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!
With the beginning of May, it feels like summer is just around the corner. And, as summer approaches, so does the end of this year’s Hub Reading Challenge. I’m sure many of you have already finished all 25 of your books (and maybe even some extras), but I’m also sure some of you are behind where you planned to be (or perhaps haven’t even started yet). Though it may seem as though there is no time left before the June 21st deadline, there is actually plenty of time to complete the Challenge even if you haven’t really had a chance to start it.
If you are like me and find it takes longer to read books when you aren’t enjoying them, there are a few strategies for how you can move quickly through 25 books before June 21st. You might take a look at the the 2015 Goodreads Hub Reading Challenge group or the tweets that use the #hubchallenge hashtag to find books that sound like they are particularly appealing. Or, you might look back at all of the Hub’s coverage of Morris and Nonfiction nominees during this year’s Morris/Nonfiction Reading Challenge. Fans of graphic novels might want to intersperse some of this year’s Great Graphic Novels as some faster reads. Or, if you like audiobook, you might choose to listen to selections from the Amazing Audiobooks or Odyssey Award list so that you can squeeze additional books into your commute. Whatever strategy you adopt, there are a lot of really great books eligible for this year’s Hub Reading Challenge, so you should definitely use the final weeks of the challenge to not only finish 25 books, but also to find some exciting new favorites that will push you beyond your normal reading habits. And, once you have, be sure to let us know all about it in the comments, on Twitter using the #hubchallenge hashtag, or on the 2015 Goodreads Hub Reading Challenge group. Good luck with your reading!
Now for the fine print: You have until 11:59 PM EST on June 21st to finish at least 25 books from the official list. If you participated in the Morris/Nonfiction Reading Challenge this year, you can count the books that you read for that challenge for this challenge as well. However, if you’ve read any of the other books prior to February 9, you’ll have to re-read them if you want to count them towards your total.
Don’t forget to read the comments to our weekly check-in posts and keep track of your own progress by commenting on what you read! If you review books online, please include links to your reviews. Also, don’t forget to post 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.
Well, I decided to fill in the form and just submitted it. I read 29 books for the Challenge, though I have read 47 on the list.
My favorite overall was All the Light We Cannot See.
Good luck to those of you continuing on.
I am at 15! I whipped through “Through the Woods” and thought it was okay. I just read Crossover and loved it (I had previously listened to it). I have a bunch more short books, graphics, and audios to catch up in this short amount of time! Can’t wait to read more!
#35 – My Friend Dahmer – I hate to do a reread, but this one was fast, so I threw it in. It is good as far as a graphic novel goes. I am confused as to why it would win as a graphic novel in 2013 and then as a popular paperback in 2015 since it was always (to the best of my knowledge) published in a soft cover, but whatever.
#36 – I’ll Give You the Sun – I loved the ending of this book and by that I mean probably the last 75 pages or so – the first 175 (or so) were torture for me. If it weren’t for the Challenge I would have tossed it aside. Having said that I quite enjoyed the ending – I’m just not sure it was worth the effort to get there.
I finished The Martian, The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, and The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place in the past week. My total number of challenge books read is 24! I don’t know what the 25th book will be. I have the paperback of The Fault in Our Stars on my desk at work, and All the Light We Cannot See is on my e-reader. I’ve requested a few more of the audiobooks on the list, so I may start one this week. But I know I will finish the challenge, and that feels pretty great!
#67 Skink-No Surrender- 4/5 Enjoyed the story a lot. Narrator was okay. This would make a good movie.
#68 The Family Romanov – 3.5/5 – Did not expect to like this book, but it was extremely interesting.
#69 All the Light We Cannot See – 3/5 – Too much back & forth between years. Was glad when I finished it – bordered on boring at times.
#70 Catching Fire – 3.5/5 – I haven’t read book #1, but I still got what was going on. Eh!
I have 7 left on the list – 3 audiobooks and 4 to read. Am listening to Glory O’Brien at the moment.
Woot Woot! Finished. My favorite part of this reading challenge is that I am still reading from the list and enjoying the stories very much!
This week I read Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek #27.
7: Seconds, 8:Ms Marvel, and 9: Through the Woods, I just started 10: The Shadow Hero, so it is with great hope that if I can read all the graphic novels I can finish! I hate that I feel like I have to hurry through these great books, and I’m not even concerned about winning! I just want to complete the challenge, and read stuff outside of my normal reading!
I’m getting a late start to the challenge this year, but am giving it my full attention now. I’ve read four titles so far, and my strategy is to focus on audiobooks and graphic novels that I haven’t already read. In years past, I’ve also found it helpful to intersperse an Alex winner here and there, as the tone, language, plot and prose tend to vary more than with some of the more mainstream YA.
My favorite book so far has been The Port Chicago 50 — a fascinating historical account of racism during WWII.
This week I finished listening to Revolution, finished reading Vango and also read Afterlife with Archie brining my total to 38 books read. I enjoyed each of the books I read this week. I’m reviewing my books on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1270547?shelf=yalsa-hub-challenge-2015
I’m currently reading I’ll Give You the Sun. I’d also like to finish out the Alex books and read Grasshopper Jungle to finish out the Printz awards. I read This One Summer when the book was published so I won’t be re-reading it, but at least I’ll have read all the Printz books.
This weeks I wrapped up The Family Romanov and am starting up the Rithmatist.
Man, am I bad about posting my progress! I’ve finished 58 and am trying to push through to the end, but I keep getting distracted by new releases (*cough*Red Queen *cough*).
I read Juvie and Lockdown almost back-to-back, and they were such different versions of a similar story! I found Juvie to be much more compelling.
Just an administrative question: What is Option 54 on the above list? (I assume there is supposed to be a different title there, but I haven’t gone through my full list to see what’s missing.)