The Reading Challenge Group discussion

Camille, I'm so jealous of the great steal you got (and all of the bonus points that will come with it)! Good for you, I hope you enjoy reading them.

What a bargain Camille! I finished James and the giant Peach recently and loved it, Happy reading!

I think I'm hyperventilating right now. I was counting my challenges to be finished up for the year and I have 46 books to read and half of them are over 500 pages. Oh, and I didn't count the current Bingo, but they could be incorporated. It's the chunksters that I'm having a breakdown about since I read like a snail. Thanks for letting me vent! :D

Can you break them down over the rest of the year Melissa or do they need to be done sooner than that? If you have the rest of the year then you maybe be able to do it as it would mean 3 or so chunksters each month. That's daunting! Perhaps you can swap out a few of the titles for smaller books so you're only doing one or two each month?

Yes, I have to rethink things, that's for sure!

I just took a peek at your currently reading list and three of them are books I did on audio from my library. One Hundred Yeats of Solitude. Cry, the Beloved Country. The Long Walk to Freedom. CtBC went quickly compared to the other two, which moved quite slowly even in audio. (Although, definitely worth the effort). And I found The Stand, in spite of its length to move at a rapid pace. (Even without audio.)

Unfortunately, I eyeball-read at a snail's pace, too. And frequently bite off more than I can chew when it comes to actual reading versus audiobooks. I find the eyeball-read to be more satisfying in general, so I'm happy to squeeze in a few during the year.

But maybe you just needed to vent... Damn those publishers with their tantalizing book reviews! And those LIBRARIES! Dens of iniquity!

I think it has more to do with the amount of "challenges" I cannot help but participate in...just hate to be left out!

And now that I vented....

Speaking of challenges, I have my three books picked out for Summer Crazy Calendar. *Squirrel* :D

Lol. On it!

I've been finding it so hard to decide what to read recently! I have too many books to choose from...

Whenever that happens to me Holly, I use the random generator. It takes all the pressure off of you to decide!

Okay, so I just got a good look at Srividya's profile photo ad it's so freaking CUTE! (That's all. Just an observation on cuteness. Everything is so small on the phone that it's hard to enjoy the nuances.)

Just feeling the need to whine a bit. My classroom was about 100 degrees today with humidity like a solid wall. You know how when you first go into a steam room or sauna, the heat is pleasant, but after a while you have to leave or pass out and become an unfortunate gym legend? That was almost me today. Except at no point was the heat pleasant.

Seriously.

That's terrible Renee! I don't ever like being that hot unless I'm close to a nice refreshing pool/ocean with an umbrella drink in hand. I'm guessing that probably wouldn't have been appropriate for you to have in front of your students! Is the air conditioning in your class broken or do they not have it in the class at all? Either way, I hope that tomorrow is a more pleasant temperature for you.

It is terrible! When do you all get out for the summer? And how come there is no air conditioning? It sounds like you are back in the dark ages! I'd keep whining or as they say bitch a little it will make you feel better, but probably not cooler. :D Hope it cools off soon for you, Renee.

Thanks, ladies! I needed a little sympathy.
No AC. (I don't know what the ratio of AC to non-AC school buildings is.) Tall brick building. Third floor. Lots of warm bodies, complaining. Including mine. :P

It sounds like pure torture! I'd send a hug but that would make you even more sweaty. :) I'll send very cool thoughts your way.

How is it going today, Renee? Any better my friend?

Well as I gave up reading A Clockwork Orange for today because of its low-down meanness and hard to understandedness; then I pick up the polar opposite, Ramona the Pest. Now I'm laughing with gut, juggling, Bahaha! What a delight! Of course, Kassandra, this is a great way to rack up points for your Author thingy. :D

Beverly Cleary rocks!
Anthony Burgess, not so much. I read Clockwork many years ago and found it seriously creepy and, as you say, mean. I finished because I had more tolerance for finishing books I wasn't enjoying back in my youth. Now, I agree, I just don't have the time to be annoyed by fiction. ;-)

Thank you for asking. Today was much better. Still quite warm, but without that gasping-for-breath humidity which made us all feel so sick. Tonight we might actually get the rain that the clouds have been promising. :)

Oh, I sure hope your weather gets better! I hate the idea of you being in purgatory another day. :(

And as for Beverly Cleary, this is a perfectly sweet evening while reading her Ramona the Pest. I do not know how I missed these wonderful little books (I was informed, though, by my daughters, they enjoyed them).

Glad to know that Clockwork was creepy to someone else, I don't even know what the heck he is talking about half the time. Thanks for Beverly!

Clockwork is very creepy - the movie even more so for me...definitely something I will never re-read!

Here's to hoping that the rain brings cooler weather for you Renee - at least on weekdays until the end of school :)

I'm off to get some more bonus points, this challenge is really helping me clean up my TBR this month! The books I'm reading now are what I had planned for humour next month, so that's a bit of a miss...but that just means I get to find some new ones for next month. (Rubs hands together in glee while making an evil Pinky and the Brain laugh!)

Sorry for not being on much recently everyone. I've just started my summer job so I've had long training days for the last week. Will catch up with everything tomorrow when I don't have to be in!

It's hot over here too. I'm on reception most of the day and there's no AC, so it's basically hot humid air most of the day. But it definitely sounds worse for you, Renee!

Hope everyone has had a good week!

Congrats on starting a new job Holly! It doesn't sound like it is that much fun at the moment with the heat (and lack of AC!) but I hope you get some more moderate temps soon.

Its one of those days where I can't decide what to read. Too many options!

Shoutouts to the U.S. for legalising same sex marriage across all 50 states! And to the England Women's World Cup team for getting through to the semis!

I don't really follow sports, but Go British Women Footballers! And, thanks, Holly, it's about time.

Hey everyone! I wanted to let you all know that we have a new poll that has just gone up. We're planning our next readathon and we'd love to hear from you to get some feedback on the timing of it. Check out our polls page and cast your vote!

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/1...

Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians :)

Hey all! The results are in from our readathon poll and the deciding vote is for July 6th to 12th. Starting Monday, our readathon will begin! Take some time and get planning what you'll be reading this week. The readathon will be set up soon and an email will follow shortly with links to the readathon threads.

Happy reading everyone!

Hooray! I'm at the beach for the week which means I'll get to Readathon with my beach reads. :) (As long as I don't get burnt.)

Sounds lovely Renee!

After countless days of same boring life, since the end of college, i Went to chennai, 3 days back, to meet some of my friends. One hell of a Get together.
Now im back home.
Same old life. :|

Oh My God! The final game of the Women's World Cup last night was so frickin EXCITING!

WIMBELDON!

Love it Renee! Which athlete is your favourite?

So sorry I haven't been in the group recently! I should be back in full swing now!

Yay! Welcome back, Holly!

Any Stephen King fans here?

Godan, I believe we have a Stephen King thread in our 'Specific Book/Author Discussion' folder. I'd link it to you, but I'm on my phone right now. The thread has proven quite popular!

I have a question for my friends in the UK. Do you still celebrate Guy Fawkes night? I was reading the Great Train Robbery and the police were going to make their arrest during the fireworks on Guy Fawkes night.

Cindy wrote: "I have a question for my friends in the UK. Do you still celebrate Guy Fawkes night? I was reading the Great Train Robbery and the police were going to make their arrest during the fireworks on Guy..."

I don't live in the UK anymore, but... yes. Yes they do. It was always my favourite night of the year as a kid. :)

I'm so angry. On the first day of my week holiday relaxing in Majorca with just sun and reading, my Kindle decides to break so now I'm essentially bookless. Going book shopping this afternoon to find a book or two to tide me over for the week. But that's all my planned reading gone! I was so looking forward to some of them aswell!

So much for a relaxing holiday!

Oh Holly, no! That's certainly a bad start for a relaxing holiday :-( I hope you'll manage to find some good books anyway, and enjoy the sun and the seaside.

Try letting it power down completely then connect it directly to a computer to charge. That's what I did the last time mine broke. It's worth a try.

Holly I'm so sorry! That's my worst nightmare come true, being bookless on a vacation. I hope you're able to find some new books on your shopping trip. Enjoy the sunshine!

My Nook has done that, so do what Renee suggests, it should boot back up within a day or less.

This just might be Rocky the Reading Squirrel leading you on an adventure. I know, just trying to add a little optimism, you can through a bookmark at me. :D

I'm reading dark places by Gillian Flynn

Holly, can you download the Kindle app for your phone?

You guys are the sweetest! I'm currently sharing my Dad's Kindle and I found a place that sells a few English books so I might be visiting there a few times!

I do however, believe my Kindle is well and truly done for. 90% of the screen is stuck on the page I was reading, with the other 10% working but pixelated and not working totally.

Oh well, it gives me an excuse to buy a paperwhite and Goodreads have just released the app for it so its not the end of the world.

It just really got to me yesterday. Never thought I'd get so emotional over a bloody Kindle.

Question for you all: someone mentioned a US challenge in their thread, where they wanted to read one book per US state.
Who is it?
I quite fancy doing this as a challenge for next year!

I don't think it was me. Although we talked about sound a mini with US regions some time ago.