Tag: Challenge

Happy New Year! 1st Book Of The Year!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)113 Comments

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Happy New Year everyone!  2014!!!  AWESOME!!!

This is the first book of the year post and I have to say how excited I was to see that over 80 other book lovers signed on to either write a post about their first book of the year, send a picture of the first book they will be reading, or both!  As pictures came in from all over the world I loved seeing the first book choices!  The enthusiasm of readers in contagious!

The following are the pictures sent in from bloggers and book lovers you may very well know.  Later when I get home from that first run of the year (WOO WOO!) I will add the blog names below, unfortunately I just ran out of time this morning after hanging out with friends last night and getting home after midnight.  😉

In the meantime, check their posts out by seeing who linked up their First Book Of The Year post – and if it was you who wrote one, please add yours to the linky below the pics where it says click here.  When I get home I will be happy to check out your posts!

*Please note, if I missed your picture let me know – the collages auto fill and I hope everyone was captured.  I know I had one picture sent to me I could not open so if a few more trickle in today I will add then later. 😀

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Thanks everyone for participating and LOVE the book choices.  You can now (if you can find me in the collage 😉 ) see that I am starting the year with V C Andrews, Flowers In The Attic.  I read this as probably a “tween”.  It was a great read then, and now it has been re-released with a sweet new cover.  Right now, I am leaving to do my first 5K of the year, The Polar Dash in St Paul Minnesota.  Late this afternoon though, I will be curled up with this book. 🙂

Happy New Year everyone!!!!!  Share what your first book of the year is going to be either by creating a post and linking it here or by telling me in the comments 🙂

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Morning Meanderings.. Books coming into the New Year

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)15 Comments

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Good morning!  I am drinking COFFEE!  Yes, COFFEE.  Why the big deal?  I After being sick I didn’t touch coffee for 5 days.  Finally (Finally!) my tummy is ready to handle it again… so yeah!  YAY!

This is the post I wanted to put up Sunday morning and then didn’t so instead… here are some items that came in the mail this past week that are book room worthy:

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10 copies of Labor Day by Joyce Maynard came for my book club!  We won a contest along with other book clubs to read the book, and then they are sending us movie tickets to see the movie and a $100 gift card to buy some goodies for our get together.  How super fun is that?  Way cool Harper Collins!!!

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I won this fun pack of swag and this awesome looking read! 

1e…and a couple other fun reads and Evertrue is a win from Me, My Shelf, and I

1eeeOh yes, and books came my way as well.  Ahhhh…. just looking at them brings up visions of blankets and reading in this cool Minnesota weather.

And as this in New Years Eve (I know right???  How did that happen?) I have to share the Challenge I am joining that I thought would be fun (its one I need to do anyway as some EPIC last in the series reads are coming out this year!  Now I am not so organized that I can name the ones for sure other than the last book in the Mortal Instrument Series *sigh*and…well you get the point.

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And it is the last to sign up and get in on the fun that the First Book Of The Year is going to bring.  I am soooo excited about this!  We now have over 80 book lovers signed up to participate in showing off the book they will be reading to kick off the New Year!  It’s easy, there are no trap doors or hoops to jump through, I just think it is super cool to see up reading all over the world!  I will announce my first book of the year in the morning. 🙂

You may still sign up here:

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and then a final plug for The WHERE Are You Reading Challenge... always a good time… and seriously, who doesn’t like to travel?  And if not in a plane, then from the comfort of your chair?

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That is all. 🙂  I work today, and not sure what we are doing tonight yet but I think laying low may be the plan.  I leave early in the morning for the first run of the year in the cities.  🙂 

Morning Meanderings… Sustaining

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)19 Comments

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Good morning!  Happy Friday.  I am thrilled to be at the end of another week with no major “to do’s” over the next few days. 

Earlier this week I was looking at my blog dashboard at the posts that have received the most comments.  I randomly chose a book discussion from 2010 and clicked on the links to those who had left comments.  I was pleased to see that many of them were still active bloggers.  Sure there were several that were no longer blogging, and if you are a long term blogger you probably know at least one or two that you used to read that no longer are active.

I think what I enjoyed most about this little “travel back in blog time” was how many blogs I was able to revisit years later and find them still talking books.  It made me realize that we are still a strong force of book lovers.  I love knowing that.  It re energizes me to see us out there doing what we love… talking books. 😀

I may get a little shopping done this weekend for Christmas, I need to spend a little time in the book room too doing a little reorganizing.  Maybe those pics will be my Saturday post.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday and you are all taking this holiday time with stride and joy! 

Below are a few challenges I am hosting going into the New Year.  Click the picture to check them out. 😀

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First Book Of The Year 2014

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)130 Comments

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Every year I get excited about what will be that first book that I will be chatting about going into the new year.  I make a big deal out of picking the book.  It is usually a book I have wanted to read for awhile and for whatever reason, I just have not been able to make the time to read it.

This year I would love for you to join me in this tradition of picking the book that you will be reading into the new year.  It can be a coveted book that you have been waiting to read, a guilty pleasure book, a re-read of a favorite that you want to explore once again… whatever you want.

Our posts of what we are reading will go live on January 1st.  You do not need to be done with the book on January 1st, just reading it on January 1st and yes, you can start on the 31st and be reading into the New Year.  I would like to link up all your posts here on the 1st as well so others can visit you and cheer you on!  If you are interested, please feel out the short form below.

The Challenges… IF You Choose To Accept Them.

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)12 Comments

It’s that time of year again when I like to start to think about the challenges (reading or otherwise) for the new year.  There’s something about knowing that there is a group of like minded people out there in the world all working towards the same challenge goals.  As I start to see challenges popping up on the blogs it gets my spidey senses tingling and wondering what challenges I will offer here this coming year.

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For the 4th year in a row I bring back the Where Are You Reading Challenge?  I love this one!  Back when I started this challenge in 2011,it seemed a natural challenge to have and seems to go along nicely with my meme, What Are You Reading?

What is the point of the challenge?  To try to read a book that is mainly set in each of the 50 states and bonus books for outside the US.

For  more details and ideas on how to keep track of your books, check the challenge page link here.  To sign up for the challenge, use the link on the challenge page and add your link to your post (if you blog) or just add a comment below if you are not a blogger but wish to join in the challenge.

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This Challenge is new, and one I have been thinking about for a few weeks now.  For myself I have a lot of things I still want to do in my life.  I have to believe I am not alone on this. 😀  Remember the things you had one hoped to do?  Or…. the things that you keep saying “one day, I would like to try that”, or “one day I am going to do that!” 

I think it is easy for us all to get caught up in our every day life and commitments and those “one day” items never come to pass.  The last few years for myself, I have been challenging myself to reach new goals and try new things.  Where once I often said, No, I can’t do that, I have really changed my tune and my response to a, “what if I can?”

Life is too short to not try the things we once hoped to so this challenge is for us to take 2014 as the year that we do take things off that bucket list.  For more information on this challenge as well as some ideas to get the juices flowing for your list, check out the sign up link here.  I think this is going to be a lot of fun, no pressure… just doing things we had always said we would like to. 

Check out the information on this challenge here. 😀

February Recap

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)22 Comments

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February to me felt a little quick and not as awesome as my January was.  It seemed between the back to back retreats in the beginning of the month, my new re-dedication to the gym, taking care of college son and his broken foot for a long weekend and handling all household things while Al (hubby) was gone for three weeks… took a toll on my reading.

Still… thankfully to the awesomeness of audio books, I can report something fairly decent:

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Eat and Run by Scott Jurek

Peaches for Father Francis by Joanne Harris

Love Is The Cure by Elton John

Killing Kennedy by Bill O’Reilly

 

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The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Conner McNees

A Grown Up Kind Of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson

The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Devastation On The Delaware by Mary Shafer

 

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The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle by Davis Wroblewski

On Mystic Lake by Kristin Hannah

 

That’s my month of reading.  I think March will be better, it already feels like it is. 😀  Maybe it is the sunlight and melting snow that is making me optimistic. 😀

Here is the link to my Where I Have Been Reading Progress page and here is the link to my reading map… both fun ways to track books.  😀

 

SO how are you doing so far this year?  Are you ahead of last year?  Behind?  Do you feel your reading style has changed over the past year? 

2013 WHERE Are You Reading Challenge Sign Up!!!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)72 Comments

3rd year running and OH I love this challenge!  As the host of the weekly What Are you reading meme, I find it awesome that I get to host the WHERE Are You Reading Challenge each year.  What is the point of this challenge?  It is to try to read in each of the 50 States between January 1 2013 – December 31, 2013. 

How do you decide what state a book is categorized under?

1.  In a fiction read it would be the State or Country that the book spends the most time in.  (Ie. If your main character is from Wisconsin but the book is all about his/her time in college in California – the books should categorize under California….)

2.  Non fiction reads categorize  in whatever State or Country it is about (Ie…. a book about fly fishing in Colorado is a Colorado point, and a book about women in Afghanistan is an Afghanistan point.

3.  If the book goes from one state to another… go with the state that most of the time is spent.

How to get started

Set up a map under Google Maps.  It is easy to do!  Every time you read a book in 2012, upload a cover picture to Picasa Web Albums (there may be other sites to use, feel free to use what works best for you).

Grab the challenge button here for your posts and sidebar:

Questions?

Do you have to have a blog to participate? No.  You can do everything on the map above without linking the book to a review.

Do I have to have my post up by January 1st, 2012? No, but I would think you would want to get started right away at the beginning of the year.  However, you will be able to sign up throughout January as well.

How will people see my map? There are a couple of possibilities.  On your original challenge post you should have a link to your map.  You could also put it on your side bar to draw interest to it (see mine on my left side bar)  I will be linking my map to every review I will also set up a monthly link here to post updates if you wish.

I dont get it – I cant figure out how to use Google maps but I really want to participate! No worries!   You are welcome to create a challenge post that lists the 50 states (as well as bonus out of USA spots) and then fill them in as you read in the areas.

Do audio books count?  ABSOLUTELY!

Once you are ready and have your map set up please create a blog post (those who have blogs) using the Challenge picture of the map I provided above as well as link to this post so others may join in.  Then come back and link that post here to Mr Linky (below) so I as well as other participants know that you are participating and we can pop in throughout the year to check out your map and how we are all doing.  I will post a linky at the end of each month so participants can check in with their own post of how they are doing.  I will offer a $10 amazon gift card to one lucky participant who does a check in post at the end of each month and links it.

This is actually a fun and easy challenge as all books you read qualify and it will be fun to see where you generally read books from as well as searching out books to fill in areas that you need.

For those who have covered the 50 states by the end of 2013, they will go into a drawing for a $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble or to Amazon.  **  All other areas beyond the 50 states are bonus points and we will have a drawing using random.org for those who read 10 or more books throughout 2013 in that category.

You can see my map I worked on in 2011 here to see what the map looks like and how the pictures link to the reviews.  (If you zoom in you will see the individual areas I read in and clicking on the blue pins will show you what book it was and clicking on the picture will take you to the post!

That’s it!  Here is a link to tips on how to do it.  Any other questions – please leave them in the comments section below. 

I can’t wait to see WHERE You Are Reading!

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March Recap

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)12 Comments

Another month, another recap.  In January I felt like I rocked that month would a great start to the year.  In February, I mellowed a bit but believed it was going to bounce back.  Now here I am with a toe into April already and looking back at March as I type this with a mild curiosity.

How did I do?

For March I added 10 new books/audio to the map…  however only three new states.  😯  Seem to have repeats in New York, Illinois, and Maine.  GAH!  For the first three months of the year I have in 18 of the 50 states.  6 books being outside the US.

 

 

Of those ten I wrote review for…. 7 were audio.  I know.  I can’t believe it myself… I need to sit down and READ.  I am now at 21 audio books for the year.

I made no progress on the e-books challenge.  I still have a partial one to read before I can count it.  😦

 

 

Thanks to Pandemonium, I was able to add one Dystopia read to the mix giving me three for the year, balancing me well for the 11 I hope to read in 2012.

No progress made on the 2012 Recommended Reading Challenge.  😦

 

For the year I am at 5,419 pages.  Audio equals:  7 days and 62 minutes.  I know… I know… but it is not idle listening… I clean, I cook, I work out… 😀 

I am hopeful that April will pick up steam.  I am finishing my third book for this month today, and I have finished 3 audio as well so far this month.

How is April coming together for you?  Is this a good reading month?