With All My Soul mini-challenge hosted by Fiktshun!

 

Hey guys :) After last year's Soul Screamers Reading Challenge, Rachel from Fiktshun is hosting another, smaller challenge for With All My Soul, the final book in the series, coming out exactly a month from now!

The challenge goal is to read and review the book by the end of April, and there is a giveaway for 5 pre-orders (ends 10 days before release date) for those who sign up :)

Last year's event was really fun and got me into the series and into reviewing in the first place, so there was no question for me that I'd participate again! You can find all the details and the linky-sign up over here.

I hope some of you guys will sign up too! Waaah I can't wait for this book to come out, even though it means I'll have to say goodbye to some favorite characters...

2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge: January wrap-up

Hey guys :)
I challenged myself to read 21-30 books published in 2012 or earlier this year, and so far it's going well! I've read 7 books that fit into that category, though to my shame I've only reviewed 2 of them so far. I can just breeze through a book but it takes me forever to write a review :/ I must get better at reviewing them right away!
Head over to Evie from Bookish for the offical wrap-up post and a giveaway!


What I've read so far:

• Divergent & Insurgent by Veronica Roth. I really want to review them because they are sooooo amazing!
• Falling to Ash, by Karen Mahoney. Also awesome. Must review!
• The Replacement, by Brenna Yovanoff. This one has a firm place among my favorite novels ever now. I put tons of sticky notes into the best parts, and I just can't express how much I loved it.
• Rule, by Jay Crownover. Just finished it today and it was a really pleasant surprise! I want to review that one too.

What I did review:

• Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas
• Indigo Awakening, by Jordan Dane

So yeah basically I can already see that I'll probably read more like 50 books published in 2012 or earlier by the end of the year... but we'll see how it goes, and how I'll be tempted by all those new releases ;)

Are you participating in the challenge? How is it going for you so far?

2013 Challenges I've taken up and general challenge thoughts

So... challenges. I confess I am not usually a fan of them, or at least I didn't use to be. Why? They tend to nag at the back of my mind. In my language I'd say 'Si liged mer ofem Mage.' (they lie on my stomach. Like something heavy in your stomach you cannot quite digest).
I feel pressured by them.
I cannot forget about them.
I don't deal too well with long-term projects because then I end up having soooo many things I should remember at the back of my mind and I don't like it because it makes me feel continually stressed.

Flipside: It can be motivating! Last year, I participated in the Soul Screamers Reading Challenge that Rachel from Fiktshun hosted. That challenge got me not only into the Soul Screamers books but also made me write my first reviews and is eventually responsible for my decision to start my own blog! I also participated in a month-long sequels challenge and that helped get rid of some books that had been unread on my shelf for too long. Oh, and I completed my Goodreads challenge to read 100 books. It was 107 or 108, I think.

So... what's for 2013?

As I said, I don't want to sign up for to much because it will only make me feel stressed. I like to have some freedom to pick whatever book appeals to me at a certain moment. One challenge I've already signed up for is the 2013 Reading Pile Challenge that is about reading books published in 2012 or earlier. You can see my sign up post here, and I've also transferred it to its own page (see below the header) and updated the info somewhat.

I've also set my goal at Goodreads for 100 again. I will try for 110, but I have to get started with my Master Thesis this year and that means lots of non-fiction research reading that is very time intensive...

I have after some thinking also decided to participate in the following:

The 2013 Sequel Challenge is hosted by Auntie Spinelli. Click the button to sign up. I like this one because it lets you determine the number of books you want to read by yourself. There will also be some giveaways during the year, as well as one at the end. You can sign up anytime.
I have a lot of sequels to catch up on, so I think this one will complete itself pretty much automatically. But I don't want to limit my reading choices too much, so I'm setting my goal at 20. I might upgrade the number throughout the year though.

I've also decided to participate in the new Adult Reading Challenge hosted by Danya from A Tapestry of Words, Victoria from Confessions of a Twenty Something Fiction Writer (she is also a member of the NA Alley blog), Tara from Tater's Tall Tails, and Barbara from Basia's Bookshelf. Click the button for all the rules and possibilities.
If you're not sure what New Adult is, they have quite a good description on the sign-up post that also explains that NA is not just contemporary fiction! I've decided to sign up because I have quite a lot of NA kindle books piling up I never seem to get to, and still more on my TBR list... I like how many of these books deal with university students! I'm almost 24. I like to read about those characters & experiences instead of the never-ending highschool tales of YA. (Though those are interesting to me too because I've never gone to highschool in that way because the system is different here).

There are for levels to the challenge and because as I said, I don't like committing to something that might limit my reading choices too much, I've decided to go for the Moving Out level, which means I pledge to read a minimum of 10 NA books.

Among them:

• The Secret of Ella & Micha, by Jessica Sorensen
• Clash, by Nicole Williams
• Derailed, by Alyssa Rose Ivy
• Easy, by Tammara Webber
• Tidal, by Emily Snow
• My Favorite Mistake, by Chelsea M. Cameron
• On Dublin Street, by Samantha Young
• The Jelly Bean Crisis, by Jolene Stockman
• Taking Chances, by Molly McAdams
• Flight, by Alyssa Rose Ivy

Oops, that actually is 10 already... but we'll see how many I get to. Taking Chances is one I got for review for instance, so I'm going to privilege it over others. And I don't want to read NA all the time.


So yeah... I guess this is it! What do you think of my challenge goals and my attitude to them? How do you feel about them, and what have you signed up for? Tell me in the comments :)

September is for Sequels challenge

I'm taking part in Lisa from Lisa Loves Literature's September is for Sequels challenge! This is my first reading challenge since the Soul Screamers challenge which ended in June. The challene is about tackling all those sequels on the shelves that collect dust while we pick shiny new standalones or beginnings of serieses that have just been released. I've been meaning to catch up with quite a few of those dusty reads or begun serieses over the summer, but a final burst definitely can't hurt!

What I've managed so far:
1. Read Silence, by Becca Fitzpatrick.
2. Read Succubus revealed, by Richelle Mead - thus finished her Georgina Kincaid series.
3. Read the remaining two Vampire Academy novels and well as Bloodlines and The Golden Lily, also by Richelle Mead.
4. Read The Iron Daughter, by Julie Kagawa. I wanted to finish the series but that didn't happen.
5. Read Torment and Passion, by Lauren Kate.
6. Read The Devil's Graveyard, by Anonymous. One Bourbon Kid book left.
7. Read The Well of Lost Plots, by Jasper Fforde.
8. Read A Beautiful Evil, by Kelly Keaton

Hm. That's quite a few more sequels than I actually thought o.O But there are still some left. To participate in the challenge I have to read at least 4 sequels in September. The Well of Lost Plots would fall into that time period, but I'm not counting it because that was before signing up (unless I would otherwise not make it through, haha). Anyway, with university starting again next week I won't be able to read as much as usual during the remaining two September weeks. So here's my plan:

1. Read Enshadowed, by Kelly Creagh. I'm re-reading Nevermore right now to prepare (&because I love it).
2. Read Black Heart, by Holly Black.
3. Read Demonglass, by Rachel Hawkins.
4. Read Masquerade, by Melissa de la Cruz.

All of those have been on my shelves, some longer than others. If I finish ahead of time, I'll also read some of the remaining Sandman graphic novels by Neil Gaiman.

I hope I'll complete my goal and that it'll be fun :) There's also a giveaway involved, in case any of you who would also like to participate need motivation ;) You can still sign up until the end of September 15th. Just click the link at the top of this post to enter.