The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

for 25.10 i read babysitters club and the puzzling world of winston breen

for 30.10 i read princess in pink and sweet 16 princess

for 15.3 i read amelia earhart and sweet 13

25.5 i read highway cats

4. ROSEANN'S TASK - READ ABOUT YOUR RESOLUTION
Figure Out What Your New Year's Resolution Will Be (Make One Up If You Don't "Do" Resolutions) Then…
A. Read A Fiction Book With A Word In The Title That Pertains To The Resolution--For Losing Weight Examples Would Be: Fat, Thin, Skinny, Weight, Scale--You Get The Point.
So Much for Happy Ending by Kyra Davis-1/26
AND
B. Read A Non-Fiction Book Which Talks About Your Resolution i.e.-A Diet Book, A Money Management Book, Etc.
Happy at Last: The Thinking Person's Guide to Finding Joy by Richard O'Connor-1/10
New Years Resolution was to find happiness this year. My divorce was finalized in December (29th) and it has been a difficult and sad experience for me. So I resolved to be happy despite some of the changes I have going on in my life.

Kyra Davis: GR Author

New Total: 240 points

Task #10.5 - Popularity Contest - Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede from the April 2009 list (my birthday is in April) - it was really good and I gave it 4 stars.




Books Read = 13
Tasks In Progress = 4
Tasks Completed = 9

For the global readers task 15.5 I read:

Guilty Pleasures from Nikki in New Zealand and
The God of Small Things from Jaylene in Kenya.
Guilty Pleasures was pretty good, though not sure I want to take on the whole series, but I really did not enjoy God of Small things.

Total points: 495

Another one down: I read The Believers Book of Writers talking to Writers.

total points: 435/1100

25.3A: by Heather Webber (purple cover) (LOVED this book!) and

25.3B by Jill Churchill. Cute story, and I'm on a mystery kick, so this fit right in! This one was from my local library.

This brings me to 1000 points! (but I'm about to start a class, so things will slow waaaayyyyy down now -- so close to finishing! Ack!)

30.3. BJ ROSE'S TASK - SNOWED IN AND LOVING IT
Club Dead- Charlaine Harris- 292 pages
Dead to the World- Charlaine Harris- 291 pages
You Suck- Christopher Moore- 328 pages
Total Read: 911 pages
I loved all three books and recommend them to everyone.
Books read: 11
Tasks completed: 8
Total Points: 135

15.2 Adventures with Alice and Lewis
Read Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis and A Time of Changes which is set in a land called Velada Borhan on another planet.

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

I read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. I didn't like either book as much as I thought I would 3 stars for both.

As far as discussing their differences...there was nothing similar about these books. Okay actually the fact that both main characters were searching for something more in their lives was the only similarity. I wish I had read The Hunger Games for this task instead then that would have been similar to F451 and there would be more to discuss!

30 points!

Total Points: 340
Total Books Read: 26
Total Pages Read: 7,783
Tasks in Process: 3 (30.3; 35.3)

Okay another two tasks down

30.1 Celebrating The Decade
A. Made into a Movie :Prince Caspian by C.s. Lewis
B. Published in the last decade : Moon Called by Patricia Briggs.

15.3 What Women Want To Read and Write
A. Avalon High by Meg Cabot
B. Behind The Mask: The Life of Queen Elizabeth I by Jane Resh Thomas

Tasks Completed 16
Books Read 24
Total Points 285

Cindie wrote: "Another one down: I read The Believers Book of Writers talking to Writers.

total points: 435/1100"

I forgot to add that this is for the Odd Man Out task

Finished:
30.5 DIANE'S TASK--POSTHUMOUSLY SPEAKING>
A. Family by J. California Cooper, told by Clora, who tells her story of slavery and the human spirit. This is the story I expected Beloved to be, but it wasn't. 4*

B. Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie. Published in 1976, just after she died. This is a Miss Marple mystery, and I had forgotten how much Jane Marple annoyed me--almost as much as Jessica Fletcher.

35.2 DONNA JO'S TASK--GOING ON A WINTER VACATION
I picked warm beach (don't I wish)
A. Warm & Willing by Kate Hoffman. A typical mindless romance, which made a quick read to balance out some of the longer books I've been reading.

B. Beach Music by Pat Conroy. I don't know how I've missed reading any of Conroy's books before. The emotions of the family watching the mother die was so close to a family situation for me that I had to stop reading for a little while. Loved this one.

10 point task no. 4

Atonement by Ian McEwan, 5stars by Sam

total: 10 points
tasks: 1

5.1 The Wonderful World of Disney
My favorite Disney movie is Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, so I read Return to the Hundred Acre Wood. I read the first part aloud to my 19 and 21 year old daughters when they were home for Christmas break. We all approved.

New points: 5
Total points: 80

A couple more completed:

10.6 Local Literature - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - this was on Stef's 5 star list - 2 miles from me

As stated by so many on this board - an outstanding book. Deserves the awards and accolades it has been given. 5 stars for me also.

25.8 Michelle - Inane Answering Machine

A. 7 + Word Title: The Verse by the Side of the Road : The Story of the Burma-Shave Signs and Jingles by Frank Rowsome, Jr.

Okay - interesting book but pretty weak. 2 stars

B. One word title: Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin -- GOODREADS AUTHOR

Very good young adult book which appeals to adults also. Interesting treatment of life after death. 4 stars

POINTS 810
TASKS 42
BOOKS 62
PAGES 14908

I also finished 25.8 Michelle US's task: Inane answering machine day.

I read Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire and Timeline by Michael Crichton, which has 500+ pgs.


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finished the 50 point task by reading The Bronze Pen(bronze) and Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts(ice hockey). the bronze pen was just okay. ballad of the whiskey robber was fabulous! wonderfully written and a very exciting story!




Total Points: 695/1100
Books Read: 39/81
Tasks Completed: 27/58
Tasks in Progress: 2

25.5 MICHELLE US' TASK - JANUARY 30TH IS INANE ANSWERING MACHINE DAY

A. Read A Book With An Unnecessarily Long Title (At Least 7 Words) - The Dilemma of a Ghost and Anowa by Ama Ata Aidoo

AND

B. B. Read A Book With A Very Short Title (1 Word) - Austenland by Shannon Hale

Total Points: 420/1100
Tasks Completed: 25/58
Tasks in Progress: 5

Finished
30.10 Teresa in Ohio's task
A. Color: Blue Water by A. Manette Ansay
B. Number: Three To Get DeadlyBy Janet Evanovich

for 25.4 i read the pistacio prescription by paula danziger and on the wings of heroes by richard peck
i would have rather lived in the pistachio prescription

for 25.8 iread found by margaret peterson haddix and models dont eat chocolate cookies by erin dionne

Finished 20.1:

I chose task 30.9 from the Fall 2009 Challenge: Judge a Book by its Cover:

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession by Allison Hoover Bartlett



Who doesn't love a beautiful shelf of books?

Also, Allison Hoover Bartlett is a goodreads author.

Total Points: 250

I really hit a lull this month.
For task 25.8 (MICHELLE US' TASK - JANUARY 30TH IS INANE ANSWERING MACHINE DAY)I read:
A. (long title): Sabine's Notebook: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Continues by Nick Bantock and because it was so short, I'm counting the whole trilogy, to include Griffin & Sabine - An Extraordinary Correspondence and The Golden Mean: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Concludes. I give the series 3 stars.
B. (1 word title): [image error] Nightlight, by Harvard Lampoon. 2 stars.

Total points: 195
Total pages: 4196

10.6 LOCAL LIT LOVERS
I live in KY and read a 5 star book from ALECEA'S shelf.
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

**GOODREADS AUTHOR**

points this task: 10
tasks completed: 13
total points: 220

35.4. ROSEANN'S TASK - READ ABOUT YOUR RESOLUTION
Figure Out What Your New Year's Resolution Will Be (Make One Up If You Don't "Do" Resolutions) Then…
A. Read A Fiction Book With A Word In The Title That Pertains To The Resolution--For Losing Weight Examples Would Be: Fat, Thin, Skinny, Weight, Scale--You Get The Point.

Damsel Under Stress by Shanna Swendson

AND
B. Read A Non-Fiction Book Which Talks About Your Resolution i.e.-A Diet Book, A Money Management Book, Etc.

The Inner Game of Stress: Outsmart Life's Challenges and Fulfill Your Potential by W. Timothy Gallwey & John Horton

TOTAL POINTS: 80

Finished another two parter: 25.8:

Journey to the Centre of the Earth - My first Jules Verne!!! Absolutely Loved it.

Fire - by Kristen Cashore. This was the prequel to Graceling, which I thought lacked a bit from the original but was still entertaining. I liked Katsa much more than I like the main character of this story. Though i liked both lead males a ton.

Total: 135

10.5: POPULARITY CONTEST - I read "Dead and Gone" the most current book in the Sookie Stackhouse vampire series

10.8: OH CANADA! - I read "Bitten" the first book in the otherworld series by Kelly Armstrong. Bitten both takes place (partially) in Toronto, Ontario, and is written by a Canadian author

This brings my totals to:

20 new points
215 total points
14 books read

Finally some new points! New tasks are in bold. Points total should be 345. Thanks!

5.1 Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi (12/17)

Really enjoyed reading this- so different from the movie!

5.8: The House in the Mist by Anna Katharine Green 1/4/10

10.1: The Ringmaster's Secret by Carolyn Keene 12/3
10.5: Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom 12/27

15.2: Alice Sit-By-The-Fire by JM Barrie and The Marvellous Land of Oz 12/29
15.8 I read Charles Kuralt's Christmas and watched The Flinstone's Christmas. completed 1/4
15.9: Superstitious by R.L. Stine and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (**Goodreads author) 12/10

20.1: Old task 20.3: Christian Fiction: Dinner with a Perfect Stranger An Invitation Worth Considering by David Gregory 12/28

25.1 The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West and Where Angels Fear To Tread by EM Forester completed 1/1
25.2: A Prayer for Owen Meany. (637 pages)
25.4 The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent and The Man Without a Country and Its History by Edward Everett Hale completed 1/4/10

30.3: Hideaway by Dean Koontz (400 pgs) and The King of Torts by John Grisham (432 pgs) completed 1/3
30.7: Toby Tyler, or Ten Weeks with a Circus by James Otis 12/7 Counts for 35.3 and 10.1.
30.8 A. First Across the Continent. The Story of The Exploring Expedition of Lewis and Clark in 1804-5-6

30.10: A. The Red House Mystery by AA Milne B. The 39 Steps by John Buchan

Really enjoyed the mystery by the author of Winnie the Pooh!

35.3: Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham 1/10

50.1: Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle (1/25) and The Outdoor Girls in a Winter Camp, Or, Glorious Days on Skates and Ice Boats by Laura Lee Hope (1/26)

Thanks so much for the idea about The Outdoor Girls- they were fun!

30.3 - BJ ROSE'S TASK - SNOWED IN AND LOVING IT

I read Tell Me What to Eat If I Have Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Nutrition You Can Live With by Elaine Magee. (160 pages) I didn't find this book to be very helpful.

The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker. (272 pages) 4 stars

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. (400 pages) 3 stars

30 more points

Total Points: 370
Total Books Read: 27
Total Pages Read: 8,055
Tasks in Process: 2 (25.3; 35.3)

30.1 The End of the Decade

Published in the past decade: The Codex by Douglas Preston published 2004. Predictable racing-psychopath-through-the-jungle plot. So-so.

Made into a movie in the past decade: Prince Caspian by CS Lewis. Not my favorite book about Narnia, curious that they chose this for the second movie.

5.6 It's a Dirty Job: It Had to Be You by Jill Churchill. The main characters get a job in a nursing home. I could never do that; I only pray that when my time comes I can spend as little of it in a nursing home as possible.

775 points

Ok. Just finished another task.

OUT WITH THE OLD & IN WITH THE NEW BOOKS
Read: The Pearl by John Steinbeck
I'd been meaning to read this book with ages and it was unbelievable. A really shocking ending which I did not see coming, always a sign of a good book! :)

Read: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
I had never read anything like this book before, let alone by this author. It was so different to what I would normally read but I really enjoyed it.

So, that gives me a grand total of 90 :)

Angela wrote: "4. ROSEANN'S TASK - READ ABOUT YOUR RESOLUTION ....
New Years Resolution was to find happiness this year. My divorce was finalized in December (29th) and it has been a difficult and sad experience for me. So I resolved to be happy despite some of the changes I have going on in my life.
...."

Hi Angela: Hang in there. It does get better. My divorce was final 6 years ago. (Wow, time DOES fly...) The sadness for me slowly faded and now I'm totally happy with the decision. I should have made it sooner. Good for you for focusing on your happiness.
Cheers,
-Krista

Yay! Another completed task:

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

A. Past: Choose A Sci-Fi Novel Written By An Author Who Has Won A
Hugo OR Nebula Award Prior To The Year 2000: Adulthood Rites by Octavia Butler (277 pages) 1/27 - 4 stars
B. Present: Choose A Sci-Fi Novel Published During The Current Century: Fledgling by Octavia Butler (310 pages) 12/24 – 4 stars

I love Octavia Butler. Her books are very strange but awesome. This makes five of her books I have read. I can’t wait to finish the xenogenesis series and read her other books. I savor them because I know there are no more to be published. I never thought I could like sci-fi so much but she keeps me coming back for more. Her style pretty much stays the same. What I have found is that I don’t particular like her characters. They tend to be narcissistic, incredibly selfish, ignorant, and sometimes really disgusting. It’s like I don’t want to read any more but I have to know what happens. Her characters make me so upset and I really end up disliking them, but I still really enjoy her books. There are always undertones of discussions about race, class, gender and sexuality that you can’t get away from. It would be wonderful to discuss these themes in her books with someone. Fledgling and Adulthood Rites, the second book in the xenogenesis series, both have alien characters that are controlling. They make me squirm and hope that this is just sci-fi and won’t ever be reality. But some of the human characters can also be upsetting and seen as weak and to easily controlled. The problem is that everyone has flaws and Octavia Butler does her best to bring them to the forefront and she makes sure you never unconditionally love any of her characters.

Total Points: 170
Pages read: 2188
Books read: 10
Tasks completed: 8

For Task 25.9

The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis contains maps of the roman empire and rome

Bite Me If You Can by Lynsay Sands has a family tree

15.2 Adventures with Alice and Lewis
A. The Pursuit of Alice Thrift by Elinor Lipman 3* OK read - I'm not a big "chick lit" fan and that's what this was
B. Stardust by Neil Gaiman (goodreads author) I really liked this "adult" fairy tale. My first Gaiman book. I plan on reading more. 4*
Books Read - 15
Tasks completed - 10
Total Points - 200
Pages Read - 4,861

It's been a while since I updated my status, so here comes a slew of points:

5.5- The art of racing in the rain by Garth Stein
~~~GOODREADS AUTHOR~~~
5.7 - Brother Odd by Dean Koontz
20.1 - The Client by John Grisham (BIG BOOK 566 pp. Hardcover Editon)

I Chose 15.9 Libra for my task.
25.1 #918 - Oliver twist by Charles Dickens (BIG BOOK - 608pp)
#437 - A clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
30.7 - The lost Symbol - Dan Brown (BIG BOOK - 508 pp
)
This should bring my total to 115 points. I've been slacking lately. ALso, counting the books for tasks in progress, I have read 3732 pages!

30.10 Color by Numbers

I read "A Yellow Raft in Blue Water" by Michael Dorris and "The Lucky One" by Nicholas Sparks

I read for half of task 25.10. I like the cover for the childlike drawings. The task is not yet finished though, so no more points!

I finished 25.1 with Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin and Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne.

I'm guessing Journey to the Centre of the Earth was included more for it's influence than it's literary merit, but it was good.

I really liked Giovanni's Room even if it was painful to read. It made hate and pity the main character at the same time.

Points- 165

20.2 CHERYL ME'S TASK - CIVIL RIGHTS
In Honor Of Rosa Parks Day And Martin Luther King Jr. Day Both Of Which Take Place During This Challenge Read A Book That Is Related To The Civil Rights Movement. The Book Can Be A Fiction Book In Which The Main Character Fights For Civil Rights Or A Non-Fiction Book About Civil Rights, The Movement, Or A Biography/Auto-Biography About One Of Its Leaders.
Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon
20 points
total 510

30.8 Exploring with Lewis and Clark
Read Lewis & Clark: Legacies, Memories, and New Perspectives and The Burning Lamp which was mostly set in Colorado in 1867. I don't think I would have enjoyed the medical knowledge (or lack of it) or the hard work had I lived then, but I would probably have managed quite well without modern luxuries. As long as I could have books to read and my knitting I would be happy.

15 point task 2:

A - The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
B - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adam

tasks: 2
total points : 25

Finished 25.1
Read The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum by Heinrich Böll and A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines.

Nr of points 355
Nr of books 19
Nr of tasks 13

Finished 35.3 It's about time (DLMRose's Task). I read The Last Days of Pompeii by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton. It has 'days' in the title.
It was not awful but I don't recommend it. Just an okay reading.

Total points: 75
Completed tasks: 3
Tasks in progress: 2
Books read: 5
Pages read: 2026

50 The Skating Life: My Story
Dorothy Hamill and Deborah Amelon

and

The Gold Bug
Edgar Allan Poe

Melissa wrote: "Yay! Another completed task:

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

A. Past: Choose A Sci-Fi Novel Written By An Author Who Has Won A
Hugo OR Nebula Award Prior To The Year 2000..."
Melissa have you read "Kindred?"

15.3 What Women Want

A) A Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris

B) A Promise Kept: The Story of One Widowed Bride's Journey Through Grief by Elise Crawford
**GOODREADS AUTHOR**

points this task: 15
tasks completed: 14
total points: 235