I LOVE A LISTICLE...

Now, I love list-making in general. Even when I know I probably won't stick to it, even when I know I have no intention of following through, the process of making a list and fulfilling different requirements, fitting it together like puzzle pieces, is just therapeutic.  (And though I wouldn't generally consider myself a Type A personality, I clearly have Type A tendencies...) Seriously. There is nothing quite as satisfying as a good list-making session (other than scratching things off of that list, of course).  I used to participate avidly in various Goodreads reading challenges, for the joys of making a list, sourcing things I maybe wouldn't read otherwise -- even if that didn't always work out in my favor -- and then working my way steadily through them. [Am I killing anyone with my split infinitives yet? ;P ] I even created and hosted one of the challenges myself. [It was a big, scary one. And so much fun. =D]

It's been awhile since I've really had the time to devote to doing a challenge, and have had to fulfill my need for lists and structure through other ways (hence the rise of the TBR vlog, among other things), but even though I can't complete them -- or sometimes, even begin them -- that doesn't mean I don't still love seeing what they're all about and completing my own list of Never Gonna Happen.

So when I got a notification a couple of days ago, about the new quarterly challenge in one of the groups I'm in, and I saw that it's actually probably pretty doable, even just working in things I'd already been planning -- or needing -- to read, it seemed fated. To the List-Maker™ I went!
*Note; the List-Maker™ is just a pad of paper and a Sharpie pen. High tech stuff, yo.

I thought some of you might like a challenge, or just might enjoy a good list, as I do, so below you'll find the Goodreads challenge, edited for brevity (if you hop over to the challenge itself, there are links that lead to lists -- more lists! -- of books to give you ideas in nearly every category). And below that, you'll find my very own, very satsifying listicle. sigh.

THE CHALLENGE

Duration: June 1, 2015 – August 31, 2015

We are a YA Book Club, so most books should be young adult (unless otherwise noted). 

You have 3 months to read 10 YA books that satisfy following requirements:

1) Read a book that is a new release published in June, July or August of 2015. 

2) Read a book whose title starts with one of the letters of the word SUMMER.

3) June 6 is Russian Language Day. Read a book written in or translated from another language. 

4) Summer Cleaning!!! Read a book that's been on your TBR pile the longest.  [Misty's note: since this says A book and not THE book, I take it to just mean one that's been there awhile. Not the literal oldest book in your stack. Which is good, I couldn't even begin to guess at that.]

5) June 8 is Ocean Day and June 18 is Fishing Day. Read a book about water or with a water cover. 

6) July 13 is Geek Day. Show your geek pride by reading a fantasy or science fiction book.

7) July 25 is Parents Day. Read a book with an important parental figure. 

8) July 30 is Paperback Day. Read a physical book, bonus points if it's a paperback. 

9) August 8 is Happiness Happens Day. Read a book that makes you happy. 

10) August 19 is Photography Day. Read a book with a beautiful cover. Bonus points if you take a picture of it.

MY LIST

1. The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson, pub date July 7th (I may give myself bonus points with this one, as I'll be reading a number of summer pubs. Will add them in as I go.)
2. Silver in the Blood by Jessica Day George (also a summer pub)
3. The Royal Cup, vol 2 of Last Man series, originally published in French -- check out my interview, including ?s about the translation process, coming up in a couple of weeks!
4. TBD. I honestly don't know what I'll read for this. Maybe a Stack of Five is in order?
5. Does pinkish purple water count? If so, I'm currently reading Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins. If not: a book with a strikingly similar design.
6. Heh. All the things. Nearly everything I read/will be reading could fall in this category, so I'm going to tweak it to a different leg of geekdom, and go with: The League of Regrettable Superheroes, a book about hilariously bad comic book characters.
7. I'll be finishing up A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler this month.
8. Most of my pile is ARCs, which are paperback... do they count? But I'll go with a sincere paperback, finished and published: Jane Austen's First Love by Syrie James
9. Emma by Jane Austen [SPOILER: This will be the Austen in August read along book this year!]
10. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (hopefully)

All these...

...and then some.

So, are you a list maker?
If you're interested, let me know your list in the comments! Or if you do your own summer reading list, or challenges and what not, lmk or send me a link!

Happy summer reading!