Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Reading Challenges... well, that didn't go so well

I had great hopes for reading more in 2014. I think I did read MORE... just not what I'd planned to read. Certainly, I read more children's chapter books since my daughter is graduating from being read picture books to being read chapter books. She can read many of them herself, but we still enjoy time with me reading to her nightly. My husband still reads to our 11yo son nightly as well, though their fare has gone more toward thought provoking works like The Orphan Train and Walden. Risa and I are more into the Animalmagic series by Holly Webb, Rainbow Fairies and the like.

I entered two reading challenges for 2014 and I pretty much failed miserably at both of them. The first was the What's in a Name Challenge. I had also done this one in 2012 (and finished it then). The 2014 categories were:

1. A reference to time
2. A position of royalty
3. A number written in letters
4. A forename or names
5. A type or element of weather

A bonus 6th category was added later: A book with a school subject in the title.

I started, but didn't finish, three books that would have fit. Wolfhound Century by Peter Higgins for #1, The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais for #3 and Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell for #4. I could make an argument for #2 with American Gods by Neil Gaiman (Gods are royalty, right?). I will say that I got the bonus category simply because I'm a homeschooling mom. I've read MANY books with a "school subject" in the title... actual school books!  LOL

We won't even talk about the Color Coded Reading Challenge.  I know I finished one that fit with black or white: The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.

Looking back at my Goodreads year in review, it's pretty sad. I am officially stating now that I WILL READ more books in 2015. And not just kids' books to Risa. Books for me. Books to escape into. Books to learn from. Books to laugh out loud with. And to that end, with the potential of a new year laid before me, I am signing up for a couple reading challenges for 2015.

I have always enjoyed the What's in a Name Challenge so it's a given. The categories this year are:

  1. A word including ‘ing’ in it 
  2. A colour 
  3. A familial relation 
  4. A body of water 
  5. A city 
  6. An animal 
What suggestions do you have for any of these categories?

My second challenge will be the 2015 TBR Pile Reading Challenge by Bookish.  

2015TBR

I get so excited about all the new books I hear about (and get from the library usually), that I forget about the books already sitting on my bookshelves that go dusty and unread. I'm going to be modest and just go for the Firm Handshake category of 1 - 10 books. This challenge also features Read-a-Longs which I have never done before that hopefully that will keep me somewhat on task. 

What reading challenges, if any, are you planning to join this year?