31 December 2015

2016 Finishing the Series


I'm signing up for this challenge as I'm planning to finish the Discworld series which I am certain qualifies. However of the other series I'm planning to read I'm not sure how many qualify. 

Most of the series I have on my radar for 2016 are technically trilogies and so don't fit in with the criteria of 'all books that are part of a continuing series'. 

I do have one or two others that I do think qualify that I'd like to finish in 2016 so I'm going to be aiming for level two 2-4 series.

Don't forget to head over to Bea's Book Nook to sign up.

The Series I'm planning on Reading

Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Mortal Instruments - Cassandra Clare
The Spellsong Cycle - L. E. Modesitt Jr
The Twilight Reign - Tom Lloyd

29 December 2015

2016 A Series a Month


Challenge number four today folks. I will be participating in the series a month challenge. 

One of my reading goals from my Bookish Resolutions is to complete the Discworld series. With around 30 books left to read this may be a little challenging for a single month, but hopefully this will give me a little more motivation to complete the series. 

I'd also like to participate in the Flights of Fantasy Book Club which appears to involve reading six series.

My January Series
1. The Hero and the Crown - Robin McKinley
2. The Blue Sword - Robin McKinley

My February Series
1. Call the Midwife - Jennifer Worth
2. Shadows of the Workhouse - Jennifer Worth
3. Farewell to the Eastend - Jennifer Worth

My April Series 
1. Red Rising - Pierce Brown
2. Golden Son - Pierce Brown
3. Morningstar - Pierce Brown (Won't be released until later this year)

My May Series
1. Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
2. Moon Over Soho - Ben Aaronovitch
3. Whispers Underground - Ben Aaronovitch
4. Broken Homes - Ben Aaronovitch
5. Foxglove Summer - Ben Aaronovitch

My June Series
1. In Too Deep - Mara Jacobs
2. In Too Fast - Mara Jacobs
3. In Too Hard - Mara Jacobs

Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge 2016


The third challenge I'm planning on signing up for this year is the Flights of Fantasy 2016 Reading Challenge. The fantasy genre is the one which I primarily read, so when looking for challenges this is one which made me go yup that's for me!

What really cemented this for me is the proposed book club. One of the series listed is one I've been wanting to read for a while, so this should give me the motivation to pick that up as well as introducing me to some new authors.

Because I'm aiming to read 100 books this year, I've already said I'd like to finish the Discworld series and there are a few other books I'd like to pick up I'm going to be aiming to read 75 fantasy books this year.

Don't forget to head over and link up.

1. The Eye of the World - Robert Jordan
2. The Hero and the Crown - Robin McKinley
3. The Great Hunt - Robert Jordan
4. The Blue Sword - Robin McKinley
5.  The Dragon Reborn - Robert Jordan
6. The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
7.  The Shadow Rising - Robert Jordan
8. Her Werewolf Hero - Michelle Hauf
9. Red Rising - Pierce Brown
10. Golden Son - Pierce Brown
11. Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
12. Moon Over Soho - Ben Aaronovitch
13. Whispers Underground - Ben Aaronovitch
14. Broken Homes - Ben Aaronovitch
15. Forgive Summer - Ben Aaronovitch
16. The Fires of Heaven - Robert Jordan
17. Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo
18. Ella the Slayer - A. W. Exley
19. Henry the Gaoler - A. W. Exley
20. Storm Front - Jim Butcher
21. Lord of Chaos - Robert Jordan
22. Those Above - Daniel Polansky
23. Crown of Swords - Robert Jordan
24. Fool Moon - Jim Butcher
25. Half a King - Joe Abercrombie
26. Half the World - Joe Abercrombie
27. Uprooted - Naomi Novik
28. Crooked Kingdom - Leigh Bardugo
29. The Path of Daggers - Robert Jordan
30. The Lost World - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
31. Winter's Heart - Robert Jordan
32.  Crossroads of Twilight - Robert Jordan

28 December 2015

2016 Bookish Resolutions



As part of the challenge binge I have decided to join this year I thought I'd join in with the 2016 Bookish Resolutions challenge. With the mini challenges this seems like a great way to keep on top of those challenges I would like to set myself that don't really fit into a more general challenge. I have come up with quite a few I would like to try and hit so here goes.

Reading Challenges

  • I would like to finish Terry Pratchetts Discworld series - I started reading this in 2015 and managed to get up to Guard! Guards! I have previously read a couple of the children's books in this series but do plan on rereading them
  • Read 100 books - I set myself a 100 book reading goal on goodreads and have never more than 3/4 completed it. So I would like to manage that this year.
Blogging Challenges
  • I would like to establish a blogging routine of some description, whether that's a weekly routine or a monthly routine. 
  • I would like to create some kind of personal library catalogue a la The Worn Bookmark. I feel like this would be a really good way to keep track of all the books I keep buying, and hopefully motivate me to read some of the books that have been sitting around for a while. 
  • I would like to write book reviews within 2 weeks of finishing the book going forward. I'm not saying I'd want to post the reviews immediately, but that I'm currently really bad at doing this.
  • I'd like to write some reviews for some of the books I finished a while ago where I've published reviews for other books in the series, maybe work this into the blogging routine. 52 reviews that have needed writing for a while would make quite a dent!
Personal Challenges
  • I would like to lose weight. I got married last April so I did quite well at this, I lost around a stone and a half for my wedding, my dress even had to be taken in! But post wedding settling into the New flat with my husband I put back on most of what I'd lost. My original intention had been to lose a bit more, I'm around 3 stone heavier than I'd like to be so I'm making losing that weight and keeping it off a mini challenge.
  • I would like to swim a minimum of 64 lengths twice a week. To some people this might seem both a little random and a little daunting. However 64 lengths is a mile so when I've swum that far I feel like I've achieved something, and as a child I swam between one and four times a week at any one point until I gave it up for studying in sixth form. I'd really like to hit my groove again, but I'm not about to kick myself for missing a week.
  • I would like to cut down fizzy drinks. I feel like this will be a big challenge for me, I'm very aware of how bad fizzy drinks are for weight gain, your teeth and your stomach lining. At the moment I have a coke in the pub on a wednesday, cans of coke zero in the fridge and if I get a meal deal or have a meal out I tend to choose a coke then as well. I'd like to try and cut this down to just the Wednesday pub coke for now and see how it goes.

So I have a few New Years resolutions there. I might have overdone it but it will give me something to aim for! Don't forget to head over to Because Reading is Better than Real Life to Sign up.

Rowen

27 December 2015

Alphabet Soup 2016 sign up post

I like a challenge and whilst finding the time to read at all has been a challenge in 2015 with all the chaos we've had going on I thought I'd sign up to a couple of reading challenges.


This challenge is hosted by Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book and you can sign up to the challenge here.

I am going to choose option A and select my books as I go.

A - Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery
B - The Blue Sword - Robin McKinley
C - Call the Midwife - Jennifer Worth
D - The Dragon Reborn - Robert Jordan
E - The Eye of The World - Robert Jordan
F - Farewell to the Eastend - Jennifer Worth
G - The Great Hunt - Robert Jordan
H - The Hero and the Crown - Robin McKinley
I - In Too Deep - Mara Jacobs
J -
K -
L -
M - Moon Over Soho - Ben Aaronovitch
N -
O -
P - The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
Q -
R - Red Rising - Pierce Brown
S - Shadows of the Workhouse - Jennifer Worth
T - Those Above - Daniel Polansky
U - Uprooted - Naomi Novik
V - Vision in Silver - Anne Bishop
W - Worth the Lies - Mara Jacobs
X -
Y -
Z -

I'm planning on linking my reviews as I go and signing up for a couple more challenges this week. We'll see how it goes! 

24 December 2015

Christmas Time

Christmas is a time to be thankful we are told, and this year I have so much to be thankful for. Although I've not shared it I've had an amazing year.


April saw me marry my husband, six years after we first got together. We had an amazing day surrounded by family and friends, we ate good food and sang good hymns. One hymn in particular springs to mind at this time of year, since after much debate we settled on Ding dong merrily on high as one of our wedding hymns.


We went away for a couple of days and moved into our first home days later.


July saw my sister graduate with a maths degree and two of our good friends marry.


August we went away with my family for two weeks, our first family holiday in five years.


Autumn brought with it the purchase of the ew home we'll move into early next year, which has helped us end our year on a high.


And in December we became godparents.


So we've had an eventful year full of good memories. We are in good health and so are our friends. 


Here's to you. Wishing you a very merry Christmas and a very happy New Year.


Rowen