The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

Sorry about that Cynthia

30.8C

In retrospect I don't think I would have minded living in Lewis and Clark's time period because people were just more rugged than they are now. I feel that we have things easier and harder in today's time so it's a toss-up. I would like to think that I could have been happy in that time period.

I finished 10.1, Under the big top with
Josser The Secret Life of a Circus Girl

Awkward style, detached voice, unlikable characters- this book did not have much going for it.

+10
total 340

10.2. LOUIS LOUIS -In Honor Of Louis Braille (January 4, 1809 – January 6, 1852) Famous For Devising The Braille Method Used By The Blind For Reading And Writing…
A. Read A Novel With A Character Who Lost Or Was Born Not Having The Use Of One Or More Of Their Five Senses (I.E. A Character Who Is Blind, Deaf Etc.)
Ex. The Long Silence of Mario Salviati A Novel
Max by Patterson Iggy is blind
10 points
total 185

I read A Wrinkle in Time for task 25.2. There is a very strong friendship between Meg and Calvin, which is one of the main themes of the book. Friendship is extremely important to me. I know that I was not made to live life on my own and I need true friends to support me.
I also read for task 5.2.
Total Points: 45
Total books: 2 + kids
Tasks completed 3

Forgot one! Same Kind of Different as Me A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together for task 35.3.
so total is 80 points, 3 books, 4 tasks completed

30.2 - HELEN'S TASK - SCIENCE FICTION - PAST AND PRESENT

For the past book, written by an author who won a Hugo or Nebela Award before 2000, I chose Ender's Gameand for the Present Task, I chose The Year of the Flood

I enjoyed both books so much. The Year of the Flood was definitely a 5 STAR book for me. Ender's Game was a strong 4 STAR book.

In terms of the differences between the novels, Ender's Game was much more what I'd call traditional science fiction because its what I (who have NEVER read a traditional science fiction book)think most people consider to be science fiction - spaceships, other worlds, aliens, etc. On the other hand, The Year of the Flood was more about science & the potential impact of taking science into certain directions. But, they were both fantastic. Written very differently which for me is because I think of Atwood as more 'literary' than Card. But they are both excellent writers and very accessible. Just different. That could also be a function of the difference in subject matter. Either way, I can definitely recommend both of these books!

This task completion brings me to 135 points with 8 tasks completed! YAY!




NOTE: updated points b/c I mistyped 140 earlier. Cynthia caught it and the Leaderboard is correct!

20.3 Group Read: The Stupidest Angel A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, Version 2.0 - The second Christopher Moore book I've read, and apparently most of the characters here were featured in those books by Moore that I haven't read. I got the impression I was watching the Special Holiday Episode of a show I don't normally watch, and I fear I wasn't necessarily getting it all. It still had funny moments and I enjoyed it, and I look forward to more Moore with guilty pleasure.

25.4 If I could turn back time:
The Red Tent - This was a really interesting book about Jacob's daughter Dinah from the Old Testament. It did get a little 'mother goddess' in parts (which is not a philosophy I cater to) but I enjoyed it and especially enjoyed the depictions of women's society and culture of that time.
March - I really liked this book also about the absent patriarch from Little Women, Mr. March. I was afraid I wouldn't 'get it' since I haven't read Little Women (I know, I know, sheesh what planet did I grow up on anyway) but I did very much enjoy it, despite not really liking Mr. March himself very much. The book packs a lot into less than 300 pages: March's Civil War experiences, his upbringing, his relationship with his wife, and the hubris of his idealism the thread running through it all. Most excellent book.

As to which era I'd prefer to live in... as much as I am a modern, practical girl fond of indoor plumbing and a well-stocked library, I honestly think I would have preferred Canaan to Concord, MA. It may be more a question of culture however; while both periods certainly place social restrictions on women, the Canaanite women seem to enjoy an advantage of authority over their own realms that the Victorian women seem to either not have or not master. Canaanite society seemed just much more practical and honest than the Victorians. Or perhaps that is as much a result of the different stories each book told.

Total, 180 points!

Completed 10.5-- Popularity Contest

I chose from the whole year of 2009 and read The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks.

This brings me to 65 points.

One more - a nice light read, 4 stars

5.2 Stars & stripes – Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchley

TOTALS:
60 points
7 books
5 tasks
2796 pages
1 task in progress

Ok! I'm reading so much slower than I expected. so here is my very first task finished.

10pt.
6.Local Literature Lovers. Erin Lancaster's list- Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta.

Just read Chocolate Chip Cookie Murders- Joanne Fluke for 15.7. I wanted to like the book a lot more than I actually did. I thought that since there were many books in the series, they MUST be good. And the premise sounded promising too- A girl who bakes cookies by day and solves crimes by night- who wouldn’t love that? The problem was, I felt like I was reading a very well fleshed out outline. I didn’t like the writing style at ALL. I felt that she described the story rather than TELLING it. And the ending was unoriginal: surprising, but not in a surprising-plot-twist kind of way. Just plain bad. One star for me (And I’m not one to give out one star and five star ratings lightly, either….).

Last week I baked the Chocolate Chip Crunch cookies- I did a little messing around with the recipe- nothing drastic though, and the folks at work LOVED the cookies. So maybe that’s one upside to the book. There were about 5-6 recipes, and I’m going to try another one this weekend.

That should bring me to 40 pts- and I’ve got a few multi-book challenges going- hopefully I’ll get a crack at finishing some over the weekend.

Books Read: 5
Pages Read: 2306
Total Points: 40

Hello!

I would like to report the following completed task:

PJ Reads Task - 35.1 - Dewey Decimal. I read the following books:

a) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.
My category was 227: Epistles. I read an epistolary novel and really enjoyed Shaffer's book. I am saddened this is the only novel of Shaffer's that will be published. I rated it 4 stars.

b) O Pioneers! by Willa Cather. My category was 977: US History, North & Central. Cather's novel takes place in Nebraska during the late 1800s and details a Swedish family's immigrant experience settling the land. It is a story rich in imagery; a tale told simply and beautifully. 4.5 stars.




# of pages read: 1651/25936
# of points accrued: 100/1100
# tasks completed: 3/58
# books read: 5/78

25.2 Friendship month

I am blessed with wonderful friends, starting with my best friend, my husband. My first best friend is still that, after 40 years. (we met when we were 2) I also have a group of friends that i met at age 9. They reminded me of the friends in The Wednesday Sisters (by a goodreads author, at last!!), the "tough" love that marks the closest friendships. Even though we live all over the country now, we are still able to share big events and smaller ones.

this brings me to:

points: 130/1100

25-8 is done, I read 'Choke' by Chuck Palahniuk and 'Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72' by Hunter Thompson, both were great reads!

155 points

10.4 Winner's Choice

I read one of PJRead's 5 stars books-"The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman (GoodReads Author). I had the book already as my sister, who is a middle school librarian, had recommended it. I liked it, but I still have hard time with some YA fiction. My daughter is enjoying it now!

5.4 Winning Decade - Better Off Wed An Annabelle Archer Mystery by Laura Durham. This book won the 2005 Agatha Award.

Total Points: 50
Total Pages: 1381
Total Books: 5
Tasks Completed: 5

One more down--

15.4--CHEATING AT SOLITAIRE: A NOVEL by Ally Carter

Julia James is the epitome of single-girls, in fact she has made a career of it with three books telling other single gals how to do it with no regrets and grace. Then, Lance Collins came into her life, quite uninvited, and everything changed.

I am not a romance reader, but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was fun and not goopy with a lot of lovey-dovey stuff.

After the read I played one of my favorite card games on the computer (Spider Solitaire) for the alloted hour--had to stop myself; I don't normally play this game as it hooks me in for too long!

This brings me to 715 points!!

Another task finished:
15.8 Read a fiction or non-fiction book or several childrens' books about a winter holiday AND watch a film about the same holiday: An Irish Country Christmas by Patrick Taylor, 496pp, read 12/17/2009 and A Christmas Story.

Books read 16/77+
Tasks completed 8/58
Points 110/1100
Pages read 5012


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30.4 SANDRA'S TASK - WORLD AIDS DAY -- The Plague Tales

Books Read: 11
Pages Read: 3192
Tasks Completed: 9

Completed 20.3 by listening to The Stupidest Angel A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, Version 2.0 on audiobook and posted my review on the discussion board. Fun book!
Total - 55 points

5 point tasks:
4. Olive Kitteridge A Novel in Stories by Elizabeth Strout (A Winning Decade - 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)

30 point tasks:
5. DIANE'S TASK - POSTHUMOUSLY SPEAKING - The Wish List by Eoin Colfer (Deceased narrator) and The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson (Published after author’s death)

Total Points = 35
Tasks Completed = 2
Total Books = 3

10.9 REMEMBERING PEARL HARBOR
I completed Waking Up in Eden [image error]

Just finished task 15.9! Out With The Old And In With The New

A. Book on TBR longest: Zero Game - Brad Meltzer 512 pages
B. New Author: Outlander - Diana Gabaldon 627 pages

Books Completed - 6
Pages Read - 2011
Tasks Completed - 4
Points - 55

Task 10.4 5 STAR BOOK
The Help by Katherine Stockett (Helen's 5 Star Book)
Also gave this book 5 stars!

points this task: 10
tasks completed: 5
total points: 95

My completed tasks for the week include:

5.10 - Ella Enchanted

15.6 - I have received a lot of great gifts over the years, but my favorites have always been gift cards for bookstores. I love being able to walk around and decide what to spend my money on. To honor that, I read Between the Covers The Book Babes' Guide to a Woman's Reading Pleasures to get some new ideas.

20.1 The past 15+ point task I chose was Ashley ID's task (read a dystopian novel). I am not sure which challenge this came from. I read The Maze Runner.

30.1 Book published in this decade: The School of Essential Ingredients
Book made into a movie this decade: Howl's Moving Castle

35.1 I started at 522 for the book The Book Thief - I went up and down, reading: Man vs. Weather Be Your Own Weatherman and Beowulf on the Beach What to Love and What to Skip in Literature's 50 Greatest Hits.

Just finished task 5.9 Romantic
I read The History of Love and gave it 3 1/2 stars. Really enjoyed it and the way the characters worked.

Tasks Completed: 11
Points for this task: 5
Points thus far: 165/1100
Books read: 18
Pages read: 5541

20.1 – Revisiting the Past
Read a book from a past challenge worth 15+

I chose Ashley Id's Task - Read A Dystopian Novel...

I read the “The Ask and the Answer” by Patrick Ness, the second book in the Chaos Walking series. This is a true dystopian society, where the women are branded like cattle and the indigenous species on the planet are treated worse than slaved. Everyone is oppressed in the name of "survival."

15.6 – Season of Gifting and Getting
A. The best “gift” I have ever been given was when my husband asked me to marry him on Christmas morning, right after we had opened all the presents with my family. That was 12 years ago.

I read "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" – which is ultimately a love story, with lots about relationships and marriage.

B. Charity work this season; As part of the cub scout den we “adopted” a local family in need and purchased items from their wish list; we participated in the school advent giving tree to provide items for babies in need; we gifted our sponsored child in Guatemala with money for a new sweater.

Total Tasks completed: 4
Previous points: 15
New points: 35
Total Points: 50

For 15 point task #6, I read The Lost Quilter by Jennifer Chiaverini. The best gift I ever received was a sewing machine from my parents when I was 23. It has allowed me to become a quilter, which I love! :)

For the second part of the task, I donated a bunch of old clothing to a local charity.

Points: 55
Tasks completed: 4/58
Tasks in progress: 3
Books read: 7
Pages read: 2,000 (exactly! crazy, isn't it?)

Finished my first task for this challenge. I read Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements for Task 10.2 - Louis Braille. The main character in this book is invisible, and the second main character is blind. I was surprised at how good this book was, and gave it 5 stars. I will post my review in the reviews folder, but this book was great.

Points for this task: 10
Total Points: 10

My Completed Tasks:

10.5 Popularity Contest: "The Help" Kathryn Stockett. I gave the book 5 stars, though this was one of those situations when I wish you could give half stars. So really more of a 4.5

10.7 Small Screen Stories: "Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse Book 1)" Charlaine Harris, read in conjunction with the TV Show "True Blood". This was a fun, quick read. I think I will continue with the series.

30.3 BJ Rose Task, read 825 pages
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" Steig Larson, 608 pages. A real page turner,I was sucked in instantly.

"The Girl Who Played With Fire" Steig Larson, 512 pages. Also entertaining, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first one.

Tasks Completed: 3
Total Points: 50

Finished:
10.8 O Canada: The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan
Rated 5* by a Good Reads Author.
I don't normally care for books with a first person narrator, but this one was a 5 star effort. It's not a book to read in a hurry, but I highly recommend it.

Finally got my first task completed. (I'm a slow reader and like to savor the stories that I read.)

30.9 Newberry Awards

I read The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (winner) and Savvy by Ingrid Law (honoree).

I enjoyed both books, but I think that I liked Savvy better. The main characters seemed a little more relatable and the story seemed more realistic to me. I felt like this was something that could actually happen.
I also had a bit of difficulty following some of the wording in The Graveyard Book. There were several passages that I had to reread several times for whatever reason.

Tasks completed: 1
Total Points: 30

I have completed the following task:

30.3. BJ ROSE'S TASK - SNOWED IN AND LOVING IT
When The Weather Keeps You Housebound, Make The Most Of It! Grab Books By Your Favorite Authors - Or Try Some New Ones - And Read 825 Pages Or More. Any Genre! No Re-Reads For This, But Audiobooks Are Fine. List The Books You Read & # Of Pages For Each When Claiming Your Points.

The City of Ember by J. DuPrau (270 pages)
The Maze Runner by J. Dashner (374 pages)
Paper Towns by J. Green (305 pages)

** I have rated each book so far and have posted a review for 2 out of the 3 books. If you want to know more about my impressions for each one, you can stop by my profile and check under "reviewed books" for the ones listed here.

I finished two tasks:
8. BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE - I read Visions of Sugar plums by Janet Evanovich.

7. FOOD + FAMILY AND/OR FRIENDS = READING FUN
A. Read A Novel With Recipes Or A Cookbook.
AND
B. Prepare One Or More Of The Recipes From The Book And Share It With Others (Family/Friends/Co-Workers Etc.).
I read Mrs. Fields Best Cookie Book Ever!: 130 Delicious Cookie and Dessert Recipes from the Kitchen of Mrs. Fields by Debbi Fields. My girls and I made 4 different types of cookies from this book and we shared them with friends and co-workers. :~)

Total points 40
Goal 580

A few more tasks done.

10.4 - Winner's Choice I read Fire by Kristin Cashore. (From Rachel Lee's shelf) This was the second book in the Graceling series (although it was more a companion than a sequel). I have to say that I actually enjoyed it more than Graceling. And although its themes were a bit adult, it is one of the best YA books I read this year.

15.5 Readers around the world - My initials are S.E.

S - Slovakia - from John's bookshelf I read Dracula by Bram Stoker. I had actually never read this before, and I did enjoy it.

E - Estonia - from Sirli's bookshelf, I read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Another book I had never read, and I highly recommend it. It was a page turner and it was fascinating. Probably the best non-fiction/true crime I have read ever.

25.4 - Historical -

The first book I read was Lady Vernon and Her Daughter A Jane Austen Novel by Jane Rubino. This takes place during the Regency period. If you are an Austenite like me, I recommend this. It is one of the better Jane Austen spin-off books. Rubino takes Austen's Lady Susan and turns it into a great book, with fascinating characters and an accurate portrayal of the Regency society, and all of the marriage wrangling and gossip.

The second book I read was Shelter Me by Alex McAuly. It takes place during WWII in London. This book was batsh*t crazy. It was so bad that it was good. There was one convoluted plot twist after another, sadistic nuns, Nazi babies hidden in crates, Ganesh, etc.

If I had to choose a time period to live in I would prefer the Regency. I just love the chaste romance in the Austen-like world. It has always fascinated me. I like to call it the Darcy factor. However, I'm Puerto Rican, so I'd probably be the scullery maid or something...

Also, the death and the destruction and hardship of WWII, I don't think I could handle that. I have a sensitive soul.

Previous score: 105
Current score: 155

5.9: Isn't it Romantic: Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin

Total Points: 15
Total Books: 3
Total Pages: 1045

5.10 The Allure of Alliteration: The Two Towers

Total points:40

Completed task 30.6 Wendy's Task - Winter Vacation Dreams. My dream vacation location is Australia. I went there years ago when my husband was studying abroad, and fell in love with the country. I've dreamed of going back and seeing the Western coast ever since. I read Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan. I'm still not sure how I feel about this book, most of it seems very hokey and it's easy to believe the controversy that it was all entirely made up. If that's the case, it's truly disappointing, as Ms. Morgan's story sounds like an incredible life changing experience.

Brings me to:
125/1100 points
Tasks Completed: 5/60
Tasks In Progress: 3
Books Read: 8
Pages Read: 2,021

Katie O wrote: "My Completed Tasks:

10.5 Popularity Contest: "The Help" Kathryn Stockett. I gave the book 5 stars, though this was one of those situations when I wish you could give half stars. So really more of ..."

I highly reccommend finishing the rest of the books :)

Completed another task:

20.2 Beth MN - Revisiting the Past - task selected was:
15.2 For Christmas: Read A Book With Santa, Elf, Or The Name Of Any Of The Reindeer In The Title.

I chose
The Autobiography of Santa Claus by Jeff Guinn

A wonderful blend of myth and history – beautifully written and loaded with fabulous images of Christmas traditions from past and present. One of the best Christmas books I have read. Was very listenable also on CD. Highly recommend. 5 stars

POINTS 250
TASKS 13
BOOKS 17
PAGES 3828

CHRISTMAS BOOKS 11

Just finished 20.3 with The Stupidest Angel- a fun quick read :)

Total: 55 points

I finished 30.6 (Dream vacation) by reading Race for the dying by Havill, Steven. (We'd like to be able to go visit family in Washington State, where the book is set).

and 15.7 (Food and Family) The perfect mix : bread, soup, dessert, and other homemade mixes from your kitchen by Phillips, Diane. I used the molasses cookie recipe to make 6 dozen cookies for a family cookie exchange party.

Previous Tasks

30.3 Masterharper of Pern, Ann McCaffery 431p
and Sometimes a Light Surprises, by Jamie Langston Turner 399 p
830 pages for this task

Completed:

30.10 Theresa in Ohio - Color by Numbers

A. Color in Title: Blue Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews A very cute southern Christmas story – part of a series set in Savannah. Good writing, cozy style, easy read. 3 stars

B. Number in Title: A Christmas Memory, One Christmas, & The Thanksgiving Visitor by Truman Capote

A heartwarming group of autobiographical stories of a boy growing up in the deep south. Ignored by parents and raised by a very eccentric group of older relatives. Best friends with an old child-like cousin. Beautiful relationship and so well written. Was made into a play which is performed in small theaters. It was a wonderful play and book. 4.5 stars

POINTS 280
TASKS 14
BOOKS 19
PAGES 4129

CHRISTMAS BOOKS 13

I finally finished up the second part of 15.2 ADVENTURES WITH ALICE AND LEWIS with Stardust, a story which takes place in the magical realm of Faerie.
For the first part of this task, I read The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman.

I just completed 5 point task 2. SHE WAS A GRAND OLD FLAG MAKER -
A. Read A Book That Has A Red, White, And Blue Cover.



Weapons of Mass Instruction A Schoolteacher's Journey through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto

Total points: 5

Finished a few more:

25.2 International Friendship Month
I read The Worst Thing I've Done A Novel by Ursula Hegi. The story revolved around the life long friendship of three people. I really liked it so I gave it 5 stars. Friendship is very important to me. I've had a lot of toxic friendships in my life so I'm pretty picky about my friends. I think honesty, respect and love are very important in friendship.

25.6 Island Dreams
I read Monster Love by Carol Topolski, it's set in the United Kingdom. I liked this book until the ending. The story was told by a lot of different people which took a little getting used to but worked. The ending just wasn't satisfying and I kind of rolled my eyes at it a bit. So I gave it 3 stars.

25.8 Inane Answering Machine Day
I read Pay the Piper A Rock 'n' Roll Fairy Tale by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple. It was a cute version of the Pied Piper tale, 4 stars.
AND
Helpless by Barbara Gowdy which was a story about a girl who gets abducted and it was told by a few of the characters (the mother, the abductor, the girlfriend) which made it interesting, 4 stars.

30.7 Multitasking
I read Consumed by Caroline Hamilton which would fit Island Dreams (set in Australia), Inane Answering Machine Day (1 word title) and it also had recipes in it. I really enjoyed this which was a pleasant surprise since I picked it up randomly when I was at the library, 5 stars.

Total Points: 325
Total Pages: 7173
Total Books: 24
Total Tasks: 18

*Edited to fix up a link to the right edition of Helpless.

I finished 25.10, Emily's cover/graphic novel with
and

I picked Shiver for this task without knowing it was a werewolf book- I just liked the cover. I read the hardcover. The stark, metallic blue/gray graphic felt icy. The single blood drop "i" was intiguing- bloody, but not gory perhaps? I liked the use of white space and the simplicity of the title font. The wolf in the lower right is tucked away- I didn't see it at first- but once I knew he was there he's what I see first. a great metaphor for Sam and the plot. The new paperback has a black and white cover, a dripping title font and more blood. I would have passed on this book based on the paperback cover. I'm glad I read Shiver- lyrical writing, interesting literary references, more sophisticated than Twilight. GR author with beautiful graphics on her website http://www.maggiestiefvater.com/shive...

I wish I could "get" graphic novels- I had high hopes for this book, especially because Joss Whedon was the author, but I missed the exposition. I guess I need the backstories, character motivations, and internal dialogues.

+25
total 365

Finished task 15.8 by reading Candy for Christmas by Joanne Fluke. It was a little 120 page novella that was included when I bought Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder- otherwise I would never have even read it. Thank God it was so short! One Star.

Should bring me to 55 pts.

Books Read: 6
Pages Read: 2421
Total Points: 55

Finished:

5.7: Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut who was born in the year of the dog, just like me...2*

10.1: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury...4*

20.2: I chose to do the zodiac task. I am a Gemini, so I read Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger who is a GR author...3*

25.6: Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, which takes place in Japan...4* (over 500 pages)

25.10: by Gregory Maguire, which I bought because I thought the cover was great. I like it because of the detail and color, but the cover was better than the book...2*
and
V for Vendetta by Alan Moore...2*

Completed:

15.8: Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien - really nice and sweet AND I watched "Four Christmases".

Total points: 25