2014 Newberry Reading Challenge

Ok, I'm doing another one.  I've finished one already, and so why not another?  Some I haven't made any progress yet, but there are still nine months left in the year.    I'd pondered this one for a while now, and I've already read some that will fit this one I'm now entering. and have a few more sych books planned as well.

The Newberry Reading Challenge is  hosted by Smiling Shelves.  The levels in this one are achieved by points, rather than a number of books.   I'll be doing the first level.  Sign up at the link above.  Details below, copied from Smiling Shelves:

It’s been a goal of mine for quite awhile to read all of the Newbery Award winners. I'm sure I read some as a kid, but I also know I only touched the tip of the iceberg. I needed a way to inspire myself to focus on this goal. What better way than a reading challenge?

I'm so excited about hosting this reading challenge that I may have made it a bit more complicated than it needed to be. But I didn't want to leave out the Newbery Honor Books. Are they any less of a good book just because they didn't win the Medal? Certainly not. So here's my compromise:

Each book you read is worth points. You get:

• 3 points for a Newbery Medal Winner
• 2 points for a Newbery Honor Book
• 1 point for a Caldecott Medal Winner (Gotta give the picture books some love, too.)

In addition to that, you pick a level to aim for:

• L'Engle: 15 - 29 points
• Spinelli: 30 - 44 points
• Avi: 45 - 59 points
• Lowry: 60 - 74 points
• Konigsburg: 75+ points

You can get to this level with any combination of points you want. You can read all Newbery Medal winners. You can throw in a few Honor Books. If you want, you can even read 75 Caldecott Medal winners! How you get to your point level is totally up to you.

(And just to make it extra fun, every couple of months I'll give you a mini-challenge. You can earn bonus points by completing mini-challenges!)

List of Newbery Medal Winners & Honor Books
List of Caldecott Medal Winners

Challenge Guidelines:

• Rereads count (because you were probably a kid when you read it last, and your perspective on the story just might have changed since then).
• Audiobooks and ebooks count.
• And paper books count, too. :)
• All books must be read between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2014. Books begun before January 1 don’t count.
• Books can be used for other challenges as well.
• You don’t have to have a blog to participate. You can link up reviews from Amazon, Goodreads, etc., or just hang out with us in the comments!
• Reviews are encouraged, but not necessary. There will be a monthly post for you to link up your reviews if you want to share your thoughts.
• Choose your point level. You can always aim for a higher point level, but you can't move to a lower one.

To join the Newbery Reading Challenge:

• Write a post (or a comment) stating your intention to join. Choose your point level. You can find the challenge button below to use in your post.
• Add your link to the Linky at the bottom of this post. Make sure you include the link to yoursign-up post, not just your homepage.

Here is my progress below:

1. Number the Stars--Lois Lowry   3 points
2. A Wrinkle in Time--Madeleine L'Engle 3 points
3. The Giver--Lois Lowry  3 points
4. Jacob Have I Loved--Katherine Paterson 3 points
5. Al Capone Does My Shirts--Gennifer Choldenko  2 points
6. Hatchet--Gary Paulsen   2 points
7. Where the Wild Things Are--Maurice Sendak  1 point
8. Because of Winn-Dixie--Kate DiCamillo   2 points
9. My Friend Rabbit--Eric Rohmann  1 point
10. Rapunzel--Paul O. Zelinsky  1 point
11. Ella Enchanted--Gail Carson Levine  2 points
12. A Single Shard--Linda Sue Park  3 points
13. Carry On, Mr. Bowditch--Jean Lee Latham  3 points

What I've Been Doing

Besides reading, as per all the challenges listed on my blog.  It's been so long since I actually wrote a post like this on the blog.

 I am now awaiting the drug test results for the job I interviewed for last week.  They said they wanted to off it to me, and Now I have to wait for the drug test results to see when I'll begin.  Oh, and it was with a swab that you stick in your mouth and saturate with your saliva.  Much better than how many people do drug tests--I think you know what I  mean :-)   Can't wait to hear from this.  Will be glad to have a regular job once again, even if it's only part-time. Since December I've been a temp at a local agency after months without a job.

Also been attending activities through the county mental health department's center as well as going to therapy.  Been doing that since December.

And I can't believe it's already March.   The year seems to be going by fast.  Waiting to see how the rest of the year goes.