2011 Challenges Wrap-Up and 2012 Challenges

I'm proud to say that I managed to complete or surpass every reading challenge that I signed up for in 2011 (with the exception of the 2011 A-Z Reading Challenge... somehow, forcing myself to complete this challenge became much less important to me than reading books that I actually wanted to read). Then again, I only signed up for four (including the Goodreads Challenge). So for 2012, I'm going to be challenging myself harder by signing up for 13 reading challenges! Yeah, this probably means I'm going to have the potential to fail, and fail hard, but isn't the point of a reading challenge to actually challenge yourself? Here they are, in alphabetical order:

2012 Audio Book Challenge (hosted by Teresa's Reading Corner)

I want to add some variety in my reading, so I hope to listen to 12 Audiobooks (Level: Going Steady) in 2012. I have a hard time reviewing audiobooks however, so I'm not sure I will be doing so for each audiobook that I listen to.

2012 Debut Author Challenge (hosted by The Story Siren)

I was surprised at how easily I completed the 2011 Debut Author Challenge, so I feel like I will have no problem completing 12 2012 YA/MG Debuts.

Dusty Bookshelf Challenge 2012 (hosted by Books: A True Story)

I get so caught up in reading the latest new releases that I often forget about the books that are literally or figuratively in my TBR pile. I hope to read 10-15 Books from my TBR (Level: Cobwebs) in 2012.

2012 Dystopian Reading Challenge (hosted by The Non Reluctant Reader)

Dystopian (post-apocalyptic and non) was the most common genre I read in 2011, so I feel it shouldn't be too hard to read 8-14 Books (Level: Medium) in 2012.

2012 E-Book Reading Challenge (hosted by The Eclectic Bookshelf)

Again, I want to add some variety to my reading style, so I hope to read at least 10 E-Books (Level: Fun Size) in 2012.

Finishing the Series Reading Challenge (hosted by Socrates' Book Reviews)

I hope to finish up at least 3 Series (Level 3) in 2012: Chaos Walking, The River of Time Series, The Infernal Devices, and The Monstrumologist Series are possibilities.

First in a Series Challenge 2012 (hosted by A Few More Challenges)

I read tons of firsts in a series in 2011, so I figure it should be easy to read 12 Firsts (Level: Series Expert) in 2012.

2012 Just Contemporary Reading Challenge (hosted by Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing)

It's embarrassing how little contemporary I read, even though I am constantly getting recommendations. In 2012, I hope to read at least 5 Contemporary Books (not very many, I know, but for me, this will be a challenge).

2012 Mammoth Book Challenge (hosted by Darlene's Book Nook)

I hope that by signing up for this challenge, it will encourage me to not shy away from mammoth-sized reads. I hope to read at least 6 +450 Page Books (Level 3) in 2012.

2012 Sophomore Reading Challenge (hosted by Chic Loves Lit)

I read lots of debuts in 2011, so I'm hoping it won't be too difficult to read 10 Sophomore YA/MG Books in 2012.

2012 Time Travel Reading Challenge (hosted by Library of Clean Reads)

I adore time travel so I know I'm going to love participating in this challenge. I hope to read 4-6 Time Travel Books (Level: Great Adventure) in 2012.

Why Buy the Cow? Reading Challenge 2012 (hosted by The Unread Reader and Reading the Paranormal)

I've downloaded quite a few free ebooks from Amazon since I've started blogging, but have read very little of them. I am going to attempt to read 12 Free Ebooks (Level: Coupon Clipper) in 2012.

And of course, the Goodreads Challenge. These are all that I've signed up for currently, but it may be that I just forgot about or didn't know about other reading challenges, which I might sign up for later.

A-Z Reading Challenge

I've decided to take part in the A-Z Reading Challenge hosted by Steph of The Thoughts of a Book Junky! The idea seemed just so fun and easy to incorporate into my other challenges and the books I'm planning on reading this year already. Also, my "Review Archive" page is looking awfully bare so it would be cool if I could have at least one entry for every letter. If you would like to learn more about this challenge and the prizes involved, check out the A-Z Reading Challenge Sign-Up Page.

Here is a tentative list of books I'm planning on reading for this challenge. If you know of any books that would fit the blanks, let me know in the comments!


Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton
Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Choker by Elizabeth Woods
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Enclave by Ann Aguirre
Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr
Giver, The by Lois Lowry
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr
J
Knife of Never Letting Go, The by Patrick Ness
Looking For Alaska by John Green
Matched by Ally Condie
Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
Old Habits by Melissa Marr
Possession by Elana Johnson
Q
Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr
Summoning, The by Kelley Armstrong
Tell Me A Secret by Holly Cupala
Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
Vespertine, The by Saundra Mitchell
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
XVI by Julia Karr
Y
Zombies Vs. Unicorns by Holly Black and others

YA Series Challenge

I've decided to take part in the YA Series Challenge hosted by Shannon of Stalking the Bookshelves and Farrah and Britney of I Eat Words. I already plan on catching up with reading lots of series that I haven't read yet (as seen in my Book Series Completion Challenge post) so this challenge seemed like a no brainer for me.

If you would like to read about the guidelines and prizes in this challenge, as well as where to sign up, please click here.

I will be entering at Level 4-Fully Committed 13-16 Books.

Like I mentioned earlier, I've already made an in depth post with book series that I want to read (not necessarily all in the year 2011 though), so I'm going to do my best to narrow my choices down for this challenge.

The Mortal Instruments Series
by Cassandra Clare
1. City of Bones
2. City of Ashes
3. City of Glass
I've already read these pre-2011 so they will not count towards this challenge.

4. City of Fallen Angels

The Caster Chronicles Series
by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
1. Beautiful Creatures
Already read and reviewed in 2010. Will not count.
2. Beautiful Darkness
3. 3rd book coming out 2011

Wicked Lovely Series
by Melissa Marr
1. Wicked Lovely
2. Ink Exchange
3. Fragile Eternity
4. Radiant Shadows
5. Darkest Mercy

The Darkest Powers Trilogy
by Kelley Armstrong
1. The Summoning
2. The Awakening
3. The Reckoning

Hush, Hush Trilogy 
by Becca Fitzpatrick
1. Hush, Hush
2. Crescendo
3. 3rd Book coming out 2011

The Demon's Lexicon Trilogy 
by Sarah Rees Brennan
1. The Demon's Lexicon
2. The Demon's Covenant
3. The Demon's Surrender (coming out 2011)

Edited to add: Two more levels have been added to this challenge, so I may add the following series to my list to read:


The Iron Fey Series 
by Julie Kagawa:
1. The Iron King
2. The Iron Daughter
3. The Iron Queen (coming out 2011)
4. The Iron Knight (coming out 2011)


Chaos Walking Trilogy 
by Patrick Ness:
1. The Knife of Never Letting Go
2. The Ask and the Answer
3. Monsters of Men


Percy Jackson and the Olympians
by Rick Riordan:
1. The Lightning Thief
2. The Sea of Monsters
3. The Titan's Curse
4. The Battle of the Labyrinth
5. The Last Olympian


Uglies
by Scott Westerfeld:
1. Uglies
2. Pretties
3. Specials
4. Extras


Vampire Academy
by Richelle Mead:
1. Vampire Academy
2. Frostbite
3. Shadow Kiss
4. Blood Promise
5. Spirit Bound
6. Last Sacrifice

2011 Debut Author Challenge

 

So, I've decided to take part in the 2011 Debut Author Challenge hosted by Kristi of The Story Siren! I had my doubts initially because I have so many books already on my TBR from before 2011 that I want to get to. But I've decided that I'm just going to do it. Or try to do it anyway. 

I tried to spread out my choices for the entire year but inevitably, I ended up with a cluster of books that will be released at the beginning of 2011. This is probably because these are the ones that are being reviewed already and being hyped about. I'm sure come the second half of the year, they'll be more debut author books that I want to read.

As you can see, most of them are dystopians. Fancy that. Looks like I'm not ready to let go of my dystopian obsession just quite yet. But there are also some angel books and post-apocalyptics thrown in there for good measure. Did any or all of these books make your list?

 

 

 

 

The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher (January 1)

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand (January 4)

XVI by Julia Carr (January 6)

Across the Universe by Beth Revis (January 11)

Angelfire by Courtney Moulton (February 15)

Wither by Lauren DeStefano (March 22)

Bumped by Megan McCafferty (April 26)

Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky (May 23)

Possession by Elana Johnson (June 7)

(not pictured) Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey (September)

(not pictured) Ashfall by Mike Mullin (October)

(not pictured) The Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts (November)

Into The Old World Reading Challenge

I've signed up to take part in the Into The Old World Reading Challenge hosted by Splash of Our Worlds and My Love Affair With Books! The books chosen for this 2011 Challenge just have to be ones that were published before 2009. In my mind, I'm going to refer to this challenge as the "I Can't Believe I Haven't Read This Yet, I Mean, Seriously" Challenge. Because, for real: Why haven't I? Where've I been? Living under a very dense rock, apparently. The following are the books that I hope to read next year. I could have included TONS more books from my TBR list that I've been meaning to read for years, but I'll start with these ones for right now.

 

 

The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams (1980)

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)

Looking For Alaska by John Green (2005)

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1955)

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (1998)

A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle (1962)

The Giver by Lois Lowry (1993)

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (2003)

The Catcher In The Rye by J. D. Salinger (1951)

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak (2005)