Category: Challenges

What’s in a Name 2022

Published on by Margaret2 Comments

This challenge, hosted by Andrea at Carolina Book Nook runs from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022.

Read a book in any format (hard copy, ebook, audio) with a title that fits into each category. Creativity for matching the categories is not only allowed, it’s encouraged!

Click on the links below for more examples and info about the categories.

It’s a challenge that looks deceptively simple because ‘all’ you have to do is read six books from six categories – but each year there is at least one that that takes me nearly all the year to find. This year it looks like there are two – the first two! I have plenty of titles to choose from for the other categories, but not for the first two.

Mount TBR 2021 Final Checkpoint & Sign Up for Mount TBR 2022

Published on by Margaret4 Comments

We’ve come to the end of Bev’s Mount TBR Challenge, so it’s time for the final checkpoint!

I began the year aiming for Mount Vancover – that is 36 books and I made it, ending the year by reading 40 of my TBRs, although I haven’t managed to review each one. These are the books I read:

  1. The Measure of Malice edited by Martin Edwards
  2. Exit by Belinda Bauer
  3. The One I Was by Eliza Graham
  4. Cruel Acts by Jane Casey
  5. The Cutting Place by Jane Casey
  6. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
  7. English Pastoral by James Rebanks
  8. The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood
  9. Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell
  10. For the Record by David Cameron
  11. The Moon Sister by Lucinda Riley
  12. The Salt Path by Raynor Winn – Reached Pike’s Peak
  13. We Are Not In The World by Conor O’Callaghan
  14. A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville
  15. Ice Bound by Jerri Nielsen
  16. Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie
  17. The Mirror Dance by Catriona McPherson
  18. Inland by Tea Obreht
  19. Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
  20. Coming Up For Air by Sarah Leipciger
  21. The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
  22. Katheryn Howard: the Tainted Queen by Alison Weir
  23. An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris
  24. The Rose Code by Kate Quinn – Reached Mount Blanc
  25. The Dressmaker by Beryl Bainbridge
  26. Enigma by Robert Harris
  27. Above the Bay of Angels by Rhys Bowen
  28. Framley Parsonage by Anthony Trollope
  29. Dead Tomorrow by Peter James
  30. Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronvitch
  31. Fludd by Hilary Mantel
  32. Pietr the Latvian by Georges Simenon
  33. Country Dance by Margiad Evans
  34. Just Like the Other Girls by Claire Douglas
  35. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
  36. The Quiet American by Graham Greene – Reached Mt. Vancouver
  37. The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
  38. The Grand Banks Cafe by Georges Simenon
  39. The Night at the Crossroads by Georges Simenon
  40. Fifty-Fifty by Steve Cavanagh 

My thanks to Bev for hosting Mount TBR 2021. And so on to Mount TBR 2022

Books must be owned by you prior to January 1, 2022. No library books.  Any reread may count, regardless of how long you’ve owned it prior to 2022, provided you have not counted it for a previous Mount TBR Challenge.  Audiobooks and E-books may count if they are yours and they are one of your primary sources of backlogged books. You may count “Did Not Finish” books provided they meet your own standard for such things, you do not plan to ever finish it, and you move it off your mountain [give it away, sell it, etc. OR remove it from your e-resources].

There is no page limit–if it was published as a book, it counts. No single short stories–but collections of short stories do count. And you do not have to review the books you read.

There are a number of different levels to choose from:

Pike’s Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile/s
Mount Blanc: Read 24 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Vancouver: Read 36 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Ararat: Read 48 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Kilimanjaro: Read 60 books from your TBR pile/s
El Toro*: Read 75 books from your TBR pile/s (*aka Cerro El Toro in South America)
Mt. Everest: Read 100 books from your TBR pile/s
Mount Olympus (Mars): Read 150+ books from your TBR pile/s

and for now I’m aiming to climb Mt Vancouver, which is to read 36 books and hope to move up to the higher levels if I can.

What’s in a Name Challenge Wrap Up Post

Published on by Margaret3 Comments

This challenge was hosted again for 2021 by Andrea at Carolina Book Nook. It ends tomorrow, 31st December 2021.

The idea of the challenge was to read a book in any format (hard copy, ebook, audio) with a title that fits into each category. I’ve managed to complete the challenge by finishing reading Fifty Fifty only the day before yesterday and have not had time yet to write my review.

These are the books I read, with links to my reviews

  1. One’ or ‘1‘: The One I Was by Eliza Graham
  2. Repeated word: Fifty Fifty by Steve Cavanagh – review to follow
  3. Reference to outer space: The Moon Sister by Lucinda Riley
  4. Possessive noun: The Queen’s Spy by Clare Marchant
  5. Botanical word: A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville
  6. Article of clothing: The Dressmaker by Beryl Bainbridge

My thanks go to Andrea for hosting this challenge – it was not as easy as I thought it would be, but it was most enjoyable finding books to fit the category, especially for the ‘repeated word’.

Andrea is hosting this challenge again for 2022 – and I’ll be signing up for it in a later post.

Reading Challenges Update

Published on by Margaret10 Comments

I’m taking part in a few reading challenges and as we’re now in the second half of the year I thought I’d take stock of where I’m up to in each one.

Back to the Classics

There are 12 categories and I have read books from 4 categories. Still a long way to go:

  1. A 19th century classic: any book first published from 1800 to 1899 – Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens 1857. Not yet reviewed.
  2. A 20th century classic: any book first published from 1900 to 1971 – Checkmate to Murder by E C R Lorac – 1944
  3. A classic by a woman author – Orlando by Virginia Woolf – 1928.
  4. A children’s classic – The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit.

Mount TBR 2021

I aiming to read 36 books and so far I’ve read 25, although I haven’t reviewed all of them, so I’m more than halfway there:

  1. The Measure of Malice edited by Martin Edwards
  2. Exit by Belinda Bauer
  3. The One I Was by Eliza Graham
  4. Cruel Acts by Jane Casey
  5. The Cutting Place by Jane Casey
  6. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
  7. English Pastoral by James Rebanks
  8. The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood
  9. Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell
  10. For the Record by David Cameron
  11. The Moon Sister by Lucinda Riley
  12. The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
  13. We Are Not In The World by Conor O’Callaghan
  14. A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville
  15. Ice Bound by Jerri Nielsen
  16. Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie
  17. The Mirror Dance by Catriona McPherson
  18. Inland by Tea Obreht
  19. Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
  20. Coming Up For Air by Sarah Leipciger
  21. The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
  22. Katheryn Howard: the Tainted Queen by Alison Weir
  23. An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris
  24. The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
  25. The Dressmaker by Beryl Bainbridge

Wanderlust Bingo

Complete the Wanderlust Bingo card containing 25 categories. Any type of book counts – crime, fiction, science fiction, non-fiction. A country can only appear once. I’ve read books that qualify for 8 squares, so I need to get reading more widely as so many of the books I read are located in the UK or the USA.

What’s in a Name?

I’ve read 3 of the 6 categories – so I’m doing OK:

  1. One’ or ‘1‘: The One I Was by Eliza Graham
  2. Repeated word:
  3. Reference to outer space: The Moon Sister by Lucinda Riley
  4. Possessive noun:
  5. Botanical word:
  6. Article of clothing: The Dressmaker by Beryl Bainbridge

20 Books of Summer

This is a challenge I don’t usually complete. This year I’ve substituted two of the books I initially chose (which is allowed in the rules) and have read 9 of them and have reviewed 5. This challenge runs from 1 June to 1 September, so I’m doing OK.

  1. The Railway Children by E Nesbit read
  2. An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris
  3. The Dressmaker by Beryl Bainbridge
  4. The Killing Kind by Jane Casey
  5. The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
  6. Coming Up for Air by Sarah Leipciger
  7. The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
  8. Katheryn Howard, The Tainted Queen by Alison Weir
  9. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

The Classics Club

This is 5 year challenge to read 50 classics books. I have just 3 books left to read!

Wanderlust Bingo

Published on by Margaret6 Comments

This is a brand new challenge for 2021 devised by FictionFan.

This is the safe way to travel for 2021. Virtual travelling is the way to go, so I’m looking forward to seeing new places this year in my reading. Any type of book will count – crime, fiction, science fiction, non-fiction and a country can only appear once. Like FictionFan I’m not planning right now which books to read, but I’ll just wait and see what boxes I can fill from my general reading, and then towards the end I’ll frantically try to find books to fill in any missing squares! 

What’s In a Name? 2021

Published on by Margaret3 Comments

This year I am planning to take part in just a few Reading Challenges and this is one of them:

The What’s In A Name Challenge is being hosted again for 2021 by Andrea at Carolina Book Nook.  I didn’t take part last year, after doing it for several years, but I fancy taking part this year.

The challenge runs from 1st January 2021 to 31st December 2021. You can sign up any time, but can only count books you read between those dates. Read a book in any format (hard copy, ebook, audio) with a title that fits into each category. Don’t use the same book for more than one category. Creativity for matching the categories is not only allowed, it’s encouraged! You can choose your books as you go or make a list ahead of time.

I’ve picked out some possibilities for the categories, from my TBR books. There are others I could choose, so this is just a starting list – I may read other books instead.

‘One’ or ‘1’                                The One I Was by Eliza Graham

Repeated word                       Sing, Jess, Sing by Tricia Coxon

Reference to outer space    Blue Moon by Lee Child

Possessive noun                     Child’s Play by Reginald Hill

Botanical word                       Black Water Lilies by Michel Bussi

Article of clothing                 The Dressmaker by Beryl Bainbridge