The Reading Challenge Group discussion

50 pages into Maurice and loving it! Casually dying over Maurice and Durham though.

Sonya wrote: "Alessandra, have you read the girl who series? The movies were fabulous!

sonya"

No, never heard of them to be honest, but sound interesting. What is the series about? :D

Holly wrote: "50 pages into Maurice and loving it! Casually dying over Maurice and Durham though."

Awww. :D Enjoy that part, because the book gets REALLY sad.

Thanks for the warning! :P

Holly wrote: "Does anyone ever get really frustrated that they can't read super super fast, so they could get through all the books they want to?"

YES. That is, in fact, my permanent state.

It's all rainy, miserable and grey here in the UK! Hence this evening is definitely going to be a 'curl up in bed and read' evening!

Can't decide what to read though!

Has anyone read The Shadow of the Wind? Got it out the library the other day.

It is only just turning 2pm here, so curling up in bed is a while away. I have a lecture before then! And England is often rather bad in October. It was nice until the start of this week, when the weather turned and it's been drizzly for the last few days. Not that I'm surprised, this is England we're talking about! Eternally grey!

After having a look, it seems to get a lot of good reviews, so I'll definitely go for it tonight! Although I'll have to be weary of the apparent slow beginning. No falling asleep!

Scotland has been awful. It's been basically raining for the past 2 weeks. It seems to be calming down a bit, but a lot of roads got flooded. No fun.

Down here it rains, sunny and hot, then gets cold. TN is having weather moodswings lately. LOL!

Hellooooo! How's everybody doing?

So... tired... and I have so much work to do still.

Plus it's horrendous weather here, and the campus is so big that it takes forever to walk everywhere.

Moan over :P

Faye wrote: "Holly wrote: "Does anyone ever get really frustrated that they can't read super super fast, so they could get through all the books they want to?"

YES. That is, in fact, my permanent state."

Also yes, and what is worse, is that I am reading slower as I age, and my tbr list is growing.

Holly wrote: "So... tired... and I have so much work to do still.

Plus it's horrendous weather here, and the campus is so big that it takes forever to walk everywhere.

Moan over :P"

Aw... it sucks that the honeymoon is over so soon for you, Holly! I hope you're finding things to enjoy about university life, though?

I've been crazy tired lately, but for some reason today I've got a sudden burst of energy. I'm trying to make the most of it!

Michael wrote: "Also yes, and what is worse, is that I am reading slower as I age, and my tbr list is growing."

It's funny how that goes, isn't it? You'd think that the older you get and the more you read, the shorter your tbr list would get, and yet the opposite seems to be true. It's kind of Twilight Zone-esque... *eerie music*

Michael, couldn't agree more! Since joining this group at the beginning of the year, my book pile has turned into piles and stacks. The tbr list is out of control and I wonder which challenge or buddy read to join. I still read slow, so what's a girl to do? Actually, this has all been fun and have been introduced to more authors and genres than ever before!

Holly, hoping you get some sleep and your restored -- so you can go at it again!

Faye, what are you doing with your burst of energy, reading or writing?

Have a happy day!

Melissa wrote: "Faye, what are you doing with your burst of energy, reading or writing?"

Neither, actually - I've been crafting and planning for Christmas, and making way too many online posts!

I'm doing okay just been reading ebooks on my tablet and stuff. I plan one day this week to finish a scary story I am writing for Halloween on my goodreads writing page and on wattpad but prob won't get any writing done this weekend so will prob do some either tonight or tomorrow. we'll see what happens though.

Thanks Sandy. When It's up, I'll post the link to it. I hope to have it finished and ready by midnight central time on Halloween night.

Awesome Sandy! :)

New profile picture! Shock horror! Not sure whether to keep or not... I don't like change!

Yeah, I look rather different now!

I've had it for about 6 months, so it's not exactly new :P but yeah, I want my hair shorter though.

Sandy, just seen your pictures. That's insane! Must of taken some guts! How short is it now?

My hair was cut short too as I got a bob cut and it looks good on me shorter.

Holly wrote: "New profile picture! Shock horror! Not sure whether to keep or not... I don't like change!"

Look at you, looking all College Girl... :D

Aha, thank you, Faye!

You weren't patronising at all, Sandy. It's cool! :)

It's been long enough since I had that last picture, thought I should update it. It's weird it being different!

Yeah, was definitely early! And so much has changed in my life... It's weird thinking back! And the fact we're almost through 2014!

My profile picture is of my niece, and she is not that little anymore. *cries*

Sandy wrote: "Faye, I always thought it must be you hiding behind that book! LOL"

It could have been! LOL I was into Dickens even as a wee'un! Nobody got a picture of me, though, so I snapped one quick one day when my niece picked up Our Mutual Friend and pretended to be reading it. It's probably the only decent photograph I've ever taken, so I've used it as my profile pic for years, haha!

Great new pic, Holly!

Love the pic Holly! Sandy, what a wonderful thing to do. I've always wanted to donate to CCS, but I seem to get so frustrated with my hair by the time it's at my shoulders that I never make it any further. Good for you, it's such a worthwhile program. I've known a lot of recipients and it really does make a difference for them in self-esteem and restoring a sense of "normalcy".

I love your new look, Holly! You look great!

Sandy, wonderful thing to do and do you like your new look? And sorry about the rain, one day, maybe, for a guiltless reading day, but otherwise just depressing. Move to Colorado, seriously, everyday is sunny, even in winter.

Amber and Sandy, I also have cut my hair shorter, still getting used to it and like the idea that it dries quickly.

Awesome Melissa. :) and great pic holly.

I'm sorry about the flu, hope you feel better soon and can read under better conditions. :(

So I just posted the cover I made in Microsoft paint of my scary story written in their blood which I got the image from a public domain image site and just edited it in paint so enjoy. I'll have the story up by Halloween night which is midnight central standard time. This is just a teaser for it and has the synopsis in the photo text too. Enjoy!

https://www.goodreads.com/photo/user/...

Sandy, hopefully your guiltless day or reading will do you good! :)

i got a new hair, too!
although, more fool me for getting a fringe (or bangs, if you're american) in the autumn/fall

Nerd Fact:
The length your hair will grow is genetically predetermined. Some people literally can't grow their hair longer than shoulder length. It just breaks off at that point.

Renee wrote: "Nerd Fact:
The length your hair will grow is genetically predetermined. Some people literally can't grow their hair longer than shoulder length. It just breaks off at that point."

Wow, I didn't know that!

Mine gets long enough for me to sit on if I leave it alone for a few years. The split ends start to drive me nuts before that happens, though, and so do all the comments I get from people asking pointedly if I plan on cutting my hair anytime soon. Good grief, people, it's MY hair, I can grow it like Rapunzel if I wanted to... :P

Generally speaking, I tend to cut it shoulder-length at the beginning of summer, then let it grow for the rest of the year. I like to have it long in the winter to help keep my neck warm!

Never without a scarf!

Renee wrote: "Never without a scarf!"

Not even when I'm sleeping! I always have to position my hair over my ears at night. Gets cold in my room!

Lol! You two are funny!

Sandy wrote: "Looks good, Mayme. I couldn't tell from the other profile pic th..."

thanks! it was almost down to my waist, but i had it all under a hat in a bun type situation in the old pic (:

so far i've quite enjoyed it! but i think as the weather gets increasingly drizzly in the south east of england i'll end up suffering one of those gale force makeovers (my natural hair texture is very curly, so it all goes to a rather frizzy mess!)

Faye wrote: Not even when I'm sleeping! I always have to position my hair over my ears at night. Gets cold in my room!"

i can't bare my hair loose when I sleep! instead, I favour the ol' duvet burrito (forever labelled a quilt hog, though)

Lol! Thank you, Sandy!!

Good morning all! I'm looking to see if anyone has any recommendations for next steps for me...I won a book through the giveaways in August and here it is now in November and I still haven't received it. I've won books before and received them without issue so I'm not sure what recourse there is - I'd still really like to read the book! Has anyone had this before? Any recommendations on how to get it resolved?

In case anyone is interested, BBC news site have got a 'Top 16 Gothic Books' list.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/zyp72hv

Found it a very interesting read!

Thank you so much Sandy!

Have hardly got any reading done so far this month. Deadlines are next week, so my life has basically been filled with lectures, essay writing and sleep. Hopefully will get all my essays finished this weekend, so I'll have far more time to read! Need to bump up my widget! (I don't dare look at it...)

Oh, Holly! At least you have a good reason - I am slipping further and further behind with no decent excuse at all!