Favorite Halloween Humor

 Reposting some favorites from previous years:

Mental Health Reading Challenge 2023

 

This will be returning in 2023 for a fifth year. This is a topic very important to me.

General Rules:

• Any book depicting mental health counts, whether fiction or non-fiction.
• Challenge takes place from January 1 to December 31, 2023. All books must be read during that time to count.
• All book formats (print, audio, e-books) are accepted.
• Books may cross over to other challenges in which you are participating.
• No levels, read as many books as you like.
• Need ideas for books? Check this Goodreads page for several lists of books on the topic.
• You do not need a blog to participate. You may sign up on Goodreads, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc. 
• Sign up below in the comments. I have decided not to use linkys this year.

Need reading ideas? Here are some links to get started:

Goodreads Lists of Mental Health Reads

Amazon: Best Sellers in Mental Health

Oprah Daily: 11 Best Mental Health Books 2021

11 Enlightening and Empathetic YA Novels about Mental Illness

My Books:

1. Anxiety Disorder--Lisa Fletcher
2. This is Where We Live--Janelle Brown
3. Beach House Reunion--Mary Alice Monroe
4. Tending Roses--Lisa Wingate
5. Almost American Girl--Robin Ha
6. Tokyo Dreaming--Emiko Jean
7. Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head: Poems--Warsan Shire
8. Seven Days in June--Tia Williams
9. Lust & Wonder--Augusten Burroughs
10. A Long Way Gone--Ishmael Beah
11. Stuntboy, In the Meantime--Jason Reynolds
12. The Pretty One--Keah Brown
13. Yerba Buena--Nina LaCour
14. Verity--Colleen Hoover
15. The Girls of Atomic City--Denise Kiernan
16. Ellen Foster--Kaye Gibbons
17. Tomb of Sand--Geetanjali Shree 
18. The House of Broken Angels--Luis Alberto Urrea
19. Dear Edward--Ann Napolitano
20. The Jew in the Lotus--Rodger Kamenetz
21. The Minimalist Home--Joshua Becker
22. Josee, the Tiger and the Fish--Seiko Tananbe
23. The Astonishing Color of After--Emily X.R. Pan
24. The Black Kids--Christina Hammonds Reed
25. Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World--Benjamin Alire Saenz 
26. Memoirs of an Addicted Brain--Marc Lewis
27. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk--Kathleen Rooney
28. The Path Made Clear--Oprah Winfrey
29. The Other Side--Juan Pablo Villalobos
30. The Best At It--Maulik Pancholy
31. All Boys Aren't Blue--George M. Johnson
32. The Lies I Tell--Julie Clark
33. Orange, Volume 1--Ichigo Takano
34. Gender Queer--Maia Kababe
35. The Pale-Faced Lie--David Crow
36. Sitting Pretty--Rebekah Taussig
37. So-Called Normal--Mark Henick
38. Committed--Elizabeth Gilbert
39. The Garden of Small Beginnings--Abbi Waxman [re-read]
40. Odd One Out--Nic Stone
41. How to Murder Your Life--Cat Marnell
42. Maame--Jessica George
43. One of Us is Lying--Karen M. McManus
44. Maid--Stephanie Land
45. Spare--Prince Harry
46. When They Call You a Terrorist--Patrisse Kahn-Cullors
47. All American Boys--Jason Reynolds
48. Orange Volume 2--Ichigo Takano
49. One of Us is Next--Karen M. McManus
50. Macbeth--Jo Nesbo
51. A Queer History of the United States for Young People--Michael Bronski
52. The Midnight Club--Christopher Pike
53. The Vision--Dean Koontz
54. An Unkindness of Ghosts--Rivers Solomon
55. The London Seance Society--Sarah Penner
56. A Woman is No Man--Etaf Rum
57. Olga Dies Dreaming--Xochitl Gonzalez
58. Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York--Gail Parent
59. Love on the Brain--Ali Hazelwood
60. Pineapple Street--Jenny Jackson
61. The Seven Purposes--Margaret Cameron
62. Whereabouts--Jhumpa Lahiri
63. Sister Stardust--Jane Green
64. The Running Dream--Wendelin Van Draanen
65. The Swimmers--Julie Otsuka
66. I Am Not Who You Think I Am--Eric Rickstad
67. The Twelve Dates of Christmas--Jenny Bayliss
68. The Pajama Girls of Lambert Square--Rosina Lippi

Memoir Reading Challenge 2023

It's back, once again using a checklist. Some categories have been changed, however. To participate, you must read a minimum of five memoirs from any of the categories listed. One book can only count for one category. Re-reads are acceptable. All book formats count. 

Other Rules:

• Books must be read on or after January 1, 2023 to count.
• Challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2023.
• Books may cross over to other challenges in which you are participating. 
• Books must be labeled as memoirs to count. 
• You do not need a blog to sign up.  You may keep tract of your progress on Goodreads, Amazon or other similar sites with a shelf dedicated to this challenge.  Or sign up on Youtube, Facebook, or Twitter. Sign up below in the comments.

If you need reading ideas, here are some links to get started:

Goodreads: Best Memoir/Autobiography

Goodreads: Memoirs by Women 

Amazon Best Seller Memoirs

B&N: 50 Essential Memoirs

Here are the categories:

1. Mental Illness Memoir: Memoirs of an Addicted Brain--Marc Lewis
2. Other Illness Memoir: Sitting Pretty--Rebekah Taussig
3. Political Memoir: Peril--Bob Woodward
4. Food Memoir: Taste: My Life Through Food--Stanley Tucci
5. Animal Memoir: The Shepherd, the Angel and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog--Dave Barry
6. Music Memoir: Famous Father Daughter--Jamie Bernstein
7. Travel Memoir: The Jew in the Lotus--Rodger Kamenetz
8. Written by a person of color: A Long Way Gone--Ishmael Beah
9. Written by a woman: The Pretty One--Keah Brown
10. Written by a person who identifies as LGBTQIA: Lust & Wonder--Augusten Burroughs
11. Written by an actor or a comedian: The Office BFFs--Jenna Fischer & Angela Kinsey
12. Written by an author or journalist: I Need a Lifeguard Everywhere But the Pool--Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella
13. Written by any other celebrity: Open Book--Jessica Simpson
14. Written by someone under 40: Gender Queer--Maia Kababe
15. Written by someone over 40: Wow, No Thanks You--Samantha Irby
16. Written by someone from a country different from your own: The House at Sugar Beach--Helene Cooper
17.  One you find thought-provoking: The Pale-Faced Lie--David Crow
18.  Made into a movie: Maid--Stephanie Land
19.  Graphic Novel memoir: Almost American Girl--Robin Ha
20.  Bestselling memoir: Committed--Elizabeth Gilbert
21.  Humorous memoir: The Tryout--Christina Soontornvat
22.  Fictional memoir: The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman--Ernest J. Gaines
23.  In translation: Whereabouts--Jhumpa Lahiri
24.  Won an award: Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life--William Finnegan
25.  Published in 2023: Spare--Prince Harry
26.  Published in 2022 or earlier: All Boys Aren't Blue--George M. Johnson
27.  Under 300 pages: The Peddler's Grandson--Edward Cohen
28.  Over 300 pages: How to Murder Your Life--Cat Marnell
29.  One you want to re-read: 
30.  On a favorite topic: So-Called Normal--Mark Henick
31.  By a favorite celebrity: 
32.  Free choice: When They Call You a Terrorist--Patrisse Kahn-Cullors
33.  Free choice: Solito--Javier Zamora
34.  Free choice: Bad Fat Black Girl--Sesali Bowen

Calling challenge complete on December 8

Beyond The Bookends’ 2023 Reading Challenge

It's getting to be that time! One of my favorite challenges is already up for next year. I was just beginning to think about when to start posting my own ones for '23 (I will soon be working on them).

This is the one at Beyond the Bookends. One of the one ones with monthly themes.

January: They Both Die at the End--Adam Silvera

February: Night Fire--Catherine Coulter

March: Open Book--Jessica Simpson

April: Homegoing--Yaa Gyasi

May: Death of a Blueberry Tart--Lee Hollis

June: The Path Made Clear--Oprah Winfrey

July: The Villa--Rachel Hawkins

August: Maid--Stephanie Land

September: With the Might of Angels--Andrea Davis Pinkney

October: The City We Became--N.K. Jeminsin

November: Once Upon a December--Amy E. Reichert

December: Dear Santa--Debbie Macomber


Challenge completed on December 15

Lennon Cartoons

Last Week Wonderful Wonderblog posted some cartoons from Joe Lennon.  I decided to share some as well. See even more at his Facebook page.  There are just too many to post here! And there are more than just Halloween cartoons as well.

Mermaid Dress

I had been considering several costumes for this year, including a mermaid, which I decided upon after seeing and trying on this skirt at Goodwill last weekend. It was perfect for the tail. Now I have to determine the rest of the costume. Stay tuned.

Early Bird Books' Fall Reading Challenge 2022

 One more for the fall. This one starts today and runs until December 7. Only eight categories.

1. Forward-thinking science fiction/fantasy novel: The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea--Maggie Tokuda-Hall
2. Novel from a female writer: Devonshire Scream--Laura Childs
3. Historical fiction about a strong woman: Code Name Helene--Ariel Lawhon
4. Work of fiction from around the world: In the Midst of Winter--Isabel Allende
5. Ravishing romance novel: It Happened One Autumn--Lisa Kleypas
6. Mystery set in New York City: City on Fire--Garth Risk Hallberg
7. Spine-tingling thriller: The Taking of Jake Livingston--Ryan Douglass
8. Military Memoir: My American Journey--Colin Powell

Challenge completed on November 26