Reading Challenges for next year....

I was checking out the blogs of some of my new followers - hi everyone and thanks for becoming a follower - and via Angela's blog "Hooked on Stitches"  (thanks, Angela)  I found a couple of reading challenges which I felt rather compelled to take up the gauntlet on!

Reading Challenge No 1:

The 2013 Ebook Challenge. Encouraging readers to expand past just physical books to embrace ebooks in all forms, whether onKindle, Kobo, computer, or any other reader.

Challenge Guidelines:

1. This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2013 – Dec 31, 2013.
2. Anyone can join, you don’t need to be a blogger. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to sign-up in the comments. You can postreviews to any book site (i.e. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Goodreads, etc).
3. Any genre or length of book counts, as long as it is in ebook format.
4. You can plan your books in advance or as you read them.
5. When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the E-Book Reading Challenge.
6. You can move up levels, but no moving down.
7. Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2013, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.

Levels:

1. Floppy disk – 5 ebooks
2. CD – 10 ebooks
3. DVD – 25 ebooks
4. Memory stick – 50 ebooks
5. Hard drive – 75 ebooks
6. Server – 100 ebooks
7. Human brain – 150 ebooks

At the beginning of each month there will be a roundup post for you to add your reviews for that month. The linky will remain open for the remainder of the year, so if you forget, feel free go back and add them when you remember.

There will be a giveaway at the end of the year for everyone who achieves their goal level (or higher). 

If you are interested in joining this challenge then please go to the sign up on Workaday Reads.

"So, what level are you going for?", I hear you say.  Well, as of today, I have read 110 books this year which means that I am nearly at my 2012 goal of 120 books.  Most of these have been eBooks.

So, I am going for Server!!!!!!   I am pretty hopeful that I will be able to reach this goal of 100 ebooks.  My 2013 reading goal is going to be 130 books, and I read eBooks on both my kindle and my ipad so 100 should be reachable - fingers crossed.  To paraphrase F. Scott Fitzgerald:

".....so we beat on, boats against the current....."

(i.e. I am going to give it a really good try!)

Reading Challenge No. 2:

Artwork used (with permission) for the button is Anglerfish by Vlad Gerasimov. 

January 1, 2013 – December 31, 2013

Welcome back to the New Authors reading challenge! I’m hoping everyone is still enjoying this reading challenge as we head into our fifth year. The past couple of years I’ve tried doing little mini-challenges, but haven’t been real successful with them. For 2013, since it will be the fifth anniversary/birthday of the challenge, I want to do something, but that’s still in the works.

For those new to the New Author Challenge, the whole idea started when I first started reviewing and 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 that first year. I loved finding these new characters, worlds and cultures, so I want to help others find new ones as well. Since 2006, I’ve tried over 150 different authors I may not have tried otherwise and I have found some really great authors.

The idea behind this is to find new authors that you’ve never tried before, not necessarily ones that are debuting. 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 2009,2010, 2011 and 2012 Challenge pages. With over 1000 reviews posted, I’m sure there will be something there for everyone.

Here are the guidelines:

1. The challenge will run from January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2013.
2. 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.
3. 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.  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.
4. 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.
5. Bloggers or Non-Bloggers alike are welcome. You don’t have to have a site to participate. You can link up via Facebook, GoodReads or even Amazon if you’d like.

Once you reach your goal, you don’t have to stop. Any new author you try, go ahead and head back here and add it to the list. Introduce us all to whoever you find. After all, there’s no reason to stop trying new authors, right?

This reading challenge is hosted by Literary Escapism. For more information and to sign-up, please see this post.

For this challenge I am going for 50 new authors.  I am always on the search for somebody new to read and if I am aiming to read 130 books next year - I think it is a safe bet that at least 50 of them will be new authors.

 So, wish me luck everyone!

Next post I will show you my IHSW progress - FNSI was a bit of a bust but IHSW has been much more productive so far!

hugs, 
P.S. Not sure why my blog post looks like this - must be all of the cutting and pasting which I did - sorry!