Summer 2014 Book Challenge

Hello, old friends....

So maybe I don't blog as regularly as I'd like...silly MA getting in the way of my creative outlet. Whatever, dude. One thing about me that you can count on not changing is my love of reading. Serious book addict right here. I will always love some good YA fiction, sci fi/fantasy, mysteries and a few non-fiction comedy books thrown in for good measure.

Booknerd who likes wine and giggling. Well, not really giggling, more like hysterical snorting.

My main guilt in life is that I feel I don't read enough. I would rather read all the books I currently own and haven't yet read (over 250 at this point, split between my home with my parents and my flat here in London) than catch up on all the trendy shows this season.

I'm feeling excited about this Summer Reading Challenge being put on by Megan over at Semi-Charmed Kind of Life. I'm a rule follower and I do love a good set of reading rules to follow (stop yelling 'nerd', Mom. I believe everyone is fully aware). Check out her page for the check-in rules, or you can just follow the point system if you want a good reading challenge for the summer. If anything, share with me what you're reading so I can add to my ever growing list of books to check out. I do love a good nerd chat over books.

So here's the points and here's what I'm, hopefully, going to be reading this summer:

Don't be judgy about my Blogging book. I never said I was good at this shit.

5 points: Freebie! Read any book that is at least 200 pages long.

--Take Your Shirt Off and Cry by Nancy Balbirer. Should be an easy read, an auto-biography about one woman's experiences as a struggling actor. Looks like a funny read and I'm trying to read more of those. Someday, I wanna write a comedic book. 

10 points: Read a book that was written before you were born.

--Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. No, I've never read it. *Hangs head in shame*

10 points: Finish reading a book you couldn't finish the first time around. (You must have at least 150 pages left in the book to use it for this category.)

--Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, it's what became my downfall for my Jane Austen Book Club reading challenge. I just couldn't get past Mansfield Park. Ugh.

10 points: Read a book from the children's section of the library or bookstore.

--The Giver by Lois Lowry. Always wanted to read it and my sister loved it. It was either this one or possibly The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, which also comes highly recommended by my sis.

15 points: Read a book that is on The New York Times' Best Sellers List when you begin reading it.

--The Circle by Dave Eggers. Recommended by my other blogger friend, Taylor, who loved it. And hopefully it'll stay on that list until I can get to it!

15 points: Read a historical fiction book that does not take place in Europe.

--The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier. My lovely friend Laura just gushed about it and lent me her copy.

15 points: Read a book another blogger has already read for the challenge. (So I'll be checking in June to see what other blogger's have read in order to get my next one...or I'll just take one from Amanda over at Rhyme and Ribbons as she's updating her post as she goes along. Win!) 

--The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester...I'm hoping Amanda reads that one soon, cause I've been dying to read it for years (I used to work at several bookshops, this title has always caught my eye).

20 points: Read a book with 'son(s),' 'daughter(s)' or 'child(ren)' in the title. No other words will count--including kids, offspring, etc. 

--Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

20 points: Read a book that was/will be adapted to film in 2014.

--Fault in Our Stars  by John Green. OKAY, OKAY, I will give in and read it. I've been avoiding it because everyone has cried over it and I hate crying. But alas, I must give in because I've heard too many good things. Damn you, John Green. I hope you're not going to be another Nicholas Sparks.
**Finished 19th of May....sobbing.**

25 points: Read a book written by a blogger.

--Straight Up and Dirty by Stephanie Klein. I had fun searching for this one. Nooooo, idea of what to chose other than cookbooks and any book by Jen Lancaster...oh wait, read all those. She's actually who I want to write like someday. Hopefully this Stephanie Klein author will be as funny and/or inspiring.

25 points: Read a biography, autobiography or memoir.

--The Disastrous Mrs. Weldon by Brian Thompson, and just for fun, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling, because I must read this book. 

30 points: Read a pair of books with antonyms in the titles.

--Ummmm, I'll get back to you on that one.

BONUS ROUND...just cause I want some of my own personal challenges:

Read a book you said you would never, ever, ever read:

--50 Shades of Grey .... ugh. Maybe I can't do that challenge...

Read a book that you've borrowed off someone and you really have kept it too long and need to return it soon...like, really soon:

--The Art of Acting by Stella Adler, borrowed off my friend Olivia...and I just really have had it too long.

I have so many other good books waiting for attention on my bookshelf.

I'm sure this will all fit in nicely while I freak out about getting a job and whattheHELLamIdoingaftergraduationfuuuuuuuuck!

xx Lindsay