The Sarah Addison Allen Challenge

March 31, 2012 – December 31, 2012

From Quirky Girls Read:

True confession.  I have a girl-crush on Sarah Addison Allen.  She writes about the most magical places and she writes them so well that I feel I’ve been transported to her worlds.  They’re great places to be-lush gardens which have a mind of their own; quaint ski towns rich in history; small villages where the scent of a freshly baked Hummingbird Cake can work its own magic and make you believe in love again.

And talk about  Julia’s Hummingbird Cake (Girl Who Chased the Moon)-Sarah Addison Allen makes food magical too.  Claire (Garden Spells) makes Rose Petal Scones (roses to encourage love) and Dandelion Quiche (dandelion to ensure faithfulness).  Chloe (The Sugar Queen) makes a grilled tomato and three cheese sandwich to die for-one that fills you body and soul.  And Rachel (The Peach Keeper) makes coffee snacks, not just coffee cake, but mouthwatering treats made from coffee and love.

Have I made you hungry?  Good!  Because this challenge involves two of my favorite things: books and good food.  I challenge you to read any one of Sarah Addison Allen’s four books (all pictured here) and then make a recipe inspired by the story.  Trust me you’ll have no trouble finding inspiration.  Sarah Addison Allen doesn’t kid around when it comes to the kind of food that fills your heart as well as your stomach.  You may use your own recipe OR hie yourself at once to Ms. Allen’s website and make one (or more!) of the many recipes she has graciously provided.

Once you have both read the book and made your culinary creation, write a post detailing your experience.  Pictures are most welcome as are mouth-watering descriptions of your heart-and-soul-food!  Then come back here and link us to your post on the SAA challenge review page so we can vicariously partake! The challenge starts on March 21, 2012 and ends on June 20, 2012.

Now my quirky girls know me.  I am known as Izzybella, aka, She-Who-Does-Not-Cook.  But I’m gonna.  Oh yes, I will.  Because part of Sarah Addison Allen’s magic is making me believe that magic lives in me too.  And if that magic is real, then it seems a disservice not to at least try.

I hope you will all join me.  If you love a book that makes you feel lighter after you’ve read it, you won’t be sorry.  I’ll leave you with a paragraph from an essay Ms. Allen has on her website:

Remember that pale yellow book you read when you were sixteen?  It changed your world, that book.  It changed your dreams.  You carried it around until it was old and thin and sparkles no longer rose from the pages and filled the air when you opened it, like it did when it was new.  You should know that it still thinks of you.  It would like to get together sometime, maybe over coffee next month, so you can see how much you’ve both changed.     

See, someone who understands book-love like that?  That is a person I can love.  And even cook for…

For more information and to sign-up, please see this post.

2012 NetGalley Reading Challenge

January 1, 2012 – December 31, 2012

1. Link up your blog [on the host’s site – see link below]

Or wherever it is you post your NetGalley reviews

2. Pick a level:

Blue Star - read 1-10 NetGalley Books in 2012

Green Star - read 11-20 NetGalley Books in 2012

Red Star - read 21-30 NetGalley Books in 2012

Gold Star - read 30+ NetGalley Books in 2012

3. Put [the] challenge button on your blog, if you want

4. Read the Books :)

5. Come back every month to share some reviews and visit other blogs participating!

Every month [the hosting site] will have a linky up where you can post your NetGalley reviews
Check back on [the sign up] post for the review post link or check out [the] sidebar - I'll link them there as well :)

For more information and to sign-up, please see this post.

2012 Sea Haven Reading Challenge

January 1, 2012 - December 31, 2012

I just finished reading the first book in the Sisters of the Heart series and loved it so much that I decided to turn it into a reading challenge!

The books in the Sea Haven Reading Challenge are comprised of two different series: the Drake Sisters and the Sisters of the Heart. Since the Sisters of the Heart series appears to be a spin-off of the Drake Sisters series, it would probably be best to start with that one first.

The Sea Haven novels by Christine Feehan are:

1. Magic in the Wind (Drake Sisters, Book #1)
2. The Twilight Before Christmas (Drake Sisters, Book #2)
3. Oceans of Fire (Drake Sisters, Book #3)
4. Dangerous Tides (Drake Sisters, Book #4)
5. Safe Harbor (Drake Sisters, Book #5)
6. Turbulent Sea (Drake Sisters, Book #6)
7. Hidden Currents (Drake Sisters, Book #7)
8. Water Bound (Sisters of the Heart, Book #1)
9. Spirit Bound (Sisters of the Heart, Book #2)

Here are the challenge details:

1. The challenge will run from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012. You can join the challenge at any time, whether you haven't yet started the series or are already halfway through. As the challenge host, I reserve the right to extend the challenge period!

2. This challenge can cross-over to your other reading challenges. 

3. You do not need a blog to participate! If you are not a blogger, you can post your reviews at Goodreads, Shelfari, or LibraryThing and link them up here. 

4. All formats of books are acceptable: Bound copies, e-books, and audiobooks (as long as they are unabridged). 

5. There will be link-ups for your reviews on a quarterly basis, which will be posted on THIS page. 

6. There will be a link for your wrap-up post at the end of the year. 

7. Create a sign-up post and link back to this post. Sign up with Mister Linky below! Be sure to use the direct url to your sign-up post and not the url to your blog.

8. Grab the challenge button and post it in your sidebar.

For more information and to sign-up, please see this post.

In The Humor of it All Reading Event

April 1, 2012 - April 30, 2012

I am not going to officially call it a challenge, but it is an event. I have been thinking about doing something fun and silly for a challenge or event for quite some time. Andrea really got it stirring for me. If you really want to blame somebody blame her...jk.There are some fantsy/sci-fi authors out there that give these world some life and makes the readier laugh out loud..:) For instance, Sir Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams(recognize the button) and Piers Anthony to name a few. I am sure that there a PLENTY out there that I have yet to discover as well.

When does this wonderful event that place anyway. When else would it be taking place in April. It will go through the entire month.

What counts as humor?
Humor you think that it would make you laugh and think it would give you joy go right ahead and give the book a whirl. I am not going to be picky with this event. You can real 1 book or 20 books under the criteria listed above. I just want people to be able to enjoy the whole month of April. I like to see smiles on peoples faces.All in all I want people to have fun.

How can bloggers who are participating identify themselves? Feel free to grab the button that I made above as well.. You can put it in the side bar, or in the post, or whatever you feel like doing.You can make it your background if you really want to.I will make a tab for you to post you reviews and comments on the top of the Geeky Daddy as well. For you non-bloggers that want to post what you read.
On Twitter? use #humorbookevent

For more information and to sign-up, please see this post.

Adventures In Letters Book Club

Starts February 5, 2012

This is something we’ve wanted to do for a reallllllly long time.  So here we are, finally, announcing the creation of the Adventures In Letters Book Club.
 
Here’s the dealio. I’ve made a facebook group where we will be posting polls to help choose upcoming books. You can link up and chat there if you’d like. If you are not on facebook, leave your vote as a comment. 

You can sign up for our awesome newsletter and each month you will get an email with our choice for the next month, along with some other bloggy stuff. Or you can subscribe to our blog (or twitter or facebook or whatever) and just keep an eye out for the posts. 

We will post a non spoilery discussion post at the beginning of the month (where you can announce your intention to participate) with some history and interesting tidbits about the book we’ve chosen. I’ll also stick some questions in there for your brain to mull over while you read. 

The book will be divided into chunks and read over a 3 to 6 week period, depending on length. Each week, we’ll post a couple of questions and our thoughts on what’s happened so far. Remember to put up a big ole spoiler warning up for your readers if you post this on your blog!!

You can link up your posts in the comments or just write what you think right there or on facebook!
We will also be having chats on twitter using the hashtag #lettersbc. Please keep these as spoiler free as possible, you don’t want to ruin the book for other people. 

There is a group button which you should feel free to steal and share, stick it in your sidebar, or ignore it completely. I hope you join us! We will be choosing the first book over the next couple of weeks and reading will commence the first Sunday of February (the 5th). 

We've chosen our first book, The Tiger's Wife. Our sections and discussions will be:

February 12: Chapters 1-4 inclusive

February  19: Chapters 5-8 inclusive

February  26: Chapters 9-13 inclusive

Our The Tiger's Wife post can be found here

Voting for our next book begins February  12.
For more information and to sign-up, please see this post.

What An Animal Reading Challenge V

 

March 1, 2012 - February 28/, 2013

1. Read at least 6 books that have any of the following requirements:


a. there is an animal in the title of the book

b. there is an animal on the cover of the book

c. an animal plays a major role in the book

d. a main character is (or turns into) an animal (define that however you'd like).

2. The animal can be any type of animal (real or fictitious)--dog, cat, monkey, wolf, snake, insect, hedgehog, aardvark...dragon, mermaid, centaur, vampire, werewolf...you get the idea...


3. Challenge runs from March 1, 2012 to February 28, 2013. That’s a full year to read at least 6 books (you can read more if you’d like). You can still sign up after March 1st as long as you can get 6 books read by February 28, 2013).


4. Books can be fiction or nonfiction.


5. You may make a list of books at the beginning of the challenge or you can just list them as you find them.


6. Book titles may be swapped out at anytime (assuming you made a list to begin with).


7. Crossovers with other challenges are permitted and encouraged.


8. You don't have to have a blog or write a review, but you can if you want to.
 If you don't have a blog, just post in the comment section that you'd like to join. You can post your books in there.

9. Books can be in any format of your choice (print, audio, ebooks)

For more information and to sign-up, please see this post.

2012 Downton Abbey Reading Challenge

 January 1, 2012 - December 31, 2012

I am a big fan of the ITV series Downton Abbey and have been eagerly watching since it premiered on PBS last year. I decided to host a Downton Abbey reading challenge because of my own interest in the time period and I was inspired as well by the many articles listing Downton Abbey readalikes such as The House at Riverton or The American Heiress. 

The goal of the Downton Abbey Reading Challenge is to read books that are related to Downton Abbey either by time period, characters, or subject. 

Challenge Levels

Kitchen Maid: Read 1 book related to Downton Abbey

House Maid/Footman: Read 2-3 books related to Downton Abbey

Valet/Lady's Maid: Read 4-5 books related to Downton Abbey

Butler/Housekeeper: Read 6-8 books related to Downton Abbey

Earl/Countess: Read 8-10 books related to Downton Abbey

Dowager Countess: Read 11+ books related to Downton Abbey

What kinds of books can you read?

• Victorian/Edwardian classics

• Fiction/Nonfiction set in the late 1800s (when Cora and other wealthy American heiresses traveled to Britain and the Continent in search of titled but impoverished husbands)

• Fiction/Nonfiction set during the early 1900s when Downton Abbey takes place (up to 1919)

• Fiction/Nonfiction about heiresses or heirs

• Fiction/Nonfiction about the servant/master relationship

• Fiction/Nonfiction about the lives of servants or aristocrats

• Fiction/Nonfiction about events or topics mentioned in the series (The Boer Wars, the Titanic sinking, the fall of the Romanovs, WWI, women's suffrage, the political upheaval in Ireland during that time, etc.) 

There is an excellent list of Downton Abbey related books on Goodreads and you can also find suggestions through Project Downton (hosted by The Lit Bitch). 

The Prizes:

• Prize A-One lucky participant will receive a book of their choice worth up to $15 from Amazon.com or The Book Depository (if The Book Depository ships to your country)

• Prize B-One lucky participant will receive a book of their choice worth up to $10 from Amazon.com or The Book Depository

Rules and how to participate:

• Books must be read between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012

• Create a sign up post and add it to the Linky (you can sign up at any time throughout the challenge)

• The way you enter the Prize A drawing is by writing reviews. Each review you link equals one entry in the prize drawing.

• The way you enter the Prize B drawing is by meeting your reading goals (pick a level above and meet it) for this challenge and linking a wrap up post or list of books read

• All book formats count (print, e-book, audio)

• You can read fiction and nonfiction

• The challenge can be combined with other challenges and rereads count

Nonbloggers:

• Nonbloggers can still join the challenge if they use Goodreads or Shelfari. To join, sign into your account, click on "My Profile" (for Goodreads) or "Profile" (for Shelfari), copy the URL and enter it into the sign up linky below.

• You can still link your reviews to enter the $15 prize drawing or create a shelf for the challenge and link your shelf of books read at the end of the challenge to enter the $10 prize drawing

For more information and to sign-up, please see this post.