2023 Reading Challenge @ Melbourne Mama

 It looked as if this wasn't going to happen this year, but it's here now. 

MUST READ BOOKS FOR MELBOURNE MAMMA’S 2023 READING CHALLENGE

• A book with 23 letters in the title: The Undertaker's Assistant--Amanda Skenandore
• A book with water on the cover: On Ocean Boulevard--Mary Alice Monroe
• A book with a title starting with ‘The’: The Love Hypothesis--Ali Hazelwood
• A book with a three-word title: Meet Cute Dairy--Emery Lee
• A classic: Dombey and Son--Charles Dickens
• A book you keep seeing: I Kissed Shara Wheeler--Casey McQuiston
• A book set in a different time period: Night Fire--Catherine Coulter
• A book set in the city / town / state where you live: 22 Seconds--James Patterson
• A book with a number in the title: Three Sisters, Three Queens--Philippa Gregory
• A bestseller from 2003: The Da Vinci Code--Dan Brown
• A book with a green cover: Tokyo Dreaming--Emiko Jean
• A book about an inspirational person: So-Called Normal--Mark Henick

EXTRA BOOKS TO READ

• A book you can finish in one day: Almost American Girl--Robin Ha
• Re-read a favorite book: The Garden of Small Beginnings--Abbi Waxman 
• A book you borrowed from a library: Yerba Buena--Nina LaCour
• A book you bought secondhand: Death of a Blueberry Tart--Lee Hollis
• One of my favorite reads from 2022: Verity--Colleen Hoover
• A crime novel: Death of an Italian Chef--Lee Hollis

Challenge completed on August 26

#Jewityourshelf Challenge @ Instragam

 This is another I want to join, at Instagram.  It's only four categories and a bonus one.

1. By an Orthodox Jew: My Name is Asher Lev--Chaim Potok
2. Jewish iconography on the cover: The Jew in the Lotus--Rodger Kamenetz
3. Jewish Genre fiction: The Ex Talk--Rachel Lynn Solomon
4. Jewish book published in 2023: Once More With Feeling--Elissa Sussman

BONUS: National Jewish Book Award Winner: The Gift of Asher Lev--Chaim Potok

Challenge completed on July 29

Reading Challenge 2023 @The Black Experience

 Another I want to take on. It's a very good and diverse theme to read and explore:

1. Published in 2023: Maame--Jessica George
2. About a single mom: Seven Days in June--Tia Williams
3. By your favorite black author: Odd One Out--Nic Stone
4. "Blood" in the title: Blood Like Magic--Liselle Sambury
5. Got from the library: The Pretty One--Keah Brown
6. Book that will improve your life: The Path Made Clear--Oprah Winfrey
7. Historical fiction: The Black Kids--Christina Hammonds Reed
8. Written between 2000-2010: The House at Sugar Beach--Helene Cooper
9. Cozy mystery: Dead Dead Girls-Nekesa Afia
10. By a black man: The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman--Ernest J. Gaines
11. Black and white cover: Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head: Poems--Warsan Shire
12. Flower on the cover: Parable of the Talents--Octavia E. Butler
13. Graphic novel: Stuntboy, In the Meantime--Jason Reynolds
14. Written before you were born: Blues For Mister Charlie--James Baldwin
15. Non-fiction: White Women--Regina Jackson
16. Book featuring sisters: Homegoing--Yaa Gyasi
17. Interesting font on the cover: What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day--Pearl Cleage
18. Set on an island: Summer on the Bluffs--Sunny Hostin
19. Queer protagonist: All Boys Aren't Blue--George M. Johnson
20. Door on the cover: The Magic in Changing Your Stars--Leah Henderson

BONUS READING:

1. Explores the supernatural: The Deep--Rivers Solomon
2. Features a character being racially profiled: All American Boys--Jason Reynolds
3. Book of poems: Black Girl, Call Home--Jasmine Mans

 

Challenge completed on September 25

Decisions

It's something I am trying to do right now. It's been so long since I actually had an idea for a story. Meanwhile, I have begun sending my stories out again. One of them at least. I had about two rejections last year and have yet to hear from this one. I haven't sent out my memoir this year. And since I am still without ideas to write, I can't say when my next "book" will be, or what.

Trying to find blog topics for the new year has been hard as of yet. Even though it's not until April, I am already trying to come up with a topic for the A to Z Blogging this year. The A to Z blog has a new header for this year, but no info as of yet on this year's challenge. If I do it again, this will be my third time doing the A to Z.  So far my A to Z blogging themes have been the pandemic in 2021 and Forgotten TV Shows in 2022. Theme are not necessary, but many people choose to have one of the A to Z. Click above to see what the A to Z is about, if you don't already know and haven't seem my previous efforts. I have known about this challenge for years, but was hesitant to try until two years ago. Prior to that, I had seen and commented on other participants' blogs, including one that is no longer up. 

I am also deciding how many more challenges to sign up for. I know I already have a lot, but books can cross over. And some I have done in the past do not appear to be happening in 2023, so I am considering branching out to others. I cannot believe the classics one I have been doing for several years is seemingly not happening. A few I've done in the past I chose to skip this year. And I may just try blogging about books.

Rain and Friday the 13th

Yes, it's today. I've never been superstitious about this date, though in my neck of the woods we have been experiencing rain and floods that is expected to continue through next week sometime. It's been hard getting out, so I mainly have being going where I need to be. There was a break from the rain last Friday and yesterday. 

Again, I'm not superstitious about this date, but even after nearly three years, I still can't help thinking how many people did not seem to notice that the first week the pandemic was declared (in March 2020) included a Friday the 13th. 

As for now I'm trying my best to stay safe during the rain, however long it lasts.

Pro Book Nerds 2023 Reading Challenge

It looked as if this one wasn't going to happen this year, but here it is. It's another favorite so I had to do it. 

1. Greek myth retelling: Oh My Gods!--Stephanie Cooke
2. A popular YA series: The Long Winter--Laura Ingalls Wilder [re-read]
3. Book you ONLY picked for the cover: The Reunion--Meghan Quinn
4. Book with a map: Three Sisters, Three Queens--Philippa Gregory
5. Audiobook narrated by the author: Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head: Poems--Warsan Shire
6. The highest or lowest rated book on your TBR: Romantic Visionary--W.B. Yeats
7. A book with a bilingual character: The House of Broken Angels--Luis Alberto Urrea
8. A cookbook & make a recipe: No Bake Cookies, Bars & Pies
9. Read a poetry collection: Timeless Depths--Erica Varela
10. Read a friend’s FAVORITE book: Memoirs of an Addicted Brain--Marc Lewis
11. A book by an author with a pen name: The Yellow Phantom--Margaret Sutton
12. A book about found family: 1022 Evergreen Place--Debbie Macomber

Challenge completed on September 3

2023 Better World Books Reading Challenge

 I wasn't sure about signing up for anymore challenges but this one tempted me. Some of the ones I did in past years don't seem to be offered this year so I decided to try others.

January: Remarkably Bright Creatures--Shelby Van Pelt

February: A Long Way Gone--Ishmael Beah

March: Race Forever--R.A. Montgomery

April: Drums of Autumn--Diana Gabaldon

May: Josee, the Tiger and the Fish--Seiko Tanabe

June: The Best At It--Maulik Pancholy

July: Big Summer--Jennifer Weiner

August: The Start of World War II: The Flood of the German Tide--Christopher Chant

September: Tatiana--Martin Cruz Smith

October: Goosebumps: The Werewolf of Fever Swamp--R.L. Stine

November: Solito--Javier Zamora

December: Cold As Ice--Sarah Mlynowski

Challenge completed on December 2