Category: Ruminations

2014 Reading Challenges, End of the Year

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations4 Comments

Earlier this week I updated on the best (and worst) of my reading for the year, but today I’m looking particularly at how I did on my several reading challenges…

I’ve grayed-out books read in the first three-quarters of the year, to make it easier to see recent updates.

Fairy Tales RetoldFairy Tales Retold Challenge

My goal here was 7-9 books for the official challenge (which only counts YA and Middle Grade), and 12-15 as a personal challenge, to leave some open slots for grown-up retellings…and then I read almost all YA and MG anyway!  A push in November/December put me over the goal for this one.

  1. Frogged by Vivian Vande Velde (MG)
  2. Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley (YA)
  3. Enchanted by Alethea Kontis (YA)
  4. Hero by Alethea Kontis (YA)
  5. Half Upon a Time by James Riley (MG)
  6. Cress by Marissa Meyer (YA)
  7. Jack the Giant-Killer by Charles de Lint
  8. Princess of the Wild Swans by Diane Zahler (MG)
  9. The Castle Behind Thorns by Merrie Haskell (YA)
  10. Sleeping Beauty’s Daughters by Diane Zahler (MG)
  11. Curse of the Thirteenth Fey by Jane Yolen (MG)
  12. The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman (MG)
  13. Snow in Summer by Jane Yolen (YA) (review coming soon!)

Continue reading “2014 Reading Challenges, End of the Year” →

2014 Reading Round-up!

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations12 Comments

We’re ushering in a new year, and that makes it time for a review of the good, bad and unexpected among my reading for the past year.

I like the opportunity to step back, look over the titles for the last twelve months, and actually think about what I’ve been reading. One reason I write down every book I read is because it all blurs into a haze when I try to remember on my own. With the list in front of me, I could tell you something about every book on it—but take the list away, ask me to name the books I read, and I doubt I could give you more than a quarter of them. So it’s nice to stop, look back, and remember just what voyages of reading I went on this year!

1) Best Book  –  I had a particularly brilliant reading year in 2013, leading me to break this item up into subcategories. I’d thought I only had a pretty good 2014 of reading, so I was pleasantly surprised to look back and realize how many really excellent books I read after all! So…subcategories again this year. 🙂 Continue reading “2014 Reading Round-up!” →

Blog Hop: Have Book, Will Travel

On By cherylmahoneyIn Blog Hop6 Comments

book blogger hopThis week’s Book Blogger Hop question: Do you have a book with a location that you just HAD to visit after reading the book?

Oh, definitely!  Most of the trips I take end up being literary pilgrimages in one way or another.  🙂  But there are two places that I most wanted to visit (and they will probably not surprise regular readers!) Continue reading “Blog Hop: Have Book, Will Travel” →

Blog Hop: Why I Review (or Don’t!)

On By cherylmahoneyIn Blog Hop8 Comments

book blogger hopThis week’s Book Blogger Hop question: Do you write a review for every book you read or only review copies from publishers?

I review books when I have something to say about them.  Which is simplistic, but basically the truth!  I probably review about half (or a little more) of the books I read.  Continue reading “Blog Hop: Why I Review (or Don’t!)” →

Blog Hop: Reading Stats

On By cherylmahoneyIn Blog Hop6 Comments

book blogger hopThis week’s Book Blogger Hop question: How many books do you read in a week? How many hours do you spend reading a day?

I usually calculate per month, and average about 12-15 books a month.  So I guess that’s…3 to 4 per week.  I hit the higher numbers when I read shorter books, obviously!  🙂

I read for about an hour and a half a day, mostly over meals and on my lunch break.  Sometimes I’ll read for up to another hour in the evening, although not all the time and rarely more than that.  If I had more free time, I would spend more of it reading…but as it is, I read fast and get through a lot anyway.

One of my favorite things about reading other book blogs is finding bloggers who read even more books than I do! 😀