Tag: 2015 hub reading challenge

The 2015 Hub Reading Challenge ended earlier this summer and all finishers have been contacted, so I’m here to announce the winner and officially wrap things up!

I’m pleased to announce our randomly selected grand prize winner, Paige R., who will receive a package chock-full of YA books courtesy of YALSA. Congratulations, Paige! Thanks for participating, and we hope you enjoy the books!

This year, we were just shy of 200 participants in the Reading Challenge, with 68 finishers– that’s a higher percentage of finishers compared to last year. Kudos to all of you who took the challenge, and extra kudos to our finishers!

A few facts about our 68 fantastic finishers:

• 30 of them were first-time participants.
• There were 59 librarians, 4 teachers, and 5 YA lit fans who didn’t identify as either a teacher or librarian.
• Every title on the Reading Challenge list was read by at least one finisher, and there was a three-way tie for the most widely-read book! 49 of our finishers read This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki, Through the Woods by Emily Carroll, and Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona.
• Going by list rather than by invidual title, the Printz books were the most widely read, followed by the Morris books and then Quick Picks.

Thanks again to everyone who participated and made this year’s challenge so much fun! We hope you’ll join us for future reading challenges right here on The Hub!

-Allison Tran, currently listening to The Young Elites, written by Marie Lu and narrated by Carla Corvo and Lannon Killea

“And now, the end is near, and so I face, the final curtain…”

OK, that’s hokey, but apt! The end is very near indeed! Tonight at 11:59 PM EDT the 2015 Hub Reading Challenge wraps up. If you took part and completed it, be sure to fill out the form below before 11:59 PM tonight so you will get credit AND be eligible to win our random drawing for a YALSA tote bag full of 2014 and 2015 YA literature. If the winner is a teacher or librarian or something similar, we will also toss in a few professional development titles!

Everyone who completes the Challenge will receive an elite digital badge to show off online. And if you completed it – well done!! That is a lot of reading and listening. I hope you enjoyed yourself and that you broadened your reading horizons; perhaps explored some genres you don’t normally venture into.  I didn’t actually hit 25 books myself, but just by taking part, I read some titles that I would otherwise never have even looked at!

We are still working on contacting all finishers, so don’t worry if you haven’t gotten your badge yet. Please feel free to use the comments here to tell the Hub what you enjoyed most about this year’s challenge, as well as what didn’t really work for you. Please share what books you loved and what books you didn’t love. If you’d rather email us that information, that works too. Don’t forget you can still peruse the #hubchallenge hashtag on social media to see what other folks have been doing, challenge-wise.

Thank you so very much for taking part in the 2015 Hub Reading Challenge! We hope you enjoyed yourself and that you’ve found some new authors and genres to dive into for the rest of the year.  Continue reading 2015 Hub Reading Challenge Check-In #19

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!

The finish line is in sight! ONE more week! How is the reading going for you all? Close? Finished a long time ago? What has been your favorite read/listen? Was there that one title that everyone LOVED and you were scratching your head? It’s happened to me in the past. Tell me everything in the comments!

Just like last year, I did not participate in the reading challenge because of committee work (reading and evaluating some of the titles you’ll read for next year’s challenge!). Plue work has been keeping me so busy that I barely feel human after work I’m so tired. Plus the heat has zapped my brain cells. Ah summer!

Have you checked out the 2015 Goodreads Hub Reading Challenge group? Or are you a Twitter person and keeping up with the #hubchallenge hashtag? Check both out before time runs out!

If you are still reading, you have until 11:59 PM EST on June 21st to complete at least 25 books from the official list. If you participated in the Morris/Nonfiction Reading Challenge this year, you can count any books that you read for that challenge towards this challenge as well.  You can share your progress by commenting below, and please include links to your online reviews, if you have them.  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.  Continue reading 2015 Hub Reading Challenge Check-In #18

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!

Two weeks!  I’m not quite sure how it happened, but there’s only two weeks left before this year’s Hub Reading Challenge comes to an end.  Are you still working on it?  If you, like me, haven’t quite checked 25 titles off your list, what’s your plan for the home stretch?  If you have completed the challenge, congratulations and let’s talk!  How did you choose which titles to read?  Did you push the boundaries of your comfort zone?  Explore a new author, genre, or format?  Stick mostly with your tried and true?

As happened last year, I read more non fiction than I usually do, and wondered (again) why it takes a reading challenge to push certain books to the top of the to-read pile.  I also listened to a couple of audiobooks, which is something I don’t do nearly as often as I should.  (I  blame NPR.)  But the audiobook comments and recommendations over at the 2015 Goodreads Hub Reading Challenge group were pretty persuasive, and I’m happy I paid attention and tried something new.  The #hubchallenge hashtag is another excellent source of inspiration and discussion, in 140 character increments.

If you are still reading, you have until 11:59 PM EST on June 21st to complete at least 25 books from the official list. If you participated in the Morris/Nonfiction Reading Challenge this year, you can count any books that you read for that challenge towards this challenge as well.  You can share your progress by commenting below, and please include links to your online reviews, if you have them.  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.  Continue reading 2015 Hub Reading Challenge Check-In #17

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!

Now that we have reached the end of May, the end of this year’s Hub Reading Challenge is in sight. For some, I am sure this means a final push to finish up a few more books to complete the Challenge, but I am sure many of you have already completed your 25 books. So, now seems like a great time to discuss what everyone has gotten out of the Challenge. The Hub Reading Challenge offers a great opportunity to expand our reading patterns trying authors, genres, and even formats that would not normally make their way onto our to-be-read piles. I know that the Challenge, and reading The Hub more generally, has introduced me to great authors and books that I would never have considered otherwise. Have you found any notable new discoveries this year that you wouldn’t have considered outside of the Hub Reading Challenge? Did you find out that you love audiobooks or graphic novels? Are you excited to read more books from an author that you tried for the first time because of this year’s list? If so, tell us all about it in the comments! Hopefully lots of you have exciting new favorites that will take your to-be-read lists in new directions long after the end of this year’s Hub Reading Challenge.

If you are still looking for more new books to expand your horizons while contributing to your completion of the Challenge, you might take a look at the the 2015 Goodreads Hub Reading Challenge group or the tweets that use the #hubchallenge hashtag. Alternatively, the Hub’s posts about the Morris and Nonfiction nominees from this year’s Morris/Nonfiction Reading Challenge are another ideal source for discovering books that you might have overlooked in the past.

If you are still working on finishing up your 25 books, you have until 11:59 PM EST on June 21st to complete at least that many from the official list. If you participated in the Morris/Nonfiction Reading Challenge this year, you can count any books that you read for that challenge towards this challenge as well. However, if you’ve read any of the other books on the list prior to the start of the Challenge on February 9, you’ll need to re-read them if you want to count them for this Challenge.

Don’t forget to read the comments on our weekly check-in posts and comment on what you read as well! 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.  Continue reading 2015 Hub Reading Challenge Check-In #16

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!

Each week in these challenge check-ins, the Hub has encouraged you to use the hashtag #hubchallenge when you post about your progress on social media. There are only four weeks left in the challenge, and if you are heading into this home stretch and need some encouragement or fresh ideas to keep you reading, may I suggest perusing that hashtag? Even if you are not a Twitter user, you can Google “Twitter” and “#hubchallenge” to see what people have been talking about .

• @hari_vert #hubchallenge #10 gabi a girl in pieces, by isabel quintero. now _this_ is what high school summer reading should be like.
• @bobcatlibrarian Loved Through the Woods! So very Poe-esque and, dare I say, it had some POEtic moments. #hubchallenge
• @Ms_Librarian_ “The text. I bet he calls it the text.” My favorite line so far in Five, Six, Seven, Nate. #hubchallenge #audiobook @TimFederle
• @cavecibum I’ve reached the point in the #hubchallenge where I want to read what I want now, but I find completing the challenge very rewarding too.
• @teenlibrarian1 #hubchallenge #5 Laughing at My Nightmare by Shane Burcaw is done! I laughed out loud so many times reading this book.
• @kellylynnin I might have to call in sick tomorrow…#hubchallenge #readathon

After looking over all these tweets, I have not only gotten some good ideas about which books to read next (some of their tweets opened my eyes to books I never would have considered!), but now I also have some new people to follow on Twitter! These are my kind of people – passionate readers with strong opinions and interesting views.

Have you been checking out the hashtag#hubchallenge? Discovered any good tweets? Please share them in the comments, after you let us know your progress on the challenge. If you are on Goodreads, won’t you please join the 2015 Goodreads Hub Reading Challenge group.  You have until 11:59 PM EST on June 21st to finish at least 25 books from the official list, and 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.  Don’t forget to post the Participant’s Badge on your blog, website, or email signature, and if you have any questions or problems, please 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.  Continue reading 2015 Hub Reading Challenge Check-In #15

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!

It’s a good thing I am not participating in the challenge because I am having a hard time focusing, just like Geri and Julie.  It’s not the weather for me, as I live in California and it’s sunny almost all the time.  I think summer reading program planning, prepping for my first author visit, and writing letters of recommendation has worn me out.  I’m only interested in playing games on my iPad. I’m hoping my vacation next week will get me back in the reading groove.

How are you readers doing? Are you worn out like me? Killing it as usual? Taking a break to enjoy the weather? Running around with last minute summer reading prep?

Let us know where you’re at in the comments, and keep the conversation going on social media by using the hashtag#hubchallenge to post updates on Twitter or by joining the 2015 Goodreads Hub Reading Challenge group.  You have until 11:59 PM EST on June 21st to finish at least 25 books from the official list, and 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.  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.  Continue reading 2015 Hub Reading Challenge Check-In #14

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!

There are six weeks left in the Hub Reading Challenge and I’m pretty close, but having a hard time concentrating and prioritizing.  I blame (at least in part) the season, a combination of spring fever and an abundance of television series finales and big movies which, like Geri, distract me to an embarrassing degree (though in my case it’s Agent’s of Shield–well, the whole MCU actually–Orphan Black, The Americans, Vikings, iZombie…) Plus, I have been doing oodles of reading for the One Thing Leads to Another interview series (such a hardship! Not.) and that has actually cut into my challenge reading to a significant degree.

Still, with six weeks and seven books left to meet the challenge it’s possible.  It could happen.

What about you?  Have you developed a laser-like focus? Are you overwhelmed by end-of-the-school-year or beginning-of-summer events? Are you close?  Have you given up on meeting the deadline but are dedicated to finishing anyway?  Have you finished?

Let us know where you’re at in the comments, and keep the conversation going on social media by using the hashtag#hubchallenge to post updates on Twitter or by joining the 2015 Goodreads Hub Reading Challenge group.  You have until 11:59 PM EST on June 21st to finish at least 25 books from the official list, and 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.  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.

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.

Continue reading 2015 Hub Reading Challenge Check-In #12