2018-Reading Challenges – Cindy's Love Of Books

Tsundoku Bingo Spring 2018

Posted on April 1, 2018March 28, 2018 by Cindy

You might have seen my wrap up posted yesterday for the Tsundoku Bingo Winter 2018 that I started in January and when I first stumbled upon this reading challenge I loved it because you are basically using the bingo card as a way to read the books off your own shelves and that is something I need to do more of going into 2018.

I love that this is broken up quarterly so you feel like you are accomplishing a lot of books and not being overwhelmed with a huge list.

This card is valid April, May and June.

The only thing is you can’t use the same book for multiple categories but you can overlap your books into other reading challenges.

So my goal for this Spring Tsundoku is to read 25 books. I am hoping to tackle them all but a few might be questionable so please offer my your book suggestions down below.

Lost-A-Thon Reading Challenge April 1st to 30th

Posted on April 1, 2018March 28, 2018 by Cindy

I was just on instagram and spotted this in my feed and I had to check out it.

Its a month long reading challenge that is being hosted by Jody from That One Girl That Reads and Lets Book About It.

This sounds like its another great way to tackle your TBR that has been sitting way to long. To find out more about #OurLostLibrary reading challenge be sure to click HERE.

Challenges

Book Collecting Cobwebs: This is basically a book you’ve had on your shelf for way too long.
500+ Page Book: Just any book that has more than 500 pages 🙂
>250 pages: This is a quick read, any book that has less than 250 pages. It could be a novella or a graphic novel. Whatever you have on your shelf that is small.
Jumped Out at You: This is almost another free space, just look at your shelves and pick out a book that you just really want to read.
Library Book: Any book from your library, all formats count!
Favorite Author: Easy peasy, a book by an author you already love.
Retelling: Self explanatory 🙂
Diverse Book: Any book that is diverse to you.
Book from a series: This could be the first in a series or a sequel to one you’re in the process of reading. If it’s part of a series, it counts.
Book with Magic: Any book featuring magic in any form.
Buddy Read: Have some fun with a friend and read a book together!
Favorite of a Friend: Any book that a friend loves, or you could ask for a recommendation from a friend.
Free Choice: Any book, just read!
Book you got on sale: This could be a Book Outlet buy, a clearance buy, a book you got during a sale, an on-sale ebook/audiobook etc.
Mystery or Thriller: Anything from either genre 🙂
Beautiful Cover: We all know this community loves the covers, just read one that you find beautiful.
Female Author: A book written by a woman!
Recently added to your shelf: Anything you’ve purchased or received in the last month.
New to you Author: An author you’ve never read before, could be a debut or an author with a ton of books that you just haven’t read yet.
Re-read: This is a fun one, re-read a book you love.
Middle Grade Book: Anything that is considered Middle Grade counts for this!
Best Seller: A book that has been on any best seller list anywhere, NY Times, USA Today, Amazon etc.
Award Winner: A book that has won an award in any catagory.
Author from outside the USA: This should be a book from an author who is from another country outside the USA.
Book written by 2 authors: Any book with 2 authors, an author and a contributor, whatever you feel fits this category 🙂

I am not quite sure how I am going to tackle the shelves because I some how feel it won’t end up being complete shelves but books from different shelves.

Do you like to take part in these kinds of reading challenges?

Review/ By Her Touch by Adriana Anders

Posted on January 10, 2018February 1, 2018 by Cindy

By Her Touch (Blank Canvas, #2) by Adriana Anders
Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca on April 4th 2017
Pages: 412
Goodreads

He Will Always Bear the Scars
Undercover cop Clay Navarro left the Sultans biker gang a changed man. Its ringleaders may be awaiting trial, but he wears the memory of every brutal act he was forced to commit tattooed across his skin. He doesn't have space in his messed-up life for anything gentle--not now, maybe not ever. Dr. Georgette Hadley is drawn to the damaged stranger's pain, intimidated but intrigued by the warmth that lies beneath Clay's frightening exterior. But when the Sultans return looking for revenge, she finds herself drawn into the dirty underbelly of a life forged in violence...that not even her touch may be able to heal.
Blank Canvas Series: Under Her Skin (Book 1)By Her Touch (Book 2)In His Hands (Book 3)

This is the second book in the Blank Canvas series by Adriana Anders. You might recall that I read and reviewed Under Her Skin last week and I really enjoyed it and I have to say going into this I was a little nervous because you never know what the next book will be like well this did not disappoint. I loved it just as much as the first one.

I will be starting In His Hands the third book probably some time next week. I want to space out the books because I am not ready for this story to end.

With that being said, the books aren’t really a continuation where you need to read the previous book to follow along. I noticed that each story line or book is geared toward the main character and his or her storyline. Previous characters do make an appearance but not enough to where you would be how does this fit in etc

Our main character is Clay who is an undercover cop and he was in deep with a biker gang trying to get information out of the group so that he could bring the organization down. He is getting what he needs until someone snitches on him and the group take action to get him out of the picture and that means tattooing him and shooting him.

Thankfully he manages to escape with his life in tack but whats to get the reminders of what they did off of him before he goes back to testify. He is on the run and is constantly looking for his shoulder because he knows they will come looking for him. He realizes he can trust no one even those that he thought he once could.

He manages to escape to Blackwood, Virginia. He thinks he is far enough away that no one would think to look for him there. He knows that there is a dr who can help remove his tattoos and he is willing to pay any price to make it happen.

Normally George has a firm stance that you don’t mix business with pleasure but when she sees Clay come in asking for her help she can’t turn him away and makes after office appointments to help him remove this tattoos. The more she works on him the more she is intrigued by him.

Clay does a good job of holding her back as much as he can but slowly being around her he realizes he can’t and he will do anything to protect her from danger. But will he be able to protect her when the biker gang finally shows up? Does she realize how much her life could be in danger?

I was pretty much flying through this book because I had to know more and what was happening. This book was definitely a page turner for me. I can’t wait to dig into the third book very soon.

Review/ Night by Elie Wiesel

Posted on January 5, 2018February 1, 2018 by Cindy

Night (The Night Trilogy #1) by Elie Wiesel, Marion Wiesel
Published by Hill and Wang on January 16th 2006
Pages: 120
Goodreads

Born into a Jewish ghetto in Hungary, as a child, Elie Wiesel was sent to the Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald. This is his account of that atrocity: the ever-increasing horrors he endured, the loss of his family and his struggle to survive in a world that stripped him of humanity, dignity and faith. Describing in simple terms the tragic murder of a people from a survivor's perspective, Night is among the most personal, intimate and poignant of all accounts of the Holocaust. A compelling consideration of the darkest side of human nature and the enduring power of hope, it remains one of the most important works of the twentieth century.

New translation by Marion Wiesel, with a new introduction by Elie Wiesel.

I am a little embarrassed to say that this has been sitting in my TBR pile since 2006. I picked it up when Oprah announced her Oprah Selection and this was book 55. Not sure why I didn’t read it then but I think at the time I was just collecting books and not reading them. But 12 years later I am happy to say that I did haul this off my TBR pile and I read it.

After reading it I have to admit that I didn’t realize it was a trilogy. Here are the other books in the series:

I did manage to pick up these two with a gift card and plan on reading them this month so be sure to come back and check out my reviews for them.

I had no idea what I was going to read when I started this book because I avoided reading the back cover and I have to say that I am happy I didn’t read it because I don’t know if I would have read it otherwise or at least not at this point.

If your a reader of my blog you know that I don’t read a lot of non fiction so this is a first for me but hopefully not the last.

Night is a true story of what Elie endured during the Holocaust and his life at a concentration camp. This was definitely not a light read and at times I had to put the book down because I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like to live through that not knowing what was going to happen to you. It makes you wonder how a group of people literally could hate another group of people and think it was perfectly fine to kill them and treat them like they were nothing. It breaks my heart. Nothing those people did can justify why they needed to kill innocent people.

I struggled with a lot in this book and I think its was just wondering how people could do this to another living person. I think I went through a wide range of emotions at all the groups invovled. How could no one stand up for these people?

Elie realized at the age of 15 that he had to lie about his age in order to survive and you can see him struggle and survive all the way through the book. He witnessed so much that no one should have to witness or endure. You could see the determination in Elie and his determination not to give up. I am happy that Elie shared his story with the world as it needed to be told.

Elie was one of the few survivors of the Holocaust. His tale is gripping and heart breaking and one everyone should read. I have put this back on my book case to eventually reread one day or even if my son wants to read it its there for him to do so. This is one book that will stay with you.

Review/ Under Her Skin by Adriana Anders

Posted on January 4, 2018February 1, 2018 by Cindy

Under Her Skin (Blank Canvas, #1) by Adriana Anders
Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca on February 7th 2017
Pages: 344
Goodreads

Her Body is His Canvas

A darkly possessive relationship has left Uma alone and on the run. Beneath her drab clothing, she hides a terrible secret—proof of her abuse, tattooed onto her skin in a lurid reminder of everything she’s survived.
Caught between a brutal past and an uncertain future, Uma’s reluctant to bare herself to anyone…much less a rough ex-con whose rage drives him in ways she will never understand. But beneath his frightening exterior, Ivan is gentle. Warm. Compassionate. And just as determined to heal Uma’s broken heart as he is to destroy the monster who left his mark scrawled across the delicate tapestry of her skin.

Its not very often that I read a lot of romance books but when I do I seem to enjoy the ones I pick up and this was no exception. I first heard about Under Her Skin from a Sourcebooks Casablanca email last year and I instantly had to pick up the book because it sounded really good and I don’t know why at the time I didn’t read it once I had it but going into 2018 I said that this was going to be the year I read more of my own books so I am happy to say that I finally did take this off the TBR pile to read.

This was a super quick read and I practically read it in one sitting. I had a hard time to put the book down. This is the first book in what I think might be a trilogy although I could be mistaken. The other books in the series are:

Be sure to check back this month because I plan on reading the other two books this month.

This is Adriana’s debut novel. If this is any indication then the following books are going to be amazing and I can’t wait to continue this series.

Under Her Skin takes place in Blackwood, Virginia and its this tiny little town where everyone knows everyone and their business. Thankfully for Uma she plans to be in and out before her ex boyfriend finds her. She arrives a beaten down woman who trusts no one. On the outside she looks like a normal every day person but in the darkness of her room you see that she has been branded. Her body holds the scars and the torture she endured from her ex-boyfriend.

Uma is there because she heard about a doctor who runs a free clinic who can remove skin imperfections and she is hoping that the doctor will be able to help her so that at least on the outside she can be normal again or be able to look at herself without seeing that awful reminders of what she endured.

Knowing that staying in the town will cost her money she decides she needs a low key job and manages to find one being a housekeeper for an elderly lady, Mrs Lloyd. Mrs. Lloyd was fiesty and told it like it was with a deep dark past as well. She was the perfect match for Uma and Uma held her ground against her. It was nice to see that Uma could finally get through to Mrs Lloyd vise versa. As the story progressed you could understand where she was coming from. I think Mrs Lloyd was just what Uma needed because her own mother did nothing to help or protect her daughter.

Now enter the love interest because heck no romance book would be complete without one. In this case its a big burly guy named Ivan. He happens to live next door to Mrs. Lloyd’s. She tried hard to put up a barrier between them because the last thing she wanted was to be involved with anyone but gradually over time she realized there was something there and spending time with Ivan felt good. I loved how gentle Ivan was and how he let her set the pace. He was a complete gentleman. One I think anyone could fall for.

I am so excited to continue this series and to see what happens. Does it continue the Uma, Ivan storyline are will we get to see more of the side characters get more of a storyline such as George the dr, the sheriff, or even Jess.

I am still thinking about this book as I sit here and do this review and that says a lot about the book for me.

2018 Reading Challenges That I am Taking Part in

Posted on December 30, 2017January 12, 2018 by Cindy

If you are a reader of my blog you have read that I admit I suck at reading challenges numerous times over the course of my 9 years of blogging and I am not afraid to admit it. Although I think this upcoming year might be the year that I change that.

I found a few reading challenges that I think will work for me and I can overlap them all so that I won’t get overwhelmed in the end.

The reading challenges that I am doing in 2018 are:

The first one is The Blogger Shame Challenge that is being hosted over at The Herd Presents. If your a book blogger you know you have some review books sitting on your TBR that you haven’t read and there is no shame in that I have quite a few. You can read any format but they must be 4 months and older.

The second one is Try Something New Challenge and this is being hosted over at The Herd Presents as well. For this one you are basically going to be reading new to you books ie debut, first book in a series, genres, author, book format etc. This is another way to tackle that TBR pile.

I decided that I am going to do level 2 which is 11-20 books. If I do more that is great but for now I am keeping it at this level.

The third one is Tsundoku Bingo Winter 2018 Challenge that is being hosted over at The Broken Spine. Erica has come up with a new Bingo board every quarter of the year and its basically reading the books in your own TBR pile. This board is good from January to March. I am hoping to complete this board by the end of March.

Finally the last one I am doing is Tackle My TBR Challenge being hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads and all this one is is reading your own books that you have sitting on your own bookshelves. I am hoping to read at least 5 of my own books each month. Any amount I can take of my own shelves is good.

I somehow stumbled up another reading challenge called The 2018 Reading Challenge being hosted on the blog Modern Mrs Darcy and it seems really interesting. The goal is just to read amazing books and who doesn’t want to read amazing books in 2018? There is 12 categories and you read a book from each one. Sounds easy doesn’t it.

Finally the last challenge I am going to do is 2018 Picky Pledge Reading Challenge and its being hosted by Alexa from Alexa Loves Books and Hannah from So Obsessed With and this is just like the above one with 12 categories and you pick the books off your TBR shelf. I know I want to read my own books and I am worried I will get a little bored so I think this will be a fun way to add some variety to doing that.

What reading challenges are you doing in 2018?