Monday, December 21, 2015

Challenges, Challenges - Book Challenge by Erin 4.0, 2016 Audiobook Challenge, and 2015 Authors A to Z Reading Challenge


A blogger acquaintance of mine and fellow Bon Jovi fan, Erin @ Texerin-in-Sydneyland, is hosting a book challenge that starts on January 1.  It is appropriately titled, "Book Challenge by Erin 4.0"  LOL!  The challenge consists of 10 categories, requires 10 books, and lasts for 4 full months.  Below are the categories and my preliminary books I have chosen.

5 pts. Any book that is at least 200 pages long
Allegiant by Veronica Roth

10 pts. A book that starts with D
Dust to Dust by Tami Hoag

10 pts. A book with a 4 word title
Before He Finds Her by Michael Kardos

15 pts. A book with “mother,” “father,” “daughter,” “son”, or “child" in title (plurals are allowed) 
Not My Father’s Son by Alan Cumming

20 pts. A currently ranked “most popular author” on Amazon that is new to me
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (Honestly, I’ve never ready ANY of her books before)

20 pts. A book set in any country in Asia

The Day of the Wave by Becky Wicks

25 pts. A book with a season in the title
Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah

30 pts. A funny book from the list @ www.buzzfeed.com/erinchack/books-guaranteed-to-make-you-laugh-out-loud
This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

30 pts. A book that is a favorite of a friend or family member
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding (One of my best friend's all-time faves & a re-read for me)

35 pts. A book published in the year I was born
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig

If you are interesting in participating in this challenge or just want more information, click here.  Even if you're not interested, pop on over to her page anyway and have a look-see.  Erin is a hoot and one of my favorite bloggers to follow!


I just completed the 2015 Audiobook Challenge hosted by the gals at Hot Listens and The Book Nympho (see my wrap up post here).  Because I really, really like audiobooks, I've decided to participate in the challenge again for the upcoming year.  My goal for 2016 will again be the Marathoner Level (50+ audiobooks).  For more information about this challenge, click here.


I'm going to go ahead and get this post out of the way even though I still have about a week and a half left in the year.  None of the books I plan to read or listen to between now and New Year's will help me out in terms of completing this challenge, so I'm just going to go ahead and call it.  

I came close, but... Well, you know how the old saying goes, "Close, but no cigar..."

This is the first reading challenge that I did not complete.  Admittedly, I must say that this challenge was never a priority for me. I'm not sure why, but it was never in the forefront my mind. My participation was more of an afterthought. If I read a book and the author's last name just happened to start with a letter I needed to fulfill, then I added it. Never did I deliberately read a book just because the author's last name started with a letter I needed. I do enjoy challenges, but this challenge wasn't really my cup to tea. I don't plan on participating in this challenge next year. Anyway, here's my final list. I completed 20 out of 26 letters.


A ...
B - A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (review)
C - Sunset Express by Robert Crais
D - All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doer (review)
E - The Good Thief’s Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan
F - The Fixer by Joseph Finder
G - Looking for Alaska by John Green
H - Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover (review)
I  ...
J - The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce (review)
K - YOU by Caroline Kepnes (review)
L  ...
M - My Mother Was Nuts by Penny Marshall (review)
N - I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson (mini review here)
O - Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (review)
P - Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto
Q - Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick (review)
R - Landline by Rainbow Rowell (mini review)
S - Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (review)
T - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
U   ...
V   ...
W - Sweet by Tammara Webber (review)
X   ...
Y - Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon (review)
Z - The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (mini review here)

Are you participating in Erin's challenge or the 2016 Audiobook Challenge?  Let me know if you are.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

5 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for the shout-out and sweet words! (I'm actually working on a Bon Jovi post that a friend of mine challenged me to write...of course, I have to get it just perfect, so it make take me 3 months to write - haha!)

    I participate and administer my challenge (which is fun, but does take some time)...happens twice a year. I participate in Semi-Charmed Kind of Life's book challenges - I think they happen 2 or 3 times a year. And, I participate in the Aussie Author challenge. These worked well for me. I'm tempted to join others when I see them, but I don't want to always read just for challenges, you know?

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    1. That's what happened to me with the Author A to Z challenge. initially, I looked for particular authors whose last names started with certain letters, but was never intrigued by any of the books I found. Sure, I have read some books only to meet the criteria of a challenge, but it's only been like once or twice. I just couldn't see reading 6-8 books that I wasn't interested in just for a challenge.

      You are welcome!

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  2. i didn't complete the a-z one either. like you said, i tried to find books or authors with certain letters and ended up adding things i didn't want to read. aint got time for books i don't want to read! thats why i like erin's challenge and similar ones :) not too constricting!

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    1. I agree with you. My TBR list is long enough without adding books to it that I'm not eager to read (and just reading for the sake of a challenge)! Yes, my participation in the A-Z challenge taught me that I do better with category challenges for they offer more flexibility.

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  3. Oh man, you have to read a Harry Potter book! My sister just gave her whole HP series to one of her debate students to read over the holidays, and she read them all so fast! They're just such well written books with such a great storyline!

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