Reading Challenges 2015: The Eclectic Reader Challenge

As I'm sure you've realised by now, I'm a sucker for an interesting reading challenge, especially because so many of them overlap. When looking at websites late last year to see if the ones I'd enjoyed taking part in throughout 2014 would be continuing, I also found a whole bunch of new ones. I am weak, and at some point, I'm sure my sad addiction for reading challenges will abate. This is not that year. Book'd Out is hosting the Eclectic Reader Challenge, which looks like it will be a lot of fun.

The goal is to read 12 books from 12 different categories. The books can be print, e-book or audio. You can choose the books as you go (that's me) or plan the list in advance (although I will probably make up a list of potential candidates for each category). Where a book is identified by more than one genre, like historical romance, it may count as either historical fiction or romantic fiction, not both. You can read the titles and categories in any order, as long as the challenge is completed by December 31st, 2015.

Categories: 
1. Retellings (of fairytales, legends or myth)
2. A book set in a country starting with the letter S (eg. Sweden, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Slovakia - you get the drift)
3. PI Crime (fiction featuring a private investigator)
4. A Novel published before you were born
5. Contemporary romance
6. Fiction for foodies (fiction featuring food/food related business)
7. Microhistory (Non-fiction)
8. Science fiction set in space
9. Sports (fiction or non-fiction)
10. Featuring diversity
11. Epistolary fiction (fiction written in the format of letters/e-mails/diary entries)
12. Middle Grade/YA adventure         

Reading Challenges 2015: Monthly Motif Challenge

As well as hosting the Monthly Key Word Challenge, Kim over on Bookmark to Blog hosts the Monthly Motif Challenge. Each month is assigned a particular theme or motif, and the challenge is to read at least one book that fits with said motif. While some of it remains the same as last year, I can also see that there have been new motifs added, which keeps it fun and fresh. This is another challenge that allows me to make a list, planning my reading. I love that. 

The motifs for 2015:

January - Book to Movie or Audio
Read a book that has a movie or an audio based off it. For an extra challenge, watch the movie or listen to the audio book as well.

February - Award Winner
Read a book that has won recognition or a literary award.

March - Genre Jumble
Read a book in a genre you've never tried or that you are the least familiar with. For example, if you typically read romance novels, try a mystery this time. Ask your local librarian for suggestions on the genre you are least familiar with.

April - Murder, Mystery and Mayhem
Read a murder/mystery book, a book in which someone dies of mysterious causes, or a book in which the truth must come out.

May - Library Love
Show your library some love and visit your local branch. Pick a book that they have on display to read.

June - Take a Trip
Choose a book to read that takes place in a country different to the one you live in or choose a book by an author from a country different than your own (this is not going to be hard, what with being from Norway)

July - Standing Up
Read a book in which the main character stands up for themselves, stands against an enemy, or stands up for something they believe in

August - 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 for this month as well.

September - Furry Friends
Read a book that includes an animal either as a main character or supporting character. Horses, cats, dogs, insects, birds etc. The book doesn't have to be about the animal, but the animal needs to play some sort of role in the story or be mentioned several times throughout the book.

October - Goblins and Ghosts and Ghouls, Oh My!
Cozy mystery ghost stories, paranormal creeptastic, funky fantasy creatures - it's up to you!

November - 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.

December - 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. 

Reading Challenges 2015: Monthly Key Word Challenge

So many books to choose from, so many reading challenges to complete. I have really enjoyed the monthly key word challenge the last two years, because first of all, it allows me to make a long long list to plan my reading, and it in some ways helps me narrow down what on my massive TBR list I should tackle next. It tends to put into focus books that I might otherwise have forgotten about. I'm so glad Kim over on Bookmark to Blog is doing a third year. The task is to read at least one book per month that contains one or several of the key words on the list.

The key words for 2015:

January: Girl, Bird, Ever, Silence, Bad, Truth, End
February: Key, Water, Lie, Chase, Heir, Once
March: Kind, Face, Power, City, Blue, Night, To
April: Dream, Prince, Long, Wind, Rose, The, Rock
May: Ash, Rose, Thief, Bend, In, Far
June: My, Together, Whisper, Win, Soul, Sleep
July: Sun, Unto, Energy, Fate, High, Look
August: Fall, Boy, Glass, Heart, Lost, Now
September: Colour, Touch, Life, Day, How, Sweet
October: Ghost, Home, Beach, Away, Test, Number
November: Rise, Holiday, And, Little, Call, Dark
December: Space, Mirror, Over, Flower, Trap, Cold

• The title you choose can be a variation on one of the key words, for example, your title could include the word "snowing" or "snowflake" even though the key word is "snow".
• Key words can be tweaked. You could read "Cinder" or "Ashes" for the key word "Fire" and that would be just fine. If the key word is "Family", your title could include the word "sister" or "mother". If the key word is "food", then your title could include the word "cake". 

Reading Challenges 2015: TBR Pile 2015

As my TBR list keeps growing and growing at a speed faster than I doubt I can ever read, I pretty much HAVE to have some sort of TBR challenge among the many many that I take part in. This year, like last year, I will be participating in the 2015 TBR Pile challenge, hosted by Evie over on Bookish.

Any genre, length or format of book counts, including short stories and novellas, as long as the book has been sitting on your TBR shelf for some time. The book has to have been published in 2014 or earlier. No 2015 ARCs or newly released in 2015 books allowed. You have to post a review of your books.

Levels are as follows:

1-10 books: A Firm Handshake
11-20 books: A Friendly Hug
21-30 books: First Kiss
31-40 books: Sweet Summer Fling
41-50 books: Could This Be Love?
50+: Married with Children

Now, seeing as I was careful last year, and aimed low, but ended up with a completed list of 79 whole books off my TBR list (new record!), I'm going to try to aim ambitiously in 2015, going for the full 50+ books and my goal will be to complete Married with Children.

Reading Challenges 2015: Lucky No.15

Having greatly enjoyed the Lucky no 14 challenge last year, hosted by Astrid over on Books to Share, imagine my surprise and delight upon discovering that she's going to be hosting a new challenge for 2015 - the Lucky no 15 Reading Challenge. Some of the categories are the same as last year, but there are new and fun looking ones as well. I especially like the look of the Randomly Chosen one, I suspect that could yield some interesting results.

This year's categories:
1) Chunky Brick - Grab that book with more than 500 pages that you've always been afraid to tackle. You know you can do it!

2) Something New - Just purchased a book lately? Don't let it be buried in your stacks, read it now!

3) Something Borrowed - Read a book you borrowed from someone else. Don't make the owner wait forever for you to finish it (Books borrowed from friends, libraries, even rental places are allowed)

4) It's Been There Forever - Dig into your TBR pile and read a book that has been there for more than a year. It's time for you to appreciate it.

5) Freebies Time - What's the LAST free book you got? Whether it's from a giveaway, a birthday gift or a surprise from someone special, don't hold back any longer. Open the book and start reading it now.

6) Bargain All the Way - Ever buy a book because it's so cheap you don't really care about the content? Now it's time to open the book and find out if it's really worth your cents.

7) Favourite Colour - Pick a book from your shelf which has your favourite colour for its cover. Is it pink, red or black? You decide. (It's purple, actually)

8) First Initial - Read a book that has been written by an author whose first initial is the same as you (Example: My name is Malin, so I can read anything written by Melissa Marr, Maggie Stiefvater, Mike Carey, Mary Robinette Kowal, Meljean Brook etc.)

9) Super Series - Read one (or more!) books that belong in a series, it can be a duology, trilogy or anything.

10) Opposites Attract - Read a book that's been written by a writer whose gender is different from your own.

11) Randomly Picked - Ask someone else (a friend, your spouse, even your kids!) to randomly pick a book from your TBR pile. Don't complain, whatever they choose for you, just read it.

12) Cover Lust - Grab a book from your shelf that you bought because you fell in love with the cover. Is the content as good as the cover?

13) Who are You Again? - You've never read a book from this author, maybe you've never even heard his/her name before. But who knows? Maybe he/she will become your new favourite author!

14) One Word Only! - Read a book that only has one word for its title (numbers are allowed as long as it's still a one-word title, e.g: 1, 2, 11)

15) Dream Destination - Read a book that is set in a place you've never visited before - but would like to if you have a chance. Could be real places or even fictional!

To complete the challenge, you have to read at least one book for each category, so 15 books in total. The categories do not need to be read in any particular order. Any format is allowed (print, e-book, audio). You can of course read more than one book per category.

Reading Challenges 2015: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

It seems that the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge, which I've taken part in for two years so far, has a new host this year. Passages to the Past is now hosting it, but apart from a that, there appears to be little that has changed.

Any sub-genre of history is accepted (historical romance, historical mystery, historical fantasy, historical YA etc.)

The levels are as follows:
20th Century Reader - 2 books
Victorian Reader - 5 books
Renaissance Reader - 10 books
Medieval - 15 books
Ancient History - 25 books
Prehistoric - 50+ books

This year, like the year before, I'm signing up for the highest level - Prehistoric (I have after all read read four books that qualify so far this year).

Reading Challenges 2015: Colour Coded Challenge

I really enjoyed the Colour Coded challenge last year, even though some of the colours were a lot easier to find representative books for than others. To my delight I discovered that the challenge has become somewhat more flexible. The colour can appear as part of the title of the book OR it can be the dominant colour on the cover of the book. For instance, for "implies colour" the image implying colour should dominate the cover - a large rainbow, a field of flowers, the image of a painter. As this makes the list of potential titles so much bigger, I'm really very excited about it.

1. A book with "blue" or any shade of blue in the title or dominating the cover
2. A book with "red" or any shade of red in the title or dominating the cover
3. A book with "yellow" or any shade of yellow in the title or dominating the cover
4. A book with "green" or any shade of green in the title or dominating the cover
5. A book with "brown" or any shade of brown in the title or dominating the cover
6. A book with "black" or any shade of black in the title or dominating the cover
7. A book with "white" or any shade of white in the title or dominating the cover
8. A book with any other colour (grey, pink, purple, silver, orange etc.) in the title or dominating the cover
9. A book with a word that implies colour (plaid, rainbow, stripe, paisley, polka-dot etc.) in the title or dominating the cover