Spring Book Challenge Wrap Up

So the Spring Book Challenge has officially ended. I didn't feel like I did as well with this challenge as I did for the winter one. I read a couple of books that didn't fit in anywhere and some books took longer for me to finish than I anticipated. But I still managed to read 7,4, and 8 books in April, May, and June, respectively. Not too shabby! Although, May was a little rough. With those numbers, I'm officially on my 40th book of the year! So I've upped my Total Books In 2009 challenge up to 75. Hopefully I can keep going at this pace, or even up it for the rest of the year.

So my favorites from the past three months? Hmm...I guess I'll go with a top 3:

1. They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky by Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng, and Benjamin Ajak
2. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon
3. The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Interesting that my three favorites were all from extremely different genres. I also really enjoyed Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay but didn't finish the nonfiction book on the Vel d'Hiv in time for the end of the challenge in order to count it. I will hopefully finish it soon and post of review of Sarah's Key and the nonfiction book within the next week or two!

My goals for the next challenge (Summer Book Challenge, which I'll be posting next) are to be able to fit more of my books on the TBR pile in and to keep up with the book bloggin' a little better! My poor blog has been a little neglected the past couple months.

Winter Book Challenge Wrap Up

So the Nest Book Club Winter Book Challenge has come to an end as of last night!! I'm really glad that I participated in this because it was fun to pick out books that fit each topic and find ways to fit books that I wanted to read next into a topic so I could get points for it! Out of the possible 375 points, I earned 265 and read 20 books. Here's the break down:

5 point books:

Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos (the word "love" in the title)

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (animal in the title)

Dragonfly In Amber by Diana Gabaldon (color in the title)

10 point books:

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (body part in title)

The Chicago Way by Michael Harvey (city, country, or continent in title)

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (book by author I hadn't read before)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling (YA book)

15 point books:

Bleachers by John Grisham (book about football, hockey, or basketball)

Dead to the World and Dead as a Doornail of Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris (read a book in a series and the one after it)

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (book you read in High School)

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (book by African American author)

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (book on 1001 books to read before you die list)

The Chocolate War by Robert Comier (banned book)

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger (already saw the movie for)

The Shack by William P. Young (on bestseller list)

The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich (occupation in the title)

25 point books:

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman and movie (read book then watch movie)

2666 by Roberto Bolaño (700+ page book)

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and made Scottish Eggs (read book and cook meal inspired by it)

The books that really stick out in my mind as being GREAT! are definitely Outlander, 2666, and The Chocolate War. Probably the worst book of the bunch was The Shack. I was completely unimpressed and PBS'd that book right away. Now I'm looking forward to the Spring Book Challenge! I'll have my list of topics and options up later today hopefully.