5....4.....3....2.....1

Wanted to stop by and wish everyone a very Happy New Year !!!!!!!  

Let the challenges begin!!!   Good luck all !!!!!!!

And an FYI... Bev wanted me, encouraged me, told me I had to stop by and wave every so often.  She can explain how this came to be.    Have fun!!

TBR Pile Challenges....the better to tempt you with

For those of you who have piles of TBR stacks all over the place (and what respectable book blogger doesn't?), there are a couple TBR-tackling challenges out there to keep you motivated to read from your own stacks.  And....if you're REALLY a Reading Challenge Addict you'll probably sign up for both.

First up:

From Patricia over at planetpooks, we have....

 

The Embarrassment of Riches TBR Reading Challenge

RULES: 

Sign ups allowed through January 8, though the challenge begins January 1. 

To be considered a TBR book, you must own it prior to Jan 1, 2013. The book can count toward other challenges, as well. It can be fiction or nonfiction, poetry or play, as long as it is a book. This is not a picky challenge–just about reading the riches we already own.
On the last day of each month I will post an entry where you can say how many TBRs you read that month, titles, and whether you liked them or not. Full-blown reviews not required. You can list them in comments or link back to your own blog or page where they are listed.
At the end of the year I will have pretty badges for all levels, and if I haven’t learned to create them by myself, hopefully somebody else will make them for me.

There are five levels of accomplishment (and a bonus challenge) in the Embarrassment of Riches TBR Reading Challenge.

Copper:  Read 6 TBR books between Jan 1 and Dec 31 2013.
Bronze: Read 12 TBR books between Jan 1 and Dec 31 2013.
Silver: Read 24 TBR books between Jan 1 and Dec 31 2013
Gold: Read 36 TBR books between Jan 1 and Dec 31 2013.
Platinum: Read 50 TBR books between Jan 1 and Dec 31 2013.

Bonus Challenge! The same levels are also available for digital samples. If you are like me, you also have a quizillion samples you’ve downloaded onto your e-reader. Culling through samples and deciding whether to keep reading or not is a separate challenge with all five levels and the same year-end prize–a special badge.

For more details and to join, hop on the link above. 


Also available for those with a quest to tackle mountains of TBR books, there is the Mount TBR Reading Challenge over at My Reader's Block:

Challenge Levels (I've adjusted the levels just slightly this year):

Pike's Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile/s
Mount Blanc: Read 24 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Vancouver: Read 36 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Ararat: Read 48 books from your TBR piles/s
Mt. Kilimanjaro: Read 60 books from your TBR pile/s
El Toro: Read 75 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Everest: Read 100 books from your TBR pile/s
Mount Olympus (Mars): Read 150+ books from your TBR pile/s

Some basic rules:
*Once you choose your challenge level, you are locked in for at least that many books. If you find that you're on a mountain-climbing roll and want to tackle a taller mountain, then you are certainly welcome to upgrade.

*Challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2013.

*You may sign up anytime from now until November 30th, 2013.

*Books must be owned by you prior to January 1, 2013. No ARCs (none), no library books. No rereads. [To clarify--based on a question raised last year--the intention is to reduce the stack of books that you have bought for yourself or received as presents {birthday, Christmas, "just because," etc.}. Audiobooks and E-books may count if they are yours and they are one of your primary sources of backlogged books.]

*You may count any "currently reading" book that you begin prior to January 1--provided that you had 50% or more of the book left to finish in 2013.  I will trust you all on that.

For full details and to join up, jump on the link above.

 

A New Queen in Town?

Pssst.  I think we may have a new Queen of the Challenges.  

Image Credit

Has anybody stopped by Kelly's over at Reading Daydreams and Nightmares?  Well, have you?  She has, I believe, 41 (maybe 42--I got dizzy counting so high) Challenges already on the books for 2013!  FORTY-ONE (or TWO)!!!!   Wow!  We're so glad you found us, Kelly.  You definitely need this support group.

Calling Intervention Crew 9.  We have a severe case over at Reading Daydreams and Nightmares.  Immediate assistance required!

Now...let's get ready to watch in 2013 and see how Kelly manages to tame all those Challenges and finish them off.  Good luck, Kelly!

How's the 2013 Challenge Sign-ups Going?

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Hey there!  How are things going out there in the Challenge Addict world?  How many challenges have YOU signed up for?  I thought I'd cut back on challenges this year [I heard that snort...Was that you, Cheryl? or Gina?].  But....I've already got 17 on the books, including this one, and by December last year I had 18.  

Hmmmm.  Sounds like my addiction habit is just as bad as last year, doesn't it? 

Searching for Challenges

Cheryl and I want to know....Is it just us or does it seem like there are fewer challenges popping up out there?  Do you think challenge hosts are caught up in the holidays and just haven't gotten the posts up or....gasp....that there will be fewer ways to feed our addiction in 2013?

Specifically, we're on a hunt for a 100+ Reading Challenge for Cheryl.  She does one every year.  She says she plans on doing that until she gets it done.  We've got to find her one---'cause if one doesn't appear she's going to twist my arm into sponsoring another challenge with, as she puts it, "a real cute badge."  I've got plenty of sponsoring going on.  Really.  Three of my very own (Color Coded Reading, anyone?  How about Vintage Mysteries?  Or tackling those TBR mountain ranges you've got stacked everywhere?  I've got challenges to cover you for that...step into My Reader's Block parlor....)--plus shepherding the Challenge Addicts and trying to keep everyone hooked up with their favorite Reading Challenges (see, Cheryl, I'm working it for you).  If you come across a challenge that will help Cheryl (and me!) out...be sure to let us know!

Oh....and try and make sure it has "a real cute badge," okay?  

Found A New Challenge

Cheryl has been worrying.  She seems to think that A. I'm losing my Challenge mojo (I've only signed up for eleven challenges so far--including this one) and B. That this might be due in part to what seems to be a paltry offering of Reading Challenges so far.  

Well, I'm here to say that Cheryl need not worry.  [We don't want her wasting precious waving energy.]  Even though I have pledged to cut back on challenges in 2013, I just don't think I'm going to be able to resist the siren call (and there doesn't seem to be anybody available to tie me to the mast so I won't jump over board).  I'm sure that number will more than double by the time the new year gets going.

AND...I have found what seems to me to be a VERY cool and unique challenge.  So, here you go, Cheryl.  How's this one sound?

Anne from Creativity’s Corner and Kristilyn from Reading in Winter LOVE a good challenge. So they put their heads together and came up with something awesome for the new year and created the 2013 Book Bingo Reading Challenge!

Here's the basics of what we have to read:

• Reading the books in our TBR pile
• Re-reading some books
• Reading some new books
• Reading books that EVERYONE but us has read
• Reading books from series that we have started & have been neglecting

And a fancy, schmancy scoreboard to help us keep track of our reads:


And as they say, a challenge isn’t really a challenge unless there are some rules and guidelines:

1. Be awesome. If you’re not, this isn’t going to work.
2. The challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2013.
3. If you want to participate, you can join in any time of the year! Feel free to write up a blog post with the rules linking back to Kristilyn's and Anne’s blog in your sign-up post.
4. If you read one book for the “1 book” in any category, you can’t change it later on when you read another book to “2 books.” Once a square is crossed off, it’s crossed off for good! (Feel free to print off the scoreboard to keep track!)
5. Books read for one square are for that square ONLY and cannot be counted towards another category. This is all about reading ALL THE BOOKS.
6. The FREE SQUARE isn’t really a free square. In order to cross it off, you must read a book by either:
   1. Reading a book picked by another participant, or
   2. Reading a book in a genre picked by another participant.
7. You can start your board over again, but ONLY if you receive the stamp of awesome by completing a blackout. The “winners” of the challenge will be the ones who achieve the most winning combinations by the end of 2013.
8. You can feel free to post your reading list for each category, though it’s not a requirement.
9. Having a blog or writing reviews for books read is not required. So long as you want to have fun, you can participate!
10. This isn’t a race, but don’t be afraid to rub your reads in the other player’s face. This will be seen as encouragement. Feel free to use the hashtag #2013BookBingo on Twitter!

For a bit more info, hop on the challenge link above.

I'm in.  How about you? Will you participate in this challenge? Do you have what it takes to become a super reader?   I'm sure every one of us Challenge Addicts could take this on with one book tied behind our back.

A Very Special Announcement

We interrupt your regularly scheduled challenge reading to bring you this very special message:

Our fearless leaders, Cheryl (of CMash Loves to Read) and Gina (of Hott Books)--whose brainchild this marvelous self-affirming, addiction-aiding, challenge-loving, padded-wall section of the blogiverse is--have found themselves over-committed.  Not just with challenges, mind you; they have also taken up an alternate life as Virtual Blog Tour Hostesses over at Partners in Crime Tours.  Knowing how committed I am to Challenges....(Honestly, I have no idea what they're talking about.  I've only signed up for 37 challenges in 2012.  That's not much, is it???)....they have graciously asked if I would like to take over the maintenance of the Reading Challenge Addict Challenge and blog site.  With much fear and trembling, I have agreed to step in and try to keep this wonderful support group going.  

I know that I will not be able to fill their shoes--they have done such a terrific job egging us all on...er...supporting us and cheerleading and waving at us and waving new challenges under our noses. [Speaking of waving, Cheryl has promised to stop by and wave at us occasionally and Gina will be popping in every now and again as well.]  Let's have a huge round of applause and thanks for these two wonderful ladies.

And I ask for your patience as I get things together for another year of Challenge Addiction and Challenge fun.  Signup page for 2013 will be coming soon.  Stay tuned!  Thanks, Bev (My Reader's Block).




From Cheryl @ CMash Reads (formerly CMash Loves To Read):
awwwww....thank you for the kind words...........

However, I think you will all agree with me, who better to pass the torch to, but our resident Queen of Challenges....37 in 2012!  37?  Did I see 37?  37!!  WOW  37!!!  I would say that Bev is slightly addicted, major addicted, a little nutty, a master reader!!!!  My admiration, awe and respect to an amazing and wonderful person.  I know she will do a fantastic job leading and supporting our group.......

Since Bev mentioned one of our tour companies, I invite you to visit both sites, Partners In Crime Tours (www.partnersincrimetours.net) and Providence Book Promotions (www.providencebookpromotions.com).  If you like what you see and would like to join our group of hosts/reviewers, you can email me at CMash@partnersincrimetours.net or CMash@providencebookpromotions.com.

And as promised....................

Good Luck Everyone!!!!!