The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

I finished 20.2, Cheryl ME's Civil Rights, with
Freshwater Road

This was a powerful book about Freedom Summer- 1964 voter registration drives in Mississippi by actress Denise Nicholas (Room 222 and In the Heat of the Night) It could have used a good editor, but Nicholas delivered an engaging story about a difficult, ugly time.

+20
total 540

Beliar wrote: "I completed 10.4 Winners Choice.I read The Very Hungry Caterpillar,it is on Sara Nicoles list.

+10
Total Points:35
Tasks Completed:2
Total Books Read:3"
Is this the Eric Carle kids' book? Because I need something for this task and if I can use that, I'm set! I read that one all the time to my kids!

I have been reading a bunch of books for multi-book tasks but I finally managed to finish another one...I finished 30.3 BJ Rose's Snowed In task by reading

Boy Meets Girl 383
Big Boned 280
Queen of Babble Gets Hitched 277
a trio of Meg Cabot books.

383+280+277 = 940 pages.

15.6. THE SEASON OF GIFTING & GIVING
A. Read A Book That Relates To Best Gift You've Ever Been Given (It Doesn't Have To Have Been A Holiday Present). Please State Who Gave You The Gift & Why It's Your Favorite Gift When Claiming Points For This Task)
Say You’re One of Them by Akpen (Help children)
Check to help tutor low-income children AND
B. This Is Also The Season For Giving Back - You Can Spend Some Time Volunteering Or Donate Money/Clothing/Food To A Local Charity. Post How You Gave Back When Claiming Points For This Task.
Helped children from disadvantaged backgrounds prepare for the SAT.

15 points
240 total

25.3 SARA NICOLE'S TASK - A GAME OF CLUE Stalking Susan A Novel (yellow/mustard) and Under The Knife
Books Read: 22
Pages Read: 6474
Tasks Completed: 17

35.3 DLM ROSE'S TASK - IT'S ABOUT TIME

I read Book of a Thousand Days and gave it ****1/2 stars.

It was a unique retold fairy tale that was told through the diary of Dashti, a lady's maid. It was an addicting read that I had a hard time putting down.

Total points: 115

Completed 35.2 Donna Jo's task
I read books for Tropical Island
Tropical Kiss by Jan Coffey and Anne of the island by L.m Montgomery
What better vacation could I take this time of year(having record low temps) than a tropical vacation to Aruba. ( though I wished that it had not been a teen romance novel) on the bright side all of the Anne of Green Gables set of books are a favorite.

25.10

I read the Christmas Genie by Dan Gutman

The colors are what attracted me to the cover first and I really liked the illustration of the Genie.

The graphic novel I read was:

The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks

Total Books Read: 10
Total Pages Read: 1857
Total Points: 100

Okay, I got a group read done for 20.3. I read Alice In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass. I also participated in the discussion board.

Completed Tasks 12
Books Read this challenge 15
Total Points 205

I missed out on the fall challenge. Life was crazy and I was barely reading. But my reading has increased so I am going to participate this go round. Here is the one for the book I just finished:

How to Be a Vampire by Katy Hall


20 POINT TASKS
20.1 MOST IMPROVED PLAYER - BETH MN'S TASK - REVISITING THE PAST
Choose Your Favorite Task From A Past Challenge. The Task You Choose Must Originally Have Been Worth 15 Points Or Higher. When You Claim Points, Let Us Know Which Challenge And Which Task You're Revisiting.
To See A List Of Former Tasks See The Help Thread For This Task.

One I did:

15. 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).


Need to go through Dec reads and match to tasks still...

My New year's Resolution is to actual finish some knitting projects. My daughter is an avid knitter, and is fighting a rearguard action trying to convert me from a reader into a reader AND a knitter.

35.4 Fiction book with word in title relating New Year's resolution AND non-fiction book about resolution: Mason-Dixon Knitting:The Curious Knitter's Guide and A Killer Stitch, by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne and Maggie Sefton ,424pp read 12/30/2009 and 12/31/2009.

Books read 29/77+
Tasks completed 15/58
Points 270/1100
Pages read 9112




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Terri wrote: "I missed out on the fall challenge. Life was crazy and I was barely reading. But my reading has increased so I am going to participate this go round. Here is the one for the book I just finished..."

Did you like the Mason-Dixon Knitting book? I use Stitch and Bitch (which appalls knitting purists) and I am not lucky enough to have a live-in knitting expert! Is the M-D book helpful?

Too bad about Eric Carle -- I love his stuff!

Anyway, for DLM's task 35.3 I read Julie and Julia 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell. When I was about half-way through, I loved it. Four stars at that point. Having finished it, I'm conflicted. In the end, I thought the author had really bought into the press and was full of herself. I love the idea of it and want to have loved the book itself, but I just didn't. I think I will end up giving it 3 stars, but I have going to wait a bit before I rate it. I read this for my January book club and I'll be interested to hear what everyone else thinks about it.

This brings me to 485.

20.2 - Civil Rights: The Help a quick compelling read.

Pages read: 3827
Books read: 13+
Tasks completed: 13
Total Points: 300
Liz (Bklyn)

COMPLETED TASKS:

10.5 Popularity Contest (October)
Half Broke Horses A True-Life Novel**** by Jeannette Walls - READ 12.31.09
I thought Walls fictionalized account of her grandmother Lily was well-delivered in the same short, smart style as The Glass Castle. Told in the voice of Lily, this hardworking, no-nonsense, dare-devil woman jumped off the pages. Walls used a few cliche's to tie the story together and also link it to The Glass Castle, but she also broke a few cliche's about the typical image people have of the West and cowboys. I thought the book was highly entertaining and I kept having to remind myself that while some of it was based on fact, it was still a fiction.

20.1 Revisiting the Past [Summer 2008 - Read an author you've never read:]
The Calligrapher's Daughter A Novel**** by Eugenia Kim (Goodreads Author) - READ 12.30.09
This was a wonderful story about Korean culture, feminism, and family. The book started slowly for me, but after and hour or two of reading I became caught up in the story. This is the first time I've read about Korean culture, it's traditions and the role of women in their society. I found it fascinating! I also loved the strong character of Najin Han, who tirelessly sacrificed for her family, and won some personal victories of her own. Not only was the book entertaining, but I feel I came away a little more learned about Korea.

30.6 Winter Vacation Dreams
Jamaica Inn***** by Daphne du Maurier - READ 1.1.10
Dream vacation: I initially picked the book because I have vacationed in Jamaica and the title suggested a tropical setting which is definitely inviting; but the story takes place on the moors in England. I've never been to England and have always wanted to go. I especially want to visit the moors since so many of the gothic books I love use the moors as a setting.

I could feel the cold wind of the Moors whipping at my face, and the oppressive air of Jamaica Inn stifling my spirit. This gothic suspense kept me turning the pages late into the night. I was completely immersed in the setting and could easily visualize the characters in du Maurier's story. Even though I guessed early on the outcome of the book, it didn't take away my pleasure in reading it.





Tasks Completed: 11/58
Points Completed: 160/1100
Books Read: 13
Books Read From My Personal Library: 5

Finished Task 5.4

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2008.

I have finished the following tasks:

10.4 Diane's List The Choice by Nicholas Sparks

20.1 Favorite past task was 15.3 For valentine's Day Read a Book With Chocolate in the Title:: Firends, Lovers, Chocolate by Alexander McCall Smith

30.10A Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick
30.10B Ten Things I Hate About Myself by Randa Abdel-Fallan

I've just completed another task. I read The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion for Task 35.3. This brings me up to 70 points! :-)

Tasks Completed:
5.8 Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
30.3 The Doll People by Ann M. Martin (256 pgs)
Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris (291 pgs)
The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (335 pgs)
35.3 The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion



Total Tasks Completed: 3
Total Points: 70
Total Books Read: 5
Total Pages Read: 1389

I'm amazed at you all! Way to go! I've gotten sidetracked by personal problems, but hope to go get back into it soon. In the meantime, you all are so inspiring! I want to read!

Just finished 35.1 PJ Read's Dewey Decimal task. Starting at 297 -1= 296 Judaism -250= 46 Blank – 150 = 895 East & Southern Asia so I read:
Anne Frank The Diary of a Young Girl, surprisingly I missed this during school, and though I thought it was good, I felt like a bad person because I knew Anne died at the end, but I was tired of listening to her ramblings and ready for it to be over.
The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel A Novel I labored to get through this one. It was interesting in a way, as it was based on the real life of a Chinese princess who defied the expectations of society and worked for the Japanese secret service. However, she tells us that she has little goodness in her, and tells about sexual exploits and betrayals in such a flat, emotionless way that I didn't care about her or what she did.

Total points: 235

Just finished task 25.7 The Lost Generations
I read The Great Gatsbyby F.Scott Fitzgerald, which I'd somehow never read before and thoroughly enjoyed and I also read The Epic of Gilgamesh An Old Babylonian Version...mostly because I have a friend who has the misfortune of being named after the hero...we just call him Gil.

First task/book of the New Year!

10.6. Denise from Northville gave 5 stars to Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, and I agree! The Hunger Games books just drew me in!

TOTAL = 75 POINTS

Finished Handle with Care by Jodie Picoult 10.5 Popularity contest. This equals my other Picoult favourite My Sisters Keeper.

First book of the New Year, and it's a great start - for those that haven't yet completed 30.4 (Sandra's World AIDS Day task), I can heartily recommend Kevin Brockmeier's The Brief History of the Dead. I can't really do justice to the concept in a recap, but just trust me when I say it's really worth reading - I got swept up in it almost immediately and it's really nicely done.

Current Total: 315 points

Just realised I've also finished task 15.8. I've watched The Santa Clause and read "Twas the night before Christmas" 14 pages, Jesus Christmas Party 30 pages, The Jolly Christmas Postman 24 pages, The Nativity 32 pages and Grandads special Holly 11 pages making a total of 111 pages.

finished another one! :)

completed task 30.6 by reading The Enchantress of Florence. what a beautifully written tale! love me some rushdie! i've always wanted to go to florence ever since i read A Room With A View, and then saw the movie and saw how incredibly beautiful the city and countryside are. i'm hoping next summer (2011) is the year i finally make it there! :)




Total Points: 360/1100
Books Read: 20/79+
Tasks Completed: 14/58
Tasks in Progress: 1

Completed Task 5.8

Yankee Doodle Dead by Carolyn Hart

Completed task 35.3 I read "Book of a thousand days" Wow. i can't want to read more of this author! (and I am not much of a YA person)

total points: 235/1100
total pages read: 4139

a href="http://www.TickerFactory.com/counter/...

Finished a few more

5.6 It's a Dirty Job But...
Rapture in Death by J. D. Robb. The main character is a homicide detective. Although I read a lot of crime books I could never be a detective, especially a homicide detective since I can't stand blood. I gave the book 4 stars.

10.6 Local Literature Lovers
I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins which was a 5 star book of Kris. This book was amazing, one of those books where you want to run outside and tell everyone to read it. 5 stars.

15.7 Food + Family and/or Friends = Reading Fun
I read Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke. This was a really cute cozy mystery and I'm going to be reading more of the series, 4 stars.
AND
I made chocolate chip cookies from the book, they were very tasty. I shared them with my husband and his family who were staying with us over Christmas.

Total Points: 405
Total Pages: 11009
Total Books: 37
Total Tasks: 25

Completed task 25.8 by reading:

Queen of Babble in the Big City

and

Greywalker

I'm now at 180 points, and I've beaten the # of points I got last challenge. Yay me!

Just finished 30.7, I read 300by Frank Miller. It was amazing. It also would have worked for tasks 10.7 as it was the inspiration for one of my favourite episodes of one of my favourite shows: Samurai Jack, 25.10B as it's a graphic novel AND 30.1B as it was made into a movie in the past 10 years.
And I've just realised that I've now eclipsed the number of points I had in the Fall Challenge and it's only the beginning of January!! YAY!

I completed these tasks.. RE-POST with different book for 5.6 task.

5.6 IT'S A DIRTY JOB BUT… - In The Fall Challenge We Read About Our Current And Dream Job So For This Task...
A. Read A Novel Where The Main Character Does A Job You Could Never Imagine Doing.
I read Edge of Danger by Rhyannon Byrd. The main female character is an archeologist. I really don't think I could work all day digging in the dirt. Especially if its hot out!

30.9 RACHEL LEE'S TASK - THE NEWBERY AWARD
Winter Break Was Always My Favorite Growing Up Because I Got To Read So Many New Books And Usually My Aunt (An English Teacher) Would Bring Me The Newbery Award Winner From That Year For My Present.
Pick A Year And Read Both The Newbery Winner And One Of The Honor Books From That Year. Then Let Us Know Which You Thought Was Better And Why.
I read 2004 Medal winner The Tale of Despereaux Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread and 2009 Honor Book Olive's Ocean I guess I liked Olive's Ocean better. I'm not really a big fan of young adult stories so neither one really excited me.

Total Points: 315/1100
Books Read: 20
Tasks Completed: 17/58

Finished Task 35.2 by reading Nineteen Minutes- Jodi Picoult.

I really enjoyed this book- give it 4 stars. Without giving too much of the storyline away, I could really relate to both Peter and Josie's sides of the story. How you have to pretend almost all the way through high school to fit in, and all this just to get through those years. After high school, popularity and status no longer matter- it's all about just getting through it. And those who chose to be different, to be true to themselves and who they are, often get bullied because they are different. Neither situation is fair- but it's all about just getting through those teenage years. In the end though, everyone will still need to face the consequences of their actions- no matter which side they're on.

I cried my way through most of the last half of the book. The only thing saving me from giving this 5 stars is that I found the ending predictable. Gave it 4 stars.

That should bring me to 120 pts.

In December:

5.1 - Peter Pan in Scarlet by Geraldine McCaughrean
5.7 - Time Quake by Linda Buckley-Archer (year of the dog)
5.8 - Mum's the Word by Kate Collins

10.1 - Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

15.8 - Skipping Christmas by John Grisham; watched Christmas with the Kranks

20.3 - The Princess Bride by William Goldman

30.6 - Pint-Sized Ireland by Evan McHugh: a book all about the love of Guiness and travels around Ireland, so I went out and bought a six pack and enjoyed imagining I was with the author through many, many Irish pubs.

Total for December: 90 points (not as much as many, but since it's my first challenge, I'm quite excited :))

Finished two more:

5.7 Chinese New Year - Ford County by John Grisham (Feb 1955)- shares the year of the Ram with me.

Excellent series of short stories about the small town of Clanton in Ford county in North Carolina – setting for many of Grisham’s novels. Notes that it is a town of 5,000 with 51 lawyers so many of the stories deal with lawyers. The stories are wonderful depictions of the rather interesting people found in this type of rural southern environment. 4 stars

30.7 Jan - Multitasking - Rebel Yell A Novel by Alice Randall. This book also fits: 10.3 African-American, 15.2 Alice or Lewis, 15.9B New Author, and 20.2 Civil Rights.

Written by an African-American female describing the life of her ex-husband following his death. The husband’s father was a civil rights leaders in the 1960’s – the young boy grew up attending rallies, etc with his father. The story is told through flashbacks of his work with his father and how it shaped his future. The book treats the conflicting issues of race, culture, geography, wealth vs poverty, and personal integrity vs ambition. While scholarly-written, it was a little ponderous. (3 stars)

POINTS 455
TASKS 24
BOOKS 32
PAGES 7408

HOLIDAY BOOKS 22

15.3 - What Women Want to Read and Write
A. Book written by a female author from a series with a female protagonist:
The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog by Elizabeth Peters
This book is in the Amelia Peabody series, and is my favorite of the series so far.

B. An autobiography/biography of a woman you admire (written by a woman):
Read My Pins Stories from a Diplomat's Jewel Box by Madeleine Albright
A unique approach to an autobiography - the author covers her years as U.N. ambassador and Secretary of State by telling how she decided to use her brooches to send diplomatic and political messages to leaders and her counterparts in other countries.

Total Pages Read = 5646

Total Points = 220

Completed task 10.7 - SMALL SCREEN STORIES - Read A Book Inspired By, OR Was The Inspiration For, OR Is In Some Way Related To Your Favorite Television Show (Past Or Present).
Ex. If Your Favorite Show Is Dexter You Could Read A Book From Jeff Lindsay's Dexter Series Or Another Book About A Serial Killer(s).

I like the series True Blood, so I read the second Sookie Stackhouse book, Living Dead in Dallas.

This brings my totals to:

Total New Points: 10
Total Points: 95
Total Tasks Completed: 5
Total Pages: 2270

Another quickie - I finished the group read challenge with Christopher Moore's The Stupidest Angel A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, Version 2.0, which I just love, but then again, I'd read Moore's version of the phone book.

Current Total: 335 points

Finished my task 25.6 Island Dreams by reading The Colour by Rose Tremain which is set in New Zealand. It was an OK read. I could sit and read it but it wasn't a book that I constantly thought boy I have to drop everything and just finish this book. I can't say that the characters were all that lovable. That Joseph was a selfish SOB.

This brings me to 255 points.

Finished 5.7 Year of the Tiger with Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. We are both Year of the Snake & only weeks apart in age. Maybe that explains why I love, love, love all of his books and many people think they're just okay.

Finished 5.2 by reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

It was a VERY quick read for me- started it around 6pm tonight and finished it just a few minutes ago. I enjoyed it, but I thought Bruno was wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too clueless and naive, even for a 9 yr old kid. So that took away from my enjoyment a little. I also sort of expcted a lot more from the book, given what I've heard and read about it. But still, a decent read. Gave this book 3 stars.

That should bring me to 125 pts.

Hello all! I'm ready to claim points for
25.9. BRIDGIT'S TASK - THE WORLD OF BOOKS

A. Any Book That Has A Map Included (Real Or Imaginary).
General Sherman's Christmas Savannah, 1864 by Stanley Weintraub (Hardcover, 256 pages)
This book was a non-fiction account of Sherman's March to the Sea, starting in Atlanta in November of 1864 and ending in Savannah at Christmastime 1864. There was a map at the beginning of Georgia showing the route that Sherman took. Weintraub included alot of primary source documents, like letters and newpaper accounts, around his historian's overview of the strategy and tactics involved with Sherman's march. Fascinating.

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

Wicked Game by Jeri Smith-Ready (Paperback, 384 pages)
This novel included a 2-page playlist (including the Black Crowes, the Byrds, the Beatles, etc.) of music the mythical WVMP radio station played. Wicked Game is a standard-issue vampire novel, with the twist that the vampires are the DJ's of a local radio station; and, further, the vampires play only music popular from when they were alive (like '60s psycholdelic or '80s goth). The story has no surprises for those who have read vampire tales before. The author keeps the action moving, and the reader gets to know our heroine rather well; this novel would be a good beach read. My overall reaction is lukewarm. I've had my fill of vampire stories for awhile. (I've recently read the vampire story Strange Brew recently although I haven't claimed it for points yet since it will be part of 25.3 once I've read the other book that 25.3 requires.)

230 + 25 = 255



Tasks Completed: 13
Points for this task: 25
Points thus far: 255/1100
Books read: 17
Pages Read: 5047

Completed another task today!
5.10 Definitely Dead I'm really enjoying the Sookie Stackhouse series. :0)

Completed Tasks

5.10 Definitely Dead

25.3 Carmilla & The Black Dagger Brotherhood An Insider's Guide
25.6 Emma

30.7 Lover Avenged

35.3 The Xander Years, Volume 1


Total Points = 120
Tasks Completed = 5
Books read = 6
Pages read = 2,112


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Cynthia,
I recently completed 20.3 Group read and I checked the readerboard and it says it was updated through 1254 posts and my 20 points weren't added. My last post was 1228. If you can fix the error I would appreciate it.

This one a fun one, browsing through all the beautiful covers. Wicked Plants come from my local library and I bought Strong Poison, Sayers is one of my favorite mystery authors.

25.3 Clue: One book with a clue color cover, 1 with weapon in the title, 1/2 from library: Wicked Plants and Strong Poison by Amy Stewart and Dorothy Sayers, 494 pp, read 12/27/2009 and 1/2/2010.

Books read 30/77+
Tasks completed 16/58
Points 295/1100
Pages read 9345


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5.1 Cinderella's Stepmother

Total Points:15
Total Books Read:5
Total Pages Read:1568

Just finished 10-9 with Hawaii by Anne Prescott.

415 points

5.4 Winning Decade: 2009 Pulitzer - Olive Kitteridge A Novel in Stories

35.4 Resolution: Each month, read at least one book in a language other than English (LOTE) --
Fiction - The Sound of Language A Novel
NF - Biting the Wax Tadpole Confessions of a Language Fanatic

650 points

Finished Michelle's task 25.8 by reading After the Wreck, I Picked Myself Up, Spread My Wings, and Flew Away by Joyce Carol Oates and Manhunting by Jennifer Cruise. I gave both of them 3*. After the Wreck was a tale of a 15 year old girl and how she deals with the death of her mother after a horrific car crash. Not pretty but it has a good ending. Manhunting was a fast chick lit book.


Jennifer Cruise is a Goodreads author.

This will bring me to 280 points.

25.10 Emily's Task: Part I - Great Cover Design
(12/30)

Emily's Task Part II - Graphic Novel
by Ao Mimori (12/4)

Total Points: 75

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?ke...