Can you believe we’re halfway through 2016 already?  I can, actually…it’s been a busy year.  With lots happening in and out of books! 🙂  But today is time for an update on the in-books news.  Here’s where I am for my reading challenges, with titles read in the previous quarter in gray…

Newbery Medal Winners
Goal: 15 Newbery Medal Winners, to bring myself to half of the total list
Host: Smiling Shelves

I’ve been enjoying these more this quarter, having hit several good ones.  My faith is becoming restored in the Newberys!  Suggestions are still welcome though.

1. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (best of the bunch)
2. The Grey King by Susan Cooper (very disappointing)
3. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (pretty good)
4. The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli (enjoyable, but unrealistic)
5. Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt (the poor man’s L. M. Montgomery)
6. A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck (uncertain start but grew on me)
7. Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo (cute and surprisingly silly)
8. The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare (fascinating historical fiction with Biblical connections)
9. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (delightful and surprisingly deep)
10. A Gathering of Days by Joan W. Blos (distant, but entertaining)

Parallel Universes
Goal: 12 books

I continue to have a wonderful time with parallel universes and parallel lives, and have managed to break out of the YA universe that marked my first-quarter reading.

1. Pivot Point by Kasie West
2. A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
3. Parallel by Lauren Miller
4. Here, There and Everywhere by Chris Roberson
5. Maybe In Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
6. The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
7. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

Diversity On the Shelf
Host: The Englishist
Goal: 18 books

I’ve made some good progress here as well, and happily, I’ve actually managed to stumble on more non-Caucasian protagonists by pure chance!  Four this time, a big jump from the single one in the first quarter of the year.  I’m still hoping to review a few more of these than I have so far, but here’s the current list.

1. Otherbound by Corrinne Duyvis (Hispanic)
2. Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley (African-American)
3. Stars Above by Marissa Meyer (Unspecified Asian)
4. Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld (Indian)
5. Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed (Pakistani)
6. Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere by Julie T. Lamana (African-American)
7. Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu (Indian)
8. Scarlett Undercover by Jennifer Latham (African-American Muslim)
9. Bridge of Time by Lewis Buzbee (Chinese)
10. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline (Native American)
11. Pioneer Girl by Bich Minh Nguyen (Vietnamese)

The Bardathon: Shakespeare Plays
Host: Samantha Lin
Goal: 5 plays read or seen (but ideally, read 5 comedies, read 5 tragedies, and watch 5 movies)

I’ve lost sight of Mr. Shakespeare a little this quarter, compared to the other challenges, but I did fit in a couple movies.  Hopefully, more to come later in the year!

1. Much Ado About Nothing (Joss Whedon production)
2. Comedy of Errors (read)
3. Comedy of Errors (BBC production)
4. Measure for Measure (read)
5. A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1996 production)
6. Coriolanus (Gerard Butler production)

Carl’s Seasonal “Challenges”: We just finished out the Once Upon a Time Challenge, which I reported on last week!

So at the midpoint of the year, I’m actually past the midpoint on most of my challenges, which is nice if I get side-tracked somewhere in the second half of 2016.  I’m having the most fun with the parallel universes one, but I’m feeling good about all the others too, which is a nice place to be halfway through the project. 🙂

How has your reading been going for 2016? Are you pursuing challenges or reading whatever sounds fun? 🙂