A Reading Vocation

Note to self: In future, no more than 2 reading challenges shall be undertaken at any one time. I mean it!!!

I am looking forward to my 2016 challenges and a clean slate. I'm hoping to be less ambitious but more disciplined. But for now, my progress for the last three months on my current challenges.

August - Local Flavor

For August, my personal theme was to read books by authors or set in places that I live or have lived in the past. I only managed to fit in one book with this theme, which was The Long-Shining Waters by Danielle Sosin. The book takes place on the shores of Lake Superior, where I used to live (and, if I'm honest, would like to live again), over three different periods in history. In addition, the author lived right down the hall from me when I lived in Duluth -- it doesn't get much more local than that! And in 2013 this was chosen as the "One Book, South Dakota" read, which ties it to my current home.

I don't know why I was such a failure and only squeezed one local book in this month -- perhaps the other challenges are to blame?

September - Series Catch-up

I did much better with my September theme, which was to read the next book in various series I've started but still have not finished. So, in this month I made progress on the following series:

Internet Girls by Lauren Myracle - I actually FINISHED this series, cruising through ttfn, l8g8r and yolo all back-to-back. I hardly ever do that, but these books were light and quick enough that it wasn't too daunting. And I can see how you DO get more out of a series when you read them close enough together and can more easily see the bigger picture and remember the referenced details ... but I crave diversity in my reading so much that I don't think I'm going to be giving up my habit of taking longs "breaks" between entries in a series anytime soon.

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer - I read Fairest and Cress, both of which were great. Now I'm caught up with this series but for the newly-released Winter, which is somewhat daunting to me because it is a whopping 800 pages long. Marissa Meyer, you are supposed to be my "light" reading! I did not give you permission to enter Epic Fantasy Territory. Sigh. But of course, I wouldn't dream of skipping the last book in the series.

The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan - I read the next installment, Lord of Chaos, which I found somewhat difficult to get through. It took me from the last week of August until last night to finally finish. So, in other words, I've been reading Lord of Chaos for the exact same amount of time I've been putting off this blog post!

October - Fear Not the Fat Book

Although I've enjoyed many a hefty tome, I also feel intimidated by them and avoid starting them in favor of slimmer volumes. I can't help but think how many MORE books I could read in the same amount of time if they were shorter. Also, since I'm a "finisher" (I finish almost every book I start), I know that a long book that I'm not particularly enjoying will be especially arduous.

So, I chose one month to read one fat book, and in October it was the next book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, A Feast for Crows by George RR Martin. I am not finished yet, but I am on the last chapter. (By the way, by happenstance this month ended up overlapping another "fat book," Lord of Chaos, because I did not finish it in September. I absolutely do NOT recommend reading two different epic fantasy books at the same time. Never again!)

From my Into the Forest Reading Challenge, I read

1. A novel from the villain's point of view: Fairest by Marissa Meyer

For the Popsugar 2015 Reading Challenge I read ...

1. A book with more than 500 pages: The Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan

2. A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit: Lipstick Jihad, because I would like to someday visit the Middle East (although I haven't always wanted to visit, only since I was about 12. Also, I actually read this with my last batch but forgot to count it for this challenge.)

3. A book based on or turned into a TV show: A Feast for Crows by George RR Martin (in progress).

Disney Source Materials for A Year in Disney Movies:

I didn't read anything from my Disney Source Materials project, since I had either read the source materials for the movies I was watching back when the movies premiered, or the movies were not based on earlier source materials.

At long last! It's nice to know that if I get this far behind again, I will be able to just WRAP UP THE YEAR. As such, I am totally in the market for 2016 reading challenges. I am more interested in "list-style" challenges such as the Popsugar one than month-by-month challenges (i.e.: in January read this, in February read this, etc.) Leave me suggestions in the comments!