The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

Fought with myself for a long time about where I should place this novel, and finally decided that The 13.5 lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers belongs in 10.5 - Germany

New points:10
Old Points:105
Total Points:115
Tasks In progress:3
Pages Read:3553

Hello!

I have complete Task 25.10 - Sam's Task. I read the book Devil Bones by Kathy Reichs.




# of Tasks Completed - 10
# of Books Read - 18
# of Pages Read - 5495
# of points accrued - 170

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.
Good Omens by Pratchett and Gaiman
25 points
15.1. Brush Up On Your Grammar (English) - Select One Of The Following...
• Prepositions - Read 2 Books That Contain The Same Preposition In Their Titles. Ex. A Lesson Before Dying & I Heard That Song Before
The Singing and Dancing Daughters of God By Timothy Schaffert
Breakfast of Champions by Vonnegut
15 points
total 290

Off to a slow start but finally on the board.

5:9 Coming of age story. I Am the Messenger

Total 5 points.
Good thing I am going on vacation.

15.10. Teacher-Student Relations - Read Both...
• A Book With A Teacher As The Main Character Or With The Word Teacher(s), Teach, Teaches, or Teaching In The Title.
And
• A Book With A Main Character Who Is A Student Or With The Word Student(s), Study, Or Studies In The Title.

Teacher
To Sir with Love by E.R. Braithwaite

AND

Student
Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde

I completed 25.3 I read Ash by Malinda Lo. It is a lesbian retelling of Cinderella.

I completed 10.2. I read Ivy by Julie Hearn.


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For the Math challenge, I need a book with 2 letters for subtraction. Would a book with a main title of 2 letters and a subtitle work? I'm looking at "Me: Story of My life" by Katharine Hepburn...It's one of the few I've found

Finished:
30.1 Job Now: Office girl Sorcerer's Secretaries by Amy Kim Ganter

Dream Job: I want to open my own Tea Shoppe :) The Teashop Girls by Laura Schaefer

COMPLETED TASKS:

10.1 BUDDY HOLLY (1936-1959) - *Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe- (1958) (pp 224) READ 9.24.09






TASKS COMPLETED: 7
TASKS IN PROGRESS: 7
BOOKS READ: 13/60
PAGES READ: 3861
TOTAL POINTS EARNED: 110

I completed task 5.6 (Halloween) by reading Something Wicked This Way Comes - which was generally good, though definitely on the weak side compared to some other recent reads that I have chosen for this challenge.

Total points: 240

Jen wrote: "For the Math challenge, I need a book with 2 letters for subtraction. Would a book with a main title of 2 letters and a subtitle work? I'm looking at "Me: Story of My life" by Katharine Hepburn...I..."

Remember for subtraction the title can have that number of letters OR that number of words.

Task 10.2 Addiction: The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman



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Finished
10.4 Hispanic Heritage Sliced Iguana Travels in Mexico by Isabella Tree I'd give it 2*

Finished:

15.7 - Notes from the Underwire Adventures from My Awkward and Lovely Life
*read while on stationary bike this week!

TOTAL POINTS = 65

I completed 5.2, 10.4 and 15.4 to bring my total to 65 points. Thanks!

Read:
5 Points
2 Apple Cover or Title: Garden Spells, Sarah Addison Allen

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
4. Hispanic Heritage Month: Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Exquivel

15 Points
4.Science Fact vs. Science Fiction: Read: Specials, Soctt Westerfield and Watched: The Greatest Places, an IMAX flim about different amazing places all over the world.
7. Let's Get Physical Read: Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town, Warren St. John and played soccer


Totals
Points: 55
Tasks: 5
Books: 7
Pages: 1283

10.8 Random Word Generator

My 10th word was "club," so I read The Dante Club A Novel. A bit pompous, but in the end I really liked the story.

Total: 50

I finished 20.1, Christian fiction with
The God Cookie A Novel by Geoffrey Wood

+20
total 340

5.1 Seven Daughters and Seven Sons by Barbara Cohen

Total Points: 10

Two more tasks completed:

5.4 Adoption: Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber
10.8 Dictionary: The Owl in the Shower by Jean Craighead George

Adoption: Twenty Wishes --- An easy read story about a group of women taking a knitting class and deciding each to make a list of the 20 things they wanted most in life. One of these was a young widow who wanted love back in her life. Takes her through a whole process of loneliness, seeking help from friends, volunteering at a school, helping out an abused youngster, becoming a foster parent for the youngster and then formally adopting her. Was very interesting to follow the process leading to the adoption but also the emotions involved in reaching the decision to adopt. Typical Macomber - easy-to-read and lots of inspiration.

10.8 Dictionary Task - my random words were: shower, maintenance, and alcoholic.

Read Owl in the Shower, a book about an out-of-work logger whose son rescues an endangered species owl - not a good thing since it is the endangered owls that are keeping the father from logging the forest area in the Pacific Northwest. The book was extremely interesting - lots of info about wild birds and what to do with them in captivity and the conflicts between environmentalists and the logging business. Needless to say, the father bonded with the owl and the family and environmentalists began to try to find ways to make things better for both. (The shower tie-in was that the owl wanted in the running water whenever anyone was taking a shower.) Cute book - fun and educational.

Points: 155
Books: 14
Pages: 4325
Tasks: 14
In Proc: 6

5.4 When the Black Girl Sings

Black girl is adopted by a white family, she learns to sing to become her "own" person and deal with family struggles along the way, this might work for coming of age? quick easy read

new total 295

10 POINT TASK
• Read A Book With The Word Bear Or Bears In The Title.
OR
• A Collection Of Children's Stories.
OR
• Several Children's Books (The Number Of Pages Should Add Up To At Least 100).
No Juvenile Or YA Books For This Task.

Whee! Okay, so I combined two of the prompts by reading a Berenstain Bears book, plus a bunch of other picture books that totalled a bit over a hundred pages of reading.

1. Where's Wallace? by Hilary Knight
2. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
3. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett and illustrated by Ron Barrett
4. The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone
5. The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room by Stan and Jan Berenstain

TOTAL: 45

Finished a couple more--

15.5--THE BEST JAPANESE SCIENCE FICTION STORIES ed by Apostolou/Greenberg

The back of this book indicates that this is the first time an anthology of Japanese SciFi has appeared in English and I can sort of see why. Unless the reader has knowledge of Japanese folklore these are a bit hard to follow. I enjoyed about five of the thirteen stories presented.

DIARY OF A MAD OLD MAN by Junichiro Tanizaki

This was a very interesting look at an old man in his final days. While not for everyone (there is a "romance" between the old man and his yound daughter-in-law) it tells of a time most do not know about-the last year of life. I also enjoyed the way the author told of the "old ways" so I could understand the culture more.

15.7--HARRY POTTER & THE SORCERER'S STONE by JK Rowling (read by Jim Dale)

I finally got through this story while both using the WII Active and doing some walking around the neighborhood. I just love Jim Dale's style, if only all readers could be like him!

This brings me to 410 points!!

Caits Task:
1. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell-- Person --Esme Lennox
2. Big Stone Gap by Adrian Trigiani--Place--Big Stone Gap, VA
3. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown--Thing--Symbol


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I finished another task finally.

I just read The Devil in the White City Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America for task 25.10.
Book was dense and long, but extremely interesting. Glad I read it!

Total points for this task: 25
Tasks completed: 10

Total points for challenge thus far: 140

Task 5.5 - Back to School
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham

3.5 stars.
A bit slow to start and a bit abrupt to end but overall an interesting premise with some good characters. I knew i'd read it in school but could not remember it. Glad I gave it another read.

Total Points now 55.

I finished task 10.10 - Cat's Meow by reading the following:

Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood

Very interesting read. 4 stars.

Total points = 50

Finished the 30 point task:

"A Cup of Comfort for Teachers" edited by Colleen Sell for my current job as a special ed teacher. great book made up of vignettes either about or by teachers. Heartwarming!

For my dream job I read "Rough Weather" by Robert B. Parker. My dream job is to be a badass like Spencer and Hawk!

105 points.

Greyweather wrote: "25.4. CANDACE'S TASK - Read A Book That Has Been Written Within The Last 10 Years And Made Into A Movie Within The Last 5. Read The Book And Watch The Movie Both, Then Post A Little Review Of The T..."



Greyweather, I agree wholeheartedly. I thought that the book was fantastic, especially because of the narrative parts of the book that were from the Sheriff's perspective. The movie couldn't capture the heart of human nature that the book did, which is why I found the movie to be lacking as well.

Candace wrote: "Done with task 10.5 (Germany) and I have to say that so far this was one of my favorite books I've read for this challenge. I decided to read Markus Zusak's The Book Thief. I am SO g..."

Candace, one of my 10 favorite books ever. I'm happy to hear that this book has found another fan :)

Finished another task

25.10 Sam's Task - Read a book with the following in the title: devil, witch, vampire, zombie or werewolf


The Devil's Punchbowl by Greg Iles

It wasn't bad; I gave it 3 starts. The violence was tough for me to get through, but I will give Iles another shot.

By the way, Cynthia, my book had 580 pages even though GR has the number of pages at 400 something. I know that you keep track of this stat :)

Total Points: 95 + 25 + 120

Total Tasks: 5
Total Books: 7
Total Pages: 2807

Finished 15.2 - Rewriting history with The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

New Points:15
Old Points:115
Total points:130
Tasks In progress:4
Pages Read:4273
Total Books read:11

Report #6

Completed Tasks
5.3 Sea travel - English Passengers A Novel 464pp 4 stars
10.5 Oktoberfest - The Neverending Story 448pp 3 stars
10.7 Personal heroine - Bella Abzug How One Tough Broad from the Bronx Fought Jim Crow and Joe McCarthy, Pissed Off Jimmy Carter, Battled for the Rights of Women and Workers, ... Planet, and Shook Up Politics Along the Way 336pp 4 stars
15.5 Foreign Language - Five Plays Antigone, Eurydice, The Ermine, The Rehearsal, Romeo and Jeannette 280pp 4 stars
- The Elegance of the Hedgehog 325pp 4 stars
25.7 One, two, three - Waiting A Novel 320pp 3 stars
- In America A Novel 400pp 4 stars
- World Without End 1014pp 3 stars

Partially Completed Tasks
20.2 3 consecutive letters - Between Heaven and Earth A History of Chinese Writing 128pp 3 stars
25.8 Nouns: Thing - Love in the Time of Cholera 368pp 4 stars




Completed Tasks - 31
Partially Completed Tasks - 3
Books Read - 41
Pages Read - 13,966
Total Points - 425

For 10 Point Task #6, I read Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer.

Current points total: 55
Tasks completed: 4/45

I finished Drinking A Love Storyby Caroline Knapp for the 10.2 Addiction Task. This is my first book for this challenge but I'm working on some two part tasks.

current total = 10

Finished 15.6 this morning - I chose Music Appreciation, and read Jazz Country by Nat Hentoff and I listened to a couple of the Jazz CDs I had laying around.

I also was reading the questions thread, and after hearing that a Dresden files book would work for 10.7, I remembered I had read this book shortly before joining the challenge!
10.7 - Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

Tasks Completed:11
Tasks In Progress:3

New Points:25
Old points:130
Total:155

Pages Read:4758
Books Read:13

I finished 15.7, Athlete & sport with
Just A Range Ball In A Box Of Titleists by Gary McCord and
I've been taking golf lessons (inspired by this challenge), but it will take months/years before I could say I was participating in a meaningful way so.. I also watched the first round of the PGA Tour Championship.

+15
total 355

Completed 25.3

Read:
5 Points
2 Apple Cover or Title: Garden Spells, Sarah Addison Allen

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
4. Hispanic Heritage Month: Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Exquivel

15 Points
4.Science Fact vs. Science Fiction: Read: Specials, Scott Westerfield and watched The Greatest Places, an IMAX film about different amazing places all over the world.
7. Let's Get Physical Read: Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town, Warren St. John and played soccer

25 Points
3. WENDY'S TASK – Positive GL Character: The Funny Thing Is, Ellen DeGeneres


Totals
Points: 80
Tasks: 6
Books: 8
Pages: 1478

20 Point Tasks

1. Learn Your ABC's: a.Deadlock by Sara Paretsky (104 pages) 15/9/2009

b.Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (629 pages) 11/9/2009

c.Fool's Gold (Modern Greek Writers) by Maro Douka (272 pages) 25/9/2009

I just finished Fool's Gold so I post the whole task together...

5/57 books
1303 pages

Finished:

30.1 Roseann's task
Present job (actually retired from job) Librarian:
The Quest for the Trilogy A Rover Novel of Three Adventures by Mel Odom. A rather fun fantasy with a librarian hero.
Dream Job Archaeolgist: Lion in the Valley by Elizabeth Peters (Until I discovered a) I hate camping out, b)I hate mucking about in the dirt, c) I am horrible at learning languages, and most importantly d)I can't spell it.)

I finished Fingersmith by Sarah Waters for task 25.3. I thought it was amazing! So many twists and turns. Anyway, that puts me at 35 points.


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I finished reading The Reader by Bernard Schlink yesterday. It is for task 10.5.

Total points 50.

15.3 Discover the Equation for Good Books. Let's just say a couple of these tasks are a bit tough on us older people. Anyway, I chose 1) Addition - the number of letters from my first and last name is 13, so I read To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, her name consisting of 13 letters also. Subtraction - this required me to come up with a title containing 30 letters. I thank my lucky stars that I don't have a name like Ann Lu, otherwise I would have really been in trouble. Finding a title with 30 letters was no small feat, and out of several hundred books on my "own and unread" list I only came up with three that fit the bill. I ended up choosing The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love by Jill Conner Browne. I am really glad to have this task behind me!

Total Points: 375/690
Books Read: 41 (+ 8 Berenstain Bears books)
Tasks Completed: 27/45
Tasks in Progress: 5


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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.
Dead to the World by Harris
5 points
total 295

Hello!

I have completed Task 25.9 - Dianes's Task.

For Part A, I read the book Naming the World And Other Exercises for the Creative Writer by Bret Anthony Johnston. I read this book to help give me a jump start with my creative writing. There are great exercises throughout and each chapter is a lesson from a different writer- Joyce Carol Oates, Tom Robbins, Ann Packer, and Elizabeth Strout just to name a few. The book is a great motivator. I have done some of the exercises and will keep with them to keep the creative juices flowing!

For Part B, I read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. Pausch is to be admired, I think. In dealing with a diagnosis of terminal pancreatic cancer he chose how he would live out his remaining time. He chose the attitude he would carry with him throughout his illness and he created a legacy for his children. Much of his book contains common sense ways of living your life, but through the lens of a terminal diagnosis it is an amazing thing Pausch has done - living with purpose, joy and hope and feeling like a lucky man.




# of Tasks Completed - 11
# of Books Read - 19
# of Pages Read - 5862
# of points accrued - 195

Alisha wrote: "I finished Fingersmith by Sarah Waters for task 25.3. I thought it was amazing! So many twists and turns. Anyway, that puts me at 35 points.

"

I want to read that one - glad to hear it was good! I just finished another of hers for the same task.

Task 25.3 - I just finished Tipping the Velvet. An excellent book, very readable and absorbing, but I also found it very sad.

25.3 Gay or lesbian – Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

Total: 110/690 points
9/59 books
7/45 tasks
3332 pages

5 Points

5.Anne Frank The Diary of A Young Girl

Finished 15.3:

TASKS:
ADDITION: My name: 7+6=13
Author's Name: 4+9=13

SUBTRACTION: My age (for a few more days) is 33, and my name is 7+5+6: 33-18=15

READ:
As Sure As the Sun by Anna McPartlin (addition)
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (subtraction)

TOTAL POINTS: 160
COMPLETED TASKS: 12
TOTAL BOOKS: 21
PAGES READ: 4,572

Finished:

5.8 – Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin

TOTAL POINTS = 70

I've just finished the 2nd book for 15.3
Subtraction- 35 letter title-
Agatha Raisin and the witch of Wyckhadden- M C Beaton
Division - 3rd in series
Wednesday at Four- Debbie Macomber

Finished another task -

15.9 - Homework - Piece of Work by Laura Zigman

I'm not very creative when it comes to these types of tasks, but here goes...

The Assignment...

Julia, a former PR executive for a top Manhattan firm and most recently a stay-at-home mom, returns to work after her husband loses his job. In desperation, Julia takes a job with a low ranking PR firm and her new client is a very demanding “has-been” actress, desperately attempting “career resurrection”.

Research four “has-been” celebrities – those whose popularity and influence has declined, and whose primary success is believed to be behind them. Write a one-page summary for each, detailing (1) their previous success and achievements, (2) what caused their decline in popularity, (3) what they have done in their attempt at a comeback, and (4) conclude with your opinion as to whether this celebrity was successful in their comeback, and if not, suggest three courses of action that a PR professional could use to help this celebrity with “career resurrection”.

Total Books Read = 19
Tasks Completed = 13
Tasks In Progress = 8