Wednesday, December 30, 2009

A Year End Review of my 2009 Reading Challenges

This post is a review of each of the four Reading Challenges I joined for 2009. The only challenge I completed successfully according to challenge rules was the Young Adult Reading Challenge. I completed the reading for the Contemporary Romance Challenge, but didn't complete the required reviews. The Category Romance Challenge and the TBR Reading Challenge are even more incomplete.

2009 YA Challenge
Hosted by J. Kaye of J. Kaye Book Blog.
Challenge: Read 12 young adult novels in 2009.

When I first joined this challenge, I thought I needed to post a review for each book I read in order to meet the challenge, but in reality I just needed to keep a list! So this is one challenge that I successfully completed. I read 14 young adult novels in 2009, 15 if I count Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey. I'm a little confused why Santa Olivia is not categorized as a young adult novel. As far as I'm concerned, it is a young adult novel. The main character and many of the secondary characters for that matter are teenagers after all. There is some mature content in the story, but I did not think it was severe enough to keep it from being marketed as a young adult novel.

Here is the list of young adult novels I read in 2009. The titles in bold are the books that I reviewed here on my blog.

1. Tales of the Beedle Bard by J.K. Rowling
2.
Bound by Donna Jo Napoli
3. The Truth About Forever by Sara Dessen
4. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
5. Dingo by Charles de Lint
6. Lament by Maggie Stiefvater
7.
My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent
8.
My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent
9.
Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
10. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
11. Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols
12. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
13. The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan
14. Liar by Justine Larbalestier

15. Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey
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Contemporary Romance Challenge
Hosted by Brie at Musings of a Bibliophile
Challenge: Read and Review 12 contemporary romance novels in 2009.

I read 13 contemporary romance novels in 2009 not counting the romantic young adult novels or the Harlequin category romances I read. I didn't count them in this challenge because I wanted to avoid using the same book for multiple challenges. Below is a list of the contemporary romance novels I read in 2009. The four highlighted titles are the ones I actually reviewed.

The titles in bold are the books that I managed to review here on my blog.

1. Stranger by Megan Hart
2.
Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas
3. Taking Care of Business by Megan Hart and Lauren Dane
4. Riding On Instinct by Jaci Burton
5. Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James
6. The Chocolate Run by Dorothy Koomson
7. Too Good To Be True by Kristan Higgins
8. Stolen Fury by Elisabeth Naughton
9.
Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie
10. Stolen Heat by Elisabeth Naughton
11. Open Season by Linda Howard
12. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
13. Vision in White by Nora Roberts

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Year of the Category Romance Reading Challenge
Hosted by KMont of Lurv a la Mode
Challenge: READ and REVIEW 12 Category romance novels in 2009.

I started out okay with this challenge, but once I fell off track, I kind of lost interest getting back on track. I think the category romance novels I had on my shelf just didn't appeal to me too much any more.

Here is a list of the books I read for this challenge. The books I managed to review for the challenge are in bold.

1. Shaken and Stirred by Kathleen O'Reilly
2.
Kiss & Tell by Alison Kent
3.
Sex, Straight Up by Kathleen O'Reilly
4. Nightcap by Kathleen O'Reilly
5. Beyond His Control by Stephanie Tyler
6. Primal Instincts by Jill Monroe
7. The Beast of Desire by Lisa Renee Jones
8. The Beast of Darkness by Lisa Renee Jones
9.
10.
11.
12.

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2009 TBR Reading Challenge
Hosted by Keishon at avidbookreader.com
Challenge: READ and REVIEW 12 books that have been on your TBR shelf for at least a year prior to the challenge.

I failed this challenge terribly this year. I found myself reading either new releases or older books that have been around for a while that I either borrowed from the library or bought new. And of course there's the whole business of never getting around to writing many reviews this past year.

Here is the pathetic list of books I read and reviewed for this challenge. Don't laugh. Okay, you can laugh if you want to. ;)


1. Shaken and Stirred by Kathleen O'Reilly
2. Bound by Donna Jo Napoli
3. Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

Hopefully I'll have more success completing the challenges I'm joining in 2010. More on that later.

Did you join any reading challenges in 2009? How did you do?

Did you join any reading challenges for 2010?

13 comments:

  1. Considering you lived in an apartment while remodeling your house for a big chunk of the year, I'd say you did pretty good!

    I joined three in 2009 and completed two(once I write my last review for the year). :)

    So far I plan to join 4 or 5. But most, if not all, can be fulfilled from my tbr pile which is my main goal for doing challenges in 2010 - must get control of tbr pile. LOL

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  2. If it makes you feel better, I only completed TWO books for the TBR challenge. So you're one ahead of me!

    Li

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  3. Hi Christine:

    No reading challenges for me this year. However I've joined 1 for 2010 and we will see how it goes. :)

    I wanted to wish you and yours a very Happy New Year!!

    All the very best
    Lea

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  4. You completed 2 out of 4 challenges and with another almost done. I think you did good, Christine :)

    I'm hosting the re-read challenges again this year, but aside from that, I don't think I'll join any other challenge, except perhaps the TBR challenge if Keishon is hosting it again.

    Happy New Year :D

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  5. You did really well! I joined about four and completed only 1, so don't feel bad. It's nice to challenge ourselves with reading, even if we don't always complete them.

    I don't plan on joining any challenges in 2010. Unless I come across one that I really think I can manage, I'm steering clear of them in the new year.

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  6. Considering all you had on your plate in 2010, I think you did very well!

    I only joined one challenge in 2009 - J. Kaye's Support Your Local Library Challenge. I read 51 books from my library, and so completed the challenge (there were different levels.

    This year *grin* I've joined one challenge (The Big Book Challenge) and am planning on joining another two - The 2010 Support Your Local Library Challenge and the M/M Challenge :) Fingers crossed!

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  7. *waving madly*

    May 2010 bring you and your family all the best in health, joy and prosperity, Christine!

    *hug*

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  8. I'm so glad I'm not the only one who fell short with my challenges for 2009! Naturally I wish you all had succeeded, but well, I'm happy to have company in the "incomplete" department. ;o)

    Leslie, I joined a few challenges that will help me address the TBR issue as well. Good luck to both of us!

    Li, only TWO? Oh man.. a TBR slacker worse than me! LOL! Thanks again for the recommendation on The Spellman Files series. I LOVED it!

    Lea, good luck with your challenge and I wish you the very best in 2010, too! :)

    nath, I had fun observing the Re-read Challenge from the sidelines. I picked up Open Season per your Re-read review.

    Brie, it's so great to see you commenting around here and there. I think of you often and miss your blog posts. But completely understand your need for time spent elsewhere, so no pressure. ;)

    orannia, I should go back and see how many books I read in 2009 from the library. I certainly used my library more this year than I have in a long time, so maybe I can do that one, too! Good luck with all of your challenges! :)

    azteclady, thank you, my dear!!! And right backatcha! *hug*

    I wish you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year!

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  9. Christine - it's a great challenge (the library challenge that is). And you can pick different levels - last year you could choose 12, 25 or 50 books. This year I think it has expanded :)

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  10. I've liked doing the TBR Challenge, even though it sometimes stresses me out to get it done on time. I forget to plan ahead! So I think I'll stick with that one and a quilting one and call it a day. Happy New Year!

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  11. Well, I think you did fine with your challenges, Christine, especially considering all that was going on in your life in 2009.

    I joined two challenges and because I missed a few months with both challenges, I didn't complete even one. How's that?

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  12. orannia, I'm going to check out the Library Challenge. I reviewed my list of books read in 2009 and SEVENTEEN were from the library! Wow! I didn't think it was that many! I'm sure I could at least do the 12 book level!

    Phyl, I got stressed out by the TBR Challenge, too. For me it was because of the pressure of writing a review. I like J.Kaye's challenges. You just need to keep a list! That's more my speed these days. ;)

    Good luck with your TBR and UFO Challenges in 2010!

    Taja, are you going to do the TBR and Re-read Challenges again in 2010? A few of the challenges I joined this year will require me to grab some books off the old TBR pile. That's always a good thing.

    Happy New Year everyone ! :)

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  13. Congratulations on a job well done. There will be a giveaway for the participants of this reading challenge (Young Adult) at the end of the month. Come by and enter if you'd like.

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