Dusting Off The Shelf 2015 Reading Challenge

This is the second time I will participate in the Dusting Off The Shelf Reading Challenge, and I’m excited to join! This time, Emily @ Books & Cleverness has turned the read-a-thon into a yearly challenge; something that fits even better with my wish to start looking for quality, not quantity when reading. The Dusting Off The Shelf Reading Challenge is all about reading all those poor neglected books that have been on your shelves for too long… Check out her post for more information!

Since this challenge is similar to The Official 2015 TBR Pile Challenge, I will follow the same reading list for now. I might add new titles later on! 😀

1. And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (2013) REVIEW
2. Doctor Sleep by Stephen King (2013) REVIEW
3. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (2013) REVIEW
4. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (1915) REVIEW
5. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams (1979) REVIEW
6. Conversation In The Catedral by Mario Vargas Llosa (1969)
7. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1910) REVIEW
8. Inferno by Dan Brown (2013) REVIEW
9. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818) REVIEW
10. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (1954) REVIEW

Alternates:

11. The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger (1951)  REVIEW
12. A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (1859)

Dusting Off The Shelf Read-A-Thon: Wrap Up

Emily at Books & Cleverness hosted the Dusting Off The Shelf Read-A-Thon which ended officially yesterday evening! It was all about finally reading those poor neglected books that have been collecting dust for six months or more…And although I wasn’t able to read the number of books I had originally planned, I still managed to complete at least four. Below you can find my progress during the last three days and a summary, but first: more adorable kittens! I completely fell in love with the dark one. ❤

I will start with a short summary of the last three days… Unfortunately I didn’t have that much time to read, so I wasn’t able to squeeze in another book for the challenge. But at least I finished The Name Of The Wind and I can say it’s one of my favorite reads this year!

• DAY 13: WEDNESDAY AUGUST 13TH
  # Book continued: Patrick Rothfuss – The Name Of The Wind
  # Pages read: 110 (on page 333 out of 662)

• DAY 14: THURSDAY AUGUST 14TH
  # Book continued: Patrick Rothfuss – The Name Of The Wind
  # Pages read: 156 (on page 489 out of 662)

• DAY 15: FRIDAY AUGUST 15TH
  # Book finished: Patrick Rothfuss – The Name Of The Wind
  # Pages read: 173 (662/662; DONE!)

On to the Dusting Off The Shelf Read-A-Thon wrap up. (It was actually the first time joining a read-a-thon so correct me if I’m doing things wrong..)

1. Total number of books read: 4

• The Shining by Stephen King
• Lord Of The Flies by William Golding
• The Known World by Edward P. Jones
• The Name Of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

2. Total number of pages read: 1834

3. Challenges completed:

• Read a book set in the past: The Known World
• Read a classic: Lord Of The Flies
• Read a book written before 2010: The Shining / The Name Of The Wind
• Read at least 100 pages a day: Unfortunately I failed to reach this one. 😦 I had four days of not being able to read at least a hundred pages (days 3, 7, 8 and 11)

I had a lot of fun during this challenge! Thanks for hosting Emily! 😀

Dusting Off The Shelf Read-A-Thon: Day 10,11 & 12

Emily at Books & Cleverness is hosting a Dusting Off The Shelf Read-A-Thon in which I’m participating!. It’s all about finally reading those poor neglected books that have been collecting dust for six months or more…Below you can find my progress during days ten, eleven and twelve.

• DAY 10: SUNDAY AUGUST 10TH
  # Book finished: Edward P. Jones – The Known World
  # Pages read: 103 (388/388; DONE!)
  I’m finally finished with The Known World! It was definitely a slow read and not one of my favorites… But I cannot deny the story idea itself was interesting and definitely kept me reading until the end. Review to follow soonish…

• DAY 11: MONDAY AUGUST 11TH
  # Book started: Patrick Rothfuss – The Name Of The Wind
  # Pages read: 80 (on page 80 out of 662)
  After a slow read, I decided to read The Name Of The Wind first. I was in the mood for some fantasy reading, and I’m definitely glad I choose this one, because I’m loving it. Even though I couldn’t read as much because of my eye working against me. Boo!

• DAY 12: TUESDAY AUGUST 12TH
  # Book continued: Patrick Rothfuss – The Name Of The Wind
  # Pages read: 143 (on page 223 out of 662)
  Better eyesight means more reading, yay! I’m able to read more, and with me loving this book, I hope to finish it before the challenge ends… And maybe even squeeze in another book, who knows?

Dusting Off The Shelf Read-A-Thon: Day 7,8 & 9

Emily at Books & Cleverness is hosting a Dusting Off The Shelf Read-A-Thon in which I’m participating!. It’s all about finally reading those poor neglected books that have been collecting dust for six months or more…Below you can find my progress during days seven, eight and nine.

• DAY 7: THURSDAY AUGUST 7TH
  # Book continued: Edward P. Jones – The Known World 
  # Pages read: 60 (on page 124 out of 388)
  Boooo, not a lot of reading done today! I don’t know why, but I just don’t have a lot of spare time left for reading…

 

• DAY 8: FRIDAY AUGUST 8TH
  # Book continued: Edward P. Jones – The Known World 
  # Pages read: 59 (on page 183 out of 388)
  Don’t get me wrong, this book is definitely interesting, but it takes a bit longer to finish it than normally. That and the fact that I have tons of non-reading stuff to do. 😦

 

• DAY 9: SATURDAY AUGUST 9TH
  # Book continued: Edward P. Jones – The Known World 
  # Pages read: 102 (on page 285 out of 388)
  Argggh! I never seem to finish this one! A lot of short stories of the lives of various slaves, and although it’s interesting, it just takes me way longer to read than a normal novel. I’m keeping my fingers crossed I finish The Known World today…

Dusting Off The Shelf Read-A-Thon: Day 4,5 & 6

Emily at Books & Cleverness is hosting a Dusting Off The Shelf Read-A-Thon in which I’m participating!. It’s all about finally reading those poor neglected books that have been collecting dust for six months or more…Below you can find my progress during days four, five and six.

• DAY 4: MONDAY AUGUST 4TH
  # Book finished: Stephen King – The Shining
  # Pages read: 91 (512/512; DONE!)
  # Book started: William Golding – Lord Of The Flies
  # Pages read: 40 (on page 40 out of 272)
  (Total pages read on Monday: 131)
  I was finally able to finish The Shining, yay! I ended up loving it, even though it is a very creepy story, and I definitely recommend it to horror fans. Very scary final scene at the Overlook!

• DAY 5: TUESDAY AUGUST 5TH
  # Book continued: William Golding – Lord Of The Flies
  # Pages read: 182 (on page out 222 of 272)
  Oh dear, that’s a bunch of seriously messed up kids! Am I the only one having terrible Lost flashbacks when reading Lord Of The Flies? Jack and his crew are seriously disturbed! I cannot wait to see how it ends though…

• DAY 6: WEDNESDAY AUGUST 6TH
  # Book finished: William Golding – Lord Of The Flies
  # Pages read: 50 (272/272; DONE!)
  # Book started: Edward P. Jones – The Known World
  # Pages read: 64 (on page 64 out of 388)
  (Total pages read on Wednesday: 114)
  I finally decided to take some time to update It’s All About Books and write some reviews that were due, so I didn’t get as much reading done as I would have wanted… But at least I’m now reading my third book (and with this one I will be completing the three challenges, yay!)

Dusting Off The Shelf Read-A-Thon: Day 1,2 & 3

Emily at Books & Cleverness is hosting a Dusting Off The Shelf Read-A-Thon in which I’m participating!. It’s all about finally reading those poor neglected books that have been collecting dust for six months or more…Below you can find my progress during days one, two and three.

• DAY 1: FRIDAY AUGUST 1ST
  # Book started: The Shining by Stephen King
  # Pages read: 200 (on page 200 out of 512)
  I was able to read quite a few pages the first day! I’m not sure why I left this one so long without reading, because until now it’s wonderfully creepy and very Stephen King.

• DAY 2: SATURDAY AUGUST 2ND
  # Book continued: The Shining by Stephen King
  # Pages read: 130 (on page 330 out of 512)
  Weekends are always more complicated for reading, but the story is interesting (and scary) enough to want to keep reading. Although I do not recommend reading it alone at night with the lights out…

• DAY 3: SUNDAY AUGUST 3RD
  # Book continued: The Shining by Stephen King
  # Pages read: 91 (on page 421 out of 512)
  Not a lot of reading on Sunday, but I hope to be finishing The Shining tomorrow!

Dusting Off The Shelf Read-A-Thon: Definitive Readinglist

Emily at Books & Cleverness is hosting a Dusting Off The Shelf Read-A-Thon starting tomorrow (August 1st-15th) in which I’m going to participate. Make sure to check out her blog and post! It’s all about finally reading those poor neglected books that have been collecting dust for six months or more…I’ve listed the books I want to read below by the challenges she has set, and I will be posting updates with my progress about every three days or so.

• CHALLENGE: Read a book set in the past.
• The Known World by Edward P. Jones (about black slaves in the US; first published 2003)

• CHALLENGE: Read a classic.
• The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (first published 1925)
• Lord Of The Flies by William Golding (first published in 1954)

• CHALLENGE: Read a book written before 2010.
• The Shining by Stephen King (first published 1977)
• The Name Of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (first published 2007)
• The Dead Zone by Stephen King (first published 1979)

• CHALLENGE: Read at least 100 pages a day.
• It’s not too much to be impossible, so I will definitely try to reach this goal!

• Other books on the TBR list.
• And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (first published 2013)
• Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (first published 2011)

Review-a-thon // Read-a-thon

This post over at Overflowing Bookshelves gave me the idea of starting my own review-a-thon this month. I have a huge amount of blog improvements pending as well as some earlier reviews that are still in the process of writing… And since I’m a professional procrastinator, my only hope is to put some pressure behind it and hopefully finally getting things done.

So these are my goals for the end of July:

• Complete at least 6 reviews that haven’t been published yet (which is about two a week and doable)
• Finish at least 12 reviews that need improving (both rating, new layout and text)
• Make a list of reviews by author, title and rating. (makes it easier to find my reviews)
• Make a list of book blogs I regularly visit (or book blog recommendations)

I’m keeping my fingers crossed it will work!

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Also, Emily at Books & Cleverness is hosting a dusting off the shelf read-a-thon next month (August 1st-15th) in which I will definitely participate. Make sure to check out her blog and post! It’s all about finally reading those poor neglected books that have been collecting dust for six months or more…

On my list for now (I might alter it later on):

• And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini 
• The Shining by Stephen King
• The Name Of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
• The Known World by Edward P. Jones
• The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
• The Dead Zone by Stephen King