MobileRead Book Challenges discussion
2014 Individual Challenges
>
Stephanie's 2014 Challenge Thread
message 51:
by
HomeInMyShoes
(new)
Mar 16, 2014 05:19PM
Glad to hear that and glad to hear everyone is safe.
reply
|
flag
I never realized how tough it is to stay focussed on a series. I'm constantly tempted to try new books. sigh.
Finished Proven Guilty today. Exciting story, very fast paced. Going to listen to Shadowland by Peter Straub first. I'm having trouble reading still, but will start I'd Rather Be In Philadelphia by Gillian Roberts. Reading a half hour to an hour is about all I can do, but at least it will improve over time.
Stephanie wrote: "Finished Proven Guilty today. Exciting story, very fast paced. Going to listen to Shadowland by Peter Straub first. I'm having trouble reading still, but will start I'd Rather Be In Philadelphia ..."Your eyes are getting better?
I'm a little behind on my Dresden Files reading, but after I get a couple of buddy read/book club things read for April, I'll listen to two in a row.Kitty is doing well at his temporary home (my cousin's). He's a 5 pound, formerly picky eater who is now the big cheese of the household, lording it over 2 other cats and dog, all of whom are much bigger than he is. He insists on going up and down the stairs himself on his splint. He has become a voracious eater of whatever food my cousin provides including the dog's food. He is also now a lap cat. So, all in all, things are good for the cat. Our refugees are having trouble finding a place within the same school range that also accepts pets, so it could be that the cat remains with cousin long term (which is fine by her). Anyway, the splint remains on at least another 2 weeks.
Stephanie wrote: "I'm a little behind on my Dresden Files reading, but after I get a couple of buddy read/book club things read for April, I'll listen to two in a row.Kitty is doing well at his temporary home (my ..."
I'm glad he's doing so well
Bad month for reading, not only because I've been watching a little more Netflix, but also because I get interrupted a lot. Finally finished White Night! Moving on right away to the next Dresden Files audiobook, Small Favor.Kitty got his splint off finally. He's limping a little because his leg is a bit week, but otherwise doing well. Eating well, bossing the other pets. He will likely have splotches where fur doesn't grow back, but he's pretty happy when he gets visited by my Aunt.
Good to hear that kitty is doing better.I've learned to read with interruptions. Having a four-year old necessitates being able to read and count the cars going by. This is definitely book dependent though.
Yes, it totally depends on what one is reading. I have no problems with interruptions when reading/listening to the In Death series or almost any romance. The plots are more dialogue and easier for me. I'm doing much better with interruptions with Small Favor, so it can vary by books even in the same series.I'll have 5 or 6 uninterrupted hours to listen before the teenager gets home, so should be able to finish the current book perhaps before the weekend. Then, on to my bookclub reads/listens before moving on to more Dresden Files. :)
Finished Side Jobs by Jim Butcher. Great book of short stories for Dresden Files. I'll move on to the next Dresden Files in a few days. In the meantime, I will be completing Nor Crystal Tears and Mort. I might finish the first one yet today. We've had a flu-like illness running through everybody and I finally feel better today. Hopefully, it lasts. I'm tired of being sick! No errands today, so focus is on my junk boxes.
*jealous*I can't seem to finish anything right now.
I normally have that problem. That's why I join the challenges. Helps give me that push. Reading/listening used to be so easy for me and now, it is sometimes an effort. I don't want to fall back into the 'do nothing' mode since TV, even with Netflix, is hard on my eyes.
I'm still moving along on the Dresden Files series. I have 4 books left, which includes the new one coming out in a few days. I am about 2 hours into Changes. I also want to see the rest of the TV show - I only saw the first 3 or 4 episodes of that single season, but I bought the disks some time ago and it's time to watch them all. I'm going to be recovering from surgery next month, so need to watch something fun. Maybe I'll watch Firefly again too (on Netflix). All in all, I'll be done with Dresden Files in June. Then I can move on and catch up with my buddy reads, book clubs and some other challenges.
I need to watch the TV series again soon, too. It's been a while. I have it on DVD, and also ripped to my hard drive for instant access. I'll probably wait until after I read Skin Game.
Finished Changes by Jim Butcher today. I have a big project today (moving 2 bookshelves to another side of the room), so I think I will start Ghost Story. I'm having surgery on Wednesday, so will be switching off to mystery cozies or rereads of some things not read in many years since narcotics and new stories don't work together well.
Survived surgery, but found even listening to audiobooks not possible due to pain or pain pills. I'm having a much easier time listening to Elliot Gould read The Big Sleep. If I stick to about 45 minutes, it goes well. My attention span is shortish.
Glad you survived surgery. Wishing you a speedy recovery.
Still having attention span issues despite being off pain killers except at bedtime. I did finish 2 books - The Big Sleep and Crystal Singer. I have to wait for a good Kobo coupon to get the rest of the Crystal Singer series.
Kobo coupons wouldn't work, so I just bought kindle editions of books 2 & 3 and read those. I'm getting used to using TTS.Just finished proofing Like Nothing On Earth which is a series of short stories by Eric Frank Russell. Wonderful book, every short story a winner. I had a paperback OCR'd by a commercial company and then converted from pdf to epub by a fellow ereader and Russell fan. I'd have bought the program and done this myself, but I really have a limited number of books that I'm willing to pay to be converted. I should be completed with the entire project before the end of summer.
Currently listening to Cold Days by Jim Butcher. I'm having another test on Monday morning regarding my vision issues. While the test is short, I'll be lying on my back the rest of the day, so I should be able to listen to a substantial amount of this book that day.
Doing good on some of my challenges. I've completed 31 of 55 years on my age challenge. Doing nothing on the short story challenge, but I'll have to pick up on that soon. I will have to start cherry-picking some of my series choices in order to fill in more of my age-challenge selections. I'm 2 books behind on my 2014 GR challenge. Some of my books will be shorter, so that should help me catch up.
Just a note: my vision problem has been finally diagnosed and I start medication tomorrow. I'm not counting on getting any vision back, but so long as it no longer worsens, I will be able to continue to read. Still recovering from the other surgery. While I still have some issues from it, I've been able to listen and read again, so that's excellent.
Sending you good wishes for improvements with your eyes.Not that you need more choices, but I've got lots of short stories that I loved:
Who Am I this Time? - Kurt Vonnegut
The Exiles - Ray Bradbury
Frost and Fire - Ray Bradbury
Heck, just read R Is for Rocket. I love Ray Bradbury.
Listened to Stainless Steel Rat. What a great book! Short too! Phil Gigante did a great job narrating. I have 22 books left in my age challenge. Definitely doable, but I have to look at my planned books and try to focus on finishing those that will help my challenge first, if I can.
Oh, and my library opens again tomorrow! I hope to wander over and see what changed.
I'm trying to meet some other challenges as well, and was too lazy to side load some audiobooks, so started Hammered by Kevin Hearne, which was already downloaded from Audible. I listened to this when it first came out and liked it. Now book 7 has come out, so needed to relisten so that I can listen to the rest of the series. I really only need 3 to meet my main challenge, which is good because books 4 to 7 have to come from the library and they may take some time to get.
Stephanie wrote: "Just a note: my vision problem has been finally diagnosed and I start medication tomorrow. I'm not counting on getting any vision back, but so long as it no longer worsens, I will be able to contin..."I missed this (well a lot - no notifications). I hope that things get better.
Just finished Sourcery by Terry Pratchett. I love this series although this was not a fabulous example. I am housesitting for sister and BIL, and hopefully will get some quilting done today. I still have some trouble with the new medication and some days it's just better to stay sitting in the recliner and read/listen. Which is what I did yesterday.The fire refugees are closing on a house in August, provided everything goes well. That means Kitty gets to move back in with his persons. He'll be happy, but I truly think he does not want to be an only cat - he's having so much fun being top at the pack at my cousin's.
I gave up my Nook Simple Touch to my sister and I'm still missing it even though I have 3 ereaders and 2 tablets. It was my favorite ereader, but she wanted a touch screen (the rest of my ereaders have buttons). It wasn't the touch screen that I wanted, but the ease of reading. I noticed in the last Kindle update that they improved the type a LOT, so no there was no longer a real advantage, but you know how it is. You have a favorite.... So, now I have 2 Kindle keyboards, a kindle 6 inch, Fire HDX and Nook HD+. the Nook HD+ is PERFECT for pdf files. So, my advice, if you have a lot of PDF files, is to consider a larger screened tablet.
Oh, and why 2 kindle keyboards? My bro found reading too difficult after he had a stroke. He has amazon prime so I can get a free book every month, so I left it registered under his name.
I need to read some shorter books to catch up with my 2014 goal, but also need to fill in on my age challenge. So I'm bouncing around a little. I'm doing the first 3 Cat Who series books. Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series should take care of all the rest of the 60's.
Those Cat Who books are great. Finished the first 3. As soon as I catch up with some of my buddy reads, I think I'll focus on that collection. They are fast, even by audiobook. I'm back to Ed McBain's 87th Precinct. I'm on book 6. Unfortunately, this particular recording has sound issues. I can only hear it in the docking station with the volume turned up high.
Read Blunt Darts by Jeremiah Healey in honor of his recent death. Good detective novel. Getting a couple more of them. Also just finished Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb as part of another groups trilogy read. Both also helped with my Age Goal, for which I have 19 books left.I have to wait for those next books, so in the meantime, I'm finally listening to Ringworld by Larry Niven. Reading will be another Darcy book that needs proofing.
Healthwise, the good news is that the pressure in my eye has finally gone down some, so the med is working. That means that my vision shouldn't get worse. Whether I get any back is a crap shoot, so I'm not counting on it. All my other issues are a bit in the background. This next week, I plan to talk to the surgeon about fixing my leg with the hope that this can still be done in the Fall.
Finished several books. Wyrd Sisters, book 6 of the Discworld series. This book was hilarious and one of my keepers. A worthy read. Already loaded up Pyramids next in the series. Finished Ringworld. Excellent story. Moves quickly. Loved the narrator but unfortunately, he doesn't read for the later books in the series. Just finished Hexed by Kevin Hearne. Not a perfect fantasy as the plot is a little unbelievable, but I still love the story and the characters. Just ignore those plot pitfalls. I listened to the audiobook on this and it is well narrated.Our fire refugees have moved into their own home!! They are only about a mile away. The kitties are very happy that there are 4 fewer people here, but they miss the 15 year old playing with them.
I'm getting a new reading/TV reclining chair delivered on Friday! Yay!! I have nothing against my current chair, but it is in desperate need of reupholstering, much of which I can do while listening to an audiobook. :)
I loved Wyrd Sisters. If someone reads Equal Rites, Mort and Wyrd Sisters and does not develop at least an appreciation of what Terry Pratchett does then they need to go get their sarcasm and satire meter fixed.
I really need to get back to DiscWorld...
Finished Royal Assassin. In order to complete the trilogy in September, I have to listen to Assassin's Quest for at least 2 hours daily. LOL. It's a 40 hour audiobook, but I have other, much shorter books to read/listen to, so a little every day will work for me better.
I read the first book in that series and it made me cry like a baby. :( Great writing but too sad.
Finished Under the Dome. Discovered that it's VERY hard to complete two doorstop books for bookclubs in the same month, so I don't think I will do that again. The other doorstop was Assassin's Quest which was great, but sad. sniff sniff... This month's doorstop is Dune but I've read that several times in the past, so am just going to listen to the Graphic Audio version this time around. I was going to participate in yet another trilogy read, but I need to back down to my goals for 2014 so that I can finish those.
Stephanie wrote: "Finished Under the Dome. Discovered that it's VERY hard to complete two doorstop books for bookclubs in the same month, so I don't think I will do that again. The other doorstop was Assassin's Qu..."Assassin's Quest- that is part of Robin Hobb's work?
Yes, it's the 3rd book of the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. It's nearly 40 hours long, which makes it well over 700 pages.
Stephanie wrote: "Yes, it's the 3rd book of the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. It's nearly 40 hours long, which makes it well over 700 pages."I can't do Robin Hobb. She makes me cry sooooo much.
I totally get you. I need a LOOOOOOOnnnnng break before I will start any others.
Stephanie wrote: "I totally get you. I need a LOOOOOOOnnnnng break before I will start any others."I feel that way about romance writer Joey W. Hill. Every one of her books make me bawl like a baby. It doesn't matter what she's writing about - I've read 3 of her books and cried each time. Sooo much.
they were all good but she just gets right up in my emotional gut and starts twisting.
Even the novella, The Princess and the Piebald Prince is a tear jerker. I think it's the unfairness of what happens to 'the good guys' that gets you.
Stephanie wrote: "Even the novella, The Princess and the Piebald Prince is a tear jerker. I think it's the unfairness of what happens to 'the good guys' that gets you."yeah.
Oh, I still remember reading the (only) Hobb I've read. From beginning to end I was just a mess. A total mess.
Finished Guards, Guards by Terry Pratchett and Square in the Middle by William Campbell Gault. I would have been finished with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but I fell asleep twice while listening so had to back up and then ran out of power on my Itouch with no way to charge it. I'm currently about 2 hours in, about the time where they end up on the ship with the Improbability Drive. I have never actually read this book before - I was a huge fan of the series that was on PBS for ages. I was stuck in the hospital for 2 days hooked up to an antibiotic drip for a cat bite infection that wouldn't respond to oral antibiotics. So, I just listened to audiobooks and today, read my kindle when my Itouch ran out of power. I had fabulous care. I'm very glad I planned ahead and made sure my devices were fully charged, but I wasn't expecting to be there overnight and all the next day. I can see that I need to plan better...
Stephanie wrote: "Finished Guards, Guards by Terry Pratchett and Square in the Middle by William Campbell Gault. I would have been finished with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but I fell asleep twice while liste..."O_O
OMG. How are you feeling??
Sleepy all the time - side effect of med, I guess. Anyway, my wound is better every day and hopefully completely cured by the end of this week. I have to wait until the swelling goes away entirely before I can knit again. Finally finished HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Next up will be proofing a recently converted Alfred Hitchcock book of stories from the 60s. For Audiobooks, I'm thinking of book 9 of Goldy Shulz Culinary mysteries. Don't think I will get to any book club books this month except maybe Dune (which is many times read, but I now have the Graphic Audio version to try).
Ok, quick one day listen to Eric by Terry Pratchett. Also need to fit in Dracula in here somewhere. I have 14 books left in my age challenge. Getting tougher to find books to fill in, partly because my series books need several books read before I get to a needed year.
Still left: 1959-61, 62-64 will be filled by Ed McBain.
Still need:
1965 - TBR Dune
1969
1972 -
1975
1978
1979
1980
1981
1994
2001
Suggestions are welcome. I prefer scifi over all else. No doorstops - I can only manage one a month and I already have those covered.
Lol on the doorstops. I usually forgo anything over 450 pages for my challenge books as well.1962 - Ray Bradbury - Something Wicked this Way Comes
1972 - Ray Bradbury - The Halloween Tree!
1979 - Roald Dahl - Tales of the Unexpected
1980 - Michael Crichton - Jurassic Park
1981 - Frederick Pohl - The Cool War
2001 - Dennis Lehane - Mystic River
2001 - Ben Elton - Dead Famous
All in the sort of science range except 2001.
These are great suggestions! Thanks!
MobileRead Book Challenges
Books mentioned in this topic
R is for Rocket (other topics)The Demolished Man (other topics)
The Princess Bride (other topics)
