2015 Reading Challenges

My Reading Challenges for 2015:

The Where Are You Reading Challenge 2015 hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

Alabama: Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee, Looking for Alaska by John Green
Alaska
Arizona:

Arkansas:

California:  Smile by Raina Telgemeier, Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern, Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley, A Paper Son by Jason Bucholz
Colorado: 
Connecticut:

Delaware
Florida: Sunny Side Up by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm
Georgia: Wool by Hugh Howey, Ask the Dark by Henry Turner
Hawaii:

Idaho:

Illinois: Relish by Lucy Knisely, Bone Gap by Laura Ruby
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas: 

Kentucky
Louisiana:

Maine:

Maryland: Song Yet Sung by James McBride
Massachusetts: Is This Tomorrow by Caroline Leavitt, Nest by Esther Ehrlich, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper, The Dogs of Littlefield by Suzanne Berne
Michigan: The Danger Box by Blue Balliett, The Cemetery Boys by Heather (Zac) Brewer
Minnesota:  The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
Mississippi: Mosquitoland by David Arnold, Revolution by Deborah Wiles
Missouri: Crows and Cards by Joseph Helgerson
Montana
Nebraska:

Nevada:

New Hampshire: Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
New Jersey: 

New Mexico: Masterminds by Gordon Kormon
New York: The Law of Loving Others by Kate Axelrod, Finding the Worm by Mark Goldblatt, Rainey Royal by Dylan Landis, Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli, What Waits in the Woods by Kieran Scott
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio: UnDivided by Neal Schusterman
Oklahoma:

Oregon:

Pennsylvania: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, Doll Bones by Holly Black
Rhode Island
South Carolina: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
South Dakota
Tennessee:

Texas: The Martian by Andy Weir, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
Utah
Vermont: Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian
Virginia:  Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater, Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver, The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls
Washington: Black Hole by Charles Burns, I Was Here by Gayle Forman
Washington, D.C.: Personal History by Katharine Graham
West Virginia
Wisconsin:

Wyoming: One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus

Outside the U.S.:

UK: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, When Marnie Was Here by Joan G. Robinson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, If the Oceans Were Ink by Carla Power, Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave
The Congo: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Chechnya: A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
Spain: Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Afghanistan: And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
The Arctic Circle: Fram by Steve Himmer
Ireland: Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan
France: French Milk by  Lucy Knisley
Vietnam: Listen, Slowly by Thanhhà Lại
Canada: Anne of Green Gables by H.M. Montgomery
Iran: Persepolis by Marji Satrapi
Mars: The Martian by Andy Weir
South Africa & Japan: The Three by Sarah Lotz
Transylvania: Dracula by Bram Stoker
Germany Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan
South Africa & Botswana: Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
Australia: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion




2015 Mount TBR Challenge hosted by My Reader's Block.
 I am signing up for the Mount Blanc level - aiming for at least 24 TBR books this year.
  1. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
  2. Is This Tomorrow by Caroline Leavitt
  3. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson 
  4. Wool by Hugh Howey 
  5. The Danger Box by Blue Balliett  
  6. Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater 
  7. Revolution by Deborah Wiles 
  8. One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus
  9. UnDivided by Neal Schusterman 
  10. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
  11. Anne of Green Gables by H.M. Montgomery
  12. What Waits in the Woods by Kieran Scott 
  13. How To Wake Up by Toni Bernhard
  14. Doll Bones by Holly Black
  15. Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper
  16. The Martian by Andy Weir 
  17. The Three by Sarah Lotz
  18. Dracula by Bram Stoker  
  19. The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann
  20. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz 
  21. Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian
  22. Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan
  23. Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
  24. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion



I am signing up for Binge Listener level, 20-30 audiobooks.
  1.  When Marnie Was Here by Joan G. Robinson
  2. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson 
  3. Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern
  4.  I Was Here by Gayle Forman
  5. The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall
  6.  The Law of Loving Others by Kate Axelrod
  7. Finding the Worm by Mark Goldblatt
  8. Mosquitoland by David Arnold 
  9.  Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
  10. Masterminds by Gordon Kormon
  11. Rainey Royal by Dylan Landis 
  12. Ask the Dark by Henry Turner 
  13. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
  14. Nest by Esther Ehrlich
  15.  Listen, Slowly by Thanhhà Lại
  16. Crows and Cards by Joseph Helgerson
  17. Bone Gap by Laura Ruby
  18. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier 
  19. All Fall Down by Ally Carter
  20. Looking for Alaska by John Green
  21. Dracula by Bram Stoker
  22. The Cemetery Boys by Heather (Zac) Brewer 
  23. Challenger Deep by Neal Schusterman 
  24. Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan
  25. George by Alex Gino





2015 Nonfiction Reading Challenge hosted by The Introverted Reader.
I am signing up for the Explorer level, aiming for 6 - 10 nonfiction books.
  1. Smile by Raina Telgemeier 
  2. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
  3. Personal History by Katharine Graham 
  4. Relish by Lucy Knisely 
  5. French Milk by Lucy Knisley 
  6. How To Wake Up by Toni Bernhard
  7. If the Oceans Were Ink by Carla Power
  8. Persepolis by Marji Satrapi



Back to the Classics Challenge 2015 hosted by Books and Chocolate.
I will aim for 6 classic this year. This challenge has 12 categories to aim to read from:

1.  A 19th Century Classic Dracula by Bram Stoker
2.  A 20th Century Classic
3.  A Classic by a Woman AuthorRebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
4.  A Classic in Translation.
5.  A Very Long Classic Novel
6.  A Classic Novella - The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
7.  A Classic with a Person's Name in the Title
8.  A Humorous or Satirical Classic.  
9.  A Forgotten Classic
10.  A Nonfiction Classic. 
11.  A Classic Children's BookAnne of Green Gables by H.M. Montgomery
12.  A Classic Play.  



Travel the World in Books Challenge, hosted by Mom's Small Victories
Back in September 2014, I added this new challenge which runs through December 2015. My goal is to read 10 books set in other places/cultures
  1. The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo (Malaysia)
  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) 
  6. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (Belgian Congo) 
  7. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra (Chechnya)
  8. Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Spain)
  9. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (Afghanistan)
  10. Fram by Steve Himmer (the Arctic)
  11. Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan (Ireland)
  12. French Milk by Lucy Knisley (France) 
  13. Listen, Slowly by Thanhhà Lại (Vietnam) 
  14. Anne of Green Gables by H.M. Montgomery (Canada) 
  15. Persepolis by Marji Satrapi (Iran)
  16.  The Martian by Andy Weir (Mars)
  17. The Three by Sarah Lotz (South Africa, Japan)
  18.  Dracula by Bram Stoker (Transylvania)
  19. Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan (Germany)
  20. Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult (South Africa, Botswana)
  21. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (Australia)


Big Book Summer Challenge, hosted by Book By Book (me!)
I planned to read 6 Big Books this summer and met my goals:
  1. A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson
  2. Revolution by Deborah Wiles
  3. One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus
  4. UnDivided by Neal Schusterman
  5. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
  6. Anne of Green Gables by H.M. Montgomery




R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril X, hosted by The Estella Society
Peril the First level - read 4 books in September & October 2015 with spooky, creepy, suspenseful themes
  1. All Fall Down by Ally Carter
  2. Doll Bones by Holly Black
  3. Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper
  4. The Martian by Andy Weir 
  5. Dracula by Bram Stoker  
  6. The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann
  7. The Cemetery Boys by Heather (Zac) Brewer  
  8. The Three by Sarah Lotz

(links to reviews here)

10 comments:

  1. Woah, that's a lot of challenges. I love reading, and I discovered your blog yesterday. Loving it! I'm doing the 50 book challenge on Goodreads.com. Can you post more YA/ children books? I'm 12, and looking for great books to read.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Vedika -

      Thanks for stopping by my blog and taking the time to comment. I'm so glad you're enjoying it! I enjoy the Reading Challenges - I choose ones for the kinds of books I want to read anyway, so it's low-pressure - and fun to keep track! Good for you for signing up for the 50 Book Challenge on Goodreads! I'm on Goodreads, too.

      To find all my reviews for kids/teens, scroll down to the list of Labels on the right side of my blog - you can click on Middle-Grade or Teen to see all the reviews I've written for those age groups.

      But I've been writing kids/teen book reviews for almost 10 years, so there are many more than what you see here! I used to have a separate blog, Great Books for Kids and Teens, and just merged the two into this one last year. There are hundreds of reviews still on that blog, and again, you can look up certain age groups and/or genres using the list of Labels in the right column. Here's the link:

      http://greatbooksforkidsandteens.blogspot.com/

      Have fun!!

      Sue

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    2. Dear Sue,
      Thank you so much. I'll surely check out your other blog. Just wondering, when you say "freelance writer", does that mean you're an author?
      Vedika

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    3. A freelance writer is someone who is self-employed and writes for a variety of publications. So, I write for magazines, websites, anthologies (books with collections of essays), and more. I wrote reviews & other things for Family Fun magazine for almost 10 years. And yes, I am the author of a book, but it was a business management book years ago - nothing you would have heard of! lol

      Sue

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    4. That's really cool! Thank you for the explanation.
      Vedika

      Delete
  2. I started the "Where are you reading challenge, but I'm just doing it for myself. I've made a list of the settings of all the books I've read in 2015.

    Vedika

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good for you! I hope you enjoy it :) I think it's fun to see where your reading takes you. Enjoy!

      Delete
  3. Vedika Giridhar1:09 AM

    Dear Sue,
    Do you enjoy poetry? If you do maybe you'd like a blog called "Poems and Poets". Here's the link:
    poemfanatic.blogspot.in
    I enjoy poetry myself, and thought you might like the blog

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Vedika!

      I'm not much into poetry but really want to try more of it, so thanks - I will check that out!

      Delete
  4. Vedika Giridhar4:56 AM

    Thank you. I'm sure"Poetic Fanatic" will appreciate it

    ReplyDelete