Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge 2023

 Doing this one again.

My Books:

A  Almost American Girl--Robin Ha

B  Back in Black--Lori Foster

C Checked Out For Murder--Allison Brook

D  Death of an Italian Chef--Lee Hollis

E  Ellen Foster--Kaye Gibbons

F  For Everyone--Jason Reynolds

G  The Green Ember--S.D. Smith

H  Her Body and Other Parties--Carmen Maria Machado

I  I Kissed Shara Wheeler--Casey McQuiston

J  Jackie & Me--Louis Bayard

K Kiss & Tell--Adib Khorram

L  The Love Hypothesis--Ali Hazelwood

M My Name is Asher Lev--Chaim Potok

N Night Fire--Catherine Coulter

O  The Office BFFs--Jenna Fischer & Angela Kinsey

P  Parable of the Talents--Octavia E. Butler

Q Queerly Beloved--Susie Dumond

R Remarkably Bright Creatures--Shelby Van Pelt

S Seven Years to Sin--Sylvia Day

T  This is Where We Live--Janelle Brown

U The Undertaker's Assistant--Amanda Skenandore

V Verity--Colleen Hoover

W White Women--Regina Jackson

X  The Ex Talk--Rachel Lynn Solomon

Y Yerba Buena--Nina LaCour

Z  Zen Ties--Jon J. Muth

Challenge completed on May 7

What An Animal Reading Challenge 2023

Another favorite, at Socrates' Book Reviews.

Any book read for this challenge has to have an animal that plays a major role in the book (which could be fiction or non-fiction.) It also counts if a main character is (or turns into) an animal (define that however you'd like). In the past, books would qualify if an animal is in the title or on the cover, but that alone no longer qualifies. This challenge is for books related to animals and just because they are in the title or on the cover, doesn't mean it's about an animal. 

These are the levels.

Level 1 - Read 6 books

Level 2 - Read 7-12

Level 3 - Read 13-20 

Level 4 - Read 21 or more

The animal can be any type of animal (real or fictitious)--dog, cat, monkey, wolf, snake, insect, hedgehog, aardvark...dragon, mermaid, centaur, vampire, werewolf...you get the idea...

My Books:

1. Remarkably Bright Creatures--Shelby Van Pelt
2. The Green Ember--S.D. Smith
3. Six Crimson Cranes--Elizabeth Lim
4. Child of the Wolves--Elizabeth Hall
5. Zen Ties--Jon J. Muth
6. Diamonds and Toads (from Fairy Tales, Volume 1, at Project Gutenberg)
7. Josee, the Tiger and the Fish--Seiko Tanabe
8. The Astonishing Color of After--Emily R.X. Pan
9. The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs--Steve Brusatte
10. The Deep--Rivers Solomon
11. Claws For Alarm--Cate Conte
12. Transformed: The Perils of the Frog Prince--Megan Morrison
13. Checking Out Crime--Laurie Cass
14. Goosebumps: The Werewolf of Fever Swamp--R.L. Stine
15. Paw Patrol: Halloween Heroes!
16. The Shepherd, the Angel and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog--Dave Barry
17. The Lions of Little Rock--Kristin Levine
18. T. Rex Time Machine--Jared Chapman
19. Here Comes Santa Cat--Deborah Underwood
20. Alan's Big, Scary Teeth--Jarvis

Calling challenge complete on December 24

 

Cruisin' thru the Cozies Reading Challenge 2023

 Another I have been doing for many years now.

Welcome to the 13th annual Cruisin' thru the Cozies Reading Challenge! Can you believe it's been 13 years?  I can't!  Once again, I'm giving challengers two options - one is to read only sub-genres and the other is to read cozy mysteries of your choice.

To find out exactly what a cozy mystery is, check out Cozy-Mystery.com. This site is dedicated to cozy mysteries and does a great job of defining them as well as giving a list of cozy mysteries. This challenge is NOT restricted to what is on their list, it's just to be used as a guideline in case you need some hints on what to read.

This year's cozy mystery reading challenge has two ways to participate and you can choose whichever suits you the best:

A) Read only cozy mysteries of your choice.

My Books:

1. Matchup--Lee Child (ed.)
2. Checked Out For Murder--Allison Brook
3. Death of an Italian Chef--Lee Hollis
4. The Yellow Phantom--Margaret Sutton
5. Stake & Eggs--Laura Childs
6. Death of a Blueberry Tart--Lee Hollis
7. Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective--Donald J. Sobol
8. Calypso, Corpses and Cooking--Raquel V. Reyes
9. Irish Gold--Andrew M. Greeley
10. Claws For Alarm--Cate Conte
11. The Clue in Blue--Betsy Allen
12. The Da Vinci Code--Dan Brown
13. The Hotel Nantucket--Elin Hilderbrand
14. 22 Seconds--James Patterson
15. Dead Dead Girls-Nekesa Afia
16. Savannah Breeze--Mary Kay Andrews (re-read)
17. Checking Out Crime--Laurie Cass
18. Pink Lemonade Cake Murder--Joanne Fluke
19. Dirty Thirty--Janet Evanovich
20. Sherlock: The Great Game--Mark Gatiss
21. The Maid--Nita Prose
22. Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six--Lisa Unger
23. Twisted Tea Christmas--Laura Childs
24. Tragic Toppings--Jessica Beck
25. Cherry Ames, Student Nurse--Helen Wells

Challenge completed on December 31

2023 Diversity Reading Challenge

 Doing this one again.

I’m not going to make any categories or levels for this challenge, as I want it to be a bit flexible. Read as many books as you feel like reading and yes, it can be children’s books, graphic novels, e-books, non-fiction, audio books, poetry and you-name-it. As it is a diversity reading challenge, it would be mean to exclude some types of reading materials, right?

Now, what is diversity you might ask? What I mean by diversity is, but not limited to;

• People of color/non-caucasian characters/authors
• Native Americans and other indigenous people
• LGBTQIA+
• Authors/characters defining themselves as trans, intersex, genderfluid or similar
• Refugees
• Religious minorities
• Mental illnesses/disorders
• Neurodiversity (like ADHD and autism)
• Feminist themes/issues
• Physical/mental disabilities
• Characters/authors with chronic health issues
• Characters/authors in wheelchairs
• Characters/authors with cerebral palsy, ME, MS, etc.
• Characters/authors with a learning disability

My Books:

1. Anxiety Disorder--Lisa Fletcher
2. The Love Hypothesis--Ali Hazelwood
3. Almost American Girl--Robin Ha
4. They Both Die at the End--Adam Silvera
5. Tokyo Dreaming--Emiko Jean
6. The Ex Talk--Rachel Lynn Solomon
7. White Women--Regina Jackson
8. Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head: Poems--Warsan Shire
9. My Name is Asher Lev--Chaim Potok
10. Meet Cute Dairy--Emery Lee
11. Kiss & Tell--Adib Khorram
12. The Gallery of Vanished Husbands--Natasha Solomons
13. Seven Days in June--Tia Williams
14. Her Body and Other Parties--Carmen Maria Machado
15. I Kissed Shara Wheeler--Casey McQuiston
16. Lust & Wonder--Augusten Burroughs
17. A Long Way Gone--Ishmael Beah
18. The Gift of Asher Lev--Chaim Potok
19. Blood Like Magic--Liselle Sambury
20. Stuntboy, In the Meantime--Jason Reynolds
21. The Pretty One--Keah Brown
22. Queerly Beloved--Susie Dumond
23. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman--Ernest J. Gaines
24. Yerba Buena--Nina LaCour
25. Six Crimson Cranes--Elizabeth Lim
26. Katherine Johnson--Tamra B. Orr
27. The Tryout--Christina Soontornvat
28. The Girls of Atomic City--Denise Kiernan
29. Death of an Italian Chef--Lee Hollis
30. The Peddler's Grandson--Edward Cohen
31. For Everyone--Jason Reynolds
32. Homegoing--Yaa Gyasi
33. Tomb of Sand--Geetanjali Shree 
34. The House of Broken Angels--Luis Alberto Urrea
35. Dear Edward--Ann Napolitano
36. 8 Sandpiper Way--Debbie Macomber
37. Lost Roses--Martha Hall Kelly
38. The Best Man--Richard Peck
39. What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day--Pearl Cleage
40. The Jew in the Lotus--Rodger Kamenetz
41. The Undertaker's Assistant--Amanda Skenandore
42. Changeling--Molly Harper
43. Josee, the Tiger and the Fish--Seiko Tanabe
44. A Shot to Save the World--Gregory Zuckerman
45. Midnight in Chernobyl--Adam Higginbotham
46. Cool For the Summer--Dahlia Adler
47. The Astonishing Color of After--Emily X.R. Pan
48. The Black Kids--Christina Hammonds Reed
49. Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World--Benjamin Alire Saenz 
50. Memoirs of an Addicted Brain--Marc Lewis
51. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk--Kathleen Rooney
52. The Path Made Clear--Oprah Winfrey
53. The Other Side--Juan Pablo Villalobos
54. Famous Father Daughter--Jamie Bernstein
55. Summer on the Bluffs--Sunny Hostin
56. The Best At It--Maulik Pancholy
57. The Deep--Rivers Solomon
58. All Boys Aren't Blue--George M. Johnson
59. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry--Mildred D. Taylor
60. The Personal Librarian--Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray
61. Orange, Volume 1--Ichigo Takano
62. The Magic in Changing Your Stars--Leah Henderson
63. Gender Queer--Maia Kababe
64. Blues For Mister Charlie--James Baldwin
65. Black Girl, Call Home--Jasmine Mans
66. Tales From the Arabian Nights--Anonymous
67. Calypso, Corpses and Cooking--Raquel V. Reyes
68. Taste: My Life Through Food--Stanley Tucci
69. The Pale-Faced Lie--David Crow
70. Climate Justice--Mary Robinson
71. Sitting Pretty--Rebekah Taussig
72. The Villa--Rachel Hawkins
73. Burn Baby Burn--Meg Medina
74. So-Called Normal--Mark Henick
75. Committed--Elizabeth Gilbert
76. The Adventures of Augie March--Saul Bellow
77. Once More With Feeling--Elissa Sussman
78. Odd One Out--Nic Stone
79. Islandborn--Junot Diaz
80. How to Murder Your Life--Cat Marnell
81. Lumberjanes Vol 3: A Terrible Plan--Noelle Stevenson
82. Oh My Gods!--Stephanie Cooke
83. The Da Vinci Code--Dan Brown
84. Maame--Jessica George
85. One of Us is Lying--Karen M. McManus
86. Maid--Stephanie Land
87. Spare--Prince Harry
88. When They Call You a Terrorist--Patrisse Kahn-Cullors
89. All American Boys--Jason Reynolds
90. The House at Sugar Beach--Helene Cooper
91. Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life--William Finnegan
92. In Deeper Waters--F.T. Lukens
93. The Hill We Climb--Amanda Gorman
94. With the Might of Angels--Andrea Davis Pinkney
95. The Silmarillion--J.R.R. Tolkien
96. The Late Bourgeois World--Nadine Gordimer
97. Orange Volume 2--Ichigo Takano
98. Tatiana--Martin Cruz Smith
99. One of Us is Next--Karen M. McManus
100. North American Indian Portraits--James D. Horan
101. The Proposal--Jasmine Guillory
102. Macbeth--Jo Nesbo
103. A Queer History of the United States for Young People--Michael Bronski
104. Elatsoe--Darcy Little Badger
105. State of Wonder--Ann Patchett
106. Dead Dead Girls-Nekesa Afia
107. The Midnight Club--Christopher Pike
108. The City We Became--N.K. Jeminsin
109. The Cruel Prince--Holly Black
110. An Unkindness of Ghosts--Rivers Solomon
111. Wow, No Thank You--Samantha Irby
112. A Woman is No Man--Etaf Rum
113. Olga Dies Dreaming--Xochitl Gonzalez
114. Annie John--Jamaica Kincaid
115. Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York--Gail Parent
116. The Business of Fancydancing--Sherman Alexie
117. Solito--Javier Zamora
118. Love on the Brain--Ali Hazelwood
119. Carrie Soto is Back--Taylor Jenkins Reid
120. Bad Fat Black Girl--Sesali Bowen
121. The Lions of Little Rock--Kristin Levine
122. Whereabouts--Jhumpa Lahiri
123. Sister Stardust--Jane Green
124. The Running Dream--Wendelin Van Draanen
125. A Song for a New Day--Sarah Pinsker
126. The Swimmers--Julie Otsuka
127. Gingerbread--Helen Oyeyemi
128. The Masterpiece--Emile Zola

Calling challenge complete on December 28

Time Change

 As always, I dread the change of time.

I wish I could tell this to the cats.

2023 Diversify Your Reading Challenge

 Doing this one again. 

The 2023 Diversify Your Reading Challenge (DYRC) features a swing genre in October where you can choose your preference of Fiction or Non-Fiction. Based on your pick, the 2023 challenge will include 3-4 Non-Fiction genres and 8-9 Fiction genres. We’re also bringing back one of my favorite non-fiction genres: Self-Help. This is such a broad genre that you can choose something most relevant to your circumstances – I think that reading a self-help book is a great way to kick off the year and set you up for a <brilliant/productive/inspiring/insert adjective of choice> 2023!

Now, here we go…the 2023 Diversify Your Reading Challenge genres:

• January: Self-Help: Anxiety Disorder--Lisa Fletcher
• February: Romance: I Kissed Shara Wheeler--Casey McQuiston
• March: Literary Fiction: The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman--Ernest J. Gaines
• April: Memoir: The Peddler's Grandson--Edward Cohen
• May: Young Adult: Changeling--Molly Harper
• June: Thriller: The Lies I Tell--Julie Clark
• July: Non-Fiction: So-Called Normal--Mark Henick
• August: Contemporary Fiction: The Hotel Nantucket--Elin Hilderbrand
• September: Fantasy: The Silmarillion--J.R.R. Tolkien
• October: True Crime/Mystery: Savannah Breeze--Mary Kay Andrews (re-read)
• November: Historical Fiction: Annie John--Jamaica Kincaid
• December: Science Fiction: A Song for a New Day--Sarah Pinsker

Challenge completed on December 14

November Bookish Bingo

 The new card is here.

My Books:

1. Thanksgiving on Thursday--Mary Pope Osborne (6 squares): Audiobook, In a Series, Baking/Cooking, Historic Setting, Travel/Time, Food on the Cover
2. The Story of Blue-Beard--Charles Perrault (3 squares): E-Book, Demon, Soul Mate 
3. The Burgess Boys--Elizabeth Strout (5 squares): Physical Book, Shelf Love, Book Club Read, Not in a Series, Small Town
4. Code Name Helene--Ariel Lawhon (4 squares): Free Book, Woman on the Cover, Suspense/Thriller, Free Space
5. Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton--Jeanne Marie Grunwell (1 square): Spinoff
6. Calypso--David Sedaris (2 squares): Library Book, Cover With a Simple Design
7. Funny You Should Ask--Elissa Sussman (3 squares): Verb in the Title, New Release, Recent Release
8. My American Journey--Colin Powell (1 square): Multiple Authors (written with Joseph  E. Persico)

25 squares completed on November 26