Joanna’s Comments (group member since Dec 27, 2013)

Joanna’s comments from the CPL's Book a Week Challenge group.

The new decade is here! Okay, well, if we’re being technical, it doesn’t start until next year but semantics. Right?

Some quick highlights…

1. Book Quest 2020 is live! You do not need to create a new account; you just need to sign in and click “Register for this Program.” You can then start logging your books.

2. Take It or Leave It is back for another year! Do one, do all, do some, do none. Read books that fit the challenges or see if books you have already begun reading fit into a challenge.

3. If you participated in the 2019 challenge, the grand prize will be drawn next Monday and the winner contacted.

4. Online Book Club has moved! Ann Martin will be leading the Online Book Club and their first book is Hidden Figures. Go join in all the fun here.

With the start of the new year, what are your reading goals? We’re all trying for 52 but are you looking to do more? Are you hoping to branch out and read books outside your genre? Are you looking to finally conquer your to be read pile?

I have a couple goals this year. My Goodreads goal is 200. I’m trying for 100 regular books and 100 graphic novels/manga. Over the holiday, I managed to read 2 for each so I’m on my way. Another goal is to try and trim down my to be read pile. I’ve been subscribing to two book crates for a year and a half and have read none of the books I’ve received. Not because I’m not interested, just because I keep checking out books from the library. I want to start reading the books I own. My final goal deals with recommendations. I spend a lot of time on social media and have received so many great recommendations. But I find I never have time to read them. I want to try to read 1 recommended book a month.

So there are my goals for the new year. We’ll see if I am able to keep up with all of them.

Tell us your goals for the new year!

Take It or Leave It is back for 2020!

A quick refresher...

1. Each month there will be several Take It or Leave It challenges to choose from

2. Each challenge will have a description with how you can complete that challenge for the month

3. Choose one, all, or none of the challenges for that month to participate in (hence the Take It or Leave It name)

4. Read books that fit the challenges or see if books you have already begun reading fit into a challenge

5. Post which challenges you have completed and the book you read to finish that challenge

6. You cannot use the same book for more than one challenge

To shape this challenge into something a little more interesting – for every challenge you complete each month you will get a point.

There will be a prize. The person who earns the most points by the end of the year will receive a special prize (to be determined).

Justine wrote: "I’ve never heard of reading planners - I’ll have to look into that!"

They are surprisingly useful! The one I have has pages not only to log your books and write out your thoughts about them, but actual weekly calendar pages and pages to write out your monthly tbr and wish list. I'm trying to use it to keep myself on track this year.

Book Quest 2021 is now live! Log into your Beanstack account and you can register for the challenge.

Logging books for 2021 will follow the same procedure as 2020.

Look for more information in the Week 1 thread.

Good luck on your 2021 challenge!

Joanna wrote: "Welcome to Week 0, that weird time between the end of the old year and beginning of the new. Here are a few quick updates.

- First, thank you again to everyone who participated in 2019. I hope you..."

For some reason, I can never remember to actually list the prizes when I make posts. My apologies for that.

The grand prize for the BookQuest challenge is an Amazon Kindle Fire with a $15 Amazon gift card.

The prize for the Take It or Leave It Challenge is a book journal. I'm really excited about this one because the journal contains 12 challenges with actual recommendations to fulfill those challenges.

Welcome to Week 0, that weird time between the end of the old year and beginning of the new. Here are a few quick updates.

- First, thank you again to everyone who participated in 2019. I hope you found the challenge fulfilling and fun and I really hope you join us in 2020.

- December 31st at 11:59pm is your deadline to log 2019 books.

- January 5th is your deadline to log Take It or Leave It books.

- January 13th all prizes will be drawn and winners contacted.

- BookQuest 2020 should be live January 1st; however, I will be off the next couple days so if you don't see the program, don't panic. At latest, it will be live by January 6th.

- IMPORTANT, you do not need to create a new account to access the BookQuest 2020 program! The option to join that program should show up on your Beanstack account when the program goes live.

- Goodreads won't be updated until January 6th. Expect to see the first 2020 weekly thread and January's Take It or Leave It on that date.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me!

Is everyone ready for the new year? Any last minute reading going on? I managed to read 3 books this weekend! A huge end of the year accomplishment for me. I received a couple of reading planners as gifts and I've already started plotting out my 2020. I'm excited for the new year and for all my reading.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Happy Holidays! I hope everyone has a wonderful time celebrating the holidays and being with family and friends.

This is the final full week of the year- week 52. Congratulations to everyone who completed the challenge! And a huge thank you to everyone who participated this year! I hope you found new book to love, read some old favorites, and enjoyed the challenge of reading a book a week.

What is everyone reading this week? Tell us below!

It's the final countdown! A little over two weeks until the end of the year. Are you rushing to complete books? Have you already met your goal? Are you just "c'est la vie" about it all?

Starting today, anyone who has completed the challenge can stop by Central Library to pick up a completion prize - a book and small bookmark. Just come upstairs to the second floor Information desk to claim your prize.

Reminder - all books need to be logged in by 11:59 pm on December 31st.

So, ahead, behind, or complete? I'm still behind. I might hit my Goodreads goal but that is mainly because I read a lot of graphic novels and manga this year. Which while I count them, I also don't count them at the same time (is that weird?). I should have done reading all last week but I wasn't feeling the greatest so I watched Bones instead. Ah, well. January 1st is not only a new year but a new decade. Perfect to restart all my goals.

I am going to try to finish Crooked Kingdom this week and then the two Star Wars Thrawn books. I also snagged the final two volumes of Lost Stars. It's my favorite of the new canon Star Wars books and the manga adaptation is gorgeous.

What are you reading this week?

What is everyone reading this week? Are you reading any books to get you in the holiday mood?

Sadly, no holiday themed books for me. I finally finished Six of Crows last week, after having had a copy checked out for months. Now I'm on to its sequel, Crooked Kingdom. Loving it. I always enjoy books with ragtag teams or made families. After I finish this, it's on to the new Star Wars' Thrawn books. Another set of books I've had for months that I need to read, hopefully before the new decade!

Tell us what you are reading!

December's Take It or Leave It challenges are below. Do one, do all, do none! It's totally up to you.

1. HoHoHo - Read a book where a member of the Kringle family (aka Santa Claus' family) is the main character

2. Long, long ago - Read a historical non-fiction book

3. Shelfies- Read a book already on your bookshelf

4. Happy Hanukkah - Read a book about the celebration of Hanukkah

5. 1, 2, 3, 4... - Read a book with a number in the title

6. Gift that keeps on giving - Read a book that was given to you as a gift

7. Henri za Kwanzaa - Read a book with a theme from one of the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa (Umoja: Unity; Kujichagulia: Self-Determination; Ujima: Collective Work and Responsibility; Ujamaa: Cooperative Economics; Nia: Purpose; Kuumba: Creativity; Imani: Faith)

8. Favorite Read of 2019 - Tell us your favorite read of 2019 for a point!

Have fun!

Happy December! The final month of the decade is here! Are you ready?

A couple quick updates as we head into the final month of the program. The final day to log books is December 31st. If you are reading a book and know it will be done by 11:59 pm on the 31st, go ahead and log it!

You can log Take It or Leave It books here until January 5th.

Prizes will be drawn on January 13th.

If you have or complete the 52 books, there is a small prize you can collect here at the Central Library starting on December 16th through January 13th. We have a cart of books and you will be able to select a book of your choice.

I think that is everything for right now. What are you all reading this week?

Do you ever just go play around on Goodreads and see what fun features you can find? I know I definitely don’t use this site to its fullest potential. Today, I discovered that there is a section for Reading Stats under the My Books tab. So much fun! Things I have discovered:

- I have read 37,066 pages this year. Generally, I complete an average of 41,885 pages.
- The longest book I read in 2014 was A Storm of Swords (1,179 pages) and the shortest was The Griffin and the Dinosaur (48 pages)
- Publication year tends to hover between 2000-2010. The oldest book on my stats is Paradise Lost from 1667 (this is not the oldest book I have read, though- the graph only goes to 1650)
- November 2012 and March 2018 saw the most books read in a month which was 34 (these were mainly graphic novels and manga)
- Same two months also saw the most pages read (obviously)

This really is a fun little tool for a comprehensive look at your reading on Goodreads. The downside is that you cannot adjust graphs or download them.

Go take a look at your Reading Stats and tell us some fun facts you learn about your reading!

Did everyone see the snow yesterday? I love a good snowfall, even if it doesn't stick. Hard to believe winter is already here. I hope everyone is staying warm.

What are you reading this week? I finally gave up and returned a bunch of library books. I had to be honest with myself and admit that I haven't gotten to them in months so I probably won't get to them before the end of the year. My goal is the finish what library books I have out before 2020. This way I can start the new year reading books I already own. It was hard to do. I hate admitting defeat. Lol.

I did manage to finish some books over the long holiday weekend. I finished Ninth House which I loved. It is dark and gritty and very macabre. But I enjoyed all the characters and I thought the world Bardugo built was fascinating. I'm excited for the sequel. I also managed to read Conceal, Don't Feel, just in time for Frozen 2. The Disney Twisted Tales can be hit or miss but this one was actually really good. I might even prefer it in some ways to the movie.

Currently, I'm reading The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. It's a book lover's siren call. A hidden world full of stories and magical doors appear to lead you there? Please sign me up. I love the lyrical way she writes. And of course, there is a nice little mystery happening. It was so hard to put the book down to go to sleep. But, I have tomorrow off so I might be up a bit late tonight to finish it. :D

It's that time of year, the time when Goodreads asks us all to make some tough choices. Which books should win their annual Choice Awards? The opening round of voting starts today and goes through November 10th.

Are you voting? If so, do you vote in all the categories, even if you've not read the books? Or do you only vote for books you've read?

I admit, I wobble back and forth on this. Generally, I try to only vote for books I have read. But sometimes I feel like I know enough about a nominee to vote for it despite not reading it.

Do you all see any personal favorites on this year's list? Fantasy has a bunch of books on it that are currently sitting on my tbr pile; I ended up voting for Ninth House because I'm in the middle of reading it right now and loving it. Of course, Red, White & Royal Blue got my vote in Romance. I haven't read it, but I voted for Hope Rides Again in Humor because that series just looks hysterical (has anyone read it? Is it as funny as it looks?). Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction was the hardest category because 4 of the books were some of my top reads this year.

Tell us about your Goodreads voting! Where there any books you wish had been nominated?

November's Take It or Leave It challenges are below. Do one, do all, do none! It's totally up to you.

1. Veterans Day - Thank you to all who have served. Read a book featuring military personnel or about a branch of the armed services.

2. Gobble, gobble - Read a book featuring a bird on the front cover. Bonus point if it's a turkey!

3. Didn't you read this as a kid? - Read a childhood classic you've never read

4. TBR again - Read the last book added to your to be read pile

5. Finish it! - Finish a series you started

6. Thankfulness - Read a book you are thankful for

7. Black Friday - Read a book with a black cover or has the word "Black" in the title

8. And the nominees are... - Read a book nominated for the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards

Have fun!

Kolleen wrote: "I really enjoyed reading After the Flood. For me, the problem was the open ending. I am hoping there will be some of form of follow-up so we can get updated in their struggle for progress. Thank yo..."

Thank you for participating! I'm glad you enjoyed the book. I do hope we'll see another book (maybe from the perspective of a different character) that will tell us whether or not they were successful. Open endings are definitely hard.

What were your final thoughts on After the Flood? Did you enjoy its look at a potential dystopian future? What did you think of Myra and Pearl? The supporting cast?

This book was hard for me. I strongly dislike dystopian books. And this one checked a lot of the boxes for why I dislike it. But, if I step back, I think it's a rather well written book with compelling characters and an interesting setting that draws you in. I'm glad I pushed through and read it!

Happy Halloween, everyone! Are you or your family dressing up? If so, tell us about your costumes.

I feel like I've spent too much time this year going, "Wait, this month is over already?" Anyone else feeling this? I blinked and suddenly it's Halloween and the end of October.

What are you all reading this week? I'm finally starting Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House. I've read some of her YA books and enjoyed them for the most part so I've been curious what an adult book by her would be like. It is definitely adult, lol. But I'm enjoying it so far.

Tell us your current reads!

Myra is a complicated narrator. We sympathize with her, a lot. At the same time, the choices she makes can cause an uncomfortable feeling to creep up your spine. What do you think of her as a narrator? Do you think she is more human because she can be so morally grey? What do you think about the choices she made? If you were in her shoes, what would you have done?

10 weeks left in this year's Book Quest! How is everyone doing? Are you meeting your goals? Are you ahead? Behind? I am definitely behind. Don't let my Goodreads count fool you; I've been reading a lot of manga and graphic novels so most of my book count is from those. Hopefully, I'll manage another ten or so books before the year is out. But we will see.

With the end approaching, I have to start thinking about prizes! Generally, the grand prize is a Kindle Fire. But I want to know your opinions. Keep that as the grand prize? Should we go with something else? Do you have thoughts for the Take It or Leave It prize? Let your voice be heard!

What is everyone reading this week? I've started After the Flood and while it's not my normal cup of tea, it's fairly a compelling read so far. Over the holiday, I finished Dinosaurs Rediscovered which was a great look at recent dinosaur discoveries. I'm hoping to start Six of Crows at some point this week; I've heard nothing but good things about this duology.

What are you reading?