The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

Finished 5-5 with Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. I really don't remember what I thought of it when I read it for high school, now I loved it, so thought provoking!

25 points

Task 5.9 READ: Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pezzl (Coming of Age Novel)

I completed task 25.9. I read The Happiness Makeover How to Teach Yourself to Be Happy and Enjoy Every Day and The Alchemist.

The Happiness Makeover was nothing new, which I find is often a problem with self help books. They tend to just repeat things that everyone knows, or point out problems without offering true solutions. Oh well.

I was really disappointed in The Alchemist. I was completely prepared to love it, and did not at all. I am debating now whether it should get one or two stars.

Point Total: 135
Page Total: 2079

My update:

20.3 - Shutter Island - Dennis Lehane

Well, I wouldn't have picked this book up without participating in the challenge...and I won't be picking up another Dennis Lehane book.

On the board with 20 points!

Finished:
25.5 Janice's Task The Eagle's Prophecy by Simon Scarrow

My favorite Roman soldiers Macro and Cato are sent out to secretly recover the scrolls of the Delphine Oracle from pirates.

Finished 10-3:

'Can't you Sleep Little Bear?' Martin Waddell and Barbara Firth

'Duncan and Dolores' Barbara Samuels

'Sleepy Bears' Mem Fox and,

'Blabber Mouse' by True Kelley

35 points

Completed:
1) 5 point "Adoption" - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows

2) 10 point "Superhero" - books 1-3 from Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan

3) 20 point "Christian" - Where Yesterday Lives by
Karen Kingsbury

4) 20 point "Gay\lesbian" - The Immortals by Alyson Noel

Total: 55/690

For Diane's task (25.9) I read The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (absolutely loved it!)




Books Read: 8
Tasks Completed: 7
Total Points: 95
Total Pages: 2592

Hey Cynthia,

My name is no longer on the leaderboard. I've completed these tasks:

5.1 The Bonesetter's Daughter - Amy Tan
5.9 The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
10.5 Night - Elie Wiesel
10.8 My random words were: Credit, Kill, and Flower.
I read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See
15.4 I read Digital Fortress - Dan Brown and watched all of the Planet Earth documentaries.

I've partially completed 25.8 a) Sarah's Key - Tatiana de Rosnay c) The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

Total Points: 45 points
Task In Progess: 1
Books Reading: 1

Thanks!
Michelle

25.10. SAM'S TASK - Halloween Part III: Monsterfest - Read A Book With One Of The Following In The Title: Devil, Witch, Vampire, Zombie, Or Werewolf.

The Patriot Witch by C.C. Finlay

Total points 55

Okay, I think I've something to report finally. :D

Task 5.5 Going Back To School - Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (9/12/09) Review
Task 5.6 Terrifying Titles - The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (9/5/09) Review

Task 10.10 This Task Is The Cat's Meow - Spy Cat by Peg Kehret 9/10/09) Review

Task 20.2 ROOKIE OF THE SEASON -
Starts w/ E-Expecting...In Texas by Marie Ferrarella (9-9-09) Review
Starts w/ F- Foreign Body by Robin Cook (9-3-09) Review
Starts w/ G- [The:] Good Husband of Zebra Drive (#1 Ladies' Detective Agency series) by Alexander McCall Smith (9/7-09) Review

Total Points: 40/690
Books Read: 7/60
Tasks Completed: 4/45
Pages Read: 1869
(Yes, I realize my books read doesn't match the report. I've a couple multi-tasks halfway done). :D

I have finished Rosann's Task:

Current Profession- Teacher
I read The Fiction Class by Susan Breen.

Dream Profession-Writer
I read This Pen For Hire A Jaine Austen Mysteryby Laura Levine




Tasks Completed: 6
Tasks Started: 4
Books Read: 9 (plus 3 childrens picture books)
Pages Read: 2,835
Points Earned: 30 for a total of 145
# of Books from "owned and unread" shelf: 7

Finished: 25.3 - Read a book with a positive gay/lesbian character. I read Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris.

Newly Completed Tasks:

15.4 – Science Fact vs. Science Fiction: Read A Science Fiction Novel And Watch A Film Related To Science Or Scientific Discovery.

The Host

I couldn’t stop reading this book last weekend. It drew me in, and never let me go. I rated it 5 stars, and I rarely hand out that rating. I normally don’t gravitate towards sci-fi books so I’m glad this challenge pushed me in that direction. I’ve read other folks reviews that said that they saw the book ending coming a mile away. I had envisioned a completely different ending, and was taken a bit by surprise by the ending. I thought that this book was better than Meyer’s ‘Twilight’ series in that there was more character development. I cared more what happened to these characters.

For the science film viewing portion of the task I watched a program on the Science channel that fittingly talked about the birth of the universe, and the creation of different stars and planets. An astrophysicist was the narrator (sorry, I can’t remember his name now), and it was terrific. I also watched a National Geographic special about Hurricane Katrina.

Total Points: 60
Tasks in Process: 5
Completed Tasks: 4/45
Books Read for Completed Tasks: 4/60
Pages Read for Completed Tasks: 1,408


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5.1 Our Children Are Our Future - Bless The Beasts And Children by Glendon Swarthout.

Total Points: 170/690
Books Read: 23 (+ 8 Berenstain Bears books)
Tasks Completed: 12/45
Tasks in Progress: 6


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Diane wrote: "5.1 Our Children Are Our Future - Bless The Beasts And Children by Glendon Swarthout.

Total Points: 170/690
Books Read: 23 (+ 8 Berenstain Bears books)
Task..."

Please ignore the ticker - I can't get it to update...

Here we go...

5.1 Our Children Are Our Future - Bless The Beasts And Children by Glendon Swarthout.

Total Points: 170/690
Books Read: 23 (+ 8 Berenstain Bears books)
Tasks Completed: 12/45
Tasks in Progress: 6


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Diane,

My ticker would not update either! How did you get yours to?

Completed 10.7 Superhero/hero:
by reading Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward

New total: 55 pts

liz (vegas)

Done with task 10.1 (Buddy Holly). For this one, I decided to take a trip down memory lane and read Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It was first published in 1941. I love the Little House books and this is one of my favorites :).

Total points = 175


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Completed: Task 15.3

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

• Addition - Add Up The Number Of Letters Found In Your First and Last Names Then Read A Book Written By An Author Whose Name Contains The Same Number Of Letters.

For me, that was 10 letters - Nevada Barr's Winter Study Review

• 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.

1962/47 is equal to 42.17. Therefore I read a book that was the 4th in a series:

The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #4) by Rick Riordan Review

Current Pages Read: 857
Books Read: 2
Challenges Completed: 1
Total Points: 15

Finally I'm on the board...
finished Task 20.3 Group Read with The Shadow of the Wind.

Diane wrote: "5.1 Our Children Are Our Future - Bless The Beasts And Children by Glendon Swarthout.

Total Points: 170/690
Books Read: 23 (+ 8 Berenstain Bears books)
Task..."

I love this book--I read it in college for an education class, and always had a hard time finding it--it looks like there is a recent printing.

Just finished task 15.1 by reading two books with the same preposition: IN the Woods by Tana French (3* - good plot, disappointing end) and Love IN the Present Tense by Catherine Ryan Hyde (5* - a rollercoaster read! Loved it!)

Total points: 90

I have finally finished task #5.8 by slogging my way through Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith & Jane Austen. Just meh.

No new points, but I finished part of Nicole's task by reading A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein and also the letter M for the ABC task by reading Midnight by Sister Souljah.

I have completed tasks 10.3 and 15.7.

For anyone looking for a sports related book I highly recommend Outcasts United A Refugee Team, an American Town. It's about a woman soccer coach who put together a team of refugees to play soccer in Atlanta. It's probably my favorite book of 2009 so far, which is saying a lot because I rarely read nonfiction and am not even that big of a soccer fan. I'm sure it could fit in multiple catagories for this challenge!

Oh, and I played soccer with the kids I nanny for to complete that task.

10 Points
3. Children’s Books: Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, Bernard Waber 48pgs
Katie and the Sunflowers, James Mayhew 32pgs
Katie Meets the Impressionists, James Mayhew 32 Pages

15 Points
7. Let's Get Physical (P.E.) Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town, Warren St. John

Totals
Points: 25
Tasks: 2
Books: 4
Pages: 400

I completed 5.10, Time Travel with
Time of My Life A Novel by Allison Winn Scotch

+5
total = 135

Maggie wrote: "I have completed tasks 10.3 and 15.7.

For anyone looking for a sports related book I highly recommend Outcasts United A Refugee Team, an American Town. It's about a woman soccer c..."

Maggie! I didn't realize there were other Katie books!

When I was little my favorite book was about a girl named Katie who went to a museum with her grandmother and somehow was able to get into the paintings to explore. I used to read it over and over and over and over. At the end, though, she went into a Malevich or something like that and all the shapes started attacking her--it got a little scary. Anyway, I didn't realize there was a series! ***squeels*** Thanks for sharing.

And, by the way, for those of you who spend so much time reading picture books to your children and wonder if it actually makes any difference, it does. Twenty years later I got a degree in art history, a job at a museum, and still when I walk into a gallery I always pick the painting that I would most like to climb into. Thanks, Gramie!

I had a weekend of manly tales.

For task 10.9 (Civil War), I read The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. I'm not quite sure why so many people hate this book--I thought it was pretty good. Testosterone driven, but well written.

For 5.3 (Sea Travel), I read The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad. I heart Conrad...not so much the "men at sea" part, but the exquisite prose. It's so easy to forget that English is not his first language (or his second, as it turns out).

My book includes a biographical sketch of Conrad that claims he was close friends with...wait for it...Stephen Crane. Surprise, surprise. I'd love to say I did that on purpose, but no.

Total Points: 115

3 more tasks, and only one disappointing book - after loving 'The Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime', I looked forward to enjoying 'A Spot of Bother', but it didn't work for me.

5.10 Fall Back in Time: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer (391 pp)Sept. 13

10.4 Hispanic Heritage Month: Nicaragua: A Gift of Hope The Tony Melendez Story by Tony Melendez (171 pp) Sept. 12

30.1 Roseann's Task: One book re: Present Job + One book re: Dream Job
Present Job: Retirement: A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon (368 pp) Sept. 11
Dream Job: Bookstore Owner/Librarian: The Case of the Missing Books- Mobile Library Mysteries by Ian Sansom (336 pp) Sept. 9

Total Pages = 5499

Total Points = 200

Katie wrote: "Maggie wrote: "I have completed tasks 10.3 and 15.7.

For anyone looking for a sports related book I highly recommend Outcasts United A Refugee Team, an American Town. It's about a..."

I didn't know about Katie books, but when I was little, my parents had a tape with Katie songs on them. I remember on went something like "Katie, beautiful Katie, you're the only Katie I adore..." or something like that. I went by Katie when I was a kid!

Task 5.5 finished. Pride and Prejudice

I'm glad I re-read this because I skimmed it in college lit class just enough to know how to bs my way through the test on it. I very much enjoyed the story.

New total: 65 points

5.7 - Coffee at Luke's An Unauthorized Gilmore Girls Gabfest by Jennifer Crusie
For this challenge we are to tell what we are most thankful for. Well, I am most thankful for my mom, she's my best friend (just like Lorelai and Rory on Gilmore Girls) and my rock. Thanks mom! :)

Total Points: 105
Tasks Completed: 7

Weekend updates:
10.4 Hispanic Heritage with The Hummingbird's Daughter. I wasn't a huge fan. I'm not sure if it was the translation or the writing, but I found it to be very choppy, just kind of jumping around a bit.

25.5 Janice's fortune telling/prophecy task, Undead and Unwed. Betsy is prophesied to the queen of the vampires who will bring peace. It was light and fun and just what I needed in the midst of a bunch of heavy books.

Total point: 75

Jennifer wrote: "Okay, I think I've something to report finally. :D

Task 5.5 Going Back To School - Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (9/12/09) Review
Task 5.6 Terrifying Titles - The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaim..."For 5.6 the word needs to be an adjective - Graveyard is a noun so I can't count that.

Completed 10-10 with 'Who's Kitten Who' by Cynthia Baxter.

45 points

It's kinda hard to tell but there is an orange tabby cat piloting the red plane.

Just completed 25.10 by reading Witch Hill. I was intrigued to read this as the author is the same as The Mists of Avalon, which has been on my TBR for a while.
However, this one couldn't go by fast enough for me - I didn't like it at all, but it was a quick one for this task.

Total Points: 40

25. 5. JANICE'S TASK - Fortune Telling Has Long Been A Halloween Tradition: Read A Book With "Fortune" Or "Prophecy" In The Title, OR That Features Fortune-Telling, Prophecy Or Prediction(s) As The Main Theme Or Has A Fortune Teller As A Main Character. The Fury The Vampire Diaries #3 L.J. Smith 9-13-09: Bonnie, one of Elena’s best friends, is psychic. She has moments where she is possessed by a spirit and makes prophecies. She can also read palms and tell the future. 245 Pages

Current Pages Read: 2703
Books Read: 9
Challenges Completed: 6
Total Points: 75

Michelle♥ wrote: "Diane,

My ticker would not update either! How did you get yours to?"

I gave up and made a new one.

Yay! A multi-book task finally finished: this was a fun one to find books for!

15.1 Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris, read 9/12/2009, 292 pp. and Until Forever by Johanna Lindsey, read 9/8/2009,356 pp.

Total points: 80/690
Tasks completed: 5/45
Books read: 9/59
Total pages: 2742

It has been a productive weekend. Just completed task 10.8 by reading The Crying Tree A Novel. I can't remember all three words (hopefully not a req) but crying was one of my randomly generated words and I am glad because I may have never heard of this book otherwise. At first I thought it seemed too simple and predictable and then it just burst to life in a way I never expected. Loved it.


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Finished :
25.7-One, Two Three
1. Netherland by Joseph O'Neill. I wanted to like this book, but found it way depressing. You could maybe use it for the P.E. task as there is some stuff about cricket in it.
2, Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle. A delightful fantasy that reminded me a lot of Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot Being the Correspondence of Two Young Ladies of Quality Regarding Various Magical Scandals in London and the Country, which is one of my favorite Wrede books.
3, By Heresies Distressed by David Weber. Newest book in the Safehold series, the biggest drawback is the weird name spellings which slows my reading down.

20.3 Group Read

I read Shutter Island. Finished it in one day and I loved the twist.

20 more points!

I just finished task 5.8 (two heads) by reading Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman.

The story is based on the life of a real person, Katherine Mary O'Fallon, a 16-year-old girl who is sent to live with her uncle in Canada in the early 1900's. She falls in love with a Mountie and winds up traveling through the Canadian wilderness with him.

The book was sweet, sometimes sad but had a happy ending. It was a lovely book.




TASKS COMPLETED: 7
TASKS PARTIALLY COMPLETED: 3
BOOKS READ: 9 (+4 kids books)
PAGES READ: 3,031
POINTS EARNED: 40
NUMBER OF BOOKS READ FROM MY 'OWNED AND UNREAD' SHELF: 8

Finished my first task :) Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut which I loved! The more I think about it the better it gets. I can't wait to read more of his work. This was for 10.10 The Cat's Meow


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25.9 The Complete Book Of Running For Womenby Claire Kowalchik and The Zeezrom Syndrome Let Your Spiritual Awakening Beginby Rodney Jay Vessels

Points: 25

Total Points: 130
Total Pages: 3161

Krista wrote: "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. "

I'm glad someone else is feeling my pain! I'm not necessarily trying to read them in the order I want to (I want to read almost all of them), but I AM trying to read them before they're due back to the library... without renewing each one 7000 times (like last challenge) and that's... a bit constraining...

For 25.6 I read John Major's Autobiography (BJ Rose has OK'd this choice for this task)

This was a long read but fascinating for me to go back over the Major government as it was the first one I could have voted for and so I was more politically aware than I was previously.

This was a long read but fascinating for me to go back over the Major government as it was the first one I could have voted for and so I was more politically aware than I was previously.

I do remember that John Major had a very bad press often, and reading the autobiography I sometimes struggled to work out why. He was never a dramatic politician, normally conciliatory and forced to be more so by the Euro-sceptic faction in the Conservative party.

I have greater respect for him as a Prime Minister now than I did at the time.

Though it is said to be a revealing autobiography he conveniently does not mention the four year affair with Edwina Currie that came to light in her memoirs later in 2002

Achievements of John Major's Ministry

Highest popular vote ever recorded by a political party in a British General Election (though this resulted in a lower majority)
Citizen's Charter
Ratification of the Maastricht Treaty with opt-outs on the single currency and the social chapter
The National Lottery
Worked towards peace in Bosnia
Much of the groundwork for the Good Friday Agreement was done under the Major government
Economic recovery following the recession of 1989

Biggest Scandal of John Major's Ministry

Cash for questions which took down several prominent MPs including the now infamous Neil Hamilton

total 785 pages

Points for this book: 25
Points to date: 100

Kristina UK