Not signed up for YALSA’s 2015 Hub Reading Challenge? Read the official rules and sign up on the original post. Anything you’ve read since February 9 counts, so sign up now!
My fellow readers, I am having an attention problem. There are two television shows that are just devouring my time right now: The Flash and Game of Thrones. I watch them faithfully. I read reviews and online recaps. I scour Tumblr for behind the scenes information about them. And all of this takes up time that I should be spending finishing up my Hub Reading Challenge!
There are eight weeks left in the challenge, but I need special motivation to tackle some of the books I have left. So here’s the plan: I will read Batman Science: The Real World Science Behind Batman’s Gear because it will appeal to my super-hero loving heart. (And yes, I know Batman doesn’t have super powers – he’s the world’s greatest detective – but if I don’t use this argument, I’m only going to read more Snowbarry fanfic to tide me over in between Flash episodes.) And I shall read The Story of Owen, Dragonslayer of Trondheim. There is not much magic in the book, but there are swords and dragons and songs and that’s good enough to remind me of Game of Thrones! Finally, I will read All the Light We Cannot See. This book has nothing to do with superpowered speedsters or vicious political fighting for a kingdom, but it did just win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and thus must have something going for it.
How about you? Do you have any tricks to motivate you to finish the challenge? Please tell us in the comments and help out your fellow, easily distracted readers! You can also keep in touch with us on social media. Use the hashtag #hubchallenge to post updates on Twitter or join the 2015 Goodreads Hub Reading Challenge group.
You have until 11:59 PM EST on June 21st to finish at least 25 challenge books (here’s the full list of eligible titles). You can include the Participant’s Badge on your blog, website, or email signature, and, as always, if you have any questions or problems, let us know in the comments or via email.
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, to 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 25 titles.
8 weeks?! Wow that is coming up quick! I am only at 13 but plan to push as hard as possible! My most recent completions include And We Stay (loved it!) and Shadow Hero (was reserved about it as first but ended up really liking it! and it was quick!)
So my plan is to read a few novels that I’ve been meaning to (Jackaby, I’ll Give You the Sun, etc), as many GNs and audios as I can get my hands on!
Good luck everyone!
I finished listening to my 21st book on the list: Fat Boy vs. the Cheerleaders. I’m pleased to see how many good quality audiobooks are available for teens. I find I need to be listening to one every week, in the evenings at home. (My commute is only ten minutes, so it’s not worth bothering with audiobooks in the car.) I started listening to Revolution on CD this week; I am totally captivated. I suspect the book is wonderful, too, but the cast on this recording makes the story come alive. I think I only have three discs left to listen to on that book, so I had better start looking for another audiobook on the list that I haven’t heard.
I’m still reading three other books: The Martian (nearly done!) All the Light We Cannot See, and the Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender. The Batman Science: the Real World Science Behind Batman’s Gear just arrived through interlibrary loan. I haven’t read it yet, but I’ve skimmed parts of it–what fun! I’ll be recommending that our library purchase the series.
I’m taking a short break from the hub challenge to catch up with my book club since I’ve fallen behind. I only have 3 books to go for the Hub Challenge so I should still be able to finish on time.
My competition is now Teens’ Top Ten Finalists…a few of which need to be read so that I can create trailers for them.
But this week I finished two more: Terrorist’s Son, which I promptly ordered for my school library, and Confessions, which I just loved for all of the twists and turns.
So, my total now stands at 14.
Eek! I’m only 5 books in! My distraction is that I lead two book groups at my library and am also involved in an outside book group. So I have lots of books to read! One thing that keeps me motivated is that by completing this challenge I’m also helping to complete my Goodreads challenge (100 books in a year!) so this challenge is getting a quarter of my Goodreads challenge finished. So woot woot!
I got distracted by an excellent non-fiction book, Virtual Unreality by Charles Seife, which I’m hoping to share with my inaugural Media and Society class (high schoolers) next year. It was a great read, but alas not part of the Hub Challenge. I’m still stuck at 11, but I’m in the middle of #12- Popular (which I would have quit by now if not for the challenge, as I really don’t like it) and #13-Love Letters to the Dead (which I’d be finished listening to by now except lately I’ve been driving the car with no stereo). After these two, I’ll have 12 remaining to finish the challenge, in 8 weeks…. yes, still possible!
I finished Gabi, A Girl in Pieces (soooo good!) and This One Summer (a heavy, but enjoyable read) this week, bringing me to 11 titles. I’m currently reading The Terrorist’s Son – definitely an interesting story. I’m going on a trip at the end of the week, so that’ll give me some hours of reading time to hopefully get a little more caught up!
#65 The Fault I Our Stars 3.5/5 Figured out half way thru it is a reread. Not my favorite. Both Hazel Grace and Augustus were annoying. Sorry.
#66 Revolution 3/5 Listening was probably a lot different than reading this book/audiotape. It was okay, but didn’t thrill me. You either had to have lived thru that time or be a history person. Multiple narrators worked – Sunny was cute.
Slowing down, but am almost done with All the Light We Cannot See. This is not going well. I know the reviews are spectacular, it has many awards, but the back & forth in time, sometimes unannounced, is boring.
I am reading #24 of the 25 challenge. I binge read some weekends. I have given up on the graphic novels although they are a quick read. For easily distracted readers, I do recommend that they hit the GNs on the list. I would love to hear more about what readers think about the GN as it is not particularly my cup of tea. The other books I have found to be quick reads are Bellweather Rhapsody and Lock In and surprisingly Popular and Ida M. Tarbell went quickly for me. I also find that I can read faster with a physical book versus e-books. Good luck!
Melissa – I read the GNs because they are quick, and are on the list. Otherwise, I would never, ever pick one up. I would like to read a few of them in normal book form, but as a GN, I find them boring and all the “pictures” distracting. I’m with you.
I finished We Were Liars (#26) and loved it! I am currently reading Popular.
#31 – Bellweather Rhapsody – I thought this was a good treatment of this concept. I am a bit surprised this wasn’t released as a YA though, considering the teens are the book’s main focus.
#32 – And we Stay – I liked Emily but found most of the other characters to be either annoying or caricatures.
#33 – Darkness Before Dawn – I am now finished with the Hazelwood High Trilogy. It was a good series, probably better when it was new. I found the first and third books, in specific, to suffer from being dated. I did like that this story was told from the female perspective.
#34 – Catching Fire – I don’t like to reread – but it has been a few years since I read this. I enjoyed it. It showed the strengths of weaknesses of Katniss quite well. As I vaguely recall, I was underwhelmed with Mockingjay.
I can’t seem to get through any of the audiobooks. I have issues with my CD player and I just don’t enjoy listening to books over my tablet and through headphones. I’ve only read one so far and I may never get any further than that – annoying.
Hurray! Finished #6 Carnival at Bray! Now I am reading Seconds, and then I am going to continue on a GN binge so I have a hope of finishing. It always sounds like so much time at the beginning and then it creeps up on your and you’re not even half way done. :)
I’m up to 20 now. Just finished Vango and loved it. A wonderfully entertaining read full of intrigue and humor. I also read some graphic novels in the past week or so. Next up: This One Summer and The Bellweather Rhapsody.
Finished 2 this week! I think that’s a (sad) new record for me. (Some of you read so much so quickly. What is your secret?)
#7 – The Carnival at Bray – LOVED it. I’m sure I was predisposed to love it because I lived in Ireland for a while in my youth and because I’m a child of ’90s alternative rock, but the writing was so lovely and the emotions were so real.
#8 – Ms. Marvel: No Normal – Loved this one too, though I think less on story/graphics alone and more because of the potential and implications behind it. A female, teenage, Muslim superhero!?! I’ve already recommended the series to about 6 kids at my school.
Working on Wolf in White Van & This One Summer for next week.
This week I finished Those Who Wish Me Dead which I really enjoyed. It was a fast-paced mystery that kept me up late into the night reading. This brings my total to 35 books read. I’m currently listening to Revolution and should finish that this week. I only have one CD left! I’m also reading Vango. I’ve been reviewing my books on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1270547?shelf=yalsa-hub-challenge-2015
Even though I’ve completed 25 titles, I plan to read as many more as I can. I don’t really have an end goal, but I’d like to read at least one book per week for the remaining time. Last year I read 61 books, and while I would like to surpass that number this year, I don’t think I will.
I am listening to the Amazing Audiobook, ACID by Emma Pass and really enjoying it!
Only 1 for me this week, but I’m almost done with Wolf in White Van, so I’ll be ready to rave about that one next week.
#9 – This One Summer – I snuck it in despite being in the middle of Wolf because I picked it up to glance at it, but got totally absorbed and couldn’t put it down. I know a few people have commented that they have a hard time with graphic novels, but I think I might have the opposite problem. They engross me completely. I think maybe the combination of words & images capture my attention to a degree that the writing along sometimes doesn’t (which makes me sound like a gnat-minded idiot, but I’ll say it anyway). This One Summer was particularly strong in its effect. The is a comment from Lucy Knisley on my back cover that perfectly captures my feelings – “This book eloquently and perfectly captures the feeling of summer.” And feelings of summer are totally welcome to me right now. :-)