2011 Spring Reading Thing

March 20 - June 20, 2011

This one started on Sunday, but there is still time to join. Callipider Days is hosting her annual Spring Thing Reading Challenge. She writes:

Welcome to Spring Reading Thing 2011! Just in time, our weather appears to be turning. Sunshine! Warm weather! I have to admit, I won’t mind saying goodbye to winter for a while. I’m more than happy to welcome spring, and with it…Spring Reading Thing 2011!

I hope you’re ready to read! And whatever you’re reading for this challenge, I hope you enjoy each and every book!

Guidelines for the challenge:

• Make a list of books you want to read (or finish reading) this spring. Your list can be as long or as short as you’d like. (Also, feel free to modify your list during the challenge if it’s not working for you.)

• Write a blog post containing your list

• Check out other participants’ lists and add to your own to-read-someday pile!

• Write a post about your challenge experience in June, telling us all about whether you reached your goals and how Spring Reading Thing went for you. But remember: this is a low-pressure challenge that should be fun. As long as you do some reading this spring (and enjoy it!), that’s good enough.

There will be two prizes as part of Spring Reading Thing 2011:

1. A $20 gift certificate to Amazon.com
2. A $10 gift certificate to Amazon.com

To be eligible for these prizes, you must:

• Post your intitial Spring Reading Thing 2011 post (and enter it on the linky list on the post about the challenge) by midnight on March 24th.
• AND post a wrap-up post on your blog at the end of the challenge (and enter it on the linky list posted at that time) by midnight on June 24th.

Winners will be randomly drawn.

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For more information about Spring Reading Thing 2011, check out these previous posts:

• The Basics
• Posting Guidelines

Note: There is NO limit to when people can sign up to participate in Spring Reading Thing 2011. You’re welcome to join in any time between now and June! The “deadlines” mentioned in the above prize section are only for prize eligibility.

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Learn all about the challenge and sign up by visiting the sign up post.

2011 Armchair BEA- EVENT

May 23 - 27, 2011

The Armchair BEA is being hosted once again over on the dedicated blog for the event. The team hosting the event writes:

For those who are wondering, yes, the second annual Armchair BEA is a go! Starting May 23 through May 27, when so many fellow book bloggers are storming New York City and the Javits Center to attend the Book Expo America, we will be making sure you don't feel left out by hosting our own (Armchair) BEA. It's all of the fun without the hassle of travel, crowds, expenses, and tired feet!

Subscribe to the dedicated blog for further details, including blogger interview sign-ups and giveaway hosts. For any publishers and/or bloggers who are interested in hosting a giveaway of contributing to the prize stash, please contact one of the organizers, listed in the left-hand column of the dedicated blog.

Monthly Mix-Up Mania Challenge

April 1, 2011 - March 31, 2013

Book Dragon's Lair is hosting the Monthly Mix-Up Mania challenge - a 2 year challenge beginning April 1st. The challenge has its own dedicated blog. She writes:

Read a book for each letter in the year. That's right, a title for the J in January and the A in April, etc.... 74 books total!

Guidelines:

• only one letter per book
  
• books can be moved around if it fits better somewhere else after you've read it
  
• the letter doesn't have to be the first word, just the first letter of a word in the title (a, an, and, the do not count-except for something like "And Then You Die")
  
• reviews aren't necessary but a quick "I read for letter... it was about... I did/not like it" comment would be nice.
  
• a blog is not necessary, just comment on that month's post
  
• if you get stuck, an author's name will do in a pinch but try to have more titles than names
  

Read all about the challenge here. To sign up, visit the sign up page.

Women's History Month Reading Challenge

March 1-31, 2011

Little Wonder's Recommended Reading is hosting a mini challenge, the Women's History Month Reading Challenge.  She writes:

March is Women’s History Month, and so I thought I’d make an extra effort to read some historical fiction with female characters, in addition to reading the six Aussie Y.A. novels for my Six Books in Six Weeks Challenge. So I ordered even more (not that I really needed any more) young adult novels with girls and/or women at the center of the plot.

Even though we’ve all got our own tottering TBR stacks, I’d like to invite everyone to participate in a little mini-reading challenge: read and review at least one historical fiction novel this month that’s centered around a young woman. Grab the badge I’ve made, then link your review back to this post. I’d love to hear about more novels that celebrate Women’s History!!

To join, go to the Women's History Month Reading Challenge.

Black Dagger Brotherhood Book Club & Challenge

April 1-December 31, 2011

Bookaholic Does Blogging is hosting her very first challenge, with a book club to boot, The Black Dagger Brotherhood Book Club & Challenge.  She writes:

I read the first book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series over four months ago now.  Why I never got around to picking up the other books, I still do not know.  To remedy said situation, I am launching this challenge to encourage myself to finally read the other books.  I thought it would be fun if others joined me!  So, here's how it works:

If you haven't already gathered as much, there will be two parts to this event: the challenge and the book club. You DO NOT have to do both.  Feel free to do one or the other or bits and pieces. 

Challenge details:

--Goal: Read all 9 Black Dagger Brotherhood series books by the end of the challenge.
--Any book counts: paperback, e-book, audio, etc.
--Challenge can cross-over into other challenges.
--Feel free to join whenever!
--Reviews can be linked to monthly book club posts, but this is not necessary.

About the book club:
There is no sign-up for the book club portion of this event.  Monthly book club posts will be made on the 2nd MONDAY of each month.  Dates are listed below along with which book we will be discussing.  My reviews will be posted at this time as well.  When book club is posted, a link list will be provided for you to link to your blog post about book club.  I will post questions for discussion and we will post our answers on our own blogs and then blog hop!  If you do not have a book blog, there is a Goodreads book club you can join here.  These are the ONLY two ways to join in book club.

Bookclub dates:

April 11th 2011: Dark Lover

May 9th 2011: Lover Eternal

June 13th 2011: Lover Awakened

July 11th 2011: Lover Revealed

August 8th 2011: Lover Unbound

September 12th 2011: Lover Enshrined

October 10th 2011: Lover Avenged

November 14th 2011: Lover Mine

December 12th 2011: Lover Unleashed

Now the part about the bits and pieces: Feel free to do the challenge only -- just read the books by December 31st!  Feel free to do one month of book club -- or all of them!  Feel free to only do book club!  Whatever floats your boat!! All I ask is that you sign up if you're doing the challenge. =)

Finally, the good stuff: Prizes!  On random months (probably 5 out of the 9 months), I will select a random winner from those who linked up with their book club posts to win a random prize!  At this point, I don't know what the prizes will be, but I'll make a post about this in the future. =)

To join, go to the Black Dagger Brotherhood Book Club & Challenge.

Color Coded Reading Challenge

January 1-December 31, 2011

My Reader's Block is hosting the Color Coded Reading Challenge.  She writes:

Looking over the books I've read so far this year, I realized that I seem to have a bit of a theme going. I don't mean with my designated reading challenges. I seem to be reading a lot of books that have colors in the title. That's when I decided to put together another challenge to tempt all you Reading Challenge Addicts out there. So, for your challenge reading pleasure, I introduce The Color Coded Reading Challenge:

 Here are the rules:

*Read nine books in the following categories.

1. A book with "Blue" in the title.

2. A book with "Red" in the title.

3. A book with "Yellow" in the title.

4. A book with "Green" in the title.

5. A book with "Brown" in the title.

6. A book with "Black" in the title.

7. A book with "White" in the title.

8. A book with any other color in the title (Purple, Orange, Turquoise, Pink, Magneta, etc.).

9. A book with a word that implies color (Rainbow, Polka-dot, Plaid, Paisley, Stripe, etc.).

*Even though I'm posting this a bit late, this is a challenge for 2011. Any book read from January 1 through December 31, 2011 will count.

*Everyone who completes all nine categories will be entered in a year-end drawing for a book-related prize package.

 

To join, go to the Color Coded Reading Challenge.

2011 Cozy Mystery Challenge

April 1- September 30, 2011

Kris at Not Enough Books is hosting the 2011 Cozy Mystery Challenge on its own dedicated blog. She writes:

It's that time of year again, time to sign up for the annual Cozy Mystery Challenge and start thinking about the books you'll want to read for the next 6 months.

Last year we had a great turn out and I hope we do just as well, if not better, in 2011.

For those who might wonder what a cozy mystery is, here's a great website that explains it and is a great resource for series: Cozy-Mystery.com I also have the 2010 list of read books still available on this blog, so feel free to browse through the list to see what members read last year.

The Rules:

• The goal is to read at least 6 cozy mysteries, one for each month. You can choose to read more, but you must read 6 in order to complete this challenge. You don't have to read 1 each month, you can read them whenever you like, you just have to read at least six.
• While you can overlap with other challenges, please try to have at least 2 of the books only count towards this challenge.
• You can sign up anytime between now and September 1st.
• You do NOT need a blog to participate.
• You do NOT have to list the books you plan to read ahead of time, although you can if you want to (and the list can change throughout the challenge).

There are three participation levels for this challenge:

1. Only the required amount - 6
2. I think I can do better - 7-10
3. Feeling very ambitious - 11+

Everyone who completes the challenge will get a bookmark made by Kris.

And there will also be giveaways!

Get all the details and sign up by visiting the sign up post.

The World Needs More Canada Reading Challenge: 2011-12

March 5, 2011 - March 5, 2012

Christa at Hooked on Books is hosting The World Needs More Canada Reading Challenge. She writes:

Last month the latest Canada Reads was hosted. Canada Reads is an annual literary award hosted by the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). The winner this year was Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis, which I haven't read yet. Actually I hadn't read any of the nominees. And that's when I realized I had been neglecting my love of Canadian literature for all the other challenges I've got going on, the stack of ARCs on my shelf and my never ending battle with the 1001 list. So I've started this challenge for me to get back in touch with the literature of my native country.

But that's not the only reason. I love Canadian literature. I love it so much I've got a whole shelf dedicated to Margaret Atwood and I display my Canadian fiction books seperate from the rest. I now want to share this love of CanLit with everyone. Though some writers (like Margaret Atwood and Yann Martel) have made it big internationally I definitely think the world could use some more Canada, and that there are probably many Canadians that could use some more Canada too. There's a whole country of authors just waiting for you to discover them!

The Rules:

• books need to be written by a Canadian author but can be set anywhere
• re-reads are allowed
• cross overs with other challenges are allowed
• You don't need to have a blog to particiapte. Feel free to link your reviews from goodreads, librarythings, shelfari etc.

Levels:

3-5 Books: Hoser

6-8 Books: Tim Bit

9-11 Books: Lumberjack

12-15 Books: Mountie

15+ Books: Canuck

There will be a giveaway associated with this challenge.

For more information and to sign up, visit the post about the challenge.