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Melissa's Book Challenge 09/08-09/09
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I actually finished I Was Told There'd Be Cake yesterday, so I'm adding another book to September.I also joined a book challenge, so my plans for up through November have changed a bit.
Books to read between Sept. 1 and Nov. 1:
Gifted Hands
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Tales
Eclipse
The Book Thief
Take the Cannoli
Practical Magic (about 90 pages left to read)
So, my September goal should be easily reached, as I have finished both The Other Boleyn Girl and I Was Told There'd Be Cake.The Other Boleyn Girl was better than I was expecting it to be after I first started it (and I had high hopes for it anyway). I really enjoyed the history and how well Gregory developed the characters and portrayed how life as a courtier really was. I liked this book enough to add four more of her books to my to-reads shelf. She has many more books, but I don't want to make the assumption that all will be as good as this one.
I Was Told There'd Be Cake is a bit of a different story in terms of liking it. Kind of the same in the fact that, when I first started it, I wasn't sure whether I was going to like it. Crosley's essays are very scattered and sometimes hard to follow, in that she seems to go off on tangents that seem to have nothing to do with the overall subject of the essay. But, there were some true gems hidden in this book that made me laugh out loud, they were so funny to me. I don't know, though, that I would have been missing anything, had I never read it.
Currently reading: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. I should finish this over the weekend, if I don't get too busy.
I finished Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress yesterday. It was an interesting book. I don't know whether I had ever heard about the re-education of China's youth (I feel like I have, but who knows!), so it was interesting that this was the basis for the story. It was humorous, as the main characters were two teenagers who were sent to a remote mountain for their "re-education," and they were constantly getting themselves into interesting situations. The author has a great way of making the narrator seem to exaggerate the tales, just as a teenager would. About 3/4 of the way through the book, the writing style changed, and I'm not quite sure why and what purpose it served, so I was a bit thrown off -- could have done without that. Overall, a good book and a very easy read.Currently reading: Saving Faith. I should be able to finish that, maybe by this evening, if I get enough housework done. Then I'll aim to finish Practical Magic, then move on to New Moon.
I finished Saving Faith yesterday and passed the book on to my dad. It was pretty good. Since I work on Capitol Hill, I'm always interested in reading things about it, whether fiction or non-fiction. My actual review has a couple of comments on things that have changed since the book was written, but it was really fun reading about buildings I have worked in.I also read Elements of Style. As always, very informative and helpful. Everyone should read this book at least once.
I've put Practical Magic on the back burner again. I'd rather read a book from the beginning. So, I picked up New Moon last night. The only thing about these books is how over-the-top Bella's love is and how it is described. Honestly, though, if I think about it, Meyer describes it exactly how a teenager probably would. But, as I was reading the first couple chapters, I really did want to groan out loud.
I finished New Moon last night. This one took me a little longer, because I've started venturing out of the house during the day with the baby, and some parts of this book just bug the heck out of me.I gave this book three stars, because I did like it, and I'll admit that some parts of the book really sucked me in. Overall, I felt like it was whiny and Bella is completely psychotic. But, I think that Meyer did a great job really drawing the reader to Jacob's character -- I was glad to see more of him in this book.
I started Eclipse today. Am only a chapter in -- I should get off the computer and start reading!
I'm still on Eclipse. I'm a little over halfway done, but there's something that is keeping me from really making a lot of progress on it. This book seems to have a lot of filler, currently, and I'm totally not interested in some of this stuff, as it seems like a lot of Meyer's side story really has nothing to do with anything -- I could understand if the information became useful later in the book.I might have to set this aside. I am currently using it as my one word book title in the Fall Reading Challenge, but I recently added Dracula as a book I'm planning on reading in October, so I think I might use that instead. Thoughts?
Do it do it DO IT! Be a quitter! I just gave up on the Talisman (am replacing with House of Leaves on the Fall Challenge). Do it! These books are too long to take up your time. Read something else!
Okay, Julie, you twisted my arm. I'll be a quitter. Well, maybe not a quitter, but a put on holder. I'd love to find out what happens in the rest of the series, but I just don't know that I have the mental staying power, right now. Probably when I go back to commuting in January. Should be much easier!Hmm . . . now what to move on to?
I'm thinking I'll take a break from Challenge books and read Baby Laughs, then move back to the Challenge with The Book Thief.
More books to add to my list to read by next September:
Dracula
Don't Know Much About History
Curse of the Spellmans (should be buying this soon)
So, I finished reading Baby Laughs today. Considering that I started it yesterday afternoon, it was a very quick read. Fun -- I don't know that it was as funny as Belly Laughs, but Jenny McCarthy does have a way of making just about everything funny. I did laugh out loud a couple of times. I'm debating whether to give Life Laughs a try.Next up, probably The Book Thief.
I just finished reading Out of Sync by Lance Bass. Yes, I'll admit, I was a HUGE *NSYNC fan back in the day, so I was chomping at the bit to get this book, when it first came out. Don't know how long it's been, but I just now got around to getting it from the library and reading it. I finished it in just a few hours. Quick, easy read. It's not full of all the juicy gossip that most people would expect from the memoirs of music star. But, it was nice to get a back story of his life and how hard it was for him to hide his sexuality. Honestly, though, I feel like he was being a bit too diplomatic about everything -- like he was trying not to hurt people's feelings.I have finally gotten my copy of Love is a Mix Tape and plan on starting that today, too. It's about 200 pages, so I should be able to finish that this weekend -- then it's back to The Book Thief.
Yay for Mix Tape! Gee, I wonder what ever happened to that other copy???I can't seem to finish anything right now!!!
LOL, yeah, and who ever has two copies of a book? Whatevs! I finally got it! I've read the first mix tape -- this is going to be a bit of a sad story. I'll let you know if you should bother reading.
Okay, here is my October Goal:-
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-Dracula (TNBBC group read)
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Just finished Happiest Baby on the Block -- actually, I ended up just skimming through the last half of the book. He has some good info and theories -- I've just been doing them on my own, before I read this book.Had to mail out Esme Lennox -- I'll pick it up at the library in a couple weeks.
Just finished Curse of the Spellmans. I loved it. Now that I'm used to the way it is written, I was able to follow the story much better and enjoy it so much more. This one was much more humorous and, I feel, the story was a bit better. Can't wait to read Revenge of the Spellmans at some point.Now, I can concentrate on Dracula and Love is a Mix Tape.
Other books I recently received:
Cheaper by the Dozen
Like Water for Chocolate (I can't wait to read this one!!)
Okay, once again, I'm going to try to map out the books I'm reading.October:
-Dracula (will not finish)
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-4th of July
November:
-The Book Thief
-Legend of Sleepy Hollow
-Gifted Hands
December:
-Take the Cannoli
-The Book of Lost Things
-Cheaper by the Dozen
January:
-The Time Traveler's Wife
-Shoot the Moon
-Life of Pi
February:
-Prodigal Son
-City of Night
Okay, so, because I can't seem to read just one or two books at a time, I've started read Like Water for Chocolate. So far, it's very similar to the movie, from what I can remember, considering it was in another language. I think this is going to end up being a very quick and easy read.
You're funny. How many times do you change your prospectives???
You should know by now that they change a lot. Remember, right after I posted my new timeline, I realized I forgot Odd Thomas! But, look, all of the books I am reading now are slotted for October reads, so there! :-P
Tomorrow, am picking up The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, What's a Ghoul to Do?, Demon's Are a Ghoul's Best Friend, and The Boleyn Inheritance. Will find a way to incorporate those into my list -- I am happy to know that I can renew my library books on line -- PHEW!!!
Congrats on getting through Love is a Mix Tape. Don't be depressed! Here's how I'm doing it:
Devil and Miss Prym was 200 pages long.
Odd Thomas was my audiobook.
I still have Voyage Long and Strange unfinished
And I couldn't put down Spellman Files! (same with Curse of the Spellmans)
Besides, you use to read 2+ hours every day when you worked. And that's just the commute! Plus, if you're not reading it means you're doing something else productive, right?
Also finished The Frog Princess this morning! I'm getting myself back on track!This book was such a quick read. Had I not been so exhausted most of this weekend, I probably would have finished it on Saturday night. It was a cute retelling of the tale of The Frog Prince. The author, who is from MD, did a great job with keeping the pace going, creating likeable characters. Now, obviously, this is a fairytale, so I didn't have to worry about her writing being believeable. And, she did a wonderful job of foreshadowing and then tying everything together at the end. I definitely think I will be checking out some of her other books. This was a fun read, to break up some of the "harder" reads I've been on lately.
Just finished Love is a Mix Tape. This took a long while to read. It's interesting, as each chapter is introduced with the play list of a mix tape from Sheffield's life, then events that said mix tape reminds him of: college, good times with friends, meeting the woman who would be his wife, their brief time together, recovering from losing his wife, moving on. All in all, pretty good read.
Still avoiding Dracula, so I'm moving back to The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox. I'll be able to read the two at the same time, I'd think, without getting them confused.
I'm really enjoying The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, but I know Julie said that she didn't like the ending, so I'm interested to see what happens. This book is a little hard to keep track of sometimes, as it switches time and viewpoint. It also isn't broken up into chapters. I wonder if that's why I'm making it through this book so fast. I also looked back to my first post of how many books I want to read each month -- I'm blowing that amount out of the water!!
And, finally, I think I might be dropping Dracula from this month's reads. I'm just not missing reading this story now that I've taken a break. I'd love to finish it one day. But, I don't know that it will be this month.
Okay, finished Esme Lennox. BOO! The end bit the big one!
Okay, so here's my new challenge, not too try to plan too far ahead. Just plan one month and hopefully stick to some things. Since I find my reading time to be precious, I am refusing to waste time on books that I don't find all that interesting by 100 pages. And, I've joined so many groups that have readings/topics of the month, so I'm going to focus on those books each month, then maybe sprinkle a few random ones here and there.Books I would really like to finish by the end of October:
And here is November's tentative list:
Blindness (another group read)
Love Walked In (Fall Challenge read)
Other possible reads:
The Art of Racing in the Rain
The Dead Zone
A Dirty Job
Finished What's a Ghoul to Do?. I'll give it 4 stars. It was fun. Laurie does a pretty good job of building up the suspense when it was needed and I was praying that Chris would take a second nap this afternoon, so I could finish! I did get tired of the explaining every little thing (but, I guess that's needed in the first book of a series) and the language barrier jokes. I'm looking forward to seeing how Demons Are a Ghoul's Best Friend ends up!
Finished Like Water for Chocolate last night. Good book. I had seen the movie first, but ended up really enjoying the book as well. What a wonderful tale about forbidden love and emotions through cooking.
Just finished Demons Are a Ghoul's Best Friend. Man, this one was much better in my opinion than What's a Ghoul to Do?. This one creeped me out a lot more than the other. I felt the mystery was a little more developed than the first book in the series. Laurie redeemed herself by not really repeating a lot of the situations that occurred in the first book. That's one thing I can't stand about series books -- I don't need you to reintroduce a character in every book in the series or relive all of the events that just happened in the last book. She also calmed down a lot with the language barrier jokes with Steven. They were there, but there wasn't one on every single page.
I finished 4th of July this morning. I had stopped reading the Women's Murder Club series after 3rd Degree, where at the very end of the book, there is a HUGE factual error. I'm glad I picked them back up, though. They are a quick, fun read. But, let me tell you, I never knew San Francisco had such a serial killer problem! :-P
I finished Dragon's Breath last night. It is the second in E.D. Baker's The Frog Princess series. I enjoyed this one, but it seemed to move a bit slower in places and things were a little bit easier to predict in this one than the first. It is a young adult fiction, though -- probably even children's fiction, so I guess the foreshadowing has to be a bit more obviously. I do really like this series and have added all of the books to my to read list.
Finished The Boleyn Inheritance this afternoon. While this only took a week, it felt like much longer. This was a good story and Gregory is a very detailed writer, but sometimes she's just too detailed and the story drags. Anne of Cleves did not have an interesting story, and after she was no longer queen, I didn't care about what happened to her. Gregory was able to use her to fill in the gaps of the story and make way for the end of Katherine Howard and Jane Boleyn, but I found myself skimming over most of what her story was toward the end. All in all, I think that Gregory did a good job telling the story of the two queens that the least was known of.
So, I've already started planning out my December reads. On Pick-A-Shelf, we're doing a 12 books of Christmas challenge and we have to read 12 books, that have to spell out Christmas Day, and we have to read them in order. Here is my tentative list:C-
H-
R- Rebel Angels
I-In Cold Blood
S-Steve & Me
T-Take the Cannoli
M-Marley & Me: Love and Life with the World's Worst Dog
A-All the Presidents' Children: Triumph and Tragedy in the Lives of America's First Families
S-The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, Version 2.0
D-Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
A-The Art of Racing in the Rain
Y-Yo, Millard Fillmore!
I finished The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts. What a sad story. The tales of Chris's addictions and lack of self-confidence were so sad. But, I will admit that I was angry some of the time, reading about the family's refusal to admit Chris's problem, as well as their own, and the constant enabling of Chris's habits by his friends. Though, one never knows what they would do in a situation like that, until they are in it.
Just finished A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. Not bad. It was entertaining. It wasn't a book I could focus on in short doses, so in order to make any progress, I had to sit down for at least an hour, but when I got into it, I went flying through. Looking forward to reading The Stupidest Angel next month.
I just raced through A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. Actually, I wasn't rushing through it, I just didn't want to put it down. It was a wonderful book and I want to thank Emma for turning everyone on to it! Fantastic! I can't wait to read Rebel Angels next month! Now, today, I have gotten about two pages into A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I'm going to take this slow, since it's supposed to be read in December. :-P At least it's only 106 pages. Though, I can't keep myself from hear Gonza narrating the book, since I've seen A Muppet Christmas Carol so many times!
Just read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. What a wonderful story. I've seen about a million versions of this story about a million times, so it wasn't a hard read. I will say, the George C. Scott version seems to be the most accurate and follows the book almost to the word. Now, I'm tackling Harvest by Tess Gerritsen -- I'm having to muddle through the medical speak, but I'll work through it.
Re-read Hidden Power by Kati Marton. I read it a few years ago in college, but thought it would be fun to read again, right before the inauguration. Just as good as I remembered it. Full of history, just from a different angle. It's interesting to see the different dynamics of marriage -- helps you to see that there are many different types of "good" marriages and "bad" marriages.
Finished Rebel Angels last night. Wonderful read!! This book kept me hooked almost from the beginning -- full of action and suspense. It's great to see the characters grow a bit more. I'm interested to see what Bray does with the third book.
I started In Cold Blood, and while I was enjoying it, it really wasn't a page turner. During the holiday season, I decided to set it aside and focus on different books. I did just finish Steve & Me by Terri Irwin. What a wonderful book. I will say that it seems they had the perfect marriage (I'm sure she decided to leave out any fights and all that), but her love for Steve really shined through in her writing.I'm currently reading The Prestige by Christopher Priest. I wanted to keep reading so much last night, but had to force myself to stop. It's different than the movie.
The Book Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Rebel Angels (other topics)Take the Cannoli (other topics)
Steve & Me (other topics)
In Cold Blood (other topics)
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (other topics)
More...
September:
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I Was Told There'd Be Cake-
The Other Boleyn Girl-
Saving Faith(has been started, but I hope to finish if these two are done)October:
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New Moon- Eclipse
- Breaking Dawn
November:
-The Book Thief
-The Book of Lost Things
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Love is a Mix TapeDecember:
-Shoot the Moon
-The Time Traveler's Wife
-Born Standing Up
January (when I should be returning to work):
-Gifted Hands
-The Poe Shadow (started and hated, but have been told I should finish)
-Life of Pi
-The Husband
February:
-Prodigal Son
-City of Night
March:
-Rhett Butler's People
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Baby Laughs-Me Talk Pretty One Day
-When the Wind Blows