Friday, July 31, 2015

#SCSBC15 August 1 Check-in (I'M FINISHED!) and Reflection


The third official check-in (my second since I joined the challenge late) for the Semi-Charmed Summer Book Challenge is tomorrow and I am happy to announce that after 3 months, 12 books, and 4,719 pages, I am FINISHED!


Wooo-hooo!!!

Below is my final compilation of books I read for this challenge.  (If the book title appears in red, click on it and it will direct you to my review of that book.) 


JULY

10 points: A book you have never heard of before.
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (470 pg, 5/5 rating, completed 7.3.15)

20 points: A book with an animal on the cover.
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (368 pg, 5/5 rating, *cat on cover, completed 7.7.15)

15 points: A book with "light" or "dark" in the title.
The River is Dark by Joe Hart (223 pg, 2/5 rating, completed 7.15.15)

10 points: A book that has been on your TBR list for at least two years.
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (272 pg, 4/5 rating, completed 7.16.15)

10 points: A book that won a Goodreads “Best Book” award in 2014

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 
(531 pg, 4.5/5 rating, completed 7.26.15)


JUNE

25 points: A book that is part of a series with at least four books.

The Last Detective by Robert Crais 
(337 pg, 4/5 rating, *book #9 in Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series, completed 6.2.15)

5 points: Freebie! 
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain 
(225 pg, 2/5 rating, completed 6.5.15)

25 points: A book that is 500+ pages long.
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 
(850 pg, 5/5 rating, 2nd reading, completed 6.20.15)

15 points: A book by an author you have read before. *No re-reads!
Grey by E. L. James 
(576 pg, 3/5 rating, completed 6.26.15)

20 points: A book with name of a real city/state/country in title.
Looking for Alaska by John Green 
(221 pg, 3/5 rating, completed 6.29.15)

30 points: A book with an alliterative title

*All words in title must begin with the same letter.
Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich
(305 pg, 2/5 rating, completed 6.30.15)


MAY

15 points: A book by an author who is completely new to you.

Wicked Ties by Shayla Black 
(341 pg, 3/5 rating, completed 5.13.15)

July Points – 65
June Points – 120
May Points - 15
TOTAL Points – 200



This was my first ever experience participating in a reading challenge such as this.  Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience for several reasons:  

1) I love a good challenge.  

2) Participating in this challenge pushed me to read a few books that I already owned but hadn't gotten around to reading yet (Explosive Eighteen, Me Talk Pretty One Day, All the Light We Cannot See, and The River is Dark.)  

3) Participating in this challenge encouraged me to read a book that I otherwise might not have read (Looking for Alaska).

Here's a few things I learned about participating in category based reading challenges:

  • Look at your own library first.  Chances are, you have books or audiobooks that you've already purchased or downloaded, but have not read or listened to yet.  See if any of those will fit into the categories of the challenge.  This is a great way to finally read some of the books you've been meaning to get around to reading.
  • Be flexible.  I thought I knew exactly what book I was going to read for the category of "on your TBR list for at 2+ years."  But, when it came time to actually start reading that book, I just wasn't able to get into it right then.  Instead of forcing myself to read something that I just wasn't ready to, I switched tactics and went with a different book instead.  
  • Don't take the whole "winning" concept so seriously.  I started this challenge late, so I was not under any delusion that I would earn 200 points by July 1.  I can easily see, however, how easy it would be to fall into the "Oh, Lord!  I have to hurry up and read this one and read that one so I can try to win this thing!" mentality.  I don't think that is a good mindset to be under because it skews one's focus.  Instead of focusing on the act of reading and enjoying what is being read, the focus is on the fast consumption of a book simply to get it over with so that you can move on to the next book.  But, on the flip side, some people may thrive under that mindset, so this really comes down to "whatever floats your boat."
Kudos to Megan @ Semi-Charmed Kind of Life for organizing and hosting the challenge!  It was a pleasure! 

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