Good Fun on Goodreads

I've recently opened an account on Goodreads.com. This is the popular gathering place on the web for all of us bookaholics. If you love to read and review books, then I encourage you to open an account there. It's a lot of fun!

Day #3 of Goodreads led me to exploring the hundreds of groups available, where I joined three different Christian based reading groups. These groups do it all: reading and discussing books together, talking up and reviewing books, sharing freebies and giveaways, and even extending various fun reading challenges to their members. It's these challenges that bring us together today.

In one hour, I joined three different groups and six challenges. There are countless groups to join and therefore there are tons of fun challenges available. Here are the reading missions I'm participating in:

In the Christian Historical Fiction group, I joined the 2014 Christian Historical Fiction Challenge where I pledged to read 12 books between now and the end of the year. Originally this challenge was for 24 books, so I cut it down since the year was half over. This challenge is a simple and sweet. The others are a bit more...well, challenging :)

In the Christian Fiction Devourers Group, I found the other five fun reading missions. And here they are:

New Author Challenge: This challenge is simply to encourage you to read from an author that you've never read from before. It doesn't have to be a debutante author such as myself :) They created fun levels for everyone pending on the pledge you submit.
• Curious – 2 new authors
• Fascinated – 3 new authors
• Addicted – 5 new authors
• Obsessed – 10 new authors
. Super-obsessed- 25 authors
. Off the Charts- 50+ authors
I went for "obsessed" and pledged to read from 10 "new to me" authors before the end of the year.

The next reading challenge I signed up for is Library Reading Challenge. This challenge is meant to lend support to the local library by reading books either from the physical library shelf or it's online library. I'm already a big fan of both and probably already met my pledge in the first half of the year but chose to focus only on the months that are left. Here are the fun levels of participation:
Board book- 3 library books
Picture book- 6 library books
Early Reader- 9 library books
Chapter Book- 12 library books
Middle grades- 18 library books
Young adult- 24 library books
Adult- 36 library books
Librarian- 50+ library books
I went for the Chapter Books level at 12 books

The Back to the Classics Challenge is simple: Read a book that has stood the test of time.
1-5 Freshman
6-10- Sophomore
11-20- Junior
20- 25-Senior
26+- Graduate Student
I wasn't feeling as capable of this challenge and pledge only 4 books at the Freshman level. :) I have a head start with 2 classics already in progress!

What's in a Name Challenge is a unique, fun, and exciting challenge that I couldn't help getting involved in. Each book you read for this challenge has to include certain things in the title:

1. A book with a" type or element of the weather" ( Wind, rain, thunder, etc.) in the title.- e.g.- Rain Song
2. A book with a "profession" in the title- e.g.- Stealing the Preacher
3. A book with a "number written in letters" in the title- e.g. -The Thirteenth Tale
4. A book with a 'body part" in the title e.g.- Eye of the Sword
5. A book with a "building" in it's title- e.g.Little House on the Prairie
6. A book with a "reference to time" in the title-e.g.- The Final Hour

See, I told you it was fun! And speaking of fun, the next challenge is not only fun but also the most challenging for me. It's the Rainbow Challenge. Each title has to include a color.

1. A book with “Red” or any shade of Red (Scarlet, Crimson, Burgandy, etc) in the title.
2. A Book with "Orange", or any shade of Orange(tangerine, rust or even peach, etc.) in the title.
3. A book with “Yellow” or any shade of Yellow (Gold, Lemon, Maize, etc.) in the title.
4. A book with “Green” or any shade of Green (Emerald, Lime, Jade, etc) in the title.
5. A book with “Blue” or any shade of Blue (Turquoise, Aquamarine, Navy, etc) in the title.
6. A book with "Purple" or any shade of Purple (Lilac, lavender, plum, magenta)
7-Bonus point(s)- A book with ANY other color in the title- Black, white, brown, etc AND/OR a book with "rainbow" in the title.

There were tons of other challenges on this group alone: The 50 States Reading Challenge, Read Around the Genre Challenge, Finish the Series Challenge, Cozy Mystery Reading Challenge, and Book of the month challenge. What fun!!

So check out Goodreads.com for yourself. Jump in on some fun group discussions and don't forget the challenges! There are still 6 months left in the year to get in on the action! I'll be posting my progress along the way. I have tons of reading to do :)

Here's what's on my reading list right now and I'm thrilled that they already fit into my challenges:
Emma by Jane Austen and Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by John Bunyan for the Back to the Classics Challenge
Appalachian Serenade by Sarah Loudin Thomas for the New Author Challenge
Old Enough to Die (a book of Civil War letters) for the Library Challenge

I can't wait to see how I can creatively fit books into each category. It's kinda like a reading scavenger hunt!

If you make over to Goodreads, be sure to look me up and show your support for Where Can I Flee. Even though it's not for sale yet, it's posted on the site and waiting to get on your official "Want Read It" list!