2023 Challenges!

 I'm participating in three reading prompt type challenges this year. They are:

Popsugar (find that one here)

This is a popular one through the bookish community. I even found a Facebook group where people give tons of suggestions for all these prompts. So fun to see what people are coming up with!

Pioneer Book (the local used bookstore, you can find that one here)

This is one I've tried in the past, but is quite a difficult one. The thing that makes this one unique is that you have to read something from their various displays in the store. But it's fun to go support the store and find something to buy from these displays. I bought three there the other day. 

Orem Library (the local library)

I've taking all the lists and made a huge spreadsheet so I can easily see which prompts are similar from all the lists. I will use the same book across the three different challenges, but not the same book within one challenge, if that makes sense. Anyway, I'm only 4 books into this year, but doing okay making them all work for a challenge!

I'm also still doing the #ReadWhatYouOwnChallenge, trying to read 15 of my own books before I buy any other books. I've had to fudge a bit on this one, but I'm about half way done now. I will be glad to get the 15 books read, and after that I'll continue to read off my own shelf, but without the no buying restriction!

What fun challenges are you all doing this year? 

Review: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Book: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Genre: JF Fantasy

Rating: A

For: Dewey's Books

I started reading Neil Gaiman's blog while he was writing this book. So it's been fun to watch it come to pass.

So anyway, after all the buzz about this book, I was anxious to get it and see what I thought. And what I think is that this one for sure deserves all the hype. It seemed to take me forever to read it because I guess I had a million distractions, but still, I loved the premise and the whole fun, magical feeling of the book.

For those that don't know, it's about a boy who is raised by ghosts in a English graveyard. He learns some of their magic and has many interesting adventures. But he has to stick to the graveyard because there is something sinister out there in the world that's after him.

To copy what I said over at Goodreads: It's got some magic, some bad guys, some monster-y things, a gazillion ghosts, a girl, a cool dude who I'm pretty sure I know what he was, (but I'm not saying,) a dead witch, and lots of creepy craziness, some of it that made me hold my breath just a little! Oh, and there's great pictures too! Read it!

This is my first book for the Dewey's Books Challenge. You can find her review HERE if the link is working that is. This is also get marked of as my first library book of the year for the Support Your Library Challenge. Also, it's going down as a YA for that challenge too! :)

Other Reviews:

Penny's Pages

Devourer of Books

Book Nut

Maw Books

Books, Books and more Books

1 More Chapter

Support Your Local Library Challenge

Yet another challenge that will just happen anyway, so I might as well make it official. In this one, you commit to reading 12, 25 or 50 books from the library. For complete info and to sign up, click HERE. My choice is 25.

Here's where I'll keep track:

1. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

2. How to Take the Ex out of Ex-Boyfriend by Janette Rallison

3. The Wednesday Letters by Jason Wright

4.Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

5. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin

6. The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

7. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

8. Agnes Grey by Ann Bronte

9. The Monster in Me by Mette Ivie Harrison

10. Blue Noon by Scott Westerfeld

11. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

12.Beastly by Alex Flinn

13. And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander

14. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

A Bunch of Book Bloggin' Business!

There's a bunch of stuff happening out there in the book blogging world lately that I feel the need to promote and support! One of them I've totally been looking forward to because it was so much fun last year. That is the Book Blogger's Christmas Swap! Both Nymeth and Dewey are doing it again. So, if you're interested, click here or here for details! But basically, you send an email saying you want to be included, and then they assign you your blogger and you send them a small Christmas package.

The other thing making it's way around is the movement Amy from Book Blogger Appreciation Week fame has began. That is to buy books for the Holidays in order to support the book industry! Easy, right? We do it anyway, right? So, if you want to know more about this effort, click here. Oh, and also, she's got a Book Bloggers Directory up if you want to check that out. Click here for that and be sure you're listed if you blog about books!

Let's see what else? I think the other thing was new challenge that caught my eye. Of course, it's one I do anyway, so I can handle joining it! It's being hosted by J. Kaye and is called the Support Your Local Library Challenge! Wahoo for the library! So, click here if you want to know more about that and to sign up! I'll be making a post for this challenge that will be blank now, but I'll fill it in as I read my library books next year.

Oh, and in other news! I got an early birthday present yesterday from Serena! She said she was going to, and she really did... send me a book that is. I did a for fun birthday wish list the other day and she went sent me something on my list! I was so curious to know which book it was going to be and it turned out to be The Lace Reader which I've heard so many of you talking about. It sounds wonderful and I'm anxious to read it. I think I'll be moving it to the top of the stack. Thank you so much Serena! You are the best book bloggin' buddy ever! :)