The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

For task 25.5

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

This book didn't fit any task for me but if I was going to make one up it would be "I want to see the movie but have to read the book first" task or maybe the "I was was having Harry Potter withdrawl" task.

It was a good story, but there were a lot of similarities to Harry.

Completed 10.6 by reading The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger from pjreads list of 5* books. I gave this book 4*s, interesting love story, but kind of slow, it took me a while to get through it.

Total - 205

Oops, I forgot to mention... Audrey Niffenegger is a Goodreads Author & this book is 500+ pages!!! Yippee, that gets me in a few drawings!

for 25.10, I read the following :
- Cover : Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth by Xiaolu Guo : the cover is here, I was drawn to it because of the cherry trees branches & flowers, and because I like images that combine photography and drawings
- Graphic novel : Comme un lundi by James


Books read: 9
Challenges accomplished: 6
Points : 110

5.4 A Winning Decade - I read Olive Kitteridge: A Novel in Stories which won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize. The stories were interesting and Olive was quite a character!

Total points: 120
Books: 9
Tasks Completed: 7

20.3 - I read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass and didn't like it very much. Post number 66 in group discussion.

5.3 ROYAL READING - In Honor Of Elizabeth Of York (Born February 11, 1466 – Died February 11, 1503) Wife, Mother, And Grandmother To Members Of One Of The Most Famous Monarchies In History (The Tudors) …
A. Read A Novel Featuring A Monarch As A Main Character (Ex. The Monsters of St. Helena About Napoleon Bonaparte) OR
B. A Non-Fiction Book About A Monarch(s).(Ex. Suleiman the Magnificent About The Longest-Reigning Sultan Of The Ottoman Empire.)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mon...)
The Murder of King Tut by Patterson (NON-fiction)
5 points
850 total

5.2 A job I would never do. I read The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin. I could never be a nanny for a wealthy family like that. I am too opinionated. :D

225 points.

Finished 15.1 - The Bro Code from How I Met Your Mother and watched Little Miss Sunshine.

Both were just Meh. I love the show, but the book didnt really add much to it. Just a way to take my money...

Total Points: 200

Completed 30.7 Multi Tasking
I read the Giver which will fit the task for the Newberry winner as well as Old/New for an author I never read.

points 30

Total Points 85

I just finished task 15.5. I read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from the shelf of Eric in Andorra and The Stranger from the shelf of Mohammed in Yemen.

Point Total: 175
Page Total: 5902
Book Total: 18

10.8 OH CANADA! - Surfacing by Margaret Atwood. Book takes place in Canada and is also written by a Canadian author.

Total Points: 750/1100
Tasks Completed: 44/58
Tasks in Progress: 3

10.9. REMEMBERING PEARL HARBOR - In Honor Of Pearl Harbor Day (December 7th) Read A Book Written By An Author Who Was Born In Hawaii, A Book Set In Hawaii, Or A Non-Fiction Book About Hawaii.
Taka by Fritts
10 points
860 total

25.6 STEPHANIE US' TASK - ISLAND DREAMS –
The Third Circle by Amanda Quick.

I'm slowly making my way through this series in audiobook form. I enjoy listening to them and this one was no exception. The characters were interesting, and explained a few things about the modern day Arcane Society characters already introduced.

As a side note, I listen to the books while I'm working on things that require some concentration, but not a lot. My boss has learned that he has to get my attention when I have my earphones in and he's always asking me what I'm listening to. He finds it fascinating that I can work and listen to a book at the same time. Not sure why, he listens to music and codes, why can't I listen to a book?

Ok...that takes me to the following totals:

Completed Tasks: 7
Total Points: 135
Books read: 12
Pages Read 5,830

Completed:

5.9 Romance - Very Valentine by Adrianna Trigianni

10.10 From Russia With Love - A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov

15.9 Out with the Old/In with the New
A. Longest on TBR - I Was a Teen-Age Dwarf by Max Shulman
B. New Author to Me - Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Very Valentine - Very good. Great start for another Trigianni series. 4 stars

A Hero of Our Time - The author who inspired Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. Typical Russian - deep, dark, melancholy, cynical. Not my cup of tea. His life was more interesting than his one and only novel. He died in a duel in his late 20's. 2 stars

I Was a Teenage Dwarf - Was on my mom's bookshelf from early 1960's. I inherited 10 years ago. Interesting for those of us who remember Dobie Gillis. Still kind of silly. 2 stars Glad I got it off the shelf.

Gilead - May have been a Pulitzer but I thought it was dull and ponderous. 3 stars

Points: 1025
Tasks: 54
Books: 79
Pages: 19331

A couple more completed.

10.5 Popularity Contest - September - The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
and
25.2 Gina's Task - Friendship Month - Pretties by Scott Westerfeld - This book is driven largely by the friendships of Tally the main character. It deals with the issues that many teens find in High School, when they realize that time, experiences, and selfish motives begin to change older friendships and forge new ones.

For me friendship has always been quality over quantity. Recently having had most of my friends move away to begin new chapters in their lives and careers, I've learned the truest will always remain in touch, and a few have in some ways become closer in their physical absence. I'm grateful to have forged these few strong relationships, more alike to family.


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Completed Tasks:

20.2 Civil Rights
*We Are All Welcome Here**** by Elizabeth Berg - READ 2.9.10
A marvelous coming of age story, where a fourteen year old girl learns about the limitations people face through disability, poverty, civil rights and the mind.

30.10 Color By Numbers
A. Number Title - *Nine Dragons***** by Michael Connelly - READ 2.6.10
I love the Harry Bosch series!
B. Color Title - *Blue-Eyed Devil**** by Lisa Kleypas - READ 2.8.10
It's been a long time since a read a romance novel, but this one proved every girl needs to dream about a tall, blue-eyed Texan once in awhile.




Tasks Completed: 29/58
Points Completed: 595/1100
Books Read: 40
*Books Read From My Personal Library: 25

10.5 Popularity contest. From the April list I read The Forgotten Garden

10.7 One of the few shows I watch on television is Doctor Who so I read Doctor Who: Winner Takes All

I've just finished 50.1 I read Silverfin by Charlie Higson and The History of Ice Hockey by Greg Proops.

Two more tasks down...

10.4 WINNERS CHOICE
A. Read A 5-Star Book From One Of The Winners Of The Fall Challenge (If You Are A Winner You Can't Use Your Own List)
For this task I chose Twilight Fall by Lynn Viehl which was a 5 star read from BJ Rose's shelves, great story!

10.8 OH CANADA! - To Commemorate The Upcoming Winter Olympics That Will Be Held In Vancouver, Canada - Read A Novel Written By A Canadian Author, Set In Canada, Or A Non-Fiction Book About Canada.
For this task I read The Maltese Goddess: an Archaeological Mystery by Lyn Hamilton a Canadian author.

Total Points: 695/1100
Books Read: 49
Tasks Completed: 36/58

25.3 A Mercy
Toni Morrison

and

The Guns of Heaven
Pete Hamill

Finished 30.3 Snowed in
Read
On Green Dolphin Street Sebastian Faulks (368p)
Post-birthday World Lionel Shriver (477p)

Nr of points 385
Nr of books 21
Nr of tasks 14

15-3 is done now, yay! I feel like I am back on track.

I read The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell for the first part of the task and;

The Empress Joesephine by Louise Muhlbach for the second part of the task.

I really enjoyed each book!

765 points

I finished another one! Read Dark Lover by J.R. Ward for 5.9. Brings me up to 110!

Tasks Completed:
5.8 Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
5.9 Dark Lover by J.R. Ward
15.2 Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Eldest by Christopher Paolini
20.3 The Princess Bride by William Goldman
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: 6
Total Points: 110
Total Books Read: 9

20.2 Cheryl ME: Civil Rights: The Help by Kathryn Stockett Feb 8 - a strong 5*
Set in Mississippi in the early 1960s, and told in the voices of two black maids and one young white woman, this book shows how things can begin changing just by not accepting the way things are. Sometimes all that is needed is someone to be brave enough to say, 'this is wrong', and to do something, as Rosa Parks did when she refused to go to the back of the bus, and as these women did when they told their stories.

30.3 BJRose: Snowed In and Loving It - read 825 pages or more, any genre
Blaze of Memory by Nalini Singh Dec 2 (373 pp)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Feb 4 (374 pp)
The Irresistible MacRae: Book Three of The Highland Lords by Karen Ranney Feb 10 (374 pp)

30.8 Kari: Exploring with Lewis and Clark:
A. Book About Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark or Sacajawea:
Lewis and Clark Through Indian Eyes: Nine Indian Writers on the Legacy of the Expedition by Alvin Josephy is about all four. It shows how invaluable Sacajawea was to the success of the expedition. There's a beautifully-told eye-witness account of the death of Sacajawea at age 82 in 1869. The authors use the journals of both Lewis and Clark, and the oral history of the Indian tribes, and how the two perspectives were often at odds with each other. One example: the oral history of the Umatilla/WallaWalla Indians tell how the explorers were poor housekeepers and existed precariously in the region; Lewis & Clark described the Indians as "the most hospitable, honest, sincere people we have met in our voyage."
B. Book about The Western Expansion/Pioneers: Dark Stranger by Heather Graham Feb 7
This book takes place near the Kansas/Missouri border and focuses on the years 1862-65. Kansas was a free state, Missouri a slave state (although it did not secede). Cross-border raids were furious and bloody: Pro-Union Jayhawkers conducted raids into Missouri; Pro-Confederate (pro-slavery) Bushwhackers raided in Kansas. Although begun in retaliation for a raid into Missouri, the Kansas raids were bloodier and more frequent (thanks to Quantrill's Raiders), so this became known as the "Bleeding Kansas" era. In addition, Union troops and Confederate troops passed through occasionally, appropriating stock & foodstuffs. I grew up on a farm, and I think I could have enjoyed being a pioneer in this area - but definitely not in this specific time period!

Total Pages = 20,582

Total Points = 925

Kathryn Stockett is a Goodreads author

4. LISA MD'S TASK - IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME
Read (2) Historical Books, Fiction Or Non-Fiction, From Different Time Periods Or Settings, Then Briefly Tell Which Time Period You Would Have Preferred To Live In. (For Purposes Of This Task, I Will Define A Historical Novel As Anything Taking Place Up To And Including WWII.)


The Green Mill Murder - Kerry Greenwood 1928 Australia

Ten Days in the Mad-House - Nelly Bly 1887 NY

Of the two I would rather live in 1928 - women has a little more freedom. But nonetheless the conditions (esp for the lower classes) were still not great.

25 points

snowed in and reading - two more tasks completed
30.7 Multi-tasking The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley.
Fits into 10.8 Oh Canada - a Canadian author, 20.6 Island Dreams - takes place in UK, 25.8 Title more than seven words, 30.10 color by numbers - green cover which also fits into 25.3 Game of clue with green cover.
Also completed25.8 Michelle US'Task
A. Long Title - It's Not that I'm Bitter....or How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Visible Panty Lines and Conquered the World by Gina Barreca
B. one word title: Zeitoun by Dave Eggers (5*) Great Read, highly recommend this book.
Tasks Completed: 14
Books Read: 20
Pages Read: 6,245
TOTAL POINTS: 290

Today I finished up task 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
B. One Book That Was Made Into A Movie In The Past Decade.

For this task I read Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris for part one, and for part two, I read Eragon .... which contrary to some of the one star reviews I really enjoyed =)

This brings my totals to:

30 new points
265 total points
17 books read

30.3. BJ ROSE'S TASK - SNOWED IN AND LOVING IT
The Lost by J.D. Robb 373
Evidence by Jonathan Kellerman 368
Killer Weekend by Killer Weekend 384 total of 1025 pages.
Books Read: 47
Pages Read: 15885
Tasks Completed: 35
Tasks in Progress: 3

Just finished 30.3 - Sci Fi

Dune - Frank Herbert (a Hugo AND Nebula award winner)

and

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

While both would be considered sci-fi, I think they are at the extremes of the category. Dune is the most quintessential sci-fi book of all time, where Hunger Games really skirts the line and could easily be classified in numerous other categories. Both were very different to read, with Dune being part of a completely made up world, with nothing to grasp as familiar - an alien planet, mysticism, air craft carrier sized killer desert monsters, lack of technology and Hunger Games, aside from being YA, really relied on the familiar. Everything took place on Earth, in America, just with a different governing system. Technology was a key part of this world.

I think Dune was definitley the purer sci-fi book, and I really enjoyed it - but it wasnt as much of a page turner as Hunger Games. I disappoint myself that I give Dune 4.5 stars and Hunger Games 5 becuase Dune is without question the better book, with better characters, a more developed world and a deeper narrative, BUT reading Hunger Games was a more enjoyable experience. Probably becuase I didnt have to work so hard.

Not sure if that counts as a comparison between the books or just a review, but its what i got!

Also read The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac, which among other more existential things is about the friendahip between the main character Ray Smith and Japhy Ryder his buddhist monk buddy/mentor who shows him how to be a true "Dharma Bum" by living with out money and hiking and finding the natural beauty of things.

I think there are lots of different kinds of friendships, but the ones i value most are the kinds where when you see someone for the first time after not talking to them for a while, you can just jump right back into things like you were never apart. Many of my closest friends and I are like this - we won't see each other or talk to each other for months at a time, but when we do, its like we are still in high school.

Total Points: 255

15.6 - THE SEASON OF GIFTING & GIVING

I read Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron. 2 stars, way too much information about the town. I was bored at times while reading this. Loved Dewey though!

Best gift I was ever given was my cat Stanley. I was totally shocked when my husband got him for me while I was away, but it was the best welcome present ever. Dewey's attitude reminds me a lot of Stanley.

I donated some clothes to Goodwill and donated money to Breast Cancer.

15 points! And I've finally met my goal which was to read at least 10,000 pages!

Total Points: 460
Total Books Read: 32
Total Pages Read: 10,242
Tasks in Process: 2 (25.3, 30.6)

6. LOCAL LITERATURE LOVERS - Start By Going To http://www.goodreads.com/user/near_me
A. If You Live In The US - Select Within 5 Miles & Type In Your Zip Code - Then Select One Of The People Found On That Page (Not Yourself) And Read One Of Their 5-Star Books.
The Condition by Jennifer Haigh-2/10
Person:Faye

New Total: 340

25. 7. SAM'S TASK - THE LOST GENERATIONS
A. Read A Novel Or Collection Of Short Stories/Plays By One Of The Following Authors Who Are Often Called Part Of The Post-WWI "Lost Generation": F. Scott Fizgerald, Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, Gertrude Stein, Zelda Fitzgerald, Sherwood Anderson, John Steinbeck, Or William Faulkner.
Ernest Hemingway Farewell to Arms
B. To Celebrate The Final Season Of Lost, Read A Book Featured On The Show Over The Years: Lost Literature (Note: If A Series Is Mentioned, Any Book From That Series Is Acceptable. For The Bible, Read The Old Or New Testament.)
Gilgamesh by Stephen Mitchell
25 points
885 total

25.2 (Friendship)

The Book of Bright Ideas by Sandra Kring(4 stars)

This was my second unexpected gem during the winter challenge. Surprisingly, they were both set in Wisconsin and authored by people from the area.

This lovely book about friendship, in all its forms, from the long-term and stable to the quick and powerful, possessed well developed characters and wonderful imagery. I felt like I was there. In fact, Kring's writing style reminded me a bit of "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn", which is one of my favorites.

Throughout my life, I have learned that friends are a gift from the universe. They are sent, with their various personalities and talents, just when you need them the most. For example, they may teach you to be more outspoken or how to start your own business, just when you were thinking you would like to be/do one of these things. Whether, the friendship last a life-time or for a summer, friends serve as inspiration.

P.S. Thanks Cynthia for noticing my 25 point tasks, when I was only counting them as 20. I didn't notice the split until now.

+25
points: 195
books: 14
tasks: 13

finished task 15.4 by reading In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex and playing hearts for far more than an hour!!! wow, what a fascinating story! i thought i might be bored with it, since i'm not into whaling or sailing, but i couldn't put it down!




Total Points: 815/1100
Books Read: 49/81
Tasks Completed: 34/58
Tasks in Progress: 2

25.4 Two Historical Novels
These Is My Words- Nancy E. Turner
This book took place in late 19th century in the American West. I definitely would not enjoy being a pioneer. My idea of 'roughing it' is the Days Inn.

Alice I Have Been- Melanie Benjamin
This book took place in Victorian England, Oxford to be exact. I love the architecture in Oxford. I would have enjoyed being a privileged member of this society. Having tutors in all subjects, and wearing fancy gowns would be great until the corset was too tight!

New Total: 265

35.2 GOING ON A WINTER VACATION - Northern Lights:

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell was a absorbing book set during England's industrial revolution, it reads like a slightly grittier and more sermonizing Austen novel.

Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light: A Novel by Ivan Klíma was set during the Czech Velvet Revolution and wove the story of the protagonists present, his past, was well as his life-based unwritten screenplay to portray the complexities of the Soviet regime and it's collapse into new uncertain freedoms.

Pages read: 7148
Books read: 23+
Tasks completed: 18
Total Points: 480
Liz (Bklyn)

10.6 LOCAL LITERATURE LOVERS - Select Within 5 Miles & Type In Your Zip Code - Then Select One Of The People Found On That Page (Not Yourself) And Read One Of Their 5-Star Books - The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom from Debbie's bookshelf.

Total Points: 760/1100
Tasks Completed: 45/58
Tasks in Progress: 3

Completed Task 30.2 (SciFi Past & Present) by reading Ender's Game, which won both the Hugo and the Nebula Awards, and The Hunger Games, which was published in this decade.

I guess I'm in a minority with my thoughts on The Hunger Games. I wasn't "wow-ed" at all and found it slow at times. Catniss draws things out a lot in her explanations and it becomes very repetitive. I didn't connect with the characters very much, although I did like Ru a lot.
In the end, though, I'm interested enough to probably continue with the series.

I thoroughly enjoyed Ender's Game. It's characters and story are much more detailed and developed than The Hunger Games. I'll continue with this series.

The two SciFi generations are very distinct. Ender's Game deals with planetary war and colonization. It has in it a lot of the ideas about space and our part in it as we had in the '80s.
The Hunger Games takes place on Earth, in a time after a catastrophe of some sort. It's a more modern story of dog-eat-dog, winner-take-all.

Completed task 5.2

Star People by Paul Burston

30.9

1) The Graveyard Book The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
2) The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom The Surrender Tree by Margarita Engle

Both books were reaaaally good but I preferred the second book. The poem related a part of history that I haven't really studied or paid attention to before. Highly recommend both though.

tasks: 5
books: 9
total points: 95

35.3 DLM ROSE'S TASK - IT'S ABOUT TIME
Read A Book With One Of These Words In The Title: Second(S), Minute(S), Hour(S), Day(S), Week(s), Month(S), Season(S), Year(S).
Year of Wonders by Brooks
35 points
920 total

10 POINT TASKS
1. UNDER THE BIG TOP - In Honor Of Charles Ringling (Born December 2, 1863 – Died December 3, 1926) One Of Seven Brothers Who Formed Ringling Brothers Circus - Read A Book About The Circus, Circus Performers, or Circus Animals.
Ex. Water for Elephants Or A Son of the Circus

Bread and Circuses - Kerry Greenwood

10 pts

finished 15.2 read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS LEWIS and Prince Caspianwhich takes place in a fictional world

points: 15

total points 100

doing much better this time than the fall challenge!!

Finished 30.3 - Snowed In Today;
1. Odd Thomas By Dean Koontz 419pp
2. Dragon Tears by Dean Kontz 412pp

Totals:
Points:420
Books:26
Tasks:17
Pages:8122

5.2 I read by DBC Pierre. I loved it.

Finished 15.4
Read Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
Played a round of golf on Tuesday 9th February

Nr of points 400
Nr of books 22
Nr of tasks 15

I can now claim another task:

10.3. RENAISSANCE READING -Read A Novel That Was Written By An African American That Also Has An African American Protagonist.
Blacker the Berry. . . by Wallace Thurman (Paperback, 224 pages) The author, Wallace Henry Thurman (1902–1934) was an African-American novelist and a part of the Harlem Renaissance. Blacker the Berry. . . was the first novel to openly explore prejudice within the Black community.

This edition includes a new introduction by Shirlee Taylor Haizlip, author of The Sweeter the Juice: A Family Memoir in Black and White .

535 + 10 = 545





Tasks Completed: 28
Points for this task: 10
Points thus far: 545/1100
Books read: 38
Pages Read: 11,798

I have also read 1 of 2 books required for each of the following tasks:
15.9, 25.3, 25.4, 30.1, 35.4, 50.
And, I'm on page 585 of The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Richard Pevear (Translator), Larissa Volokhonsky (Translator) (Paperback 776 pages) If I finish, The Brothers Karamazov can be used for 10.4,10.5,15.5(D:Denmark),15.9A,25.1,25.4,25.7B,25.9B,or the Multi-tasking one, 30.7
Now it is just a matter of how much I can read over the next 2 weeks.

Finished 15.5:

My initials are KC, so...

Korea: Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
Canada: The Likeness by Tana French

Total Points: 325

a couple more...

5.2 She Was a Grand Old Flag Maker: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. Just finished this book this morning and it left me completely shaken. I certainly don't recommend anyone pick it up thinking it will be a quick, harmless thing.

25.7 Lost Generations:
This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Interesting from a social commentary perspective, but a little too intellectual/elitist for me.

The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis, from the Chronicles of Narnia. So happy I managed to fit all of these into the challenge (except The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe which I had read before). This was much different than I expected, but almost fully satisfying.

945 total... getting closer...