2013 Reading Challenges

Happy new year everyone! 

 

I love the fresh start of the new year so I thought I'd do a blog post on all the challenges I want to take part in this year.

 

Last year was pretty rubbish in terms of challenges for me. So instead of focusing on that, here's what I'm hoping to complete in 2013!

 

This challenge is basically to read more books than you did in 2012. Initially I wanted to read 100 books, but I did surpass that with 114, even with a huge reading slump in the middle of the year.

I hope I'll be able to do the 'Out of Breath' level by reading about 10 more books (124 hopefully).

If you'd like to sign up to this challenge, you can click on the image above and it will take you straight to the sign up page.

 

 

 

This one is pretty self-explanatory. I've been signing up to this one since I began blogging so I wanted to sign up this year too. All you have to do is read 100 books in a year.

If you want to sign up to this one, click on the image and it will take you straight to the sign up page.

 

 

This is one that I usually have a big problem with, hence why I'm signing up for it. I get distracted by so many new books that I forget about sequels coming out to books that I really enjoyed.

So, this year I want to read as many sequels as I possibly can. 

If you'd like to sign up for this one, click on the image and it will take you straight to the sign up page. 

 

 

 

This is definitely my most-read genre so I wanted to find a good challenge including it. This one challenges you to include a whole list of paranormal creatures, not just vampires and werewolves, but mermaids, dragons and aliens to name just a few.

If you want to check it out, just click on the image above.

 

 

 

I picked this challenge because it's really creative. The categories include 'something you'd find in your kitchen' in the title like 'The Knife of Never Letting Go'. It sounds like such great fun.

To check out the rest of the categories (there are 6), click the image above and it will take you to the sign up page. 

 

 

 

I've found that I hadn't read no way near enough ebooks off of my to be read list last year. Hopefully this challenge will help me read a few more.

I'm going to lower my expectations this year a little and try to complete the CD level and read 10 ebooks.

Click the image above to go to the sign up page.

 

 

 

This one is also pretty self explanatory - I love finding new authors.

For this one I'm going to go for 25 new authors and see how it goes. Make sure to check this challenge out - just click on the image. 

 

 

I love getting book recommendations from people so this challenge is perfect. 

I'm going to try for Level 1 this year - 5 books from the blogger recommendation list. I think I'll be able to read more than that though.

 

Seriously, my TBR pile is getting out of hand and with so many brilliant books still coming out every year, I need to focus a little more on the ones I already have.

For this challenge, I'm going for the 'A Friendly Hug' level by trying to read 11-20 books that I already own.

 

Review: Ashes

Title: Ashes

Author: Ilsa Bick

Publisher: Quercus

Publication date: 29th September 2011

Paperback: 465 pages

Source: Received from publisher

Young adult: Horror

My rating: 10/10!!!

Extract

Summary:

No, she thought. No, please, God, I'm not seeing this.

Seventeen - year - old Alex is hiking through the wilderness when it happens: an earth-shattering electromagnetic pulse that destroys almost everything.

Survivors are divided between those who have developed a superhuman sense and those who have acquired a taste for human flesh. These flesh-hunters stalk the land: hungry, ruthless and increasingly clever...

Alex meets Tom, a young army veteran, and Ellie, a lost girl. They will fight together and be torn apart, but Alex must face the most difficult question of all: in such a vastly changed world, who can you trust?

A story of high-wire tension, gut-wrenching twists, and burgeoning love, Ashes will leave you breathless.

My thoughts:

I can't even begin to describe how much I loved reading this book. I never wanted it to end!

It literally had everything I personally love in books. It had loads of twists and turns, great characters, horror that isn't for the fainthearted and such strong emotions that a reader can actually feel as the characters experience them because of the desperate situation they are in.

Alex was by far my favourite character. Not because she's the main protagonist, but because she's the no-nonsense, tell it like it is sort. She was smart and she wasn't afraid to act when the time came down to it. There was no 'acting the hero' sort of thing with her, it was just doing what needed to be done and to keep other people safe before herself.

Tom and Alex were great companions along with Ellie. They both fit well together and worked well as a team which made them both likeable. I felt that I couldn't really get to know Tom as a character properly though before the end of the novel for reasons obvious when you read the book. There were little tidbits of Tom's past that were revealed but not enough! I want to know more!

That's another thing, about halfway through the book, the plot takes a dramatic turn which I'm sure not everyone will appreciate. It did work for me though so I can't complain. It was one of those moments where you keep reading, sort of get a little confused for a second at the way the story is developing, and then just accept it as the way the author wanted it to go. I thought it was a brilliant turn of events and it made me read just that little bit faster!

The plot itself was amazing! An electromagnetic pulse? That could have gone either way, I'm sure, but in Ashes it worked so well. Plus, it was a read that made me cringe quite a bit which doesn't happen very often anymore with the amount of horror I read! I seriously loved every shiver that went down my spine and every revolted gasp I made!

One thing I can't believe though, was the ending. For obvious reasons I won't say how it ended but it took me so completely by surprise that I was kind of in shock for a while and couldn't read anything else! I really can't wait for more from Ilsa Bick because Ashes was a truly glorious read that gave me goosebumps! One of my top favourites of the year so far!

Ilsa Bick:
Goodreads|Website|Facebook|Twitter

Review: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Title: Wuthering Heights

Author: Emily Brontë

Publication date: 13/01/2007 (first published 1847)

Rating: 10/10

Buy the book

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Summary:

Perhaps the most haunting and tragic love story ever written, Wuthering Heights is the tale of Heathcliff, a brooding, troubled orphan, and his doomed love for Catherine Earnshaw. His desire for her leads him to madness, however, when Catherine is made to marry a wealthy lord, sending Heathcliff on a life-long quest to avenge himself upon those who stole his only love and his life.

In this gripping chronicle of the never-ending conflict between the heart and the mind -- and the pain and passion of true romance -- Emily Brontë created an unforgettable classic saga of love, desperation, vengeance, and forgiveness. Published just one year before Brontë’s death in 1848 at the age of thirty, Wuthering Heights endures as one of the world's greatest love stories and a classic of English literature.

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My thoughts:

This book is part of my reading for my English Literature class. I love it, love it, LOVE IT! I mean, come on, it’s Wuthering Heights.

I love the relationships between the characters particularly Catherine and Heathcliff. It’s so…unique. I understand that Heathcliff borders on or is completely obsessed but the love described between him and Catherine is amazing. It’s so much more than what love is described to be nowadays.

The story really does break your heart so many times. Tragic deaths, unrealistic love that can never happen and even more tragic deaths. I really don’t think I have ever cried so much after reading a book.

I’m not going to give anything away, but, when a certain character becomes what some people see to be a ‘monster’ and barbaric, I just feel more and more sympathetic.

I also loved how the whole story sort of just leads towards what happens at the end. As if everything else had to happen the way it did so that it could turn out the way it does. Does that even make sense? haha

Anyway, I cannot fault this book at all. It’s a wonderful story; really emotional, thrilling and shocking read. Please pick it up if you haven’t read it already!

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Great quotes:

"If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger."

"You said I killed you - haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always - take any form - drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you!" (this is where I cried like a baby).

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About the author:

Emily Jane Brontë was a British novelist and poet, now best remembered for her only novel Wuthering Heights, a classic of English literature. Emily was the second eldest of the three surviving Brontë sisters, being younger than Charlotte and older than Anne. She published under the masculine pen name Ellis Bell.

 

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Reading Challenge: 100 Books in a year

 

 

Hi guys…

So I’ve decided to take part in Book Chick City’s 100 books in a year reading challenge.

 

I’ve never actually kept count of how many books I do read in a year – part of the reason I started blogging in the first place – so I thought why not? It’ll be interesting!

 

For those of you who don’t know, this challenge is basically self-explanatory. You just have to try and read 100 books (or more) in a year. Check out the sign-up page for more info.  

 

This is actually going to be pretty fun for me I think. I’m wondering whether or not I read as much as everyone says I do what with college and exams at the same time! We’ll just have to wait and see!

So tell me, who else is taking part and if you are, how many books have you read?