Oh man, am I behind with this! I had wanted this post up two weeks ago! I’m sorry for my lateness! But I have something REALLY exciting to share with you guys!
After much contemplation and advice-getting from friends (Thank you Octavia, Kelly and Kelsey!), I’m going to be doing a 2014 Reading Challenge! I know, I know – it’s Already March and I plan on having this start ASAP, so I’m kind of behind. But I promise, it’s going to be awesome! I technically started this in January as a personal challenge for myself and I sort of explained how this is going to work in my recent On Meredith’s Mind post about Binging a Book Series.
So, are you intrigued? Want to know more about it? Okay, here’s how this works: Look at your bookshelf. Do you see a duology or trilogy that you bought and never read? Maybe you have the first three books of a planned 4-book series? Haven’t read any of them yet, but want to in preparation for the final book? Now’s your chance.
Here are the official rules:
1. First, this is a monthly challenge. So each series will need to be read and completed in a single month (Ex: If you chose the Shatter Me trilogy for March, you have to finish all three books by March 31st). However, you CAN pick a series that isn’t completed (See rule #3)
2. Pick a series. I would suggest a duology, trilogy, or quadrology (4-book series) since this is a monthly challenge. If you’re a fast reader and want to attempt a longer series, that’s fine! But really, the point of this challenge is for you to read one of the above series types. So try to stick with those!
3. You ARE allowed to pick a series that isn’t completed. For example, I read The Lunar Chronicles for February – but Winter won’t be out until 2015. I just binge read the first three books so I’m finally caught up on the series for when the final one comes out. (Also, I JUST finished Cress today.. So, technically, I failed my challenge for February. Whoops!). Another example -> The Grisha trilogy (by Leigh Bardugo) will release its third and final book in June. So schedule it in for your June read (That’s what I’m doing!)
4. You can pick and choose which months you want to participate. Really busy this month? Completely fine! Start in April! Participated in March and April, but May is insane and you can’t? That’s okay! Skip May and join us again in June!
5. You can read what I’m reading, but you don’t have to. For example, for March I’m going to be reading the Shatter Me series. If you haven’t read it, feel free to read it with me! And if you HAVE read it already, no worries! You can pick whatever series you want for yourself.
Here are some Binge read suggestions:
1. Under the Never Sky trilogy by Veronica Rossi
2. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
3. Shatter Me trilogy by Tahereh Mafi
4. The Legend trilogy by Marie Lu
5. Fire and Thorns trilogy by Rae Carson
6. Incarnate trilogy by Jodi Meadows
7. Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor
8. The Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo
9. In the After duology by Demitria Lunetta
10. Masque of the Red Death duology by Bethany Griffin
11. Pivot Point duology by Kasie West
I’m sure there are a ton more suggestions, but those are some of the ones I’ve already read (Since, again, I technically started this in January) or plan on reading. If you have others, feel free to suggest them in the comments below!
Proof of challenge participation can come in TWO forms:
1. Review the books you read. You MUST review each book in the series, either on your blog or (if you don’t have a blog) on Goodreads. The review dates will prove if you completed the series in the alloted time frame.
2. Write a wrap-up post at the completion of the series. In the post, you must include why you chose that series, what you liked and disliked about it, whether or not you are glad you chose the series and why. Also, maybe include a sentence or two on whether or not you would recommend the series to others. Try to be as detailed as possible.
PLEASE, be mindful of spoilers in reviews or wrap-up posts, since not everyone will be reading the same books. If you want to include spoilers, be sure to mention – AT THE BEGINNING – that your post contains spoilers.
Again, the above proof of participation options are VITAL to this challenge. This is what also makes you eligible for any prizes or awards that may be handed out.
I’m still working out rules, prizes, etc. Like I said, I’ve been planning this for about two weeks but I kinda let the ball drop and I’m still working things out, but I wanted to get this started and at least get the sign up post together to see if there is any interest. Potential prizes include gift cards, signed books and (for the final giveaway in December) a duology or trilogy of the winner’s choice
I’m still debating if we’ll have monthly Twitter chats (Possible hashtag: #bookbingechallenge) and I’m going to play around with creating a button for you to put in the side bar of your blog, if you want.
If you want to learn more about binging a book series, Book Rock Betty has a great post about it, plus more series suggestions. Check it out here
Also, the amazing Octavia (who is helping me plan this whole thing) is doing a full series challenge – it’s a yearly challenge, so if you don’t want to deal with the monthly restrictions of my challenge, you can head over to her blog and check out her series challenge! (At this time, her blog is down for maintenance. When it comes back up, I’ll link you to her challenge rules post).
Okay… So, if you’re interested, please fill out the InLinkz below. Sign-ups can only stay open for up to one month. So even if you aren’t sure whether or not you want to participate, feel free to sign up – just in case you decide later in the year that you’re interested:
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