Week one - The Journey begins

Happy New Year!  Are you ready for an awesome year of reading.   I certainly am.  I'm so glad you all are joining me for another ride around the world and welcome to everyone who is just deciding to join us.   See the picture above. It's an empty road waiting for you to tie those shoes on or put your foot on the accelerator and walk, run, drive, fly to new destinations.   I'm a bibliophile, a self professed bookworm.    Reading is my passion and as necessary to me as breathing.   I'm the type of person who gets cranky if I don't read - daily. I love books that entertain and enlighten, books that take you away, books that take you on a voyage - a mind voyage. I'd rather take a mind voyages and exploring new places, worlds, lives, people, rather than watch TV.  

The goal of the challenge is to read 52 books.  Ordinarily you'd think, okay I'll read at least one book a week and reach the goal. However, there are books that take longer than a week to read. And there are some books that can be read in two or three hours.    I'd hate to see anyone sacrifice quality for quantity by reading a short book just to make the goal for the week.  Read what you want, explore and dive into those longer books, engage your mind and soul and don't worry.  Do your best and challenge yourself and see what happens. 

There are many different challenges built in to satisfy just about everyone.  There are a few links under the header which will introduce you to some different challenges:  Armchair Traveler, Ireland Reading Challenge, Jane Austen, Mind Voyages and Well Educated Mind.  There are plenty of links for you to explore under each header.  Over the year, I'll be adding more links when I come across interesting books in the categories.  There will also be some mini weekly challenges that will be coming up. Your choice if you want to participate or not.   I'll be shamelessly borrowing from other challenges around the blogosphere presenting you with ideas for books to read as we go along.  If you want to read classics and they're huge chunksters, then shoot for 12 classics in 12 months.  If you only want to read Science Fiction and Fantasy, then dive in to a Mind Voyage and journey around the planets.   

So, let's take a journey together and see where it takes us this year.   

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Link to your current reviews:

Please link to your specific book review post and not your general blog link.  In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis.  In the Your URL field leave a link to your specific post. If you have multiple reviews, then it will be find to link to your general blog url.  

Please note:  keep in mind  that we have all ages involved in the challenge, so please keep your reviews clean.  If I come across any link that is not appropriate (vulgar language, x-rated, that type of thing)  it will be deleted. 

If you don't have a blog, tell us about the books you are reading in the comment section.

2011 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge

 Welcome to the 2011 Read 52 Books in 52 Week Challenge

(also the new home for Mind Voyages participants)

>The rules are very simple and the goal is to read one book (at least) a week for 52 weeks.

1. The challenge will run from January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011. 
2. Our book weeks will begin on Sunday.  
3. Participants may join at any time.
4. All books are acceptable except children books.**
5. All forms of books are acceptable including e-books, audio books, etc.
6. Re-reads are acceptable as long as they are read after January 1, 2011.
7. Books may overlap other challenges.
   
8. Create an entry post linking to this blog. 
9. Come back and sign up with Mr. Linky in the "I'm participating post" below this post.
10. You don't have a blog to participate.  Post your weekly book in the comments section of each weekly post.  
11. Mr. Linky will be added to the bottom of the weekly post for you to link to reviews of your most current reads. 

All the mini challenges are optional. Mix it up anyway you like. The goal is to read 52 books. How you get there is up to you. 

**in reference to children books. If it is a child whose reading it and involved in the challenge, then that's okay.  If an adult is doing read aloud with kids, the book should be geared for the 9 - 12 age group and above and over 100 pages. If adult reading for own enjoyment, then a good rule of thumb to go by "is there some complexity to the story or is it too simple?"  If it's too simple, then doesn't count.  

Book Week 52 - Z for for Zip

Hello my darlings!  We are down to the last week.  Our year has just flown by, it seems to have just zipped on by.   I discovered some amazing books and authors this year as well as came across a few snoozers.  I had fun in the process and my wish list grew by leaps and bounds.  Many new and interesting books to choose from in 2011.  So how did you do?

Did you reach the goal of 52 books?:

If you didn't, how many did you manage to read?:

What was the last book you read?:

Did you read from a list and fly by the seat of your pants choosing a different book each week?:

Did you learn something new about yourself, an author, an topic?:

How many classics did you read?:

Did you discover a new author or genre?  Did you love them or hate them?

Name your top ten favorite reads:

Name your bottom ten least favorite reads:

Name a book you simply could not finish:

Name a book you expected to like but didn't:

Name a book you expected to not like but did:

Thank you to everybody who joined in and to those who have been following our progress. No matter how many books you read this year, you succeeded in the challenge.  If you discovered something new or a new to you author or just enjoyed your reading time then I would call that a success. There aren't any failures in reading challenges.

I had a lot of fun, hope you did too and next year will be even more of a blast.  If there are any topics or books or mini challenges you'd like to see added, please let me know. 

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Link to your last book and/or your wrap up post for the year:

I'm participating in 2011

 Sign up to participate with Mr. Linky.

2011 Read 52 books in 52 Weeks

Sticky Post: Scroll down for current posts

2011 52 Books in 52 Weeks Reading Challenge

This past year has been awesome and I've had lots of fun.  2011 is almost upon us and time to start thinking about new goals.  Are you ready for another year and challenging yourself to read 52 books in 52 weeks.   

I am going to spice it up a bit this year and blend in several mini challenges, including the Mind Voyages challenge I created in 2010.   I worked rather hard to create the Mind Voyages blog and don't want to see it go to waste. So the blog will remain up so folks can refer to the links for their voyages.  All the mini challenges are optional and offered to help you meet the 52 books goal.  


1)  Mind Voyages is a science fiction / fantasy challenge to explore the hugo and nebula winners, take side trips through the different decades reading the nominees, check out Philip K. Dick and Robert Heinlein.   Also, Since I can't  possibly imagine a reading challenge without exploring new releases that come out in 2011, we have the all inclusive Pluto challenge. Links to all the voyages are available on the Mind Voyages blog.  

Moon Voyage :  Read at least 6 winners on the Hugo Winners List

Sling shot back to Earth:  Read at least  3 winners on the Nebula Winner's List

Venus Voyage:   Philip K. Dick Quest  - Read at least 2 of his books

Mercury  Voyage:   Robert Heinlein Quest - Read at least 2 of his books

Mars Voyage:   Read at least 6 winners on the Hugo List and take a side trip through the 21st century and read at least 4 nominees.

Go into Warp Drive and visit the other planets

Jupiter Voyage:   Go side tripping 90's Style

Saturn:  Go Side Tripping 80's Style

Uranus: Go Side Tripping 70's Style

Neptune Voyage:  Go Side Tripping through the 50's and 60's

The I'm going to Pluto because Pluto is still a planet as far as I'm concerned Voyage:   Mix it up, choose the number of books you want to read from each voyage, include some new books you pick up along the way and enjoy the ride. 

2)  Read around the World:   I probably did read around the world last year but didn't pay much attention. So this year I'm paying attention to setting. Keep track of where the story takes place and see how many places you end up. 

3)  Ireland Reading Challenge: or just stick with one country such as Ireland and read books set in Ireland, written by Irish Authors or with an Irish theme. Pick 2, 4, 6, or 12 books to read.

4) Jane Austen Mini Challenge: Read Jane Austen's books -Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion. All can be found online here.

5)  Well Educated Mind Mini Challenge:  The Well Educated Mind written by Susan Wise Bauer is a guide to reading the great works.  Read 3 books from each category: Fiction, autobiography, history, drama and poetry.  

6) New Author Mini Challenge:   Read at least one new to you author per month.

7) Try a new genre challenge: Read at least one book in a genre you've never tried before. 

8)  E-Book reading challenge:   read at least 3, 6, 9, or 12 e-books this year. 

9)  Chunkster Challenge:  Chunksters are considered books that are over 500 pages in length.  Read one chunkster a month.  

10)  Read 12 classics in 12 months 

A new year, a fresh slate.  Time to discover some new friends and rediscover some old friends. Make the challenge as easy and casual as you want or spice it up and challenge yourself. Explore a bit, but most of all have fun.  

The rules are very simple and the goal is to read one book (at least) a week for 52 weeks. 

1. The challenge will run from January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011. 
2. Our book weeks will begin on Sunday.  
3. Participants may join at any time.
4. All forms of books are acceptable including e-books, audio books, etc.
5. Re-reads are acceptable as long as they are read after January 1, 2011.
6. Books may overlap other challenges.
   
7. Create an entry post linking to this blog. 
8. Come back and sign up with Mr. Linky in the "I'm participating post" below this post.
9. You don't have a blog to participate.  Post your weekly book in the comments section.
10. Mr. Linky will be added to the bottom of the weekly post for you to link to reviews of your most current reads. 

I'll be changing the header and modify the theme a bit, so don't mind the dust for the next couple weeks.

Book Week 51 - The beginning of Winter and Christmas Tidings

Ajudante De Papai Noel by Murilocardoso

Tomorrow is a once in a life time day for us with the beginning of winter coinciding with a lunar eclipse.  The last time this happened was 1554 AD.  According to NASA:

The luster will be a bit "off" on Dec. 21st, the first day of northern winter, when the full Moon passes almost dead-center through Earth's shadow. For 72 minutes of eerie totality, an amber light will play across the snows of North America, throwing landscapes into an unusual state of ruddy shadow. 

The eclipse begins on Tuesday morning, Dec. 21st, at 1:33 am EST (Monday, Dec. 20th, at 10:33 pm PST). At that time, Earth's shadow will appear as a dark-red bite at the edge of the lunar disk. It takes about an hour for the "bite" to expand and swallow the entire Moon. Totality commences at 02:41 am EST (11:41 pm PST) and lasts for 72 minutes. 

If you're planning to dash out for only one quick look -­ it is December, after all -­ choose this moment: 03:17 am EST (17 minutes past midnight PST). That's when the Moon will be in deepest shadow, displaying the most fantastic shades of coppery red.

With the beginning of winter, Christmas is upon us and I found a movie last year that told the nativity story beautifully:

The Nativity Story

 I just discovered Angela Hunt wrote the companion novel that goes along with it.  

The Nativity Story by Angela Hunt

And two of my favorite books we love reading every Christmas besides the Christmas story are:

The Night Before Christmas

 

Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

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Link to your reviews: 

Book Week 50 - X is for xenization

Hey, don't be a xenization

Xenization - To walk as a stranger or exist as a stranger.  

Words. Our vocabulary and our books are made up of millions of words and over the years, some of the those words are disappearing.   Save the Words is doing their best to save the words by having people adopt a word and use it every day or in their writings.    Today, I adopted and saved Xenization.   So don't be a snobographer, it's time to resarciate and before you venundate or inveteratist this Christmas,  find some lubency and be a squiriferous, adopt a word or two or three.  

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Link to your reviews:

Book Week 49 -- W is for Wishes

Courtesy FreeBird4

Yes, it is that time of year and my son is insisting I write up our Christmas list of wishes for the family and everyone else so we can go shopping.  He's been insisting since the day after Thanksgiving.  I really couldn't wrap my mind around Christmas until November was over.  He had a huge list of things he'd written up on a piece of paper, filling it up from the front to the back.  I told him to narrow it down to 15.  We usually buy him three things from his list.  Santa sometimes brings him things from his list.   He has already emailed Santa at Northpole.com and has received an email letter back.  Cool website, by the way, with lots of games and stories and of course, the Santa Tracker. Well worth checking out.   


I still haven't written my Christmas list yet, because I really don't need anything.   I have more than enough books waiting in the TBR pile, but everyday I come across a blog talking about a book that just sounds so good I add it to my book wish list.   My Amazon list is pages long and my Barnes and Noble e book wish list is slowly catching up.  At the beginning of this year, I did the unthinkable.  I deleted every single thing on my wish list, because it was too long and just too many choices and I couldn't  remember half the reasons I added them in the first place.   I've been a bit more selective this year.  Of course, I keep forgetting to use Amazon's nifty feature of adding a  note to remind who I got the idea from and why.  *sigh* 


What books do I have on my wish list you ask?  Books about writing, teaching, tweens, and fiction of course.  I have such an eclectic list from classics to mysteries to historical to romance to paranormal, it's amazing.   Some of the fiction books I have on my list are


Around the World with Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis.   This one has special meaning because last month on my 51st birthday, my parents remembered that this is the book my dad was reading to my mom while she was in labor with me.   

Immanuel's Veins by Ted Dekker  


Surface Detail by Iain Banks 


A Man Called Outlaw by K.M. Weiland 


Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman


The Snake's Pass by Bram Stoker


The Clovis Incident by Pari Noskin Taichert




Have you started your christmas list or wish list of books for 2011?  What books and authors do you have on your wishlist?

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Book Week 48 - what happens when we combine u and v

Book Week 48

Photo courtesy of AZRainman

My... this year has flown and we only have five weeks left.   Are you close to making the goal of 52 books?  Did you have fun reading or discover some new to you books, some amazing reads or just enjoy some old favorites.   Are you ready to do it all over again in 2011?   It's that time of the year to start thinking of new goals and challenges.  Where will 2011 take us?  It will be interesting to find out.
 

I'm combining U and V this week, since I just looked at the calendar and realized if we were going to end the year with Zest, Zing, and a Zowie, I needed to adjust a bit.  What begins with U or V?  Lots of things, but I decided to go with a random word and see what popped up in the book department.  The random words I picked are 'undertow' and 'violin.'   Some very interesting books popped up which I've added to my wishlist. 

Sue Grafton's Undertow from her A-Z Mysteries

Elizabeth Bear's  Undertow

Mary Daheim's Saks and Violins

Michael Romkey's Vampire's Violin

Pick a U or V word at random and see what interesting books you discover.

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Link to your reviews: 

Book Week 47 - T is for Thanksgiving

Courtesy: John (Puzzler 4879)

~Happy Thanksgiving~

For the hay and the corn and the wheat that is reaped,
For the labor well done, and the barns that are heaped,
For the sun and the dew and the sweet honeycomb,
For the rose and the song and the harvest brought home --
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the trade and the skill and the wealth in our land,
For the cunning and strength of the workingman's hand,
For the good that our artists and poets have taught,
For the friendship that hope and affection have brought --
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the homes that with purest affection are blest,
For the season of plenty and well-deserved rest,
For our country extending from sea unto sea;
The land that is known as the "Land of the Free" --
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!
Author Unknown

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Link to your reviews.  If you have multiple reviews, link to your blog with (multi reviews) after your name.

Book Week 46 - S is for short story

Book Week 46

What do you do when you have a long list of things to do?  Do you rush through it or take your time, giving each individual thing your full attention, before moving on to the next.  Some days I have a tendency to race, other day's I plod.  I'm plodding through my long list today.

I'm currently taking a Short Story Class for my Bachelor's degree.  Short stories include myths, biblical stories,  lais, Fabliaux and fables, folktales and Fairy tales.  Just read a very interesting short story called "The Lottery" by Barbara Jackson.  A quick read, but one that makes you stop, think, go back and read it again, think some more.   It was written back in 1948 for the magazine, The New Yorker.  The response to the story was very negative.  Many people from around the world, couldn't believe the magazine would even publish such a story.  However, many people wanted to know if the story was true, and where these lotteries were being held.  The author was astounded.  She had quickly written the story and it needed little editing.  Just something that came to her mind. 

If you haven't read it before, take a look.  Tell me what you think about the story and your reaction to it? 

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Link to your reviews. If you have multiple reviews, link to your blog with (multi reviews) after your name.

Book Week 45 - R is for rootless random ruminations

The woman in the picture, standing on the pier, looking off into space. This is me, this saturday evening as I sit, think, ponder and work on my Nanowrimo novel. Bit of random things flow through your head sometimes as you write and you don't know whether it's you, your subconscious or one of your make believe characters creating spillage in your brain. Writing is an interesting process. There is are two quotes which says it all

"There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein."  ~Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith

"Ink and paper are sometimes passionate lovers, oftentimes brother and sister, and occasionally mortal enemies." ~Terri Guillemets

Sometimes it flows and other times it's like pulling teeth.  During the times you feel like pulling teeth, is when the distractions win and earn your attention.   Decluttering becomes a favorite past time, then wandering about the blogosphere is another. So what did I find in my random wanderings in life and on the blogosphere that start with R.

Two new books released this week by the queen of romance herself - Nora Roberts.  The fourth book in the bride Quartet: Happy Ever After and the latest in the In Death Series by her alter ego J.D. Robb "Indulgence in Death."   As you can imagine I sat down and read both right away.   And this evening, while perusing my TBR pile looking for something to engage my mind for a few minutes during some down time,  I picked up Robin Hobb's "Dragon Keeper," book one in the Rain Wilds Chronicles.  I started reading and quickly got lost in the story. 

I won it several months ago during a giveaway at Literary Escapism.  If you haven't checked out Jackie's site yet, you should.  She does Fantasy and Paranormal reviews with lots of giveaways and links to all the authors.  Her latest newsletter just came out so hurry over and check it out.  Whenever I'm on her site, I have to have another browser open to Barnes and Noble Ebooks store, because invariably I'll find something I just gotta have now.  :) 

My most recent find - Allyson James "Stormwalker" and "Firewalker."  Sometimes the covers are just so amazing, they attract my attention.  Of course, it helps that the story sounds good and the excerpt is the icing on the cake that makes me buy it.   Sometimes I don't know whether the NOOK is a blessing or a curse.  They make it so easy to buy and download a book.  *grin* 




Well back to working on my story which just happens to fall in with this week's R theme since it does after all start with R - Red Thief.   Here a picture I drew of the cover.   Notice anything odd about the picture?    Let me know if you find it.   

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Link to your reviews. If you have multiple reviews, make it easy on yourself and link to your blog with (multi reviews) after your name.