Bookcrossers discussion

Diane wrote: "Am I allowed to give URLs?"

Of course!
:)

Some of my links no longer work, so I tried to find others.

ALA Frequently Challenged Books - http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/fr...

ALA Top 10 Frequently Challenged Books for Years 2001-2019 - http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/fr...

The Most Frequently Banned Books in the 1990s - http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/most-bann...

Wikipedia List of Banned Books (by country, etc) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_o...

The 3 websites I couldn't find were OCLC 2005 The Top 112 Most Banned Books; Instances of Censorship Throughout History - Banned Books list developed by Allan Clark; and Adler & Robin Books - Books Banned at One Time or Another in the United States

Dnf'd the epic I had chosen (and while doing so found out that it didn't qualify after all, as the last pages were a sample of another book!). September will have to stand at 2 out of 3, breaking my streak. Oh well.

I finished the August challenge with:

#3. Gone But Not Forgotten - The Sparrow by Mary Russell - READ 9/27/20

I started the 3rd book for September, so just might finish it by month end.

Reading Challenge - October
Theme: Boo! Something Wicked This Way Comes!

Boo - Read a ghost, vampire, zombie or other creepy creature book.
(Examples: The Bell Witch, The Howling, Monster, Dracula, etc..)

Something Wicked This Way Comes - Read a book with a wicked word in the title.
(Examples: The Amityville Horror, Evil Eyes, Killer Clown, etc..)

Bonus: Read a book that has an Autumnal cover or title.
(Think Windy, Falling, Leaves, Pumpkins, Apples, Haystacks, etc..)

October Challenge

Boo - Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined - Stephenie Meyer - Finished

Something Wicked This Way Comes - Wicked: by Gregory Maguire - Finished

Bonus -

Reading Challenge - October
Unfortunately neither of these are books I own and so they don't help me clear Mt. TBR. But I want to succeed in this challenge, and I have been reading a lot of other Mt. TBR books... :)

Boo - Read a ghost... book. The Painting 4* for a story that's been told before, but this time a little more interestingly.

Something Wicked This Way Comes - Read a book with a wicked word in the title. Hiss-s-s-s! 4* for a neat story for younger kids... the snake is fine, but there is a reference to wickedness as mom is from Lebanon and her childhood was, erm, terrifying. (dad is from Pakistan).

The following was a dusty Mt. TBR:

Bonus: Read a book that has an Autumnal cover or title. Fool's Gold by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Reading Challenge - October

BOO - A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness - READ 10/23/20

Something Wicked This Way Comes - Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury - READ 10/30/20

Bonus: Autumnal cover or title - Petals on the Wind by V.C. Andrews - reading

Boo - More Great Southern Mysteries (which includes Ghosts of the Alamo, Terror on the Natchez Trace, etc.)

Something Wicked This Way Comes - The Southern Haunting of Truman Capote

Bonus - I'll pass on the bonus. If I manage to finish these two I'll go back to previous months' picks that I have haven't finished yet! I've finished 15 toward this challenge, but have about 10 left to go. I keep reading other stuff! And doing French lessons on Duolinguo!

(Duolingo - I used to do Spanish when we lived in Carson City NV, which has a lot of immigrant families. Then we moved to rural Missouri, and it's dishearteningly white, & demotivating to me to continue my work.)

Cheryl wrote: "(Duolingo - I used to do Spanish when we lived in Carson City NV, which has a lot of immigrant families. Then we moved to rural Missouri, and it's dishearteningly white, & demotivating to me to con..."

Confused by your comment.
Did you mean to post that in this thread?
If you are asking if you can read a book that is written in Spanish,
the answer is yes.

I think she was responding to the previous comment with KM's last word "Duolingo"

Diane wrote: "I think she was responding to the previous comment with KM's last word "Duolingo""

Thanks! I was suffering massive confusion!

no problem ... I usually say I live in the state of confusion (instead of state of North Carolina) lol

I'm thinking of changing my BOO! prompt from Interview with a Vampire to A Discovery of Witches. I've heard it's also a challenging read. And it has 500+ pages instead of 300+ pages. But I have a prompt in another challenge that is read a book with a character with your name. This is the only book I can find with a Diane in it. Anyone else know of any. I wish Goodreads had a search option for their character names

Oops, sorry my off topic comment caused massive confusion :-)

But one more OT comment to seal the conversation:
Cheryl, I wish I'd discovered Duolingo before I retired from teaching. I, too, taught in an area with many immigrant families. The Spanish would have been helpful. I chose French because I took 3 years of it in high school. Okay, now back to my pile of books.

As for a character named Diane, I'm stumped. I could only think of Anne's friend Diana, from Anne of Green Gables. Almost.

Finished September

3. Banned - Celebrate Banned Books Week - The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne - READ 10/4/20

So now I'm all caught up and ready to start October and a long 500+ book. lol

K M wrote, "As for a character named Diane, I'm stumped. I could only think of Anne's friend Diana, from Anne of Green Gables. Almost."

Yes, I found that Diane when I was searching. But I've read the entire series of Anne of Green Gables. Thanks for the suggestion. So I'm going with the Diana in A Discovery of Witches. It's the only other Diane I could find.

I used to know how to search GR for place names and character names. We 'librarians' are encouraged to edit the book's page to add that data, and it is searchable if one remembers how. Or at least it used to be. I can't find anything now, but maybe I'll remember which of my GR friends knows what I mean.

Meanwhile, Listopias have been created for some names. Sophie has a list of books, for example. But none for Diane. Google didn't help either. It doesn't seem like it should be so hard to find this information nowadays but I just poked around for 20 minutes. :sigh:

Maybe your middle name would be easier?

I Loved A Discovery of Witches and even read the two follow on books. Hope you enjoy it.

Cheryl wrote: "Reading Challenge - October

Boo - Read a ghost... book.

Something Wicked This Way Comes - Read a book with a wicked word in the title.

Bonus: Read a book that has an Autumnal cover or title."

This has been an awful month for two big family reasons. I've not been at home to read from Mt. TBR since Sept. but am hoping to head back tomorrow. I ask for an extension!

Cheryl wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "Reading Challenge - October

"This has been an awful month for two big family reasons. I've not been at home to read from Mt. TBR since Sept. but am hoping to head back tomorrow. I ask for an extension!"


You have until December 31, 2020 to finish all challenge books.
(P.S. I think you will like the challenge I have planned for December!)

Thanks!

Reading Challenge - November
Theme: Let Us Give Thanks by Being Kind and Listening

1. Thanks - Read a book with a title or a word that makes you feel Thankful.

2. Kind - November 13 is World Kindness Day - Read a book with a Kind title.

3. Listen - November 23 is National Day of Listening - Listen to an audio book.

Happy Reading!

1. Thanks - A Light In the Window by Jan Karon
(Because I'm so thankful that DST has come to an end - at least for a few months, anyway.) - Finished

2. Kind - Random Acts of Kindness by Conari Press - Currently reading

3. Listen - Apollyon: The Destroyer is Unleashed by Tim LaHaye, and Jerry B. Jenkins - Finished

Reading Challenge - November
Theme: Let Us Give Thanks by Being Kind and Listening

1. Thanks - Thanksgiving by Janet Evanovich - READ 11/28/20

2. Kind - One-Eyed Cat by Paula Fox - to be kind to every person & animal no matter how different they are from ourselves.

3. Listen - Act of Treason by Vince Flynn (Libby with hubby) - READ 11/6/20

Happy November Reading everyone!!!

1. Thanks - Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers (Anne Lamott)

2. Kind - Humankind: Changing the World One Small Act At a Time (Brad Aronson)

3. Listen - Jacob's Room (Virginia Woolf)

Diane, your mom and I are birthday buddies. Wish her a Happy Birthday from a fellow 11/26er. Also, my mom is 91, too :-)

That's great, K M!! Happy Birthday month to you! and I hope your mom is in good health as well.

Thank you for a fantastic theme... these are important concepts and it will do my soul good to read about them.

Reading Challenge - November
Theme: Let Us Give Thanks by Being Kind and Listening

1. Thanks - Read a book with a title or a word that makes you feel Thankful. The Little Bookroom by Eleanor Farjeon. I am very thankful for books, and for this author, one of my favorites throughout my entire life.

2. Kind - November 13 is World Kindness Day - Read a book with a Kind title. Healer by Peter Dickinson doesn't look like it's actually much about kindness, but the title fits and it's from Mt. TBR.

3. Listen - November 23 is National Day of Listening - Listen to an audio book. Probably finish my current road trip book when I visit my sons: The Unteachables.

Finished 2 and 3 for Nov., am looking forward to making time for Farjeon's classic.

Oh, and I did finish October.

So far I've only finished 18 of the 26 that I'd selected for this challenge. That doesn't include whatever comes up for December. I'll be finishing the Decades challenge, but unless I read every minute until 2021, my completion of this one seems doubtful.

Reading Challenge - December
Theme: A Christmas Present

I have a gift for all of you!
The challenge this month is simply to finish as many challenges as you can from the previous months.
If you've already finished all of them then go back through the challenges and pick a book or two from the various themes and read those.

Merry Christmas and Booky New Year!

Oh thank you so much! I'll probably be having surgery this month so I was just trying to figure out how to finish this and other challenges. I'm only 2 behind for this challenge:

October - Autumnal - Petals on the Wind - VC Andrews

November - Kindness - One-Eyed Cat - Paula Fox

Good luck everyone and Happy Holidays!

Yay! I'll read my last from November, The Little Bookroom, and then I'll be complete.

I liked this challenge. Much easier to keep track of than the ones that start at the beginning of the year and last all year, so less time used for tracking and more for reading. I also like the conversations and seeing what other folks are reading.

If you do it again, I'll participate!

I am also going to be working on your 'library' challenge, Sept to Sept. But I'll try to avoid participating in other groups' challenges... either that, or figure out a better way to track.

Double-Yay! There may be hope for me yet! Yes, this has been a fun challenge.

ETA: By the way, I've changed my November "Kind" selection to a book that was only .99 for Kindle - Humankind: Changing the World One Small Act at a Time. Can't read and release, but I couldn't resist the price.

Oh that sounds like a wonderful book. Let us know what you think!
Humankind: Changing the World One Small Act At a Time

Ah, so, I am done with my reread of The Little Bookroom by the lovely Eleanor Farjeon.

Thank you for a terrific challenge.

I'm changing my June "Summer" selection from Stones of Summer to Prodigal Summer, because the latter is shorter, and I really like Kingsolver's writing. It should go fast.

Finished Help Thanks Wow last night (Nov- thanks)

Cheryl, so far Humankind has been enjoyable, Especially now, when many of us have pandemic and election fatigue, it's nice to be reminded that there is still goodness in the world, as well as many opportunities to do good.

Diane - surgery and getting ready for a move? You've got a lot going on. I wish you the best!

Edwina - fun challenge...I'm feeling more hopeful about finishing :-)

Thanks for December's theme, Edwina. I can handle that as I am trying to finish up a few of them. I won't get caught up no matter how hard I try. I have too many books for the SIY (set-it-yourself) challenge to read before the 31st (6 in all). That I combined a few of them has helped, but I still have about 9 books on your challenges to read. Still, I have enjoyed pulling books off my shelves and getting them read, one book at a time so thank you for that. Your challenges always make me think,

What is the set-it-yourself challenge? Is that in another group?

Cheryl wrote: "What is the set-it-yourself challenge? Is that in another group?"

It is over at Bookcrossing. It is a quarterly challenge where you decide what you want to read and then do it (or not as I often do). Look on the Book Talk forum. Some people decide on certain genres; some people pick so many books; some choose to read so many pages; and others pick particular books.

I, for one, pick books that I either should read or really want to read. It gives me a focus, but the reality is that I read what I want along with the others I have chosen. If I were smart, I'd just name a number of books and then read randomly, but I don't.

Check it out Cheryl under SIY #54.

Hm. I don't use the forums there. Maybe we can do something like it here.

Well, it's 10:45 pm on 12/31/20, and I am only 98 pages into my final book for this challenge, July's chill out book:
Literature from the 'Axis of Evil': Writing from Iran, Iraq, North Korea, and Other Enemy Nations. It is 296 pages long, so I can pretty much guarantee that I'll not be finished by midnight. I did, at least, finish the writings from Iran, which I was most interested in, as my husband is Iranian. Finished the Iraqi entries, too. I'll probably finish the whole thing by Saturday or Sunday. I really wanted to finish this challenge - I guess in a way it was helping me feel a sense of control over something during this difficult, crazy year. But, I'm not finishing on time, and it's not the end of the world! :-)
Hope everyone is well. Happy New Year - may 2021 be a kinder year than 2020.

Well ... I didn't manage to finish any of my challenges this year
... but that's o.k. ... I had fun and I read quite a few books that would probably still be still on my shelves if I hadn't challenged myself to read "outside the box."
I hope all of you have enjoyed my various challenges this year and will continue to "play in the stacks" with me in 2021.
As a matter of fact ... I've already posted a new challenge that starts tomorrow - Jan. 1.
Happy Reading and Happy New Year!

K M, it seems great to me that you got so close!
Anyone who tried gets a gold star, imo!!

Yay! Gold stars all around! And some confetti, too!! See you all over at Edwina's alphabet challenge.

Better late than never?? Finished my last book for this challenge today (1/18/21)

Literature from the 'Axis of Evil': Writing from Iran, Iraq, North Korea, and Other Enemy Nations (July's chill out - snow on the cover)

I registered the book at Bookcrossing 1/15/2008. Without your challenge, Edwina, who knows how many more years it would have languished on the shelf?

Hah!
Congratulations!

Was it a worthy read?

Cheryl wrote: "Hah!
Congratulations!

Was it a worthy read?"

Thanks! I do believe it was. I particularly liked stories from Iran, Syria, Sudan, and Cuba (although one from Cuba was pretty gross). The ones from N.Korea were a bit heavy on the propaganda, which made them less enjoyable, imo.