Not signed up for YALSA’s 2014 Hub Reading Challenge? Read the official rules and sign up on the original post. Anything you’ve read since February 3 counts, so sign up now!
As we enter our final weeks of YALSA’s 2014 Hub Reading Challenge, I am excited to see all the progress everyone is making on their reading. Many are finishing up their pile of books, but even if you haven’t reached your goal yet, there is still time to finish 25 books from the list before midnight on June 22nd.
As you move through the list, be sure to keep us posted. What book have you just finished? Which books have you liked? Are there any that you have discovered that you never would have read without the competition? Did you find new authors or even new genres to love? Let us know in the comments, post your thoughts on Goodreads or share it with us on other social media using the #hubchallenge hashtag!
The 2014 Hub Reading Challenge runs until 11:59 PM EST on June 22nd, so even if you are just starting, you still have plenty of time to read 25 books! Be sure to keep track of what you are reading/listening to as you go along. We’ll be posting these check-in posts each Sunday so you can share your thoughts about the book(s) you read/listened to that week and share links to any reviews you post online. If you just can’t wait for our weekly posts, share your thoughts via social media using the #hubchallenge hashtag, or join the 2014 Hub Challenge group on Goodreads. We will be compiling posts from various places online into a Storify collection. You can see the social media conversation so far below!
If you have already completed the challenge by reading or listening to 25 titles from the list of eligible books, be sure to fill out the form below so we can send you your Challenge Finisher badge, get in touch to coordinate your reader’s response, and, perhaps best of all, notify you if you win our exciting grand prize drawing! Be sure to use an email you check frequently and do not fill out this form until you have completed the challenge by reading/listening to 25 titles.
Here’s my post intended for Sunday. I had a slow week of Challenge reading last week, but I’m so close to completing my 25. I have two titles to finish this week Two Boys Kissing and Dogs of War.
The new title I got from the library looks extremely well done after just flipping through it.Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans During World War II by Martin W. Sandler. This is not a new topic for me since I have friends whose family members were in the camps, but good books about such history are essential for children and young adults.
I so meant to do more since finishing my 25, and I still do, but have been distracted by other books.
Finished Carter Finally Gets It. Enjoyed it, light, humor, can see why it is well-liked. Would recommend it to freshman boys and girls .. and even upper classmen. Working on the Book Thief. Really like it, but it is slow going, maybe because I am really enjoying it. I have to have 3 more to make the 25 (including Book Thief) so I am really really trying to finish! Very impressed by those who are done and those who read everything! Great job! So, my total is 22 .. as I said, 3 to go!
This week I read O’Donnell’s The Death of Bees (really liked it) and Marcus Sedgwick’s Midwinterblood (didn’t care for it).
I really seem to be getting sluggish now towards the end. I finished only one book. I am the Messenger. It was just okay for me. I don’t seem to care much for Zusak’s books. I don’t get a lot of the slang and I feel that they are more directed toward a male audience. Of the ones I read so far I did like the story in this one the best. This puts me at 59 so far. Oh, I did try to read Strobe but I hated it so much I stopped after two or three pages. I just can’t do the backwards thing, too old, I suspect.
Still holding strong at 22.5, will try to finish Necromancer this week, then just 2 more!
I did it!!! All 83 selections. Unfortunately, I saved the worst book ever for last. I would rather read a graphic novel than read The Kingdom of Little Wounds again. What an awful book. If not for the challenge, I would have dumped it after 100 pages. This is not a YA novel – I wouldn’t even recommend this for adults. The graphic, violent sex/rape, gruesome deaths, a lot of TMI – all just too much.
My favorites were The Testing, Boy Nobody, Sea of Tranquility, All the Truth That’s in Me, Belle Epoque, Beautiful Music for Ugly Children, Rose Under Fire & Between Shades of Grey. My least favorites, aside from the above, were all 1-6 of Strobe Edge, Adventures of Super Girl, Nothing Can Possibley Go Wrong, Viva Jacquelina, Crap Kingdom. Am glad I did the whole thing – only finished 25 last year. Looking forward to next year’s list.
I’ve read Midwinterblood (Hmmm….) and Out of the Easy (enjoyed it – wonderful).
Late checking in again this week. Only read Charm and Strange this week and overall liked it, but had some mixed feelings. I’m almost done with Audrey, Wait! So I’m at 17 and need to still determine to read 8 more before June 22!
Just one this week, Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys. I really enjoyed the story. Maybe not quite as good as Between Shades of Grey, but it held my interest and kept me coming back to read more even when I had to do other things. :)
Three to go!
I finished the Challenge! I’m so excited. I decided to put The Book Thief down because I didn’t want the pressure to rush to finish it, knowing I’d still have two more to read to finish .. picked up March: Book 1 and Boxers and Saints .. got through all 3 to finish the challenge .. now I’m reading The Book Thief again and have a stack of 20 more books to read this summer, thanks to this challenge, but I’m really excited to have met my goal to get the 25 done! Thanks for putting this challenge out there and I cannot wait to participate again next year. I’m the Media Clerk at a High School so this has helped tremendously with being able to give book recommendations!