Spring Reading Contest Recap

So it's almost the end of the Spring Reading Thing over at Callapidderdays and I have not quite finished my original list of books to try and read. My original goal was twenty books long. I zoomed through over half the list in the first month, then got hit with a bunch of review books to read and write about, so the reading challange list got set aside. Finally I hit a bit of a reading slump where everything that I picked up I put down very quickly.

But I did learn a few things from this challange:

The Kushiel Series is probably one of the best group of books I've read in a long time. Both Elengil and I devoured them quickly and have since recomended the series to many of our friends.

I created my list from books I had on my TBR pile that I had gotten through bookcrossing for the most part. Some of these came from yankee book swaps and were not what I would nornally pick out to read. I was pleasently surprised by more than a few of the titles that I ended up reading.

The one book that I didn't finish is Night of the wolf by Alice Bordchardt. I really want to give this book a good chance, as I love a good werewolf story. However, I find myself with little patience and haven't gotten past the first chapter all three times I've picked it up over the last three months. I'm not too sure if this is because of the afformentioned reading slump I hit, or if it is because of the book. I'll have to try again in a month or two to try again before passing the book on unread.


I found this a great exercise in reading what I have here in the house unread. So often I end up going to the library for new books, that I tend to forget the small pile I have here at home. I'm looking forward to taking part in the Fall Reading Challange to see what else I can get knocked out of my TBR pile. However, I don't expect it to be half as many books as my schedule is going to be much different in a few months from now.

Summer Contest - Hidden Treasures of Fiction

It's time for the Hidden Treasures Summer Reading Contest!

Susan at West of Mars is having another contest and this time I'm giving all of you lots of notice. This summer's theme is Hidden Treasures of fiction; books or authors who have never gotten near the Best-seller list (any of them) but who you think deserve to be. So review your own books, your best friend, or that weird guy around the corner who happened to write a brilliant book (even if you cross the street when you see him coming) or that deserving author you've been keeping secret. Our hope is that this contest will help promote middle-list authors who are often overlooked in favour of the blockbuster novels and hopefully boost the authors' sales.

The rules are simple:
1. Find a book that's a Hidden Treasure. That means a book that hasn't made it to a best-seller list anywhere that you can find. A suggested reading list will be available at WestofMars.com (at the time of posting the list hasn't been posted but I'll update the link to the site once it is). Feel free to find your own treasure, though.

2. The book MUST be from a royalty-paying publisher. If in doubt, ask Susan.

3. Read it.

4. Post a review somewhere on the Internet between July 15 and August 15 (some popular locations for the last contest were reviewers' websites or blogs, Gather.com, and/or BookCrossing.com).

5. Sign the Mr. Linky at West of Mars. Include the permalink for your review.

6. Yes, you can use a Hidden Treasure book that fulfills another contest or reading challenge.

7. Yes, you can review more than one book.

8. If, for some reason, you don't want to win a prize, let Susan know.

9. If you have suggestions for the Hidden Treasures Suggested Reading List, or a prize to offer the winners, drop Susan an e-mail at susan at westofmars dot com.

10. Prizes will be awarded August 20. Winners will be contacted and winning list will be posted no later than 22 August; be sure to have a way for us to contact you.

Pretty simple right? So spend the next month deciding on your book(s) and I look forward to reading your reviews.

These are the people who have helped in the background to get this contest off the ground and running: West of Mars, Breeni Books, Morsie Reads, Eclectic Closet, Confessions of a Literary Persuasion, Writing Aspirations and Front Street Reviews

spring reading challange update

It is always nice to get a package unexpectedly in the mail :)

Due to Random House's generosity, I have a second copy of Sister Mine to use for a contest prize sometime in the future. Look for a review in the next few weeks.

Well, it will be two weeks tommorrow since the start of the Spring Reading Thing challange. So far I have finished twelve of my twenty books listed (seven of which were in the first weekend alone!). I'm working on two more and looking forwards to the others on the list. If I finish this list by the end of the challange, I'll have read most of my outstanding TBR pile that didn't get mixed up into the PC and stored up.

It will be a change of pace for me. I feel bad that I won't get to the older books traded through bookcrossing until we get bookshelves built and books out of storage. But what can I do? I can't exactly get to most of them right now.

I have noticed that the tote I keep the available books in once they are read has gotten a bit packed. So, feel free to take a look at it and let me know if you would like to read any of them :) (just keep in mind any titles with a parenthasis around a name by the status I don't have in my possesion anymore)

I have a feeling the leave a book/take a book shelf at the local coffee shop, and possible the metra station (if I can get over there when the waiting room is open), will get some books added to them as well in the near future.

Spring Reading Challange

Katrina over at Callapidder Daysis hosting the Spring Reading Challange. Books I plan on reading this spring for the spring reading challange:

1. Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey
2. Kushiel's Chosen by Jacqueline Carey
3. Kushiel's Avatar by Jacqueline Carey
4. Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey
5. Zen Seeing, Zen Drawing by Frederick Franck
6. Rhaeva By Linda Moore
7. Night of the wolf by Alice Bordchardt
8. Tom O Bedlam by Robert Silverberg
9. In the Forest at Midnight by Rita Pratt Smith
10. Good Benito by Alan Lightman
11. Geography of a Heart by Fenton Johnson
12. Hotspur by Rita Mae Brown
13. Witchblood by Will Shetterly
14. Slow Fall to Dawn by Stephan Leigh
15. The Year of the Quiet Sun by Wilson Tucker
16. Riders of the Sidhe by Kenneth Flint
17. The R Master by Gordon Dickson
18. The Forest People by Colin M. Turnbull
19. Milk Glass Moon by Adriana Trigiani
20. Eat Cake by Jeanne Ray

This is a good starting list, as I don't know how many review books I'll have to slip in the way between now and the end of June. As you can see, I'm planning on tackling a big series that I've had on my I need to read this list for awhile now. the others are books on my TBR pile gotten through bookcrossing and the old book relay site.