Reading Challenges Update: Jan – March

Winter has come and gone…well, hopefully it is gone…and it is time to do a quarterly update of the three year-long reading challenge I am participating in this year!

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My goal for NovelKnight’s Beat the Backlist challenge is to read at least 24 books off of my massive TBR list! I am not quite as far as I would like to be in this challenge, but I’m hoping to play catch-up in April and May.

This is what I have read for this challenge from Jan – March:

Favorite: The Underground Railroad

Least Favorite: Year of No Sugar

Total Read: 6/24 books  – 25% Complete. ON SCHEDULE!

 

Diversity Bingo 2017

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This is definitely my favorite challenge of the year! Here is what I read from Jan – March:

Favorite: The Hate U Give

Least Favorite: Of Fire and Stars

Total Read: 9/36 books – 25% Complete. ON SCHEDULE!

 

Popsugar Reading Challenge 2017

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Popsugar always has a fun 52-week reading challenge that I like to do. Last year I failed miserably at completing the challenge, and I am hoping to do better in 2017! Here is my progress so far:

  • A book that has been on your TBR list for way too long: Dawn by Elie Wiesel. 

  • A book that is a story within a story: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. 

  • An espionage thriller: The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie

  • A bestseller from a genre you don’t normally read: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.

  • A book with a subtitle: Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family or Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance.

  • A book that’s published in 2017: A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab.

  • A book about food: A Year of No Sugar by Eve O. Schaub.

  • A book with a red spine: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.
  • A book with a title that’s a character’s name: Ms. Marvel, Volumes 2 – 5.

  • A book with an unreliable narrator: The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda.

  • A book with pictures: Why I March: Images from the Women’s March Around the World by Abrams Image, New York

  • A book about a difficult topic: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. 

Favorite: A Conjuring of Light

Least Favorite: A Year of No Sugar

Total Read: 12/52 – 23% Complete. BEHIND SCHEDULE (but not by much!)

 

 

2017 TBR Challenges – Beat the Backlist!

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I will be participating in NovelKnight’s Beat the Backlist Hogwarts House Challenge for 2017! In addition, each year I always participate in the TBR Group Challenge at Library Thing.

My minimum goal for 2017 is the first 24 books on this list. Quite a few of them are definitely large, chunky books…I’m looking at you George R.R. Martin and Ron Chernow!

I happen to have a few themes for 2017. The two biggest themes are Agatha Christie and Series reads. In 2017, I plan on starting my goal of reading all of Agatha Christie’s books in order of publication; I only listed the first 8 on this post, but consider all of them on my backlist (except for the 5-6 I have already read)!

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My second theme of 2017 is to tackle a few series that I have been meaning to read for a while: Game of Thrones, Divergent, and Throne of Glass, to name a few.

I also have quite a few books on the list that further my goal of reading more diversely in 2017: George, Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, The Sympathizer, Timekeeper are just a few that fulfill that category.

And finally, quite a few books make an appearance by authors I have read in the past and loved, and want to read more of their work.  Jacqueline Winspear, Agatha Christie, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Neil Gaiman and Gregory Maguire all fit into that category.

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As for the Hogwarts House Mini Challenge, I am a proud Ravenclaw!

The Top 24 TBR/Beat the Backlist Books:

  1. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie – Review Coming Soon!
  2. The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
  3. The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
  4. The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie
  5. The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie
  6. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
  7. The Big Four by Agatha Christie
  8. The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie
  9. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
  10. A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
  11. A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
  12. A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
  13. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin Review here.
  14. Divergent by Veronica Roth
  15. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
  16. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
  17. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
  18. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
  19. Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow
  20. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
  21. John Adams by David McCullough
  22. George by Alex Gino Review here.
  23. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead Review here.
  24. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Extra Credit:

  • Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
  • Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
  • Landline by Rainbow Rowell
  • Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
  • Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
  • Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
  • Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
  • Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
  • Swallow by Sefi Atta
  • Year of No Sugar by Eve O. Schaub Review here.
  • The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  • Native Son by Richard Wright
  • Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
  • Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
  • A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
  • The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown
  • Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
  • Rising Strong by Brene Brown
  • Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
  • American Gods by Neil Gaiman
  • The Graveyard book by Neil Gaiman
  • The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
  • The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
  • Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
  • The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
  • Vicious by VE Schwab
  • Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire
  • A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire
  • Holding Up The Universe by Jennifer Niven
  • Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft by Raymond Buckland
  • Paganism: An Introduction to Earth-Centered Religions by River and Joyce Higginbotham
  • The White Goddess by Robert Graves
  • The War of the End of the World by Mario Vargas Llosa
  • An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear
  • Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear
  • The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear
  • Timekeeper by Tara Sim
  • The Round House by Louise Erdrich

Are you going to try the BTB challenge? What’s on your list?