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FALL CHALLENGE 2009
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FALL CHALLENGE 2009 COMPLETED TASKS

It just so happened that this was my book club's pick for September. Yay that it happened to fit!


25.6 TIPPECANOE PRESIDENTIAL BIOGRAPHY - (500pp) - Franklin & Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship by Jon Meacham (pp 512) READ 9.19.09
25.6 MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENT/BIGGEST SCANDAL - After reading, I came away with the sense that FDR's major accomplishment in general terms was that he provided hope to the people, not just in the U.S., but around the world; and he had the vision for global leadership. Specifically, the relationship he fostered with Churchill and thus England, then Stalin and Russia set the course for uniting world powers and creating the United Nations. Also, his careful deliberation and timing of the United States support and entrance into WWII is accredited for the victorious outcome of the war.
The biggest scandal associated with FDR was his love affair with Lucy Mercer, later Rutherford. Eleanor found out about the affair and forbid FDR from seeing her again. Over the years, he comforted her over the loss of her husband and helped her children. Shockingly, Lucy was with him when he suffered his fatal cerebral hemorrhage.

TASKS COMPLETED: 6
TASKS IN PROGRESS: 5
BOOKS READ: 11
PAGES READ: 3397
TOTAL POINTS EARNED: 100

Points to date: 45
Tasks completed: 3

That has me at:
Total Points: 145
Completed Tasks: 11
Books Read: 19 (including children's books)
Pages Read: 3,816

Finished 5.10 with Time of My Life by Allison Winn Scotch. Definitely liked this one; not too pat, still uplifting, still thoughtful.
That has me at:
Total Points: 145
Completed Tasks: 11
Books Read: 19 (including children's books)
Pages Read: 3,816

I read The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde.
I can't say whether the world would actually be a better place if the ending of Jane..."
Melissa, I also thought that Fforde's first book in this series was average. However, I've been told by fans of the series that it just sets everything up for the later books, which are much better than the first. I don't know because I haven't read any more since the first, but I will likely give the second book a try. Do you think that you will read the next book?

I read The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde.
I can't say whether the world would actually be a better place i..."
No I can honestly say I won't be giving this series another chance. The book just didn't do anything for me. I have far to many others books I'd rather read than give this series a second chance. :(

1. Our Children Are Our Future (Reads) - Funnily The First Letters Of The Fall Months Spell Out The Word Son (September, October, November) - So Read A Book That Has The Word Son(s), Daughter(s) (Because They're Just As Important), Kid(s), Child, or Children In The Title.
I just completed Fortunate Son by Walter Mosley. :)
TOTAL: 35

Let me just say that I adore your task, Diane. Even though it slowed me down a little because I would definitely say these two reads gave me a lot of pause for personal contemplation (in a good way).
25.9 For my self help book I read The Joy of Appreciative Living Your 28-Day Plan to Greater Happiness in 3 Incredibly Easy Steps. It is a book that I feel is profound in it's simplicity and practicality, but also inspiring for it's many thought-provoking quotations and anecdotes. A tidbit: "Increasing joy is about learning to make your everyday experiences gradually a little more pleasant. It is not about creating the perfect moment or the absolute best experience, but slowly improving your daily experiences."
For the second part of this task I read the memoir The Wishing Year An Experiment in Desire. It explores the nature of wishing, possibilities in our lives and the heavy skepticism that goes into having faith that what you want and need will come to you. Also- synchronicity (love that word). I think she strikes an incredible balance between personal stories and worldly wisdom from both religious, psychological and literary references.
I could not have done a better job pairing books I had I done so deliberately. It just so happened I wanted to read them both, I owned them both and they fit this task. This in itself seems sort of meaningful to me (I won't bore you with all the personal details as to why). I gave both 5 stars and gave a proper review to each which I am normally too lazy to do!
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I read The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde.
I can't say whether the world would actually be a bette..."
I really enjoyed all of the Jasper Fforde books, but the style is so different--I agree that if you didn't like the first, you probably wouldn't like the others and I wouldn't recommend trying anymore of them.

4.
5.Skylight Confessions
..."
Convince me that this fits the Fortune Telling Task
;^) Jan"
I looked at the wording of task 25.5 that said prediction. The main them is that the one moment when she cast the prediction or fortune into the air that she would marry the next man that she met, who would be her one true love. She met John Moody who felt drawn to her and although he saw the situation as a wrong turn, in the end he too realizes that she was the person that he was supposed to be with the one he was always searching for all along.
Going to the word prophecy- the catholic dictionary defines it as such... understood in its strict sense, it means the foreknowledge of future events, though it may sometimes apply to past events of which there is no memory, and to present hidden things which cannot be known by the natural light of reason. Isn't that what Sam does all along. He predicts his life of ruin, he sees his life and his future is nothing but pain and misery, although there is no evidence that it should be that way and others dismiss his thoughts as not reasonable. Looking at his prediction about the squirrel. If the squirrel lived then everything was going to be okay. The squirrel died when Arlyn was at the hospital giving birth to his sister, and soon after his mother died of cancer and his prediction was proven to be true. Nothing was okay for him after that moment, the moment the squirrel died set into motion the fortune he had placed on the squirrel's life.
Originally, I had planned to read Prophecy of the Sisters for this task, and I had read this book for the addiction task, but it was so heavy with fortune and destiny and fate that I felt it fit in this task better, since the addiction was based on his prediction/prophecy that he had placed on the squirrel.
Just let me know what you think.

if you haven't read this book yet, please do. it's an incredibly important book that everyone should read.
so now i'm REALLY off to read Sedaris!!!!!

Total Points: 250/690
Books Read: 34 (+ 8 Berenstain Bears books)
Tasks Completed: 20/45
Tasks in Progress: 7
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Total points = 200
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15.1 - Brush Up On Your Grammar - Prepositions
Across the Wall by Garth Nix and Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn.
Total Points: 15

Previous reads
5.4 Adoption - Digging to America by Anne Tyler
20.3 Group Read - Shutter Island by Dennis LeHane
25.5 Fortune in the title - Fortune's Rocks by Anita Shreve
30.1 current job and dream job - The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury(I work in a University) and The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (I would love to own a bookshop).
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5.6 Terrifying Titles [image error] Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Okay, this is a scary as I want my books to be (I know I'm a chicken but I live alone, except for a vivid imagination) Taken objectively it is not really a frightening book, but then the wind rattles the storm window and that's it. I'll never listen to calliope music in the same way again.

by Seth Grahame-Smith (and Jane Austen!!)
for challenge 25.9
I'd wanted to read this for a while, having enjoyed P&P and being generally quirky, was pleased to see this was from Quirk Books!
It was an easy read in one sense, knowing the background to the original story, then seeing the little (or not so little departures). Sometimes these were little additions to the original text, and I was pleased to see the favourite passages changed very little.
Sometimes (in the case of Charlotte Lucas, Mr Collins and Mr Wickham) the changes were more substantial, and I can't say I was sorry to see them!
One minor negative point is that the spelling of words (e.g. Honor/Honour) varied. It seemed like the spelling in the original passages had been left as British, but the additions often were in the US style.
What would Jane have said? Not so much spinning in her grave but rising from it, zombie-style!
An enjoyable take on a classic, I thought
Another 25 points and another challenge completed
Points to date: 135

5.5 (School Reading) The Communist Manifesto - Karl Marx*
10.4 (Chile) Last Evenings on Earth - Robert Bolano
25.1 (Rhyme Time) To Bedlam and Part Way Back & All My Pretty Ones - Anne Sexton / The Girl with the Long Green Heart - Lawrence Block
25.3 (LGBT) Tales of the City - Armistead Maupin
Total Points - 200
*My entire high school was assigned to read The Communist Manifesto for its weekly seminar topic when I was (I think) a sophomore. At the time, I felt the book had a density and difficulty level over and above what was usually expected of us for seminar, and I shunned it as any self-respecting teenager with a grudge would, only skimming the book enough to get by with BS writing/discussion. Crazed as I was by the earlier bipartisan adoption of NAFTA, I should have paid a little more attention. After a quick scan back through the complete text for the first time since the early 90s, I'm not surprised how accurate and eerily prescient Marx was with respect to today's globalization, free trade, partisan American politics, distractions aimed at keeping the working class in line, etc. Section III.2--Conservative, or Bourgeois Socialism--nails what's going on now with the Wall Street bailouts and objections to health care reform: It's important big banks and health care companies continue to prosper while making everyone else suffer--after all, they're only working, as Marx sarcastically put it, "for the benefit of the working class."
In other words, I stand by my original teen-aged assertion that the reading may have been a little too much for the average student at my high school; however, the reading itself is highly appropriate for today's current social and political climate.

Welcome to the Jungle by Jim Butcher
Great prequel to the Dresden Files series. If you're a fan of fighting evil magic with a twist of dark humor, you may enjoy this series.
Total Points: 75
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?ke...

4.
5.Skylight Confessions
..."
Convince me that this fits the Fortune Telling Task
;^) Jan"
I looked at the wording of task 25.5 that ..."
I just had seen nothing in the blurb or reviews that mentioned predictions. When I envisioned the task, I was thinking more of professional fortune tellers, and trying to rule out the "flash of future" precognition that is basically deja vu. Still, deliberately basing decisions on predictions is what the customers of fortune tellers do all the time. So, I'll accept this one without reservation.

I read 24-Karat Kids A Novel by Judy Goldstein.

Tasks Completed: 10
Tasks Started: 3
Books Read: 14 (plus 3 children's books)
Pages Read: 4,618
Points Earned: 215
# of Books from "owned and unread" shelf: 11

5.2 - An Apple A Day - Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (the audiobook)

Total Books Read = 16
Tasks Completed = 10
Tasks In Progress = 9


New pt total: 15 pts

4.
5.Skylight Confessions
..."
Convince me that this fits the Fortune Telling Task
;^) Jan"
I looked at the word..."
There is a fortune teller in this book too. She does make some predictions, but is not a main character, but it is the fortune teller that leads Meredith to the Moody family. The fortune teller tells her that there is no helping them and in a way that is what she tries to do and fails.

4.
5.Skylight Confessions
..."
Convince me that this fits the Fortune Telling Task
;^) Jan"
I looked at th..."
I'm going to have to check out this Skylight Confessions. Maybe the Winter Challenge will have a slot for it, because I already have books for all my Fall tasks chosen.
;^D

4.
5.Skylight Confessions
..."
Convince me that this fits the Fortune Telling Task
;^) Ja..."
Janice, it is a wonderful book. I just finished it in August. One of my new favorite Hoffman's! Hope you enjoy it!

Total points still 25, books read: 4

Current Pages Read: 2996
Books Read: 10
Challenges Completed: 7
Total Points: 85




by reading Jump, Frog, Jump!, Five Little Monkeys Wash the Car, Five Little Monkeys with Nothing to Do, The Big Wide-Mouthed Frog, Little Quack's Hide and Seek, Click, Clack, Splish, Splash A Counting Adventure
New total: 65

That brings me to 80 points.


Julie and Julia by Julie Powell
20 points
total 210

6. Terrifying Titles - Read A Novel That Has An Adjective In The Title That Relates To Halloween...I.E. Spooky, Creepy, Crawly, Scary etc.
The Haunting of L, Howard Norman.
25 POINT TASK
7. CINDY'S TASK - One, Two, Three - Read Three Books...
• One With A One Word Title - Island, Aldous Huxley.
• The Second With A Two Word Title - Ice Palace, Edna Ferber.
• And The Third With A Three Word Title. - The Autumn People, Ray Bradbury.


• Read 2 Books That Were Originally Published In The Same Foreign Language. These were originally published in Swedish
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson-9/16 (590 pgs)
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson-9/20 (504 pgs)
Loved both books!
New Total: 75 points

10.5--A CHILD OF HITLER by Alfons Heck
This was actually much more interesting than I thought it was going to be as it was a detailed account of a man who achieved high rank in the Hitle Jugen. I have not read a book from this "sides" point of view and was happy to find that many of the citizens of Germany (not the author) were against the war as it happened. The author who was very young when he entered the service admitted that it took him many years to get away from the indoctrination and actually see what Hitler had done to his country.
15.2--ATOMIK AZTEX by Sesshu Foster
An alternate history where the Axtecs won and now hold the Spanish as slaves. I was really looking forward to this read as I enjoy alternate history books; unfortunately, that was not the case her. It seemed to me that the only reason the author chose to write a book where the Axtec won was to write a very violent novel. Here was a world where slavery and human sacrafices existed, yet "Juan" Lennon still wrote Beatle songs and WWII happened just like our history. I would have liked to see more about how the culture of the Aztecs would have evolved over time and not just an extension of how it was when it actually existed. Definately not a good future, unless you happened to be an Aztec(x).
15.2--C IS FOR CORPSE by Sue Grafton (my age divided by the year I was born is 43)
Another solid mystery from the alphabet writer.
&
THE COLORADO KID by Stephen King (11 letters in my names)
I have been wanting to read this for some time as it was when King was thinking about retiring so he wrote some "pulp" fiction in place of his horror norm. It was a fun read, but I don't think everyone would like how it turns out.
and
25.1--A LIGHT IN THE ATTIC by Shel Silverstein
I am so very glad that I was able to get another of this author's books into my challenge. I really love his poetry.
&
WHITE NOISE by Don DelLillo
This one is hard to explain as the author goes on tangents with his characters. I didn't like it at first, but then it caught my interest and I found myself actually laughing out loud at how people are able to dance around a conversation wheh they don't want to answer hard questions. Not for everyone, but if you like experimental type lit, take a look!
WHEW! This brings me to 335 points!!


I downloaded the audiobook Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg to my IPOD and listened to it during my treadmill and walking times this month. I was so involved today that I even took the dog for an extra walk to finish the last half-hour. LOL
The book was a sweet, moving story about a senior citizen who experienced a near death experience. Her glimpse of heaven before she awakened impacted her and the people around her - helped them to understand that heaven is what you make it. And it can be experienced now on earth. The characters were quaint and the story was a good one for multi-tasking (listening and exercising).
90 Points
7 Books
2359 Pages
7 Tasks
5 In Process

1. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
2.
3. Vanished at Sea: The True Story of a Child TV Actor and Double Murder by Tina Dirmann
4. The Face on the Milk Carton by Carolyn B. Cooney
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark by Alvin Schwartz, Stephen Gammell (Illustrator)
7. Whatever Happened to Janie? by Caroline B. Cooney
8.
9. Little Women by Louis May Alcott
10. Something Upstairs : A Tale Of Ghosts by Avi
10 POINT TASKS
1. The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien
2.
3.
4. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
5. The Book Thief by by Markus Zusak
6.
7. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller
8. Breaking Dawn By Stephanie Meyer
9. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
10. The Cat Who Could Read Backwards (Cat Who..., #1) by Lilian Jackson Braun
15 POINT TASKS
1. About a Boy by Nick Hornby and Don't You Forget About Me (Gossip Girl, #11) by Cecily von Ziegesar
2. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
3. The Ex Games (Romantic Comedies) by Jennifer Echols and
4. The Host by Stephanie Meyer
5. When Jonathan Died by Tony Duvert and The Tenant by Roland Topor
6. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Volume One in the Wicked Years) by Gregory Maguire
7. Adam Copeland On Edge by Adam Copeland
8. The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoevsky and The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky
9. No Place Like Home A Novel by Mary Higgins Clark
10. The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee and Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez
20 POINT TASKS
1.The Shack by William P. Young
2.
3. Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell
25 POINT TASKS
1. A Light In The Attic By Shel Silverstein And The Friday Night Knitting Club By Kate Jacobs
2. Carrie by Stephen King and Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
3.
4.
5. Daughter of Fortune: A Novel (P.S.) by Isabel Allende
6. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
7. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer and
8. Heart and Soul of Nick Carter by Jane Carter and Around a Minnesota Campfire by Ruth Hein , Terry Fisk and Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
9. Knitting for Dummies by Pam Allen, Trisha Malcolm and Julia's Chocolates by Cathy Lamb
10. Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, #1) by Richelle Mead
30 POINT TASKS
1. The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber and Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
50 POINT TASKS
110/690 Points
3578/19889 Pages Read

This book fit the challenge well, although I have to admit that I found it a bit unbelievable that people quote scripture that much in real life.
TOTAL POINTS: 95

Total Points: 255/690
Books Read: 35 (+ 8 Berenstain Bears books)
Tasks Completed: 21/45
Tasks in Progress: 7
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—The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
—Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
—Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss
15.3 Discover The Equation For Good Books (Math) - Pick 2:
—Subtraction: I'm 28 and my name has 19 letters in it = 9, so I read "Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon
—Division: 1980/28 = 70.7 = approx. 71, so I read "Undead and Unworthy" by MaryJanice Davidson, the 7th book in the Undead series.
TOTAL POINTS: 25

After the Apple: Women in the Bible: Timeless stories of Lust, Love, and Longing by Naomi Harris Rosenblatt (Task 5.2)
L.L. Bean The Making of an American Icon (Task 10.8) The word 'icon' was the tenth word generated.


Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss (53 pgs)
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon (42 pgs) Love this one!!
Bears in the Night (30 pgs) & Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree (39 pgs) by Stan & Jan Berenstain
Mouse Soup by Arnold Lobel (64 pgs)
Total: 228 pages
Also finished 10.10 Read a book that has cat in the title:
The Cat Who Knew Shakespere by Lilian Jackson Braun
I like her books. They are a quick read but they are not very exciting as they are all basicly the same.
Last but not least, I finished 15.8 Geography Lesson
My initials are TL.
7 Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer
I really enjoyed this book as I learned a lot about Tibet and how wonderful the people are. I love to learn about other people and cultures.
The Coroner's Lunch (Laos) by Colin Cotterill
I liked this mystery very much but had a hard time with the peoples' names and locations in Laos otherwise the book was well written. The ending took me by suprise which is not hard to do.
Total: 35 points
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Books mentioned in this topic
Tempt Me at Twilight (other topics)Patterns in the Sand (other topics)
The Shadow of the Wind (other topics)
My Grandfather's Son (other topics)
Soul of a Dog: Reflections on the Spirits of the Animals of Bedlam Farm (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Lisa Kleypas (other topics)Sally Goldenbaum (other topics)
Clarence Thomas (other topics)
Audrey Niffenegger (other topics)
Neil Gaiman (other topics)
More...
Total Points: 235/690
Books Read: 33 (+ 8 Berenstain Bears books)
Tasks Completed: 19/45
Tasks in Progress: 8
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