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2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (Hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


30 / 30 books. 100% done!

2024 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama (1)
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas (1)
- California (7)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut (1)
- Delaware (1)
- Florida (1)
- Georgia (2)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois (3)
- Indiana (4)
- Iowa (1)
- Kansas (1)
- Kentucky (1)
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland (1)
- Massachusetts (3)
- Michigan (1)
- Minnesota (1)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri (1)
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska (1)
- Nevada (2)
- New Hampshire (1)
- New Jersey (1)
- New Mexico (1)
- New York (8)
- North Carolina (4)
- North Dakota (1)
- Ohio (2)
- Oklahoma (2)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania (2)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota (1)
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (4)
- Utah (2)
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia (2)
- Washington (3)
- West Virginia (1)
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.* (2)

International:
- Australia (2)
- Bolivia (1)
- Canada (3)
- China (1)
- England (20)
- France (1)
- Ghana (1)
- India (1)
- Indonesia (1)
- Ireland (4)
- Italy (1)
- Poland (1)
- Russia (1)
- Scotland (3)
- The Netherlands (1)

My Progress:


51 / 51 states. 100% done!

2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


44 / 50 books. 88% done!

2024 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


36 / 50 books. 72% done!

Booklist Queen's 2024 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

2024 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


50 / 52 books. 96% done!

2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


36 / 40 books. 90% done!

2024 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


17 / 40 books. 43% done!

2024 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


21 / 25 books. 84% done!

2024 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

2024 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge

My Progress


17 / 26.2 miles (3rd lap). 65% done!

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

My Progress


38 / 100 books. 38% done!

2024 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


92 / 104 books. 88% done!

Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

My Progress


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

Disney Animated Movies Reading Challenge

My Progress


125 / 165 books. 76% done!

The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge

My Progress:


76 / 100 names. 76% done!
Tuesday, January 14, 2020

My Top ONE Tuesday Discovery


It's Tuesday!  You know what that means—it's time for my favorite weekly meme.  Top Ten Tuesday is always a good time.  You should really join in the fun.  All you have to do is click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl, read a few instructions, create your own list, and hop around the book blogosphere to visit other people's lists.  It truly is a great way to find new book blogs to read, add intriguing titles to your TBR mountain chains, and just spread the love throughout this wonderful online community of ours.

The topic du jour is Top Ten Bookish Discoveries I Made in 2019.  I did find some new authors and blogs last year, but I feel like I've already talked about them.  So, I'm going to talk about a bookish discovery I've made this year.  Since there's only one, this won't be a list, but more of a discussion.  I really do value your advice and recommendations, so please leave a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on yours.

I know I'm late to the party on this one, but my big discovery of 2020 is ... wait for it ... audiobooks.  I'm sure I'm the last person on Earth to jump on this particular bandwagon.  However, in reading lots of 2019 wrap-up posts, I realized something—bloggers that read a heck ton of books last year often attributed their astounding numbers to, you guessed it, audiobooks.  So, I decided to give them a try.  Audible had a New Year's sale that offered a free trial membership, some free books, and an easy reading (listening) challenge that will net me a $20 Amazon gift card to boot.  Serendipity!  I signed up.
For my first audiobook, I decided on a book I've been eyeing for awhile—Spectacle by Jodi Lynn Zdrok.  It's a YA novel about a 16-year-old Parisian girl who visits the city's public morgue, which prompts her to have strange visions about a string of grisly murders.  It sounded interesting, so I downloaded the book and started listening.  The narrator, Laurie Catherine Winkel, seemed a little stiff, her French words sounding more natural than her English ones, but she sounded even weirder at higher speeds, so I listened to the story at normal speed.  I kept the audio running while I ran errands in the car, scrubbed my kitchen, folded laundry, worked on the computer, etc. and was surprised at how well I could multi-task.  In the past when I've tried to listen to books I've either fallen asleep or gotten so distracted by other things that I missed half of what the narrator was saying.  The only problem with Spectacle was the tale seemed to go on and on and on and on.  When I downloaded the book, I hadn't paid any attention to its length.  I actually gasped when I finally realized it was ELEVEN HOURS long.  Needless to say, it was an interesting first-time listening experience.

Now, I'm listening to a MG novel called The Other Half of My Heart by Sundee T. Frazier.  The Audie Award-winning narrator, Bahni Turpin, is much more animated than the last one and the book is much shorter.  I'm enjoying it.

All in all, my audiobook experiment is going well so far.  I'm curious, though, as to how the rest of you use this resource.  Do you listen to audiobooks?  Why or why not?  How often do you "read" them?  Which books have been your favorite to listen to?  Who are the best narrators?  Any other tips for me from you audiobook lovers?  I'd love any advice on how to use audiobooks most effectively and enjoyably.

Happy TTT!
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Reading

<i>Reading</i>
Murder is Bad Manners by Robin Stevens

Listening

<i>Listening</i>
The Boy Who Cried Bear by Kelley Armstrong



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