The Dusty Bookshelf Challenge

I have decided to sign up for the Dusty Bookshelf Challenge hosted by Books: A True Story.

Basically this challenge is to read as many books you already own that have been accumulating dust on your bookshelf. It doesn't include any newly purchased books.

I have loads of books on my bookshelves (yes, I have three and they're full!) that I have never gotten around to reading yet so this is a good challenge for me to read what I have rather than continue buying new books. Some of the books I have had waiting to be read for over 10 years since I worked at a book distributor as my first ever job so I really need to get my finger out and just get to reading them.

There are four levels you can choose to achieve in this challenge as follows:

~Pixie Dust – Read 0-5 books

~Dust Bunny – Read 5-10 books

~Cobwebs – Read 10-15 books

~Grungy – Read 20+ books

I am going for the Dust Bunny level and will attempt to read 10 books. I have so many more than that but don't want to overcommit myself as time hasn't really been on my side lately and reading has had to take a backseat a little bit. This challenge goes for the whole year though so hopefully I can get to that many by the end of 2012.

By the way, my little man is 10 months old tomorrow. It's amazing how time just flies these days!!



2012 Chunkster Challenge

As you can all probably tell I have a bit of a love for reading as well as my one for beauty products. I guess being an only child I used books as an escape because if I didn't have friends over it was kind of lonely being at home so I turned to reading to pass the time. I was actually thinking the other day I should have named this blog a little more appropriately something like Beauty and the Books or something similar :-)

 

Anyway, I have recently decided to sign up for the annual Chunkster Reading Challenge which has its own blog here.

 

 

 

 

Definition of a chunkster:

A chunkster is 450 pages or more of ADULT literature, whether non-fiction or fiction. A chunkster should be a challenge.

If you read books in large print, your books will need to be 525 pages or more. The average large type book is 10-15% larger or more so it’s a fair estimate.

The rules:

• No audio books. (There are exceptions to this rule.)
• No e-books allowed. This was discussed in much detail in the 2011 challenge. The short version: a chunkster isn’t a challenge if you’re reading it on an e-reader. (There are exceptions to this rule.)
• This year for the first time, essay, poetry, and short story collections will be allowed. Collections have to be read in their entirety to count. If you’ve needed a reason to finally pick up your copy of The Collected Works Of ____ now is the time.
• Books may crossover with other challenges.
• Anyone may join. (If you don’t have a blog, just leave a comment on this post with your challenge level and your progress throughout the challenge.)
• You don’t need to list your books ahead of time.
• Once you’ve picked a level, that’s it. You’re committed to it!

You must pick a level of participation:

1. The Chubby Chunkster – this option is for the readers who want to dabble in large tomes, but really doesn't want to commit to much more than that. FOUR Chunksters is all you need to finish this challenge.
2. The Plump Primer - this option is for the slightly heavier reader who wants to commit to SIX Chunksters over the next twelve months.
3. Do These Books Make my Butt Look Big? - this option is for the reader who can't resist bigger and bigger books and wants to commit to SIX Chunksters from the following categories: 2 books which are between 450 - 550 pages in length; 2 books which are 551 - 750 pages in length; 2 books which are GREATER than 750 pages in length (for ideas, please refer to the book suggestions page for some books which fit into these categories).
4. Mor-book-ly Obese - This is for the truly out of control chunkster. For this level of challenge you must commit to EIGHT or more Chunksters of which three tomes MUST be 750 pages or more. You know you want to.....go on and give in to your cravings.

I'm going to go for level 2 The Plump Primer as I think 6 sounds like a reasonable number to commit myself to over an entire year. Most of the books I read are over 450 pages anyway so we'll see how I go at achieving this goal.

I'm currently also participating in the Summer Reading Challenge through Goodreads but have not been doing so well on this. I'm only up to my second book so far and have another 8 to get through before the end of March. Ha! Don't think it's going to happen but I'll keep trying anyway.

Has anyone else set themselves reading challenges for this year?

Goodreads Summer Reading Challenge

As part of the Aussie Readers group on Goodreads I have decided to participate in their Summer Reading Challenge. This is a challenge where you select 10 books to read from different genres and covering different topics to try and broaden your reading experience. This challenge runs from December 2011 to February 2012. The books I have chosen to read according to their particular theme are:

1)      Aussie author – Temple – Matthew Reilly

2)      To Be Read List – Dead and Gone – Charlaine Harris

3)      Summer Food – The Long Quiche Goodbye – Avery Aames

4)      Summer Story – Divine by Mistake – P.C. Cast

5)      Australia Day – The Potato Factory – Bryce Courtney

6)      Gay Character or Author – The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde

7)      Christmas Carols – Skipping Christmas – John Grisham

8)      New Release – Catch Me – Lisa Gardner

9)      Literature Map – Dixie City Jam – James Lee Burke

10)   Romance – The Rocky Road to Romance – Janet Evanovich

I've created a page with my book list which I'll update as I get through each book and give my overall rating.

I love reading and I think that due to being an only child I gained a huge appreciation for books as they were something I could always turn to when I was alone or bored. Nowadays, time to read is not usually something I regularly get with a small bub but I'm hopeful I can get through these books in the next couple of months.I'm sure going to give it my best effort anyway!

This first book I've started is Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris. This is the 9th instalment in the Sookie Stackhouse series (which the TV series 'True Blood' is based on) and has been on my 'to be read' list for ages. Should be a good, easy read.

Wish me luck!

Has anyone read any of the above books and wish to share your thoughts? (Without spoiling the actual story for me :-))