2014 Reading Challenges

2014 Reading Challenges

Where Are You Reading Challenge 2014, hosted by Sheila at Book Journey:

I sign up for this one every year and love keeping track of where my reading takes me! Last year, I read books that took place in 27 different states and 13 different countries. We'll see how I do this year!

Alabama:

Alaska
Arizona: In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang
Arkansas
California: Wild by Cheryl Strayed, Sisters by Raina Telgemeier
Colorado:  UnSouled by Neal Schusterman
Connecticut: The Doubt Factory by Paolo Bacigalupi
Delaware
Florida:  Trouble Maker by Janet Evanovich & Alex Evanovich
Georgia

Hawaii Moloka'i by Alan Brennert
Idaho: 

Illinois: Insurgent by Veronica Roth, Allegiant by Veronica Roth, The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas: In the End by Demitria Lunetta
Kentucky
Louisiana: Zane and the Hurricane by Rodman Philbrick, Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
Maine
Maryland: The Agony of Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Dangerously Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Massachusetts:  Thin Space by Jody Casella, The Unfinished Life of Elizabeth D. by Nichole Bernier, We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer, The Other Side of the Dark by Sarah Smith
Michigan: The First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom
Minnesota:
Mississippi

Missouri: Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada: P.K. Pinkerton and the Pistol-Packing Widows by Caroline Lawrence
New Hampshire: 
New Jersey:  Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
New Mexico
New York:  The Good Sister by Wendy Corsi Staub, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon, Loud Awake and Lost by Adele Griffin, The Here and Now by Ann Brashares, Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, City of Light, City of Dark by Avi and Brian Floca, Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang, On a Clear Day by Walter Dean Myers, Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio: Good Fortune by Noni Carter
Oklahoma: 

Oregon: Uncaged: The Singular Menace by John Sanford & Michelle Cook
Pennsylvania: Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis
Rhode Island: The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
South Carolina Gap Creek by Robert Morgan, Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson,
South Dakota
Tennessee: Velva Jean Learns to Fly by Jennifer Niven
Texas: Popular by Maya Van Wagenen, The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata
Utah
Vermont: Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer
Virginia: The House Girl by Tara Conklin, The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
Washington: Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
West Virginia
Wisconsin: The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson, Blankets by Craig Thompson
Wyoming

Out of US…..

France: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Czechoslovakia: The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

India: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy 

Canada: This One Summer by Jillian & Mariko Tamaki 

Iraq: Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots by Jessica Soffer 

Democratic Republic of Congo: Endangered by Eliot Schrefer 

England: Emma by Jane Austen, Us by David Nicholls, Hild by Nicola Griffith, Love From Paddington by Michael Bond

Malaysia: The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo 

Switzerland: Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Haunters by Thomas Taylor,

 

2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge, hosted by Evie at Bookish

I participated in this challenge last year - it is perfect for me, as I don't have a TBR pile - I have an entire TBR bookcase! Last year, I read 26 books from my TBR shelves, and I hope to top that this year, so I guess that puts me in the First Kiss (21 - 30) category:

1. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
2. Insurgent by Veronica Roth 
3. The Last Present by Wendy Mass 
4. Wild by Cheryl Strayed 
5. Emma by Jane Austen 
6. Good Fortune by Noni Carter 
7. The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata
8. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
9.  The Other Side of the Dark by Sarah Smith
10. City of Light, City of Dark by Avi and Brian Floca
11. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn  
12. Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
13. Haunters by Thomas Taylor

2014 Audio Book Challenge, hosted by The Book Nympho

Last year, I listened to 14 audio books, so I will sign up for Stenographer (10 - 15) level:

1. The Real Boy by Anne Ursu
2. The Good Sister by Wendy Corsi Staub
3. Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo
4. Insurgent by Veronica Roth 
5. Allegiant by Veronica Roth 
6. Loud Awake and Lost by Adele Griffin
7. The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett 
8. Popular by Maya Van Wagenen
9. The Here and Now by Ann Brashares 
10. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart 
11. P.K. Pinkerton and the Pistol-Packing Widows by Caroline Lawrence
12. Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick 
13. In the End by Demitria Lunetta 
14. The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson
15. The Things You Kiss Goodbye by Leslie Connor,
16. Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer 
17. Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang
18. Nightmares! by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller
19. On a Clear Day by Walter Dean Myers
20. The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer L. Holm
21. Uncaged: The Singular Menace by John Sanford & Michelle Cook 
22. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
23. The Doubt Factory by Paolo Bacigalupi 
24. Us by David Nicholls
25. The Jewel by Amy Ewing
26. Love From Paddington by Michael Bond

Nonfiction Reading Challenge 2014, hosted by The Introverted Reader

I was looking for a memoir challenge and came across this one, which includes memoirs as well as other nonfiction. I love memoirs and only read 4 memoirs last year plus 4 other nonfiction books, so I look forward to reading more this year! I am signing up for the Explorer level (6-10):

1.  168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam
2. Wild by Cheryl Strayed
3. Popular by Maya Van Wagenen
4. Time Management From the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern
5. Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown 
6. One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson
7. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
8. Sisters by Raina Telgemeier

The Classics Reading Challenge 2014, hosted by Thoughts At One in the Morning

This is just what I was looking for! Some classics challenges are too restrictive. I want incentive to read some of the books my kids are reading in school, some "modern" classics that I missed, and even re-read some classics that I read decades ago. This challenge includes all that:

1. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
2. Emma by Jane Austen 
3. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger 
4. Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Travel the World in Books Challenge, hosted by Mom's Small Victories

Starting September 2014 and running through December 2015, I challenge myself to read 10 books set in other places/cultures:

1.  The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
2. The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata (immigrants, Japanese culture, transient workers)
3.  Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (takes place in Switzerland, Germany, France, Russia, and the Arctic)
4. Haunters by Thomas Taylor (UK and Switzerland, WWII) 
5. Hild by Nicola Griffith (England 7th century)