2014 Reading Challenges

I've been a book blogger for some time now and like many other things, it has its ups and downs.  I love getting lots of free books to read.  I enjoy sharing them with my readers.  On the other hand, I've found myself limiting my reading by reading books to which I've been granted access by publishers or tour companies.  No, I'm not required to accept any of them, and yes, I started reading them because I wanted to but in looking over my 2013 reads I find I've spent a lot of time reading books that are very similar, and that I've given A's to books that were not.  I think it is time for more variety in my reading.  I was reading Books and Needlepoint today and saw Kristi had a long list of reading challenges for the year and I decided to play too.  Here are my 2014 reading challenges:

Please feel free to use the chart on your posts. Just link back here!

Participating is pretty easy.

1. You have all of 2014 to read a book for each square.
2. A book can only count for 1 square. There will be 25 books for this challenge.
3. The books read for this project can come from other projects you’re participating in: school, review books, other challenge or events, books for fun.
4. If you blog, keep a post/page for the challenge. Update the post/page when you read a book for the challenge with a link to your thoughts/review of the book. Make sure to state which square the book counts for!
5. If you feel like it, write check in posts every few months. Update us on how you feel about the ‘new’ books you’re reading.
6. I’ll keep a page here for people to add review links to. It would be nice to see how others are feeling about the challenge. Add links to your reviews here.

That’s it! Hopefully by the end of the year we will be more adventurous in our reading.

Newbery Reading Challenge 2014

Each book you read is worth points. You get:

• 3 points for a Newbery Medal Winner
• 2 points for a Newbery Honor Book
• 1 point for a Caldecott Medal Winner (Gotta give the picture books some love, too.)

In addition to that, you pick a level to aim for:

• L'Engle: 15 - 29 points
• Spinelli: 30 - 44 points
• Avi: 45 - 59 points
• Lowry: 60 - 74 points
• Konigsburg: 75+ points

You can get to this level with any combination of points you want. You can read all Newbery Medal winners. You can throw in a few Honor Books. If you want, you can even read 75 Caldecott Medal winners! How you get to your point level is totally up to you.

(And just to make it extra fun, every couple of months I'll give you a mini-challenge. You can earn bonus points by completing mini-challenges!)

List of Newbery Medal Winners & Honor Books
List of Caldecott Medal Winners

Challenge Guidelines:

• Rereads count (because you were probably a kid when you read it last, and your perspective on the story just might have changed since then).
• Audiobooks and ebooks count.
• And paper books count, too. :)
• All books must be read between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2014. Books begun before January 1 don’t count.
• Books can be used for other challenges as well.
• You don’t have to have a blog to participate. You can link up reviews from Amazon, Goodreads, etc., or just hang out with us in the comments!
• Reviews are encouraged, but not necessary. There will be a monthly post for you to link up your reviews if you want to share your thoughts.
• Choose your point level. You can always aim for a higher point level, but you can't move to a lower one.

To join the Newbery Reading Challenge:

• Write a post (or a comment) stating your intention to join. Choose your point level. You can find the challenge button below to use in your post.
• Add your link to the Linky at the host post. Make sure you include the link to yoursign-up post, not just your homepage.

Grab the Challenge Button!

2014 Monthly Motif Reading Challenge

~ JANUARY 1, 2014 - DECEMBER 31, 2014 ~

Welcome to the 2014 Monthly Motif Reading Challenge! For this challenge, each month is assigned a certain motif or theme. Your task is to read one book per month that fits in with the motif for that particular month.

This challenge is just for fun so please don't worry if you have to skip a month or if you have to read your books out of order! If you don't have anywhere to link your reviews- don't worry about it. Just come back and comment telling us what you read and if you liked it! Just have fun with it!
(Please read the linky instructions carefully.)

LINKY:

* If you plan on participating, please sign up on the linky with your blog name & "sign up" (example: Bookmark to Blog Sign Up)

* Each month come back to this page and add the link to your monthly read. This can be a link to your Goodreads review, your blog post about the book, etc. Your monthly link should say your blog name & the month. (example: Bookmark to Blog January)

* The sign up linky can be found below. Here is the button should you choose to add it to your blog.

MONTHLY MOTIFS: 

Jan- Around the World

Choose a book to read that takes place in a country different than the one you live in or choose a book written by an author that is from a country different than your own. 

Feb- Award Winner
Read a book that has won recognition or a literary award.  Here's a list of literary awards to help you get started on your search: Literary Awards.

Mar-  Fairy tales or Fairy Creatures

Read a fairy tale retelling or a book with fey/fairies in it.

Apr- Short & Sweet

Read a collection of short stories or anthologies.

May- Mystery, Murder, & Mayhem

Read a murder/mystery book, a book in which someone dies of mysterious causes, or a book in which a mystery must be solved. 

June-  A Long Journey

Read a book in which the character(s) take a trip, go on a quest, or find themselves on a journey toward something, etc.

July- Assassins, Warriors, & Rebels

Read a book in which the main character is one of these things or fights against one of these things.  

Aug- Alternate Reality

Read a book that's set in the future, on another planet, in another dimension, or in an unknown world. A Dystopian book will count this month as well. 

Sep- Book to Movie
Read a book that has a movie based off of it. For an extra challenge, see the movie as well. 

Oct- The Witching Hour

There's been a lot of zombies lately, but this year include a 'witchy' book in your scary reads- a book about a witch or a book that has witches in it.

Nov- An Oldie but a Goodie

Pick a book published before 2000 that you've always wanted to read, but just never got to. Or pick a book set in the past (before 2000). 

Dec- That's a Wrap

Finish a series you've been meaning to finish or read the next book in a series you started but never finished. 

Have fun!!! (For an extra challenge, try pairing this with the Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge.)

Sign Up Here: