Semi Charmed Winter Book Challenge

At the start of the year I set a goal to read at least ten books with five being from the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge. To most, that is a measly goal but in January it seemed daunting. I have spent so many school years reading all kinds of junk I was assigned that I had forgotten than reading can be fun. When I graduated college in 2011, I stopped reading books. I needed a break. I was still browsing magazines, reading blogs, and studying cookbooks, but I rarely touched anything in book form with a real story to it. So when I decided I wanted to try to get back to reading for fun, I just wanted to give myself an easy goal and Ten seemed to be a good number. 

By June, I had reached 12 and adjusted my goal to 20 books for the year. With the new year fast approaching, and 5 more titles to read to get to 20, I am joining in with the Semi Charmed Winter Book Challenge. The rules are simple:

General rules:

• The challenge will run from November 1, 2014, to February 28, 2015. No books that are started before 12 a.m. on November 1 or finished after 11:59 p.m. on February 28 will count.
• Each book must be at least 200 pages long. 
• A book can only be used for one category, and each category can only be completed once.
• Rereads can be used for a maximum of three books in the challenge. 

Challenge categories!

5 points: Freebie! Read any book that fits the general rules.
10 points: Read a book written by an author who has published at least 10 books.
10 points: Read a book of short stories.
10 points: Read a book with a food (not a drink!) in the title.
15 points: Read the first book in a series that is new to you (so no rereads for this one!). 
15 points: Read a book that was originally written in a language that is not your native language.
15 points: Read a book written by a local author (either an author from your state if you live in the United States, or in your country if you live somewhere else—note: author must be from where you currently live).
20 points: Read a "bookish book" (in which books play an important role, e.g. the setting involves a bookstore or library, a major character is an author, or a book that celebrates reading and books.
20 points: Read a book with a direction in the title (e.g. north, south, east, west or any combination of those).
25 points: Read a book from a genre you don't usually read.
25 points: Read a book with a song lyric in the title. Be sure to tell us the song name and artist as well!
30 points: Read two books with a different meal in each title (e.g. breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper, brunch; update: meals like feast, banquet, picnic will also count, but try not to get too "creative" with your meal words!).

While I don't think I'll be checking in for the points, I think this challenge will provide some freshness to my book choices as this year comes to the end. The best part is this challenge ends in February. So I can end this year strong and start next year's goal off with a good start as well.