The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

Finished task 15.8 Silver Screen Celebrations by reading A Cedar Cove Christmas by Debbie Macomber. I really liked this book and gave it 4*. It is about a young woman who falls for the wrong guy and ends up pregnant. At Christmas time she realizes that he has been lying to her about wanting to be there for her and the baby. Her 3 brothers want him to accept his responsibilities and marry their sister. She runs away in hopes of finding his parents and telling them about their soon to be grandchild. Instead she finds some incredible people who help her out. I have also watched Elf, The Santa Clause 2, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Santa Clause is Coming to Town and A Charlie Brown Christmas. I will also be watching my absolute favorite movie It's A Wonderful Life sometime this week.

This brings me to 175 points.

I completed 30.10 by reading Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit for the color part of the task and The 19th Wife A Novel for the number portion. Also David Ebershoff is a Goodreads Author.

I now have 70 points.

I completed 25.6 Island Dreams by reading What Happens in London by Julia Quinn. It takes place in England.

I gave this book 5*. I am sure most of you would not agree (it is hardly literary in any way) but it was well-written and a fun read and exactly what I was in the mood for. I almost never give 5*, but I guess I'm in a holiday mood!

I believe this brings me to 255.

Finished:

30.4 SANDRA'S TASK - WORLD AIDS DAY
Read A Book About An Epidemic (HIV/AIDS, Influenza, Plague, Smallpox, SARS, Superbug, Etc.) Or A Book Where The Character Is Suffering From Such A Disease.

Read: I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

New Point Total: 60
Task Completed: 3
Books Read: 3
Pages Read: 920

Completed a couple more--

15.2--INCANTATION by Alice Hoffman

I am torn between liking the way the subject material was hadled by Ms. Hoffman and not liking the subject material. I have read many books about anti-semitism, but usually they dweel upon the power of the spirit of the people and not the cruelty of the opressors. I was surpristed by the violence in this YA novel. I think that in another author's hands it could have gone very wrong, but Hoffman knows how to handle touchy subjects well and I do like her magical realism.

&

OZMA OF OZ by L Frank Baum

I needed this lighter read after incantation and was swept away to the magical land where Dorothy meets up with not only her old friends, but some new ones too. The only OZ book I had read prior to this was THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ and while I found this to be quite like the original story in its form, I will definitely read more in the future.

and

15.7--THE BODY IN THE BONFIRE by Katherine Page

I very much enjoyed this mystery involving a upper-crust boys school and the caterer protagonist who is asked to teach cooking to teenage boys. I loved the fact that the actual murder did not occur until over halfway through the story and it was still a convincing mystery with many twists and turns.

I actually completed the other half of this challenge last week as I did some of my holiday baking. I made "Mrs. Mallory's Peanut Buuter Cookies" and shared some with the worker's at my local library where I volunteer. (They were YUMMY!)

This brings me to 670 points!

Finished: 25 point tast #9 - BRIDGIT'S TASK - THE WORLD OF BOOKS
To Honor The Authors That Go Beyond Just The Written Word In Order To Fully Realize The World They Have Created, Lets Read…

A. Any Book That Has A Map Included (Real Or Imaginary).

AND

B. Any Book That Has Extra Content, Such As: A Timeline, Family Tree, Glossary Of Terms, List Of Characters, Drawings Or Symbols Within The Text (NOT ILLUSTRATIONS), OR Unusual Text Layouts/Formatting (Ex. House Of Leaves).

I read The Singing Sword and The Skystone by Jack Whyte.

Total Tasks Completed: 1
Total Points: 25
Total Pages: 1226

For 30 point task #6, Wendy's Task, I read The Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson, which is set at Walt Disney World. This is my favorite vacation spot because there is a wide variety of stuff to do there, from roller coasters and thrill rides to cultural stuff, and I love to visit there with my family, especially for the memories we build there. I would love to be there right now! :)

Points: 40
Tasks completed: 3/58
Tasks in progress: 3
Books read: 6
Pages read: 1,664

I have completed the following tasks:

10.1 The Great and Only Barnum - The Tremendous Stupendous Life of Showman P. T. Barnum by Candace Fleming

15.4A Softball Fundamentals - A Better Way to Learn the Basics by Rick Noren
15.4B Spent 1 1/2 hours practicing fielding and batting

25.4A Pearl Harbor by Judy L. Hasdey
25.4A The War of 1812 - We Have Met the Enemy and They Are Ours by Karen Clemens Warrick
I think that it would have been easier to live during the time period of the War of 1812 simply because women were only expected to be in the household. Whereas a lot of women had to go to work during WW1 when their men were shipped out to war. Gosh that makes me sound so lazy but I am for the easy way around difficult situations.

That makes 50 for this post.

5.10 THE ALLURE OF ALLITERATION

I read

Master of Murder by Christopher Pike

My new point total is 30.

30.7 Multitasking: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

This fits the Winner's Choice, Adventures with Alice and Lewis, and World of Books tasks.

5 stars - one of my all time favorite books.

One more down--

5.5--THREE BEDROOMS, ONE CORPSE by Charlaine Harris

A Charlaine Harris book with no Sookie???? That's OK because Aurora Teagarden is here; a spunky librarian who has the habit of solving murders she discovers. This time she has quit her job as librarian and is thinking about going into Real Estate like her mom. Until she runs into a dead agent while showing a house. A fun and quick read with engaging characters!

This brings me to 675 points!!

Finished three more

5.5 Librarian - Silver Bellsby Luanne Rice

Christmas story of a librarian and a Christmas tree salesman and his family. Lots of sadness due to loss of spouses, conflict between father and his children, and human confusion. Miracles and holiday good cheer lead to a happy ending. Good escapism. 3 stars

5.6 Dirty Job - Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich

A Stepanie Plum novel – cozy mystery from her seasonal series. This one is celebrating Christmas. A ho-ho-hum read- 3 stars. I would never want to be a bounty hunter - however Stepanie Plum's male helpers would certainly be interesting.

10.7 Small Screen - Heat Waveby Richard Castle

Reads just like the TV series which I love. Great fun - definitely not deep. Since it is mentioned in the plot of the series, it was a fun read. 3 stars

POINTS 195
TASKS 11
BOOKS 14
PAGES 3715

CHRISTMAS BOOKS 8

Finished:

15.7 - Food + Family and/or Friends = Reading Fun

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder - Joanne Fluke

Cute book - this was the first time I have read this author and I will definitely her other books! Even better is that this series is set in Minnesota, which where I live :)

I made a batch of Black and Whites for a cookie exchange - yummmmy!

TOTAL POINTS = 60

Finished my cosy mystery. Whistleblower by Tess Gerritsen. Task 5.8.

Finished another task today:

25.3- A Game of Clue

For the color, I read: for Mr. Peacock

For the weapon, I used fire and read:

Both books came from my personal library, which I am now donating to PBS. :-)

I now have 55 points.

Rachel Erin wrote: "30.7 Multitasking: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

This fits the Winner's Choice, Adventures with Alice and Lewis, and World of Books tasks.

5 star..."

Rachel Erin, The Fellowship of the Ring is 544 pages which qualifies for a chance to win I LIKE BIG BOOKS AND I CANNOT LIE.

Erin wrote: "I finished another task today: 25.3. For the book with blue cover I read , and for weapon I read [bookcover:The Girl Who Played with Fire|5060378..."
I forgot to say that The Girl Who Played with Fire is >500 pages (For I like big books challenge :)

Hooray! I just beat my "record" of 40 points! LOL
Just completed:
15.8: Book: Junie B., First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! (P.S. So Does May) 118 pages
Movie: "It's a Wonderful Life": This was my first time seeing the classic Christmas movie, and I was delighted by it! I just adored George Bailey's character, and I cried like a ninny at the end of the movie!! I will definitely be watching it every Christmas from now on!

Previously completed tasks
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=5
Tasks completed=5
Total points=45

30.7 Multi-tasking
Read A Patch of Bluewhich would work for 30.10 and 10.2.

Finished task 15.10 We Will Remember You
A. Read A Book by an author who died in 2009.
I chose David Eddings and I read "Polgara the Sorceress"

B. Watch a movie where the actor/actress had died or the director.
I am going to change my movie from "batteries Not Included" to "Kill Bill" I saw it recently.

Tasks Completed : 7
Books Read 8
Total Points 100/1100

I completed Task 5.7 by listening to Sacred Time A Novel by Ursela Hegi. Both Ursela and I were born in the Year of the Dog.

It's wonderfully written and the descriptions of emotions and events are outstanding. Hegi really has a way of bringing pictures to your mind.
However, there's so much pain and sorrow that 2 of the viewpoints were really, really hard to read (this story is told from the viewpoints of 4 of the characters). With the wonderful wording, the pain really came through.
Also, there were times where Hegi dwelt upon an event and seemed to go on and on. Again, very nice wording but it feels rather like "enough already, let's move on".
All in all, a good book but be prepared for the pain.

I read Songs of the Gorilla Nation to complete task 15.4 (Fun and Games). It is a memoir of a woman living with Asperger's Syndrome and it deals a lot with how her mind interprets stimuli different from others. I played Cranium with friends this weekend.
New point total: 30 points

just finished task 25.5 by reading The Stranger. camus is always such a cheery read! :P




Total Points: 140/1100
Books Read: 8/79+
Tasks Completed: 6 /58
Tasks in Progress: 2

I finished The Stupidest Angel A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, Version 2.0 tonight for 20.3, the group reads task. It was different, but funny. I liked it.

I finished 25.5 (Odd Man Out) I read Kill Grandma For Me by Jim DeFelice

One more down--

25.9--THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH by Norton Juster (map)

I love these challenges because I get to read books both for adults and children that I never had reason to read before. This was one that I have always heard about, but never got around to. I loved the "Watchdog" who ticked and was named TOCK and the bug named "Humbug" (I only recently found out what humbug meant back in Victorian times--suffice it to say Penn and Teller have a cable show with the current connotation of the word) and find it very amusing that a children's book is able to have a main character with this name. I saw this as a sort of Wizard of Oz for boys and actually liked the satire and characters a little more than the Oz book I just read.
&

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgiss (Glossary of terms)

Whew, this was a tough one. My hubby has been pestering me to read this one (along with Dune) for many years so we could discuss the language. I wish I had read Dune instead. This book pretty much followed the film in content, but the language, which I found easy to follow in the film, was much more difficult written down and I had to use the glossary quite a bit. I can see why this is a classic for its time as it not only creates a unique world and language, but also takes a scathing look at society and what we humans can become. It was interesting as I read the book while listening to a Classical station which was celebrating Beethoven's birthday--so it fit right into the book

This brings me to 700 points!!

Finished another one:

35.2 Donna Jo - Winter Vacation - Sleigh Ride

35.2A The Body in the Sleigh by Katherine Hall Page

A boilerplate cozy Faith Fairchild mystery centered around Christmas in Maine. A good, easy read but nothing special. 3 stars

35.2 B Slay Ride by Chris Grabenstein -- GOODREADS AUTHOR

A dark read about an FBI agent and a psychotic former Russian KGB officer. Since it is set in the Christmas season, it is a major juxta-position of setting and plot - a bit of a jolt to the senses Pretty good psychological mystery and the Christmas theme did reduce the edge a little. 3 stars


POINTS 230
TASKS 12
BOOKS 16
PAGES 3539

CHRISTMAS BOOKS 10

I completed 30.9 by reading Holes by Louis Sachar (Newberry winner) and A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck (Newberry Honor in same year).

I really enjoyed "Holes." It had a disturbing tendency toward the slapstick, which I thought detracted from it a slight bit, but overall I thought it was a really fun kids' book.

I didn't enjoy "A Long Way from Chicago" as much. It grew on me a bit by the end, but honestly I was a bit bored.

This brings me to 285. (have to get my reading in before the kids are out of school on Friday for the holiday break!)

Ashley wrote: "I completed 30.9 by reading Holes by Louis Sachar (Newberry winner) and A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck (Newberry Honor in same year).

I really enjoyed "Holes." ..."

I will be getting more reading in on holiday break.

Finished 35.3
Read One HUndred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Total points 180
Total books 7
Total tasks 6

I caught up with a whole day of reading on my day off yesterday and had a great time! Here are my updates.

For the 5.2 She was a grand old flag maker task I read The Little White Car by Danuta De Rhodes


I loved this book. I picked it up in the library as it was red, white and blue but had never heard of the author or of the book. It was a good pick though and was fun to read!

I have also now completed 25.7. For the book by an author of the Lost Generation I read The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald and for the book mentioned in the Series of Lost I read Slaughterhouse 5 I loved the Great Gatsby but found Slaughterhouse 5 a bit of a disappointment and didn't really enjoy reading it.

Previous Reads

5.4 A Winning Decade - The Road by Cormac McCarthy

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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Just finished task 35.3 -- I read the Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton (a goodreads author!!) That brings me up to:

points: 140/1100
books: 6

A couple days late posting this, but I finished 30.9.

I read books from the Newbery list for 2009.

Winner:
[image error] The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Honor Book:
Savvy by Ingrid Law

I actually read another honor book for a different task too (After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Foster).

Quite honestly, the one that challenged me the most was After Tupac and D Foster, because it was so utterly outside my experiences. The dialogue was what you'd hear in a poor, African-American neighborhood in Queens -- something I never hear, so it almost read like a caricature . . .

That said, my favorite was definitely Savvy. Both Savvy and The Graveyard Book involved some fantasy. The Graveyard Book had some darker, less obvious themes. But Savvy? I'm not sure the last time I read a book where the language was so utterly ... entrancing, I guess? In a whimsical way, though -- it was so perfect to the characters involved, I actually didn't want to finish.

Oops, Cynthia -- both of my reads for 30.9 (see post 690 just before this) were GoodReads authors, too.

25.6-Island Dreams

I read "American Fuji" by Sara Becker (A Goodreads Author). It takes place in Japan, and is a story of an American woman who is fired from her job as a university teacher and an American man trying to find out why his son died and how it is all tied together.

I really enjoyed the story, but it certainly gave a different look at life in Japan as an American. I don't know if it is accurate, but still very interesting!

10.6 Local Literature Lovers: zip code 10312: The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs


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5.10. THE ALLURE OF ALLITERATION - Read A Book Whose Title Contains Alliteration - The Title Must Have 2 Or More Words That Begin With Same Letter Back To Back

Bad Blood by Rhiannon Lassiter - I was up all night reading this one and really enjoyed it:)

Total Points: 50

5.10 – The Allure of Alliteration
I read "The Comet’s Curse" by Dom Testa. It was a fun read. (Completed 12/6)

10.5 – Popularity Contest
I read "Shiver" by Maggie Stiefvater, which was on Good Reads Most Popular list for August 2009.
Completed 12/2

Total points so far: 15

Hi - I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and while it fits in many places, I think I am going to use it for 10.4 Winner's Choice. Lots of people list it as a 5 star read, but I'll name Wendy here.

It was also 500+ pages.

I really enjoyed it, though think it was about 100 pages too long (590). Without giving anything away, there were two separate plots that I think could have been better integrated, but other than that it was a really well written mystery and quite enjoyable to read it with the Swedish context.

Am also proud of myself for having stuck to my convictions and not 'competing'. This is my first completed challenge of the season and by this time in September I would have already read 10+ books. Now I only have read 3. BUT i have watched more TV and DVDs, done Christmas shopping, spent time with my husband and friends and gotten into some new computer games. I'm happy with the balance even though i have a measly 10 points now.

Thanks pjreads! I forgot about that

Task 5.1 The Wonderful World of Disney: Before Midnight: A Retelling of Cinderdella by Cameron Dokey

15.8 Silver Screen Celebrations: A. Skipping Christmas and B. The Muppet Christmas Carol for the movie part.

Tasks: 5
Books: 6
Total Pages: 1518
Total Points: 45/1100

Task 10.5 Popularity Contest
Catching Fire by: Suzanne Collins (from the 2009 main page)

I just joined in the challenge, a little late, but I am pretty excited!

Total points: 10!

Finished: for 5.1
Stealing the General The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor by Russell S. Bonds
The first two thirds of the book deals with the Raid into Tennessee. The whole deal sounds pretty implausible, but this is based on a number of survivor's accounts. The last third is what happened after the raiders were caught and about the history of the Congressional Medal of Honor.
A little dry, but still...

The Disney movie was The Great Locomotive Chase starring Fess Parker, which came out in 1956. I loved it; it was exciting to watch and had such a sad ending. I wept. I haven't seen it since I was in the 8th grade, so who knows how it really was, but I loved it then.

One more task down...I feel like I'm finally getting somewhere after a slow start!

25.5 ABIGAIL'S TASK This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

Sarah Dessen is a Goodreads Author

Previously Completed Tasks
20.3 The Stupidest Angel A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, Version 2.0 by Christopher Moore.

25.6 Behaving Badly by Isabel Wolff

Total Points: 70
Tasks Completed: 3 (and 2 half tasks)
Books Read: 5

just finished dovey coe librarian's recomendation
4 tasks sone 60pts

For the 15.8 task Silver Screen Celebrations I have read A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg and on Sunday I watched the film ELF which was good fun.

I've been reading a lot more quicker reads this challenge, although not on purpose! I haven't got any money at the moment and normally I buy every book I read but because of the lack of money I've been using the library. Because I like to own books I haven't got out books taht I would normally read because I know I would prefer to buy them and read them when I have the money. I normally tend to buy books which are on 3 for 2 offers in the shops and they are normally more popular books which have won awards etc. Because I've been getting books from teh library and books I wouldn't normally read tehy've generally been only about 200 or 300 pages and I've read them in a day rather than a week!! Different for me but am enjoying the light hearted reads!

Previous Reads

5.2 She was a Grand Old Flag Maker - The Little White Car by Danuta de Rhodes
5.4 A Winning Decade - The Road by Cormac McCarthy

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
25.7 The Lost Generations - The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald and Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut
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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I completed task 30.7 Multitasking.
I read "The Christmas Shoes." by Donna Van Liere.
It fits with 15.9 New author book and 15.8 Small Screen Celebrations.

Tasks Completed: 8
Books Read: 9
Total Points: 130

I have completed the following tasks

25.7A The Snows of Killomanjaro and Other Short Stories by Ernest Hemingway
25.7B Are You There God, It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume

30.5A The Lonely Bones by Alice Sebold
30.5B The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Also The LOvely Bones was a 503 page book

30.4 An American Plague by Jim Murphy

Finished:
35.1 Dewey Decimal. I started with last season's Jubilee Trail by Gwen Bristow which ha 564 pages.
So I read Trilobite! Eyewitness to Evolution by Richard Fortey, which is shelved at 565.39 in my local library. Very well written book on a very narrow subject.
Then 250 forward brought me to 817 and Subtreasury of American Humor, edited by E. B. White and his wife. Copyrighted in 1941, it contains selections ranging from Benjamin Franklin up to what was then the present. The Preface was a humorous gem in and of itself.
This book contains 814 pages