2022 Yearly Challenges - Wrap-Up Post

This is the wrap-up post for the 2022 yearly challenges...

2022 Book to Movie, 2022 Read Your (Book) Shelf, and the 1000 Books Project: Classic Fantasy 2022.

I'm posting the links to the 2022 challenges below. If you completed the challenge (or even if you didn't) and you post a wrap-up, please link up in the original linky on the challenge sign up post. When you put your name/blog name, just add "wrap-up." Like so: truebookaddict/wrap-up

Here are the links to the 2022 challenges:

2022 Read Your (Book) Shelf Challenge

2022 Book to Movie Reading Challenge

1000 Books Project: Classic Fantasy 2022

Be sure to leave a comment on the post so I know you added your wrap-up.

In case you missed the sign-up for this year's yearly challenges, you can find them below.

2023 Read Your Shelf Challenge

2023 Book to Movie (and TV) Reading Challenge

1000 Books Project: Banned Books 2023

Here's to a new year of reading!

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2023 Read Your Shelf Challenge

Here comes 2023 and Read Your Shelf is back for another year, and another update. I haven't quite been able to get this challenge to work for me over the years and then I came upon this article on Book Riot, 

PRETEND YOUR HOUSE IS A LIBRARY: A STRATEGY FOR ACTUALLY READING THE BOOKS YOU OWN.

Basically, the premise is to take one shelf on your bookshelf (or some other designated place where you can place books for this challenge) and think of it as your "holds shelf." If you buy or receive a book you haven’t read, it automatically goes onto that shelf. (I've been building my shelf for 2023 by placing there all the books I purchased or received as gifts in 2022, plus books I purchased in 2021 or earlier that have been stacked in my bedroom.)

My "Holds Shelf"

For this challenge, you will only read the books on your holds shelf. When you have read one of the books, you put it back on one of your other shelves (think of it as "main circulation"). By design, there is no room in main circulation for this new book (probably not the case in some instances) so you must take a book from main circulation and place it on your holds shelf.

If you want, you can leave some space on your holds shelf for any new books you might receive or buy, just be sure to set a number of spaces available so you don't go over. Remember, the ultimate goal is to read books you already own. Not only are you reading newer books you were excited about when you bought them, but you're knocking out books that have been languishing on your shelves for years. 

From the original post (linked above): "This revolving door system has turned my bookshelves into my own mini library. Each time I finish a book I own, I return it to main circulation, and then I get to spend a few minutes browsing the stacks. I pick out a new book I’m excited about reading, and get the satisfaction of putting that book on hold (i.e. on my TBR shelf).

The best part: eventually all the unread books in my house will either get cycled onto the holds shelf, or I’ll realize there aren’t any unread books left in main circulation that I still want to read, in which case, I’ll donate them."

Fun! I hope you think so too.

So, the goal of this yearly challenge is to see how many books you can get through on your holds shelf, and your "main circulation," by keeping track of how many you read from each. You can set a personal goal of a set number, or just see how far you get. There's no winning or losing here. It's all in fun. 

• Challenge runs January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023
• You can use books from your holds shelf for other challenges (this will give you even more incentive to get them read!)
• Hashtag for social media #ReadYourShelf
• Any questions? Leave me a comment below, or contact me via the button in the sidebar.

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2023 Book to Movie (and TV) Reading Challenge

Welcome to year seven of the Book to Movie (and TV) Challenge! Movies are coming out in theaters again, then making their way to streaming in record time, often simultaneously. There are also excellent movies and series offered on the various streaming services. How can we ever keep up?!

Let's see what books are coming to the screen in 2023. As usual, these releases are subject to change.

The info below comes from Booklist Queen. As she states on her site, "movie release dates are still shifting constantly. I’d love to say that this is the definitive list of books being made into movies in 2023, but let’s face it. No one can foresee what the future will hold."

I'm going to follow somewhat closely to her method of posting the books to movies. The first list are movies with definitive 2023 release dates, and the second list are most likely 2023 book adaptations. If you would like to see her list of movies under development, visit her original post here and scroll down to the end of the post. 

Legend: Movies = M, Streaming series = S, Streaming movie = SM (these will only be indicated if I know for sure which format the adaptation is.)

M: The Lying Life of Adults, Elena Ferrante (Jan 4)

S: The Witching Hour, Anne Rice (Mayfair Witches, Jan 5)

M, SM: The Pale Blue Eye, Louis Bayard (Jan 6)

A Man Called Ove, Fredrik Backman (A Man Called Otto, Jan 13)

Wellmania, Brigid Delaney (Jan 15)

S: The Screaming Staircase, Jonathan Stroud (Lockwood & Co., Jan 27)

M: The Cabin at the End of the World, Paul Tremblay (Knock at the Cabin, Feb 3)

Text for You, Sofie Cramer (It's All Coming Back to Me, Feb 10)

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, Judy Blume (April 28)

M: Harold and the Purple Crayon, Crockett Johnson (June 30)

M: American Prometheus, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin (Oppenheimer, July 21)

M: The Trench, Steve Alten (MEG 2: The Trench, Aug 4)

M: Dracula, Bram Stoker (The Last Voyage of the Demeter, Aug 11)

M: Hallowe'en Party, Agatha Christie (A Haunting in Venice, Sept 15)

The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty (Untitled, Oct 13)

M: Dune, Frank Herbert (Dune: Part 2, Nov 3)

M: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Suzanne Collins (Nov 17)

M: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl (Wonka, Dec 15)

M: The Color Purple, Alice Walker (Dec 20)

Books Becoming Movies In 2023 (Hopefully)

Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman

Blackout, Dhonielle Clayton, Et. Al.

Daisy Jones & The Six, Taylor Jenkins Reid

Evidence of Love, John Bloom and Jim Atkinson (Adaptation title, Love and Death)

Exit West, Mohsin Hamid

The Fall of the House of Usher, Edgar Allan Poe

High in the Clouds, Paul McCartney, Philip Ardagh, and Geoff Dunbar

Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann

The Last Thing He Told Me, Laura Dave

Leave the World Behind, Rumaan Alam

Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus

The Magician's Elephant, Kate DiCamillo

The Marsh King's Daughter, Karen Dionne

The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan (Adaptation title, Percy Jackson and the Olympians)

Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie (Adaptation title, Peter Pan & Wendy) 

The Power, Naomi Alderman

Red, White & Royal Blue, Casey McQuiston

'Salem's Lot, Stephen King

Shriver, Chris Belden

Spaceman of Bohemia, Jaroslav Kalfar

The Field Guide, Tony Diterlizzi and Holly Black (Adaptation title, The Spiderwick Chronicles)

The Three-Body Problem, Cixin Liu

Triptych, Karin Slaughter (Adaptation title, Will Trent)

Troubled Blood, Robert Galbraith

Turtles All the Way Down, John Green

Uglies, Scott Westerfeld

White Bird, R.J. Palacio

Wicked, Gregory Maguire

These are by no means exhaustive lists. If you find out about any I haven't mentioned, leave me a comment and I'll add to the list.

Main Levels

The Enthusiast: read 1-3 books
First One to the Theater: read 4+ books

Read only books being made into movies for release in 2023 (you are not required to only read from the list above. As I stated, if you find another movie or TV series/mini-series, based on a book, coming out in 2023, feel free to read it).

Additional Levels

Not Ready to Let Go: read at least one (1) book made into a movie or series in 2022

Here's a list of 2022 movies adapted from books. (Note: Some of the movies listed may have been moved to 2023).

Living in the Past: read at least one (1) book made into a movie in previous years

You can Google for previous years, or check Goodreads lists.

The Movie Was Better (What?!): watch the movie(s) for the book(s) you read.

*the additional levels are optional, you still must complete one of the main reading levels above

Additional Guidelines

• The books you read can count for other challenges. Ebooks, audiobooks, and traditional formats all count.
• The start date is January 1, 2023. End date is December 31, 2023.
• Remember, TV series/mini-series count too.
• Pick your level (and additional levels, if you like)
• Sign up below and grab the button (top of post). I hope you will join me!
• If you have any questions, click the contact me button in the sidebar, or leave a comment.

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1000 Books Project: Banned Books 2023

Challenge Backstory:

I picked up a copy of James Mustich's amazing 1000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life Changing List and upon looking through it, I realized it really is a well-rounded reading recommendation book. I was pleased to discover I have read quite a few of the books he lists, and that many of them are on my personal reading lists (and they are books I own). So, to ever expand my reading horizons, and include others in the journey, I decided to create a read-along challenge, or project, if you will.

Sadly, the 2022 1000 Books Project was a bust, at least for me. I'm still reading The Once and Future King (gradually), and I had to give up on the Gormenghast Trilogy and set it aside for another day. I guess those selections were just too daunting for my 2022. What about you? If you participated, did you finish? 

Taking into consideration the above, I decided to try to make things a bit easier for 2023. We will read four much shorter books (instead of chunksters), meaning books at around 400 pages or less. One book each quarter. And the theme this year is Banned Books. There has been so much going on in the past couple of years regarding the banning and challenging of books, with actual libraries having to close down due to lack of funding from city governments who object to diverse and/or boundary challenging reading material. Any way I can raise awareness about this issue...I'm going to do it. 

And so, without further ado, here are our reading selections for 2023...

January, February, March - in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27

The Night Trilogy: Night, Dawn, The Accident (The Night Trilogy #1-3)
by Elie Wiesel, Marion Wiesel (Translator)

Reference: Page 851-852 in 1000 Books to Read Before You Die

April, May, June 

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Reference: Page 398 - 399 in 1000 Books to Read Before You Die

July, August, September - in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month in September

Reference: Page 16 in 1000 Books to Read Before You Die

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

October, November, December

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Strangely enough, I have seen this book on some horror recommendation lists so I thought this would be a good read for October (and going into November/December, if needed)

Reference: Page 569-570 in 1000 Books to Read Before You Die

Watch for the reading schedule for our first read-along, The Night Trilogy, which I will have posted on January 1st, or there about. 

If you're joining us, please leave a comment below (and a link, if you post about it on your blog or social media). 

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1000 Books Project: The Gormenghast Trilogy Reading Schedule

Can hardly believe we are already on the second half of our Classic Fantasy project! Unfortunately, I stayed way behind on The Once and Future King (our first six months read). Honestly, I've had some problems reading it, which really surprised me because I'm such a King Arthur legend fangirl. 

All that being said, I'm just about finished with it and will have a final discussion post up soon. Hopefully by the weekend.

Now, on to The Gormenghast Trilogy! I've been wanting to read this one for years...ever since I saw there was a BBC miniseries back when Blockbuster had its home DVD club. I never did see it, but once I found it was based on a book, of course I went looking for it. Fast forward several years and the time is now! Just hoping I will be more enamored of it than T.H. White's book. We shall see.

I found it interesting that Book One, Titus Groan has named chapters, but Book Two (Gormenghast) and Book Three (Titus Alone) have numbered chapters. Maybe he didn't feel like coming up with chapter names later on. An author's whim! 

If you're interested in watching the miniseries at some point (with Jonathan Rhys Meyers in one of the lead roles), I found the four part miniseries on YouTube here. Otherwise, if you want to see it, you have to buy the DVD from Amazon (or some other retailer). 

Let the reading commence!

My edition: Published by Vintage 1999 - Trade paperback, 953 pages.

Discussions will be posted here on the blog according to the schedule below. Feel free to stop by the discussions any time. Post your thoughts in the comments, or share a link to a blog post.

• July: Book One - Titus Groan, The Hall of the Bright Carvings - The Body by the Window, pp. 7 - 109
  Discussion - end of July/early August
• August: Book One continued, Ullage of Sunflower - Early One Morning, pp. 109 - 268
  Discussion - end of August/early September
• September: Book One continued, A Change of Colour - Mr Rottcodd Again, pp. 268 - 367
  Discussion - end of September/early October
• October: Book Two - Gormenghast, One - Thirty-Seven, pp. 373 - 565
  Discussion - end of October/early November
• November: Book Two continued, Thirty-Eight - Eighty, pp. 565 - 752
  Discussion - end of November/early December
• December: Book Three - Titus Alone, Pub. Note - One Hundred and Twenty-Two, pp. 757 - 953 (end)
  Final Discussion - end of December/early January 2023

Just a note...I ask that you bear with me at times. Life is busy (as I'm sure many can appreciate) and I sometimes get behind. I'm going to really try to stay caught up this time. Fingers crossed!

The original challenge post with info and sign-up is here.

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1000 Books Project: The Once and Future King - Discussion One

Finally! I finished the first book in this tome, The Sword in the Stone. I know that White wrote Sword in the Stone as a stand alone novel for children, but revised it for inclusion in The Once and Future King. It certainly is not wholly the story I remember from watching the Disney film of the same name as a child, though it did give me glimpses of the animated film in some parts of the story. I particularly remembered the parts from the film where Merlyn turned Wart into various animals. 

In this article on Vox, it was interesting to read that The Sword in the Stone is political. Wart is transformed into these different animals and visits their communities (habitats?) to see how things are run. I remember thinking that this was Merlyn's way of grooming Wart (because, of course, we already know who he is) for his future role, especially at the parts about the geese and the badger. I was particularly struck by this quote from Badger:

"True warfare is what happens between bands of the same species. Out of the hundreds of thousands of species, I can only think of seven which are belligerent. Even Man has a few varieties like the Esquimaux and the Gypsies and the Lapps and certain Nomads in Arabia, who do not do it, because they do not claim boundaries. True warfare is rarer in Nature than cannibalism."

The article also states that White reportedly wrote the book as an act of resistance against Hitler, in response to World War II and its horrors.

"Via the didactic figure of Merlyn, White argues that war is necessary to stop atrocities, and that if you are fairly well assured of your own safety — that is, if you are wealthy enough to have armor and a horse in Arthur’s day, or a plum field position in World War II — war can be deeply satisfying, even fun. He argues that mankind is inextricably drawn to violence, but also that all wars are terrible and evil."

This attitude was highly evident as I was reading. 

A disturbing thing to discover in the reading was the presence of some racist terms. I won't name them here, but if you Google it, you can find out. The use of Gypsies in Badger's quote above as well. The Vox article (written in 2017) states that "The Once and Future King is still the best King Arthur story out there" and I won't argue with that, though I did find it strange that these terms were not mentioned in the article. Oddly enough, this quote shows up near the end of The Sword in the Stone, after Arthur becomes king...

"They were sick of the anarchy which had been their portion under Uther Pendragon: sick of overlords and feudal giants, of knights who did what they pleased, of racial discrimination, and of the rule of Might as Right.”

Racial discrimination? This does not sound like White was a racist. So, were the words used as a product of his time? I did read in the article that White was a very conflicted individual (more on that as we get further into the book, and discussions on Lancelot) so it's really hard to say. I would need to delve more deeply into his life, which I may do, as his life does sound quite interesting. 

All this being said, as I got closer and closer to Wart, aka Arthur, drawing the sword from the stone, I became more and more excited. The King Arthur legend has always been my favorite of all stories. It still holds the same thrall as it did when I was in 7th grade, seeing Excalibur for the first time. Life changing. On that note, I think it's time for a long overdue rewatch (though I can't count how many times I've seen it). Many, many times. 

*************

What did you think of The Sword in the Stone? Share any and all thoughts in the comments.

This month's schedule:
April: The Queen of Air and Darkness, Ch 1 - 14, pp. 201 - 300
Discussion April 30 (I apologize if I'm sometimes late with discussion posts. Life gets in the way at times.)

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1000 Books Project - The Once and Future King Reading Schedule CHANGE

Because your host (me) can't seem to not get behind on the reading, I'm modifying the schedule. I will be done with the first book, The Sword in the Stone, by the end of this month, but there's no way I will be able to finish The Queen of Air and Darkness by then as well. I honestly will be trying very hard to stay caught up from now on. *hangs head in shame*

New schedule for the remainder of the book...

• April: The Queen of Air and Darkness, Ch 1 - 14, pp. 201 - 300
  Discussion April 30
• May: The Ill-Made Knight, Ch 1 - 45, pp. 303 - 506
  Discussion May 31
• June: The Candle in the Wind, Ch 1 - 14, pp. 509 - 631 (end)
  Discussion June 30

Thanks for bearing with me. Onward with the reading!

(I updated the schedule on the original post as well.)

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1000 Books Project - The Once and Future King Reading Schedule

Sorry I'm several days late with this reading schedule. It completely slipped my mind with all the holiday festivities. Happy New Year, by the way!

Let's get this read-along underway!

My edition: An Ace Book/published by arrangement with G. P. Putnam's Sons - harcover, 631 pages.

Discussions will be posted here on the blog on the dates indicated in the schedule. Feel free to stop by the discussions any time. Post your thoughts in the comments, or share a link to a blog post.

REVISED SCHEDULE

• Jan, Feb, March: The Sword in the Stone, Ch 1 - 24, pp. 3 -198
  Discussion March 31
• April: The Queen of Air and Darkness, Ch 1 - 14, pp. 201 - 300
  Discussion April 30
• May: The Ill-Made Knight, Ch 1 - 45, pp. 303 - 506
  Discussion May 31
• June: The Candle in the Wind, Ch 1 - 14, pp. 509 - 631 (end)
  Discussion June 30

The original challenge post with info and sign-up is here.

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2021 Yearly Challenges - Wrap-Up Post

This is the wrap-up post for the 2021 yearly challenges I host...2021 Book to Movie, 2021 Read Your (Book) Shelf, and the 1000 Books Project: French Classics 2021.

I'm posting the links to the 2021 challenges below. If you completed the challenge (or even if you didn't) and you post a wrap-up, please link up in the original linky on the challenge sign up post. When you put your name/blog name, just add "wrap-up." Like so: truebookaddict/wrap-up

Here are the links to the 2021 challenges:

2021 Read Your (Book) Shelf Challenge

2021 Book to Movie Reading Challenge

1000 Books Project: French Classics 2021

Be sure to leave a comment on the post so I know you added your wrap-up.

In case you missed the sign-up for this year's yearly challenges, you can find them below.

2022 Read Your (Book) Shelf Challenge

2022 Book to Movie (and TV) Reading Challenge

1000 Books Project: Classic Fantasy 2022

Here's to a new year of reading!

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