The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

Cynthia ~ I think you missed my last task. I should be at 40 points now. See message 652.

Thanks!!!

I have finished Janice's Task for 25 points. I read Fortune's Rocks by Anita Shreve. It was a brilliant book which I really enjoyed.

Previous reads

5.4 Adoption - Digging to America by Anne Tyler


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Newly Completed Tasks:

10.10 – The Cat’s Meow: Dewey The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World

I really enjoyed this book. I’ll probably give it 4 stars. Watch out though, it’s a tear-jerker at the end. I didn’t know I was going to learn so much about what life in rural Iowa was like by reading this book. That was an added bonus.

Total Points: 45
Tasks in Process: 4
Completed Tasks: 3/45
Books Read for Completed Tasks: 3/60
Pages Read for Completed Tasks: 789


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Finished
9.9 Self help The Vegetarian Meat & Potatoes Cookbook by Robin Robertson.

and The Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews, which, after a bad start--who wants a whiny heroine--turned out to be a fun read.

A little update today - finished 5.10 (Time Travel) with Diana Gabaldon's Dragonfly in Amber. Her books are well-written, but she definitely has a decided slant towards violence that's a little creepy sometimes.

Current Total: 55 points

I finished 5.10 - The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Total Points: 15
Tasks in Process: 2
Completed Tasks: 2
Books Read: 4
Pages Read: 1446

Last night I finished Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce for task number 10.7.

I'm finally on the board.

Total: 10 points

thank god! I finally am going to get some more points. I completed Task 25.6. great task Cindy! I got to read three books I really wanted to read, 2 of which I owned.
one word: by Jodi Picoult
two words: by Megan McCafferty
three words: by Alice Hoffman

I truly loved reading them all!


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Finished the Rhyme Time. I really enjoyed the book of poetry, although it would have been better if I could have read the poems slowly over a few weeks. But, it had to go back to the library.

25.1 NICOLE OH'S TASK - Rhyme Time - Working the Dirt An Anthology of Southern Poets 119 pp read 9/10/2009 and Starfist:A World of Hurt by Sherman and Cragg, 312 pp, read 9/11/2009.

Total points: 65/690
Tasks completed: 4/45
Books read: 8/59
Total pages: 2450

15.2 Rewriting History - Read an Alternative Historical Novel.

Read Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo

I'll start out by saying I really didn't enjoy this book. I don't know if it was the topic, the writing, the characters, etc. Blonde Roots is a novel where "whytes" (Europeans) were enslaved and "blaks" (African's) were not. I don't think the world would have been a better place if this had been the case. No race should have been enslaved and treated in the way that they were. Would the world be better if the above situation had really happened? I doubt anything would be any different then it was, there would still be a race feeling oppressed, inferior, and craving freedom. There would be another race feeling like they ruled the world and could treat these people (who they believed were less the human) poorly. The real history and the alternative history are both horrible things that happened and the world would have been a better place if nobody was ever made to be someones slave.

15 points

Total Points: 35
Tasks Completed: 4
Books Read: 4
Total Pages: 1510

completed task:

10.3 A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond.

(re-read) I loved this character as a child!!! I forgot the book was so long, but enjoyed every moment! :)

I completed task 25.9 (Self Help) by reading the following:

Life-Enriching Education Nonviolent Communication Helps Schools Improve Performance, Reduce Conflict, and Enhance Relationships - I prefer Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication A Language of Life Create Your Life, Your Relationships, and Your World in Harmony with Your Values and accompanying workbook, but what I liked about this one is how all of the examples are from classroom situations.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull - I enjoyed this but I didn't love it. I love watching birds at the seashore though and I'm sure I'll look at them differently after this!

Total Points: 165

Finished:
20.1 Julie's Task The Good Nearby by Nancy Moser.

I had heard Nancy speak at a Christian Fiction workshop for librarians several years ago and have read her historical fiction, so I knew right away this would be the author I chose for this task. If you are still undecided about a book for 20.1 and enjoy books by Billie Letts, you would probably like this one.

Cynthina, just a reminder i am on the leaderboard as Teresa-90 points, to cut down on confusion, I ameneded my name to Teresa in Ohio

I completed 25.2 (donna jo task) with SunstrokeJesse KellermanSON Of Faye KellermanKellerman, Jonathan who co wrote Capital Crimes

and 25.4 (candace task) Marley & Me Love and Life with the World's Worst Dog botht eh book and movie I give 5 points, usually the movie lacks something from the book, but not this time. Marley was just as lively in print and in screen, they both made me laugh and cry

Total for these 2 tasks 50 points

NEW GRAND total 140

I read Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson for 5.3--sea travel. (long book for 5 points, but pretty good. Although I don't know if it was good enough to read the sequels--maybe if they were about 100 pages shorter)

and Gregor and the Marks of Secret for 10.7--hero task. I'm assuming this will count since Gregor is definitely a hero in this story/series (although a somewhat reluctant one) If this doesn't work, I can fit it in somewhere else.

That puts me at
75 points
1491 pages read (with a couple more books from multi-tasks done as well.)

I finished 5.8, Adoption with
The Baby Game by Randall Hicks
comic mystery novel written by an adoption attorney about a celebrity adoption

+5
total 115

Report 3

Completed Tasks
5.9 Age factor - My Most Excellent Year A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park 416pp 4stars
10.3 Bear title - The Fourth Bear 378pp 3stars
15.1 Grammar: participle = mastering
- Mastering Composition Techniques and Principles to Dramatically Improve Your Painting 144pp 4stars
- Painting With Pastels Easy Techniques to Master the Medium 128pp 3stars
15.3 Math:
Addition = 14 - Measuring the World A Novel 272pp 3stars
Division = 30 - Girls in Pants 368pp 3stars
15.8 Geography:
Malaysia = The Gift of Rain 448pp 4stars
Japan = American Fuji 416pp 3stars
25.3 Positive LGBT character - And Then They Were Nuns A Novel 204pp 3stars




Tasks completed - 16
Tasks partially completed - 2
Books read - 22
Pages read - 7021
Total points - 200

15. 3. Discover The Equation For Good Books (Math) - Pick 2 Of The Following...

• Multiplication - Multiply Your Age By The Number Of Letters In Your Name And Read A Book With Approximately That Number Of Pages (+/- 25 Pages). If Your Total Is Less Than 100 Pages You Would Need To Read A Book Between 100-125 Pages. Ex. 27*18 = 486 So I Would Need To Read A Book Between 461 And 511 Pages Such As Ransom 456 = 431-481 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban re-read 9-12-09 435 Pages

• Division - Divide The Year You Were Born By Your Age (Round That Number To The Nearest Whole Number) And Then Read A Book That Is That Number In A Series.Ex. 1982/27 Is Equal To Approximately 73 Therefore I Would Need To Read A Book That Is The 3rd Or 7th In A Series. 1985/24= 82.7 The Struggle Vampire Diaries #2 by L.J. Smith 9-2-09 234 Pages

Current Pages Read: 2149
Books Read: 7
Challenges Completed: 4
Total Points: 45

OK - finished two more tasks:
5.10 - Beyond the Highland Mist by Karen Marie Moning. This is very similar to Outlander in that a modern day woman is whisked back to 1500's Scotland to marry a Scottish laird. I REALLY liked this book and will definitely be reading the rest in the series.

15.9 - Home To Italy by Peter Pezzeli. Not really a fan. I thought it would be more like Under the Tuscan Sun, but there was really no romance in it (the author tried, but there is nothing romantic about it). It is the story of a widower who moves back to Italy to the town where he grew up and falls in love with his childhood best friends' daughter (also a widow). Kind of creepy really.

Anyway, my homework assignment would be to research the top 5 agricultural exports of Italy and explain which regions of the country they are from. (Much of this book surrounded gardening and olives and tomatoes and the culture of the Italian countryside)

New total: 105 points

Hi Cynthia,
I didn't find my name on the leader board so I am reposting what I had before.
message by Julie:

Books Finished
15.6 The Importance of Being Earnest and I watched the movie

25.9 The Friendship Factor How to Get Closer to the People You Care for for half of the task

Total: 15 points
Thanks!

Completed task 5.8 (two heads)

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society


Total: 45 points

Completed:

10.8 My random words were: Credit, Kill and Flower

I read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See.

Total: 45 points
Tasks Completed: 5
Tasks In Progess:1
Books Read: 7

Completed:

Task 15.10: (teacher) The Lake of Dead Languages A Novel - Carol Goodman (9/12)
(student) While I'm Falling - Laura Moriarty (9/8)

I gave both 3 stars.

Total Points: 55/690
Books Read: 12/60
Tasks Completed: 5/45
Pages Read: 3,636

For 5.9, I read Olive Kitteridge A Novel in Stories by Elizabeth Strout.

Wow this was depressing. Most of it takes place when Olive is in her 70's and she's just not been a very nice person her whole life.

Sorry about missing points on the board in both cases I had recorded it on my spreadsheet and neglected to transfer it over to the leaderboard.

Completed 25.9 by reading by Jennifer Traig. I found it quite humorous and well-written. A quick read!


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10.9. Summer Has Gone With The Wind- On November 5, 2009, The Actress Vivien Leigh, Who Portrayed Scarlett O'Hara In The Film Adaptation Of GWTW, Would Have Been 96 Years Old - In Honor Of Her Most Famous Role - Read A Novel Set During The U.S. Civil War.

Jayhawkers; The Civil War Brigade of James Henry Lane by Bryce Benedict

James Henry Lane was not exactly the Union's answer to Quantrill and his raiders. Still he did raise troops to raid Missouri, doing his best (or worst, depending on which side of the river you lived on) to minimize the amount of help that Missouri could send to the Confederate cause. No surprises here, just the facts. Love that photo--if he were in a GWTW remake he should be played by Christopher Lloyd.

running total: 8 tasks, 8 books, 80 points

I also finished 2 books since I last posted...

The first was Till the Fat Lady Sings A Novel by Alisa Kwitney which was just meh...this was her first book and she definitely has gotten better. So I'd have to say I'm glad I had read some of her other stuff before this one because I might not have given her another chance after this one. It's about a college freshman with weight issues and an assortment of other characters that sort of revolve around each other - some bits were ok but overall again not her best work.

Then today I finished The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks - another tear jerker - I seem to have picked more than a few of these for this challenge. This is his newest book - the one he wrote basically as the premise for a movie with Miley Cyrus (movie is in production now I believe) - so I wasn't sure if I would like it as much as his others but I definitely did. He went back to a story about teen romance (like in A Walk to Remember) but it's also about family and forgiveness and I really don't want to give a lot away so I'll leave it at that. If you like his books this is definitely one of his better ones in my opinion.

8 TASKS COMPLETE - 3 PARTIALLY DONE
15 BOOK READ
4,583 PAGES READ


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Nicole wrote: "Completed 25.9 by reading by Jennifer Traig. I found it quite humorous and well-written. A quick read!


"
You have to read 2 books for 25.9 - a self-help book & a book about someone (fictional or non-fiction) who undergoes a positive change in their life

Cynthia wrote: "Nicole wrote: "Completed 25.9 by reading by Jennifer Traig. I found it quite humorous and well-written. A quick read!


"
Y..."

I thought 25.9 was Sam's task? Use the word devil (etc)?

Nicole wrote: "Cynthia wrote: "Nicole wrote: "Completed 25.9 by reading by Jennifer Traig. I found it quite humorous and well-written. A q..."No that's 25.10 - 25.9 is Diane's - I'll put you down for Sams.

Cynthia wrote: "Nicole wrote: "Completed 25.9 by reading by Jennifer Traig. I found it quite humorous and well-written. A quick read!


"
Y..."
OOPS. I meant 25.10.


I must not have hit save the day I updated my tasks to include my own and renumbered the other ones. SORRY!

Nicole wrote: "thank god! I finally am going to get some more points. I completed Task 25.6. great task Cindy! I got to read three books I really wanted to read, 2 of which I owned.
one word: [bookcover:Mercy|10..."
So I meant 25.7 for this one. WOW. I am all screwed up this challenge.

25.10 - Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Total Points: 100
Completed Tasks: 5

5. 6. Terrifying Titles - Read A Novel That Has An Adjective In The Title That Relates To Halloween...I.E. Spooky, Creepy, Crawly, Scary etc. Plum Spooky Janet Evanovich 9-13-09 309 Pages

Current Pages Read: 2458
Books Read: 8
Challenges Completed: 5
Total Points: 50

COMPLETED TASKS:

15.9 HOMEWORK - Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg (pp 260) READ 9.12.09
15.9 POST A HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT- In the story, Helen conducts a writer's workshop. List five questions Helen could have used as prompts to impel her students to write. (For example: Write about your first kiss.) Then, choose one of your questions, and write a two page response.




TASKS COMPLETED: 5
TASKS IN PROGRESS: 5
BOOKS READ: 9
PAGES READ: 2469
TOTAL POINTS EARNED: 75

I'm getting kind of annoyed at myself. I finished TWO WHOLE BOOKS today, but they're each part of multi-book tasks... so no new points. I now have 5 multi-book tasks partially completed... 15.3, 15.8, 20.2, 25.1, 25.7... *sigh*

Completed the cat - related task: book with cat on cover (5 points) May Sarton, "The Fur Person".

http://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/5...

Total points: 25

Finished 5.9 coming of age - I'm not scared by Niccolo Ammaniti
Not sure if I should edit my existing completed tasks comment or add a new one so I did both!

25.8. CAIT'S TASK nouns
proper noun What Happened to Cass McBride?
proper place Carved in BoneA BODY FARM NOVEL ( approved by Cait)
thing 206 Bones

25 points

NEW GRAND TOTAL 165

Completed 5.6 Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

I completed 15.6, Drama Club with
Shakespeare's The Tempest
and watched a BBC production on DVD
Ariel and the spirits were wearing gold metallic spray paint and g-strings- when they made their appearance my husband left to watch football...he wasn't a fan.

+15
total 130

Completed 20.1 by reading Leota's Garden and was pleasantly surprised that I really liked it. Only one thing bothered me...there was an implication that one of the characters had to be single in order to serve God (two men were in love with her and she declined both of them because of God). I don't know that that sits well with me. But other than that, I thought it was a touching story, definitely not preachy overall and dealt with life issues that are very common.


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25.3 Positive Gay or Lesbian:
The Night Watch by Sarah Waters
25 points.

Grand Total? a whopping 35 points! ;)

20.3 Group Read: Shutter Island. Read it in a few hours, still sorting out thoughts on it.

Pages read: 748
Books read: 3
Tasks completed: 3
Total Points: 55
Liz (Bklyn)

Finished task 10.10 the cat's meow by finishing Canapes for the kitties by Marion Babson. I gave it 2 stars it was ok fourtunatly it was short. That brings my total to 55 points.

Finished:

30.1: Roseann's Task

Current Job: Writer
READ: The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan

Dream Job: Social Worker
READ: The Folded World by Amity Gaige

Sara ♥ wrote: "I'm getting kind of annoyed at myself. I finished TWO WHOLE BOOKS today, but they're each part of multi-book tasks... so no new points. I now have 5 multi-book tasks partially completed... 15.3, ..."

I KNOW Sara, I'm right behind you there with 4 multi-book tasks started. Someday we'll post those points! I decided after the Summer Challenge that I would read more of the books in the order that I wanted to read them (as they struck my fancy) so I know the posting of the points will be a bit more haphazard this time around.

Christine wrote: "Completed the cat - related task: book with cat on cover (5 points) May Sarton, "The Fur Person".

http://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/5...

Total points: 25"

I recently finished this cat task. It's a 10 point (not 5 point) task. (Task number is 10.10) I think you have more total points than you think. Wa-hoo ---- don't you love it when THAT happens? :-)