20 Books of Summer Challenge

Thanks to Lisa of Lisa Love Literature for sharing/ participating. This Challenge is hosted by Emma of Words and Peace and Annabel of AnnaBookBel

So this is your first call to start planning…

• The #20BooksofSummer2025 challenge runs from Sunday June 1st to Sunday August 31st
• The first rule of 20 Books is that there are no real rules, other than signing up for 10, 15 or 20 books and trying to read from your TBR.
• Pick your list in advance, or nominate a bookcase to read from, or pick at whim from your TBR.
• If you do pick a list, you can change it at any time – swap books in/out.
• Don’t get panicked at not reaching your target.
• Just enjoy a summer of great reading and make a bit of space on your shelves!

We’ll have monthly summary posts where you can add progress reports and recommendations. The final one at the at the beginning of September will stay open for a while to catch all the last reviews.

If you’re planning to join in please do add your blog / planning post link to the Mr Linky the logos and bingo card now, which’ll help us keep track, and you can use the hashtag #20BooksofSummer2025 on your socials.

My Plan

 I am going to try to use this challenge to read some books of my physical and already-owned audiobook TBRs, so I am going for 10 books and might increase if things are going well. I love the flexibility of this challenge and really hope to get through some books!

#24in48 Running Recap

24in48 is back and very much needed for me to catch up this year with some reading (already). If you don't know, 24in48 is the challenge and goal to read for 24 hours out of 48 hours. We start at 12:01 AM ET on Saturday, February 6th and run through 11:59PM ET on Sunday, February 7th. There are no prizes this round, it is all for bragging rights.

For more info here visit their site: https://24in48.com/

Let's Talk "the plan"

Here are the books I hope to read in my 24 hours:

• I need to read Chapters G- N of The Liar's Dictionary by Eley Williams for book club, that is 83 pages
• Need to finish Legendary by Stephanie Garber, I am currently on Chapter 5 leaving me about 397 pages
• I think I will follow up those with The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin, 450 pages
• and then maybe Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, 462 pages (I also have this in audiobook, so I may go that route if I need to rest my eyes- just keeping it real).
• Just in case, I have added in Meet Me in the Strange by Leander Watts as a shorter option in case I need to feel like I have accomplished/ completed a book.

If my reading math is correct that should get me to 24 hours of reading as long as I read as quickly as I normally do. I will be updating this page and my Instagram with updates through the weekend if you want to follow along. I am not going to push it, but I would like try to make the 24 hours. 

With that said... I also still need to find time to prep my planner for next week and complete a short presentation for class (eh it will all work itself out right?...riiiight!)

Here we goooooooooooooooooooooo!

Start time: 7:00 am Saturday

Hour/Progress: 

Started at 7am and read until about 9am this morning and read my chapters for book club, did a run to the Farmers Market and Home Depot for some stuff. The hubs is working on my planter boxes while I read this weekend.

I got some listening to Six of Crows audiobook done while lounging and added on a few more hours to my total. 

As I am updating this it is 9:15ish pm on Saturday and I am on page 300 of Legendary and pushing as long as I can tonight. Currently at 7.5 hours total of reading!

Hour/Progress: 12:02 am

About to head to bed after reading for 9 hours and 36 minutes today. Not the 12 I wanted but still pretty good. 

I finished Legendary, started Six of Crows, did my book club reading, and listened to some of Andy’s book about pirates 

Not sure I will get to the full #24in48 but I am setting a good pace.

Hour/Progress: 8:30 am Sunday

I am up. I just spent 1.5 hours on homework so that I don't have to deal with it later. I am hoping to get a good amount of reading in today again. Starting on page 68 of Six of Crows this morning and hoping to finish it. 

Hour/Progress: 11:45 pm Sunday

Finishing out the night with 18 hours and 21 minutes read in 48.

My accomplishments

• Reading first!
• Read for Book Club, 
• Finished Legendary, 
• Finished Six of Crows, 
• got another 2 chapters into A Darker Shade of Magic (wasn't on my list)
• Listened to a book about pirates for about 30 minutes with the hubs (his read)
• Read my the Echo Dot instructions and got that set up to play music and my books for me.
• Other stuff:
• I also was able to finish a Powerpoint presentation for class, respond to two discussion posts, and add to a draft for my final paper.
• I only had one Red Bull... (so surprising it was not more)
• I helped start putting together raised beds for my garden - Photos soon in a BTBP.

Blog Ahead: October 2019

It's that time again... Blog Ahead!

I told myself, and others that I have NO time for this at all and it is way too busy, but I really need to try, at the very least.

A challenge hosted by herding cats and burning soup.

Here are some details...

Purpose: Increase the number of scheduled blog posts you have ready to publish by 31 posts during the month of October. (You can set your own goal). 

Ex. If you have 1 post already scheduled at the start (Oct 1) then you would need 32 by the end of the month. if you have 5 - you would need 36.

Who Can Join: Anyone with a blog…topic/genre doesn't matter.

SIGN UP HERE

On October 1st, I have 6 scheduled posts, so I will need 37 scheduled posts by October 31.

• Waiting on Wednesday 1
• Waiting on Wednesday 2
• Waiting on Wednesday 3
• Waiting on Wednesday 4
• November TBR Post 
• Thanksgiving Post 
• December TBR Post 
• Happy Holidays Post 
• Merry Christmas Post 
• Happy New Year Post 
• Holiday Giveaway 
• Recent Reads: Super Cool Space Facts: A Fun, Fact- Filled Space Book for Kids by Bruce Betts
• Blog Tour: The Call of the Rift: Veil 
• 
  

I will be tracking my progress as I go, by adding more to the list and strikethrough to indicate that they are completed.

Wish me luck!

#24in48 Readathon

I'm doin' a thing... what thing you ask?

THIS THING!

And what is this thing? Well it is a readathon... that I very much need right now. Below I have quoted the rules from their site and sign ups are still open if you need a reason to sequester yourself inside (or outside) and read for a very long period of time.

"Beginning at 12:01am (official timezone is EDT) on Saturday morning and running through 11:59pm on Sunday night, participants read for 24 hours out of that 48-hour period.

You can split that up however you’d like: 20 hours on Saturday, four hours on Sunday; 12 hours each day; six four-hour sessions with four hour breaks in between. You can pause as much as you need, enjoy regularly scheduled weekend activities, nap, stop for dance breaks with your kids or pets or neighbors. Whatever works for you.

And that’s it. The format never changes but it’s always an adventure."

Language borrowed from #24in28.com 

Here are some of the books I hope to read during the readathon. 24 hours is a lot of reading time and I need to get to so many books that this doesn't even cover it :) Hopefully I will get through these and more.

I will be tracking my progress on Twitter mostly, but will also try to pop into this blog post as well. I am not sure how I am going to track quite yet but I think analog is the way to go - start and stop times written down. I will have to find a cute notebook :)

Check In 1

1st check in here on the blog - I am at 3 hours and 28 minutes done and I have finished When Summer Ends by Jessica Pennington.

Check In 2

2nd check in - I am at 5 hours and 17 minutes and finished an audiobook that I had started this past week Mr Lemoncello's All-Star Breakout Game by Chris Grabenstein

Check In 3

3rd blog check in, I have been posting more updates on Twitter if you want to follow along real time. As of bedtime Saturday night I was at 11 hours and 28 minutes and have finished more books: Beekeeping for Beginners by Amber Bradshaw,  The Starlight Claim by Tim Wynne-Jones and The Camelot Code by Mari Mancusi.

And a Bonus book: 

#TheReadingQuest Sign Up, TBR and Progress

I was reading blogs today and came across this adorable reading quest/ game and I am swooning over it and SO excited to be signing up to play. 

It is called #TheReadingQuest and you pick a character and follow a path to read/earn experience points from August 13-Sept 10.

For the Full Details pop over to Read at Midnight

Sign ups close on the 13th so get over there and sign up! 

I have chosen the Mage path, First Down: 

"MAGE: As wielders of spells and witchcraft, these players will conjure and summon their way through the First Down path on the quest. Their tomes contain magic and whispers of alternate lands."

 There are also Side Quests:

"Along with the separate Character Class quest levels (Purple Squares), the centre of the Quest Board is a conglomeration of Side Quests (Blue Squares)! Complete these challenges to earn extra points and bonus experience for your character."

Here is my Character Card, art compliments of CW of Read, Think, Ponder. Isn't this so cute! I am loving this SO much!

 

I keep changing these based on my mood- sorry if it is getting confusing.... 

Mage Path:

• A Book Based on Mythology: 
• Everneath by Brodi Ashton
  

Side Quests (may change/ TBD):

• Potions:
• Multiplayer:
• Grind:  
• The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan (557 pages)
• Time Warp:
• Expansion:

Week 1

Mage Path Completed Quests

• A Book with a One Word Title: 
• Click'd by Tamara Ireland Stone (EBOOK 208 pages)
  

Side Quests Completed

• Respawn - Read a book you previouslt DNF'd:
• Previously DNFed The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
• Opted to read The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo as replacement (MANGA 192 pages)

  

Week 2

Mage Path Completed Quests

• The First Book of a Series:   
• Obsidian (Lux #1) by Jennifer Armentrout (EBOOK 299 pages)

Side Quests Completed

• Animal Companion - A book referencing an animal in the title:
• Paws in the Piazza by Jerilyn McIntryre (BOOK 96 pages), about cats.

• Mini-Game - Read a graphic novel, novella or poem collection: - see update below
• Phoebe and her Unicorn in the Magic Storm by Dana Simpson (GRAPHIC 160 pages)- moved this to a new spot

and... I am 222 pages into Throne of Glass for Book Set in a Different World in my Mage Path - those pages are calculated in as well.

 Week 3

  

Mage Path Completed Quests

• A Book Set in a Different World:  
• Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (404 pages)

Side Quests Completed 

• Open World: 
• Ban this Book by Alan Grantz (256 pages)

Week 4 - final re-cap...

Mage Path Completed Quests

• A Book that Contains Magic:
  
• moved this book to this position: Phoebe and her Unicorn in the Magic Storm by Dana Simpson (160 pages)

Side Quests Completed 

• Mini-Game - Read a graphic novel, novella or poem collection:
• Lady Stuff by Loryn Brantz (GRAPHIC 128 pages)
  

 

Bloggiesta March 2016 - Here we goooooooo

"The idea behind Bloggiesta is to spend four days working on perfecting your blog and connecting with other bloggers who are doing the same thing. Spread the word and get all your friends to come and fiesta with us!"

-Join in using the Button Below-

 

Bloggiesta 2016 Officially Starts TODAY, March 21 and will run until the 27th. 
Get your To-Do Lists ready!

So for my list I would like to:

• Back up the blog
  
• Update my "Reviews by Author" Tab
  
• Update my TBR spreadsheet - I haven't been using it and I fail :/
• Clean up my inbox
• Participate in a Twitter Party
• Here are the deets (#bloggiesta @bloggiesta):
 
• Friday March 25: Write Reviews hosted by Jenni from Jenni Elyse at 2:00 pm EDT
 
• Do some mini challenges - yup :) and might do more...
• I joined Litsy with Jenni's post - username is Gorelenore if you want to follow - let me know your username if you join too :) 
• I am already a LibraryThing user/member - if you join with Laurie's post my username is sszkutak if you want to add me. 
• Wrote a mini review for Ezrah's challenge 
• Prep some reviews/ blog posts
• Wrote a Mini review.
• The Skeleton Garden
• The Spiritglass Charade  
• Make sure my reviews are in Goodreads  -  loaded in from Jan to now so that is good :)
• Visit as many Bloggiesta blogs as possible (IF NOT ALL)  - commented on the 57 that were there and had a bloggiesta post I could find, this task is ongoing as more people sign up :)
  
• Check my bloggy stats for March

Added Items:

• Check that I have responded to comments.

If I think of anything else, I will add as I go and strike trough as I complete tasks.

Blog Ahead 2015: The Finish Line

For the month of October I have been participating in Blog Ahead, a challenge hosted by herding cats and burning soup and Caffeinated Book Reviewer. The details are below if you are interested in learning more.

This is the final progress report... how's I do?

I DID IT! 31 posts ready to go :) 

I have currently scheduled 31 posts to run in November, December and a few in January, including:

• Ho Ho Ho Read-a-thon Goals Post
• 11 weeks of Waiting on Wednesday Posts 
• 5 Discussion posts: 
• 'Series I Need to Finish' Post
• 'Books you will shun me for not reading' Post
• 'Book Recommendations' post 
• 'E- Reader' post 
• Balancing Life/Blogging

• 4 Movie Mondays posts
• 3 Blogger Pet Profiles posts:
• Rolo
• Cooper
• Shreki & Timmy 

• 4 Holiday Posts:
• Thanksgiving Post 
• Happy Holidays Post 
• Christmas Post 
• Happy New Year Post

• 2 Reviews:
• Drones Review 
• The Little Christmas Tree Review 

• 1 Book Blitz
• All the Way to Heaven by Becky Doughty

Blog Ahead 2015: Half Way There Check In

For the month of October I have been participating in Blog Ahead, a challenge hosted by herding cats and burning soup and Caffeinated Book Reviewer. The details are below if you are interested in learning more.

This is my current progress as of October 17th...

I have currently scheduled 23 posts to run in November and December, including:

• Ho Ho Ho Read-a-thon Goals Post
• 9 weeks of Waiting on Wednesday Posts 
• 4 Discussion posts: 
• 'Series I Need to Finish' Post
• 'Books you will shun me for not reading' Post
• 'Book Recommendations' post 
• 'E- Reader' post 

• 3 Movie Mondays posts
• 3 Blogger Pet Profiles posts:
• Rolo
• Cooper
• Shreki & Timmy 

• 2 Holiday Posts:
• Thanksgiving Post 
• Happy Holidays Post 

• 1 Review:
• Drones Review 

I have also prepared and scheduled about 5 other posts for the month of October.

Have been tracking my Blog Ahead progress as I go on the sidebar with my pumpkin and bats tracker.

Here are the details, borrowed from the lovely Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer...

Purpose: Increase the number of scheduled blog posts you have ready to publish by 31 posts during the month of October. (You can set your own goal) All post will be scheduled from November 1st or later.

Who Can Join: Any blogger or author can join. Brand new, been around for years.Blogger, WordPress or other platform. Any heat level, genre or theme, etc. If you blog…you’re welcome to join.

Types of Posts that Count: Any finished posts count! Meme, review, guest post, interview, discussion. Top Ten Posts, Favorites posts, Shopping Guide Posts, Cooking posts, pet posts, photo posts, etc. Posts do NOT have to be book related.

Required: The post must be complete and scheduled from November 1, 2015 onward. (So not just blurb, buy links, etc for a review post. The review needs to be complete for the post to count.)

SIGN UP HERE

Blog Ahead: Planning List

I am not even sure what I am getting myself into, but for the month of October I will be participating in Blog Ahead, a challenge hosted by herding cats and burning soup and Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

Here are the details, borrowed from the lovely Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer...

Purpose: Increase the number of scheduled blog posts you have ready to publish by 31 posts during the month of October. (You can set your own goal) All post will be scheduled from November 1st or later.

Who Can Join: Any blogger or author can join. Brand new, been around for years.Blogger, WordPress or other platform. Any heat level, genre or theme, etc. If you blog…you’re welcome to join.

Types of Posts that Count: Any finished posts count! Meme, review, guest post, interview, discussion. Top Ten Posts, Favorites posts, Shopping Guide Posts, Cooking posts, pet posts, photo posts, etc. Posts do NOT have to be book related.

Required: The post must be complete and scheduled from November 1, 2015 onward. (So not just blurb, buy links, etc for a review post. The review needs to be complete for the post to count.)

SIGN UP HERE

So here are my goals for Blog Ahead.

I hope to complete 31 posts that will include the following + some others:

• Ho Ho Ho Read-a-thon Goals Post (11/6)
• Kid Athletes Review (11/17) - drafted so far/ awaiting my review
• Waiting on Wednesday Posts (for the 9 weeks of Nov. & Dec.) - Done with all these :)
• 'Series I Need to Finish' Post
• Drones Review (11/27)
• Thanksgiving Post (11/26)
• 'Books you will shun me for not reading' Post
• Discussion post, topic TBD
• Recommendations post
• Movie Mondays, new feature (@ least 4 weeks worth) - 2/4 posts done
• Blogger Pet Profiles, short series (maybe Linky for others to join?)
• Rolo, Cooper, Shreki & Timmy
• Happy Holidays Post (12/1)
• Merry Christmas Post (12/25)
•  Anything else that comes up :)

I will be tracking my progress as I go with strike thorugh here and on the sidebar with my the pumpkin/bats tracker (yay for Halloween themed things).

Wish me luck!