelle Moran
Magic Trixie by Jill Thompson
The Recipe for Gertrude: Volume 1 by Nari Kusakawa
The Robe of Skulls: The First Tale from the Five Kingdoms by Vivian French and Ross Collins
Ghost Huntress Book 1: The Awakening by Marley Gibson
The Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore
Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go by Dale E. Basye

And for those of you who are more visually minded, here's a slideshow of my list so far: