2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

I've been signing up for a few challenges and since this one is coincides with the others, I decided that I needed to sign up for this one! I have loads of books in my TBR pile. In fact, I have an entire bookshelf devoted to my TBR pile so this is the perfect year to tackle this towering stack. I found this challenge on Bookish but there are 6 blogs that are hosting this challenge.

Here are the rules:

1.This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2013 - Dec 31, 2013.

2.Anyone can enter! You don't have to be a blogger, as long as you review the book you've read! (On your blog, Amazon or Goodreads/Shelfari!)

3.Any genre, length or format of book counts, as long as it is a book that's been sitting on your shelf for some time now. Only books released in 2012 and earlier! NO 2013 ARCs and 2013 fresh-off-the-press releases allowed!

4.You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.

5.When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the 2013 TBR PILE Reading Challenge. (If you don't have a blog, post about it on Facebook or Tweet!)

6.You can move up levels, but no moving down.
7.Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2013, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.

8.On the 20th of each month one of the hosts will post a wrap-up. Every wrap-up will have it's unique theme, a mini-challenge, a giveaway and place for you to link up your reviews from this month. For each review you link up, you will get one entry in a drawing of one book of choice from Book Depository. It's open to INTERNATIONALS. The giveaway will be open until the next wrap up post goes up! (i.e. the entire month)

9.If you miss a wrap-up post + giveaway, you can link up your reviews next month. Do not, however, try to link up one review twice - we will be checking ;)

10.December is a wrap-up for the whole year. All the book reviews you linked up January-November + the ones you'll link up in December will be entered into a HUGE giveaway - a box of books.

11.You don't have to follow all the hosts to join the challenge, but you do have to follow all of us to be entered in giveaways!

And here are the levels:

1-10 - A Firm Handshake
11-20 - A Friendly Hug
21-30 - A Sweet Kiss
31-40 - Love At First Sight
41-50 - Married With Children

I think I'm going to go for 15 so I fall into "A Friendly Hug". Here are some of the novels I plan to get read in 2013:

• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
• Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
• Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Maragret Stohl
• Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Maragret Stohl
• Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia and Maragret Stohl
• Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
• The Diviners by Libba Bray
• Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer
• Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer
• The Selection by Kiera Cass
• The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E Smith
• Delirium by Lauren Oliver
• Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
• The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

I'm sure these might change and others will apply but there is a pretty accurate list. Have you signed up for this challenge? If so, what does your list look like?

2013 Debut Author Challenge Post

This year, the Debut Author Challenge is being hosted by Hobbitsies. I love this challenge because it encourages readers to go out and snag debut novels. I like supporting authors who already have one book out but it is so important to find new author's to love too.

So this year, you need to pick at least 12 books to sign up. I've compiled a list of books I'm going to try to read. I'm aiming for at least 12 of these.

Here's my list:

Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans

Released January 15th

The Midnight Affair by Mindee Arnett

Released March 5th

Legacy of the Clockwork Key by Kristin Bailey

Released March 5th

Taken by Erin Bowman

Released April 16th

Dualed by Elsie Chapman

Released February 26th

City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster

Released February 5th

Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield

Released May 7th

Splintered by A.G. Howard

Released January 1st

Vengeance Bound by Justina Ireland

 Released April 2nd

Pantomime by Laura Lam

Released February 5th

Prophecy by Ellen Oh

Released January 2nd

Broken by A.E. Rought

Released January 8th

Bella Epoque by Elizabeth Ross

Released June 11th

The Collector by Victoria Scott

Released April 2nd

Some Quiet Place by Kelsey Sutton

Released July 8th

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke

Released August 20th

I've actually got a tons more on my list but those are some highlights. I think 2013 is shaping up to be a really interesting year and I'm pleased to discover new authors. 

Have you signed up for this challenge? If so, what books did you add?

Series Catch-Up Challenge

The Series Catch-Up Challenge is hosted by Emilie's Book World and Lost at Midnight Reviews and is a challenge to get us to finish up some series which I adore!

Here are the rules:
- Runs from January 1, 2013 - December 31, 2013

- Goal is to catch up on as many series as possible
- Two ways to meet your goal: number of books you've read to catch up series/number of series you've caught up on.
- On the first of each month there will be a post here and at Lost at Midnight Reviews so you can link up your reviews. For every review you link, you get one entry into a monthly giveaway.
- There will be a big giveaway at the end of the year.

So the reason I decided to sign up for this challenge is because I have started so many series that my eyes go crossed just thinking about them but so many sequels have come out that I haven't gotten around to reading. So I figured I'd sign up for this challenge and make myself read seconds of some of the books I love.

There are two ways to go about this challege. Either by books or series. I'm choosing books. Here are the levels and the one I'm going to do is in bold:

Goals - Books Read to Catch Up on Series
1 - 5: Book Novice
6 - 10: Book Aficionado
11 - 15: Book Connoisseur
15+: Book Maniac

I'd like to read more than 15 books but it's safest for me to go with the 11 to 15 category. And now onto the fun part.

My list of potential reads:
- Silence (Hush Hush #3) by Becca Fitzpatrick
- Finale (Hush Hush #4) by Becca Fitzpatrick
- City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3) by Cassandra Clare
- City of Fallen Souls (The Mortal Instruments #4) by Cassandra Clare
- City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments #5) by Cassandra Clare
- Captivate (Need #2) by Carrie Jones
- Entice (Need #3) by Carrie Jones
- The Lost Saint (The Dark Divine #2) by Bree Despain
- The Savage Grace (The Dark Divine #3) by Bree Despain
- Where She Went (If I Stay #2) by Gayle Forman
- Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #3) by Maggie Stiefvater
- Passion (Fallen #3) by Lauren Kate
- Rapture (Fallen #4) by Lauren Kate
- Wolfsbane (Nightshade #2) by Andrea Cremer
- Bloodrose (Nightshade #3) by Andrea Cremer
- Crossed (Matched #2) by Ally Condie
- Reached (Matched #3) by Ally Condie
- Swear (Swoon #2) by Nina Malkin
- A Million Suns (Across the Universe #2) by Beth Revis
- Endlessly (Paranormalcy #3) by Kiersten White
- Hidden (Vanish #3) by Sophie Jordan

 ...And there are so many more! This isn't even mentioning the books that come out in 2013 that are sequels to things I read in 2012 like Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2) by Veronica Rossi, Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2) by Tahereh Mafi and Everbound (Everneath #2) by Brodi Ashton.

As you can see, I'm going to have plenty of fuel for this challenge. As long as I keep on it, I'm pretty sure I'll meet this goal easily!

ABC Challenge Sign-up

*Face palm* I am ashamed. I've signed up for 1,000,000 challenges thus far so what's the harm in one more I ask? Only my sanity but that was gone years ago anyway.

So this challenge is hosted by Gripped into Books, Ciecly Loves Books and Book Geek Central.

The point is pretty simple. All you have to do is read a book with a title for every letter of the alphabet. So here's my list (dear lord help me) thus far.

A- Arcadia Awakens by Meyer
B- Beautiful Creatures by Garcia & Stohl
C- Cinder by Meyer
D- Dead To You by McMann
E- Everneath by Ashton
F- Forbidden by Suzuma
G- Glimmer by Kitanidis
H- Half-Blood by Armentrout
I- Incarnate by Meadows
J- Juliet Immortal by Jay
K- Kissing Shakespeare by Mingle
L- Legend by Lu
M- Masque of the Red Death by Griffin
N- Night Circus, The by Morgenstern
O- On The Fringe by Walker
P- Partials by Wells
Q-
R- Rapture by Kate
S- Silence by Fitzpatrick
T- Touch of Morbid by Clifford
U- Under the Never Sky by Rossi
V-
W- Where It Began by Stampler
X-
Y-
Z-

As you can see, I have loads to fill in which I most definitely will. It's a start though!

Wanna sign up? Head over here!

The Standalone Reading Challenge

Yes, yes, I know what you are thinking... Amber, you've signed up for 3 challenges already, plus you're going to be trying to read 100 books again next year. What are you thinking?

Apparently, I'm not because I'm signing up for this one too. I figure, between the four I'll be hitting a goal for something always so it will always feel like progress! That's what I'm telling myself anyway.

The Standalone Reading Challenge is hosted by IceyBooks and I Like These Books.

For this challenge, the goal is to read at least 15 standalone books in 2012. I'm not saying I'll be able to reach that many, but I'm going to do my damnedest to at least try.

Here's my very tentative list of books (you can see a really big Goodreads list here to choose from):

1. Fracture by Megan Miranda 
2. Reunited by Hilary Weisman Graham 
3. The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg
4. The Statistical Probability of Love At First Sight by Jennifer E Smith
5. The Story of Us by Deb Caletti
6. Touched by Cyn Balog
7. This Is Not A Test by Courtney Summers
8. The Fine Art of Truth and Dare by Melissa Jensen
9. Dark Companion by Marta Acosta
10. For Darkness Shows The Stars by Diana Peterfreund
11. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
12. Where It Began by Ann Redisch Stampler
13. Wrecked by Anna Davies
14. Fated by Sarah Alderson
15. Immortal City by Scott Speer

I'm not sure if I'll get to them all and this list will change depending on what ARCs I receive next year but this is my list and I'm sticking to it!

Are you signing up for any challenges?

2012 TBR Pile Challenge

I came across this Challenge just as i got back with a huge piles of books from YALLfest and decided I had to do it!

Basically, you have to pick a level and try to read as many books in that level as possible. The catch is that they have to be from 2011 or earlier. No ARCs or 2012 debuts allowed. I figured this challenge would give me a good mixture of new and old novels and might even get my TBR pile down.

The best part? There will be monthly prizes! Each month, one of the hostesses of the Challenge will post up a wrap-up post and if you post too, you could win a prize!

For more info on rules and such, head over to Bookish and get the full lowdown!

As for me, here's what I propose for myself for 2012:

I'm choosing the 21-30 Level called Sweet Kiss.

Here are a few books that I will read in 2012 (hopefully sooner?):

1. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
2. Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
3. Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
4. A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford
5. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
6. City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
7. Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer
8. Where She Went by Gayle Forman
9. Passion by Lauren Kate
10. Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
11. The Lost Saint by Bree Despain
12. Crossed by Ally Condie
13. Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick
14. Past Perfect by Leila Sales
15. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
16. The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
17. The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan

That's my list thus far. It is certainly subject to change but I have to say, I'm very happy with it. If this challenge interests you, you should sign up too!

Once Upon a Time Challenge

I've decided to enter the Once Upon a Time Challenge hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings. I love fairytale re-tellings and tend to gravitate towards them anyways, so why not add this to my list of challenges? This one is very simple and doesn't involve a lot of books.

The books that you can read are: fairytale re-tellings, fantasies, folklore, or mythology. There a lot of novels coming out with that theme so I figured I'm in. After looking at the list of "Quests" I am going with "Quest the First".

In this one, you must "Read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time criteria. They might all be fantasy, or folklore, or fairy tales, or mythology…or your five books might be a combination from the four genres."

Here's a list of possible books that I might read:

• Beastly by Flinn
• When Rose Wakes by Golden
• The Goddess Test by Carter
• Dust City by Weston
• Ash by Lo
• Huntress by Lo
• Another Pan by Nayeri
• Mistwood by Cypress
• Dark Mirror by Putney
• Graceling by Cashore
• Abandon by Cabot

So if fairytale re-tellings are your thing, I'd suggest you hop on over and sign up!

A-Z Reading Challenge

So this is a super fun challenge hosted by an amazing book blogger Book Junky over at The Thoughts of a Book Junkie. If you haven't signed up, I suggest you do! 

Here's the gist, all you've got to do is read 26 books- one for each letter of the alphabet. I decided to join this one because I am going to be reading books for other challenges anyways so why not get another list going? So I'm going for it!

Here's my list:

A- Always A Witch by MacCullough, Angelfire by Moulton

B- Beautiful Creatures by Kami & Stohl, Bad Taste In Boys by Harris

C- City of Glass by Clare

D- Demon Trapper's Daughter, The by Oliver

E- Entwined by Dixon 

F- Falling Under by Hayes

G- Gone by McMann

H- Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by McBride

I- Iron King, The by Kagawa

J- Jekel Love Hyde by Fantaskey

K- 

L- Lost Voices by Porter

M- Matched by Condie

N- Nevermore by Creagh

O- Once in a Full Moon by Schreiber

P- Paranormalcy by White

Q-

R-

S- Slice of Cherry by Reeves

T- Torment by Kate

U- Unearthly by Hand

V- Vampire Stalker, The by van Diepen

W- Wither by DeStefano, Warped by Guibord

X- XVI by Karr

Y- You Against Me by Downham

Z-

So I'm not done with the list yet but getting close. So what are you going to be reading?

2011 Debut Author Challenge

I've signed up for the 2011 Debut Author Challenge.

All you've got to do is read at least 12 debuts in 2011 from YA (or middle grade) authors and sign up to participate in the challenge. I'm super excited about this because I think it's awesome to support debut authors!

Check out The Story Siren's blog to sign up yourself!

Here are just some of the books I plan on reading:

Have you signed up yet?

September Spectacular Reading Challenge & Giveaway

Steph over at The Thoughts of a Book Junkie is a holding a fun contest/challenge. The point is to read 5 books through September and post your link to your review at the end of each week. I've decided that I read more than that anyway, so why not enter? Here are the rules:

• It will start September 1st and go on through September 30th.
• There will be a 5 book reading challenge, ( one book a week) that you will have to read. Which books? Any 5 you want. Its your choice... Easy huh. At the end of that week you will post your review on your blog and add your link to the Mr. Linky at the bottom. ( If you don't have a blog you can either post a comment, letting everyone know what you think about the book or sent me an email with your review) * Sep first starts on a Wednesday so you can start your first book on Sunday the 29th if you want.
• At the end of each week a giveaway will be posted. That's 5 giveaways!! The only thing you have to do to enter is, link your review on that weeks Mr. Linky. Plus get an extra entry if you add the September Spectacular button to your post or sidebar! (Open Internationally)

I haven't decided on all my books yet. I know three of them though and they are:

The others will depend on what type of mood I'm in after Hold Still. I was planning on reading Hold Still first but after reading the wonderful and heartbreaking How To Say Goodbye In Robot (a review will be up soon), I need something a little lighter. 

Make sure to visit the link above if you want to sign up for this fun challenge too!