2016 Challenges – 2nd Quarter Check-in

At the beginning of the year I set some challenges for myself. Now it’s time to check-in and see how I’m doing.

ONE. Limit my bookish spending. Pre-order no more than 12 books (average 1 per month). Spend no more than $60 on used / bargain books (average $5 per month).

I pre-ordered 3 books this quarter:

1. Paddington Marches On by Michael Bond
2. Evie Brooks in Central Park Showdown by Sheila Agnew
3. Stiletto by Daniel O’Malley

I spent:

• $0.50 on The Sense and Sensibility Screenplay and Diaries by Emma Thompson
• $0.25 on The Drinking Gourd by F.N. Monjo
• $1.50 on The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, and 3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows by Ann Brashares
• $0.25 on The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
• $0.50 on Ginger Pye and Pinky Pye by Eleanor Estes
• $0.25 on The Fortune Cookies of Weevil by Aaron Reynolds
• $0.50 on Princess Hyacinth: The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated by Florence Parry Heide
• $0.50 on The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet by Eleanor Cameron
• $4.24 on Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
• $17.17 on Five Little Pigs, The Hollow, and Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie
• $0.50 on Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin
• $6.72 on LEGO Bionicle: Battle of the Mask Makers by Ryder Windham
• $11.37 on Murder at the Vicarage, The Body in the Library, and A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie, and The Floating Admiral by The Detection Club

I also received 16 Agatha Christie books for Mother’s Day. 😀

Wow, I really blew that goal! However, The 5 books I’ve pre-ordered this year have only averaged $10.25 each, so I think I’m still doing okay overall.

TWO. Post more book reviews. Write monthly Look Reviews (full book reviews with an accompanying outfit) and post my micro mini Goodreads reviews on the blog.

I posted 3 Look Reviews – I Work at the Public Library, A night in with Audrey Hepburn, and Austenland, as well as 8 Mini Review posts. I have decided that I don’t enjoy writing the Look Reviews, so I’m ditching them. I will continue to post mini reviews.

THREE. Read at least 200 books.

Achieved!

FOUR. Read these 11 Poirot novels, plus 1 short story:

1. Four and Twenty Blackbirds (short story) Completed 1/1/2016
2. Sad Cypress Completed 2/11/2016
   
3. One, Two Buckle my Shoe Completed 3/11/2016
   
4. Evil Under the Sun Completed 4/21/2016
   
5. Five Little Pigs Completed 4/30/2016
   
6. The Hollow Completed 5/10/2016
   
7. Taken at the Flood Completed 6/13/2016
   
8. Mrs McGinty’s Dead Completed 6/23/2016
9. After the Funeral Completed 6/25/2016
10. Hickory Dickory Dock
11. Dead Man’s Folly
12. Cat Among the Pigeons

FIVE. Read 26 books for a personal Alphabet Challenge.

1. After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid
2. Because if Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
3. The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert
   
4. Dark Shimmer by Donna Jo Napoli
   
5. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
   
6. Flunked by Jen Calonita
7. Goodnight June by Sarah Jio
8. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
   
9. Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine
   
10. The Job by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg
    
11. The King’s Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi
    
12. Lady Renegades by Rachel Hawkins
    
13. Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch
    
14. A Night in with Audrey Hepburn by Lucy Holliday
15. Once Was a Time by Leila Sayles
    
16. P
17. Queen Victoria’s Bathing Machine by Gloria Whelan
18. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
    
19. The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman
    
20. Tempest-Tost by Robertson Davies
    
21. The Unbound by Victoria Schwab
22. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
    
23. Wildflowers by Robin Jones Gunn
    
24. Nanny X Returns by Madelyn Rosenberg
25. Yes Please by Amy Poehler
    
26. Z

SIX. Participate in Cruisin’ thru the Cozies with Yvonne @ Socrates Book Review. I’m entering at Level 4 – Sleuth Extraordinaire – Read 21 or more books.

1. Gretel and the Case of the Missing Frog Prints by P. J. Brackston
   
2. A Rather Lovely Inheritance by C. A. Belmond
3. There Must Be Murder by Margaret Sullivan
4. Tricky Twenty-Two by Janet Evanovich
5. Dishing the Dirt by M. C. Beaton
6. Death of a Dustman by M. C. Beaton
7. Once Upon a Crime by P. J. Brackston
8. Pies and Prejudice by Ellery Adams
9. Murder Actually by Stephanie McCarthy
10. The Case of the Fickle Mermaid by P. J. Brackston
11. Death of a Hussy by M. C. Beaton
12. Death of a Snob by M. C. Beaton
13. Death of a Traveling Man by M. C. Beaton
14. Wedding Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke
15. Death of a Charming Man by M. C. Beaton
16. Bed of Scorpions by Judith Flanders
17. Death of a Celebrity by M. C. Beaton
18. Newt’s Emerald by Garth Nix
19. Death Comes to the Village by Catherine Lloyd
20. Death of a Village by M. C. Beaton
21. Pagan Spring by G. M. Malliet
22. Death of a Poison Pen by M. C. Beaton
23. Death of a Bore by M. C. Beaton
24. Death of a Dreamer by M. C. Beaton
25. Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O’Connor
26. A Bicycle Built for Murder by Kate Kingsbury
27. Death of a Maid by M. C. Beaton
28. Uncommon Grounds by Sandra Balzo
29. Death of a Gentle Lady by M. C. Beaton

SEVEN. Read at least 12 selections from my personal Classics Challenge list.

1. Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Agatha Christie
2. Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie
3. Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie
4. Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie
5. The Hollow by Agatha Christie
6. Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie
7. Mrs. McGinty’s Dead by Agatha Christie
8. After the Funeral by Agatha Christie
9. Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
10. Howards End by E. M. Forster
11. The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
12. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
13. The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery
14. Kilmeny of the Orchard by L. M. Montgomery
15. The Story Girl by L. M. Montgomery
16. The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
17. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
18. Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde
19. An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde
20. A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde
21. Salome by Oscar Wilde

EIGHT. Once again, cut WAY back on my wardrobe. I want to go minimalist. I’m still working on the details. This includes my kids’ wardrobes too. They have so many clothes they rarely wear!

This quarter I’ve purchased some souvenir tees on our trip to the beach, as well as a new handbag for myself, because the old one was falling apart. I also had to buy Sweet Potato some more new summer clothes because she’s growing like a weed!

NINE. The obligatory fitness resolution. 😆 But seriously, after my epic year of reading, I really need to get my butt in gear and be more active.

I’m changing this to a health goal. Yes, I want to be more active and fit, but there are other things I can do to improve my overall health. I’m drinking plenty of water, eating healthier breakfasts, and I’ve gotten back into the habit of taking a daily vitamin.

TEN. Participate in TTT every week.

So far, so good.