The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

It's been a while since I've reported, so I've got a lot of points to claim!

5.2:
The Cider House Rules by John Irving

15.1:
Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs and
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

20.2:
(The) City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau and
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens and
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

25.8 (Cait's task):
Anne's House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery and
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain and
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

25.10 (Sam's task):
Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice

30-point task:
Midwives by Chris Bohjalian (reproductive health) and
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey (psychologist)

NOTE: Midwives is so related to my current profession that my place of employment was mentioned in the story!






Tasks Completed: 33
Total Points: 510
Total Pages: 17156

Squee! Another one down.

For task 25.3, I read Born on a Blue Day Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet. It is an autobiography and the author is gay.

Cynthia wrote: "What is the keepsake for the 3rd portion of the 50 pointer?"

Re: posts 3257 and 3267:

Sorry Cynthia...it's my university sweatshirt!

Birish wrote: "I completed the 50 pt. task by reading: Senses -So Long, See You Tomorrow, Emotions - Postcards from Heaven Messages of Love from the Other Side(audiobook), Memories - ..."For the first 2 parts you need to say a little about what the sense/emotion had to do with the book and you need to say what your keepsake is for the 3rd portion.

I completed Task 15.4 by reading Fast Food Nation earlier this month as the Science part of this task and watching the original Planet Of The Apes with Charlton Heston tonight as the Science Fiction portion.
I enjoyed Fast Food Nation. It's a good look into the history, maintenance and the "behind the scenes" realities of our Fast Food restaurants. It isn't preachy, I thought, and does end by suggesting that if people wanted to change the situation, they could.
The Planet Of The Apes was wonderful. I watched the entire series some 10+ years ago and am happy to say that I still enjoy it. I'll be watching the rest of the series throughout the winter, I think. In this movie, 3 Scientist/Astronauts travel into the future (via being put into hibernation and travelling beyond the speed of light) and find themselves some 2000+ years in the future where humans are animals (cannot speak, live in wilderness) and are treated as such, while apes rule the planet.

TOTAL POINTS: 250 + 15 = 265

New Tasks:

15.9 At Home with Books: How Booklovers Live with and Care for Their Libraries by Estelle Ellis

Homework Task: Pick a room in your house to transform into a library (assume you have a duplicate room) and plan it out. You will need to provide a detailed floor plan, sketches or pictures of the structural contents (such as bookcases, reading chairs, light fixtures, etc), and a list of the unique features of your library. Bonus points will be awarded for a rough estimate of costs associated with your renovation.


Past Tasks:

5.2 Apple of My Eye by Helene Hanff
5.7 Hurry Down Sunshine by Michael Greenberg
5.9 The Last Time I Wore A Dress by Daphne Scholinski
10.2 Addiction – The Sum of Our Days by Isabel Allende
10.3 Dolores Meets Her Match (32p) by Barbara Samuels
Dolores On Her Toes (40p) by Barbara Samuels
Duncan and Dolores (20p) by Barbara Samuels
Cosmo Zooms (32p) by Arthur Howard
My Cat Likes Milk (14p) by Nancy Prasad
10.5 The Book Thief Markus Zusak
10.10 Homer's Odyssey by Gwen Cooper
15.3 Addition -- (12) Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder
Subtraction -- (13)Talk to the Hand by Lynne Truss
15.4 Wanderlust by Ann Aguirre + 2 episodes Nova
20.1 The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
20.2 Enchanted, Inc. by Shanna Swendson /Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder/ Grimspace by Ann Aguirre
20.3 Julie and Julia by Julie Powell
25.5 Prophecy by Elizabeth Haydon
25.7 ONE: Doubleblind by Ann Aguirre, TWO: Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs, THREE: The Shadow Queen by Anne Bishop
25.10 Daughter of Witches by Patricia Wrede
30.1 Current Profession/Dream Job: Tell Me Where It Hurts by Nick Trout and The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop by Lewis Buzbee

1.7 The Music Inside Me
At this time I am very thankful for my family and the gift of music. This book is about both.
TOTAL: 95 points

Cynthia, I think my post 3294 was missed (task 20.2). The Leaderboard shows updates to Post 3301 but my Total hasn't changed.
Thanks for checking!

Task 20.2 + Task 15.4 (post 3302) = Total points 400

Finished 20.2 A,B,C task. I chose to do R,S,T.
Resistance by Anita Shreve
The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison
Tricy Business by Dave Barry.

This will bring my total to 545.

Recently Finished: 25.7 (1-2-3) Interworld - Neil Gaiman / The Magicians - Lev Grossman / The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan

Total Points - 545

Finished 15.1 by reading 4th of July by James Patterson and Queen of the Underworld by Gail Godwin. So my new total is 560.

I just finished 20.2(ABC task) by reading Fall On Your Knees, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The History of Love.

New point total: 75 points

Vicki's completted tasks.

5 Point Tasks

5.2 Book with an apple on the cover: Fallen by David Maine
5.5 Back to School: The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5.10 Travel Back in Time: Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House #1)

10 Point Tasks

10.2 Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
10.10 Down the Rabbit Hole; An Echo Falls Mystery by Peter Abrahams

15 Point Tasks



20 Point Tasks

20.2 Rookie of the Season (Read book with consecutive letters in title)
G: Gone
H: The Help
I: Impulse
20.3 Group Read: Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon


25 Point Tasks

25.7 One, Two, Three Read three books:
Mommywood by Tori Spelling
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Streams of Babel by Carol Plum-Ucci


Total points to date: 100 points

Finished task 15.1 by reading The House on Mango Streetand On Suicide using the preposition ON. On Suicide was fascinating! House on Mango was a re-read, and I had forgotten just how lovely it is.




Total Points: 365/690
Books Read: 29/62
Tasks Completed: 20/45
Tasks in Progress: 2


One more book, and I'll hit my goal of 30 books for the challenge! :) (And I think I'll go over, because I've got 9 luxurious days of freedom just around the corner!)

Congrats, Helen!

Also, I just finished 15.2:
Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card

Would the world be better if his version were real? Hm. I don't know. There's just as much intolerance and entrenched belief, even if there's magic in his world.

TOTALS:
Points: 500
Books: 57
Pages: 14,818
Tasks: 36

I finished Task 25.7 - CINDY'S TASK - One, Two, Three

I read:
One Word: Twilight
Two words: Something Borrowed
Three Words: The Graveyard Book

CANDACE'S TASK - Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix.
The book is so much better! They leave out so much stuff in the movies that I just get so mad at it at times. Books are 1o times better!!!

1 – Roseann's Task – Current Profession (I work for a performing arts organization): Murder at the Opera
Childhood dream job (I wanted to be an author/poet): Pale Fire

The M. Truman book was mostly tedious; I am not a fan of the more procedural-type mysteries. Pale Fire had an amazingly beautiful first section & I loved the concept. Unfortunately, the concept was less appealing in practice.

Pages read: 4593
Books read: 14
Tasks completed: 12
Total Points: 225
Liz (Bklyn)

25.7. Fool by Christopher Moore, Sarah’s Key by Tatiana De Rosnay, and White House Autumn by Ellen Emerson White

30.1. Student: The Nature of Jade by Deb Caletti and Detective: Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde

kiki wrote: "Yeay, Helen! Way to go! :)"

Just adding my congrats to Helen. Impressive finish for first time challenge participant! I'm interested to see what your task will be for the Winter Challenge. :-)

Vicki wrote: "Vicki's completted tasks.

5 Point Tasks

5.2 Book with an apple on the cover: Fallen by David Maine
5.5 Back to School: The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5.10 Travel Back in Time: Dino..."Tasks 15.10 & require 2 books so you still need to read a book about a teacher and a self help book to claim points for these tasks.

Petra wrote: "Cynthia, I think my post 3294 was missed (task 20.2). The Leaderboard shows updates to Post 3301 but my Total hasn't changed.
Thanks for checking!

Task 20.2 + Task 15.4 (post 3302) = Total poin..."I had it in the spreadsheet but didn't get it transferred to the board - sorry about that.

Finished 5.8 Two Authors by reading 5th Horseman by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro for another 5 points. This brings my total to 565.

5 POINT TASKS
1. Our Children Are Our Future.
Things I Want My Daughters to Know by Elizabeth Noble-11/14 (374 pgs)

New Total 455

Two more tasks completed:

15.1 Homophones - The Earth, My BUTT and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler & Anyone BUT You by Lara Zeises.

25.1 Rhyming - I read The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (which is 400 pages) & Loose Woman Poems by Sandra Cisneros.

Previous Score: 445
Current Score: 485

Two more down, Nine to go...
I may finish this challenge yet... (If William McKinley doesn't stop me...)

10.7 - Superheroes: Karma Girl by Jennifer Estep (11/13/09)
15.7 - Audiobook while Exercising: James Herriot's Cat Stories by James Herriot (11/14/09)

CURRENT STATS
Tasks Completed: 36/45
Tasks Partially Completed: 3
Books Read: 52/62
Pages Read: 17,319
Points Earned: 545/690

Recently Finished: 15.4 (Sci-Fi/Sci-Fa) Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins / Watched episodes of Carl Sagan's Cosmos

Total Points - 560

15.2. Rewriting History - Read an Alternative Historical Novel. Afterwards, Post A Review Where You State Whether You Think The World (Or A Particular) Country Would Be Better Today If The Author's Version Of History Is What Really Happened. Give Reasons Why.

St. Antony's Fire by Steve White

In St. Antony's Fire, space aliens come to Earth in 1513. They take over Ponce de Leon, and, through him, eventually the Pope. Under the space aliens' influence (and using the alien's "St. Anthony's Fire", which is a laser gun), the Spanish Armada in 1588 is successful and England is conquored. Queen Elizabeth, Sir Francis Walsingham, William Shakespeare, Dr. Dee and others flee to Virginia. Eventually, the Spanish come to believe that the space aliens are not human, and Catholic Spain join with Protestant England to defeat the space aliens.

I would like to live in that world. After cooperating to defeat the space aliens, I would think that the Catholics and the Protestanats could find a way to peacefully co-exist. Then the destructive Catholic vs. Protestant wars of the 17th Century would not have happened. The Thirty Years War by C. V. Wedgwood describes just how destructive was the Catholic vs. Protestant Thirty Year's War (1618 to 1648), with 25% to 40% of the population of Central Europe killed, a larger percentage than was the case in World War II. (More people died in World War II, but a higher percentage of the existing population died during the religious wars of the 17th century).

290 + 15 = 305




I'm almost done with 15.1; I also have 4 other books read that will be assigned to tasks depending on what I read over the final two weeks of the challenge.

50. Minding the World
Senses: Catching Fire
Absolutely stunning book!

Emotions:The Geography of Bliss One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World
I know more about happiness than I ever need to.

Memories: The Postmistress
I read this because my mother kept all the letters from my father to my mother while he was at sea when he was in the navy and gave them to me. I loved going back and reading letters that were written back and forth when I was only 2. It was very interesting to see them in a different light.

Total points: 380

Finished task 25.1: Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck and Honourable Cat (poems) by Paul Gallico
TOTAL POINTS = 105

15.5. Time To Study Abroad (Foreign Language)

Les Miserables The Novel
Gourmet Rhapsody
Both translated from French

Tasks copleted:9
Total points:140

Finished 5.7 by reading The Help. I am thankful to live when and where I do so that I am not subject to this kind of life of someone being more or less worthy than another person just because of the color of their skin.

New total: 110 points

Heather in KS

I have finally finished the One, Two, Three 25 point task. I read Regeneration by Pat Barker, Ice Road by Gillian Slovo and The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory


Previous reads

5.1 Children are our future - Child 44 by Rob Tom Smith
5.2 Apple a day - Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller
5.4 Adoption - Digging to America by Anne Tyler
5.10 Fall back in time - Human Croquet by Kate Atkinson

10.1 Buddy Holly's lifetime - Scoop by Evelyn Waugh
10.4 Hispanic Heritage Month - The Forest of Pygmies by Isabel Allende Allende is chilean.
10.5 Oktober fest - The Witch's Trinity by Erika Mailman this book is set in Germany.
10.7 Faster than a Speeding Bullet - A Song Flung up to Heaven by Maya Angelou
10.8 Word Generator - Something Might Happen by Julie Myerson (might)
10.10 The Cat's Meow - Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Marukami

15.3 Addition - Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday (Alice Gould) Muliplication - Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer (10x27=270, 276 pages)
15.9 Homework - Home by Marilynne Robinson
15.10 Teacher - The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Less Student - Testimony by Anita Shreve

20.3 Group Read - Shutter Island by Dennis LeHane

25.1 Rhyme Time - If I don't know by Wendy Cope and Dead Sky by Tami Hoag
25.4 Film and Book - Mystic River by Dennis LeHane
25.5 Fortune in the title - Fortune's Rocks by Anita Shreve
25.8 Nouns - person The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, thing Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, place Brick Lane by Monica Ali
25.10 Halloween - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

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).

50.1 Sense - The Scent of the Night by Andrea Camilleri Emotion - Even the Stars Look Lonesome Tonight by Maya Angelou Memory The Great Divorce by Valerie Martin


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Finished Julie's task 20.1. I read A Common Life A Wedding Story by Jan Karon. It is the 6th in the Mitford series. This brings my total to 585 points.

Finished 10.4:
The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly by Luis Sepulveda

For task 10.10 (cats), I read Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams. I remember my childhood friend's mom talking about seeing this play. When I (at six years old) asked her what it was about she told me that it had people with no necks, because clearly the real subject matter was inappropriate for a six year old. Yet that image of no-necked people haunted my dreams well into adolescence. I'm glad to now know that they're just fat!

For task 10.4 (Mexico), I read Like Water for Chocolate A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies by Laura Esquivel. This sucker is steamy! I kind of liked the ribbon of magic/fantasy that runs through the story.

Total Points: 425

COMPLETED TASKS:

5.7 GIVING THANKS - *Just Who Will You Be? by Maria Shriver (pp 112) READ 11.13.09
This book was based on a speech Shriver gave at her nephew's graduation. This year I have one son graduating high school and another graduating from college. I am thankful for my boys and the fine young men they are now and the exceptional men I know they will be as they enter the next phases of their lives.

25.1 POETRY RHYMING TITLE - *A Night Without Armor Poems by Jewel (pp 160) READ 11.1.09
I wasn't really impressed by this book of poetry. There were a few I liked, but maybe it's the age difference thing.
25.1 FICTION RHYMING TITLE - *The Bright Forever A Novel by Lee Martin (pp 282) READ 11.14.09
A 9 year old girl goes missing on the way to the library to return books in the summer of 1972. Very well done!




TASKS COMPLETED: 29
TASKS IN PROGRESS: 4
BOOKS READ: 44/62
PAGES READ: 13,294
TOTAL POINTS EARNED: 480
*Books I Own

Tara wrote: "50. Minding the World
Senses: Catching Fire
Absolutely stunning book!

Emotions:The Geography of Bliss One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World
I know..."What do the first two books say about senses/emotions - post this info and I'll add in your points.

Completed task 25.3, read The Funny Thing Is... by Ellen Degeneres. She made me laugh out loud, and even brought me to tears (of laughter!) She is one funny lady. Here are my new totals:

225/690 points
Tasks Completed: 14
Tasks In Progress: 8
Books Read: 23 (+3 children’s books)
Pages Read: 5,856

Completed Task #3 for 5 pts.

The Castaways - the story revolves around a fatal sail taken by two of the main characters

Just finished 15.10 by reading Never Let Me Go- Kazuo Ishiguro and The Piano Teacher- Janice K. Lee

Should bring me to 150 points.

Books Read: 17
Pages Read: 6,794
Total Points: 150

Two more books done. Woohoo!
10.7 The Heroines by Eileen Favorite
20.3 Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

Hello!

I have completed the following tasks:

A) Task 5.5 ~ School Days I read The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. I really loved this book in high school and was very happy that I loved it again ~ reading from my 'older & wiser' perspective. I definitely absorbed more of the nuances and themes (suppressed emotions, lost optimism) this time around but still saw and felt the landscapes, as though I were there.

B) Task 10.9 ~ Civil War I read the novel March by Geraldine Brooks. LOVED it!

C) Task 15.7 ~ Phys. Ed. I finally finished listening to A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, all 11 hours and 43 minutes of it and complemented that with my exercise - trail hiking. The story was amazing and Hosseini's ability to have written such great female characters is impressive. I was not thrilled with the narrator, Atossa Leoni; her intonations/inflections were distracting. I want to actually read the book now.




# Tasks Completed: 33
# of Books Read: 49
# of Pages Read: 15943
# of Points Accrued: 540

I am running out of steam! LOL!! This is my first challenge. Naively, I had hoped to finish, and be able to write a task for the next challenge. Maybe Rookie of the year is still possible?? (She asks, knowing it's not likely. LOL!!) I was so happy when I cracked 500 points and I am very satisfied with what I was able to accomplish, especially since I am not long home after a two week hospitalization. I strongly sense I may be moving on to start researching my choices for the next challenge (but I am not totally dismissing any further fall challenge reading at this point). I think a little time to re-group might be good. I am VERY keen for the winter challenge!

I finished Task 25.10 by reading The Witch of Portobello.
The more I read, the more I disliked the heroine of this book and the premise of it.
Although such things as "find yourself and know yourself", "love is everything" and "be true to yourself" are all true to an extent, when it's combined with "once you've found yourself, be true to yourself even if it means that you're mean, obnoxious and uncaring towards others" it loses all true meaning.
The heroine, Athena, becomes more and more unlikable as she evolves and finds "The Mother".
I also found the ending of the book to go against what the rest of the book was saying. Athena is not true to herself or to others; she does not stand for what she believes.
A disappointing read.

Completed task 20.3 The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

Petra wrote: "I finished Task 25.10 by reading The Witch of Portobello.
The more I read, the more I disliked the heroine of this book and the premise of it.
Although such things as "find yoursel..."

Petra, my thoughts exactly. I had the same reaction to that book. The cover was so promising...

Finished 2 more tasks today. I was listening to these books while running errands and then while doing things around the house this afternoon. I fininshed 10.6 Native American task by listening to The Absolute True Story of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexi. And also finished listening to Animal Farm by George Orwell for task 10.1 Buddy Holly published in 1945. That will bring my total to 605 points.

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.

The Infernal City by Greg Keyes

Total points 235
Tasks complete 16

I finished task 20.2 ABC's by reading the following:

G: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
H: The Help by Kathryn Stockett
I: If On a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino

Total points= 130

Finished 5.2 with Twilight.

New point total: 115

Heather in KS

Vicki's completted tasks.

5 Point Tasks

5.2 Book with an apple on the cover: Fallen by David Maine
5.5 Back to School: The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5.10 Travel Back in Time: Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House #1)

10 Point Tasks

10.2 Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
10.10 Down the Rabbit Hole; An Echo Falls Mystery by Peter Abrahams

15 Point Tasks



20 Point Tasks

20.2 Rookie of the Season (Read book with consecutive letters in title)
G: Gone
H: The Help
I: Impulse
20.3 Group Read: Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon


25 Point Tasks

25.7 One, Two, Three Read three books:
Mommywood by Tori Spelling
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Streams of Babel by Carol Plum-Ucci


Total points to date: 100 points updated