The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

PJREADS and Roseann -- what an accomplishment.

Let's party -- Blowing up balloons -- drinking champagne -- toasting your success -- singing "For you are jolly good fellows" -- drinking more champagne

CONGRATS!!

Just watched the Texas A&M v. Arkansas game... we lost 19 to 47... BUT, I did finish another task.

Task 15.7 - Athlete + Sport: The Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (9/23/09) & Texas A&M vs Arkansas (10/3/09)

The Off Season is the sequel to Dairy Queen, both of which are about a girl who plays football on her high school team... Plus in this book, we learn a lot more about other characters: her two brothers who play football in college, her love interest who is a quarterback, and her dad who is an ex-player and ex-coach. The whole book is pretty much about family and communication and football... ;) I really really enjoyed both this book and its prequel, and I'm not even that into football (at all)!

As for the game... it was pretty sad, but...... well, I'm not an Aggie (my hubby is), so I'm not exactly heartbroken or anything. I wish my alma mater's game yesterday had been televised... Poor Mountain West Conference doesn't get much attention... (According to a friend of ours who goes on and on about that all the time... *shrugs*)

CURRENT STATS
Tasks Completed: 19/45
Tasks Partially Completed: 3
Books Read: 27/60
Pages Read: 9,271
Points Earned: 240/690

Finished The Autumn Castle by Kim Wilkins for task 10.5. The book takes place in Germany. Anyway, I loved it and thought it was great.

Current total: 45 points

Just finished a couple more tasks:

5.6 Native American: Flight by Sherman Alexie
15.10 Teacher: Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Student: Finding Miracles by Julia Alvarez

Flight - an interesting story of an orphaned, abused, and angry half-breed Indian boy. Through a time-traveling scenario he learns that even good people can do bad things when consumed by anger and revenge. Found a new author to investigate - will try reading more of Alexie's books in the future.

Plainsong - a well-written story of a small town and the interrelationships of the lives of the residents. In Plainsong a major character is a local high-school teacher whose wife has left him with their two sons. Much more literary description of small towns than most others of this type such as Mitford series. I will be using the followup book Eventide for another task - it is equally as good.

Finding Miracles - A wonderful story by Julia Alvarez about a young high school student who is adopted from a Latin American country. She tries to fit in with her friends but keeps feeling a void about her true background. The book portrays her journey to finding peace with who she really is.

Points: 305
Books: 30
Pages: 8801
Tasks: 22
In Proc: 5

5.2 A Place Called Sweet Apple by Celestine Sibley
(apple in title)

30.1 Murder at the Library of Congress by Margaret Truman (dealing with current job- work in library)

Death books a Return by Marion Moore Hill (current- librarian)

25.9 Diane's Task
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff With Your Family by Richard Carson
Eat Pray Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert

Total points: 245

Task 10.1: Lolita - Nabokov (3 stars)


Total Points: 185/690
Books Read: 25/60
Tasks Completed: 14/45
Pages Read: 7,978

Completed 10.7 - Faster than a speeding bullet with Savvy by Ingrid Law, which was wonderful! I actually bought it initially just because I loved the cover so much, but I'm happy to say the characters and story were just as lovable. :)


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10.2. On October 31st, 1993, River Phoenix Dies From A Drug Overdose - In Memory Of This Actor Who Died Before His Time; Read A Novel With A Character Who Suffers From An Addiction Or A Non-Fiction Book About Addiction (Such As A Memoir Of A Recovering Addict).


Courage of Fear by Barbara Boyer

TOTAL = 80

10 point task

7. Can You Read Faster Than A Speeding Bullet? - Watchmen by Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons

I stayed up late into the morning to finish task 5.1 by reading Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran - I LOVE her books about Egyptian history (even though this mostly takes place in Rome) and this book was every bit as good as her first two stories. This book tells the story of Cleopatra and Marc Antony's son and daughter who are transported to Rome after Octavian's forces defeat her parents (both of whom commit suicide) and covers their lives there from age 12 to 15.

18 TASKS COMPLETE - 4 PARTIALLY DONE
31 BOOK READ
11,555 PAGES READ


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Finished:
15.7 - Phys Ed. while listening to Catch 22 while worling our for a month. It's amazing how long it takes to listen to a 400 page book! (19 hours!)

NEW POINTS:15
OLD POINTS:210
TOTAL POINTS:215

TASKS COMPLETED:14
TASKS IN PROGRESS:3
BOOKS READ:19
PAGES READ:6333

Cynthia wrote: "Also wanted to announce that we've now read OVER 2000 books as a group this challenge - awesome job everyone!!!"

Holy cow! That's a lot of books!

Congrats to Roseann & Pjreads!!!!

Completed 15.3 Math task
subtraction (33-17=16 letter title) Tell Me Your Dreams by Sidney Sheldon
division (59) read the fifth book in a series Lover Unbound- J.R. Ward

New point total: 80

liz(vegas)

Finished:
15.9 At Home with Wedgwood The Art of the Table by Trish Foley

home work: For home ec, plan a dinner party menu, chose the china and silver and diagram the table setting.
(I know--but I grew up taking home ec for four years. What can I say.)

Also finished:

15.10 Student The Teacher's Funeral A Comedy in Three Parts by Richard Peck. A hilarious account of what happens to a very unstudious fifteen year old when the teacher for his one-room school dies just before school opens in the fall. His worst nightmare comes true when his older sister is appointed teacher.
Could be used for either student or teacher portion of this task.

Yes! i'm finally on the board!!!! All the books i've been reading so far are parts of multiple book tasks, but, naturally, not the same task. Bah.

10 Points- Berenstain's Memory
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish
Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed
according to goodreads they add up to 132 pages

New Total: 10 points

I finished Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis for Julie-KS 20.1 Christian fiction task. I look forward to reading the other books in this trilogy.

I read The Mother of Us All A History of Queen Nanny, Leader of the Windward Jamaican Maroons by Karla Gottlieb and The News from Paraguay A Novel for the 15.8 Geography task. (My initials are JP.)

new total = 45

I have completed task #5.1 by reading The Fifth Child.

25.4-Book and Movie: I read and watched "The Soloist" by Steve Lopez. I saw the movie first (which I never do), and enjoyed it-the music was amazing, and the story of one persons friendship changing the life of a mentally ill person was impressive. However, once again, the book was better. The characters were much more developed and where the movie made it feel like a fairly fast change in this person's life, it actually was a 2 year process. If only the book had sound!

5.8 Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List (Rachel Cohn & David Levithan)
5.7 That Summer (This book is about the different changes that occur for a family: divorce, weddings, babies. This reminded me of my teenage days and the struggles of trying to accept changes, but in the end I still was thankful for my family. I was especially thankful for my sister who is five years older than me, just like the sisters in the book. It shows that no matter what your sister will always be there).
5.9 Gingerbread (coming of age)
10.8 Away Laughing on a Fast Camel Even More Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (my 11th word on the generator was "laughing"...i lucked out!)
10.10 Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers More Mad, Marvy Confessions of Georgia Nicolson
15.3 Boy Meets Boy (David Levithan & I both have 13 letters in our name) and Startled by His Furry Shorts (23[my age:]-18[total letter in name:]=5 words in the title)
25.8 Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
I'm not quite sure if I enjoyed the book more or the movie. I guess I'll call it a tie. I loved how in the book you knew exactly what the characters were thinking and how they felt. But the language was a little too much for me (way to many f-bombs). Yes, the movie did leave some parts out, but I still liked it. I guess I enjoyed one of the minor characters more in the movie, Caroline. I'll give both movie & book 3/5.

total points = 75

I've just finished Julie and Julia by Julia Powell for 20.3.

Finished 10.7 (Heroes and Heroines) with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which I've been meaning to read for quite a while now. Nice to know I still enjoy the series, even if I'm woefully behind.

Current Total: 135 points

5.6 Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich

Total points: 250

Finished Task 25.9 (Diane's Task) by reading The Okinawa Diet Plan Get Leaner, Live Longer, and Never Feel Hungry.
I found this to be an interesting book and have tried a few recipes from it. All were interesting (at the least) to delicious (at the best). I even served my husband a Scrambled Egg recipe that is mostly Tofu (which he dislikes) and he really enjoyed them. The "eggs" were very filling and "stuck to the ribs" for quite some time.
Although this is an interesting concept, I think it would take a lot of dedication in following the recommendations....at least until it became second nature to one's lifestyle. However, that in mind, I will be incorporating some of the recipes into our lives and trying to start thinking along the lines of the Caloric Density Pyramid in our diet. The recipes are easy to prepare and tasty.

Thanks, Diane, for this task. I really enjoyed it.

Total points: 185

Cynthia wrote: "I stayed up late into the morning to finish task 5.1 by reading Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran - I LOVE her books about Egyptian history (even though this mos..."

Cynthia the Ramses seris by Christian Jacq is also very good.

I have completed task 15.1, Prepositions, with Evenings at the Argentine Club and The House at Sugar Beach A Memoir.

Total points: 70

25.1 Nicole Oh's Task: Rhyme Time - Ends and Friends
Part I: Poetry - Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein (9/28)
Part II: Fiction - The Notebook Girls: Four Friends, One Diary, Real Life (amazon title) by Julia Baskin, Lindsey Newman, Sophie Pollitt-Cohen and Courtney Toombs (10/4)

Total Points: 140

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?ke...

Just finished 15-2 with 'Against the Day' by Michael Cronin. It's about what things would have been like in England had the Nazi's successfully invaded in 1941. I definately am glad that this didn't happen as England is much better off having repelled the German invasion rather than trying to oust them once they had taken over and settled in for 6 months! Good book, very thought provoking.

150 points

For 5 point task #4, I read Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited by Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein. It was really fascinating.

Totals points: 65
Tasks completed: 6

Its been a while, but I finished some more tasks.

5.3 Sea Travel - Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson

5.6 Terrifying Titles - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows by J.K. Rowling

15.3 Addition - 11 - Juliet Naked by Nick Hornby
Subtraction - 10 - Kiss of Life by Daniel Waters

15.4 Science fact vs. science fiction -

Sci-fi - The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
Science fact - Three episodes of the first season of Mythbusters (135 minutes)

25.7 Cindy's Task
One - Sunshine by Robin McKinley
Two - Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
Three - Vision in White by Nora Roberts

Previous score: 195
Current score: 260

Task 25.5 Fortune's Daughter by Alice Hoffman


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10.5 Grave Endings A Novel of Suspense

I have a new author to love THANKS cynthina for pointing her in my direction for this task

new total
365

message 1743: by Teresa in Ohio (last edited 10/03/2009 06:44PM) 21 hours, 42 min ago
15.3 addition 13 letters in name

I read The KeepsakeTess Gerritsen

and division 1969 divide by 40 equals 49 read the 4th in a series The Battle of the Labyrinth

new total

340

according to the leaderboard you are current through 1757. This is message 1743, I didnt see a note denying credit?

I have completed task #5.7 by reading Extinction Journals by Jeremy Robert Johnson. The book takes place after the start of WWIII and follows Dean as he tries to survive nuclear fallout. He is always hungry and thirsty. He is constantly worried about contaminants. Dean is also very lonely, not knowing if anyone has managed to survive the nuclear blast besides him.

I'm so thankful I don't have to worry about these things! I live in relative safety. I'm thankful that I have easy access to food and something as deceptively simple as clean water. Above all I am thankful for the love and companionship I have in my family and friends.

10.10. Fall Back in Time For Daylight Savings Time - Read A Novel Where One Or More Character(s) Travel Back in Time.


This Time Together by Susan L. Liepitz
Mountain man meets his match. Fun time travel romance.

30.1 My childhood dream job was a veterinarian. I read Blessings by Kim Vogel Sawyer (main character is a Mennonite girl with the dream of becoming a vet, she works at a vet's office). My current job (which is a dream job on its own) is a social worker at a forensic psychiatric hospital. I read Shutter Island by Dennis LeHane, which is set in a forensic psychiatric hospital.

10.3. This Year Thanksgiving Falls On November 26th - Famous Children's Author Stanley "Stan" Berenstain (The Berenstain Bears) Died On That Day In 2005 (He Was Born September 29, 1923) - In Memory Of Him...
• 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.
Happy Halloween Biscuit by Capucilli
Biscuit’s Birthday by Capucilli
Biscuit and the Little Pup by Capucilli
The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree by Berenstain
The Berenstain Bears' Moving Day by Berenstain
Minnie and Moo and the Haunted Sweater by Cazet
Minnie and Moo Go Dancing by Cazet
Minnie and Moo Go to Paris by Cazet
About 140 pages
10 points
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. And
• A Book With A Main Character Who Is A Student Or With The Word Student(s), Study, Or Studies In The Title.
HOST by Meyer (Teacher)
The Teacher’s Funeral by Peck (student)
15 points
435 total

Finished 2 tasks today. 15.4 Science Fact vs. Science Fiction by reading Farenheit 451 and going to see Body Worlds at the local science museum. (I asked if this was ok and did not receive an answer if this doesn't work let me know).

I also finished Rosann's task 30.1. Current job is a Medical Technologist in a medical laboratory by reading Five Quarts A Personal and Natural History of Blood by Bill Hayes. And Dream Job (zookeeper) by reading The Anteater of Death by Betty Webb. The main character is a zookeeper/sleuth.

That brings my total to 200 points.

I am finally on the board with points, I have been reading books in the multi book tasks and haven't finished what I need to post.

20.1 Julie's task Fiction Christian, living a faith centered life---The Missing by Beverly Lewis

20 points/ Total: 20 points

This is a second in a trilogy (the third is not out until April 2010) about an Amish family whose mother has left to explore her past. Trilogies (or any series) are hard to read when you can't move right on to the next book. I always say I am going to wait until they are all out and then read them-- but then read them when they come out.

I finished 10.5, Oktoberfest with
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

+10
total 450

I am reposting Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist as task 25.4 and I have watched the movie.

Total: 65 points
6 books

3 more tasks with 4 more books

5.5 Going Back to School: The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving Oct 4

I last read this as required reading in middle school. I have to say that I now have a much greater appreciation for the way the author used words to paint verbal pictures of the countryside and especially of the characters. At the time, the interesting story was the scarecrow image of Ichabod that Irving created - and The Headless Horseman!

5.6 Terrifying Titles: Dark Possession by Christine Feehan Sept. 16

25.9 Diane's Task: Self-Improvement: Say It Right in German by Language Systems Inc. (166 pp.)

Danke Shon, Diane, for giving me the incentive to begin studying another language.

AND Diane's Task: fiction: Dancing with Clara by Mary Balogh (222 pp)
The heroine of this story became seriously ill and was bedridden for a year when she was barely 6 years old. Her mother died of the same disease, so her father protected/restricted her so much that her leg muscles atrophied and she's wheelchair bound. As an adult, she is finally convinced that she can walk if she's willing to go through the pain of physical therapy (this was almost 200 years ago, so no organized program with equipment, etc.) She set herself the goal of dancing by Christmas, hence the title

Total Pages = 10,829

Total Points = 395

Teresa in Ohio wrote: "message 1743: by Teresa in Ohio (last edited 10/03/2009 06:44PM) 21 hours, 42 min ago
15.3 addition 13 letters in name

I read The KeepsakeTess Gerritsen

and division 1969 divide by 40 eq..."
I'm still missing something somewhere - this is what I have you down for (5.3+5.4+5.5+5.6+5.7+5.8+5.9 = 35) + (10.1+10.2+10.3+10.5+10.9 = 50) + (15.3+15.4+15.10 = 45) + (20.1 = 20) + (25.1+25.2+25.3+25.4+25.6+25.7+25.8+25.9 = 200) = (35+50+45+20+200 = 350)

Stephanie wrote: "Cynthia wrote: "I stayed up late into the morning to finish task 5.1 by reading Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran - I LOVE her books about Egyptian history (even..."Thanks for the recommendation - unfortunately my library doesn't carry that series.

Petra wrote: "Finished Task 25.9 (Diane's Task) by reading The Okinawa Diet Plan Get Leaner, Live Longer, and Never Feel Hungry.
I found this to be an interesting book and have tried a few recipe..."What book did you read for the other half of the task - this was also a two book task?

Donna Jo wrote: "Finished:
15.9 At Home with Wedgwood The Art of the Table by Trish Foley

home work: For home ec, plan a dinner ..."
What was your other book for 15.10 - you have to read both a student and a teacher book for this task?

Finally finished a couple more.

10.10 The Bachelor's Cat A Love Story
15.7 Escape from the Deep A Legendary Submarine and Her Courageous Crew

I have finished others but they are apart of multi-book tasks.

85/690

Just finished Wendy's Task 25.3 by reading Almost Like Being in Love A Novel. Cute book, definitely loved it more after the first 130 or so pages. Did not love it as much as My Most Excellent Year A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park though.


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Cynthia - I made an error in my posting #1750

I reported Flight by Sherman Alexie for task 5.6

It should have been reported as 10.6

Total Points: 305 instead of 300

SORRY, my mistake. Thanks for correcting.

TOTAL POINTS: 5 + 5 + 20 = 30 points

I finally got around to posting some of my completed tasks. I've read a few other books as well, but will post them when I've finished the multi-book task.

5.2 Apple of My Eye by Helene Hanff
I didn't enjoy this one as much as some of her other books...mostly because it wasn't about books, I think.

5.7 Hurry Down Sunshine by Michael Greenberg
This book is a memoir about the author's daughter's teenaged psychotic break. I am thankful that despite whatever mental health issues that I have and had, that I have never had a break with reality. I think it would be awful not to know whether or not anything is "real" or just a product of your mind.

20.3 Julie and Julia by Julie Powell
This one was a reread for me. I still think it was merely okay.

15.2 - Fatherland by Robert Harris - In which Germany won World War Two, and the Reich took over most of Europe. Clearly, this is not a desirable outcome, for many reasons. The people in this book live in a state of fear and ignorance, too scared to think and question. Party loyalty is everything. The truth is hidden behind a fog of cover-ups and the deaths of up to 11 million people are treated as if they never happened. To put it bluntly, it's a nightmare.

Despite the grim subject matter, though, I really enjoyed the book. It was an intriguing look at the way things might have gone, and I'm very glad I read it.

Total points: 45
4 tasks complete - 7 tasks in progress
8 books read
2,894 pages read

Finished task 10.4 (Hispanic Heritage). For this one, I read Luis Alberto Urrea's The Devil's Highway. The author is from Mexico and the book is about crossing the Mexican border between Arizona & Mexico. It was alright, I was slightly bored for the majority of it.

Total points = 325


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Finished Task 15.4 (science vs. sci-fi): I read Spook Science Tackles the Afterlife - Mary Roach 9/26 and I watched the first 2 episodes of FlashForward.

Total Points: 210/690
Books Read: 26/60
Tasks Completed: 16/45
Pages Read: 8,258