#current challenge

[jade-jungle-blog]

do you think i could eat a whole box of thin mints by myself

[healthyhattie]

Spring Into Success Challenge

March 29, Day 1

Introduction

Hey everyone! I’m Hattie. I’m 25, married and working in the lovely field of environmental science. I’ve been working on my health for quite some time, slowly getting fitter and healthier as I add more activity into my life. 

I love being outside, and my favorite forms of exercise fit into that. I love hiking, kayaking, biking, and running. I do those the most! My blog features a lot of personal posts, I rarely reblog things. I talk about my own journey, and my adventures. 

I try and get to the gym 4x a week, but starting next week I will no longer have gym access and will have to resort to running/hiking/biking. Which, thankfully, are my favorite anyway!!! 

On to the goals

1. Get eating in check

I am going to focus on Plant Based April, it will probably be an 80/20 thing because I will be in the field, and quick foods do not always fit into that. But, I will strive towards the natural and shy away from fast meals, processed carbs and sweets!

2. Bike 50 miles

I’ll have my bike and a nice stretch of road where I’ll be working and I’m hoping 50 miles is a good number to balance with work and free time. 

3. Jog/run 15 miles

Alright, that’s it then. It’s not a lot, but as I have no idea how much free time I will have I want to keep these attainable and not become discouraged. 

I still need an accountability buddy! But know that I will be in the field for all of April and will not have consistent internet/phone/communication. So, if you’re up for loose accountability, I’m game!

[kherbrand-blog]

2009 ARC Reading Challenge

Now through December 31, 2009

This is a year long challenge.

Complete rules are listed at Teddyrose's blog. Thanks Teddyrose for hosting!

Here are my current ARC's - or ones that I am expecting soon:

Walking with Wolf - Kay Choornook and Wolf Guindon (Mini Book Expo)

Gatekeepers - Robert Liparulo (First Wild Card Tour)

Be Strong and Curvaceous - Shelley Adina (First Wild Card Tour)

The Red Siren - M.L. Tyndall (First Wild Card Tours)

Grace for the Afflicted - Matthew Stanford (First Wild Card Tour)

Simple Wishes - Lisa Dale (Hachette)

For the Love of Pete - Julia Harper (Hachette)

Scream for Me - Karen Rose (Hachette)

Trail of Crumbs - Kim Sunee (Hachette)

The Valentine Edition - Robin Shope (First Wild Card Tours)

Lessons from San Quentin - Bill Dallas (First Wild Card Tour)

John's Quest - Cecelia Dowdy (First WIld Card Tour)

This Side of Heaven - Karen Kingsbury (First Wild Card Tours)

The Kingmaking - Helen Hollick - (Sourcebook Publishers)

The Stones - Eleanor Gustafson

Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark - Donna Lea Simpson (Sourcebook Publishers)

An Offer You Can't Refuse - Jill Mansell (Sourcebook Publishers)

Marked by Passion - Kate Perry (Hachette)

Age Before Beauty - Virginia Smith (First Wild Card Tours)

Scrapping Plans - Rebecca Seitz (First Wild Card Tours)

Scream - Mike Dellosso (First Wild Card Tours)

Spring of Candy Apples - Debbie Viguie (First Wild Card Tour)

Lost in Las Vegas - Melody Carlson (First Wild Card Tour)

Kiss - Ted Dekker (Thomas Nelson )

I Do Again - Cheryl and Jeff Scruggs (First Wild Card Tour)

Diamonds in the Shadow - Caroline B. Cooney (First Wild Card Tour)

Katt's in the Cradle - Ginger Kolbaba and Christy Scannell (First Wild Card Tour)

Deadly Charm - Claudia Mair Burney (First Wild Card Tour)

Yesterday's Embers - Deborah Raney (First Wild Card Tour)

Rachel's Tears - Beth Nimmo and Darrell Scott (Thomas Nelson)

Fatal Illusions - Adam Blumer (First Wild Card Tour)

The Girl She Used to Be - David Cristofano (Hachette Books)

The Lost Hours - Karen White (Pump up Your Book Tour)

Boneman's Daughter - Ted Dekker (Net Galley)

So Not Happening - Jenny B. Jones (First Wild Card Tour)

The Noticer - Andy Andrews (Thomas Nelson)

New York Debut - Melody Carlson (First Wild Card Tour)

Fire Me - Libby Malin (Sourcebook Publishers)

Wild Highland Magic - Kendra Leigh Castle (Sourcebook Publishers)

Dear Mom - Melody Carlson (Random House)

Mama's Got a Fake I.D. - Caryn Dahlstrand Rivedeneira (Random House)

Madewell Brown - Rick Collignon (Unbridled Books)

Always Watching - Brandilyn and Amberly Collins (First Wild Card Tour)

The Lake That Stole Children - Glenn Clark Douglas (Bostick Communications)

The Four Corners of the Sky - Michael Malone (Sourcebooks)

Frenchman's Creek - Daphne du Marier (Sourcebooks)

Why Shoot a Butler - Georgette Heyer (Sourcebooks)

A Girl's Guide to Modern European Philosopy - Charlotte Grieg

The Convenient Marriage - Georgette Heyer (Sourcebooks)

Holly's Inbox - Holly Denham (Sourcebook Publishers)

Living a Charmed Live - Victoria Moran

Miranda's Big Mistake - Jill Mansell (Sourcebooks)

Nothing But Trouble - Susan May Warren (First Wild Card Tour)

Secrets to Happiness - Sarah Dunn (Hachette)

Scared - Tom Davis (First Wild Card Tour)

Beach Trip - Cathy Holton

The King's Legacy - Jim Stovall (First Wild Card Tour)

Talking to the Dead - Bonnie Grove (First Wild Card Tour)

The Devlin Diaries - Christi Phillips (Pocket Books)

How to Raise a Modern Day Joseph - Linda Massey Weddle (First Wild Card Tour)

My Forbidden Desire - Carolyn Jewel (Hachette)

Frederica - Georgette Heyer (Sourcebooks)

Cousin Kate - Georgette Heyer (Sourcebooks)

Critical Care - Candace Calvert (First Wildcard Tour)

Knight of Desire

[kherbrand-blog]

Series Challenge Season 3

Kathrin at Crazy Cozy Murders is hosting this series challenge. The challenge starts December 1st, 2008 and goes until November 30th, 2009. The rules are easy: 1) Pick a couple series you already started and now want to finish (meaning, you'll be all up to date with the series when it ends). 2) Read at least 4 books, more are also okay, of course! 3) Post your review of the books on your blog or in the comment section at Crazy Cozy Murders , no matter how long. If you post the review on your blog, please post a link to the review at Crazy Cozy Murders in the comment section so that everyone else can check out your review. 4) Have fun! I can already think of 3 series that I need to finish:

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The Hollow by Nora Roberts (Sign of Seven Trilogy)

Pagan Stone by Nora Roberts (Sign of Seven Trilogy)

Watcher in the Woods - Robert Liparulo

The Gatekeepers - Robert Liparulo

If I think of more I will add them as I go along - there is always the J.D. Robb series - but I still have tons of books to go there!

[kherbrand-blog]

Whitcoulls Challenge - Take 2

I have decided to do this challenge, as upon looking over the list for 2008, found that many of these books were already on my TBR list. To sign up for this challenge please go here. The rules are that you just need to read a minimum of 4 books (all must be new reads) from the same year's list, between Nov 15, 2008 and Nov 15, 2009. You can find lists for 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2008. My TBR list includes: Twilight - Stephenie Meyer My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult The Lovely Bones - A Novel - Alice Sebold The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho Eragon - Christopher Paolini H.P. and the Half-Blood Prince - JK Rowling H.P. and the Deathly Hallows- JK Rowling

[kherbrand-blog]

Genre Challenge

I seem to be spending more time reading blogs and about book challenges than actually reading books - but I am going to sign up for a couple of more challenges that are starting this month. The first one is the Genre Challenge. This challenge will run from November 1, 2008 – November 1, 2009 The goal: To read one book in the following genres: 1.crime fiction - Fatal Illusions - Adam Blumer 2. detective fiction - Scream for Me - Karen Rose 3. mystery fiction - And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie 4. horror fiction - Duma Key by Stephen King 5. thriller fiction - Kiss by Ted Dekker and Erin Healy 6. romance fiction -The Christmas Edition by Robin Shope 7. science fiction - Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 8. action/adventure fiction 9. fantasy fiction - Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr 10. realistic fiction - Simple Wishes by Lisa Dale 11. historical fiction - In the Shadow of Lions by Ginger Garrett 12. western fiction Specific definitions of these genres can be found in this post. There are three options if you want to join: A: Read 10 books, drop the genre you read the most and one of your own choosing. B: Read 11 books, drop the genre you read the most. C: Read 12 books. The rules: You may not read more than 1 book per genre. All books must be read within the challenge period. No crossovers within the challenge, each genre should have a separate book. Crossovers with other challenges are allowed. Audio books are allowed, graphic novels are not. You may make a list of books, but that’s not mandatory and you can change your picks at any time before or during the challenge. To join, click here. I think that I will probably try to read all genres since I would not be able to pick one to exclude! As I decide on my list, I will post it here.

[kherbrand-blog]

The Countdown Challenge

Here is an interesting challenge - though it does involve a lot of books, you can retroactive in back to August. That should help with some of the reading! Go here to sign up - but rules are below. The goal of this challenge is to read the number of books first published in a given year that corresponds to the last digit of each year in the 2000s — 9 books from 2009, 8 books from 2008, etc. The total number of books required, therefore, is 45. This challenge lasts from 8/8/08 through 9/9/09. Yes, it is retroactive to August 8th! Crossovers with other challenges are allowed and your lists may change at any time. After looking at the books I have read since august - already have these books done: 2009 - Gatekeepers - Robert Liparulo 2009 - Be Strong and Curvaceous - Shelley Adina 2009 - For the Love of Pete - Julia Harper 2009 - Lost in Las Vegas - Melody Carlson 2009 - Scrapping Plans - Rebeca Seitz 2009 - Lessons From San Quentin - Bill Dallas 2009 - Simple Wishes - Lisa Dale 2009 - The Spring of Candy Apples - Debbie Viguie 2009 - Age Before Beauty - Virginia Smith 2008 - Duma Key by Stephen King 2008 - Assaulted by Joy - Stephen Simpson 2008 - In the Shadow of Lions - Ginger Garrett 2008 - Drinkwater - Eric Hopkins 2008 - The Christmas Edition - Robin Shope 2008 - House of Dark Shadows - Robert Liparulo 2008 - Watcher in the Woods - Robert Liparulo 2008 - Walking with Wolf - Kay Chornook & Wolf Guindon 2007 - A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini 2007 - The Maidenstone Lighthouse by Sally Smith O'Rourke 2007 - Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill 2007 - Diamonds in the Shadow - Caroline B. Cooney 2007 - Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr 2007 - 2007 - 2006 - Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen 2006 - The Road by Cormac McCarthy 2006 - Murder, Mayhem and a Fine Man - Claudia Mair Burney 2006 - 2006 - 2006 - 2005 - Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro 2005 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 2005 - 2005 - 2005 - 2004 - 2004 - 2004 - 2004 - 2003 - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - JK Rowling 2003 - 2003 - 2002 - Coraline by Neil Gaiman 2002 - 2001 -

[kherbrand-blog]

From the Stacks Challenge

Here I go with challenges again - this one might actually get me reading all of those TBR books! You can sign up here - rules are below: From the Stacks Challenge 08 The basic rules are the same: If you are anything like me your stack of purchased to-be-read books is teetering over. So for this challenge we would be reading 5 books that we have already purchased, have been meaning to get to, have been sitting on the nightstand and haven't read before. No going out and buying new books. No getting sidetracked by the lure of the holiday bookstore displays. The bonus would be that we would finally get to some of those titles (you know you picked them for a reason!) and we wouldn't be spending any extra money over the holidays. Possible picks: Cold Mountain -Charles Frazier Remains of the Day - Kazua Ishiguro H.P. and the Half-Blood Prince - JK Rowling Twilight - Stephenie Meyer His Family - Ernest Poole Actual books: Assaulted by Joy - Stephen Simpson In the Shadow of Lions - Ginger Garrett Drinkwater - Eric Hopkins The Road - Cormac McCarthy Walking with Wolf - Kay Chornook & Wolf Guindon The time frame would be Nov. 1st until Jan. 30 and there will be some small, fun prizes awarded to random participants and/or those with clever review posts.