The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

Finished: 25.9 Bridgit's TAsk
A. Book with map North! Or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson If you liked A Series of Unfortunate Events, you might enjoy this. (This is book 2)
B. Book with extras The Court of the Last Tsar Pomp, Power and Pageantry in the Reign of Nicholas II by Greg King. A good gossipy book about the people and places in the Russian Court of Nicholas II up to the eve of World War I. Lots of pictures inserted in the text as well as color plates.

Andrew Peterson is a Good Reads Author, 3 Stars
The Court of the Last Tsar is 508 pages without the bib and index, 559 with . Also would have worked with 10.10 or 5.3B 4*.

Finished Wendy's task 30.6 Winter Vacation Dreams by reading Letters from Yellowstone by Diane Smith. This book was OK I gave it 2*. It was dry and not much action. I have always wanted to go to Yellowstone Park. Maybe someday I will make it there.

This brings my total to 160 points.

Finally, my first posting! December is normally my slowest reading month, so I decided to hold off until I had a few books to report.

Completed Tasks:

5.1 The Wonderful World of Disney (Cinderella)
Ella Enchanted***1/2 by Gail Carson Levine - READ 12/14/09

5.5 A Librarian's Job is Never Done
Book Lust Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason**** by Nancy Pearl (GOODREADS AUTHOR) - READ 12/12/09
Nancy Pearl is a librarian.

10.9 Remembering Pearl Harbor (set in Hawaii)
Swimsuit*** - by James Patterson - READ 12/13/09

15.7 Food and Family/Friends
Diners, Drive-ins and Dives An All-American Road Trip . . . with Recipes!*** by Guy Fieri - READ 12/3/09
Fixed Captain Crunch French Toast for my son and his friend. Just because he likes Captain Crunch and french toast, doesn't mean the two should be combined. Too sweet!

30.7 Multi-Tasking
The Book Thief***** by Markus Zusak - READ 12/10/09
Fits Task 30.5 Posthumously Speaking Part A & Task 5.4 A Winning Decade




Tasks Completed: 5/58
Points Completed: 65/1100
Books Read: 5
Books Read From My Personal Library: 2

I completed one of them.

5.2 High Fidelity (I saw it listed on one of the threads for the red, white and blue cover). I really enjoyed it.

I have completed task 20.3 by reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

I posted over in the discussion thread basically saying that I enjoyed it and would have loved it as a kid, and that I think the tim burton movie coming out is not actually a retelling, but a sequel.

Point Total: 45
Page Total: 861
Book Total: 4

5.3.A Royal Reading
I just finished A Proud Taste For Scarlet And Miniver by E L Konigsburg about Eleanor Of Aquitaine.

Tasks Completed 3
Total Read 5
Pages Read 1499
Total Points 40/1100

I completed another task last night by reading Queen of Babble in the Big City to go with Thanksgiving for task 25.8 Insane Answering Machine Day. Thanksgiving was another cute Evanovich romance. I also finished the 3rd book in the QOB series last night and I have to say that the last 2 books went in a really different direction than I thought they would from the first book - all 3 books are really good and I liked how it ended up but I was surprised at who the main character ended up with. The third also kind of made me sad because she killed off a character I liked but it was kind of important to the plot. I'm using the 3rd for another multibook task so I'll repost about that later.

30.7 Multi-Tasking - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Here are the other categories it would fit under:

25.9A - BRIDGIT'S TASK - THE WORLD OF BOOKS
25.8 - MICHELLE US'S TASK - JAN.30 IS INANE ANSWWERING MACHINE DAY
5.10 - THE ALLURE OF ALLITERATION
30.5 - DIANE'S TASK - POSTHUMOUSLY SPEAKING

total tasks completed - 4
total points - 50

I finished 30.5 by reading Elsewhere (narrator is dead) and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (published posthumously).

I really liked both of these and gave them each 4 stars.

This bring my total to: 230

I have completed the following tasks:

5.3 Jordan Enchantment of the World By Patricia K. Kummer
Jordan is considered a Constitutional Monarchy

20.2 Extraordinary People of the Civil Rights Movement by Sheila Hardy and P. Stephen Hardy

30.8A Sacagawea-Indian Interpreter to Lewis and Clark by Marion Marsh Brown
30.8B Lewis and Clark by George Sullivan

30.9 I picked 1992
30.9A Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
30.9B Nothing But the Truth by Avi
30.9C It was so hard to choose my favorite of these but I think I liked Shiloh better. I am a dog lover and I hate abuse or neglect of an animal. Although it was hard for me to read it because of the grammatical errors even though I know it was written from the Marty's point of view. I liked the gist of Nothing But the Truth. I showed just how easy it is for things to get misconstrued and out of control. I thought that the ending was fitting and hilarious.

SO that gives me a measly 85 points for this week.

Oops I forgot one:

15.2A Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
15.2B Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg by Gail Carson Levine

OK I didn't change the ticker amount :(

Third time is charm

For 25 points I have read The Principessa by Christie Dickason which has a map in and The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larrson which has a family tree in it. This is for the 25.9 World of Books task.

Previous Reads
10.4 The Winners Choice - PJReads list Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin
10.7 Small Screen Stories - My Favourite People and Me by Alan Davies

20.3 Group Reads - The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore

25.5 Odd Task Out - American Tabloid by James Ellroy

30.7 Multitasking - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carrol



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I've completed two more books, but only one more for points:

20 POINT TASKS
20.3 GROUP READS The Stupidest Angel A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, Version 2.0 by Christopher Moore; and I posted in the book's discussion folder.

I also completed Queen of Babble in the Big City for a two-part task, so I can't claim points for that one yet.

Previously Completed Tasks
25.6 Behaving Badly by Isabel Wolff

Total Points: 45
Tasks Completed: 2 (and 2 half tasks)
Books Read: 4

Finished 10.8 Oh Canada!
I read The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood who is Canadian, and the story takes place in Canada as well. I took quite a while finishing this one because the story was so well revealed that I wanted to absorb every detail rather than hurry and get it finished. I had never read a book by her before, but she may become a new favorite. She is a great storyteller.

5.7 Eyeing the year of the Tiger : Ox (1986) Laurie Halse Anderson Ox (1961) Wintergirls


Anderson is also a Goodreads Author.

Tasks: 4
Books: 5
Total Pages: 1322
Total Points: 30/1100

I finally finished Outlander! After all the talk about Jamie I really expected to be absorbed into this book, but I struggled to get into it. Around 400 pages in it went faster and I started to enjoy it, but I'm not sure I'll continue the series.

This was for the 825 page task, 30.3, which should bring me to 125 points.

I've been out of town for a long weekend, and I have a couple of tasks to report. Sorry for the long post.

30.2 Book by Nebula or Hugo winning author who won prior to 2000 AND sci/fi book published 2000 forward: Valor's Trial and Falling Free by Tanya Huff and Lois McMaster Bujold, respectively. Total pages 696, read 12/9/2009 and 12/10/2009.

5.10 Alliteration, two or more words with same letter back to back: Loose Lips by Claire Berlinski, 230pp read 12/13/2009.

5.1 Book related to favorite Disney film: Beastly by Alex Flinn, 300pp 12/6/2009.

Beastly was a 3* for me, mostly because it seemed to make sex between 14 years olds normal. I know that was not what was intended by the author, but the story left a little taste of that to me. Loose Lips was a pleasant no brainer, with some interesting tidbits about CIA training, 3 and a half*.

I chose two space operas, although, Falling Free is not really a space opera like Bujold's Vorkosigan series. To me one of the biggest changes in sci-fi over the past 30 years is what I would call "commercializing". Thirty years ago, speculative fiction came in 2 general sorts - the specialist sort, often literary, sometimes chock full of hard science or deep thought, usually only accessible to the true sci-fi fan or, in the case of Ray Bradbury, the compiler of short stories for 10th grade literature books, OR the completely disposable type. Now there is a lot of "mass market" sci-fi, romance is a whole new genre within fantasy and science fiction, for example. Bujold was a pioneer in this area, and one of the best writers. Huff is one of the most readable of the newer highly prolific sci-fi, fantasy, vampire writers. Enjoy.

Books read 15/77+
Tasks completed 7/48
Points 95/1100
Pages read 4516


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Finished: 20.6 (sovereign island - Japan)

Geisha A Life by Mineko Iwasaki (4 stars)

I read and enjoyed Memoirs of a Geisha, a few years ago, so I was excited to read this autobiography written by one of Japan's most treasured geikos. It was a great read with many details of the familial traditions, art forms, dress, and social expectancies of this ancient profession. In contrast to Golden's "Memoirs", I was surprised to learn, that in many cases, geisha's are actually required to remain chaste to preserve their image. Customers pay thousands of dollars just for quick visits, to parties, from the geishas. They are, after all, highly trained dancers, musicians, and singers.

+20
total: 50
total books: 4
total tasks: 4

I just finished "Santa Clawed" and watching The Santa Claus 2, for task 15.8

total points: 105/1100

35.4 Read About Your Resolution: Dear Great American Writers School and The Weekend Novelist
I want to learn how to be a better writer...and maybe finish something novel-length this coming year. Here's hoping!

Total: 35 + 545 (from before) = 580 points

I finished 35.3, About Time with
The Silent Hour

Solid detective fiction with well developed characters

+35
total 330

Two more down--

10.9--THE FLAMING LUAU OF DEATH by Jerrilyn Farmer

OK mystery set on the big island of Hawaii. I didn't like the characters much, but the mystery was good.

and

25.1--SLOW MAN by J M Coetzee

Story of a man who has recently lost his leg in an accident who has to look for help and is not happy about it. The story goes south when another woman enters his life (Elizabeth Costello) as her appearance changes the direction and mood of the story. I was upset about this as I had previously read Coetzee's other novel "ELIZABETH COSTELLO" and was looking forward to hearing more about this interesting woman.

&

THE SEA by John Banville

Story of a man who has recently lost his wife after a long sickness. He returns to a seaside town where he spent many a childhood summer with his family and while there he reminisces about the past. I loved the eloquence and language throughout this story. The story is actually not that exciting, but if you are a lover of flowery, beautifully executed prose, this is for you!

This brings me to 610 points!

15.10 We Will Remember You: Invisible Life A Novel and I watched Ghost, which I'd never seen before...I'd heard it was good, but it was surprisingly funny. Harris' book wasn't fantastically written, but I think it's important for its message, especially given that it was written in '91 and was probably one of the first GBLTQ novels dealing with AIDS, and certainly one of the first with a black cast.

Total: 15 + 580 (from earlier) = 595 total

15.8 Silver Screen Celebrations

I read A Different Kind of Christmas and watched The Santa Clause 2.

I chose this book because I had it here in the house; I unearthed it in a box of forgotten books I cleaned out of my spare room. I have had it easily for 15 years and hadn't read it; now I wish I never had. The main character had almost no depth or detail to his character, every other character was just window dressing. It was more like an idea of a novel that didn't ever get to fulfill itself. I was so disappointed I was tempted not to claim the points; fortunately the library called me to tell me The Stupidest Angel was ready for me. That will be a different kind of Christmas I hope I can enjoy.

The Santa Clause 2 was cute; I had never seen it before. I love Christmas movies! Later this week we are going to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas!

Total Points: 135

I've finished 5 books; 3 are parts of multi-book tasks, and 1 can be used for more than one task, and I'm not claiming points for it until I'm sure which task I'm using it for.

The one I'm claiming this post is:
30.6 Read A Book That Takes Place In Your Dream Vacation Spot Then Take A Moment To Imagine That You Are There. Tell Us Where And Why.

The Road to Paradise Island by Victoria Holt (Hardcover, 368 pages)



Take A Moment To Imagine That You Are There. Tell Us Where And Why.:
The first 2/5ths of the book is in the English countryside near London; the next 1/5th in Australia; and the final 2/5ths on a South Sea Island. What a perfect vacation plan! I've always wanted to go to England; Australia would be intriguing; and a finale on a tropical beach, on the sands underneath the palm trees .... paradise! :0)






Tasks Completed: 5
Points for this task: 30
Points thus far: 100/1100
Books read: 5
Pages Read: 1667

Books Read but not yet claimed: 4


Previously claimed:
10.7 -SMALL SCREEN – Doctor Who The Stone Rose by Jacqueline Rayner (256 pages)
15.7 FOOD + FAMILY AND/OR FRIENDS = READING FUN –
Book w/recipes or Cookbook: Cooking for Mr. Latte A Food Lover's Courtship, with Recipes by Amanda Hesser (336 pages)
20.3 GROUP READS C. Romance The Princess Bride by William Goldman (480 pages)
25.2 Read A Book Where Friendship Is A Main Theme An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (227 pages)

30.7 Multi-Tasking

I read Stand the Storm A Novel which fits fits the following tasks: 5.10 Alliteration and 10.3 Renaissance Reading b/c the title is an alliteration and it was written by Breena Clark, an African American Author (there were also MANY African American characters). I gave this one 4 stars. Very interesting novel about before, during and after the Civil War. I really enjoyed it.

Points for this task: 30
Total Points: 105/1100

15.6 Season of Gifting and Giving: The Time Capsule
My favorite gift ever happened for my birthday this past year. My brother managed to get two tickets to a concert event in the city, so we took the train in, went to lunch and the concert in the afternoon, came home, went out to dinner, and then spontaniously decided to go see The Invention of Lying, which had just come out (and is hysterical, if you haven't seen it yet). More than all the things we got to do, we got to do them together, which is something we haven't managed to do for a long time. We hated each other as little kids, but when our parents got divorced, we ended up being each other's support. Even though we still fight on occasion, I know that he'll always be there for me--and I'll always be there for him.
As for the second part of this task, I baked cookies for teachers and aides at the school where I work as a thank you for all the effort they put in to each lesson and class. I've also volunteered to help out with the 8th grade musical: painting sets, helping people learn lines, doing whatever they ask of me...even if I'd rather sleep in on the weekends. Finally, I donated a bag of clothes I don't wear anymore so someone else who loves funky t-shirts can enjoy my collection.

Total: 15 + 595 (from earlier) = 610 points

I always have good intentions to claim points as I finish each challenge but, yet again, I am forced to play catchup! Sorry Cynthia!!

Here goes:

I have completed 5-7. I am a Tiger (1962) and I chose James P. Blaylock, born in 1950. I read The Ebb Tide.

I have also completed 5-8. I read The Cereal Murders, a cozy mystery for Baby its Cold Outside.

For 15-8, I read The Christmas Quilt and watched The Muppets' Christmas Carol.

I read The Stupidest Angel (and laughed alot) for the group read, 20-3. I also posted a comment on the site.

Finally, I just completed this afternoon, I am Legend for challenge # 30-4.

If my calulations are correct, that should give me 75 points to date.

Thanks!!

5.2 She Was a Grand Old Flag Maker
He Sees You When You're Sleeping by Mary Higgens Clark. It had a red, white and blue cover. I gave this 4 stars, it was a cute little christmas story.

10.2 Louis Louis
The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn by Colin Dexter. One of the main characters is deaf. I enjoyed this book, kept me guessing, gave it 4 stars.

30.4 World AIDS Day
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. The epidemic was an infection that turned people to zombies. I gave this 5 stars, I usually don't like zombie stories that much but this was an interesting one.

Total Points: 220
Total Pages: 5640
Total Books: 21
Total Tasks: 14

5.7. EYING THE YEAR OF THE TIGER
I was born November 1981 so I am a Rooster. I read PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern who was born September 1981 and is also a Rooster.
Pages read: 503
Books read: 1
Tasks completed: 1
Total Points: 5

10.5 POPULARITY CONTEST - The Van Alen Legacy by Melissa de la Cruz. This book was on the overall list for the year.

10.7 SMALL SCREEN STORIES - A Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris. This book is related to the tv show True Blood.

Total Points: 45
Total Pages: 1140
Total Books: 4
Tasks Completed: 4

Completed 4 more tasks by finishing 5 books + a movie:

#5.4 A Winning Decade: Sharp Objects A Novel by Gillian Flynn won the 2007 Ian Fleming Gold Dagger Award
#15.8 Silver Screen Celebration: Read A Rogue For Christmas by Kate Huntington and watched "A Dog Named Christmas" (Hallmark Holiday TV Movie)
#20.3 Group Read: Winter: The Stupidest Angel A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, Version 2.0 by Christopher Moore & posted twice on the Group Read thread
#25.3 Sara Nicole: A Game of Clue: by Anne Stuart for color and by Gary Paulsen for weapon. Ice Blue is in my home library and I got Hatchet from the public library, so I'm covered with both!

Total Pages = 3,096

Total Points = 140

30.6 Winter Vacation Dreams
Read Urn Burial Phryne Fisher
This book is set in one of my favourite parts of Australia. We have been talking of going there again for some time.

30.5 posthumously speaking
Read To Your Scattered Bodies Go and Persuasion

I finished "The Christmas Wish" for task 15.8 Silver Screen celebrations. I watched the movie and then I read the book because I loved the movie so much.

Tasks Completed: 6
Books Read: 7
Total Points: 85

Wrapped up 10.10 (From Russia with Love) with Tom Rob Smith's The Secret Speech, which is set in Khrushchev's Russia. It's an excellent read and gets into some pretty heavy themes that lift it above the usual thriller fare.

Current Total: 160 points

Jessica, I just put The Secret Speech on my TBR list. I enjoyed his other book, Child 44. Have you read that one?

I told myself I was going to try to get all the big points first, but my sister slipped this in her last CARE package and it has been 7 F. the past couple of mornings.

5.8. BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE

The cozy mystery Six Geese A-Slaying by Donna Andrews has charm, snow, Christmas-er, Holiday, a dead Santa. What more could you want than a mug of hot chocolate, some carollers and the fireplace DVD on the tv?


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5.1: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
5.4: 2008 winner of the Agatha Award for Best Novel: Six Geese A-Slaying by Donna Andrews
5.8: Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich
15.6. Stardust by Neil Gaiman. Goodreads Author
Best gift I received: Many years ago, my husband (then boyfriend) gave me a telescope for my birthday and wrote on the card that his intention was to give me the stars. I just realized how fitting this book was, since Tristran's intent was the same!
DONATED: Diapers and formula to the local young mothers' relief.

Books read=4
Tasks completed=4
Total points=30

Finished task 30.7 Jan the Gryphon

I read The Eyre Affair which I gave 4 stars. Great book and I can't wait to read the rest of the series. It also fits task 5.2 (red/white/blue) and task 15.9 for author I have never read.

Tasks Completed: 10
Points for this task: 30
Points thus far: 160/1100
Books read: 16
Pages read: 4912 (updated 12/15)

jsut finished dark walker now i have 3 tasks done and a total of 30 points

Finished:
5.7 Year of the Tiger. I am a Horse, as is Tamora Pierce. I read Terrier which is book 1 of Beka Cooper.
Pierce is a Good Reads Author

Also:
15.3 What Women Want A. The Ninth Daughter An Abigail Adams Mystery by Barbara Hamilton

And B. Portia The World of Abigail Adams by Edith Belle Gelles, an unconventional biography (written by themes in Abigail Adams life, rather than in a linear fashion)

25.4 Lisa's task
The Tailor's Daughter A Novel by Janice Graham takes place in England around 1860-1870.
The Memoirs of Mary Queen of Scots by Carolly Erickson takes place in France, Scotland, and England in 1500s.
While I enjoy reading about both time periods, I don't particularly want to live in either. I always figured I'd be the one stuck doing the laundry or being the scullery maid. The very dangerous times during the later Tudor rulers with the religious dissention and the witch trials make it unappealing to live in. The Victorian era was at least a little more settled, but certainly did not offer a lot of scope to women who needed to earn their own living.

Two more tasks.

15-8 Silver Screen Celebrations. Book Related to Holiday in this Season.
I read The Gift by Cecelia Ahern and watched Home Alone movie early this month.

The book was Christmas cliche. I was slow to warm into the story due to freaking unnecessarily small font. (Did the publisher intend to blind people? I really wonder.) Anyway, I enjoyed the second half of the book. It was quite touching.



30-7 Multi-tasking
Dashing Through the Snow by Mary Higgins Clark
This book can fit Task 5-2 (Red-White-Blue Cover)
and Task 15-8 (Holiday-related Book)

This book was a fast and easy read. Lovely but not touching like The Gift. It was in the Lottery Winner series and was the first one I read.

+45
Total points: 80

10.3 - Harlem Renaissance: Passing , written by an African-American novelist of the Harlem Renaissance, with an African-American protagonist. A wonderful book about race loyalty and family dynamics.

Pages read: 831
Books read: 5+
Tasks completed: 5
Total Points: 120
Liz (Bklyn)

Donna Jo wrote: "Finished:
25.4 Lisa's task
The Tailor's Daughter A Novel by Janice Graham takes place in England around 1860-1870.

I've just added this to my TBR. It looks good.

Another one down--

30.10--GREEN THUMB by Ralph McInerny

The misogynistic undertones in this mystery set at the University of Notre Dame were a little too much for me. Sure the setting was the 70's, but I still did not like it and would not look up this author again.

&

THIRTEEN AT DINNER by Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot is called to the scene when a woman's husband is killed by someone who looks exactly like her. I'm not a big fan of the Poirot mysteries, but I still found this a fun read.

This brings me to 640 points!

25.10. EMILY'S TASK - DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER...UNLESS IT'S REALLY WELL DESIGNED

For This Challenge Read Two Books:

A. Making A Great First Impression: Read A Book That's Cover Design Draws You In. (Either Post The Cover Image In Your Post And/Or Write About What You Liked About The Design)
AND
B. It's What's Inside That Counts: Read A Graphic Novel.

A. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn - I love the simplicity of that one broken lock. It oozes a real sense of foreboding and goes so well with the title "Dark Places".

B.Gunslinger Girl, Vol. 3 by Yu Aida - Still trying to figure out if this one fits sci-fi or action genre. It's quite violent so definitely not recommended for children.

Total Points: 45

I have completed 5.4 A Winning Decade task. I read The Road by Cormac McCarthy which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2007. A brilliant book!


Previous Reads
10.4 The Winners Choice - PJReads list Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin
10.7 Small Screen Stories - My Favourite People and Me by Alan Davies

20.3 Group Reads - The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore

25.5 Odd Task Out - American Tabloid by James Ellroy
25.9 The World of Books - The Principessa by Christie Dickason and The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larrson

30.7 Multitasking - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carrol



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One more. I can't decide if this is a 3 or 4 star for me but am heading for 3 stars. It was a good YA novel, and I might read the others in the series, but it wasn't as good as I hoped it might be.

10.6 Local literature lovers – City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (from Shazzy in the UK's list)

TOTALS:
55 points
6 books
4 tasks
2404 pages
1 task in progress