June Wrap Up - Half Done!!

Oh wow, I cannot believe that the year is half done already! I have accomplished a lot so far this year, but not much of it has been bookish!
- wrote the CMA Entrance Exam
- completed another course toward my MBA, and started another last week
- got back into going to the gym
- started running and training for a 10 mile road race
- went to Chicago
- booked and planned 2 vacations (Vegas & Disney)
- working towards my 30 before 30 list!
busy busy!

But, I have been reading a little bit too, so just like with my quarterly wrap up I think its best to take a look at my original challenge lists and see how I'm doing!

Challenge #1:  2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

1) Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver 2) The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin 3) Matched - Ally Condie 4) Life of Pi - Yann Martel finished January 23/13 5) Remember Me? - Sophie Kinsella 6) Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen finished February 24/13 7) The Constant Princess - Phillipa Gregory 8) Something Borrowed - Emily Giffin 9) Gone - Michael Grant 10) The Maze Runner - James Dashner finished June 18/13 11) Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor finished April 21/13 12) Twenties Girl - Sophie Kinsella 13) Forever - Judy Blume 14) Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk 15) Uglies - Scott Westerfeld 16) The Nanny Diaries - Emma McLaughlin 17) The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society - Annie Barrows  finished May 30/13 18) One For the Money - Janet Evanovich finished April 22/13 19) On the Jellicoe Road - Melina Marchetta 20) Learning to Fly - Victoria Beckham Ok, so this one isn't going so hot 6/20 books. Which is extra disgraceful because half of these books were ones I never got to from the 2012 TBR Reading Challenge List! I have 15 books on my Summer Reading List, and 5 of those are on this list, which is pretty good. I hate to say it, but I'm guessing some of these will end up on my 2014 list...

Challenge #2: A-Z Book Challenge
A: The Adoration of Jenna Fox - Mary E. Pearson finished June 25, 2013 B: Blue Bloods - Melissa de la Cruz (double points!..Scattergories, anyone??) C: City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare finished February 26/13 D: The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank E: Eragon - Christopher Paolini F: Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk G: Girls in White Dresses - Jennifer Close H: Hourglass - Myra McEntire I: I am Number Four - Pittacus Lore finished May 23/13 J: Juliet, Naked - Nick Hornby K: The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness L: The Luxe - Anna Godberson M: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs  Finished April 5, 2013 N: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith O: Outlander - Diana Gabaldon P: The Princess Bride - William Goldman Q: Quidditch Through the Ages - J. K. Rowling R: Rise of the Evening Star (Fablehaven #2) - Brandon Mull finished June 4, 2013 S: Shatter Me - Tahereh Mafi Finished May 6, 2013 T: A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini U: Under The Never Sky - Veronica Rossi finished June 25, 2013 V: The Virgin Sucides - Jeffrey Eugenides W: Wanderlove - Kristen Hubbard X: Elixir - Hilary Duff Y: Yearbook - Ally Condie Z: Zombie Queen of Newbury High - Amanda Ashby
This list is also going terribly. 26 books here and I have read 7. Ouch. From my summer list I have 3, and that still won't get me to half. I'm not sure if I am going to do this challenge next year, but hopefully I can get most read from this year. Many of these books I'm just not that excited to read, and they only ended up here because they started with the right letter.
Challenge #3 - 2013 Paranormal Reading Challenge

January - Vampires - Marked by P.C. Cast Finished February 4, 2013 (just a few days late)
February - Angels/Nephilim - Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare Finished April 1, 2013
March - Fey - The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa Finished March 27, 2013
April - Demons - Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor finished April 21/13
May - Aliens - I am Number Four by Pitticus Lore finished May 23/13
June - Zombies - Feed by Mira Grant
July - Witches and Wizards - Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia
August - Mermaids - Aquamarine by Alice Hoffman
September - Dragons - Eragon Christpoher Paolini
October - Ghosts - Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendra Blake
November - Werewolves/Shape-shifters - Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater Changed to 'Stolen (Women of the Otherworld #2) by Kelley Armstrong' because Shiver was my January Book for a different challenge!
December - Time Travel - Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Finally, one that I am mostly on track with! I haven't quite finished Feed, but I have started it and I am almost done. This challenge is going well.

Challenge #4 - 2013 Sequel Challenge

1) City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare finished February 26/13

2) Clockwork Prince - Cassandra Clare Finished April 1, 2013

3) Shadow Kiss - Richelle Mead Finished May 3, 2013

4) A Clash of Kings - George R.R. Martin finished February 17, 2013

5) Glory In Death - J.D. Robb finished April 26, 2013

6) The Last Little Blue Envelope - Maureen Johnson

7) Shadow Souls - L.J. Smith

8) Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers - Louise Rennieson

9) Rise of the Evening Star - Brandon Mull finished June 4, 2013

10) Isla and the Happily Ever After - Stephanie Perkins

This one is also going well, 6/10 at halfway through the year. One of these is on my summer list, which keeps me on track. This challenge list next year is going to be my longest, as I'm determined to get through some series' next year!

Challenge #5 - 2013 Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge

Book 4: Dead to The World Finished April 13, 2013

Book 5: Dead as a Doornail Finished May 11, 2013
Book 6: Definitely Dead

Again, this one is on track! I like vampire books in the fall, and I only planned to read 4 of these, so I will be able to finish pretty quickly in September or October!

Challenge #6 - Monthly Key Word Challenge

January: Shiver - Maggie Steifvater finished January 28, 2013

February: PS I Love You - Cecelia Ahern finished March 12, 2013 (wee bit late...)

March: Be Careful What You Wish For - Alexandra Potter finished April 24, 2013

April: Shadow Kiss - Richelle Mead Finished May 3, 2013

May: Shatter Me - Tahereh Mafi Finished May 6, 2013

June: Under The Never Sky - Veronica Rossi Finished June 27, 2013

July: Shadow Souls - L.J Smith

August: A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess

September: Blue Bloods - Melissa de la Cruz

October: Glory In Death - J.D. Robb finished April 26, 2013 ... crap I didn't realize this was October's book. I will have to read Immortal in Death instead

November: Forever - Judy Blume

December: The Princess Bride - William Goldman

And the last planned one is also on track. Apparently it is just long lists I have trouble with!! This should be no problem to finish by the end of the year.

The very last challenge is another one that isn't going so well... I copied this over on June 18, so it's not completely accurate at June 30, but I was 9 books behind then, and even though I have added two more read, now I'm 10 behind... 75 was a bit optimistic. I read 59 last year, maybe I shouldn't have tried for such a jump. Especially since I have been reading some really long books, like the Fire & Ice books.

You have read 25 books toward your goal of 75 books.

25 of 75 (33%)

At your current pace, you're 9 books (13%) behind schedule.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Goodreads Summary: Life of Pi is a masterful and utterly original novel that is at once the story of a young castaway who faces immeasurable hardships on the high seas, and a meditation on religion, faith, art and life that is as witty as it is profound. Using the threads of all of our best stories, Yann Martel has woven a glorious spiritual adventure that makes us question what it means to be alive, and to believe.

Growing up in Pondicherry, India, Piscine Molitor Patel - known as Pi - has a rich life. Bookish by nature, young Pi acquires a broad knowledge of not only the great religious texts but of all literature, and has a great curiosity about how the world works. His family runs the local zoo, and he spends many of his days among goats, hippos, swans, and bears, developing his own theories about the nature of animals and how human nature conforms to it. Pi’s family life is quite happy, even though his brother picks on him and his parents aren’t quite sure how to accept his decision to simultaneously embrace and practise three religions - Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam.

But despite the lush and nurturing variety of Pi’s world, there are broad political changes afoot in India, and when Pi is sixteen, his parents decide that the family needs to escape to a better life. Choosing to move to Canada, they close the zoo, pack their belongings, and board a Japanese cargo ship called the Tsimtsum. Travelling with them are many of their animals, bound for zoos in North America. However, they have only just begun their journey when the ship sinks, taking the dreams of the Patel family down with it. Only Pi survives, cast adrift in a lifeboat with the unlikeliest oftravelling companions: a zebra, an orang-utan, a hyena, and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

Thus begins Pi Patel’s epic, 227-day voyage across the Pacific, and the powerful story of faith and survival at the heart of Life of Pi. Worn and scared, oscillating between hope and despair, Pi is witness to the playing out of the food chain, quite aware of his new position within it. When only the tiger is left of the seafaring menagerie, Pi realizes that his survival depends on his ability to assert his own will, and sets upon a grand and ordered scheme to keep from being Richard Parker’s next meal.

As Yann Martel has said in one interview, “The theme of this novel can be summarized in three lines. Life is a story. You can choose your story. And a story with an imaginative overlay is the better story.” And for Martel, the greatest imaginative overlay is religion. “God is a shorthand for anything that is beyond the material - any greater pattern of meaning.” In Life of Pi, the question of stories, and of what stories to believe, is front and center from the beginning, when the author tells us how he was led to Pi Patel and to this novel: in an Indian coffee house, a gentleman told him, “I have a story that will make you believe in God.” And as this novel comes to its brilliant conclusion, Pi shows us that the story with the imaginative overlay is also the story that contains the most truth.
Why I Read This Book: I have been meaning to read this book for ages, it was actually on my 2012 TBR Reading Challenge list and I never got to it, so it got put on my 2013 TBR Reading Challenge list as well. I finally picked it up as I knew I was going to want to see the movie coming out.

Review: Whew, what can I say about this book that that lengthy summary doesn't? This was such a fantastic book! It was a bit slow getting through part one, as I was like "what is even going on?!" But when you get to Part Two you just can't put it down! I see what the hype is about with this book, and I can't wait to see the movie!

Rating:

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

My first book of 2013! Yay!!

Goodreads Summary: A BIG NOVEL ABOUT A SMALL TOWN ...

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils ... Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?
Why I Read This Book: I'm not sure its possible at this point for J.K. Rowling to write a book that I won't read, however this was very generously gifted to me, and I read it right away. This wasn't on any of my official reading lists, but as it was published in Sept 2012 it does fit the parameters for the 2013 TBR Reading Challenge.

Review: This was a great book, but it's definitely different than Rowling's Harry Potter series. The book has really good character development, but it doesn't have much action. I think that this type of book isn't for everyone, and some of her fans may feel let down. I was not one of them, I enjoyed the small-town politics story, and the going-ons of everyday people after strange events. Younger Rowling fans shouldn't read this, but her NA and adult will probably like it. Its definitely on my favorites list, as the book does really make you think about things. Without spoiling things, it really is a great read.

Rating:

March Wrap Up

Although I was not doing my reading in the month of March, and had set my goals back in February based on the end of April, to  keep up with my good blog-posting streak as of late, I wanted to let you know how March actually was.

Read

PS I Love You was my February book for the Monthly Key Word Challenge

The Iron Daughter was my March book for the 2013 Paranormal Reading Challenge

and Clockwork Prince was my February book also for the 2013 Paranormal Reading Challenge as well as part of the 2013 Sequel Challenge

Quarterly Update

Since the end of March marks 1/4 of the year being done I thought I would re-cap the progress I have made on my lists

Challenge #1:  2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

1) Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver 2) The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin 3) Matched - Ally Condie 4) Life of Pi - Yann Martel finished January 23/13 5) Remember Me? - Sophie Kinsella 6) Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen finished February 24/13 7) The Constant Princess - Phillipa Gregory 8) Something Borrowed - Emily Giffin 9) Gone - Michael Grant 10) The Maze Runner - James Dashner 11) Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor ...on deck for March/April 12) Twenties Girl - Sophie Kinsella 13) Forever - Judy Blume 14) Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk 15) Uglies - Scott Westerfeld 16) The Nanny Diaries - Emma McLaughlin 17) The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Society - Annie Barrows 18) One For the Money - Janet Evanovich 19) On the Jellicoe Road - Melina Marchetta 20) Learning to Fly - Victoria Beckham

Challenge #2: A-Z Book Challenge
A: The Adoration of Jenna Fox - Mary E. Pearson B: Blue Bloods - Melissa de la Cruz (double points!..Scattergories, anyone??) C: City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare finished February 26/13 D: The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank E: Eragon - Christopher Paolini F: Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk G: Girls in White Dresses - Jennifer Close H: Hourglass - Myra McEntire I: I am Number Four - Pittacus Lore J: Juliet, Naked - Nick Hornby K: The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness L: The Luxe - Anna Godberson M: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs N: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith O: Outlander - Diana Gabaldon P: The Princess Bride - William Goldman Q: Quidditch Through the Ages - J. K. Rowling R: Rise of the Evening Star (Fablehaven #2) - Brandon Mull S: Shatter Me - Tahereh Mafi T: A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini U: Under The Never Sky - Veronica Rossi V: The Virgin Sucides - Jeffrey Eugenides W: Wanderlove - Kristen Hubbard X: Elixir - Hilary Duff Y: Yearbook - Ally Condie Z: Zombie Queen of Newbury High - Amanda Ashby
Challenge #3 - 2013 Paranormal Reading Challenge

January - Vampires - Marked by P.C. Cast Finished February 4, 2013 (just a few days late)
February - Angels/Nephilim - Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare Finished
March - Fey - The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa Finished
April - Demons - Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor ...on deck for March/April
May - Aliens - I am Number Four by Pitticus Lore
June - Zombies - Feed by Mira Grant
July - Witches and Wizards - Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia
August - Mermaids - Aquamarine by Alice Hoffman
September - Dragons - Eragon Christpoher Paolini
October - Ghosts - Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendra Blake
November - Werewolves/Shape-shifters - Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater Changed to 'Stolen (Women of the Otherworld #2) by Kelley Armstrong' because Shiver was my January Book for a different challenge!
December - Time Travel - Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Challenge #4 - 2013 Sequel Challenge

1) City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare finished February 26/13

2) Clockwork Prince - Cassandra Clare Finished

3) Shadow Kiss - Richelle Mead ...on deck for March/April

4) A Clash of Kings - George R.R. Martin finished February 17, 2013

5) Glory In Death - J.D. Robb 

6) The Last Little Blue Envelope - Maureen Johnson

7) Shadow Souls - L.J. Smith

8) Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers - Louise Rennieson

9) Rise of the Evening Star - Brandon Mull

10) Isla and the Happily Ever After - Stephanie Perkins

Challenge #5 - 2013 Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge

Book 4 ...on deck for March/April

Challenge #6 - Monthly Key Word Challenge

January: Shiver - Maggie Steifvater finished January 28, 2013

February: PS I Love You - Cecelia Ahern finished March 12, 2013 (wee bit late...)

March: Be Careful What You Wish For - Alexandra Potter ...on deck for March/April

April: Shadow Kiss - Richelle Mead ...on deck for March/April

May: Shatter Me - Tahereh Mafi

June: Under The Never Sky - Veronica Rossi

July: Shadow Souls - L.J Smith

August: A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess

September: Blue Bloods - Melissa de la Cruz

October: Glory In Death - J.D. Robb

November: Forever - Judy Blume

December: The Princess Bride - William Goldman

So, I am definitely doing better with some than others. I am up to date on the 2013 Paranormal Reading Challenge which is great. I did think I would have progressed better with both the A-Z Reading Challenge and the TBR Reading Challenge as well. I'm pretty happy with the 2013 Sequel Challenge so far too, but I am very behind on my Monthly Key Word. 

Right now I have the following books checked out of the library:

Dead to the World with be the first of four for the Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge

Miss Peregrine's and Shatter Me are both on the A-Z list, and Shatter Me is also my May book for the Monthly Key Word Challenge.

Therefore, I would really like to read the following in April (again, so so optimistic of me!)

1) Dead to the World - Charlaine Harris

2) Be Careful What You Wish For - Alexandra Potter

3) Shadow Kiss - Richelle Mead

4) Glory In Death - J.D. Robb

5) Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor

6) Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs

7) One For the Money - Janet Evanovich

I will then be all caught up on my monthly ones, and have a few more crossed off every other list too! Fabulous! Now, if I can just stick to it!

February Wrap Up

Hello! World's Worst Blogger here (but I said I would be MIA for awhile, so I don't feel too bad). I have to say that unfortunately updating on here, and even reading in general has taken a back seat these days (like the back seat of a school bus it's so low on my priority list right now!) Which is horrible, but I have been travelling for work, travelling for leisure, still working 2 jobs, and I'm in school... so, really I have been truly busy! Anyway, even though its almost 2 weeks late, I did want to post a quick February wrap up. I still won't be able to find time for any book reviews until the end of April (but I promise I will write and schedule a whole bunch so I have everything I have read out there! Promise! Right after I finish my Stats exam!!)

Ok, so I had very ambitious hopes for February due to how much I was going to be travelling. And I did definitely read more than if I hadn't been on planes, but not near as much as I had hoped to get to. I'm so behind in my reading, I'm worried I will fail all my challenges! :'(

Anyway...

Read

Again, I have no reviews to link up, but Clash of Kings was on my 2013 Sequels list, Marked was my January book on the 2013 Paranormal, City of Ashes was on my A-Z list and my 2013 Sequel list, and Water for Elephants was on my 2013 TBR Pile list. So that's not bad.

SUPPOSED TO HAVE READ

Ok, so I had made plans to also read PS I Love You, which was my Monthly Key Word Challenge book for February, and I have about 20 pages left in it. So I can finish that tonight (unless I fall asleep with it in my hands like last night...) And I was also supposed to read Clockwork Prince as that was my February Paranormal Challenge book. I will read that one next. Then I'm going to read Club Dead and Glory In Death after that. So, I definitely won't be able to get to Be Careful What You Wish For - Alexandra Potter for my March Key Word book, or The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa for the Paranormal Challenge. And since March is already almost half over, Clockwork Prince, Club Dead, and Glory In Death are all I'm going to get to read. Hopefully I can finish all of those!!

Since I like planning so much, and list making, and challenge meeting, and since my semester will be over April 16th, I do have hope for April being a successful reading month, so I will get through the following but the end of April (making this my challenge for the next 6 weeks basically):

I better get reading!

January Wrap Up

Hello Everyone!

So, I know I'm totally off my schedule, but unfortunately it is going to remain that way for the foreseeable future as well. I'm totally crazy busy these days that when I have some down time, I don't ever want to spend it sitting in from of the computer! So, I'm sorry, but you won't be hearing much of me for the next 2 months!

I did want to get this wrap up post done though, because I am still trying to be serious about all the challenges I have taken on this year, so here's what I managed to consume during the month of January, versus what I was "supposed" to read.

Read

I haven't actually posted reviews for any of them yet, so I won't be able to link up on the 2013 TBR Reading Challenge, but they are read, so I feel rather accomplished over it. Life of Pi was on my official challenge list for the 2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge, and Shiver was my January book for the Monthly Key Word Challenge.

Supposed to Have Read

Well, there is only two challenges that go by each month, so those are really the only ones that I can fail this early on. I was supposed to have read Marked for the Paranormal reading challenge, and I'm only about 1/3 of the way through it, but at least I have started it, so I'll consider that a 'pass' anyway, maybe now a 'win', but a pass. Also, I'm about half way through Clash of Kings which is on my list for the 2013 Sequel Challenge as well, so that's pretty good. It's a really long book and it took a bit of a back burned when I realized how few days were left in January and I still had to read both Shiver and Marked.

February Plans

For February, obviously I want to finish both Marked and Clash of Kings, and I will want to read P.S I love You and Clockwork Prince as they are my February books, but my complete goal are these:

In February I have to fly to Toronto, fly back to St. John's, and fly to Chicago so I will have lots of plane time which = lots of reading time in February, so I think I can handle all these! That way I will have a least one, and in many cases more than one, book crossed of every challenge list! And it's really only 6 books because I'm already half done the first two! Totally manageable :)

Happy Reading everyone!

2013 Challenges

Hello! Hope everyone had (or is still having!) a fabulous holiday! I know I did. I had my parents come visit for a few days, and the BF's fam was in town too! We had a lovely time, and I even got a few fantastic prezzies to show off to! Now the holidays are normally a great time to get down to reading and blogging without a pesky job getting in the way, but I didn't get any of either done! I have just been too busy! But, as I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to set up some reading challenges for myself. I'll write a post with them now, but I'm still on the look for more! If you are doing any or know of ones I haven't picked, let me know!

I will add these to my challenges tab once I know that I'm done adding them. Also, in the next few days I'm going to pre-write a ton of posts, so hopefully I will have tons of new content in January! Warning: This is a really, really, long post!

Challenge #1:  2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

I did the 2012 one, and even though I totally dropped the ball on it around August or September (with the monthly wrap-ups, etc.) I still thought it was awesomely fun! I will definitely be creating a new list this year, and I'm going to choose more realistic books so I might complete it! Super excited about this one! Check out the challenge hosted by some amazing bloggers here! The books I'm adding to my 'official' list (I will surely read others though) are: 1) Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver 2) The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin 3) Matched - Ally Condie 4) Life of Pi - Yann Martel 5) Remember Me? - Sophie Kinsella 6) Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen 7) The Constant Princess - Phillipa Gregory 8) Something Borrowed - Emily Giffin 9) Gone - Michael Grant 10) The Maze Runner - James Dashner 11) Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor 12) Twenties Girl - Sophie Kinsella 13) Forever - Judy Blume 14) Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk 15) Uglies - Scott Westerfeld 16) The Nanny Diaries - Emma McLaughlin 17) The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Society - Annie Barrows 18) One For the Money - Janet Evanovich 19) On the Jellicoe Road - Melina Marchetta 20) Learning to Fly - Victoria Beckhan I'm only picking 20 this year for the official list, but like I said, I will have more. I'm shortening it because I know other challenges will have books that I could have put here. (Not to say you won't see the same book on more than one list, but I'm trying to avoid a lot of that happening).

Challenge #2: A-Z Book Challenge This challenge is fun, last year I did it with character names, but this year I found one with book titles, which I prefer because I want to make my reading list in advance! Check out the rules and sign up over here!
My list is:
A: The Adoration of Jenna Fox - Mary E. Pearson B: Blue Bloods - Melissa de la Cruz (double points!..Scattergories, anyone??) C: City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare D: The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank E: Eragon - Christopher Paolini F: Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk G: Girls in White Dresses - Jennifer Close H: Hourglass - Myra McEntire I: I am Number Four - Pittacus Lore J: Juliet, Naked - Nick Hornby K: The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness L: The Luxe - Anna Godberson M: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs N: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith O: Outlander - Diana Gabaldon P: The Princess Bride - William Goldman Q: Quidditch Through the Ages - J. K. Rowling R: Rise of the Evening Star (Fablehaven #2) - Brandon Mull S: Shatter Me - Tahereh Mafi T: A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini U: Under The Never Sky - Veronica Rossi V: The Virgin Sucides - Jeffrey Eugenides W: Wanderlove - Kristen Hubbard X: Elixir - Hilary Duff Y: Yearbook - Ally Condie Z: Zombie Queen of Newbury High - Amanda Ashby
This is a hefty list, but I'm feeling pretty optimistic! There is a lot here that I have really wanted to get to!

Challenge #3 - 2013 Paranormal Reading Challenge

Details here, but basically they have set out a topic for each month, and these are the books I'm going to read :)

January - Vampires - Marked by P.C. Cast 

February - Angels/Nephilim - Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare 

March - Fey - The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa 

April - Demons - I'm going to have to come back to this one... 

May - Aliens - I am Number Four by Pitticus Lore 

June - Zombies - Feed by Mira Grant 

July - Witches and Wizards - Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia 

August - Mermaids - Aquamarine by Alice Hoffman 

September - Dragons - Eragon Christpoher Paolini 

October - Ghosts - Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendra Blake 

November - Werewolves/Shape-shifters - Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater 

December - Time Travel - Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

I can't find a good one for Demons, so I'm going to wait and peruse other peoples lists to see if something draws me.

Challenge #4 - 2013 Sequel Challenge

This is another challenge hosted by Auntie Spinelli, with the details here. I'm only going to officially declare 10 books, but I read a lot of sequels, so I'm betting I will get more than that! The 10 are:

1) City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare

2) Clockwork Prince - Cassandra Clare

3) Shadow Kiss - Richelle Mead

4) A Clash of Kings - George R.R. Martin

5) Glory In Death - J.D. Robb

6) The Last Little Blue Envelope - Maureen Johnson

7) Shadow Souls - L.J. Smith

8) Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers - Louise Rennieson

9) Rise of the Evening Star - Brandon Mull

10) Isla and the Happily Ever After - Stephanie Perkins

Challenge #5 - 2013 Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge

I have been reading these books for a little while, and I have the first 3 reads. I'm going to participate in this to get a few more done. I'm declaring a Level 1, as I;m hoping to get through books 4, 5 & 6 this year.

Challenge #6 - Monthly Key Word Challenge

This sounded too fun not to try, check it out here.

My books are:

January: Shiver - Maggie Steifvater

February: PS I Love You - Cecelia Ahern

March: Be Careful What You Wish For - Alexandra Potter

April: Shadow Kiss - Richelle Mead

May: Shatter Me - Tahereh Mafi

June: Under The Never Sky - Veronica Rossi

July: Shadow Souls - L.J Smith

August: A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess

September: Blue Bloods - Melissa de la Cruz

October: Glory In Death - J.D. Robb

November: Forever - Judy Blume

December: The Princess Bride - William Goldman

Challenge #7 - Goodreads

Last, but not least... I;m going to declare 75 books on my Goodreads reading challenge this year :)

Happy reading in 2013 to you all, and may you have great luck with all challenges you chose to participate in!! Happy New Year!!