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text 2016-01-04 16:11
Book Riot Read Harder Challenge 2015: Final Outcome

My 2015 reading challenge has come to an end. While I didn't complete every category on the list, my goals for the challenge have been pretty successful, and 88% isn't bad. My intentions were to break out of my typical habits and pick up things I probably wouldn't have otherwise. Since the three categories I didn't fulfill were not necessarily outside my comfort zone (a poetry collection, an award winner from the last decade, and a book published before 1850), I'm not terribly concerned about missing them. This particular challenge functioned as a way to highlight my weak areas, and force me to concentrate on them as a way to be a more well-rounded reader. My weakest areas tend to be around international and indigenous writers, so I want to focus more on them in the coming years.

 

I don't have a new challenge lined up for 2016. I've been thinking about not doing one, and just reading in whatever direction I want, but it's still early in the year and I have some time to decide.

 

2015 Challenge:

 

A book written by someone when they were under the age of 25

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

 

A book written by someone when they were over the age of 65

Bookmarked: Reading My Way from Hollywood to Brooklyn by Wendy W. Fairey

 

A collection of short stories (either by one person or an anthology by many people)

Get in Trouble by Kelly Link

 

A book published by an indie press

Jane Austen: Cover to Cover by Margaret C. Sullivan (published by Quirk Books)

 

A book by or about someone that identifies as LGBTQ

Blue is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh

 

A book by a person whose gender is different from your own

A Few Words of Jane Austen by Stuart Tave

 

A book that takes place in Asia

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

 

A book by an author from Africa

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimimanda Ngozi

 

A book that is by or about someone from an indigenous culture (Native Americans, Aboriginals, etc.)

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

 

A microhistory

The Library: An Unquiet History by Matthew Battles

 

A YA novel

Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block

 

A sci-fi novel

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin

 

A romance novel

Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie

 

A National Book Award, Man Booker Prize or Pulitzer Prize winner from the last decade

 

A book that is a retelling of a classic story (fairytale, Shakespearian play, classic novel, etc.)

Uprooted by Naomi Novik (it doesn't retell a specific story, but is heavily influenced by Eastern European folklore, specifically Baba Jaga)

 

An audiobook

Doctor Who: A History by Alan Kistler

 

A collection of poetry

 

A book that someone else has recommended to you

Salsa Nocturna by Daniel Jose Older

 

A book that was originally published in another language

Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan

 

A graphic novel, a graphic memoir or a collection of comics of any kind

Saga Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples

 

A book that you would consider a guilty pleasure (Read, and then realize that good entertainment is nothing to feel guilty over)

Adventure Time Volume 1 by Ryan North, Mike Holmes, Pendleton Ward, et al

 

A book published before 1850

 

A book published this year

Spinster by Kate Bolick

 

A self-improvement book (can be traditionally or non-traditionally considered “self-improvement”)

Tiny, Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed

 

 

*(Original Book Riot Read Harder Challenge: Read Harder Challenge 2015)*

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text 2015-12-30 14:00
Sock Poppet Read-by-the-Month Challenge ~ December Prompts
False Future - Dan Krokos
False Sight (A False Memory Novel) - Dan Krokos
The Prometheus Project (Book 3): Stranded - Douglas E. Richards

Is It Really the End?

 

This month I read a book for prompts 1, 2 and 3.

 

1 ~ where the world seems to be coming to an end.

 

False Future by Dan Krokos

 

2 ~ about the end of something (i.e. relationship, job).

 

False Sight by Dan Krokos

 

3 ~ that is the end of a series.

 

Prometheus Project: Stranded by Douglas E. Richards

 

4 ~ that was the last one written by the author.

 

I didn't read a book that was the last written by an author, but the first book in the False Memory series by Dan Krokos should have been the last he wrote in that series (though he'd have to have figured out a way to end it there). 

 

I rated that series:

 

Book 1 ~ 4*

Book 2 ~ 3*

Book 3 ~ 2*

 

Not the way I want a series to go, for sure!

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text 2015-11-30 14:00
Sock Poppet's 2015 Read-By-the-Month Reading Challenge ~ November Prompts
The Mysterious Benedict Society - Carson Ellis,Trenton Lee Stewart
Crime and Punishment (Penguin Classics) - Fyodor Dostoyevsky,David McDuff
A Gentleman's Deception - Martha Kirkland

November ~ Thanks a Lot! No, I Mean It!

 

This month I read a book for prompts 2, 3 and 4.

 

2 ~ where you are thankful you are not the characters.

 

The Mysterious Benedict Society / Trenton Lee Stewart ~ 11.5.15

 

3 ~ you are thankful you read.

 

Crime and Punishment / Fyodor Dostoyevsky ~ 11/7/15

 

4 ~ where characters are thankful for something.

 

A Gentleman's Deception / Martha Kirkland ~ 11/20/15 

 

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text 2015-11-29 21:20
Sock Poppet's 2015 Read-By-the-Month Reading Challenge ~ November Reads

This month's prompt:

 

November ~ Thanks a Lot! No, I Mean It!

 

This month you will read a book:

1 ~ where characters endure something they are not thankful for.

2 ~ where you are thankful you are not the characters.

3 ~ you are thankful you read.

4 ~ where characters are thankful for something.

 

Ok, so here go my books for November:

1 ~ where characters endure something they are not thankful for.

This describes most of my books:

The Mirror Cracked from Side to Side (Agatha Christie) - I would spoil the book if I described what the characters aren't thankful for but it does motivate the plot.

Trumpet (Jackie Kay) - was a phenomenal book about grief and people coming to terms with loss. One of the main characters is a rather selfish young man who in the course of the book has to examine his life - his anger towards his parents is expressed mostly in ingratitude.

2 ~ where you are thankful you are not the characters.

Again, so many books would fit but I'm going to have to go with

Out of Africa (Isak Dinesen/Karen Blixen) - simply because I cannot stand her.


3 ~ you are thankful you read.

Pretty much all books - again, but this month in particular

Trumpet (Jackie Kay)
Cha-Ching! (Ali Liebegott) - she writes the most humane characters. I love hanging out with them even if they all have their failings.

Public Libraries and other Stories (Ali Smith) - Smith pulled it off again in her latest book. There is one story in particular that threw me - it's where she describes a friend of hers who died of an illness as a valuable painting that has been stolen by art thieves. It is brilliant, moving, and totally out there (again, like most of her work).

(The short story is available for free here, btw: http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/fiction/2015/10/and-so-new-story-ali-smith)

4 ~ where characters are thankful for something.

Public Libraries and other Stories (Ali Smith) - see above, but what better way to pay tribute and be thankful for having known someone than to compare them to a work of art?

Run (Ann Patchett) - In an understated way, all the characters are thankful for who they are and what opportunities they have.

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text 2015-11-27 14:00
Sock Poppet's 2015 Read-By-the-Month Reading Challenge ~ December Prompts
 
 
December ~ Is It Really the End?

 

This month you will read a book:

 

1 ~ where the world seems to be coming to an end.

 

2 ~ about the end of something (i.e. relationship, job).

 

3 ~ that is the end of a series.

 

4 ~ that was the last one written by the author.

 

http://booklikes.com/groups/show/255/sock-poppet-s-2015-read-by-the-month-reading-challenge

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