This is my personal wrap-up and summary post for the challenge. A giveaway is coming on December 30, open to everyone (participants can earn extra entries, though). Please watch for it, and do link up your own posts in the meantime!
Well, this has been quite a year in many ways. One thing that made it special — in a much more pleasurable way than some others — was the Reading New England challenge, which I launched twelve months ago in order to explore the literature of the region where I live, in company with anyone else who might be interested. I’m by no means done with reading from the New England Book List, but here is what I read this year (with links to reviews, where applicable):
January: New Hampshire – A Separate Peace (also read: A Prayer for Owen Meany, A Gathering of Days, Amos Fortune, Free Man, Roses and Rot)- February: Fiction – Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House
- March: Maine – The Country of the Pointed Firs (Also read: Olive Kitteridge)
- April: Poetry and Drama – Galvanized; Our Town
- May: Vermont – Hidden View (Also read: The Inn at Lake Devine, Idyll Banter, Soup, Understood Betsy, Pollyanna, Life Among the Savages, Raising Demons, The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living)
- June: Nonfiction – New England Bound
- July: Massachusetts – Ethan Frome (Also read: Delivering the Truth, The Fires Beneath the Sea, The Shimmers in the Night)
- August: Children’s and YA – Johnny Tremain and The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing
- September: Rhode Island – Swim That Rock
- October: Speculative Fiction and Mystery – The Witches of Eastwick; The Evil Wizard Smallbone
- November: Connecticut – Three Plays by Eugene O’Neill; The Children (Also read: Worlds Afire)
- December: Readalong or free choice – Mayflower
I particularly enjoyed putting together various features and guest posts that focused on New England publishers, authors, literary sites, and more:
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Porter Square Books - Witch Week interview with author Kat Howard
- Bookstores of New England
- A Visit to Amesbury with author Edith Maxwell
- New England Book Blogger Meetup
- Publisher Spotlights: Tilbury House, Candlewick Press, Green Writers Press
- A visit to Yankee Publishing
- Emily Dickinson’s House
Thanks to all who have stayed with me through the challenge, making it much more fun than it would have been on my own, and to all who posted and linked their own reviews. A few more were added this month:
- We Were Liars, set on an exclusive private island, enthralled Penni of Penni’s Perceptions.
- The Case of Charles Dexter Ward was an intriguing RI fantasy/horror/mystery story for Laurie from Relevant Obscurity. She also enjoyed a Connecticut novel with some classic connections, The Three Weissmanns of Westport.
- Mark of Carstairs Considers found the NH cozy mystery Live Free or Die to have a strong central premise and characters, but a weak ending.
If you haven’t already, please be sure to link your reviews on the Genre Post or State Post pages. As mentioned above, on December 30, there will be a chance to enter a giveaway, and linking up will earn you chances to win extra books!
If you achieved your challenge goals, congratulations! If not, there are still a few days left in 2016… Do let me know how you’re doing, and what you still want to read, either this year or in the future. Though I won’t be running this challenge again in 2017, we can all still enjoy reading and discussing the many-faceted literature of New England.
The Emerald City Book Review Archive 
I’ve got one more book to finish (in a weeks time LOL)! This has been such a great challenge and I am so glad that I found this challenge. THank you for hosting it.
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You’ve been a challenge champion! I’m also so glad you found it and thank you for your participation.
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I take that back…I have one post schedule and then I am finishing up my last book. I will have it done before the year is up!
I have really enjoyed this challenge. Such wonderful reads.
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I hope to get my last book post up tomorrow. I have enjoyed this challenge more than I can say right now!
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It makes me so happy to hear that.
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I didn’t participate in this challenge, but I was impressed by everything you put together for it. Well done!
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Thanks Jenna, I am so glad you enjoyed it.
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While I didn’t participate in the challenge, I’ve enjoyed several of your posts and reviews along the way. And I just love the idea of focusing on a particular area of the world in one’s reading!
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I’ve never focused in that way before, and it was very rewarding.
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Great job keeping up with your own challenge! I’m typically not so good at that. I’m considering hosting a month long challenge sometime next year instead. That seems to be a better length for me 🙂
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Yes, I’m done with hosting a year-long challenge for now! It was great, but it was a long time to focus on something. I will look forward to your month long challenge, whatever it may be.
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I did better than I thought I would. I hit all six states and three of the categories. I was going for six combined, so this made me happy.
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Excellent, Mark. It was always fun to see the cozy mysteries you discovered for each state.
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I didn’t read as much as I had planned, and I didn’t review everything I read, but it was great fun. Thanks for organizing this challenge.
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There were many books I thought or hoped I would get to and didn’t…but they’ll still be there after this year. Thanks for your participation; I’m so glad you found it worthwhile.
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