Winter's Respite Read-a-thon - Jan 23 - 29 2012

It's time for the Winter's Respite Read-a-thon hosted by Michelle @ The True Book Addict! I'm going to post all of my updates here in this post.

Goal

*750 pages

Progress:

	Lover Unleashed by J R Ward Start - Day 1: page 208 EOD1: page 212 EOD2: page 350 EOD4: page 489 - finished
	Girl Vs. Ghost by Kate McMurry and Marie August Start - Day 1: page 1 EOD1: page 100 EOD3: page 207 - finished
	Marrying Mozart by Stephanie Cowell Start Day 5: Page 1 EOD5: page 45 EOD6: page 160 EOD7: page 263

Good Luck Everyone!

Current Page Count: 751
Avg. pages per day so far: 107
Pages per remaining days needed to reach goal: 0 -goal achieved!
Books Finished: 2.35 if I add up all the parts!

February 2012 Read-a-thons

The Wicked Winter Read-a-thon, February 3-5, 2012, hosted by Kindle Fever. Signup and Details So far this is the only February read-a-thon I know of, if you know of any others, please let me know, because I might want to join in!

I belong to Bookobsessed, which is a group formed of Bookcrossers, and we're going to have our own group read-a-thon from February 10 - 12. I'm very excited about this because as I've joined so many others, I think it would be a lot of fun to host a read-a-thon, but I don't have a big enough blog following to probably get much interest, not to mention I know it's a lot of work, so this will give me some practice on a small scale!

Built for Adventure

I was so excited to win a copy of Built for Adventure from Book Trib! I have been a Clive Cussler fan for a long time, I love Dirk Pitt, and his love of classic cars is part of who he is as a character, and a well known facet of the author.

Quite by accident I discovered the existence of the Cussler Car Museum while looking for different things to do on a vacation to Denver. While I'm not a classic car enthusiast, my husband was quite interested, and I was too from being a fan of the Dirk Pitt series. I highly recommend anyone visit this collection, they are absolutely beautiful, sparkling chrome, bright body colors, amazing to see even to someone who really knows nothing about what they're looking at, which is where I fit in! You're in the presence of history while touring these cars, and it's a treat! It's really not necessary to know anything about Cussler as an author, or the Dirk Pitt series, while that is a fun addition to those of us who are, to have little asides about which car Dirk was driving in which book, it is in no way necessary to enjoy the spectacle.

On to the book! This is a photographic coffee table style book and is gorgeous! The photos are many and beautiful, and I recognized quite a few of the cars we saw from the museum, but also some that were not on display at the time. Cussler gives personal history for how he obtained each one as well as factual information on each, but in a way that is not boring or overwhelming. There are some great anecdotes! I found it to be an enjoyable momento of that unexpected gem my husband and I discovered in Arvada, Colorado.

Thank you so much for sharing your collection with us Clive!

The Joy of Books

Totally cool bookstore video! Now we know what they do at night on their own!

Bout of Books 3.0 Read-a-thon - Jan 9th - 15th

It's time for the Bout of Books Read-a-thon 3.0! I'm going to post all of my updates here in this post.

Goals

I owe a few books out to friends, so I'm going to start in on a couple of those, and they will probably be all I get through as they are both pretty hefty for me, 400+ pages each.

*2 books
*843 pages - approx. 120 pages per day


Progress:

	Inked, an anthology by Karen Chance, Marjorie M. Liu, Yasmine Galenorn and Eileen Wilks Start - Day 1: page 1 EOD1: page 31 EOD2: page 128 - first story finished "Skin Deep" - loved it! Looking forward to more by Karen Chance! EOD3: page 219 EOD4: page 304 EOD5: page 416 EOD6: page 437 - finished!
	Enemies by Lee Hogan Start - Day 1: page 1 EOD3: page 16 EOD6: page 170 EOD7: page 316

Good Luck Everyone!

Current Page Count: 753
Avg. Pages per day so far: 107 - didn't reach my goal, but this is still a respectable finish for me!
Pages per remaining days needed to reach goal: 90 - missed it by this much!
Books Finished: 1 3/4

Thank you to Amanda @ On a Book Bender for putting this together for us, and to all of the challenge co-hosts! I'll be looking forward to the next one!

2012 Mystery & Suspense Challenge

This was actually the only challenge I did get all the books read for in 2011, though I didn't get reviews posted on them all. I'm in again at the 12 books level for 2012.

I will keep track of my accomplishments here: My Progress on the Mystery & Suspense Challenge

2012 Speculative Romance Challenge

I'm joining Book Chick City's 2012 Speculative Romance Challenge! Like the Speculative Fiction it's a large umbrella that encompasses many of my likes, with the Romance theme as the common thread. This challenge takes place from January 1 - December 31st 2012. Click the button above to check out the sign up and details.

I will declare the Two Sexy Werewolves level, which is 12 books. Audiobooks do not count, but all other formats are okay.

I will keep track of my accomplishments here: My Speculative Romance Progress

Marvelous Middle Grade Read-a-thon Jan 2 - 8, 2012

It's time for the Marvelous Middle Grade Read-a-thon hosted by Just Deb! Here are the Signup and details. It will take place January 2 - 8, 2012.

Since I'm still awake and it's now Monday morning where I live, I might just get started! I'll do all my updates here in this post.

	I'm starting with The Boggart by Susan Cooper Start Day 1: page 1 EOD1: page 196 - finished! Thoughts: Very cute! I'd definitely recommend. Look closely at the cover, I completely missed seeing the Boggart himself, hubby pointed him out to me!
	Next up is The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau Started Day 2: page 1 EOD2: page 101 EOD3: page 212 EOD4: 270 - finished Thoughts: Kept my attention all the way through, I couldn't wait to find out if they made it and what was outside! Definitely recommend and will be looking for the next one!
	I read #1 long ago, have seen the movie, and have the Wii game, so I think it's time I continue reading the books, don't you? Guardians of Ga'Hoole #2: The Journey by Kathryn Lasky Started Day 4: page 1 EOD4: page 75 EOD5: page 150 EOD6: page 180 EOD7: page 244 - finished

Total Pages Read: 710
Books Finished: 3

All done! I'm pleased with my reading, I managed an average of 101 pages a day over 7 days, and enjoyed all the books I chose. Thanks to our hostess Deb, and I'll be looking forward to joining in again sometime!

2012 Speculative Fiction Challenge

The 2012 Speculative Fiction reading challenge is being hosted by Adventures of 2.0 and will run from January 1 - December 31st, 2012. Signup and Rules

This challenge encompasses so many of my likes, from Science Fiction to High Fantasy to Urban Fantasy and everything in between, or out in left field! Check out the sign up post for a list of what is included under the umbrella of "Speculative". I'm going to declare the In Nirvana level, which is 24 books, since so many different things are included in this area.

I will keep track of my accomplishments here: My Speculative Fiction Progress

Exercise Challenge for 2012

I've decided to set myself a little exercise challenge in 2012. I'm going to try and walk 5,000 steps a day. During the work sponsored 10,000 steps a day challenge I realized how little I really move around in a day. I managed 10,000 steps probably a little more than 50% of the time during that challenge, but I was exhausted, so I think I'll start at 5,000 and see how it goes. That's still more than I get from a normal day's activity. I've made myself a ticker to track my progress. There will be days I'll do less and days I'll do more, but my goal is 1,830,000 steps in a year. Sounds like a lot, doesn't it? The scary thing to me is that a work friend of mine who is in the warehouse and so filling orders all day generally clocks around 20,000 steps every work day, just in the normal course of what he does. I'm sure you can guess who is skinnier! ;)