2014 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge COMPLETED!!!

I love this challenge and I'm going to do it again, although I am running out of Q books to read.

Details

This challenge will run from January 1st, 2014 until December 31st, 2014.

You can join anytime. You do not have to review the book. Books can come from any genre.

You do not need to link up each spoonful.

Make a page or a post or a Goodreads shelf where you will keep track of your spoonfuls.

After you complete the challenge just come to the 2014 Alphabet Soup Page under the Challenges tab at the top of my blog and leave a comment with your completed list.

Crossovers to other challenges are allowed and encouraged!

It’s an alphabet challenge!!! The challenge is to read one book that has a title starting with every letter of the alphabet.

You can drop the A’s and The’s from the book titles.

A – How I plan to do it: Make a list on your blog from A-Z. Throughout the year, as you go along, add the books you are reading to the list. Towards the end of the year, you can check and see which letters you are missing and find books to fit.

For complete rules visit this link.

That's how I am doing it too--- Bold Means I'm DONE

A - After the Rain by Norma Fox Mazer

B - Battle of the Ampere by Richard Paul Evans

C - Calico Bush - Rachel Field

D - Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer

E - Entwined by Heather Dixon

F - Fyre by Angie Sage

G - Gifted Hands by Ben Carson

H - Home Before Dark by Christy Barritt

I - I'm With You by Taylor Dean

J - Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Maas

K - The King of Atolia by Megan Whalen

L - Looking for Me by Beth Hoffman

M - Masquerade by Janette Rallison

N - The Nursing Home Murders by Ngaio Marsh

O - Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes

P - Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter

Q - Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman

R - Running Barefoot by Amy Harmon

S - She Owns the Knight by Diane Darcy

T - This Voice in My Heart by Gilbert Tuhabonye

U - The Unfinished Clue by Georgette Heyer

V - The View From Saturday by E. L. Konigsberg

W - Wonder by R. J. Palacio

X -  The Prayer BoX by Lisa Wingate

Y - The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes

Z - Zenith by Julie Bertagna

What's in a Name 2014 - COMPLETED!!!

I love this challenge. I have participated for several years now. Below are the guidelines - 

The basics

The challenge runs from January to December. During this time you choose a book to read from each of the following categories (examples of books you could choose are in brackets):

• A reference to time (Eleven Minutes, Before Ever After)
• A position of royalty (The People’s Queen, The Last Empress, The Curse Of The Pharaoh)
• A number written in letters (The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, A Tale Of Two Cities)
• A forename or names (Rebecca, Eleanor & Park, The Unfinished Work Of Elizabeth D.)
• A type or element of weather (Gone With The Wind, Red Earth Pouring Rain)

Extra information

• Books can be any format (print, audio, ebook).
• It’s preferred that the books don’t overlap with other challenges, but not a requirement at all.
• Books cannot overlap categories (for instance my first example, Eleven Minutes, could be used for category 1 or 3 but not both).
• Creativity for matching the categories is not only allowed, it’s encouraged!
• You don’t have to make your list of books beforehand, you can choose them as you go.
• You don’t have to read your chosen books in any particular order.

To participate visit this site.

My list - I will bold them when I finish each one

• A reference to time - Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
• A position of royalty - The King of Attolia
• A number written in letters - The Big Four
• A forename or names - Hercule Poirot's Christmas
• A type or element of weather - After the Rain

Mid Summer Doldrums

I sit and stare at my TBR list. Then I look in my box of books from the library and others and I find myself underwhelmed.

Nothing is especially appealing. Everything that looked interesting was read and returned days ago. I want to ignore all those boring tomes, but the part of me that revels in completing a challenge refuses to give in and give up.

So instead I clean. 

And that is pitiful...I despise cleaning.

Ever have a reading period like this?

June Keyword Challenge - My Only Sunshine

For June the Keyword options were . sand, sun, beach, island, country, sea, fly, away, never, far.

I decided on a book that looked perfect for a relaxing summer read. Funny, quirky, interesting. The book I chose was My Only Sunshine by Lou Dischler published in 2010. 

From the publisher:

"In 1962 the Cubans have their Russian missiles pointed right at the sugarcane plantations of Red Church, Louisiana, but nine-year-old Charlie Boone and his gravel-eating younger brother, Jute, are fixed on velvet ants and the declining health of a horse named Lunch Time. Their father has been sent upriver after a botched convenience store holdup and a walloping with a can of Crisco. Their mother, too, has vanished. Memaw and Pawpaw insist she disappeared in a hurricane. Buckle up for a big dose of Cajun comedy as Charlie takes charge."

My thoughts:

I couldn't find a copy in the local library system, so I decided to order one. It came in the end of May and I didn't even open the package in order to prolong the anticipation. One June 5, I opened the package and began to read.

Sadly I was disappointed. While I laughed at some parts, I was greatly disappointed by this book. I don't recommend it at all.

Now I'm off to get a copy of next month's book for this challenge, West With the Night. I am hopeful it will not disappoint me.

For more June Keyword Reads visit Book Marks to Blog.

2013 Summer Reading Challenge

It is time for the second annual Shhh! Mommy is doing her Summer Reading Challenge.

 

The Challenge runs from June 1 to Sept 1.

 

If you choose to participate come up with five categories of your own to read and then use my five or another friend's five or make up five-ten categories. I don't care. Just take a little time to sit and read, maybe in the backyard. With a chilled drink. I'm thinking limeade myself.

1. Read the book you have been putting off forever
2. Read a book that was meant for children
3. Read a Genre that you don't normally read
4. Read a book with or at the same time as your child or other relative
5. Read a book from a series either a new series or one you already enjoy
6. Read a book about something associated with summer
7. Read a non-fiction book

 

My List
1. Putting Off - Eve and the Choice Made in Eden

 

2. Children - The One and Only Ivan

 

3. Horror: Dracula or Frankstein which ever is shorter

 

4.Tandem Read - with son: Julius Caesar or Beowulf: New Verse Translation

 

5. Series - One of the Lord Peter Wimsey books by Dorothy Sayer

6. Summer Sunshine - My Only Sunshine

7. Non-fiction - Handcart Pioneer book

LIMEADE LINK

 

2013 Vintage - Inspector Queen's Own Case

Inspector Queen's Own Case by Ellery Queen

A Calendar of Crime - 2013 Vintage Mystery Challenge

Inspector Queen has retired and is feeling at loose ends. He spends time on an East Coast island and discovers a murder mystery, maybe. Everyone except the victim's nurse believe it to be accidental death. So which is it. The inspector finds himself courting and falling in love with the only witness.

Not my very favorite, but a nice story.

Read January 24 & 25, 2013. 3 stars.

Vintage 2013 - A Man Lay Dead

A Man Lay Dead

Malicious Men - Vintage Mystery Challenge 2013

In his first appearance Inspector Roderick Alleyn sets out to solve a murder at an English country house. The death occurs during a weekend party game of Murder.

Inspector Alleyn arrives to find the body moved and the guests in an uproar. A side plot involving Russian conspiratists, a secret society, and deadly ancient weapons adds to the intrigue.

Marsh starts off her mystery writing career well with this 1934 novel.

I read this novel between March 12 & 14, 2013.