The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

10.4 Winners Choice - I read a 5 star book from Abigail's list
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead - great,layered story. 4*
Total Points - 210
Books Read - 16
Tasks completed - 11
Pages Read - 5,061

Finished Lisa's Task by reading The Heretic's Daughter which I really enjoyed and gave 4*. It was really well written and the author is a decendent of Martha Carrier. This book takes place during the Salem Witch Trials in the mid 1600's. I also read The Tale of Murasaki: A Novel and gave it 3*. It was well written but I felt it was not as in depth as I would have liked. This book takes place in Japan during the 11th Century.

If I had to choose one of these times to live in I would have to take Japan but I really would not like to live at either of these times. The Salem trials was just too scary.

This brings me to 380 points.

I completed 30.7 by reading The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. It fits both the alliteration task (5.10) and Leora's task of 1001 books (25.1).

It is also a 500+ pages long book.

Total points: 175

Stephanie, I haven't done my own task yet, but I too planned to read The Heretic's Daughter. Glad to hear you liked it! :D

Finished task 25.8 Title with 7 or more words: The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession. Title with 1 word: Coraline.

New point total: 85

Heather in KS

Completed 2 more tasks:
5.5b A librarian's job is never done: read a book where the main character is a librarian - "A Bone to Pick" by Charlaine Harris.
5.3b Royal Reading: a non-fiction book about a monarch - "Vlad the Impaler" by Enid Goldberg.

This brings me to 40 points.

I've completed another task. I was intrigued by the photo covering the face on the book jacket of Impostor's Daughter. Ended up reading two graphic bios for this taks.

25.10 Impostor's Daughter by Laurie Sandell and French Milk by Lucy Knisley

Total Points - 195
Books Read - 12
Tasks Completed - 10

Just finished Task 15.2. I read Eldest by Christopher Paolini (668 pages) which takes place in the lad of Alagaesia and I read Breaking Dawn by Stepehenie Meyers (754 pages) which features an Alice as one of the characters. This brings my total up to 85 points.

Tasks Completed:
5.8 Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
15.2 Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Eldest by Christopher Paolini
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: 4
Total Points: 85
Total Books Read: 7

15.8 Holiday = MLK / Civil Rights Day - At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-68
Film: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: A Perspective

Big Book = 1056 pages

*** STATS ***
Tasks completed = 58
Books read = 82 {Fiction = 60, Non-Fiction = 22; en Espanol = 2}
5* 18, 4* 24, 3* 31, 2* 4, 1* 5
Pages read = 26,515 {Fiction = 17,761, Non-Fiction = 8,754}
Big Books = 5
GR Authors = 4
Points = 1100

Finished!!! ... well, completed all the tasks once, but I will still feel I'm involved in this challenge for a while because there's over dozen books that I'm finally starting to get from the library reserve queues that I wanted to read for some of these tasks.

Congratulations, Pjreads.
I know what you mean--I'm waiting on a library book so I can finish (plus I have to cook something for someone; I've got the recipe ready, just not the occasion yet). But I've got books left over, plus all the books that didn't quite fit in.
UPDATE: Just back from library, my book and the back-up choice were both in, so I can read tonight.

30.9-Newbery Award

a. Winner of 2005 award was "Kira Kira" by Cynthia Kadohata
b. Honor book of 2005 was "Lizzie Bright and The Buckminster Boy by Gary D Schmidt.

I much preferred the honor book, instead of the winner. Both were good stories, but Lizzie Bright had more depth in the characters and a more captivating story.

I completed Task 25.5 (Odd Man Out) by reading Beowulf on the Beach: What to Love and What to Skip in Literature's 50 Greatest Hits.
It hasn't been given 5* by any of the previous Challenge winners, the author doesn't share my Chinese zodiac sign (Year of the Dog), nor does it fit any of the other 5-, 10- and 15-point tasks. So, I'm pretty sure this book passes muster. If not, let me know.

I've posted a Review under the Review Section.

30.9. BRIDGIT'S TASK - THE WORLD OF BOOKS
A. Bobbie Faye's Very Very Bad Day***: had a map in the front of the book

AND

The City of Dreaming Books***: Had a variety of black and white drawing of symbols and other creatures that were described in the fantasy world he was trying to bring to life.

30.10. EMILY'S TASK - DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER...UNLESS IT'S REALLY WELL DESIGNED

A. The Bird Room [image error] *** The cover grabbed me as I scrolled through the list of Giveaways. I was lucky enough to win it. It ended up to be a pretty interesting read.
GOODREADS AUTHOR
AND
B. Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History****
This was my first graphic novel and I really enjoyed the story of the of the son and his father as well as learning more about the Holocaust through a survivor's eyes.

Total Points: 335

35.4 - ROSEANN'S TASK - READ ABOUT YOUR RESOLUTION

My resolution to feel and look healthy by changing my diet and losing fat and gaining muscle.

I read Fat Chance by Deborah Blumenthal. 2 stars, I didn't really care for most of the characters.

and

The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide by Elisabeth Hasselbeck. 3 stars

35 points!

Total Points: 405
Total Books Read: 29
Total Pages Read: 8,579
Tasks in Process: 2 (25.3; 35.3)

congrats, pj! and go donnajo! :)

finished task 5.2 by reading . oh golly, he cracks me up. i've read it before, but it was fun to re-read it! :)




Total Points: 700/1100
Books Read: 41/81
Tasks Completed: 28/58
Tasks in Progress: 2

At last I finished task 30.5 - I read "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" which was published after the author's death and gives me another chance to say "I like big books and I can not lie!" as it was 784 pages. Also, I read "The late, lamented Molly Marx."

total points: 470/1100
task completed 24
total pages: 8444

10.7 SMALL SCREEN STORIES The Awakening. Vampire Diaries is my current favorite TV series.

30.4 October Mourning
James Rada, Jr.

15.7 Food + Family and/or Friends = Reading Fun

Martha Stewart's Cupcakes: 175 Inspired Ideas for Everyone's Favorite Treats by Martha Stewart

Made Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Frosting (page #22) for the children.

Total points: 590

25.3 SARA NICOLE'S TASK - A GAME OF CLUE
A. Suspects - Read A Book With A Cover That Very Predominantly Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Purple, Or White. The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman
B. Weapons - Read A Book With The Name Of A Weapon In The Title - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
C. Rooms - Both books came from my personal library

I also get another ticket for "I like big books and I cannot lie" (Goblet of Fire was 752 pp)

Total Points: 530/1100
Tasks Completed: 30/58
Tasks in Progress: 4

One more down...

Task 15.5 - Around the World (S&F):
From Frezanda of Singapore: What Happens in London by Julia Quinn (1/13/10) AND
From Hinerava of French Polynesia: No Time for Love by Nancy Campbell Allen (1/30/10)

CURRENT STATS
Tasks Completed: 19/58
Tasks Partially Complete: 7
Books Read: 31/81
Pages Read: 8747
Points Earned: 340/1100

5.9. ISN'T IT ROMANTIC - Read A Book With The Words: Love, Romance, Cupid, Sweetheart, Valentine, Heart, Kiss, Chocolate, Roses, Or Jewelry In The Title. (Alternate Forms Of These Words Are Acceptable I.E. Romantic Or Kissing Would Be Fine.)
Ex. Kiss the Girls Or Cupid and Diana a novel
Roads of the Heart by Christopher Tilghman
5 points
540total

25.2. GINA'S TASK - FEBRUARY IS INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP MONTH
. Read A Book About With Friend, Friends Or Friendship In The Title OR
. Read A Book Where Friendship Is A Main Theme AND
. When You Post Please Tell Us What Friendship Means To You.
Faith, Hope and Ivy June by Gloria Naylor
I loved this book about an exchange program between a girl from Lexington Kentucky and one from the mine regions and their preconceived prejudices.
To me friendship is all about family. I am totally involved in my family life.
25 points
565 total

25.8 Michelle US' Task - I read: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon/Fire by Kristin Cashore

35.1 Fun with Dewey Decimals
This one was fun. It's fun to browse the library like this. I randomly picked one of my 5 star books - The Never Ending Story which has 396 pages in it.
398 is Folklore, so I did From the Brother's Grimm by Tom Davenport and Gary Carden. They took a bunch of fairy tales and rewrote them to take place during the Depression-ish era. Kind of fun
+250= 648: housekeeping. lol. I got a Real Simple compilation book about how to clean all the rooms in your house. It's just called Real Simple Cleaning. It got kind of repetitive. But I did learn a few tricks that I think I'll use.

185 points total

Finished a task and forgot to update my list:

10.7 SMALL SCREEN STORIES Fav. TV show:
Castle – Heat Wave – Richard Castle (198) – 1-18-2010

I love the TV show and the book was good, but could have been longer for me. Fun to see how the characters tied into the show.

That takes my totals to:

Completed Tasks: 5
Total Points: 75
Books read: 8
Pages Read 4,355

Just finished 30.2 Sci-Fi Past and Present. For part A I read the first ever Hugo winner Frank Herbert's Dune and for part B I read World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. These books have a really fascinating dichotomy. They are both wonderful books that are great in the way that they address their audience very specifically. For Dune, and the audience of the 60s, a generation that was experiencing the excitement of the first trip to the Moon and the opening up of the universe. Herbert set his story on a distant and unrecognisable planet, but with recognisable themes of war and peace, good and evil, and characters walking those lines.
World War Z on the other hand addresses a generation that has been constantly ravaged in the past decade with constant fear from their home planet, and not just that but from their own bodies. SARS, Avian flu, H1N1, AIDS....Zombie virus? It is implausible, but sometimes the diseases we face seem that way as well. While set here on Earth it also deals with characters who had to face unlikely situations and live to tell their tale.
All in all both books I would really recommend. Dune is a classic that everyone should give a read, whether they're a sci-fi fan or not. While zombies aren't everyone's cup of tea, World War Z was nothing like I expected, much smarter, and more interesting.

I have completed Diane's task Posthumously Speaking (#30.5) by reading the following:

Epitaph of a Small Winner: A Novel by Machado de Assis (3*)
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson (5*)

I have just finished The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite by Beatrice Colin for the 5 point alliteration task. Beatrice Colin is also a Goodreads Author. It was a brilliant book and would recommend it!

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
5.5 A Librarians Job is Never Done - Mr Dixon Disappears by Ian Sansom
5.7 Eyeing the Year of the Tiger - Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
5.8 Baby It's Cold Outside - Chords and Discords by Roz Southey
5.9 Isn't it Romantic - Flights of Love by Bernhard Shlink

10.1 Under the Big Top - Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen
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

25.1 1001 Books - What a Carve up by Jonathan Coe and Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan
25.5 Odd Task Out - American Tabloid by James Ellroy
25.6 Island Dreams - The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
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
25.10 Don't Judge a Book by a Cover - The Househunter by Henry Sutton and Gear by Doug Tennapel

30.1 Celebrate the End of the Decade - The Girl who Played with Fire by Steig Larrson and Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
30.7 Multitasking - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carrol

35.2 Going on a Winter Vacation - The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher and Sixty Lights by Gail Jones



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Completed task 25.3 A Game of Clue

Walking With Ghosts by John Baker

The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier

Walking with Ghosts is an ex-library book that has been in my personal library since 2006.

30.1. BONNIE'S TASK - CELEBRATE THE END OF THE DECADE (2000-9)!
A. Read One Book That Was Published In The Past Decade.
AND
One Book That Was Made Into A Movie In The Past Decade.
A. Percy Jackson and the Olympians The Sea of Monsters Rick Riordan 1-31-10 (c) 2006 279 Pages
B. Percy Jackson and the Olympians The Lightening Thief Rick Riordan 1-29-10 this movie gets released Feb. 12 375 Pages

Total Points: 120
Total Pages Read: 3244
Total Books Read: 10
Number of Challenges Completed: 8

Finished:

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).

I am a big fan of Arrested Development.

Read: I Drink for a Reason by David Cross

Cross plays Tobias on the show.

New Point Total: 170
Tasks Completed: 8
Books Read: 11
Audio Books: 1
Pages Read: 3517

15 point task: 3A,3B

3A:Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella. Chicklit totally fits this category :)

3B:I read My Life in France by Julia Child. It's pretty much about how she started with cooking and wrote the amazing cook book and how she got into The French Cook. Very interesting book.

total books:5
total tasks:3
total points:40

Finished Task 10.4 - Winner's Choice. I read Catching Fire, which is one of Lisa MD's 5 point books!

Total points: 65/1100
Books: 5/78
Tasks: 4/58

Erin B.

25.8 Part A) Unnecessarily long title: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch and for Part B) Very short title: Dragonsdawn.

Total: 55 points.

Finished:

30.1 BONNIE'S TASK - CELEBRATE THE END OF THE DECADE
A. Read One Book That Was Published In The Past Decade.
AND
B. One Book That Was Made Into A Movie In The Past Decade.

Read:
A. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (published 2005)
AND
B. I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell By Tucker Max
(released in theaters on September 25 2009)

New Point Total: 200
Tasks Completed: 9
Books Read: 13
Audio Books: 1
Pages Read: 4180




I also forgot to mention that Gabrielle Zevin is a Goodreads Author for a previous task.

Finished:

7. JAN THE GRYPHON’S TASK - MULTI-TASKING
Read A Book That Will Fit Two Or More Other Tasks In The Winter 2009-2010 Challenge.

Read: Replay by Ken Grimwood

Fits

15.9 OUT WITH THE OLD & IN WITH THE NEW BOOKS
B. Read A Book Written By An Author You Have Never Read Before.

25.8 MICHELLE US' TASK - JANUARY 30TH IS INANE ANSWERING MACHINE DAY
B. Read A Book With A Very Short Title (1 Word).

30.2 HELEN'S TASK - SCIENCE FICTION - PAST AND PRESENT
B. Present: Choose A Sci-Fi Novel Published During The Current Century.

New Point Total: 230
Tasks Completed: 10
Books Read: 14
Audio Books: 1
Pages Read: 4500

#5.6 It's a Dirty Job: The heroine in this book is a barmaid who must wear 'stilettoes' on the job; I don't think I could handle the job or the required uniform:
Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris Jan 9

15.9 Out With the Old & In With the New:
A. Book on TBR shelf the longest: The Key by Lynsay Sands Jan 24 I don't know why I waited so long!
B. Book by Author I Never Read Before: The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie by Jennifer Ashley Jan 21 will definitely be reading more of her books!

25.4 Lisa MD: If I Could Turn Back Time: different time periods/settings
A. When the Laird Returns: Book Two of The Highland Lords by Karen Ranney Jan 29
This story takes place in Scotland in 1775, during the Highland Clearances, when people were removed from their lands (often by violence) to make way for sheep (there's also reference to British soldiers being deployed to the Americas to try to squelch the revolution brewing there)
B. Tempt Me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas Jan 23
This story takes place in 1852 in England - specifically London & the Hampshire countryside.

There's no contest here about which setting I would prefer - Scotland in the decades after Culloden would have been a miserable place.

25.5 Abigail: Odd Man Out: Book That Doesn't Fit Any 5/10/15 Point Task
Burning Wild by Christine Feehan Jan 25

25.6 Stephanie US: Island Dreams: Book Takes Place on an Island Country: Ireland
Born in Fire (Born In trilogy #1) by Nora Roberts Jan 28

30.4 Sandra: World AIDS Day: Book About an Epidemic
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis Jan 30

There are two epidemics in this book: The Black Plague in 1348 and an influenza pandemic in 2048. The tie-in is a history student who time-travels back to 1320 (she thinks) to experience medieval life firsthand, but influenza has already struck the lab, and errors send her right into the path of the plague. This book won both the Hugo & the Nebula Awards, deservedly so in my opinion.

Total Pages = 17,099

Total Points = 760

Also wish to claim 2 tickets:
one for reading a 500+ page book: The Doomsday Book is 592 pp. (in #30.4 above)
one for a GoodReads Author: Jennifer Ashley (in #15.9 above)

Finished
15.7 FOOD + FAMILY
The Italian Baker by Carol Field. I made 2 batches of Pane alla Cioccolata (Chocolate Bread) shaped into small loaves, of which I sold some, gave some to neighbors and made bread pudding with some. I love the breads in this book, even if some are a little labor-intensive.

20.1 CIVIL RIGHTS
Lift Every Voice: The NAACP and the Making of the Civil Rights Movement by Patricia Sullivan. The first half of this covered the time period before the 1960s, but really gave a good look at what led up to that time.

And I am FINISHED!!

30.7 - JAN THE GRYPHON’S TASK - MULTI-TASKING

A Child's Wound by Dwayne Kavanagh

Qualifies for both:
5.7 - Eye of the Tiger - my birthday falls in the Year of the Rat (84); so does the author's: (73)

10.8 - Oh Canada - The author is from Etobicoke, Canada



Pages read: 1256
Books read: 4
Tasks completed: 4
Total Points: 85/1100

5.2 SHE WAS A GRAND OLD FLAG MAKER - Read A Book That Has A Red, White, And Blue Cover

The Jaguar Smile: A Nicaraguan Journey by Salman Rushdie

Total Points: 535/1100
Tasks Completed: 31/58
Tasks in Progress: 5

I finished a couple more tasks.
30-7. JAN THE GRYPHON’S TASK - MULTI-TASKING
Storm Track fits 15.3, 15.9B, and 25.9B (family tree)

35-2. DONNA JO'S TASK - GOING ON A WINTER VACATION
I picked Tropical Island and read:
Tropical Heat and The Other Side of the Island

Total tasks: 7
Total points: 160

5 point tasks:
4. Olive Kitteridge A Novel in Stories by Elizabeth Strout (A Winning Decade - 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)
7. EYING THE YEAR OF THE TIGER - The Call of the Wild by Jack London (Year of the Rat)

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)
7. JAN THE GRYPHON’S TASK - MULTI-TASKING - The Unheard A Memoir of Deafness and Africa by Josh Swiller (15.9 - longest on TBR list; 10.2 - main character is deaf)

Total Points = 70
Tasks Completed = 4
Total Books = 5

Congratulations, Donna Jo! The Pane alla Cioccolata sounds wonderful.

YAY another one done...finally!!

10.7 Favorite TV show.

read flashforward by robert sawyer

task points: 10

total points: 20

pages read: 306
Tasks in progress: 6

10.5 My birthday was in February - One of the popular books from that month was Dream Warrior by Sherrilyn Kenyon

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

I read The Hour I First Believed: A Novel by Wally Lamb. Sadly I can only give this book 2 stars. I really wanted to love it, but I couldn't even get to like with it. It took me almost 2 months to read it. I really like Wally Lamb's other books so that's why I'm depressed this one didn't work for me. I found it dull and a bit absurd.

35 points!

Total Points: 440
Total Books Read: 30
Total Pages Read: 9,302
Tasks in Process: 1 (25.3)

I finished task 30.7 (Jan the Gryphon's task) by reading Outlander. This book would also fit into the first part of 15.3 (woman protagonist and author) and 15.9 (by an author I've never read before).

That should bring me up to 170 points. Since the book was 800+ pages, I should get a ticket for that as well.

Recently completed tasks:
25.4: The Lace Dowry – Andrea Cheng 12/21 (Set in 1933, Hungary) AND Marriage Most Scandalous – Johanna Lindsey 01/13 (Set in 1808, England) Not sure which time period I would enjoy better but the early 1800s does sound appealing if I could afford to have help around the house.

5.10: The Husband Habit - Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez 01/22 **Goodreads Author**

15.1: Island of the Sequined Love Nun – Christopher Moore 01/17 Watched Witches of Eastwick

15.7: Plum Pudding Murder – Joanne Fluke 01/28 Made Holly Jolly Coffee and Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies for a little after holiday gathering.

25.10: Loving Frank – Nancy Horan 01/29 AND The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – Alan Moore 12/23

New Points: 85
Previous Points: 240
Total Points: 325


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Finished task 15.9 Out with the Old, In with the New.
I read Executive Power which has been on my TBR forever and The Chatham School Affair. I've never read Thomas Cook before but will read him again. Congrats to all the finishers so far!