Reading Challenge Round up...and a new one!

Thought it was time to do some kind of review on where I am up to with the various challenges that I have joined so far this year. Given that I haven't joined a new one for a while either, it's a good chance to do that as well. First though...how am I going with the ones I have already committed to:


Pub08 Challenge

Read 8 books published in 2008. The books that I originally chose to read for this challenge were:

Daughter of York by Anne Easter Smith (out February) (Own but not read yet)
Fire Study by Maria V Snyder (out February) (Coming in my Amazon order as we speak)
Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland (out March) (Not at my library yet)
The Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin (out January) (Not at my library yet)
The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig (out January)(no sign of this being released here yet!)
The Pajama Girls of Lambert Square by Sara Donati (or Rosina Lippi depending on where it is to be published) (not read yet)
People of the Book by Geraldine Brook (Read but not reviewed yet)

I also added The Crystal Skull to my challenge list because it was the first book that I read this year that was published this year.

In addition, I have read The Romanov Bride by Robert Alexander, Blue Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas and This Charming Man by Marian Keyes that were all published this year, but for now I am keeping the challenge books as those above, just to make it a bit harder for myself!

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Romance Reading Challenge

The challenge was to read 5 romances. Because I do read a lot of romance, I decided that to make the challenge harder for myself I would only list books that I already owned to read. The books I originally chose were:

The Huntress by Susan Carroll
The Wild Hunt by Elizabeth Chadwick (sits on my bedside table all the time!)
Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan (read)
Lessons of Desire by Madeline Hunter
Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas (read)

As a backup I also had Lover Unbound (and no I haven't read it yet!)

Two down, three to go!


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Chunkster Challenge

Read 4 books that had more than 450 pages in. The books I originally chose for this challenge were:

Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden
Human Traces by Sebastian Faulks
A Place Beyond Courage by Elizabeth Chadwick (reading at the moment)
Shadowbrook by Beverly Swerling

So I am at 2 done, 2 to go. Having said that I have read a whole heap of other Chunksters but again I am keeping my list as above just to keep the challenge aspect high:

This Charming Man by Marian Keyes (676 pages)
Island in the Sea of Time by SM Stirling (609 pages)
Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn (509 pages)
The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint (508 pages) (read but not reviewed yet)
PS I Love You by Cecilia Ahern (503 pages)
Haunted by Kelley Armstrong (495 pages)
Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky (484 pages)
Dead Man's Walk by Larry McMurtry (477 pages)

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100+ Reading Challenge

I am currently reading books numbered 66, 67 and 68 so going alright on this one!




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Once Upon a Time II Challenge
I do need to watch the end date for this challenge because it doesn't run as long as some of the other challenges! The books I chose for this challenge were:

Belladonna by Anne Bishop (read but not reviewed yet)
Onion Girl by Charles de Lint (read but not reviewed yet)
Drowned Wednesday by Garth Nix
Lions Honey by David Grossman (review here)
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
In the Night Garden by Catherynne Valente
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Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

The books I chose for this challenge were:

Rose of Sebastopol by Katherine McMahon (review here)
Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig
Aztec by Gary Jennings
Dreaming the Serpent Spear by Manda Scott
Counting the Stars by Helen Dunmore
The Witches Trinity by Erika Mailman

and as spare/alternate choices

Everyman's Rules for Scientific Thinking by Carrie Tiffany
Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian

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New Challenge - I Heard it Through the Grapevine Challenge

And now, for the new challenge that I am joining in on. The challenge is to read three books that have been recommended by someone else between May 1 and November 30.

My three choices are:

Counting the Stars by Helen Dunmore, which I first heard about at Reading the Past.
The Last Concubine by Lesley Downer, also from Reading the Past (Review here)
In the Night Garden by Catherynne Valente, which was recommended to me by Kailana for the Once Upon a Time Challenge. (Review here)