Pages

Monday, December 23, 2013

2014 Challenge


Ready for a new challenge?


This year we will be stretching out reading boundaries a little bit more!  If you thought 2013 was tough, wait until you see this list!  You will definitely be reading Outside the Box this time around!  I had fun making up the categories and added one just for YOU!  Make up your category and share it with the rest of us!  I will ADD them to the list and allow people to chose the one you made up, or their own!

I hope you have fun!  In 2014, I will also be better at getting the posts up for you to share your reviews.  And we will have a Wrap-Up in December, so that everyone can see what you read in one simple post!

Here are the Categories 
(to see what you are getting yourself in to this year!)



Classics are the new black – read a classic novel
It’s a serial thing – you’ve read the first in a series (or even three of them), it’s time to read another!
Lost in translation – time to read a book that was first written in another language and then translated.
It’s about time! – read a book that has been sitting on your shelf for at least two years! (and haven’t read it yet!)
By the numbers – read a book with a Number in the title
Weird Science! – read a book that features some form of science – and maybe discover an untapped passion.
I just love a good Duet – a book written by more than one author.
New Guy in Town – read a Debut book written by a new author.
Almost Human – read a book from the perspective of an animal – or an alien – or a robot! (at least feature an ‘almost human’)
Chunkster-time! – read a book that is longer 500 pages. (Time to dust off War and Peace)
Random Rescue – go to a used book store and RANDOMLY pick a book! (could even be from a grab-bag)
Under-Aged Writer – read a book by an author who is not yet 21. Here's a little help.
Time for exercise – read a book that is set in or around a sport or exercise activity (like yoga or baseball). This can be fiction or nonfiction!
Make-Believe - This category is just for YOU! (and anyone who wants to try it!) Here is your chance to let others know what would get you outside of your Comfort Zone!

Here are the levels

 

Choose your level – just how far out of the box do you want to go?

I’m a little Scared: 3-4 categories
It’s not so bad out here!:  5-7 categories
Look at me, outside my comfort zone!:  8-10 categories
Outside In!: 11-13 categories
No Box can Contain Me!: I did ALL 14!


Now, for the deets!

This challenge will run from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2014.   

1. Sign up any time.  However, sign-ups will close 1 December 2014
2. You cannot use any books or reading material that was read before 1 January 2014.
3. This year you can post at any time under the Category found below, but you must post a link to your review for it to count! If you don’t have a blog, be sure to link up the review you did in GoodReads, Amazon, Library Thing, etc. We need to read your review! 
4. Share the Love (PLEASE!?!) – Write your intentions on your blog, link back to this post, have the button on a side bar, so others will know what fun you are having, and they can have it too!
5.  You cannot use one book for multiple categories.  You can, however, read a book for this challenge and use it for another challenge.
6. Comment below with how comfortable you are of climbing out of your literary box!  BUT, don’t feel you have to be tied to that level! You are shy and want to start slowly but love the feeling of the air outside of where you are…go for it!  You thought you wouldn't be contained and think that the box is warm and comfy, that’s okay too!
7. Be encouraging!  Sometimes it’s a little frightening coming out of your comfort zone. Go to the other participants’ sites and give them words to help free them. Offer suggestions on the best ways to climb out of the box – give them a ladder that they can use!
8. Optional – share books.  Be willing to swap books with other participants (unless they are library books, or books that are not yours, then you might find yourself in a whole other type of box, and I can’t help you then!)
9. Make sure you post your reviews every month.  Who knows, I just might have a surprise giveaway that month!


Here are the links for the Sign Up and the Various Categories!


December and Wrap-Up of ROtB Challenge

photo credit

Wow - It's the end of the year!  Boy - I got a job and everything went out the window.  I do apologize, but hope that you all stayed the course and did your reading.  I know that I have been busy reading and haven't quite made the "Not Box can Contain Me" status - but I definitely got "Outside My Comfort Zone" this year with my reading!

Here are the categories and what I read!  I would love to see your list, either below in the comments OR on your blog with links to all of your reviews (I am in the process of writing the rest of my reviews, now that it is Winter Break!).  All links will go to books on GoodReads.

Here's a quick recap of my Categories and the books I read in 2013:
  1. To the Screen - Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky - and then I promptly watched the movie and quite enjoyed both!
  2. Another Voice - The Wedding Beat by Devan Sipher. It was neat to read "Chick Lit" from a guy's perspective.
  3. Opposites Attract - Red Shirts by John Scalzi.  I am not as much of a sci-fi fan as I once was (loved Peter David's Imzadi series long ago), but this was a very humorous look at "Ensign Number Six" and Star Trek.
  4. Five Star Day - Matched by Ally Condie.  I heard nothing but high praise for this book for so long, that I thought I would give it a try.  Not a series I will continue with, but I did enjoy the commentary on a totalitarian society.
  5. XyZ pdQ - still don't know what to do with this one.
  6. It's My Birthday - I decided to go with a book that was written in 1967 (oops... there it is... you know how old I am!)  I chose From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
  7. From One Place - I love reading books from England.  Having had the wonderful opportunity to live there for a year, it makes me appreciate British authors and stories all the more, because I can picture where they are and what they are talking about.  I read Millie's Fling by Jill Mansell.  If you are looking for a good laugh, she's a great author with a list of characters that you fall in love with!
  8. It's All about Me - I saw this one on the New bookshelf at the library at the beginning of the year and grabbed it.  Wild by Cheryl Strayed was a great 'biography' - a tale of one woman who was lost and found herself along the Pacific Crest Trail.  It almost made me go out and buy a new pair of hiking boots!
  9. Visit an Old Friend - I love Jane Austen (if you couldn't tell already!) I read Emma almost two decades ago and wasn't all that impressed by it.  I love the movie adaptations (both) so I thought that I would give it another try.  Wow!  So glad I decided to revisit this story.  I quite enjoyed it!
  10. Look at the Pretty Pictures - I grabbed a graphic novel and read Soulless by Gail Carriger.  I had been interested in the book itself, but our library only had the GN available.  Glad I skimmed through that instead of wasting my time on the actual story.  I was underwhelmed, to say the least!
  11. She Made Me Do It - I guess I would have to say The Hunger Games by Suzanna Collins.  I have read too many book reviews (shout-out to The Perpetual Page Turner) and heard so much gushing about this book, that I felt it was high-time to find out for myself.  Wow! is all I could say.  I know that it is YA dystopia (and there is so much of that out there), but it just grabbed a hold of me and didn't let go.
  12. I Couldn't Help Myself - So...I would have to say Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins would go here!  I HAD to read them!  I was so glad that the library was able to get them to me quickly before I started a riot!
  13. To Be or Not to Be - Believe it or not, I have not done this!  I have been meaning to all year!  I wanted to (and still do!) memorize The Desiderata.  My husband quotes it often and I have read it a few times, but I actually want to have it in my mind so that I, too, can recall bits of it at anytime!
Not bad... I got 11 out of 13 in this quest to expand my horizons.  How about you?  Did you read anything that you normally would not have?

Don't forget to Link your Wrap-Up!  I will be having a drawing on the 7th of January, 2014 - for an Amazon Gift Card!  Each separate post will be your slip in the hat!  This should inspire you to get books for next year's challenge!

I have a Challenge for myself next year, hope you will join me on a new adventure.  I promise to be better! (And to not hold a drawing in the summer when NO ONE posted about their readings!)

Below is a linky-thingy to link to your Year-End wrap-up!  Looking forward to seeing your wrap up from 2013 and hope you join us for 2014's Reading Outside the Box Challenge!

http://www.booklovermusings.blogspot.com/2013/12/2014-challenge.html
2014 Challenge!


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...