Thursday, July 7, 2016

Make Me Read It Readathon: The Votes Are In!

More info/sign-up here or here.

Thank you everyone who voted! Here's a screenshot of the results for next week's readathon:


I will be packing the top 5 books to enjoy on vacation. Will I have time to read them all? I can't say for sure, but I can try! A 24 in 48 Readathon is also coming up July 23-24, so I just may carry over the rest of my list.

I wanted to start next week with a clean bookish slate, but I am a couple of chapters into The Rose & the Dagger and I know I will not be able to finish it before Saturday. I'm not quite sure what to do about that yet. Oh well, a bookish dilemma isn't really such a bad dilemma to have! Happy reading everyone :)

Monday, July 4, 2016

2016 Reading Challenges: Mid-Year Progress

The other day, I did my mid-year check-in for the #ShelfLove challenge, so I thought I would take a look at my progress (or lack thereof) for all of my 2016 challenges. I thought I joined less this year? Actually, I did join less, but there are still a lot. Oh boy. Next year, I really need to work on my definition of "a few." Here we go...

Goal: 300 books
Progress: 193 books
That's 44 ahead of schedule -- doing well! This does include all types of books -- picture books, novellas, stand-alone short stories, graphic novels, audiobooks, etc., etc., so I've actually upped my goal a couple times since the beginning of year.


Show Your Shelves Some Love Challenge
Goal: 51+ books I owned prior to 2016
Progress: 20 books I owned prior to 2016
Could be better, could be worse! Full update here.

Goal: 80-100% of books I buy in 2016
Progress: 32% of books I bought in 2016
Well, it could be worse. I do think I need to cut myself off and play catch up though. I haven't even read all the picture books I bought this year yet! Is it possible to be in a read-aloud slump? Thoughts for another day, perhaps. For the record, I did NOT include the following in my stats:
1. books bought as gifts
2. cookbooks
3. books I had read previously, but bought a copy for my collection
4. books in an alternate format (i.e. audiobooks, illustrated editions, etc. of books I already own)

Goal: 60-74 points
Progress: 24 points
I was churning through Caldecott Medal books with my son, but then we hit a bit of a slump. We've also read a lot of Caldecott Honor books which don't count!

Goal: 3-6 series
Progress: 0 series
I've read 11 books that are part of a series (including graphic novels), but I have not completely caught up on any one series yet. Technically I am caught up on the Lumberjanes trade editions, but two more volumes come out this year, so I won't call that series done yet.

Goal: 6-9 banned or challenged books
Progress: 4 banned or challenged books
Since this is my own challenge, I'm glad I'm making decent progress on it.

Goal: 10 uniquely formatted books
Progress: 5 uniquely formatted books
Half way there and these books are just so much fun. I don't think I will have a problem reading 5 more this year.
Goal: 12 old ARCs/review copies
Progress: none!
I'm jumping ship on this one! I loved the idea of this challenge that ran in 2015 (and a few years prior), but it never officially came back for 2016 as I hoped it would when I "signed up." Since I'm not getting anywhere with the goal I set for myself anyway, I'm just going to call it quits. I should probably just donate the remaining ARCs I have on my shelf anyway, to be honest.
Goal: Track my reading and donate to a different organization at least once per quarter
Progress: On track!
I've donated every two months and chosen St. Jude's Children's Research HospitalReading Is Fundamental, and FINCA so far.

Friday, July 1, 2016

June #ShelfLove Update


It's time for a Mid-Year Check-In! Oh boy. Well, it seems I am always overambitious at the beginning of the year. I have ALL THE GOOD INTENTIONS in January. I always think it will be incredibly simple to just read from my own shelves and not go overboard with buying new books and borrowing from the library. But then I learn about interesting new books. Or I hear rave reviews from trusted sources. Or I find a new author or genre I want to try. Or a favorite author publishes a new book. Or I walk into a bookstore or visit a book website... You get the idea -- there are so many scenarios where all those good intentions fly right out the window. I conveniently forget just how many unread books I have in my house already. It's a sort of blindspot of mine I suppose. There is good news though! So some updates:

1. So far I have read 20 books that were on my shelves prior to 2016. In 2015, I read a total of 20 from my shelves for the whole year, so I'm well ahead of last year's pace. My goal for 2016 is 51+ though, so I better get back to it!

2. There are 6 months left in 2016, so there is plenty of time left to rearrange my TBR and balance out my reading choices.

3. I also have the Read the Books You Buy challenge going, so if I read some of my more recent acquisitions (i.e. purchased during 2016, rather than prior to 2016), they may not count for ShelfLove, but they are still books from my own shelves. So, progress?

During June, I read one measly book from my own shelves:

The Wrath and the Dawn, by Renée Ahdieh

June TOTAL:  1 book read from my shelves
2016 TOTAL: 20 books read from my shelves

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How has your 2016 reading been going?