2014 Challenges

The Read it Again, Sam Challenge

I do like to reread, but I hardly ever seem to get chance. I'm always too busy desperately trying to whittle down my ever-growing TBR pile! I planned to remedy that in 2014 before I stumbled across this challenge, hosted by My Reader's Block (as above), but maybe this way it'll give me an incentive to actually do it. Sign up here.

I'm going for the 'Feeling Nostalgic' level, which involves rereading 8 books.

1) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 
2) Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
3) Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
4) Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan 
5) Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian by Rick Riordan 
6) And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie 
7) Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
8) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 
9) To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee 
10) The Night Watch (Discworld City Watch #6) by Terry Pratchett

I have read 10 of 8 books.

The Lucky No. 14 Reading Challenge

Random challenges are my absolute favourite. I love being able to read a variety of books and genres for one list! This is a new one to me, hosted by Books to Share. Click the image to sign up.

1. Visit The Country: Read a book that has setting in a country that you really want to visit in real life. Make sure the setting has a big role in the book and it can make you know a little bit more about your dream destination.
Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
2. Cover Lust: Pick a book from your shelf that you bought because you fell in love with the cover. Is the content as good as the cover?
The Newlyweds by Nell Freudenberger
3. Blame it on Bloggers: Read a book because you’ve read the sparkling reviews from other bloggers. Don’t forget to mention the blogger’s names too!
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (recommended by Ellie)
4. Bargain All The Way: Ever buy a book because it’s so cheap you don’t really care about the content? Now it’s time to open the book and find out whether it’s really worth your cents.
Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
5. (Not So) Fresh From the Oven: Do you remember you bought/got a new released book last year but never had a chance to read it? Dig it from your pile and bring back the 2013.
Tampa by Alissa Nutting
6. First Letter’s Rule: Read a book which title begins with the same letter as your name (for me, Astrid means A, and I can read anything that started with the letter A). Remember: Articles like “a”, “an” or “the” doesn’t count.
Houdini and Conan Doyle by Christopher Sandford 
7. Once Upon a Time: Choose a book that’s been published for the first time before you were born (not necessarily has to be a classic book, just something a little bit older than you is okay. You can read the most recent edition if you want to)
Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin (1967)
8. Chunky Brick: Take a deep breath, and read a book that has more than 500 pages. Yep, the one that you’ve always been afraid of!
Tess of the d'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy
9.  Favorite Author: You like their books, but there are too many titles. This is your chance, choose a book that’s been written by your fave author but you haven’t got time to read it before.
FEED by Mira Grant
10. It’s Been There Forever: Pick up a book that has been there on your shelf for more than a year, clean up the dust and start to read it now.
One Day by David Nicholls  
11. Movies vs Books: You’ve seen the movie adaptation (or planned to see it soon) but never had time to read the book. It’s time to read it now, so you can compare the book vs the movie.
The Giver by Lois Lowry
12. Freebies Time: What’s the LAST free book you’ve got? Whether it’s from giveaway, a birthday gift or a surprise from someone special, don’t hold back any longer. Open the book and start reading it now.
The 100: Day 21 by Kass Morgan 
13. Not My Cup of Tea: Reach out to a genre that you’ve never tried (or probably just disliked) before. Whether it’s a romance, horror or non fiction, maybe you will find a hidden gem!
The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida
14. Walking Down The Memory Lane: Ever had a book that you loved so much as a kid? Or a book that you wish you could read when you were just a child? Grab it now and prepare for a wonderful journey to the past. Comic books or graphic novels are allowed!

I have read 13 out of 14 books.

TBR Pile Challenge 
Every year I sign up to this, and every year I fail. Last year I read 35 books from my TBR and in 2012 I only managed 32. That said, this challenge does a brilliant job of keeping me focused on my older books that need love too. 

I'm going to aim for the 'Could this be love?' level, which requires reading 41-50 books. More specifically, I'm going to aim for 40 books that I obtained before 1st January 2014. I own more than ever before so it really should be achievable! I tend to read about 100 books a year, so it would average out to roughly 40%

Click the button to sign up.

1) The Dinosaur Hunters by Deborah Cadbury
2) One Day by David Nicholls 
3) The Newlyweds by Nell Freudenberger
4) The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro 
5) Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
6) Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald  by Therese Anne Fowler 
7) Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin 
8) FEED by Mira Grant 
9) The Heroes of Olympus: The Mark of Athena 
10) Tess of the d'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy
11) Orange is the New Black: My Time in a Women's Prison by Piper Kerman 
12) The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 
13) Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb 
14) Horns by Joe Hill 
15) The Selection by Kiera Cass 
16) Shadow & Bone (Grisha trilogy #1) by Leigh Bardugo 
17) Tampa by Alissa Nutting 
18) The Coming of the Fairies by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
19) Houdini and Conan Doyle by Christopher Sandford  
20) Joust by Mercedes Lackey 
21) Steadfast by Mercedes Lackey 
22) The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt 
23) Atonement by Ian McEwan 
24) Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh 
25) The Maze Runner by James Dashner 
26) A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass
27) The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
28) The President's Hat by Antoine Laurain  
29) Carpe Corpus (Morganville Vampires #6) by Rachel Caine
30) Fade Out (Morganville Vampires #7) by Rachel Caine
31) Crocodile on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody #1) by Elizabeth Peters
32) Norweigan Wood by Haruki Murakami 
33) Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley 
34) Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion 
35) Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan 
 
I've read 35 out of 40 books.

The 'What's In A Name?' Challenge 

Conversely, this is the only challenge I've been able to complete for the past two years! Here are the title words for this year:

• A reference to time (Eleven Minutes, Before Ever After) One Day by David Nicholls
• A position of royalty (The People’s Queen, The Last Empress, The Curse Of The Pharaoh) Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
• A number written in letters (The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, A Tale Of Two Cities) The One by Kiera Cass
• A forename or names (Rebecca, Eleanor & Park, The Unfinished Work Of Elizabeth D.) Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Ann Fowler
• A type or element of weather (Gone With The Wind, Red Earth Pouring Rain)

  I've read 4 out of 5 books.