Follow Friday (7)

Welcome to Follow Friday hosted this week by Parajunkee and Alison!
The main idea behind FF is just to go see a bunch of new blogs you may never have seen before, and follow the ones you like (and they’ll follow you back!) It’s a total win/win, so take a peek around and follow me!

This week’s question is:






The New Year is here -- and everyone wants to know your New Years Blogging Resolution! What are you going to try to revise, revamp and redo for 2012 on your blog?


*taps chin* I promised I wasn't going to think about resolutions, since I can't manage to complete them. I'm thinking it can't do any damage though to hope to do some new stuff :) So here's my list:

1. Comment more. I need to do that. I don't comment near as much as I'd like, so I will to do that in the year that is about to begin. 
2. Book Reviewing: Like I said in another post, I need to post my reviews fast, as soon as I finish reading the books, otherwise I forget important details.
3. TBR pile: I need to go through that loooooooong list of books that are just waiting (im)patiently for me to pick them up and read them. So I promise this year I'll make that list smaller. It can never disappear, since that would mean I've stopped reading (which will never happen), but I can make it smaller, at least for a few days.

I've decided to keep it simple, so I'm stopping there. As it's normal, the more I think about it, more and more things I need to do next year for my blog keep popping up, but I'm stopping at only these 3 things. 

So those are my resolutions. What are yours? 

100 Books In A Year Reading Challenge 2012

I really had fun this year trying to finish this reading challenge. The fact that I failed is unimportant :P But I did have fun, so I thought of giving it another try.

Book Chic City is hosting this reading challenge. Here are the guidelines:

1. Timeline: 01 Jan 2012 - 31 Dec 2012
2. Rules - Read 100 or more books in 2012
3. All books can crossover into other challenges you have on the go.
4. Audiobooks do not count, but all other formats are accepted.
5. You can join at anytime. All books read in 2012 count towards the challenge regardless of when you sign up.

For more information and to sign up, visit Book Chick City's blog.

I will be posting the books below as I read them. Like I said, I'm not going to plan ahead anymore :)

1. Power Play - Eliza Gayle
2. Lothaire - Kresley Cole
3. The Dragonslayer's Sword - Resa Nelson
4. Midnight Playground - Eliza Gayle
5. The Truth About Us - Dalene Flannigan
6. Casual - Oksana Robski
7. Lust On The Rocks - Dianne Venetta
8. The Iron Maiden - Resa Nelson
9. On Message - Joyce T. Strand
10. Mistress Christmas - Lorelei James
11. Ugly To Start With - John Michael Cummings
12. Miss Firecracker - Lorelei James
13. The Awakening of Leeowyn Blake - Mary Parker
14. CurbChek - Zack Fortier
15. Death On Heels - Ellen Byerrum
16. An Untimely Love  - Tendai Huchu
17. Behind Closed Doors - Sherri Hayes
18. The Immortal Rules - Julie Kagawa
19. The Binding - L. Filloon
20. Socialpunk - Monica Leonelle
21. Fighting the Devil - Jeannie Walker
22. A Hint Of Frost - Hailey Edwards
23. Lover Reborn - J.R. Ward
24. Lowcountry Punch - Boo Walker
25. Promises - Amber Garr
26. Sweet Evil - Wendy Higgins
27. Dancing Naked In Dixie - Lauren Clark
28. The Car Thief - Theodore Weesner
29. Dead End Deal - Allen Wyler
30. Legacy of a Dreamer - Allie Jean
31. Bitten - Kelley Armstrong
32. Stolen - Kelley Armstrong
33. Dime Store Magic - Kelley Armstrong
34. Industrial Magic - Kelley Armstrong
35. I've Got Your Number - Sophie Kinsella
36. In Love With An Angel (original title: Innamorata Di Un Angelo) - Federica Bosco
37. Cinder - Marissa Meyer
38. Of Poseidon - Anna Banks
39. Haunted - Kelley Armstrong
40. The Stone of Darkness - Resa Nelson
41. Evermine - Hailey Edwards
42. Eversworn - Hailey Edwards
43. Haunted - Kelley Armstrong
44. Brownie Fix - Ellen Cardona
45. Her Heart For The Asking - Lisa Mondello
46. His Heart For The Trusting - Lisa Mondello
47. The More I See - Lisa Mondello
48. Breaking The Rules - Cat Lavoie
49. Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead
50. Frostbite - Richelle Mead
51. Shadow Kiss - Richelle Mead
52. Blood Promise - Richelle Mead
53. Spirit Bound - Richelle Mead
54. Last Sacrifice - Richelle Mead
55. Bloodlines - Richelle Mead
56. The Golden Lilly - Richelle Mead
57. Differential Equations - Julian Iragorri & Lou Aronica
58. Alison Wonderland - Helen Smith
59. Slave - Sherri Hayes
60. Need - Sherri Hayes
61. Betrayal - Amber Garr
62. Arise - Amber Garr
63. The Iron King - Julie Kagawa
64. The Iron King's Daughter - Julie Kagawa
65. The Iron Queen - Julie Kagawa
66. Spider's Bite - Jennifer Estep
67. Blade Song - J. C. Daniels
68. Ice Queen - Joey W. Hill
69. Mirror Of My Soul - Joey W. Hill
70. Branded Sanctuary - Joey W. Hill
71. Club Mephisto - Annabel Joseph
72. Molly's Lips: Club Mephisto Retold - Annabel Joseph
73. Burn For You - Annabel Joseph
74. My Liege of Dark Haven - Cherise Sinclair
75. Darkfever - Karen Marie Moning
76. Bloodfever - Karen Marie Moning
77. Ecstasy Unveiled - Larissa Ione
78. Sin Undone - Larissa Ione
79. Eternal Rider - Larissa Ione
80. Immortal Rider - Larissa Ione
81. Lethal Rider - Larissa Ione
82. Rogue Rider - Larissa Ione
83. Ironskin - Tina Connolly
84. Web of Lies - Jennifer Estep
85. Venom - Jennifer Estep
86. Tangled Threads - Jennifer Estep
87. Spider's Revenge - Jennifer Estep

New Author Challenge 2012

This reading challenge is hosted by Literary Escapism.

Here are the guidelines:

1. The challenge will run from January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012.
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.
4. After reading your new author, write your review and then go back to Literary Escapism 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.

For the full, original post, go to here


I'm really excited about this reading challenge. This year I've found some very good, new authors and I know there are a lot more new authors that I need to try. Because I'm feeling very adventurous, I'm going with 25 new authors. I haven't decided what books I want to try yet, but I'll post them as I finish reading them.

1. Eliza Gayle - Power Play
2. Resa Nelson - The Dragonslayer's Sword
3. Dalene Flannigan - The Truth About Us
4. Diane Venetta - Lust On The Rocks
5. Joyce T. Strand - On Message
6. John Michael Cummings - Ugly To Start With
7. Mary Parker - The Awakening of Leeowyn Blake
8. Zack Fortier - CurbChek
9. Ellen Byerrum - Death On Heels
10. Sherri Hayes -  Behind Closed Doors
11. Tendai Huchu - An Untimely Love
12. Julie Kagawa - The Immortal Rules
13. L. Filloon - The Binding
14. Monica Leonelle - Socialpunk
15. Jeannie Walker - Fighting The Devil
16. Boo Walker - Lowcountry Punch
17. Amber Garr - Promises 
18. Wendy Higgins - Sweet Evil 
19. Lauren Clark - Dancing Naked In Dixie
20. Theodore Weesner - The Car Thief
21. Allen Wyler - Dead End Deal
22. Allie Jean - Legacy of a Dreamer
23. Kelley Armstrong - Bitten
24. Marissa Meyer - Cinder
25. Anna Banks - Of Poseidon

FINISHED!

I would love to get to 50 new authors read this year, but I'm not making that a goal. If it happens, it happens, if not, then all is good. I'll still continue to list here the new authors I get to read.

1. Federica Bosco - In Love With An Angel (original title: Innamorata di un angelo)
2. Ellen Cardona - Brownie Fix
3. Lisa Mondello - Her Heart For The Asking
4. Cat Lavoie - Breaking The Rules
5. Julian Iragorri & Lou Aronica - Differential Equations
6. Richelle Mead - Vampire Academy
7. Helen Smith - Alison Wonderland
8. Jennifer Estep - Spider's Web
9. J. C. Daniels - Blade's Song
10. Michael Drakich - The Brotherhood of Piaxia
11. Joey W. Hill - Ice Queen
12. Annabel Joseph - Club Mephisto
13. Karen Marie Moning - Darkfever
14. Tina Connolly - Ironskin 

2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

I've decided to enter a few reading challenges this year too. The ones from this year were...well, fails to be honest. I'm really hoping next year I'll be a better reader that I was this year. I actually know I will be :D So I searched and searched and found some very good new reading challenges.

The first one is hosted by Evie from Bookish and it's a great opportunity for me (and for all other readers out there) to make my TBR pile smaller.

Here are part of the rules:

1. This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012.
2. Any genre, length or format of book counts, as long as it is a book that's been sitting on your shelf for some time now. Only books released in 2011 and earlier! NO ARCs and 2012 fresh-off-the-press releases allowed!
3. You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
4. You can move up levels, but no moving down.

The Levels are:

1-10 - A Firm Handshake
11-20 - A Friendly Hug
21-30 - A Sweet Kiss
31-40 - Love At First Sight
41-50 - Married With Children

I'm going with A Friendly Hug, though I'm hoping to read more than that. If you want to read all the rules, here's the link to Evie's post

I haven't decided what books to read yet, but I'll post them as I read them.

1. Mistress Christmas - Lorelei James
2. Miss Firecracker - Lorelei James
   
3. Bitten - Kelley Armstrong
4. Stolen - Kelley Armstrong
5. Dime Store Magic - Kelley Armstrong
6. Industrial Magic - Kelley Armstrong
7. Haunted - Kelley Armstrong
8. Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead
9. Frostbite - Richelle Mead
10. Shadow Kiss - Richelle Mead
11. Blood Promise - Richelle Mead
12. Spirit Bound - Richelle Mead
13. Last Sacrifice - Richelle Mead
14. Bloodlines - Richelle Mead
15. The Iron King - Julie Kagawa
16. The Iron King's Daughter - Julie Kagawa
17. The Iron Queen - Julie Kagawa
18. Spider's Bite - Jennifer Estep
19. Ice Queen - Joey W. Hill
20. Mirror Of My Soul - Joey W. Hill

Completed

Yay!! I finished it. *happy dance* This is my second challenge finished of this year. And the very first time I finished two reading challenges. Two milestones into one. I'm grinning like an idiot, yes I am. Anyway, I will still be adding books to this list if they're part of my TBR pile, but I won't count these books towards a bigger, bolder goal. I'm happy to just keep it simple. 

1. Branded Sanctuary - Joey W. Hill
2. Club Mephisto - Annabel Joseph
3. Web of Lies - Jennifer Estep
4. Venom - Jennifer Estep 
5. Tangled Threads - Jennifer Estep 
6. Spider's Revenge - Jennifer Estep
7. Darkfever - Karen Marie Moning 
8. Bloodfever - Karen Marie Moning 
9. Ecstasy Unveiled - Larissa Ione 
10. Sin Undone - Larissa Ione 
11. Eternal Rider - Larissa Ione 
12. Immortal Rider - Larissa Ione 
13. Lethal Rider - Larissa Ione 
14. Molly's Lips: Club Mephisto Retold - Annabel Joseph 
15. Burn For You - Annabel Joseph
16. Broken - Kelley Armstrong
17. No Humans Involved - Kelley Armstrong
18. Personal Demon - Kelley Armstrong

Fall Into Reading: Wrap up

I'm very sorry I'm late with this post, but last week has been more than overwhelming. Besides the Christmas preparations, Mother Nature has been very mean with me. I'm one of those people, who are very sensitive to the weather changes (I have no idea what the term is in English, but it's safe to say I felt like cr@p last week, with all the changes). So that's the reason I haven't done this post earlier.

Anyway, back to the initial topic.


Fall Into Reading was a challenge hosted by Katrina at Callapidder Days. You can read the guidelines for the challenge on her blog.

As you can imagine, I didn't get to read the books I planned on reading. I'm usually very bad at planning my reading lists. I never, ever manage to read the books I want in a certain order. I'm not talking about the books in a series. I'm talking a list of books I want to read and a list I make at some point. Here was my list:

1. The Shakespeare Secret - Jennifer Lee Carrell 
2. Dead In the Family - Charlaine Harris  .
3. Heat Wave - Richard Castle 
4. Slave to Sensation - Nalini Singh 
5. Tall, Dark & Dead - Tate Hallaway  
6. Sorcery and the Single Girl - Mindy Klasky  

Out of all these books I managed to read only the first book, The Shakespeare Secret. I've read other books  this fall, but none that were on this list. 

Like I said, planning doesn't do much good to me. I plan on reading a few more books before the year is over. I hope next year there will be another Fall Into Reading challenge and that I'll do better at it :)

Merry Christmas!!