The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

Two more tasks completed:

30.9 Rachels Lee's Newberry - I read From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler, the 1968 winner and Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth, a 1968 honor book. I loved both books and remember Mrs Basil Frankweiler fondly from when I was in grade school but liked Jennifer, Hectate, ... a little better. I really related to it since I had a friend who was teaching me how to be a Jeannie - as in I Dream of Jeannie. I do believe the correct book was selected for the Newberry because From the Mixed Up Files would be appealing to both boys and girls while Jennifer... seems more geared toward girls.

I also finished 25.5 Abigail's Odd Man Out with What Came Before He Shot Her. This is a book related to a long time series telling a story from a completely different perspective and I highly recommend it, even if you haven't read the series. It's a very good look at children who are thrown into a terrible life situation when their father is murdered, their mother committed to a mental facility and their grandmother abandons them.

This brings me to 110 points.

Oh for my previous post - What Came Before He Shot Her is 560 pages.

Completed task 5.9 Isn't it Romantic? by reading a NOT romantic book called Heart of Darkness/The Secret Sharer.

I was supposed to read this senior year in high school, but after reading 10 pages of it was so bored I didn't finish it and just tried to pass the test by listening in class. I didn't do so hot on the test! Even now having read it, I still don't think I could pass the test and quizzes she gave us.

This brings my point total to 70.

15pts/#9: Book that's been on my tbr pile the longest--The Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle; Book by an author I've never read before--The Shack by William P. Young

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15.4 Fun & Games - Word Freak Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players
+ played Scrabble for an hour.

15.7 Cooking - Serving Crazy with Curry
+ made Ladoos for Christmas party.

30.2 Science Fiction - 1977 Hugo winner
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang

2007 Nebula, 2008 Hugo winner
The Yiddish Policemen's Union

Both are wonderful examples of world-building at its best with the typical loner misfit hero surviving humanity’s tendency toward destruction.

Kate Wilhelm’s Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang has more physical science elements: clones and the world-wide climate-change disaster caused by pollution.

Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union harkens back to pre-60s science fiction (astounding stories) before the many-faceted genre splintered into multiple sub-genres. Pulitzer-prize winning Chabon has the freedom to ignore current genre distinctions, mixing elements like a master chef creating fusion cusine.

30.7 Multi-Tasking:
Parting the Waters Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement 1954-63
5.4 Winning Decade – 2008 Dayton Literary Peace Prize Lifetime Achievement Award (Pulitzer Prize was in 1998)
15.8 Holidays – MLK
20.1 Civil Rights
20.2 Task from the Past –2009 Fall 20.1 Christian
25.8 Long Title

Parting the Waters is 1065 pages.

GoodReads author I forgot to mention in previous post for task 35.2 G.M. Malliet (Death of a Cozy Writer).

Tasks completed = 16
Tasks started = 3
Books read = 27
Pages read = 8,220
Points = 430

Only one update post-mini-break, since I used most of my travel time to work on a big book. I finished PJ's task using Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger for Dewey number 383 (Postal Communication) since it's an epistolary novel, and on the other side used Ursula Le Guin's The Lathe of Heaven for Dewey number 135 (Dreams and Mysteries) - it's about a man who can alter reality through his dreams. My starting point for the task was George Pelecanos's The Night Gardener, which has 385 pages in my edition.

Current Total: 195 points

Just completed:
25.5 Faith of the Fallen by Terry Goodkind

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.
15.8: Book: Junie B., First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! (P.S. So Does May) 118 pages
Movie: "It's a Wonderful Life"

Books read=6
Tasks completed=6
Total points=70

I finished task 30.9 Rachel Lee's The Newberry Award with the winner and an honor book from 1961. I read The Cricket in Times Square as a child and would have to say this would still be a favorite of mine. I thought it was a magical and uplifting story. I enjoyed the winner Island of the Blue Dolphins, but I don't think I would have really been able to comprehend the absolute tragedy revolving around this little girl as a child so I'm glad I waited to read it as an adult.

A few more completed challenges to report (finally):

10.4 WINNERS CHOICE: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Sam’s bookshelf) - I gave this book five stars. It is was such a fun read. I really want to re-watch the older (original 1970’s) version of the film! Love those oompa loompas☺ I also love that there is a moral to this short and sweet read. It was so much fun that I plan to read some more of this author’s books (although I may have read some and don’t remember). (190 pages) 12/20/09

20.1 MOST IMPROVED PLAYER - BETH MN'S TASK - REVISITING THE PAST-I revisited Sam's Task - Halloween Part Iii: Monsterfest - Read A Book With One Of The Following In The Title: Devil, Witch, Vampire, Zombie, Or Werewolf. Variations Of The Words Are Fine (E.G., The Witching Hour Or The Witches Are Okay), But They Must Appear In The Title (E.G., Queen Of The Damned Or Dead Until Dark Are Not Okay).

I read The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening- I gave this book three stars. The characters were pretty annoying and I had a hard time finishing this book. The TV series is actually much better. (253 pages) 12/5/09

Previously completed tasks:

30.4 SANDRA'S TASK - WORLD AIDS DAY: The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan (401 pages) 12/8/09– 4 stars

30.7 JAN THE GRYPHON’S TASK - MULTI-TASKING: The Road (fits 15.5 - Linnea from Myanmar, 10.4 - Diane, 5.4 (the winning decade), 5.5 (Librarian recommendation) and Bonnie’s Task)- 12/1/09 (287 pages) – 5 stars

Total Points: 90
Pages read: 1131
Books read: 4
Tasks completed: 4

I finished task 5.7 -- I read a book by an author who was born the year of the rat. I picked Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan, born in 1972. Although the book was not amazing it was definitely interesting and dealt with some very serious issues. 4*

New Point Total: 135
Task Completed: 7
Tasks in Progress: 4
Books Read: 15
Pages Read: 4502

15 POINT TASKS
8. SILVER SCREEN CELEBRATIONS
A. Read A Book That Relates To Any Holiday That Occurs During This Challenge (December, January, Or February) Such As (Christmas, Hanukah, Valentine's Day, New Years Etc.)…It Can Either Be A Novel, A Non-Fiction Book About The Holiday, Or Several Children's Books (100+ Pages Worth) About The Holiday.
AND
The Christmas Promise by Donna VanLiere-12/16

B. Watch A Film That Involves That Same Holiday.
Four Christmases with Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn-12/20

New Total 20 points

25.3 A Game of Clue

It was Peacock:
Here, There Be Dragons - a fun YA fantasy with lots of literary allusions; unfortunately it was the kind of book that had a great concept and suffered somewhat from mediocre execution.

With the Knife: (okay, it's really a sword)
Snow, Fire, Sword by Sophie Masson - another YA fantasy but can't say I really enjoyed it. It was hard to wrap my head around the mythology, and it just seemed something was missing. 2 stars.

In the library of course! Snow Fire Sword came from my public library and Here There Be Dragons was borrowed from a friend's personal library.

Sarah, this was such a fun task! It was so much fun coming up with books to fit this.

Total points: 235

I completed the following task:

25.8. MICHELLE US' TASK - JANUARY 30TH IS INANE ANSWERING MACHINE DAY
The Day Where We Try To Bring An End To All Of Those Mindless, Endlessly Long, Beeping And Otherwise Inane Answering Machine Messages That Annoy, Waste Time And Try The Patience Of Poor Unfortunate Callers.

In Honor Of This Silly Holiday...

A. Read A Book With An Unnecessarily Long Title (At Least 7 Words)
And To Make Up For It...
B. Read A Book With A Very Short Title (1 Word).

A. Into the Wild Nerd Yonder: My Life On the Dork Side by Julie Halpern

B. Graceling by Kristin Cashore

*** I have posted a review of Graceling so far for those interested. I have yet to post one for Halpern's novel (stay tuned: will be written sometime this evening or tomorrow!)

finished two tasks today! :)

for task 10.6 i read Breakfast at Tiffany's A Short Novel and Three Stories, which was a 5-star book for Dan.

for task 15.8 i read Holidays on Ice and watched A Christmas Story. i will never get tired of the scene where Randy "shows us how the piggies eat!" love that movie! :)




Total Points: 165/1100
Books Read: 12/79+
Tasks Completed: 8/58
Tasks in Progress: 2

Finished:
10.10 From Russia With Love
Mothers And Daughters by Elena Bonner, a story of growing up in Stalinist Russia during the 30's and 40's. Bonner's mother and father were both arrested 1937 and taken to the prison camps. Her mother served 8 years and returned; her father never did.

Also, completely unrelated, but I just got back from the movie Avatar, and I loved it. My first 3D movie. (Sorry, but I usually only go to movies about once or twice a year, so it was an event.)

I finished 30.7 by reading Witness by Sandra Brown. It was a 5 star read for BJ Rose plus one of the main characters is a lawyer which is a job I can't imagine myself doing.

That makes my total 155 points.

Two more down--(between fighting a migraine spraining my ankle this has not been a good past few days)

15.9--SOUL OF THE BRIDE by Constance M Burge

The Charmed sisters have to visit hades to help Prue fix a spell she cast on a group of models in the real world. In Hades they have to fight some of the Greek Gods in order to break the spell. I got into the CHARMED TV show late in the game, but am now and devoted fan and have been reading the books on and off for a while now.

&

FANGS BUT NO FANGS by Kathy Love

Christian Young is trying a new life on for size--after a couple hundred of years as a vampire he plans on kicking the habit by embarking a 12-step program which he calls "Becoming Human". He has moved out of the lap of luxury and now lives in trailer-park and drinks blood from bags. Everything is going along fine until he meets his neighbor, Jolee, who awakens feelings inside that have not been there for a very long time. He wants to be with her forever, too bad his fangs aren't working anymore!

I would consider this novel "True Blood" lite. It had many of the elements of the series (including quite a bit of explicit sex "warning"), was set in a small town, only thing lacking was a little more "excitement" the threat did not show up until very near the end and was over very quickly. Overall, I did enjoy this novel, just don't know if I would search out the author again.

and

25.3--LONDON IN CHAINS by Gillian Bradshaw

This book had a (predominantly blue) cover showing a scene of London circa 1647 with a blue sky, city scape and a strangely blue Thames. I picked up the novel just for the cover and didn't even look at the description fearing I would put it back, I was pleasantly surprised.

Lucy Wentnor was a country girl who's parents had a dairy. One day, during the Civil War, some soldiers came to the farm and raped her, causing her fiancee to break their engagement as she was now damaged goods.After losing both of her parents, she moves to London to start anew with her Aunt & Uncle. She finds out that her Aunt only wants her to be a servant for them and is not very happy. A visitor comes one day and states he needs someone to stitch together pamphlets he is making and Lucy volunteers. Eventually she winds up running the printshop. Problems begin when she finds out the pamphlets being printed are against the crown and considered illegal.

This story not only satisfied my love of reading and the making of books, but also my other love of British History. A little slow during the middle, but otherwise a good read.

&

A KNIFE AT THE OPERA by Susannah Stacey

I hate saying bad things about books, but this one left much to be desired. Not only was it hard to follow, but the plot was dull and lifeless (pardon the pun). Murder at a girls boarding school was never this boring.

I got both of these books from the library.

This brings me to 755!!

I have read Mr Dixon Disappears by Ian Sansom for the 5 point a librarians job is never done task. The book is one of the mobile library series with the main character being a librarian on the library bus.


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

15.8 Silver Screen Celebrations - A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg and ELF

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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8. BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE - While Outside It May Be Cold And Blustery; Inside You Can Cozy Up To A Cozy Mystery

Death of a Dreamer by M.C. Beaton

Total Books Read: 6
Total Pages Read: 1200
Total Points: 55

A seasonal read for me with Visions of Sugar Plums. 3 stars

I watched The Holiday, and will probably watch Love Actually and White Christmas later this week too!

15.8 Holidays - Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich

TOTALS:
75 points
9 books
6 tasks
3242 pages
2 tasks in progress

Whoops! I forgot to post the graphic design book cover, so I am repeating my most recent post, adding the book cover and one more task. Sorry

25.10 Book with cover that attracts you and a graphic novel: Austenland and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Shannon Hale and Alan Moore, Kevin O'Neill, 386pp, read 12/14/2009 and 12/19/2009.

30.9 Read a Newbery winner and an Honor Book from the same year: Crispin the Cross of Lead, and The House of the Scorpion (2003 winners), by Avi and Nancy Farmer, 642pps, read 12/21/2009 and 12/20/2009.

25.8 Book with at least 7 word title AND book with 1 word title: Leviathan and Ghost Map The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic - and How It Changed Science Cities and the Modern World by Scott Westerfeld and Steven Johnson, 696pp, read 12/4/2009 and 12/19/2009.

5.2 Betsy Ross, Book with red, white and blue cover OR stars and/or strips in title: The Star Garden by Nancy Turner, 304pp, read 12/19/2009.

Books read 22/77+
Tasks completed 12/58
Points 195/1100
Pages read 6730


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15.8. SILVER SCREEN CELEBRATIONS

I read Deck the Halls by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark and watched White Christmas.

TOTAL POINTS: 45

Finished 15.3:

Series: In the Woods by Tana French
Autobiography: Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

Total Points: 70

Finished 30-7 with 'The Queenes Christmas' by Karen Harper, this was a fun cozy mystery that would have also fit 5-3, 5-8, 15-3, 15-7 and 15-8.

185 points now.

Task 25.10 Emily's Task
a) The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks (the cover image of a beach appealed to me)
b) Wonder Woman: Love & Murder by Jodi Picoult


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I completed Task 10.4: A 5-star book from one of the winners of the fall challenge. I read The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman from Roseann's list. While I don't normally like nonfiction when facts are presented without a story line, I would recommend this book. I thought the story was very good and held my attention, but struggled with some of fact presentation parts of the novel. After I finished this book, I read the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and liked drawing some parallels between the two novels.

I never would have read this book had it not been for the winter challenge. I am really enjoying opening up my literary horizons.

Total Points: 60

Finished 15 point task 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 The Chocolate Chip Cookies Murder by Joanne Fluke, and made the Chocolate covered cherry delights for my christmas cookie exchange... delicious!!!

Total New points: 15
Total Tasks: 2
Total Points: 40
Total Pages: 1527

Task 35.1 Fun with the Dewey Decimal System
a) 272 Zoological: We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Young Family, a Broken Down Zoo & the 200 Wild Animals That Changed Their Lives Forever by Benjamin Mee

b) 840 French Literature: Gigi by Colette


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Just finished 30.7 (Multi-Tasking)

I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.
This book fits into task 15.9 (author never read before), 25.3 (game of clue - yellow cover), and 25.9 (it has a family tree diagram in it).

My copy of this book was also 590 pages.

New Point Total: 60

Finished:
25.10 Emily's task
A. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, a lovely bit of Steampunk about World War I. 5*
B. Thieves' World Graphics by Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey. I read the first of these collections of short stories years ago. It was interesting to re-encounter them as a graphic novel. 3*

Finished 30.1
Read
Guernica - Dave Boling Written in the last decade
The Notebook - Nicholas Sparks Turned into a movie in the last decade

Number of points 210
Number of books 9
Number of tasks 7

I completed 20.2 (Rookie of the season task) by reading Hunted for 13. Wendy's Task - Harvey Milk, The First Openly Gay Man To Be Elected To Public Office In California, Was Murdered On November 27, 1978. In Honor Of Him Read A Book With A Positive Gay Or Lesbian Character.

Two of the main characters in this book are gay.

That should bring me up to 65 points.

Ooh Cynthia, I'm missing 10 points somewhere..at the last update you have me at 155, and I had a 165 total. I made a mistake with the graphic cover, and I corrected that in post 831, plus adding one more 30 point task, which should have gotten me to a total of 195. Whew, I'm trying to use a spreadsheet this time, and I think it is harder rather than easier. thanks for checking your record.

10pt:#4 5 star book from DLMRose's list: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card


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Roseann wrote: "Two more down--(between fighting a migraine spraining my ankle this has not been a good past few days)

15.9--SOUL OF THE BRIDE by Constance M Burge

The Charmed sisters have to visit hades to ..."

I am a charmed fan too. I love Charmed but haven't gotten into the books.

Just finished 15.4 - It's all about fun and games.

One of my favourite games is chess, so I re-read Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. It suited the task well - it was one of my favourite books when I was in secondary school and thanks to goodreads I got reunited!

That brings my totals to:

new points: 15
total points: 55
tasks completed: 3
pages read: 1687

I just finished task 30.2 HELEN'S TASK - SCIENCE FICTION PAST AND PRESENT. I read Ender's Game for the Hugo Award-winning author (Orson Scott Card) and The Hunger Games for the recent publication.

Similarities:
-Both books involve the manipulation of children by adults and the children eventually overcoming the adverse situations imposed upon them.
-Both books involve very powerful governments that control the lives of their citizens.
-Isolation and loneliness are experienced by both main characters (although for Ender it's not a choice, and Katniss doesn't believe she has much of a choice either).

Differences:
-Ender's treasured in the end, while Katniss is seen as a threat.
-Ender's futuristic world reflects the time period in which it was written - the Cold War tensions are clearly demonstrated.
-Katniss ends up in a love story, while Ender is only loved by his sister (but not in a yucky way).

Total points: 40/1100
Books: 3/78
Tasks: 2/58

Erin B.

Just finished DLM ROSE'S task (time--I used "day") for 35 points. I read Me Talk Pretty One Day. This was my second Sedaris book and I was extremely amused. Some of the essays were clearly more funny than others but it was really enjoyable and I absolutely devoured it.

New Total:

Jamie(24)-- 90 points

One more down--

35.2--COZY:A STANLEY HASTINGS MYSTERY by Parnell Hall

A wonderful little tale about a private investigator who travels to a B&B with his wife to forget that their son is away at camp for a while only to be caught up in murder and mayhem.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and will definitely look up the author again.

&

THE FIRE BABY by Jim Kelly

A very sad tale of mistaken identity and life shattered and lost. Not a book to get lost in on a cold winter day. It was interesting, but I don't know if I can recommend it.

This brings me to 790 points!!

30.3 An Echo in the Bone

This book was OK. I liked it, but the Outlander series is getting a bit stretched, in my opinion. Full review on my profile.

I finished task 20.2 (Revisiting the Past) by reading When Santa Fell to Earth to my kids for the following former task - For Christmas: Read A Book With Santa, Elf, Or The Name Of Any Of The Reindeer In The Title.

That brings my total to 175 points.

30.10 Color by Numbers
Yellow and Five.

The Yellow House Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles by Martin Gayford AND Master of the Five Magics by Lyndon Hardy

The Yellow House was a great read after having read Mistral's Daughter. Ms. Krantz obviously researched Gaugin and Van Gogh for her book. Mr. Gayford follows both artists and some of their acquaintances into the 20th century. Van Gogh's mental problems apparently ran in his family, as his brother Theo and his sister, Wil, also suffered depressions and died in asylums.

Master of the Five Magics is a fantasy coming-of-age tale that follows a young man trying to gain back his family's honor and glory. It isn't near as bad as I thought it would be.


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Newly Completed Tasks:

5.3 – Royal Reading A. Read A Novel Featuring A Monarch As A Main Character: The Queen's Secret by Jean Plaidy.

I haven’t read any Jean Plaidy in quite awhile. I chugged through many of her books as a teenager, but for some reason I haven’t picked any up in about 20 years. This was the book selected for the European Royalty Goodreads Group’s Dec/Jan read. I really enjoyed the book. I even had to go on to Wikipedia to learn more about Katherine of Valois after I finished the book this morning. I gave it 4 stars.

15.1 – Make me laugh – A. Read A Black Comedy Or Satirical Novel: The Stupidest Angel A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, Version 2.0 by Christoper Moore

This was my first time reading Christoper Moore, and boy was it a hoot! I own another one of his (Island of the Sequined Love Nun) and I’m going to try to work it into this challenge too. I like how he puts a disclaimer in the front that this isn’t your typical Christmas story so it might not be appropriate for your grandmother. I gave it a good solid 3 stars.

B: Watch a Black Comedy or Satirical Film: Watched ‘Hot Fuzz’

20.3 Group Reads, Classic: Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll

I made a couple of posts on the appropriate group reads discussion thread. I have to say that I much preferred Alice in Wonderland to Through the Looking Glass. But I listened to Jim Dale’s narration of Alice in Wonderland and it was so much livelier than the other narrator’s version of Through the Looking Glass that it really wasn’t a fair contest.

Total Points: 80
Books Read: 7
Completed Tasks: 6
Pages Read for Completed Tasks: 2,009
Other Tasks in Process: 2
Personal Goal: 400 Points

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I have been listening to alot of audio books as I cook and bake for the holidays. I have a few tasks partially completed but did finish task 30.1 Color by Number by listening to Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne (4*) and A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam (3*).

I love Jules Verne even though he can be a bit wordy at times he tells a great story.

A Golden Age is about a family during the Bangladesh War of Independence. It was interesting to see how far a women would go for her children. I really did not know anything at all about this area at the time and it was interesting to hear about an ordinary family at the time.

This brings my total to 205 points.

25pt/#10 I picked up a book called The Realm: The Awakening Begins by K.L. Glanville at a book festival because of its beautiful cover. I love its color and the font and layout, and especially the point of light right in the center, which seems to draw the reader in.

Graphic Novel: The Shiniest Jewel: A Family Love Story by Marian Henley



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This is my first season of the reading challenge. I've finished the following tasks.

5.5 Lethal Legacy by Linda Fairstein (plot about theft of rare books from NY Public Library & its trustees)
15.8 Spy Who Came for Christmas by David Morrell and watched The Santa Clause 2

Total Points - 20
Books Read - 2
Tasks Completed - 2

Also finished one of two books for task 15.3 and reading books for a couple other tasks.

I finished 20.1 REVISITING THE PAST tonight. I read The Witch of Blackbird Pond for Sam's MONSTERFEST task from the Fall Challenge! I loved it and gave it five stars!

Finally on the board! For the alliteration task 5.10 I read The Big Burn by Timothy Egan. 5 points for me!

Oops! I just realized I put the wrong task number in my post #851. I read When Santa Fell to Earth for task 20.1.

Sorry, Cynthia!

Hello all! I have another task finished:

10.2 LOUIS LOUIS - 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.)

I read:
Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements (Paperback, 251 pages)


I found this book by reading the posts here. Lyn M on December 18, 2009 said:
"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. "

Now that I've read Things Not Seen I can say that I agree with Lyn M. The author stays focussed on his story. There are very few characters: 2 main ones (the teenaged boy narrator who is invisible, and his newly acquired female friend who is blind); 2 major ones (his parents); and a few others who are present briefly. The feelings and reasoning of the narrator ring true. The book is in the YA section but it is told with an adult maturity. Definately 5 stars!

Pointwise, that makes:

100+10=110 Points




Tasks Completed: 6
Points for this task: 10
Points thus far: 110/1100
Books read: 6
Pages Read: 1667+251=1918

I've also read 6 other books, and am almost finished with 2 more; they are all either parts of multi-book tasks, or they can be used for more than one task and I'm unsure which ones to use for them right now. (So expect one day soon to see a big increase in Claimed Tasks!)

Previously Claimed Tasks:
10.2 LOUIS LOUIS - Read A Novel With A Character Who Lost One Of Their Five Senses Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements (Paperback, 251 pages)
10.7 -SMALL SCREEN – Doctor Who The Stone Rose by Jacqueline Rayner (256 pages)
15.7 FOOD + FAMILY - 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)
30.6 Read A Book That Takes Place In Your Dream Vacation Spot The Road to Paradise Island by Victoria Holt (368 pages)