This post and subsequent updates will be linked at 2019 Reading Assignment Challenge Page (link coming soon).

It looks like there has been a nice new twist to the Reading Assignment Challenge for 2019!  And while I'd been still considering joining this challenge, I was kind of wary of how I'd go about it.

But with these new changes, I have to admit, I'm kind of fired up!

From Because Reading:

And to add onto that, we get three different Professor's courses we can register for:

Reading Levels are now known as either Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced Classes, but the concept is still the same.

And this time we will get graded per semester for each class:

Once again, I'm pretty fired up about this new change in the Reading Assignment Challenge.  And while I had considered just dipping in and doing the Beginner Class for all three Professor's courses, I decided to go all out and dive right into 2019!  Well... sort of.

For Professor AuthorLuv's Course, I will take the Intermediate level Class.
For Professor Genre's Course, I will take the Advanced level Class.
For Professor Mix-It-Up's Course, I will take the Beginner level Class.

This will guarantee that I will need to read at least six books each month, which, in the past, would have been small potatoes.  And if I can stumble my way out of my reading slump, I'll be able to achieve this, so it's more motivation than anything.  I might be over-stepping, but at least it will only be for the first five months, and then I can re-enroll if I'm feeling overwhelmed...  Or advance to higher classes if I'm feeling super confident!

And also... I think I could use a bit more motivation this coming year.  I've been in the mother of all reading slumps since January (yes, a whole year!), with brief moments of improvement, though sparse.  I'd been trying to play it laid back all year so as not to overdo it, but maybe what I really need is some direction...

Maybe.

So we'll see how the year goes.  Or at least how this first spring semester pans out!

For more details, visit the 2019 Reading Assignment Challenge sign up post (linked here and at the beginning).

Professor AuthorLuv - Intermediate Class (credits: 2):  I will be reading books by Amanda Quick.

Professor Genre - Advanced Class (credits: 3):  I will be reading historical fiction books of any sub-type genre (general historical fiction, historical romance, historical mysteries, etc.).

Some of the authors I plan on reading from include: Courtney Milan, Tessa Dare, Kelly Bowen, Anna Lee Huber, and I especially plan on reading Deanna Raybourn's newest installment of her Victoria Speedwell series, A Dangerous Collaboration.

Professor Mix-It-Up - Beginner's Class (credits: 1):  Below is my finalized reading list for the spring semester.

I am going to try not to overlap books between courses.  Since I chose to read Amanda Quick books for Professor AuthorLuv's course, I will not count any of this author's books towards Professor Genre's course until I've completed my assignment that month.  So if I've read two Amanda Quick books towards Professor AuthorLuv's course, a possible third Amanda Quick book will go towards Professor Genre's course to fulfill my requirements there.

As for Professor Mix-It-Up's classes, I've purposely chosen books that cannot count towards either of the other two courses--non-historical and non-Amanda Quick.  In fact, all five of the books on this list are books I already own, if only because I feel like I need to get to reading stuff already on my physical and digital shelves.  Five isn't a whole lot, but it's a start, and I don't want to give myself too many restrictions.

I might be getting a bit over-strict, but I feel like I'd be cheating otherwise.  But in the long run, I feel like I've created a pretty good fail-safe for myself, considering I'm a huge fan of Amanda Quick, and and I've been very much enjoying historical romance novels by the very authors I've listed above.  It's less overwhelming, I feel, when I'm committing myself to books I plan to read anyway!

Anyway, I'm SO ready to get started!

Wish me luck!

July ramblings:  There's really not much to say about July.  It was a semi-good reading month and I kept up with my Reading Assignment books.  That's all, really.

August ramblings:  A lot of the same stuff from previous months.  Though I DID sort of make myself finish reading a book I had very little motivation to read.  But we made it and that's all that matters to me.  At least now I can focus on books that I'm more interested in reading.

September ramblings:  To be totally honest, I had a slightly flustered time of trying to figure out which books to read this month.  With Halloween Bingo looming on the horizon pre-September, I needed to figure out the best reading strategy to both satisfy my Reading Assignment necessities as well as maybe get a bingo.  But in the end, I couldn't quite make both work, so I settled with finishing my Reading Assignment books first, then working on Bingo obligations--after all, I have more chances for Bingo drawings in the future, and my library books were due.  And ultimately, I enjoyed myself, because all the books I read this month for Reading Assignment were enjoyable ones.  That's always a plus.

Third Quarterly Report Card link up @ Because Reading

• In July:

• Kalahari by Jessica Khoury -- 7/3/2016
• Veil of Night by Linda Howard -- 7/5/2016
• The Hanover Square Affair Ashley Gardner -- 7/13/2016
• Icebound by Dean Koontz -- 7/23/2016

See Also:  My TBR List for July 2016 Voting // Winning Book

• In August:

• Sleep with the Lights On by Maggie Shayne -- 8/2/2016
• Chill Factor by Sandra Brown -- 8/14/2016
• Crash and Burn by Allison Brennan and Laura Griffin -- 8/16/2016
• Endsinger by Jay Kristoff -- 8/23/2016

See Also:  My TBR List for August 2016 Voting // Winning Book
See Also:  Can You Read a Series in a Month? Challenge

• In September:

• Enemy Mine by Kay Hooper -- 9/7/2016
• A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn -- 9/9/2016
• The Haviland Touch by Kay Hooper -- 9/10/2016
• In Deep Voodoo by Stephanie Bond -- 9/12/2016

See Also:  Booklikes Halloween Bingo 2016

A Summary

As I stated in the September Ramblings above, I had a hard time trying to figure out which books to read for the months of September and October that could also crossover as Halloween Bingo books.  After all, twenty-five books in two months (average 12.5 books per month) doesn't feel like a lot (not considering my normal average), but I didn't want to push my luck.  So I tried to see what I could insert from my Reading Assignment list that could also double as a Halloween Bingo book.

I came up with five books, slightly taking liberties with the Bingo Free Space and inserting a mystery for good measure.  In fact, probably only one or two of the books I picked for Bingo were actually Halloween-themed or horror-types, so I kind of took liberties with about all of my books.

This third quarter was a good one for Reading Assignment, to be honest.  And it was made possible thanks to the mid-year book swap-out that we were allowed.  I already read two of the books I swapped-in, as you can see (Chill Factor and Sleep with the Lights On).  I also managed to get myself to finish the Lotus War trilogy, thus successfully putting THAT series behind me and fulfilling one more book in my Reading Assignment list.

A Forecast

Last quarter ahead with no more books to choose from... well, except for each month.  I've tentatively allocated the rest of my Reading Assignment book list into the last three months.  'Tentative' being the keyword--although I cannot swap out anymore books, I can rearrange the reading order however it is needed.  But to be honest, I doubt that will happen.

(Book covers link to GR book page.)

October:

Beg for Mercy by Jami Alden
Voodoo or Die by Stephanie Bond
Far Gone by Laura Griffin
Un Lun Dun by China Mieville

November:

All Fall Down by Julie Bellon Coulter
Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers
Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers
Whirlpool by Elizabeth Lowell

December:

My Lady, My Lord by Katharine Ashe
Confessions by Cynthia Eden
The Witness by Nora Roberts
Delicious by Sherry Thomas

April ramblings:  April was a pretty good reading month for my Reading Challenge.  Of course, I had to make a few changes.  And due to these changes, I already started formulating which books I might have to swap out at mid-year.  I'm a little saddened by it, but I've been having a rather rough reading year so far and have decided that I'm not quite feeling the YA reads.  In that case, I'm going to specifically remove a few of them from my 2016 Assignment list and maybe swap them out for books in another genre I might be more inclined to read.

May ramblings:  With May came a readathon that was crucial in my reading progress.  I'm not sure if I would have spent as much time on reading books if I didn't have a clear goal... but then again, I DID have a couple of extra PTO days and chose to use them wisely.  The books I chose to read for this month's Reading Assignment weren't the best of the bunch--I'm a little disappointed by that.  Aside from Written In Red, I had some trouble with the other three books even if I DID manage to finish them in the end.  Again, I'm sorely contemplating swapping some books out at midyear.

June ramblings:  June felt like a hard month, if only because there might have been too many things going on in RL.  Mainly, I caught a cold and didn't feel like doing a lot of things, sometimes even reading--I was more interested in sleeping.  I also had to make some rearrangements in my reading list that I wasn't happy about.  These changes are explained in the summary below and also affected which books I finally decided to swap out for new ones at midyear.

Second Quarterly Report Card link up @ Fantasy is more fun

• In April:

• Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn -- 4/4/2016
• Where Angels Rest by Kate Brady -- 4/6/2016
• The Perfect Husband by Lisa Gardner -- 4/13/2016
• Where Evil Waits by Kate Brady -- 4/17/2016

• In May:

• Written In Red by Anne Bishop -- 5/4/2016
• Prince Joe by Suzanne Brockmann -- 5/10/2016
• Forever Blue by Suzanne Brockmann -- 5/11/2016
• These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner -- 5/18/2016

• In June:

• Second Sight by Amanda Quick -- 6/4/2016
• Hanover House by Brenda Novak -- 6/14/2016
• Kinslayer by Jay Kristoff -- 6/20/2016
• Maddy's Floor by Dale Mayer -- 6/27/2016

See Also: My TBR List for June 2016 Voting // Winning Book

A Summary

I thought I'd be able to power through all the books I had chosen this year without utilizing the mid-year swap, but to be honest, I'm glad that it exists in this year's reading assignment.  As my reading life moves on, I've found that I'm not very prone to pick up young adult books very much anymore, and actually find them quite tedious.

With busy days and lots of work, I find that I want to read more of what I want to read.  And what I want to read doesn't seem to involve a lot of the same things I used to want to read... if that makes any sense.  My reading tastes have, indeed, changed over time, and as you can see, even though I had a wide variety of books on my initial Reading Assignment list, only two of the books I read in the past three months were from the young adult target.

I'm not saying that I won't read any more young adult books--there are several on my TBR for this year that I'm dying to get my hands on (Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo, Heartless by Marissa Meyer, Juliet Marillier's Blackthorn & Grim trilogy, anything written by Maggie Stiefvater, and so on).  But there are just some times when reading young adult will have to be a mood read.  If I don't swap out some of the young adult books from my list, I'm a little concerned that the rest of my Reading Assignment year will be kind of rocky.

I initially wanted to go ahead and swap out Endsinger by Jay Kristoff since Kinslayer didn't quite work for me.  But being a bit stubborn, I know that if I put that book on hold, I will probably never finish reading the trilogy.  Instead, Endsinger will be shuffled into a later month so that I can have some distance between the two books before finishing it.

But as you all can see, all the books I'm swapping out will be young adult books.  The books I'm swapping in, of course, will be more in the crime thriller and romantic suspense area... except for one.

The Mid-Year Swap

The following are the four books (Reading Level 4) I would like to swap out for the last half of this year.

Mindwalker by A.J. Steiger

Unhinged by A.G. Howard

Ensnared by A.G. Howard

Hidden Huntress by Danielle L. Jensen

The following are the four books I'd like to replace my swap-out selections with:

My Lady, My Lord by Katharine Ashe
Chill Factor by Sandra Brown
Confessions by Cynthia Eden
Sleep With the Lights On by Maggie Shayne

Two books on this list have been on my TBR for a long time already.  The other two books were recent additions, but equally as enticing.  I've always wanted to read a book by Sandra Brown since she's sort of touted as a "Must Read" in romantic suspense.  And since I have read many other "Queen of Romantic Suspense" authors, I don't see why I haven't read anything by Sandra Brown yet.  Sleep With the Lights On sounds like The Eye and so I'm quite curious about it.

At some point in the future, I might get back to picking up the four young adult books I've chosen to swap out.  For now, I'm not so sure when I'll read them, or if I'll just read them as leisurely non-challenge books this year.

A Forecast

Two more quarters to go and another jumble of books sort of chosen for the Third Quarter.  There is a possibility some things may change though, so I'm only listing a few books--specifically the ones I wanted to swap in.

Kalahari by Jessica Khoury
Veil of Night by Linda Howard
Far Gone by Laura Griffin
Sleep with the Lights On by Maggie Shayne
Chill Factor by Sandra Brown

2016 Reading Assignment Challenge

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Because Reading and Fantasy is More Fun

My Official 2016 Reading Assignment Challenge Summary Post

January ramblings:  Not much to say about January.  It was a good reading month in general.  I knew which books I wanted to read for this Reading Assignment and I went for them.  All turned out well.  Big happy smiles all around because they were good, enjoyable selections.

February ramblings:  February was a good month for my Reading Assignment, even if not that great of a month for reading.  Between Cindy Gerard and Jeannie Lin, I think I had a good selection of books to choose from.

March ramblings:  March was surprisingly a really slow reading month, but even so, it was a good month for Reading Assignment books.  I pretty much spent the first two weeks finishing all but one of my Reading Assignment books (even after a slight, unexpected swap-out)... and then proceeded to be lazy for the rest of the month.

First Quarter: COMPLETED

First Quarterly Report Card link up @ Because Reading

• In January:

The Way Home by Cindy Gerard -- 1/4/2016

Followed by Frost by Charlie N. Holmberg -- 1/8/2016

The Wide-Awake Princess by E.D. Baker -- 1/20/2016

Deadly Strain by Julie Rowe -- 1/24/2016

• In February:

Running Blind by Cindy Gerard -- 2/7/2016

Scarlett Undercover by Jennifer Latham -- 2/11/2016

Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin -- 2/12/2016

The Green-Eyed Doll by Jerrie Alexander -- 2/25/2016

• In March:

A Vision of Fire by Gillian Anderson -- 3/7/2016

Rebel by Amy Tintera -- 3/9/2016

Transparent by Natalie Whipple -- 3/11/2016

The Carriage House by Carla Neggers -- 3/19/2016

See Also: My TBR List for March 2016 Voting // Winning Book

A Summary

After staring at my list and trying to figure out what to pick and choose, I realized that I had put a whole lot more books on my list this year that I really, really want to read than I did last year.  The problem with that is that I'm stuck anticipating the next months to come until I can start reading certain books.  And I tell you, it's a battle keeping myself from diving into some of these books and forgoing the whole "only read the number of books for your level each month" rules for the Reading Assignment challenge, because my reading mood is quite insistent.

It almost makes me want to ditch the whole idea of reading challenges altogether next year.

The first quarter of this Reading Assignment was a good one, full of books I really DID enjoy.  On top of that, I started participating in the My TBR List meme, using it in March to help me choose the last of my required number of books for that month.

Successful quarter?  Oh yeah.  I got an 'A' after all.  Was there ever any doubt my over-achieving ass would settle for less?

A Forecast

Basically, here is a jumble of the books I've sort of chosen for the next quarter.  But things aren't permanent because that elusive reading mood is such a fickle bitch.  Nonetheless:

Where Angels Rest by Kate Brady

Where Evil Waits by Kate Brady

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn

Mindwalker by A.J. Stieger

Prince Joe by Suzanne Brockmann

Forever Blue by Suzanne Brockmann

Written in Red by Anne Bishop

That's about half plus one of the books needed for one quarter, so I'll be shuffling around the rest of my Reading Assignment list for five more books.  Or maybe I'll throw another My TBR List meme into one of the three months--I'm thinking June might be a good time.

2016 Bookish Resolutions Sign Up Post

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My 2016 Bookish Resolutions Summary post

March wasn't what I wanted it to be in all aspects of goals.  Specifically, I keep telling myself to start my personal goals and work on my personal goals... but those personal goals can be a bit of a bitch.  I also lost my mp3 player a couple months ago and have since lost some motivation to go to the gym... yeah, I know it's a flimsy excuse, but my lazy ass will use anything to allow myself to just be lazy, I guess.

HOWEVER, I am looking to replace my mp3 player in the next couple days, which will give me no more excuses!  I hope.

Everything else was kind of okay and kind of meh.  Blogging was a little scattered because I started a new project self-entitled, "Let's Create More Work For Myself By Building a Brand New Book Blog!!"  I might be a little obsessed with organization right now.

Reading-wise, I got stuck on a slow-going book and have since been hemming and hawing about reading said slow-going book, or dumping it and moving on.  I hate dropping books, but this is just plain ridiculous.

Blogging Goals

 - 1 - Participate in at least 50% of the Top Ten Tuesday meme (@ The Broke and the Bookish) topics for 2016--that's 26 of the TTT topics.  

Running Total:  6 Top Ten Tuesday posts written

• January:  3 Top Ten Tuesday posts written

• February:  2 Top Ten Tuesday posts written
• March:  1 TTTs written

3/15/2016:  Ten Books On My Spring TBR

 - 2 - Continue to post Monthly Reading Wrap-ups... with a slightly less overwhelmingly bulky form.

• January Reading Wrap-Up -- posted
• February Reading Wrap-Up -- posted

 - 3 - Create and try to maintain a blogging schedule.

• January:  Lots of out-of-control, lots of colors.  See January update for more info.
• February:  No pictures this time.  Just know that things are continuing to get more chaotic. 
• March:  The fact that I'm still keeping up with this blogging schedule could mean one of two things:

-- I'm doing very well in my blogging goal endeavors    -OR-

-- I seem to enjoy chaotically and colorful controlling itineraries for my reading life a little too much.

 - Bonus Goal - Attempt participating in at least two other monthly/weekly bookish memes.   

• March My TBR List meme:  Voting // Winning Book

-- Review of The Carriage House by Carla Neggers

• Cover Crush on Thursdays:

3/3/2016:  Burning Glass by Kathryn Purdie

3/10/2016:  SWAT by Paige Tyler -- focus on Wolf Trouble

3/17/2016:  The Steep & Thorny Way by Cat Winters

3/24/2016:  Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst

Reading Goals

See Also: 2016 Bookish Resolutions shelf

 - 1 - Finish reading 10 completed series that I have already started reading.

I finished one series this month and worked on finishing another already completed series with The Wavering of Haruhi Suzumiya--four more books to go on this one.  Otherwise, I feel great having completed the Reboot duology since it's been such a long time since I'd read that first book.

Running Total:  3 completed series finished reading

• January:  1 series finished
• February:  1 series finished
• March: 1 series finished

Reboot by Amy Tintera -- Completed 3/9/2016

Already Read:  Reboot

#2:  Rebel -- 3/9/2016

 - 2 - Catch up with 5 ongoing series that I have already started reading.

It took me long enough, but it looks like I've finally caught up with one ongoing series I've been reading pre-2016.  I haven't seen any other Cindy Gerard books slated for publication this year, so I guess it'll be a waiting game for the time to come.  

The next series I'm looking to work on finishing up is going to either be KGI by Maya Banks (with two books left to finish reading), or maybe I'll try and catch up with one of the two ongoing Paige Tyler paranormal romantic suspense series, either X-Ops (with two more books to catch up with) or SWAT (also with two more books to catch up with).

Running Total:  1 ongoing series caught up with

• January:  0 series finished
• February:  0 series finished
• March: 1 series caught up

One-Eyed Jacks by Cindy Gerard -- Completed 3/25/2016

Already Read:  Killing Time, The Way Home, Running Blind

#4: Taking Fire -- 3/25/2016 -- Review to come

 - 3 - Read 5 completed series that are new to me.

There were no new series completed this month.  Bummer.

Running Total:  1 new to me completed series read

• January:  1 series finished
• February:  0 series read
• March: 0 series read

 - 4 - Participate in at least one Read-a-thon in 2016 (Bout of Books, Dewey's 24 Hour, any personal or community improv/unofficial read-a-thon, etc.)

-- GOAL COMPLETED -- 1/10/2016 -- 

Running Total = 2

• January:  Participated in Bout of Books Read-a-thon
• February:  There really weren't any read-a-thons I was interested in participating in.  Maybe next time.
• March:  Here we have a second read-a-thon that seemed interesting.  And I thought I wouldn't do another one for a while. Participated in 24 Hour Take Control TBR Pile

24 Hour Take Control TBR Pile Read-a-thon:  March 12, 2016

24 Hour Take Control TBR Pile Read-a-thon -- Participation Post

24 Take Control Read-a-thon -- Starter Post

24 Take Control Read-a-thon -- Wrap-up

 - 5 - Pick up at least 10 new to me authors (books not pre-listed for my 2016 Reading Assignment Challenge).

Running Total:  8 new-to-me authors read

• January:  3 new-to-me authors read
• February:  3 new-to-me authors read
• March:  2 new-to-me authors read

Author name // Book(s) Read

1.  Vicki Lewis Thompson // Heaven Scent -- 2/28/2016*

2.  E.K. Johnston // A Thousand Nights  -- 3/3/2016

*novella is part of the Behind the Red Doors anthology -- entire book finished 3/1/2016, even though this particular novella was read in February

 - 6 - Accomplish my 2016 Mount TBR Reading Challenge goals.  Tackle those books already on my shelves pre-2016!

Running Total:  15 Mt. TBR books read

• January:  6 books read
• February:  5 books read
• March:  4 books read

1.  Behind the Red Doors anthology -- 3/1/2016

2.  The Carriage House by Carla Neggers -- 3/19/2016

3.  The Wavering of Haruhi Suzumiya by Nagaru Tanigawa -- 3/23/2016

4.  The Edge of Night by Jill Sorenson -- 3/29/2016

See also My 2016 Mount TBR Challenge summary post for complete listing.

Personal Goals

 - 1 - Clock at least 2 hours of cardio workout each month.

Running Total:  2.42 hours cardio

• January:  0 hours cardio clocked
• February:  2.42 hours cardio clocked
• March:  0 hours cardio

There was no cardio done.  But it's only March and I've got even bigger goals amidst these proclaimed goals.  We will continue to persevere!!

 - 2 - Attempt to work out at least twice a week.  Failing that, attempt to work out at least 8 times a month (which will be met if I can get my lazy ass to work out at least twice a week).

Running Total:  3.5 times worked out

• January:  0 times worked out
• February:  1 time worked out
• March:  2.5 times worked out

Okay, technically I didn't really go to the gym or anything.  But during my random and sparse mornings of stretching exercises, I have been throwing in some crunches of various forms, some other core exercises, maybe a minute or two of planks, and some squats.  So, spread out into different days, all added together, I guesstimated that I at least did enough little semi-workouts enough to add up to 2.5 times.

Sounds legit, right?

 - 3 - Learn 12 new recipes.  Actually make said recipes.  And take pictures.  For evidence. 

Apparently cooking is not my thing right now.

Yearly Total: 1 new recipe

• January:  1 new recipe learned // Tomato Basil Soup
• February: 0  new recipes
• March:  0 new recipes

 - Bonus Goal -  Be better at being sociable, in general.  

I'm going to die alone.  That is the conclusion I have come to.

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Previous Update Posts

2016 Bookish Resolutions -- January Progress Report

2016 Bookish Resolutions -- February Progress Report

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