2018 Read Your (Book) Shelf Challenge #ReadYourShelf

Here we are...year two! Once again, a shout out to the awesome book bloggers/booktubers who created the #RYBSAT (Read-your-bookshelf-a-thon), which I adapted this challenge from last year. Thank you again!

An admission on my part. I failed miserably at this challenge in 2017. Which is why I adapted the rules a bit for this year. The new rule will be in bold, just so you know what I added.

Here's what you do:

• Go to your bookshelves, or stack on the floor, or on your nightstand, etc. Pick out a book that you've been wanting to read on a particular shelf.
• Now continue down that line of books on the shelf (in order) until you have 12 books. (Here's an example image - most of my books are stacked instead of shelved traditionally because I have so many!) So, I choose Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch as my first choice and then I go up the stack until I have twelve total so I would end up at up at Alice Hoffman's The Marriage of Opposites).

• You might notice that there are a couple of extra books at the top...Swann by Carol Shields and that top one is The Accidental Man by Iris Murdoch. These are alternate titles. I found that part of the reason I failed at this challenge is that I didn't have any options for alternates, which I now feel is essential (there is probably no way I can read Atlas Shrugged in a month), especially if your sequence of books has more than one by the same author. I'm limiting the alternates to a three book maximum.
• You will then read your 12 books over the next twelve months, one book each month. You can read them in order (forward or reverse), or you can plug 1 - 12 (or 1 through your total number including alternates, if any) into a randomizer each month to pick your title for the month. The point is that you're not specifically choosing the book each month. It's chosen for you, either by ordered reading, or random choice.
• If you find that one of the books is part of a series and you've already read it, I will allow a substitution of another book from the series. However, if you find this happening (a whole series, several by the same author, etc) in the stack/shelf you chose, and you don't like it, I would suggest picking a different stack/shelf.
• What an awesome way to tackle books gathering dust on your bookshelves. Right?
• Challenge runs January through December of 2018.
• You can cross over books from your 12 books with other challenges.
• Just remember to stick to the guidelines above.
• Easy peasy!

Sign up below and grab the button. I hope you will join me!

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2018 Book to Movie Reading Challenge #Book2MovieRC

And we're back for our second year! Welcome, or welcome back to former participants!

I have found quite a many books which have been made into movies and are coming out in 2018. I'm sure there could be more. If you notice I'm missing any on the list, leave me a comment and I'll add it to the list.

The list of this year's book to movie releases:

Anthem (Based on Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet), Joanne Proulx - no specific date yet

Maze Runner: The Death Cure, James Dashner - Jan 12

12 Strong, Doug Stanton - Jan 19

The Leisure Seeker, Michael Zadoorian - Jan 19

Fifty Shades Freed, E.L. James - Feb 9

Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer - Feb 23

The War with Grandpa, Robert Kimmel Smith - Feb 23

Death Wish, Brian Garfield - March

Red Sparrow, Jason Matthews - March 2

A Wrinkle in Time, Madeline L'Engle - March 9

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Becky Albertelli - March 16

Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter - March 23

Robin Hood: Origins (prequel to The Adventures of Robin Hood), Roger Lancelyn Green - March 23

Anubis (based on The Anubis Tapestry: Between Twilights), Bruce Zick - March 23

Ready Player One, Ernest Cline - March 30

Hunting Christ, Ken Policard - no specific date yet

The Invisible Man, H.G. Wells - April 13

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Annie Barrows - April 19

Where’d You Go, Bernadette?, Maria Semple - May 11

Meg, Steve Alten - August 10

Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan - August 17

The Darkest Minds, Alexandra Bracken - Sept 14

The House with a Clock in Its Walls, John Bellairs - Sept 21

Boy Erased, Garrard Conley - Sept 28

First Man,  James R. Hansen - Oct 12

The Girl in the Spider's Web, David Lagercrantz - Oct 19

Bluebeard, Kurt Vonnegut - Oct 29

How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Dr. Seuss - Nov 9

Fantastic Beasts 2 (loosely based on the book), J.K. Rowling - Nov 16

All the Bright Places, Jennifer Niven - no specific date yet

I Heard You Paint Houses (retitled The Irishman), Charles Brandt - no specific date yet

Ophelia, Lisa Klein - no specific date yet

Books made into TV series/mini-series are also eligible to be read for the challenge. A few of the series/mini-series coming in 2018 are...

The Alienist, Caleb Carr - TNT, January (if you haven't read this one, read it! It's a good one)
The Terror, Dan Simmons - AMC, March 26
Howard's End, E.M. Forster - Starz, April 8

Sharp Objects, Gillian Flynn - HBO, summer

The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson - Netflix, no date given

Good Omens, Terry Prachett and Neil Gaiman - Amazon Prime Video, no date given

Again, if you find out about any I haven't mentioned, leave me a comment and I'll add to the list.

There are multiple levels for this challenge:

Level 1a: read 1-3 books
Level 1b: read 4+ books

Read only books being made into movies for release in 2018 (you are not required to only read from the list above. As I stated, if you find another movie or TV series/mini-series based on a book coming out in 2018, feel free to read it).

Level 2a: 1-3 books from 2018 movie releases, 1-3 books from books made into movies from previous years
Level 2b: 4+ books from 2018 movie releases, 4+ books from books made into movies from previous years

Here's a list of 2017 movies adapted from books. (Note: Some of the movies listed were moved to 2018).
You can also Google for previous years, or check Goodreads lists.

Level 3a: read 1-3 books from any release year, watch 1-3 movies from any release year
Level 3b: read 4+ books from any release year, watch 4+ movies from any release year

Note: Movies watched must be the movie adaptation of the book(s) you read.

• The books you read can count for other challenges. Ebooks, audiobooks, and traditional formats all count.
• The start date is January 1, 2018 so any book you started between the first of January, and now, counts. End date is December 31, 2018.
• Remember, TV series/mini-series count too.
• Pick your level
• Sign up below and grab a button (below the linky). I hope you will join me!
• If you have any questions, click the contact me button in the sidebar, or leave a comment.

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Update on 2018 Reading Challenges

I will be hosting my yearly challenges again in 2018. Those are ...

• the yearly challenge for the 13 Ways of Looking at the Lifetime Reading Plan perpetual challenge 
• the Read Your (Book) Shelf Challenge
• Book to Movie Challenge

I'm running behind because of the busy holiday season, but hopefully after I get packages mailed tomorrow and Christmas cards sent I will be able to sit down and work on posts for these challenges. I hope you'll bear with me. For details on any of the challenges, including my long term and perpetual challenges, you can check in the sidebar. 

If you're on Goodreads, my reading group, Lit Collective is being overhauled. You might be interested, as the book is sometimes considered a "project" book because of its length. 

Update on Anne Rice's The Mummy Read-Along #ReadtheMummy

I've learned that a few people who are reading along are already finished (you go, guys!) so since I'm behind, instead of having two discussions, we will have the final discussion on November 1st. That will give me time to finish it! I'm loving it. It's as good as I remember.

Talk to you on November 1st!

Anne Rice's The Mummy Read-Along #ReadtheMummy

 

I can't wait for Anne's new book, the sequel to The Mummy...Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra! That's why I decided, way back when Anne announced that her and Christopher had written the book, I would host a read-along of the first book. I absolutely loved it when I read it years ago and it remains one of my top favorites of her books.

I'm a bit late with the schedule, but I hope you will still join me. My copy is 436 pages so I'm thinking we will read the first half, have a discussion, and then read the second half, and have a final discussion. It actually works out nicely for this book because it has a Part One and a Part Two.

I will post discussions here and we will have an event over in the Gather Together and Read Facebook page.

Schedule:

• Read Part One and join us for the discussion on October 16.
• Read Part Two and join us for the discussion on November 1st.

I hope you will join me! I promise you...this book is SO good!

Note: This read-along is also part of the Never-Ending Anne Rice Challenge. You do not have to be a challenge participant to take part in the read-along.

IT - #SummerofIT Read-Along Update

Sadly, the Summer of IT seems to have become the year of IT. I saw the movie on Sunday. AWESOME! Just to let you know...it's "Chapter One" so there will be a second movie. So, if you're halfway (or more) through the book (like me), you're okay to see the movie without really spoiling the book...I think. Anyway, I'm going to keep plugging away. If you're still reading along (slowly, like me), I hope you will join me to discuss when the time comes. I'll be sure to post updates periodically.

Thanks for bearing with!

The Never-Ending #AnneRice Challenge announces...The Mummy Read-Along #ReadtheMummy

Everyone knows I'm a huge Anne Rice fan (duh, the reading challenge might be a clue lol). She's my favorite author and she has written a sequel (with her son, Christopher Rice) to one of my favorites of her books, The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned. The new book is titled Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra. So, I've decided to host a read-along of the first book in honor of the sequel's release in November. This will be a reread for me and frankly, I'm pretty excited. Rereading a favorite is always fun!

 The new book...squee!

If you would like to join us, leave a comment (and a link to your post, if you do one). I will have a post ready on October 1st with the reading/discussion schedule. Note: You do not have to be a Never-Ending Anne Rice challenge participant to join in on the read-along.

I hope you will join us!