2018 Reading Challenges - Epic Fail

Graphic from ebaum's world

Sometimes you meet your goals. This year, I:

• Participated in and won STORYSTORM
• Increased my sales volume in real estate and listed more homes than previous years
• Cleaned out my house
• Sent out Christmas cards for the first time in four years

Sometimes you only make progress on your goals. This year, I:

• Didn't send Clever Tom (my next picture book) out to agents, but I performed agent research and participated in #PBPITCH on Twitter a few times. 
• Didn't finish Amelia's Mission (my middle grade historical), but I wrote several chapters and attended almost all our writer's group meetings to get feedback.
• Didn't blog as much as intended, but have managed to keep five blogs going, resurrected another blog, and now contribute to two more blogs instead of only Christian Children's Authors. 

Then there are goals you simply don't even come close to. My 2018 reading challenges fit in that epic fail category. Since I knew time would be limited, and my responsibilities for my in-laws have increased, I promised myself to aim low. Well, the three challenges I signed up for never saw the light of day. 

I didn't even crack open one of the 12 books on my 2018 TBR Pile Challenge list. New books will always catch my eye, and virtual book tours are still of interest, so I have to realize that my TBR Pile will remain a mountain until I become independently wealthy and can stop working, or until I find the willpower to stop signing up for new virtual book tours. Neither seems likely.

On a good note, I read 43 books this year, which is 12 more than last year. I am going to set myself a reading goal of 50 books again this year and see how it goes. I'm also planning to join the 2019 Reading Challenge at Linz The Bookworm. It seems more manageable than what I have tried in the past. 

How did your reading challenges go? Have you decided what challenges you'll participate in for 2019? What will your first book be for 2019? 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - Mar 19

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.

How are we back to Monday again? I must be getting old because the time flies too fast.

My review of Caroline by Sarah Miller was posted last week. You can find it here if you missed it.

I'm currently reading Welcome to Moonlight Harbor, a new series by Sheila Roberts.

Once happily married, Jenna Jones is about to turn forty, and this year for her birthday—lucky her—she’s getting a divorce. She’s barely able to support herself and her teenage daughter, but now her deadbeat artist ex is hitting her up for spousal support…and then spending it on his “other” woman.

Still, as her mother always says, every storm brings a rainbow. And when she gets a very unexpected gift from her great-aunt Edie, things seem to be taking a turn for the better. Aging Aunt Edie is finding it difficult to keep up her business running The Driftwood Inn, so she invites Jenna to come live with her and run the place. It looks like Jenna’s financial problems are solved!

Or not. The town is a little more run-down than Jenna remembers, but that’s nothing compared to the ramshackle state of The Driftwood Inn. Aunt Edie is confident they can return it to its former glory, though Jenna feels like she’s jumped from the proverbial frying pan into the beach fire.

But who knows? With the help of her new friends and a couple of handsome citizens, perhaps that rainbow is on the horizon after all. Because, no matter what, life is always good at the beach.

Next up will be this poetry collection by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz.

What's going on in your reading world? Read anything good lately? Hope you have a great week.

2018 Reading Challenges - Focusing on My TBR Pile

Happy new year! This is the year the TBR Pile gets whittled down. I simply can't stand the abundance of unread books filling my office. Even if it's just a dozen books, that will be twelve books off my list. Here are the reading challenges I am participating in to help me accomplish that goal:

Sponsored by My Reader's Block

Sponsored by The Misadventures of Super Librarian

Sponsored by Roof Beam Reader

Here is my book list:

1. For Keeps by Aaron Paul Lazar
2. Mayan Intrigue by Linda Weaver Clarke
3. Montezuma Intrigue by Linda Weaver Clarke
4. The Bitch in the House by Cathi Hanauer
5. Double Forte by Aaron Paul Lazar
6. An Amish Christmas Quilt by Charlotte Hubbard et al.
7. Strong Darkness by Jon Land
8. Strong Light of Day by Jon Land
9. Strong Cold Dead by Jon Land
10. Sarah’s Orphans by Vannetta Chapman
11. Becoming Marie Antoinette by Juliette Grey
12. Played by the Book by Lucy Arlington

Click on the links below the photos to find sign up pages and details. Good luck to all those bloggers and non-bloggers tackling reading challenges in 2018.

First Book of the Year Sponsored by Sheila at Book Journey

Sheila from Book Journey is sponsoring First Book of the Year for the fifth year in a row.

Here is what First Book is. The first book of the New Year should be:

A. A coveted book that you have wanted to read but have just not found the time.

B. A delicious favorite… one you have read before, but crave to read again.

C. Really whatever you want it to – it is after all YOUR First Book Of the year.

Make it AWESOME.

Then, once you have picked what it will be, you email Sheila a picture of you with the book. On January 1st she will post all the pics in a collage format of all of us around the world that are doing First Book.

Sign up here if you would like to join us!