2019 Reading Assignment | Spring Semester Courses!

2019 Reading Assignment Challenge
hosted by

Michelle and Berls @ Because Reading

This post and subsequent updates will be linked at 2019 Reading Assignment Challenge | Spring Semester Page.

It looks like there has been a nice new twist to the Reading Assignment Challenge for 2019!  And while I'd been still considering joining this challenge, I was kind of wary of how I'd go about it.

But with these new changes, I have to admit, I'm kind of fired up!

From Because Reading:

This year you'll be registering for classes that fit your reading goals.  And the best part?  You're only registering for a semester at a time!  The spring semester is January - May 2019.  You'll come back in May to register for your summer classes (June-August 2019).  And again in August to register for your fall classes (September - December).  You can register for the same classes all year if you want, but you can also switch it up, depending on your life and goals.

And to add onto that, we get three different Professor's courses we can register for:

Professor AuthorLuv
Professor AuthorLuv used to have her own school, where her students we're required to pick a favorite author and commit to reading all their books over the course of a year (aka The AuthorLuv Challenge).  She's decided to make her life a little easier and just host some classes here instead.  She still wants you to pick a favorite author and commit to reading a certain number of books by that author each month, but she's letting you set your number based on the level course you sign up for.

Professor Genre
Professor Genre is all about choosing a genre/theme.  For his classes you'll commit to reading a certain number of books from one genre each month.  Choose your level course to sign up for the number of books you'll read each month.  (theme can be anything from Christmas to reading books with the letter P in the title).

Professor Mix-It-Up
Professor Mix-It-Up wants you to have the freedom to mix-it-up.  For her courses you'll commit to reading a certain number of books from a list that you create in the first month of the course.  She's giving you a lot of freedom.  The books can be any genre, any author, any format!  But you have to have your list completed and posted by January 31, 2019 and you have to stick to it.  Choose your level course to sign up for the number of books you'll read each month.

Reading Levels are now known as either Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced Classes, but the concept is still the same.

The Classes:

• Beginner Class (credits: 1) - In the beginner's course you're committing to reading one book a month per each course.  You'll get an A if you read 1 book by all 5 months, a B if you read 1 book 4 of the months, a C if you read 1 book 3 of the months, and a D if you read 1 book 2 of the months.  The Professor will have to give you an F for anything less.
• Intermediate Class (credits: 2) - In the intermediate course you're committing to reading two books a month per each course. You'll get an A if you read 2 books all 5 months, a B if you read 2 books 4 of the months, a C if you read 2 books 3 of the months, and a D if you read 2 books 2 of the months.  The Professor will have to give you an F for anything less.
• Advanced Class (credits: 3) - In the advanced course you're committing to reading three books a month per each course.  You'll get an A if you read 3 books all 5 months, a B if you read 3 books 4 of the months, a C if you read 3 books 3 of the months, and a D if you read 3 books 2 of the months.  The Professor will have to give you an F for anything less.

And this time we will get graded per semester for each class:

Points breakdown

Advanced A - 6 points	Intermediate A - 5 points	Beginner A - 4 points
Advanced B - 5 points	Intermediate B - 4 points	Beginner B - 3 points
Advanced C - 4 points	Intermediate C - 3 points	Beginner C - 2 points
Advanced D - 3 points	Intermediate D - 2 points	Beginner D - 1 point

Once again, I'm pretty fired up about this new change in the Reading Assignment Challenge.  And while I had considered just dipping in and doing the Beginner Class for all three Professor's courses, I decided to go all out and dive right into 2019!  Well... sort of.

For Professor AuthorLuv's Course, I will take the Intermediate level Class.
For Professor Genre's Course, I will take the Advanced level Class.
For Professor Mix-It-Up's Course, I will take the Beginner level Class.

This will guarantee that I will need to read at least six books each month, which, in the past, would have been small potatoes.  And if I can stumble my way out of my reading slump, I'll be able to achieve this, so it's more motivation than anything.  I might be over-stepping, but at least it will only be for the first five months, and then I can re-enroll if I'm feeling overwhelmed...  Or advance to higher classes if I'm feeling super confident!

And also... I think I could use a bit more motivation this coming year.  I've been in the mother of all reading slumps since January (yes, a whole year!), with brief moments of improvement, though sparse.  I'd been trying to play it laid back all year so as not to overdo it, but maybe what I really need is some direction...

Maybe.

So we'll see how the year goes.  Or at least how this first spring semester pans out!

For more details, visit the 2019 Reading Assignment Challenge sign up post (linked here and at the beginning).

My 2019 Spring Semester Reading Assignment Course List:

Professor AuthorLuv - Intermediate Class (credits: 2):  I will be reading books by Amanda Quick.

Professor Genre - Advanced Class (credits: 3):  I will be reading historical fiction books of any sub-type genre (general historical fiction, historical romance, historical mysteries, etc.).

Some of the authors I plan on reading from include: Courtney Milan, Tessa Dare, Kelly Bowen, Anna Lee Huber, and I especially plan on reading Deanna Raybourn's newest installment of her Victoria Speedwell series, A Dangerous Collaboration.

Professor Mix-It-Up - Beginner's Class (credits: 1):  Below is my finalized reading list for the spring semester.

I am going to try not to overlap books between courses.  Since I chose to read Amanda Quick books for Professor AuthorLuv's course, I will not count any of this author's books towards Professor Genre's course until I've completed my assignment that month.  So if I've read two Amanda Quick books towards Professor AuthorLuv's course, a possible third Amanda Quick book will go towards Professor Genre's course to fulfill my requirements there.

As for Professor Mix-It-Up's classes, I've purposely chosen books that cannot count towards either of the other two courses--non-historical and non-Amanda Quick.  In fact, all five of the books on this list are books I already own, if only because I feel like I need to get to reading stuff already on my physical and digital shelves.  Five isn't a whole lot, but it's a start, and I don't want to give myself too many restrictions.

I might be getting a bit over-strict, but I feel like I'd be cheating otherwise.  But in the long run, I feel like I've created a pretty good fail-safe for myself, considering I'm a huge fan of Amanda Quick, and and I've been very much enjoying historical romance novels by the very authors I've listed above.  It's less overwhelming, I feel, when I'm committing myself to books I plan to read anyway!

Anyway, I'm SO ready to get started!

Wish me luck!