One Hundred!

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I meant to blog about this earlier, but alas, life and NaNoWriMo and other non-shiny, non-reading stuff got in the way. Don’t you hate it when that happens?

Since I have a long day at work today, I think I can afford to have a little break and a celebration. So…here we go:

I have read 100 books in 2010!

I'm not sure if there are 100 books in that image really. Let's just pretend it is. :) (image from wehearit.com)

I know that compared to other readers and book bloggers out there, 100 books is a small feat, but this is the first time I have actually reached that number in a year. I know it would be somewhat of an easy challenge, but I never thought I would finish it with a month and a few days to spare. :)

Of course, this doesn’t mean that I have made a huge dent in my TBR pile — in fact, it seemed to have grown bigger as I did this challenge. But oh well, I should not be surprised with that anymore.

I will still continue to read until the year ends of course. Let’s see how much I can reach before 11:59:59pm on December 31, 2010. :)

Will I do this again next year? Probably…not. I don’t want to set a number to reach anymore because I know I will keep on reading, no matter what. I initially set to read 50 books in 2008 because I felt like I don’t read enough then. Now that I know I read more than enough, I don’t think a number is necessary. A themed challenge again, maybe, but it depends on the mood.

On another note — I have four more challenges remaining, three of which I am not sure if I can still meet before the year ends. But it’s okay if I don’t reach them — the fact that I tried (even if it was just at the start) is already good enough. :)

Posted in: Challenges, Squee! \ Tagged: ,

All Things Dystopian (YA-D2 Challenge)

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Lately I realized that I have been avoiding the shelves I frequent in the bookstore when I started reading more. By these shelves, I mean the shelves that contain paranormal romance, and even plain contemporary young adult romance. I don’t really know when or why it started, but I find myself not getting interested in any of the new stuff under those sub-genre. More often than not, I feel relieved when I decide not to pick up the book especially after I find some of the reviewers I follow say that they didn’t like the book or it’s a Twilight derivative. I mean, who wants that, right? (No offense to anyone, of course)

After some time, I realized again that I seemed to have found a new pattern to the books I have been reading lately, and I can only blame some of the guys I got to know recently for this new sub-genre fascination.

Friends, I think I fell in love with dystopia.

Aaron posted about this last week, and he managed to convince me to try out this challenge on top of the other challenges I’m doing. I figure, what the heck, right? It’s not like it’s going to be a hard challenge, anyway, what with all the dystopia books waiting on my TBR shelf.

So, yeah, here’s another one for my challenges for this year. I’m joining Bart’s Bookshelf‘s YA-D2: The YA Dystopian Reading Challenge. You want something crazier? I’m going for the die-hard’s choice:

Welcome to Level 3.

Oooh, how ominous. According to the challenge:

Level 3: Is for the dystopian die-hards! Minimum requirement for this level is five young adult dystopian novels, between the 1st October and 19th December. There is, however no maximum cap, you can keep reading for as many books as you like!

Just five, huh. I could do that. I mean, I set to read 20 fantasy books this year, and I lost count at how many I read this year. So, unless the world ends or the zombie apocalypse comes, I don’t think there would be a reason why I won’t be able to finish this challenge. :)

And now the books I will read for this challenge. Much thanks to Aaron for pointing them out of my shelf. :D

  1. The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness
  2. Gone by Michael Grant
  3. Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden
  4. The Dead of the Night by John Marsden
  5. Z by Michael Thomas Ford

Wait, just five? I think I still have some I can add to this list! Some reserves/alternates, in case I don’t get to read the others for some reason, or in case I feel like going on and on and on and on until the challenge ends.

And that should be enough. I guess I’ll take today up until the end of September to read the other “normal” books I have before I plunge into all the end-of-the-world/post-apocalyptic dystopia goodness. :)

Posted in: Challenges, Reading Quirks \ Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

OMP 2010 Halfway Checkpoint

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What do you know, it’s July! It’s the second half of 2010 — I echo everyone with what they’re saying: where did time go?

I thought I’d take a break from the scheduled Sample Fridays and instead, do the (obligatory) halfway checkpoint for my 2010 challenges, things that happened (as far as my reading habits and books are concerned) and plans for the next half of the year. I originally planned to post this Wednesday, but alas, I have no access to Internet or even a linksys router anywhere.

BUT FIRST! Time to announce the winner of my Feed book giveaway! Thanks to everyone who joined this first giveaway — I had so much fun reading your answers! I was kind of worried that I wouldn’t be able to get people to join this (but come on, who doesn’t want a free book?), and I even got…well, questioned with my choice of a giveaway. :o But nevertheless, I’m just happy to be able to share one of my favorite books to someone.

So, using Random.org List Randomizer, I put the names, and the extra entries, and the winner of Feed is…*drumroll*

HONEY

Congratulations! She did not only leave a comment, but she tweeted this contest too — so multiple entries do count. :D Her weapon of choice in case of a zombie apocalypse: shotgun with unlimited ammo. That’s a good choice — just make sure to aim for the head to kill them fast!

I’ll be sending you an email about shipping and stuff I make this post. :D

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Now onto the 2010 halfway checkpoint. Here are my 2010 statistics as of June 30:

  • 50 out of 100 books in 2010
  • 26 out of 20 (!) fantasy books
  • 2 out of 10 classic novel
  • 7 out of 20 for Project 20:10
  • 2 out of 12 in TBR challenge
  • 43 books reviewed

Continue Reading →

Posted in: Challenges, Giveaway, Reading Quirks \ Tagged: , , , , , , ,