2014 In Review — Challenges

Today I want to talk about challenges. To be very honest, this is an area in which I have a FAILING score!

You can see my ‘scorecard’ here.

I only entered a few challenges because based on past experience, I KNEW I would have a problem keeping up. But more scorecard is deceiving. Even when it LOOKS like I completed the challenge….I didn’t! For example, I went well beyond reading the 15 books I committed to for the Historical Fiction Challenge, BUT a big part of the challenge is posting reviews AND linking them on the Historical Tapestry website. I DID link about twelve of them, but then just gave up.

Let’s take a closer lookllll

2014 Historical Fiction Challenge

I committed to the Medieval level, or to reading a minimum of 15 books. I actually read and posted reviews for 24 books, and read a few more that I did not review. But as I mentioned above, I only linked 12 of my reviews to the Historical Tapestry website, so I have to count this as a fail. I didn’t not complete the challenge, though I came close. I will probably sign up for this one again, because I DO read a lot of historical fiction. It should not be this hard to remember to go link my reviews!

My grade — D+

2014 TBR Pile Challenge

This one was a miserable failure. I committed to reading 12 books that were on my TBR at the beginning of the year. I only succeeded in reading 4. On the plus side, I did actually review all 4 books! And I started another book, The Swan House by Elizabeth Musser, but it did not hold my interest. So I did kind of knock a book off my TBR! I think one of the problems with this challenge was that I had to choose which books I wanted to read way back in January. That just didn’t work for me. I may try to do a modified version of this one next year that I set up just for myself. I really would like to knock another 12 books from my shelf this year, so I may set that as a goal, but do some ‘free range’ reading to accomplish this; pick from my shelf whatever suits me at the time.

My Grade — F

2014 Mount TBR Challenge

This one seemed like a simple idea; to read 12 books that were on my TBR. However, it wasn’t as simple as it sounded. They had to physically be on my shelf before January of last year. That meant NO library books! I’m not sure if I will do this one. I actually won a lot of books in the last three months that I want to be sure to get to, so I may just accomplish this one this year. I plan to cut back on my book tour commitments so that I WILL have more time for ‘free range’ reading.

My Grade — FFF!!!

2013 Goodreads Choice Awards

This was a challenge I made for myself, in an attempt to diversify my reading. It didn’t work. My plan was to look through the nominees from the 2013 GoodRead Choice voting, and choose to read 10 books from various categories. Like I said, it didn’t work. I didn’t even try tracking categories, so I can’t even say if I came close. Will I try this next year? Maybe, but only if I think of a better way to do it.

My Grade — FFF!!!

2014 GoodRead Reading Challenge

I love this one because it is so easy! All I have to do is tell GoodReads how many books I want to read and then mark them as read as I complete them. No review necessary, and I really don’t even need to star-rate them! I DO like to add reviews and if all went perfectly I would add each book to my ‘score card’. But even without reviews, I did complete the challenge. I challenge myself to read one book per week, or 52 books. As of today I have finished 64, and may get another one or two done before the year ends! So yes, I will definitely do the 2015 GoodReads Reading Challenge next year…..if I can find it! That seems to be the real challenge for me each year; finding the link to sign up! Anyone know where it is??

My Grade — A+

2014 Book Club Reads

My book club meets monthly, with a new book each month except December, when we have our Christmas brunch. (Am I the only one who went looking for a book titled ‘Christmas Brunch’ when I saw it on the schedule???) Most years I miss reading one or two books because I give up on them (particularly if they are a memoir!) or I know I won’t be there. But this year, even though I was not able to attend all the meetings, I did actually read all the books! And I posted reviews for all but two! Of course, this is an informal challenge that I participate in by default as a member of a book club, so I will be doing this one again in 2015. We already have our first five books selected and I have them on reserve!

My Grade — A

That’s my 2014 Challenge wrap-up. I’ll be back later with updates on how I plan to challenge myself in 2015! How did you do this year? And really….does anyone know where that link is to the 2015 GoodReads Reading Challenge?!

2014 In Review — Blogging

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season! For me, December is a month to step back a bit from blogging, so I haven’t had a lot to say, and no time to post when I DO have something to say. But it’s time to get back to my books!

2014 is almost at a close, so I want to do a wrap up post or two before I head into next year with new goals. First a look at where I’ve been….

In 2014 I had both reading goals and blogging goals. Today I will talk about my blog. I liked the look of the old blog, but I was ready for a change. With spring coming, I decided to go with a spring look and put together some new graphics using ‘He Has Risen’, a scrapbooking kit by Connie Prince.

Originally I’d planned to change it up quarterly, with graphics for each of the seasons, but to be honest, I’m still happy with the purple, so I have no plans to update anytime soon. Instead I want to work on content.

One thing I did was to eliminate my weekly posting of Contests and Giveaways. I’d been doing this for about a year, with limited success. Though I tried to update every Friday, I often fell behind, and had no reason to think anyone actually found it useful. About the same time, I’d started a Facebook page for my blog where I post links to my reviews as well as other fun stuff I find on the interwebs. I often share links to giveaways there, where it is much easier to just click share, and to be honest, I think readers found this more helpful. So I just quit posting to the blog, and a no one has mentioned the missed it, I think it was the right decision.

Another thing I did to help with my blogging is to participate in Bloggiesta several times throughout the year, as well as join the Bloggiesta Facebook page. For the most part, I use this to catch up with all the things I SHOULD have done but didn’t, but also for new ideas about resources. This is where I learned about Riffle! And I also learn there is more I could be doing! If you haven’t participated in Bloggiesta before, check it out. The next one is coming up next month!

One thing I didn’t do so well on this year was to post reviews on ALL the books I read. I like to do this because it helps ‘stick’ a book in my mind. If I don’t write a review, often six months later I don’t even remember reading the book! I’ll probably be mentioning this again when I post my reading wrap-up later this week, but for now, I will just say I hope to do better!

One other thing I hope to do is find a better way to DISCUSS the books we read, rather than just post a review. This also helps stick the book in my mind. I have a couple of ideas I hope to work on early in 2015...just as soon as I catch up on my reviewing! LOL!

Another thing I am knocking around is moving my blog to Wordpress. I’m not sure WHY I want to do this. I don’t really have any issues with Blogger, but everyone tells me Wordpress is better. If you have an opinion on this, please leave a comment. Tell my WHY I want to move to Wordpress….or why I should just be happy with what I have!

And please DO leave a comment. I have just (TODAY) installed Disqus on my blog to manage my comments and I have no idea if I did it successfully. But I’m pretty sure that if it works, it will my having an actual discussion, with notification of replies to comments, much more likely. So leave a comment and let me know if it works! Thanks! And Happy New Year!

UPDATE: I tried...but I can't seem to get Disqus to work on my blog. After I installed it, the comments box completely disappeared! I have removed Disqus for now, and don't know if I will add it back. Do you have Disqus installed on your Blogger blog? If so, how did you get it to work?

Waiting on Wednesday: The Wicked Will Rise

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine in which we spotlight upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating!

The Wicked Will Rise

Dorothy Must Die #2

by Danielle Paige

Expected Publication Date: March 31, 2015

Synopsis from Goodreads

To make Oz a free land again, Amy Gumm was given a mission: remove the Tin Woodman’s heart, steal the Scarecrow’s brain, take the Lion’s courage, and then Dorothy must die....

But Dorothy still lives. Now the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked has vanished, and mysterious Princess Ozma might be Amy’s only ally. As Amy learns the truth about her mission, she realizes that she’s only just scratched the surface of Oz’s past—and that Kansas, the home she couldn't wait to leave behind, may also be in danger. In a place where the line between good and evil shifts with just a strong gust of wind, who can Amy trust—and who is really Wicked?

Why I am waiting....

I really enjoyed Dorothy Must Die and can’t WAIT to read the next book in the series! March can’t come soon enough!

Tuesday Memes: The Perfect Mother

Every Tuesday Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where you can share the first paragraph, or a few, of a book you are reading or thinking about reading soon.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

Today I am spotlighting The Perfect Mother by Nina Darnton

When an American exchange student is accused of murder, her mother will stop at nothing to save her.

A midnight phone call shatters Jennifer Lewis’s carefully orchestrated life. Her daughter, Emma, who’s studying abroad in Spain, has been arrested after the brutal murder of another student. Jennifer rushes to her side, certain the arrest is a terrible mistake and determined to do whatever is necessary to bring Emma home. But as she begins to investigate the crime, she starts to wonder whether she ever really knew her daughter. The police charge Emma, and the press leaps on the story, exaggerating every sordid detail. One by one, Emma’s defense team, her father, and finally even Jennifer begin to have doubts.

 A novel of harrowing emotional suspense, The Perfect Mother probes the dark side of parenthood and the complicated bond between mothers and daughters.

Opening Paragraph

    It was midnight and, lying next to her husband in their Philadelphia home, Jennifer Lewis was fast asleep. It had been a good day. Lily, their sixteen year old, had just found out she had made both the soccer team and the honor roll. Eight-year-old Eric was fast asleep after a day at the circus. And Emma, their twenty-year-old college girl, was having the time of her life in Spain for her junior year abroad. Life seemed so perfect that when the phone rang, Jennifer didn’t even have the usual flare of panic engendered by an unexpected middle-of-the-night interruption. Her husband, Mark, work first.

    “Get it, will you, honey?” he mumbled, still half-asleep.

    She reached over to pick up the phone.

    “Hello?”

    It was Emma’s voice, shaken and vulnerable, through torrents of tears.

    “Mom,” she sobbed. “You told me not to do anything stupid, and I did.”

My Teaser

    “Changed? Why? What negative things could they have dug up?” She looked again at Jennifer, her voice rising in agitation. “Mom?"

page 87

So...what do you think? Is this one you would pick up? Leave a comment below!