Reading Challenges – 2nd Quarter 2015

First is the #ReadingMyLibrary Challenge which ran during the month of April in celebration of National Library Week. It was hosted by Stefani at Caught Read Handed and Amy at Read What I Like.

I read the following four library books in April for a savings of almost $100:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J K Rowling
Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse #10) by Charlaine Harris
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Looking for Peyton Place by Barbara Delinsky (audio book)

Remember – libraries are for all year, not just one month!

20 Books of Summer

A new Reading Challenge added this quarter is 20 Books of Summer 2015 which runs from June 1 through September 4. It is hosted by Cathy at 746 Books. My complete list is on my original post.

I am right on schedule, having finished these seven books in June:
1. Among the Tibetans by Isabella L. Bird
2. Explosive Eighteen (Stephanie Plum #18) by Janet Evanovich
3. Deadlocked (Sookie Stackhouse #12) by Charlaine Harris
4. George Washington’s Secret Six by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger
5. Her Royal Spyness (Her Royal Spyness #1) by Rhys Bowen
6. The Assassin in the Marais (Victor Legris #4) by Claude Izner
7. The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoi

RMFAO 2015 Classics Challenge

My goal for this Challenge was Level 5: Professor – 12 or more books. With the addition of twelve books for the quarter, I successfully completed this Challenge. Never fear, I won’t be resting on my laurels but will continue to read Classics for the remaining six months of 2015. My dozen for this quarter were:
9. Calvary by Octave Mirbeau
10. South! The Story of Shackleton’s Last Expedition 1914-1917 by Sir Ernest Shackleton
11. The Little Demon by Feodor Sologub
12. Inca Land by Hiram Bingham
13. The Three Hostages (Richard Hannay #4) by John Buchan
14. Candide by Voltaire
15. Six Months in Mexico by Nellie Bly
16. Novels in Three Lines by Felix Feneon
17. Among the Tibetans by Isabella L. Bird
18. The Black Sheep/La Rabouilleuse by Honore de Balzac
19. The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoi
20. Afloat by Guy de Maupassant

RMFAO 2015 Genre Challenge

Still my favorite Reading Challenge this year! With a different genre each month, I am reading books I never would have read otherwise. A different level can be chosen for each month. My stats for the second quarter of 2015:

April – Young Adult (Level 2: Frequent Reader – 2 books):
1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J K Rowling
2. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

May – Classics/Literary (Level 5: Bookiopath – 5 books or more):
1. South! The Story of Shackleton’s Last Expedition 1914-1917 by Sir Ernest Shackleton
2. The Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamen by Howard Carter and A.C. Mace
3. Inca Land by Hiram Bingham
4. The Three Hostages by John Buchan
5. Candide by Voltaire
6. Six Months in Mexico by Nellie Bly
7. Novels in Three Lines by Felix Feneon

June – Non-Fiction (Level 3: Bookworm – 3 books):
1. Among the Tibetans by Isabella L. Bird
2. George Washington’s Secret Six by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger
3. Afloat by Guy de Maupassant

RMFAO 2015 Series Challenge

This is the same as Finishing the Series Reading Challenge 2015 below.

What An Animal Reading Challenge VIII 2015

Level 2: Read 7 – 12
4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J K Rowling (animals on the cover)
5. Deadlocked (Sookie Stackhouse #12) by Charlaine Harris (animals on the cover)

Cruisin’ Thru the Cozies Reading Challenge 2015

Level 4: Sleuth Extraordinaire – Read 20 or more
5. Finger Lickin’ Fifteen (Stephanie Plum #15) by Janet Evanovich
6. Dead Midnight (Sharon McCone #21) by Marcia Muller
7. Sizzling Sixteen (Stephanie Plum #16) by Janet Evanovich
8. Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen #1) by Joanne Fluke
9. Smokin’ Seventeen (Stephanie Plum #17) by Janet Evanovich
10. Strawberry Shortcake Murder (Hannah Swensen #2) by Joanne Fluke
11. Explosive Eighteen (Stephanie Plum #18) by Janet Evanovich
12. Her Royal Spyness (Royal Spyness #1) by Rhys Bowen

Finishing the Series Reading Challenge 2015

Level 4: Expert series reader – Complete 4 or more series. During this quarter, I read six of the remaining seventeen on the list as of March 31, leaving eleven to be read during the last half of 2015.

ALIEN NATION series (various authors)
5. Slag Like Me by Barry B Longyear

RICHARD HANNAY series by John Buchan
4. The Three Hostages

KINSEY MILLHONE series by Sue Grafton

STEPHANIE PLUM by Janet Evanovich
15. Finger Lickin’ Fifteen
16. Sizzling Sixteen
17. Smokin’ Seventeen
18. Explosive Eighteen

My Kind Of Mystery
February 1, 2015 – January 31, 2016

Level 5: Invisible Floor 41 or more:
11. Echo Park by Michael Connelly
12. Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
13. Finger Lickin’ Fifteen by Janet Evanovich
14. Slag Like Me by Barry B Longyear
15. Dead Midnight by Marcia Muller
16. Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich
17. Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke
18. Smokin’ Seventeen by Janet Evanovich
19. Strawberry Shortcake Murder by Joanne Fluke
20. The Three Hostages by John Buchan
21. Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
22. Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich
23. Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris
24. Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen
25. The Assassin in the Marais by Claude Izner

My 2015 Goodreads Challenge is one hundred books. As of June 30, I have finished fifty-seven books.

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That’s the second quarter report (April – June) for 2015 Reading Challenges in which I am participating. All in all, a good quarter for reading.

#ReadingMyLibrary Challenge Wrap Up

National Library Week is in April. Stefani at Caught Read Handed and Amy at Read What I Like hosted the #ReadingMyLibrary Challenge which took place during the month of April.

I read four library books in April for a savings of almost $100.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J K Rowling
Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse #10) by Charlaine Harris
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Looking for Peyton Place by Barbara Delinsky (audio book)

Thanks to Stefani and Amy for putting this Reading Challenge together and promoting the use and support of libraries everywhere. Remember that libraries are for all year, not just one month!

#ReadingMyLibrary Challenge Weekly Update – April 25

I’m currently reading my third library book for April, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. My next library trip will be Tuesday, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to finish another book before May 1.

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This week’s topic:

Share how often you visit your library.

My library use over the last thirty years has been sporadic since I moved way out in the country. The libraries have been small ones. For twenty years, the nearest one was a 45 minute drive and it was only one room in City Hall. But it was actually a good one for me since the librarian enjoyed series mysteries. I wonder if her choices formed my taste for these. It’s possible. Before this I read more science fiction than mysteries. Currently I am much closer to a library, but it has limited hours. Part of the year I visit twice a month, but in the summer, between the heat and not having air conditioning in my vehicle, I probably only visit twice over the course of three months.

How about you? How often to you visit your library?

#ReadingMyLibrary Challenge Weekly Update – April 18

This week I finished Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse #10) by Charlaine Harris, my second library book for April.

Earlier today it was a joy to participate in the #ReadingMyLibrary chat on Twitter. It was hosted by Stefani in conjunction with this Challenge. Samantha, Eden and Leah were the other major attendees.

This week’s topic:

Why you love libraries or why you love being a librarian.

One thing I took away from the #ReadingMyLibrary chat was about audio books. I forget about them and, in fact, don’t even know where they’re located in my local library. It’s great that the catalog is online and so easy to search. I found two audio books of interest to me:

Looking for Peyton Place by Barbara Delinsky

I watched that old television series from the sixties. It was possibly the first nighttime soap in the US and I was riveted. I must see what this book is about!

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is the other audio book which caught my eye, possibly because of the movie which I’ve heard of but not seen.

I love librarians because they are so anxious to assist. They’ll show me where to find the audio books in a flash!

 I love libraries. It is always fun to browse when I have the time. Books, books and more books. What’s not to love?

#ReadingMyLibrary Challenge Weekly Update – April 11

I just finished the first of three books I checked out last week, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J K Rowling. Next up are Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse #10) by Charlaine Harris.

This week’s topic:

Books you would like to suggest to your library

Most of the books I would suggest that my library purchase are non-fiction. There are several wonderful books by archaeologist and Egyptologist Zahi Hawass. I was first aware of Dr. Hawass from a television special over a decade ago and over the years have seen him several times on The Discovery Channel. I have two of his books, but they are expensive and not always readily available used.

#ReadingMyLibrary Challenge Weekly Update – April 4

Oh, dear. Apparently I am the only one who has not yet read a library book for this month. I’m working on it though! I checked out three books on Tuesday and began Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone on Wednesday.

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This week’s topic:

Tell us a little about your library (include a picture if you can!).

I don’t have a digital camera or a phone which takes photos (apparently I’ll have to live without selfies), so have no photos of the interior to share. The photo above is from a page at the town of Geraldine’s website.

The librarians are wonderfully friendly. Stefani has heard before about how I left one day with way too many books. One librarian would tell me about a book I had to read, then rush off to the stacks to grab it. Another librarian would then take over and about the time she left to retrieve the recommended book, the other one would be returning. I chuckled later as I wondered if they were having a competition. Some great reading, only one turned out to be a dud for me.

#ReadingMyLibrary Reminder

Only a few days to go! It conveniently works out that my town/errand/shopping day is usually Tuesday. If all goes as planned I’ll be visiting my local library to check out the first batch of books on March 31 and ready to roll with the #ReadingMyLibrary Challenge on Wednesday, April 1.

If you haven’t spotted this Challenge yet and you’re wondering what it’s about, see my first post #ReadingMyLibrary or skip directly to a post by one of the co-hosts, Stefani at Caught Read Handed or Amy at Read What I Like.

In my initial post, I listed four books, two I definitely plan to read and two hopefuls should time permit. I’m now adding another definite:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
by J K Rowling

This is another book which will work into Young Adult month for the RMFAO 2015 Genre Challenge. With any luck, it will be a buddy read for several of us in that group.

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Support your local library. Celebrate National Library Week (April 12-18, 2015). Have you signed up yet? If not, why not? Go, let’s do this!

#ReadingMyLibrary Challenge

If your Book Budget is out of control or you just need to cut back, April is the perfect time to participate in the #ReadingMyLibrary Challenge. Lovely Librarians Stefani at Caught Read Handed and Amy at Read What I Like are hosting the Challenge and you may visit either blog to get the scoop and sign up. It only takes reading one library book during the month of April to qualify and the Library Scavenger Hunt the last half of April sounds like fun. Celebrate National Library Week!

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What will I be reading in April from my local library?

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The next one (or two if I’m lucky) in Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse series. When I decided to try this series last year after numerous recommendations, it was delightful to discover that my local library has the complete series.

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April is Young Adult month for the RMFAO 2015 Genre Challenge, so a great opportunity to read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell which has been on my TBR list since it was so highly recommended by Emma. Another YA which I will get to if time permits is The Fault in our Stars by John Green.

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Are you in?

Head on over to Stefani’s Caught Read Handed or Amy’s Read What I Like and sign up!