MobileRead Book Challenges discussion

My goal for 2017 is to get back to basics - reading for fun.

While I attempt to continue my previous challenges, I will only make general info posts in this thread.

Here is an example:

2017 Read #00
Carpe Demon
Author: Julie Kenner
Book Club: N/A*
ITAO Category: Paranormal
Review: 4 Stars
Series: Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom
Book#: 01

* Book Clubs include:
Flights of Fantasy = FoF
After Earth = AE
The Folly Irregulars = FI
MobileRead = MR

The I'll Try Anything Once Challenge:
Read at least one book from each category throughout the year.
A category only counts once and will be stricken through when completed.

Categories:
[7 of 60 Read]

Action/Adventure
AutoBiography/Biography
Award Winner
Bahamian (Author or Setting)
Banned or Challenged
Chick-Lit (Women's Literature)
Childhood Favorite
Classic
Crime Fiction ~ Midnight Riot
Cyberpunk
Drama
Dystopian
Educational ~ Teachers, Schools, and Society: A Brief Introduction to Education
Erotica
Espionage
Family or Friend Recommendation
Fantasy ~ Whispers Under Ground
Female Author
Free for All (Freebie, Open Slot)
GoodReads Author
GoodReads Recommendation
Gothic
Graphic Novels
Hard-Boiled
Historical Fiction
Horror
Humour
Juvenile/Middle Grade Fiction
LGBTQ
Literary Fiction
Magical Realism
MobileRead Author
Mystery
Mythology
New (to you) Author
Noir
Non-Fiction
Paranormal ~ Moon Over Soho
Philosophical (Fiction or Non-Fiction)
Poetry
Post-Apocalyptic
Pulp Fiction
Religious/ Christian Fiction
Romance ~ Flirts!
Science Fiction
Short Story Collection or Anthology
Speculative Fiction ~ Murder of Crows
Steampunk
Supernatural ~ Written in Red
Survival
Thriller
Translated Work (Formerly Foreign)
True Crime
Urban Fantasy ~ Vision in Silver
Victorian
War
Western
Wishlist Read
Young Adult
Zombies

The Alphabet Challenge Experiment
Book Titles starting with a different letter of the alphabet.
*The Articles: "A", "An" and "The" will not count.

A
Beach Flirts! 5 Romantic Short Stories
C
D
E
Flirts!
G
H
I
J
K
L
Midnight Riot, Moon Over Soho, Murder of Crows, Marked in Flesh
N
O
P
Q
R
S
Teachers, Schools, and Society: A Brief Introduction to Education
U
Vision in Silver
Written in Red, Whispers Under Ground
X
Y
Z

The following challenges were created through the group Flights of Fantasy:

Series Challenge - Scoring/Progress

Group Read Tracking List (For Flights of Fantasy & After Earth)

Textbooks & Required Readings


Spring Semester:
The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People

Teachers, Schools, and Society: A Brief Introduction to Education



Fall Semester:

A Graphical Approach to Algebra and Trigonometry with MyMathLab & eText Access Code

EdPsych: Modules

On MobileRead:


The 2017 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread

The 2017 Annual Reading Challenge List Thread

You're already planning next year? I'm impressed :D

Also: FIRST!

*Smile* and Thanks.


2016 has been such a disappointing shock to the system, that I'm looking forward to my limited reading time in 2017.
Now that I know how work intensive my year will be, I can set my expectations and goals accordingly.
The key will be allowing myself the time to enjoy reading again.

Its a great goal to get back to reading for fun! And hopefully it will be easier for you to do so now that you know a little more about how much time work takes :)
Good luck!

Thank you, DP! I hope your 2017 is a fantastic one as well. :)

Thank you :D
I might copy your Categories challenge... ;)

DoodlePanda wrote: "Thank you :D
I might copy your Categories challenge... ;)"

It was originally Mrs. J's idea. Enjoy! :)

Nyssa, I have forgotten how to start my 2017 challenge thread. How do I do it?

GA wrote: "Nyssa, I have forgotten how to start my 2017 challenge thread. How do I do it?"

Hi GA.

In the 2017 folder (where you are now), just click on "new topic" in the upper right corner.

Wow!

I'm no where near ready for 2017.

MrsJoseph wrote: "Wow!

I'm nowhere near ready for 2017."

I can't wait for it to get here. I'm kind of ready for 2016 to end, to be honest.

Just caught up with this - that's a big set of challenges to take on. I enjoyed where the 2016 SFE challenge took me, and might pinch your/MrsJoseph's list. 60 categories is probably too many for me though, as that would be most of my reading for the year, and I want to leave some space for things I "want" to read :).

Orlok wrote: " I enjoyed where the 2016 SFE challenge took me, and might pinch your/MrsJoseph's list."

You know, I think I just figured out why I resist those types of challenges so much - reading is my refuge and going too far out of my comfort zone removes much of the benefit for me. Not sure why it took so long for me to reach that conclusion, but there it is. That's not to say I don't expand out - I mean, who thought I'd end up going crazy over old-school detective stories? But I have to get there on my own or I don't want to go. LOL

Orlok wrote: "60 categories is probably too many for me, though, as that would be most of my reading for the year, and I want to leave some space for things I "want" to read :). "

Oh, I have no expectation of reading all 60 categories in 2017, especially since:
1. I'm in school, working full time, and raising a family.
2. I'm spending the first couple of months, in the new year, reading the Rivers of London series.

The ITAOC is an ongoing process for me, and this is more to see how far I can actually get.

Nyssa wrote: "Orlok wrote: "60 categories is probably too many for me, though, as that would be most of my reading for the year, and I want to leave some space for things I "want" to read :). "

Oh, I have no ex..."

Makes sense - I guess I'm a bit of a completist (is there such a word?) so like to push for the goal, or give up all together. Hadn't thought of myself that way before, but what you said has made me think.

Christa wrote: "Orlok wrote: " I enjoyed where the 2016 SFE challenge took me, and might pinch your/MrsJoseph's list."

You know, I think I just figured out why I resist those types of challenges so much - reading..."

I felt that way too (and I had to think long and hard about doing another category challenge), but found this year's SFE challenge "forced" me to read stuff I otherwise would never have, and it has been a richer experience for me because of that.

Orlok wrote: "Makes sense - I guess I'm a bit of a completist (is there such a word?) so like to push for the goal, or give up altogether. Hadn't thought of myself that way before, but what you said has made me think. "

I've been trying to train myself out of this mindset when it comes to reading, with varied results. It's taken me a while, but I'm still learning to accept my limitations, instead of having a meltdown and giving up altogether.

I'm also trying to redirect my "completist" tendencies to more practical purposes like laundry and dishes. :)

First Read of 2017 - Complete! Yay! :)
My reading year is off to a good start!

2017 Read #01
Rivers of London aka Midnight Riot
Author: Ben Aaronovitch
Book Club: FI & MR
ITAO Category: Crime Fiction
Review: 4 Stars
Series: Peter Grant / Rivers of London
Book#: 01


The Home Crowd Advantage (Short Story)
Author: Ben Aaronovitch
Book Club: FI & MR
ITAO Category: N/A
Review: 3 Stars (Not really a review)
Series: Peter Grant / Rivers of London
Book#: 1.5

Yay! Congrats on your first 2017 read! :)

Congrats! :D

Christa wrote: "Yay! Congrats on your first 2017 read! :)"

DoodlePanda wrote: "Congrats! :D"

Thank you, both! :)

Nice! It's going to be a while before I can post my first read, and it's killing me... :)

Congrats!

Orlok wrote: "Nice! It's going to be a while before I can post my first read, and it's killing me... :)"
Thank you! :)
Oh! Yeah, all of the Game of Thrones books are huge arb;t they? Is the short story collection as long of a listen as GoT is a read?

MrsJoseph wrote: "Congrats!"

Thank you, Mrs. J, :)

Nyssa wrote: "Thank you! :)
Oh! Yeah, all of the Game of Thrones books are huge arb;t they? Is the short story collection as long of a listen as GoT is a read? "

Well spotted that I'm listening to a collection of stories (selected by Stephen King). It is actually short (only 6 stories), but I am hardly travelling at all at the moment, which is when I catch up with audio books, so that might take a while to complete as well. I do have a potential trip on Wednesday, so I could get my first "read" posted on Thursday :)

2017 Read #02


Moon Over Soho
Author: Ben Aaronovitch
Book Club: FI
ITAO Category: Paranormal
Review: 3 Stars
Series: Peter Grant / Rivers of London
Book#: 02

Yay!

Orlok wrote: "Yay!"

Thank you! :)

2017 Read #03


Teachers, Schools, and Society: A Brief Introduction to Education
Author: David Miller Sadker
Book Club: N/A
ITAO Category: Educational
Review: 5 Stars

I normally wouldn't have added a textbook towards my annual challenges, but I read this from cover to cover through my course, so it counts.

It definitely counts :D

Nice. You must love your coursework for five stars for a textbook.

The book is really well written.
I just wish our class had access to the video component, especially since I'm taking the class as an online course.

A book's a book. Definitely should count!

Orlok wrote: "A book's a book. Definitely should count!"

Agreed!!

Orlok wrote: "A book's a book. Definitely should count!"

I don't include all books I read but textbooks would definitely count.

(view spoiler)[For example, I haven't included the 10+ times I have read each of these so far this year:

I include pretty much everything else though. ;)

SNORT!
(hide spoiler)]

Orlok wrote: "A book's a book. Definitely should count!"

MrsJoseph wrote: "Orlok wrote: "A book's a book. Definitely should count!"

Agreed!!"

Thanks!

Dazrin wrote: "Orlok wrote: "A book's a book. Definitely should count!"

I don't include all books I read but textbooks would definitely count.

For example, I haven't included the 10+ times I have read each of t..."

LOL!

Dazrin wrote: "Orlok wrote: "A book's a book. Definitely should count!"

I don't include all books I read but textbooks would definitely count.

For example, I haven't included the 10+ times I have read each of t..."

Lol. I never counted those either. Now that we read 200+ page books that take a couple or more weeks to finish they count.

We are reading The Hobbit to my older kids right now, I'm so glad they are enjoying it. I would count it if it was just me but we are tag teaming the read so I won't. I read it less than a year ago anyway.

Our youngest is still in the "that looks tasty" phase but she enjoys seeing the colors and sound effects we use on the two I posted earlier.

We tried The Hobbit, but it was not too successful. Dahl was a bit faster paced and had some scribbky drawings for extra interest. My youngest is seven months. So tasty for sure. Just started him on some high contrast picture books that he giggles at.

I am pretty sure i have read Are you My Mother at least fifty times.

I used to read Tickle, Tickle to my little brother so much that I STILL remember most of the words.

He's 30.

O_O

Totally. There are many, many, many kids books I can recite from memory right now.

That Sam I am, That Sam I am. I do not like that Sam I am...

I can read in red. I can read in blue.I can read in pickle colour too....

In the great green room, there was a telephone. And a red balloon. And a picture of the cow jumping over the moon...

In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf...

Once there was a boy. And the boy loved stars very much...

So many books in my brain that are stuck there.

LOL

Almost like brainwashing :P

HomeInMyShoes wrote: "Totally. There are many, many, many kids books I can recite from memory right now.

That Sam I am, That Sam I am. I do not like that Sam I am...

I can read in red. I can read in blue.I can read in..."

I can still recite Green Eggs and Ham and I haven't read it in at least 30 years.

2017 Read #04


Written in Red
Author: Anne Bishop
Book Club: N/A
ITAO Category: Supernatural
Review: 5 Stars
Series: The Others
Book#: 01