Winter book challenge picks

Another day, another books post. I’m really starting to think I need to change the focus of this little blog and maybe give it a facelift to reflect that. Thoughts? 

This time we’re talking book challenges. What I like most about them, besides the hosts, is that they make me think about reading books I ordinarily wouldn’t read, they encourage me to dive into my TBR and pull out some books that have been hanging out longer than they should, and they give me a chance to geek out with other book nerds about the awesomeness of reading, not to mention I love seeing the variety in the books that other challengers put on their lists. Plus, a little competition is nice, too.

I didn’t do one for the fall (not sure why) and I missed signing up for the semi-charmed winter book challenge (or something like that and my apologies to the lovely blogger who thought of it. I also apologize for ALWAYS WITHOUT FAIL singing Third Eye Blind when I see your blog name) but, like she always does, my girl Erin came through with hers. So I decided to join. Here are the categories and my picks:

5pts – Read a book, any book that is at least 200 pages long. My pick: Remember Mia by Alexandra Burt
10pts – Read a book that begins with the letter “D”. My pick: Departure by AG Riddle
10pts – Read a book with a four word title. My pick: Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy
15pts – Read a book with one of the following words in the title: “Mother(s), Father(s), Son(s), Daughter(s), Child(ren). My pick: Mothers, Tell Your Daughters by Bonnie Jo Campbell
20pts – Read a book by amazon’s top 100 authors from an author that you’ve never read before http://www.amazon.com/author-rank My pick: Wayward Pines by Blake Crouch
20pts – Read a book set in Asia. My pick: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
25pts – Read a book with a season in the title (“Summer”, “Spring”, “Winter”, “Autumn”, I’ll even allow “Fall”) My pick: Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell
30pts – Read a book that will make you laugh from the attached list:http://www.buzzfeed.com/…/books-guaranteed-to-make-you-laug… My pick: Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris or The Broke Diaries by Angela Nissel (haven’t decided yet)
30pts – Read a book that is a friend or family member’s favorite (or favorite book from another participant of this challenge) My pick: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (thanks to Steph and Kathy for this one)
35pts – Read a book published the year you were born (for me, 1977). My pick: This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind–Ivan Doig

The rules for the challenge, verbatim (and by that I mean, completely copied and pasted) from Erin:

* First and foremost, have fun. Don’t stress. No one is being judged, graded, or penalized. Even if you finish only one book the entire challenge, if you enjoy it and it’s an accomplishment for you, then that’s awesome.

* The challenge will run from January 1, 2016 to April 30, 2016. No books that are started before 12 a.m. on January 1 or finished after 11:59 p.m. on April 30 will count. (We live in different time zones – follow this according to your own time zone.)

* Each book must be at least 200 pages long. Audio books are fine too.

* A book can only be used for one category, and each category can only be completed once. If you want to switch the category of a book, or change the book you originally chose, no worries.

* You can read your books in any order you choose.

* Rereads can be used only once. If a book you love fits into a category, go ahead and visit it again. Read it in its entirety. But, only do this once for the challenge.

* There will be a photo album for each category with links to books chosen. Please comment on the photo for each of your books when you finish reading them. A comment can include a review, a rating, a recommendation…other readers want to hear what you thought of your choice. (if you need help with this, let me know…or there is a file attached to our group explaining what to do.)

* There will be 10 book categories with a possibility of earning 200 points. That’s 10 books in four months. For some of you, this will be a BIG challenge; for others it will be easy peasy. It’s all for fun, remember!

* Book categories will be posted December 1st to give you time to gather books in preparation.

* After the categories are posted, please post a preliminary list with books of your choice according to their categories on the facebook group page by December 15th (if possible). If you need help with a particular category or want a book suggestion, we as a community of reading enthusiasts can help each other. (Late entries will still be accepted)

* The first three people who finish the challenge will be invited to contribute a category for the next challenge. The top winner will get a small prize from me! Plus, everyone who completes the challenge will gets all sorts of recognition and support

* Lastly, have fun.  Don’t stress. No one is being judged, graded, or penalized. Even if you finish only one book the entire challenge, if you enjoy it and it’s an accomplishment for you, then that’s awesome.  Wait, I’ve read that somewhere before…Good luck!

She has a Facebook group you can join if you want, and you’ll be able to share your lists there if you don’t want to write a post or if you don’t have a blog and you can see the other lists, too, which is pretty interesting. Very diverse choices. Lots of people picking Gillian Flynn’s Dark Places, though.  So there’s that.

What do you think? Will you join?

P.S. Steph and I are hosting a BONUS Show Us Your Books on December 29! We’re asking, if you want, on that day, to link up with your favorite reads of the year. This is in addition to next week’s regularly scheduled Show Us Your Books. 

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