Wednesday 22 July 2009

TBR Challenge 2009


TBR Challenge... what i've been waiting for. yet again its late entry (but 5 months seems a long time to wait for next year, and i'll have probably forgotten/be too busy with january exams and re-takes by then) so here goes.

What stands out for me about this challenge is that your list has to be set in stone, wheras most challenges allow you to alter it, i think this is a good thing, should help to shift the stubbon tbrs of the shelf :P

I'm hoping that its alright if you use books that you've already started (most were admittedly started this year) as i find they're the worst sorts of tbrs for me (and i can count over 69 from where im sitting, not even thinking about the three underbed boxes full...) the only one thats really pushing it is the two towers, which i started years ago, but i really need something like this to help push those last few pages (also i was struggling to find 12 that were desperate tbrs, most are just hanging around waiting for my attention to fall on them. The idea is to read 12, 1 for each month (or for me, starting late, 2.4 per month or as many as i can this holiday!)

well, heres my list: (and im sure i'll regret some of the choices later, especially once i've discovered forgotten books, or remembered why i didnt get into them in the first place...)
  1. Pride and Predudice - Jane Austen
  2. The Singing - Alison Croggon
  3. The Handmaid's Tale - Margarett Atwood
  4. Animal Farm - George Orwell
  5. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
  6. Preistess of the White - Trudi Canavan
  7. Bisringr - Christopher Paolini
  8. Fortress of Grey Ice - J.V.Jones
  9. The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett
  10. The Two Towers - J.R.R. Tolkein
  11. Chocolat - Joanne Harris
  12. Something Blue - Emily Griffin
well, there we go... set in stone. almost included l'étranger, but the blog advises that you use books that have been hanging around for over 6months, and my copy only arrived in the post today :P shall have to find some other challenge... hopefully my late joining won't be a problem :S

Bold = Completed

Raved about reads challenge

I've just found out about this on someone else's blog and have had a look at the hosting page but it appears to have been a challenge for 2008, i dont know whether it has been repeated for 2009 or not, but it says it is an ongoing one and theres no end-time, so i figured..may as well.

Raved about reads requires you to create a list containing at least 3 books that you have heard other people going on about, and then try and read them, hosted by MizB.

Okay, so heres my list, i'll probably add to it as i go along, but am going to put the names of people who have recomended them to me next to it. here goes...

  • Breaking Dawn - Stephene Meyer (Too many people have raved for me to count, unfortunately they keep on giving parts of the ending away, so ahve to read soon!)
  • The Host - Stephene Meyer (Abi, Emma etc)
  • Darren Shann (demon series) (Abi,Ema etc)
  • The Colour of Magic (1st discworld) - Terry Pratchett (Abi + others)
  • The Other Bolyn Girl - Phillipa Greggory (Abi)
  • Scarlett - Alexander Ripley (Abi again, sequel to gone with the wind, which i enjoyed, however, am unsure if its right to read the sequel when written by someone else, have also read bad reviews, shall see how things go)
  • War & Peace - Tolstoy (mum, apparently i'll 'love it'...)
  • North & South - Elizabeth Gaskell (mum + i love the bbc adaption)
  • Bisringr - Christopher Paolini (pippa (i've read most but the writing style is so up itself i keep stopping))
  • A clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgees (James - probably recomended knowing id never manage it)
  • One flew over the cuckoo's nest - ? (James)
  • Catch 22 - Joseph Heller (James)
  • Animal Farm - George Orwell (James)
  • 1984 - George Orwell (James)
  • The Island - Victoria Hislop (Freya)
  • And then there were none - Agatha Chrsitie (Freya)
  • Atonement - Ian McEwan (Lydia)
  • To Kill a mockingbird - Harper Lee (Just about everyone i talk to!)
16 to go... i hope to get at least 5 done this holiday
Links to reviews of ones i've read (am editing as i finish them)
Purple = Rread

Romance Reading Challenge 2009


Im at a bit of a loss over what to do for this challenge, the aim is to read at least 5 romance books during the year, but i've just checked through what i've read already, and every single one has romance in it (im a bit of a sucker for it, and tend to only read books if they contain some sort of romantic relationship) which would make starting the challenge now pretty pointless, however, i figure if, rather than doing it for any romance books, did it for the classic ones - the type that everyone knows about (Pride and Predudice etc) then it could work and get me to read more of them. I have already read Gone with the Wind and Persuasion, which i think i'll count, but that leaves another three...

Hosted by Naida.

Read so far:

A midsummer night's dream is pretty weak in the 'cassic romance' department, so depending on how much time i have left, if i read another i may change it to something more suitable.

100+ Challenge 2009



  1. Blue Moon Rising - Simon Greene
  2. Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levine
  3. Tithe - Holly Black
  4. Crown Duel
  5. The Princess Academy - Shanon Hale
  6. Club Dead - Charlaine Harris
  7. Touch the Dark - Karen Chance
  8. Claimed by Shadow - Karen Chance
  9. Embrace the Night - Karen Chance
  10. Midnight's Daughter - Karen Chance
  11. Remember Me - Sophie Kinsella
  12. Eclypse - Stephene Meyer
  13. Curse the Dawn - Karen Chance
  14. Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
  15. The Rangers Apprentice, the Ruins of Gorlan - (need to find out author)
  16. An offer from a Gentleman - Julia Quinn
  17. Storm Front - Jim Butcher
  18. Bella - Jilly Cooper
  19. Persuasion - Jane Austen
  20. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac - Gabrielle Zevin
  21. Kitty and the Midnight Hour - Carrie Vaughn
  22. Beauty - Robin McKinley
  23. Star-Crossed - Rachael Wing
  24. Emily - Jilly Cooper
  25. Minx - Julia Quinn
  26. Harriet - Jilly Cooper
  27. The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella
  28. Brighter than the Sun - Julia Quinn
  29. Splendid - Julia Quinn
  30. Dancing at Midnight - Julia Quinn
  31. To Catch an Heiress - Julia Quinn
  32. Teen Idol - Meg Cabot
  33. How to Marry a Marquis - Julia Quinn
  34. AQA Britain (1483-1529)
  35. The Lost Duke of Wyndham - Julia Quinn
  36. The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever - Julia Quinn
  37. Everything and the Sun - Julia Quinn
  38. Curse the Dawn - Karen Chance (re-read)
  39. A Midsummer Nights Dream - William Shakespeare
  40. Resenting the Hero - Moira J Moore
  41. Addition - Toni Jordan
  42. Mr.Cavendish, I Presume - Julia Quinn
  43. And then there were none - Agatha Christie
  44. Love you to Death - Meg Cabot
  45. High Stakes - meg Cabot
  46. Mean Spirits - Meg Cabot
  47. Young Blood - Meg Cabot
  48. Grave Doubts - Meg Cabot
  49. Fantastic Mr Fox - Roal Dahl
  50. Heaven Sent - Meg Cabot
  51. The Sweet Scent of Blood - Suzanne McLeod
  52. Fool Moon - Jim Butcher
  53. Magic Study - Maria V. Snyder
  54. Touch the Dark - Karen Chance (again)
  55. Claimed by Shadow - Karen Chance (again)
  56. Embrace the Night - Karen Chance (again)
  57. Graceling - Kristin Cashore
  58. The Secret Countess - Eva Ibbotson
  59. The Singing - Alison Croggon
  60. Warprize - Elizabeth Vaughan
  61. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
  62. Bella - Jilly Cooper (again)
  63. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Attwood
  64. Animal Farm - George Orwell
  65. When he was Wicked - Julia Quinn
  66. Bridget Jone's Diary - Helen Fielding
  67. Angus, thongs and full frontal snogging - Louise Rennison
  68. Its OK, I'm wearing REALLY BIG Knickers! - Louise Rennison
  69. Knocked out by my Nunga-Nungas - Louise Rennison
  70. Dancing in my Nuddy-Pants - Louise Rennison
  71. '...and thats when it fell off in my hand' - Louise Rennison
  72. '...then he ate my boy entrancers.' - Louise Rennison
  73. '...startled by his furry shorts!' - Louise Rennison
  74. 'Luuurve is a many trousered thing...' - Louise Rennison
  75. 'Stop in the name of pants! - Louise Rennison
  76. 'Are these my basoomas i see before me?' - Louise Rennison
  77. Cinderella - Never-Never Land Stories
  78. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Never-Never Land Stories
  79. Little Red Riding Hood - Never-Never Land Stories
  80. The Musicians of Breman - Fantasy Land Fairy Tales
  81. Polo - Jilly Cooper
  82. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
  83. The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever - Julia Quinn (again!)
  84. The Changeover - Margaret Mahy
  85. The Magic Finder - Roald Dahl
  86. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
  87. Minx - Julia Quinn (again)
  88. Beastly - Alex Flinn
  89. Everything and the Moon - Julia Quinn (again)
  90. Slam - Nick Hornby
  91. Brighter than the Sun - Julia Quinn (again)
  92. Magic Bites - Ilona Andrews
  93. Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris
  94. How to Marry a Marquis - Julia Quinn
  95. Love Struck - Rachael Wing
  96. Tales from Russia - James Mayhew
  97. Emily - Jilly Cooper (again)
  98. Midnight's Daughter - Karen Chance (again)
  99. Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr
  100. Old Magic - Marianne Curley
100+ Challenge: To read 100+ books in 2009. these are the ones i have done so far (list can also be found on the left, where it will probably be more up to date with links to reviews etc) at the moment i think im roughly on target, hopefully the holidays will give me a good chance to eat away at the numbers some more, as i've hardly managed to read anything during term time due to hectic college schedule. Hosted by J.Kaye