ROR Spring 2011 Challenge List

Spring '11 Challenge List

 To Join go HERE

Here is your list for the Spring ‘11 (March, April, May) Reading Challenge! (March 1- May 31)

RULES:
1. Select ANY number of books to read that fit the category.
2. Post your list on the discussion board and blog (Name’s Winter 11 Challenge List)
3. If you need title suggestions please use the Discussion titled WINTER TITLE SUGGESTIONS if you don't see it please search (to try and minimize number of discussions)
4. Once you have read a book please find the corresponding discussion by searching you can search by 11 Winter # and use the number that corresponds with the list. (one will be created for each number on December 1, again, to try and minimize number of discussions) and post the book and title you read and rating, and review.
5. It is not required, but if you could post your review on the blog that would be great.
6. Reviews on the blog please include labels list the rating, author, and # of challenge only.
7. Audio books are okay
8. Rereads are okay
9. You can change your list at anytime

The List:
1. Read a book that received a 2 or 1 Star rating from Shelfari, or a D or F review rating from allaboutromance.com

2. Read a book with Death, Deadly, Dead in the Title

3. Read an author’s Debut Novel (1st book published)-DONE-The Duke's Wager by Edith Layton-5 stars

4. Choose a book where the Hero or Heroine has an unusual job-DONE-Once A Gentlemen by Candice Hern-3.5 stars

5. Read a book that either has a flower or rain in the title or on the cover (for Spring)-DONE-Lord Rivington's Lady by Eileen Jackson-4 stars

6. Read a book set in your home state, province or county

7. Read a book set in New York, Paris or London-DONE-The Disdainful Marquis by Edith Layton-3.5 stars (Paris)

8. Surprise Category – Close your eyes and pick a book off of your TBR Pile-DONE-The Bride Sale by Candice Hern-4 stars

9. Read a book with a “Love Triangle”-DONE-Lady Delafont's Dilemma by Donna Simpson-5 stars

10. Read a book from your “TBR Pile” that you’ve put off because your hate the cover or title-DONE-Sins of Midnight by Kimberly Logan-3 stars

11. Read a book that features a Plus Sized Heroine

12. Read a book involving a Motorcycle – either in title, cover or storyline

13. Read a book by either Eloisa James or Stephanie Laurens

14. Reader’s Choice I-DONE-Lady May's Folly by Donna Simpson-5 stars

15. Reader’s Choice II-DONE-The Unsung Hero by Suzanne Brockmann-5 stars

My Book Bucket List for 2011

http://lisaisabookworm.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-book-bucket-list-for-2011.html

I'm really liking the idea of this challenge but I'm going to "tweak" it a bit for my needs.


 My dresser in my bedroom is covered literally with several hundred books! I'm going to make my "bucket list" for this challenge 50 of those. My only rule is-no go backs! If I start to read one and it doesn't grab me, it goes in the get rid of box, not back on top of the dresser. I want those 50 books G-O-N-E one way or another by 12/2011 :)

The rules:
I have MANY books on my shelves that I have not read.  "Too many books, too little time."  Maybe what I need to do is prioritize my reading.  

I have decided that for 2011, I will read 50 of the books that have been sitting on my "to read" shelf for too long, some for  three years or more.

I read at least two books a week, so it should be no problem, right?  I will remind myself of that when the end of 2011 comes, and see how many I may try to cram in at the last minute.  My problem when it comes to reading is , my intentions are good, but I am easily distracted.  There are so many books that I find and want to read, and some great books are moved farther on the back burner.  

 I am going to keep a list in my sidebar for the year, as I read them I will cross them off, that way there will always be a reminder for me when I get on my blog.  It won't become buried under all of my posts and forgotten.



My List:

1-The carolinians by Jane Barry
2-A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas
3-The White Witch of Rosehall by Herbert G.de Lisser
4-Killer Takes All by Erica Spindler
5-The Charmed Sphere by Cathrine Asaro
6-The Glass Slipper by Linda O. Johnston
7-Barbara Cartland: Three Complete Novels by Barbara Cartland
8-French Leave by Sheri Cobb South
9-Thornfield Hall by Emma Tenant
10-Soft Focus by Jayne AnnKrentz
11-Caroline and Julia by Clare Darcy
12-Blue Heaven, Black Night by Shannon Drake
13-suspicious by nora roberts
14-Guardian of Honor by Robin D. Owens
15-the rope dancer by Roberta Gellis
16-The code of love cheryl sawyer
17-molly by teresa crane
18-the sicilian amulet by jo manning
19-the jeweled daughter  by Anne Maybury
20-Emma Hamilton by Norah Lofts
21-a singular hostage by Thalassa Ali
22-pride prejudice and jasmin field by Melissa Nathan
23-Circle of Death by Keri Arthur
24-Love Came Just In Time by Lynn Kurland
25-Wizard's Ward by Deborah Hale
26-Olivia Joules and The Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding
27-the secret life of bees by Sue Monk Kidd
28-A Witch's Lament by Catherine Anne Collins 
29-daneclere by Pamela Hill
30-Beatrice Goes To Brighton by Marion Chesney
31-Fancy Pants by Cathy Marie Hake
32-Courting Trouble by Deeanne Gist
33-The Art of Arrow Cutting by Stephen Dedman 
34-Hunter's Moon by Karen Robards
35-Moon Shadow by Laura Parker
36-The Day of The Butterfly by Norah Lofts
37-Ratcatcher by James McGee
38-Resurrectionist by James McGee
39-Danger Zone by Shirley Palmer
40-The Flowering by Agnes Sligh Turnbull
41-poison study maria v. snyder
42-Pride and Prescience by Carrie Bebris
43-Smuggler's Summer by Carola Dunn
44-Firedrake's Eye by Patricia Finney
45-the fifteen streets by Catherine Cookson
46-Lady Robyn R. Garcia y Robertson
47-Charity Girl By Georgette Heyer
48-Let There Be Blood by Jane Jakeman
49-Feathers In The Fire by Catherine Cookson
50-The Blackstone Key by Rose Melikan 

Red line=tried but quit it
Black line=finished

2011 Forgotten Treasures Challenge

January 1, 2011-December 31, 2011

This challenge, for me, ties in with my other two challenges- Public Domain Challenge and The Buck Stops Here Challenge. Whether it's a free public Domain book, or perhaps a fun and funky looking old 70's Gothic I picked up for a quarter at the Goodwill-I have a deep respect for older books.


The stories are great, and it's interesting to research a older book or author after you find and read a "forgotten treasure". That 50's author you have never heard of might just have been the Grisham or King of their time, and deserve to be read again in modern day.  Whether it's a hundred year old classic or a 40 year old novel-older books are well worth reading.

The goal of this challenge is to read and review (or just share a few thoughts on the book) books that are 25 years old or older.  Please join me for this challenge. Let's discover some buried book treasures together.


The Rules:


Open to all-bloggers and non bloggers alike.


Open to all books-bought, loaned or ones you already own. The only rule is on AGE. The books printing date must be at least 25 years old- 1986 or older please. 


Level one- read 3 books 25+ years old or older


Level two-read 7 books  25+ years old or older


Bonus* Level three-read 25 books  25+ years old or older


(all those who complete Level three will receive a nifty "Vintage Book Fan" award to post on their blog)


Post Reviews here.

Sign up below:

2011 Public Domain E-book Challenge

January 1, 2011-December 31, 2011

(This is the first challenge I've ever hosted so please bear with me if I make any errors-any help/suggestions appreciated)

I received a Nook about 6 months ago and I love it. My favorite thing is discovering new (to me) book offerings under the various sites that promote their organization's scanning and saving of these otherwise vanishing books once they hit the "public domain". All of these books are FREE-a bonus to a thrifty reader.

A few sites with public domain books (there is lots of overlap between the sites):

Google Books-

to find the public domain books, search for a book under any subject, after the items come up, click "full view" on the left hand side of the page (these are the free books).

The Internet Archive-
Search under "Texts" header.

Manybooks.net-
Very "newbie" ereader friendly.
Note: after so many downloads they do have a non offensive "if you'd like to help please donate" pop up-that is up to you. (I'm in no way affiliated with this site.)

Project Gutenberg-
the site that started it all.

Project Gutenberg Australia

www.classicreader.com-

this site has almost 4000  public domain books that you can read on site-no downloading or ereader required:) (thanks Mommy Wants to Read)


The one problem I saw was that many or even most of these books-there is little to no information of what they are about, or even reviews to let others know what they are about. But, that's part of the fun!

I feel it behooves us as the reading community to help these volunteers "save" these books-simply by giving them "press". Read them, review them, and by doing so, get the word out to other readers about these undiscovered gems.

The Rules:


1-Pick a level of participation for the year:


    "newbie"level-read and review 3 public domain books (non bloggers will just post reviews in the reviews comments page)


    "advanced" level-read and review 6 public domain books (non bloggers will just post reviews in the reviews comments page)


That's about it-easy peasey:) You pick the book, genre, length, etc. Readers who don't own a e-reader are welcome as well (e-reader apps on phones, etc or just read on your PC). You can cross this over with other challenges as well.


After you read the book, just come back and either post the actual review or the link to the review on the review post below:

2011 DOMAIN CHALLENGE REVIEWS HERE

Use Mr. Linky below to sign up below or sign up in the comments for non-bloggers.


Thanks and let's have fun with this!




SIGN UP BELOW:

2011 Challenges I'm Participating In

1-Paging All Bookworms Challenge (hosted by my husband, Nighthawk on Shelfari)

Goal: same as last year 20,000 pages

current total-zero

2-Gothic Reading Challenge

Goal: 20 books

current total-zero

3-Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

Goal: 4 books in 4 categories=16 books

current total-zero

5-What's In A Name 4 Challenge

Goal: 6 books

current total-zero

6-2011 Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge





Goal: 10 books
current total-zero

7-Thousand Regency Challenge (ongoing)
Goal: 1000 traditional Regency Romances
current total-23




8-2011 Reading From My Shelves Project

Goal: 70 books
current total-zero

9-ROR Seasonal Romance Challenges (4 per year)

Goal: 15 books (Winter Challenge)
current total-8

Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

This one sounds like a lot of fun so  I'm going to give it a go. I'm picking "Nightshade" level-4 books in each category.  My four sub genres are:


1-Sci Fi or Fantasy books set in one of the past time periods-maybe Steampunk, but maybe set in another time period.


2-Traditional Regency Romances with Supernatural/ Paranormal element to it.
    1-DONE-The Ruby Ghost by June Calvin-2.5 stars
    2-DONE-The Would-be Witch by Rita Boucher-4.0 stars
    3-DONE-Lord Of Illusions by Rita Boucher-4.0 stars


3-Books with "headless" cover art-either all or part of the head is cut off the cover.
  1-DONE-Courting Trouble by Deeanne Gist-4 stars
  2-DONE-A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas-3 stars
  3-DONE-A Countess by Christmas by Annie Burrows-4.5 stars


4-Romance books where either the hero or heroine is a scientist

Sign up HERE:

This challenge was created with the encouragement of TheCoolMom and Guitarzan, to create my own when I couldn't find a reading challenge for some of my kookier sub-genre. So here is to you steampunk loving readers, the cat mystery readers or the supernatural warfare novel enthusiasts. In this you get to create your own challenge by deciding if you want to read books only about Dragons or if you want to read those obscure fantasy books you were looking at. Mix and match to make your perfect combo. You can have Steampunk and obscure fantasy or even Serial Killer mysteries, Historical Romance, the point is you get to choose.

There are four levels of Pick Your Poison:

Hemlock- You read 1 book of each of your categories

Nightshade- 4 books of each of your categories 

Foxglove- 6 books of each of your categories

Monkshood- 12+ books in each of your categories

Challenge begins January 1, 2011 and lasts until December 31, 2011. You can join at anytime you want.  When you sign up under Mr. Linky, put the direct link to your post about the Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge. Include the URL so that other participants can join in. You can list your books in advance and if you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you. Sorry that I didn't have a button or anything for you to post as a picture, I may be able to get one up later.

 If you do not have a blog, comment with what level and what your category is. 

Have fun readers!!!

2011 Reading from My Shelves Project

Join HERE:
Since it appears that the RYOB Challenge I used for my "Ginormous TBR Mountain" is no longer being hosted-I searched for another, similar challenge and this one fits the bill.

 My goal was 100 the first year, 70 the second year-but I only made it to 57 in 2009 and 52 in 2010. Still, I'm going to try for 70 again this year and really try to clean off those shelves.

• Challenge runs from January 1 - December 31, 2011.
• Read books from your own shelves, and then pass the books on to someone else: a friend, relative, the library, used book store, swap them, just as long as the book leaves your house once it has been read.  
• Decide on your goal (12 is the minimum - no maximum). Cross over books are allowed.
• Grab the button and do a post about the challenge.
• Keep a running list of the books you've read and passed on.
•  Leave a comment with a link to your post and you are entered  (no Mr. Linky).
• Have Fun and GOOD LUCK!

1-Christmas Beau by Mary Balogh-5 stars
2-Courting Trouble by Deeanne Gist-4 stars
3-The Ruby Ghost by June Calvin-2.5 stars
4-The Apple Tree Girl by George Weston-4 stars
5-The Oak Staircase by Mary Lee-5 stars
6-Winter Blossom by Cynthia Sinclair-4 stars
7-A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas-3 stars
8-A Countess by Christmas by Annie Burrows 4.5 stars
9-The Would-be Witch by Rita Boucher 4.0 stars
10-Lord of Illusions by Rita Boucher 4.0 stars
11-The Lost Heiress of Hawkscliffe by Joyce C. Ware-3 stars
12-The Unsung Hero by Suzanne Brockmann-5 stars
13-Lady Delafont's Dilemma by Donna Simpson-5 stars
14-Lady May's Folly by Donna Simpson-5 stars
15-Lord Rivington's Lady by Eileen Jackson-4 stars

2011 Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge

I'm joining this challenge as this one will actually BE a challenge for me as I read very little straight contemporaries...but I do own several hundred of them to choose from-LOL.

Want to join? Go HERE

Details –

1. By contemporary romance I mean straight contemporary, so without paranormal, fantasy or time-travel elements. Sexy, steamy contemporaries are eligible and so are category romances. (i.e. Harlequin Blaze, Harlequin Presents, Harlequin Super Romances, Silhoutte Desires, etc.)

2. Read at least 10 contemporaries between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011

3. You don’t have to pre-select your books, you can just add them as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed. Nothing is set in stone! Also, the books you choose can crossover into or from other challenges you are participating in.

4. Feel free to grab the button below for the sidebar of your blog. It would be great if you would link it back to this post so others can find their way back to this post and join the challenge.

5. If you decide to join this challenge be sure to create a post telling others and feel free to add a link back to this post so others can join in the fun.

Have fun & Happy Reading!!

My list:

1-The Unsung Hero by Suzanne Brockmann-5 stars

2-

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What's In A Name Challenge 4

I've done this challenge for a couple of years now, and it's always fun. To join go HERE:

Here's How It Works

Between January 1 and December 31, 2011, read one book in each of the following categories:

1. A book with a number in the title: First to Die, Seven Up, Thirteen Reasons Why
2. A book with jewelry or a gem in the title: Diamond Ruby, Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Opal Deception-DONE-The Ruby Ghost by June Calvin-2.5 stars.
3. A book with a size in the title: Wide Sargasso Sea, Small Wars, Little Bee
4. A book with travel or movement in the title: Dead Witch Walking, Crawling with Zombies, Time Traveler's Wife
5. A book with evil in the title: Bad Marie, Fallen, Wicked Lovely
6. A book with a life stage in the title: No Country for Old Men, Brideshead Revisited, Bog Child

The book titles are just suggestions, you can read whatever book you want to fit the category.

Other Things to Know

• Books may be any form (audio, print, e-book).
• Books may overlap other challenges.
• Books may not overlap categories; you need a different book for each category.
• Creativity for matching the categories is not only allowed but encouraged.
• You do not have to make a list of books before hand.
• You do not have to read through the categories in any particular order.

Gothic Reading Challenge 2011

I'm definitely doing this challenge as I love vintage Gothics! I'm in for reading 20 of them this year. To join go HERE


There is nothing better than a great Gothic read - crumbling old castles, mysterious legends, shadowy characters, supernatural beings and unexplainable events, make for some of the most haunting and captivating reading imaginable.

There are four levels of participation to choose from:

A Little Madness - Read just 1 novel with Gothic elements.

The Darkness Within - Read 5 novels with Gothic elements.

A Maniacal Frenzy - Read 10 novels with Gothic elements.

Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know - Read 20 novels with Gothic  elements

1-The Lost Heiress of Hawkscliffe by Joyce C. Ware-3 stars
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A Thousand Regency Challenge

Thought I'd challenge myself:). No time limit-just a goal of 1000 of the thin, Traditional Regency Romances (since I actually already OWN over 1000 Regency Romances). If you are also a traditional Regency Romance fan, please feel free to play along and keep your own list on your blog.

My finished book list:

1-Falconer's Hall by Jacquelyn Aeby-DONE-3 stars

2-Snow Angel by Mary Balogh-4 stars

3-The Christmas Charade by Karla Hocker-3.5 stars

4-A Talent For Trouble by Anne Barbour-3 stars

5-The Lady In Question by Judith Laik-3 stars
6-The Man In The Green Coat-Carola Dunn 4.5 stars
7-Emily Goes To Exeter by Marion Chesney-4 stars
8-The Wild Rose by Rebecca Ward-4 stars
9-Newmarket Match by Anita Mills-4 stars
10-An Unquestionable Lady by Rosina Pyatt-4 stars
11-At The Sign Of The Golden Pineapple by Marion Chesney-3.5 stars
12-Sweet and Twenty by Joan Smith-3.5 stars
13-Bewitched By Love by Desjardien, Holbrook and King-3 stars
14-Belinda Goes To Bath by Marion Chesney-4 stars
15-A Spirited Romance by Alana Clayton-3 stars
16-Out Of The Common Way by Melissa Lynn Jones-3 stars
17-The Jewelled Snuff Box by Alice Chetwynd Ley-3.5 stars
18-A Wife For Warminster by Margaret Summerville-4 stars
19-Jack O'Lantern by Kathleen A. Shoesmith-3 stars
20-A Christmas Promise by Mary Balogh-4 stars
21-Enchanting Jenny by Zabrina Faire-3 stars
22-Lady Jane by Norma Lee Clark-5 stars
23-Christmas Wishes by Barbara Metzger-4 stars
end of 2010!


24-Christmas Beau by Mary Balogh-5 stars
25-The Ruby Ghost by June Calvin-2.5 stars
26-The Would-be Witch by Rita Boucher-4.0 stars
27-Lord Of Illusions by Rita Boucher-4.0 stars
28-Lady Delafont's Dilemma by Donna Simpson 5 stars
29-Lady May's Folly by Donna Simpson-5 stars
30-Lord Rivington's Lady by Eileen Jackson-4 stars