Archive for the ‘Challenges’ Category

Product Details

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 291 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing (October 13, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416989412

About Hush, Hush

For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She’s never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch came along.
With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora’s not sure who to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can’t decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen – and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life.

My Review

I have been hearing about this book for quite some time and when I saw the cover I absolutely fell in love.  I think it is absolutely beautiful, and although I don’t judge a book by its cover, this one really was pulling at me.

Now, anyone who knows me knows that there is no way I can buy more books.  I receive books in the mail from publishers and for work so off the the library I went.  And, to my surprise this was in!  Granted, I had a short term loan on it (I must have just hit it at the right time) so home I went to get reading.  Less than 24 hours later I was done.

This is the story of Nora Grey.  Nora has been dealt some rough blows recently.  She lost her father less than a year ago which has led her mother to take a job that includes traveling, leaving Nora occasionally home alone.  This never used to bother her but she has been feeling a prescence, as if someone is watching her.  And not in a good way.

Thankfully she has Vee, her best friend, who she can confide in.  But, when her biology teacher decides to switch up the class seating assigment, she is no longer paired with Vee but with Patch, the new boy at the school.

There is something about Patch that attracts Nora, even though it is really the last thing she wants.  He is cocky but extremely sexy, in a bad boy way.  And he knows exactly what to say to get a rise out of her, emotionally and physically.  But, the more time she spends with him, the more she feel the attraction that she is so desparate to hide.

But, there is something that isn’t right about Patch.  When Vee is attacked trying to divert the attention of the person following Nora by making them think she was her, Nora knew that she had to be on her toes.  Was Patch to blame?  And, then there is Elliot, the new boy who was a suspect in a murder at his old school.  Is he really the nice guy she thought, or is he dangerous and the one who is trying to scare her?

After seeing Patch’s scars, Nora does some research but what she finds is unbelievable.  Could Patch possibly be an angel?  And is she crazy for even thinking it?  If he is, what is he doing here and why is he so interested in her?

Once again, I am in a YA mood and am SO glad that I read this book.  The author has a real grasp on how to write and each character down to Dabria was extremely well written.  I can’t wait for the sequel to this book.

About Becca Fitzpatrick

Becca Fitzpatrick grew up reading Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden with a flashlight under the covers. She graduated college with a degree in health, which she promptly abandoned for storytelling. When not writing, she’s most likely prowling sale racks for reject shoes, running, or watching crime dramas on TV. HUSH, HUSH is her first novel. She lives in Colorado.

This is my first book read for the Four Month Challenge. For more information click here. I am not sure if I can use this book for multiple point levels, but if so it qualifies for:
5 points – Read a book just because you like the cover
10 points – Read a book by an author you’ve never read before and
10 points – Read a hardcover book

Happy reading!

I love vampires so this challenge sounded perfect to me. To sign up click here.

Fangtastic Fiction Challenge

Despite what some might think, there is more to vampire fiction than Dracula, Interview With The Vampire and Twilight, and so, with a little help from Pam @ Bookalicio.us, I am hosting a vampire reading challenge!

Oh, and do forgive the puns.

Challenge Levels/Goals

The base challenge here (“Newly Turned”) is to read four books, one from each of the four categories below: classic, horror, romance and young adult. If a book can fit into two categories (or more), simply pick one category and then read another.

Once you have completed that, you can go wild with what books you read for your challenge list, so long as they have vampires in some form as a prominent part. For every additional four books you read, you go up a level. Where the base challenge is the equivalent of the first stages of a vampire, think of each four books as a century added onto their existence.

How old can you go?

First Blood

This is the category for vampire tales that were written prior to 1900. Examples of such books would be:

• Dracula – Bram Stoker
• Carmilla – Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Things That Go Bite In The Night

This is the category for works firmly entrenched in the horror genre. Examples of such books would be:

• Salem’s Lot – Steven King
• Let The Right One In – John Ajvide Lindqvist

Kiss Of The Vampire

This is the category for all books that have romance as one of its main genres/focusses. Examples of such books would be:

• Dead Until Dark (etc) – Charlaine Harris
• Jessica’s Guide To Dating On The Dark Side – Beth Fantaskey

High School Is Hell

This is the category for all vampire books that fit in the young adult category. Examples of such books would be:

• The Vampire Diaries – L.J. Smith
• The Morganville Vampires – Rachel Caine

Bonus Challenge/Activity: Screams On Screen

As a bonus challenge/activity, why not take in vampires on the large and small screens as well? Keep track of how many movies or TV seasons you watch, whether it’s Buffy, True Blood or The Vampire Diaries on your TV, or Lost Boys, Underworld or any film adaptation of a vampire novel, and see how many you can total up during the year!

Other Information

This challenge runs the entire length of 2010, so from January 1 to December 31.

Along the way (most likely quarterly), Pam and I will be running mini-contests and challenges. We will be scrounging up some prizes for this, but if you are an author/publisher/other kind person and would like to sponsor a prize of some sort, please do contact me.

This one sounds like another one that I will love participating in.  I have included some details below but for full details and to sign up click here.

Because of the enthusiasm for the first Take A Chance Challenge, I decided to create a new set of challenges for 2010. This year, the challenge will be called Take Another Chance. Like last year, the challenge is all about taking chances with your reading by finding books to read in unusual or random ways. Unlike last year, I’m offering different levels of participation and a longer time frame to encourage greater participation and decrease frustration.

• The challenge will run from January 1, 2010 until December 31, 2010.

• Here are the participation levels. Feel free to do whatever level you want. You can also switch up or down midway through the challenge.

A Small Gamble: Complete any 3 of the 12 challenges described below.
A Moderate Gamble: Complete any 6 of the 12 challenges described below.
Gambling It All: Complete all 12 of the challenges described below.

• Each challenge you complete and link up in the correct Mr. Linky spots (which will be posted on January 1, 2010) will earn you entries into a prize drawing at the end of the challenge. Some of the challenges are harder and will earn you more entries. If you complete all 12 challenges, you will earn 5 extra entries into the drawing.

• The prize is a book of the winner’s choice from Amazon (worth $25 or less).

• Crossover books from other challenges is fine.

February 1, 2010 – January 31, 2011

I have been waiting for this challenge – to sign up see below, but here are the details:

Definition of a Chunkster:

A chunkster is 450 pages or more of ADULT literature (fiction or nonfiction) … A chunkster should be a challenge.
If you read large type books your book will need to be 525 pages or more … The average large type book is 10-15% longer or more so I think that was a fair estimate.
The Rules:

No Audio books in the chunkster. It just doesn’t seem right. Words on paper for this one folks.
No e-Books allowed – we are reading traditional, fat books for this challenge.

Short Stories and Essay collections will not be counted.
Books may crossover with other challenges
Anyone may join. If you don’t have a blog, just leave me a comment on this post with your progress (and to let me know you are playing)
You don’t need to list your books ahead of time.

Once you pick a level, that’s it…you’re committed to that level!

You must pick a level of participation (thanks again to Dana for the humor in these categories!):

The Chubby Chunkster – this option is for the reader who has a couple of large tomes on their TBR list, but really doesn’t want to commit to much more than that. 3 books is all you need to finish this challenge.
Do These Books Make my Butt Look Big? – this option is for the slightly heavier reader who wants to commit to 4 Chunksters over the next twelve months.
Mor-book-ly Obese – This is for the truly out of control chunkster. For this level of challenge you must commit to 6 or more chunksters OR three tomes of 750 pages or more. You know you want to…..go on and give in to your cravings.
Some Other Questions you Might Have:

To review or not to review, that is the quesion…Reviews are not mandatory, but they are strongly encouraged. I will be putting up a Mr. Linky at the beginning of the challenge for links to your reviews. I will also be posting a Mr. Linky for wrap up posts at the end of the challenge.
Will there be prizes? Perhaps. I am still thinking on this…but I may consider some bookish giveaways as the challenge progresses! If I were you, I would subscribe to this blog just in case I announce something important.
Is there anything else we need to know? Um, not that I can think of right now. But, lately I have been into being flexible. And I may decide to add some fun stuff to this blog, or even have a guest poster or two. Check back in occasionally (or subscribe to the feed) just in case!

To sign up, please click here to go to the main site. Thanks!

Well, I just started reading “Outlander” by Diana Gabaldon so when I ran across this challenge I thought it couldn’t be a better time for me to join it.  Here are the details – to join click here:

Have you always wanted to read the Outlander series but because of one thing or another you just haven’t yet? Or are you like me and just want to revisit one of your favorite series again? Well it’s time to take that leap through the stones my friend into the wonderful, thrilling, and passionate world of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series!

And yes the books are much longer than most but trust me once you start them you won’t be able to put them down and you will fly through them! But because they are so long this challenge is going to run for an entire year so there is plenty of time to do the challenge, and still read some other books in between as well!

The challenge begins on November the 17th and will end November 17th 2010.

I was thrilled to see this challenge out there again – this is my favorite genre and I am thrilled to participate.  See the details below for what it entails – to join visit Book Chick City:

Timeline: 01 Jan 2010 – 31 Dec 2010
Rules: To read TWELVE (12) thrillers in 2010

Details:

• You don’t have to select your books ahead of time, you can just add them as you go. Also if you do list them upfront then you can change them, nothing is set in stone! The books you choose can crossover into other challenges you have on the go.

• If you decide to participate in this challenge please use the links I have set up below with the buttons to post on your sidebar, this way others can find their way back to this post and join in the fun.

• If you decide to join this challenge be sure to create a post telling others, please make sure you add a link back to this post so others can join in.

• You can join anytime between now and the later part of next year.

• There will be a place for you to link your reviews, but this is optional.

Here is another one I should be able to do, lol! Click here for more details:

* review each book you read between January 1st and December 31st of the current year.

* PLEASE keep your reviews clean & respectful ~ these books we read are the hard work of an author, and we don’t need to be mean. Even if you didn’t like the book, please try to find something you can say that would be encouraging to the author.

* reviews can be as short, or long, as you wish
* you MAY overlap with other challenges
* eBooks and Audiobooks ARE allowed
* if there will be spoilers in your review, please note this in the subject line of your post so that those who don’t want to read them can skip that review. Thank you.

Here is another challenge I plan on participating in.  For more info click here, but here are the details:

For 2010, I am planning to continue with the RYOB (Read Your Own Books) challenge! The rules are simple:

• Pick a number of books you’d like to read in one year
• Choose those books from your OWN collection
• Read them between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010

And, that’s it!

Some other guidelines for this challenge:

• Re-Reads are NOT allowed (the challenge is to get more of your own books read that have been sitting there waiting!)
• Audiobooks & e-books ARE allowed
• You do NOT need a blog to participate — you can leave comments on this post with your progress

Stay tuned! On January 1st, I will add a Mr.Linky here for participants to sign up!

All you have to do is read a book that begins with a letter of each month or read a book that begins with the authors name (first or last name, doesn’t matter).

There are 74 letters so you will have to have 74 different books to complete the challenge. Books can however be used to complete other challenges.

You don’t have to do the months in any kind of order, just fill in books as you go along until you have each letter a book by it.

Challenge begins November 1, 2009 and ends November 2, 2010 so you have a whole year to complete! Lets break out them books and get busy!  To sign up, click here.

N

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

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A Living Nightmare (Cirque du Freak) by Darren Shan

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The Vampire’s Assistant (Cirque du Freak) by Darren Shan

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I’ve decided to give some challenges a go this year.  I have done this in the past and have failed miserably, but this is going to be one of my New Year’s Resolutions.  There are just too many great books out there that I want to read and I am GOING to do it.  25 is the number I am going to start with but I am hoping to blow by it.  Only time will tell.  Here is the info, to sign up click here.

I’ve been doing this challenge for the past couple of years and have had a lot of fun. However, this year, I’m going to try and be a little more consistent with doing monthly updates and what not. I don’t know about everyone else, but when I first started book blogging, I didn’t know that many authors in my favored genre, so I went looking. I gave myself a goal of finding 50 new authors and ended up reading 56 the first year I did this. I loved finding these new worlds and cultures, so I want to help others find new ones as well. Since 2007, I’ve tried over 100 different authors I may not have tried otherwise and I have found some great new authors.

The idea behind this is to find new authors that you’ve never tried before. They can be in your genre of choice or be brave and try something new. You never know what you’re going to like until you try it. If you’re looking for some suggestions, you can check out the Author page here at Literary Escapism or the 2009 Challenge page. With over 1000 reviews posted, I’m sure there will be something there for everyone.

Here are the guidelines:

The challenge will run from January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010.
Since this is an author challenge, there is no restriction on choosing your novels. They can definitely be from other challenges. However, the authors must be new to you and, preferably from novels. Anthologies are a great way to try someone new, but only a third of your new authors can be from anthologies.
I want this to be an easy challenge, so you can pick to do either 15, 25 or 50 new authors. It all depends on how fast you read and how adventurous you want to be. For me, I’m trying another 50 new authors. If you reach your goal halfway through the year, don’t stop. Any new author you try can be added to Mr. Linky. We all want to know about your new experience.
After reading your new author, write your review and then come back here and add your link to Mr. Linky. Make sure you include your name and the author, but adding the title is completely up to you.
Bloggers or Non-Bloggers alike are welcome