The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
SUMMER CHALLENGE 2011: EUROPE
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Summer Challenge 2011 Completed Tasks (DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS)

read Midnight in Death by J.D. Robb option A and criteria 3
read Ice Cold by Tess Gerritsen also option A and criteria 2 (a Goodreads author)
20.6 Read In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer by Irene Opdykeread sitting in the backyard.
total these tasks 70



30.6 -- Delicious Dee's task: Shakespeare Under the Stars
I rolled a double "6" so
First Die
6. As You Like It - read a book written by a comedian or a humorous book
I read a dark, biting humor book by Kurt Vonnegut. (One of the genres listed on the book page is "humor".)
Deadeye Dick (1982) by Kurt Vonnegut (Hardcover, 240 pages)
Second Die
6. The Winter's Tale - read a book where a time/date/season is in the title - I went with "date" and read
1632 (Assiti Shards #1) (2000) by Eric Flint (Mass Market Paperback, 597 pages)
**** Big Reads **** 500+ pages **** 1632 is 597 pages
480 + 30 = 520

Tasks Completed: 26
Points for this task: 30
Points thus far: 480 + 30 = 520
Books read: 39
Pages Read: 12,936
Read but not claimed: 4
Goodreads Authors: 4
Big Books:
(2) 500+
(0) 750 +
(0) 1000 +

25.3: Sandy's Task: The Ice Cream Truck:
Book 1: #5. Bullet Firecracker Pop:
Kiss Me, Kill Me by Allison Brennan
book 2: #7: Jolly Rancher Ice Pop:
Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
Jennifer Crusie is a goodreads author
Points total to date: 450
Stacey
20.9 Summerthing Better
The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide, Second Edition
I've had a loved one diagnosed bipolar recently, and this was really helpful to me in understanding what he's going through and what his treatment is likely to be like.
30.4 Summer in Europe
5: One Crazy Summer
4: The Last Little Blue Envelope
New points: 50
Total points: 605
20.9 Summerthing Better
The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide, Second Edition
I've had a loved one diagnosed bipolar recently, and this was really helpful to me in understanding what he's going through and what his treatment is likely to be like.
30.4 Summer in Europe
5: One Crazy Summer
4: The Last Little Blue Envelope
New points: 50
Total points: 605

Completed 15.5 mind the gap and read dead as a doornail (sookie stackhouse #5) by charlaine harris
Task points: 25
Total points 60

For this task I read Half-Human. This is a collection of ten short stories by various fantasy authors.
** Claiming Goodreads Author ticket: **
Two of the contributors, Tamora Pierce and Janni Lee Simner, are Goodreads authors.
Total points: 540

20.9 Summerthing Better -- Through Painted Deserts: Light, God, and Beauty on the Open Road by Donald Miller I figured prayer and meditation anre things that can make a person better, 256 pages
20.10 Group Read -- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert M. Pirsig, comment in post #25 of Group Read thread, 436 pages
Task Points: 40
Total Points: 970
Tasks Completed: 56
Books Read: 77
Pages Read: 22,965
Big Books: 500+ (5) 750+ (1)

Option 2: Used Charlaine Harris and read Mercedes Lackey’s The Sleeping Beauty (336 p). Liked it but didn’t really feel like reading another one by her right now, so:
Option 3: Used Charlaine Harris and re-read Diana Gabaldon's Voyager (880 p)
Points this Post: 30
Tasks Completed this Post: 1
Books Read this Post: 2
Pages Read this Post: 1216
Big Books this Post: 500+ (0), 750+ (1), 1000+ (0)
Total Points: 845
Total Tasks Completed: 50
Total Books Read: 66
Total Pages Read: 24972
Total GoodReads Authors: 17
Total Big Books: 500+ (5), 750+ (2), 1000+ (0)

15.8 Up in the Air
The Dom's Dungeon by Cherise Sinclair
CS=Serbia
Cherise Sinclair is a GR Author.
Grand total: 260

I want to move another book. In post 2310 I put Unholy Promises in Task 10.6. I'd like to move it as marked below.
Task 30.9 Vacation Time
Option A: Unholy Promises by Roxy Harte
Main character travels from USA to France and back.
Option A: Echo of Redemption by Roxy Harte
Main character travels from China to USA.
Roxy Harte is a GR Author.
Grand total: 280

Three To Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich Goodreads Author
20.6 Summer Reading
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold Listened to while driving in the car.
Total Points this Post: 30
Total Big Books this Post:
Total GR Authors this Post: 1
Total Points in Challenge: 290
Books Read: 22
Tasks Completed: 16
Total GR Authors: 10
Total Big Book Tickets: 500+(2); 750+(1); 1000+(1)

Task 30.3A: Book with Day of the Week in Title
Monday Night Jihad by Jason Elam
Task 30.3B: Book in European City/Region/Country
The Snowman by Jo Nesbø
This book is set in Norway.
Task 30.8: Summer Solstice: Quality Dark List #28
Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
China Mieville is a Goodread's Author.
The edition I read was 626 pages. Big Book ticket for 500+ pages.
Task 30.8: Light But Not Too Dumb #9
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The edition I read was 560 pages. Big Book ticket for 500+ pages.
Task 30.10: Half and Half
I used Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah as the basis for my selections.
Book 1: Using the word "Winter":
The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
The edition I read was 527 pages. Big Book Ticket for 500+ pages.
Book 2: Using the word "Garden"
In the Garden of Temptation by Cynthia Wicklund
This ebook was approved for length (message #216).
Cynthia Wicklund is a Goodread's Author.
Points this post: 90
Total Points: 475

30.3 If it's Tuesday
A. Book of a Thousand Days
B. From Barcelona, with Love
30.2 A.K.A
Blaze
Lisey's Story Big Book Ticket 513 pgs.
30.1 Best Friends
A. Smith - Deadly Grace
B. (3) Heart of the Night
30.4 Summer in Europe
3. coming of age stories
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
4. Set in European country - Scotland
Dragonfly in Amber
Big Book ticket 752 pgs.
30.6 Shakespeare
A. Die 1 - Ceasar
The Lincoln No One Knows: The Mysterious Man Who Ran the Civil War
B. Die 1 - OutlanderBig book ticket 850 pg
30.8 Summer Solstice
A. Dark Fiction The Shining
B. Best Humorous Book Candide
30.10 Half & Half Spring Book America Alone
Digging to America
Alone
30.9 Vacation time
A. Sunset in St.Tropez usa - france
B. The Beach House
This post 240
Total to date 240

1. The Louvre - Chesapeake Blue
Main character is prominant artist in Europe
2. Westminster Abby - Mary Queen of Scotts
The Other Queen
20.9 Lucky Me Knit Together: Discover God's Pattern for Your Life
Focusing life's purpose
20.6 On the Sailboat, On the Beach by the Lake
25.3 Ice Cream truck
1 Bubble Gum Bar
Uglies
5. Bullet Firecracker Pop The Strangler
This post 90
Total to date 330

I've read two of Jonathan's books in the past and was happy to read another!
Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
Points for this task: 10
Total points: 450
Tasks completed: 28
Books read: 33


2 new tasks
10.6 -- Gay Pride June is Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. Read a book where one of the main characters is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered
Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult
20.2 Nickboy's task: NETHERLANDS Is an Eleven Letter Word
I chose Option A: Respectable has 11 letters
Nowhere Near Respectable by Mary Jo Putney
Points this post = 30
Total Points = 725
Tasks Completed = 40
Pages Read = 20,171
GR Authors = 12
Big Books: (500+) = 2
Big Books: (750+) = 2

I started with L.M. Montgomery and got Alexander McCall Smith from the Literature Map.
1 - Option 2 - The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith, a Goodreads author.
2 - Option A - Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith, a Goodreads author.
----
Points Claiming: 30
Total Points: 350

30.7 - Choose Your Own Adventure - SRC Style:
I put Gregory Maguire into the Literature Map and choose Philippa Gregory.
For the first book I went with Option 2: The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory
For the second book I went with Option A: The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory
Total points: 110 Points
Completed Tasks: 6
Goodreads Authors: 1
Big Books: 500+(0), 750+(0), 1000+(0)

The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell
+5 Points
5.10. Summer Fun.
Lots of laughs, but poignant, too!
Level Up by Gene Luen Yang
+5 Points
10.3 — Spare Me
This prison is alive! I would not want to be there.
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
+10 Points
15.10 Summertime, And the Reading is Easy-
Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder, a Goodreads Author
+15 Points
+1 Goodreads Author
20.6 Seasoned Reader – Heather KS’s task: Summer Reading
I read this gem on my deck:
Honeybee by Naomi Shihab Nye
+20 Points
20.8 It’s My Birthday – Riona’s task: Female Authors of Sci-Fi
I have wanted to read this for a long time!
Anthem by Ayn Rand
+20 Points
Points this Post: 75
Goodreads Authors: 1
Grand Total: 795

1. The Louvre is one of the great art museums of the world. To visit it, read a book about art history, a biography of an artist, or a novel that features an artist as a major character.
The American Painter Emma Dial: A Novel by Samantha Peale
Emma and many of the other characters in the novel are painters.
2. To visit Westminster Abbey, read a book by or about one of the people buried in Westminster Abbey.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Dickens is buried in Westminster Abbey.
This Post: 25
Total Points: 825
Tasks Completed: 50/57
Goodreads Authors: 3
Big Books: 500+ (0), 750+ (1), 1000+ (3)

15.1 Beware Of Thorns
Julietby Anne Fortier
This one book contains 2 of the required options:
A. Rose on cover &
C. Main subject named Rose - this was okay'd by the task creator in the thread for this task.
3.34 Summer In Europe
From the list 'Cool Summer Books 2011', I read Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
&
Set in Barcelona Spain, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Points this post: 45
Tasks completed: 7
Total points to date: 160
Goodread authors: 4

20.7 "Shorter is Sweeter"
For this task, I read The Help by Kathryn Stockett.
This book takes place during the 1960s.
Points for this task: 20
Total Points: 205

25.3 The Ice Cream Truck
#1 Bubble Gum Bar (ya book)
What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
and
#8 Big Dipper Cone (fantasy)
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
SARAH DESSEN AND SHANNON HALE ARE GOODREAD AUTHORS
20.7 A Trip To The Past
A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
Points This Post: 45
Total points to date: 205
Total # Tasks completed: 9
GR authors: 6

15.7 The Readers Have Chosen
Horns by Joe Hill - was nominated in the paranormal fantasy catagory
15.8 Up In The Air
Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens
Initials CS = Serbia
15.6 Speak English!
The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen
Garden = Backyard
15.10 Summertime And The Reading Is Easy...
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer
20.6 Summer Reading
Please Look After Mom by Kyung Sook Shun
I didn't get alot of summer reading in, unfortunately. I had great plans for many of my long anticipated books this summer; but it just didn't work out for me. The kids get busier & need mom more each year it seems. I read this book here and there in my 'off' time which was sparse. It took me a really long time (for me) to get through it. The kids are back in school and I've really gotta get busy catching up now!
CHEVY STEVENS AND JULIE ORRINGER ARE GOODREADS AUTHORS
Points this post: 8
Toal points to date: 285
Goodread authors:8



30.7 -- Jennifer N's task: Choose Your Own Adventure – SRC Style
Choose an author you read and hopefully enjoyed (but that’s not a requirement) from last year’s summer challenge
I entered the author Jack McDevitt -- I had read his novel The Devil's Eye last summer, 4*'s.
For the first book:
• Option 2 – If you are feeling a little adventurous but don’t want to take it too far – choose an author that appears on the literature map that you have read before and read a new to you book from that author.
Fortress in the Eye of Time (Fortress #1) (1995) by C.J. Cherryh (Goodreads Author) (Mass Market Paperback, 773 pages)
**** Good Reads Author **** C.J. Cherryh
**** Big Books Ticket 750+ pages ****Fortress in the Eye of Time Mass Market Paperback, 773 pages
For the second book:
• Option B – If you liked the first book but don’t want to read another book by the same author – Go back to the beginning and enter the author of the first book you read into the literature map and select from Options 1, 2 or 3.
So, I entered C.J. Cherryh
• Option 2 – If you are feeling a little adventurous but don’t want to take it too far – choose an author that appears on the literature map that you have read before and read a new to you book from that author.
All the Lives He Led (2011) by Frederik Pohl (Hardcover, 349 pages)
510 + 30 = 540

Tasks Completed: 27
Points for this task: 30
Points thus far: 510 + 30 = 540
Books read: 41
Pages Read: 14,058
Read but not claimed: 3
Goodreads Authors: 5
Big Books:
(2) 500+
(1) 750 +
(0) 1000 +

Task 30.10 Coralie's Task: Half and Half
Chose book Last Dance for 2 word title.
I read
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd
Points this post: 30
Total points: 325
Tasks completed: 21
Books read: 28
Goodreads Author: 5
Big Books: 1

5.7 - Ultimate Teen Reading List - The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things
10.3 - set in place I do not wish to visit - Perfect Chemistry - it is set in High School and it also involves a gang - both places I do not wish to visit - HS because it's not that awesome, and gang territory for obivious reasons
10.5 - Whats Next - I used The Help which led me to Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
10.6 - Gay Pride - Sing You Home
10.7 - Its been a year already - A Visit from the Goon Squad - from June 2010 book #2
10.8 - COver red,orange, yellow -

10.10 - Read S'more - 311 Pelican Court
15.1 - Rose - 204 Rosewood Lane
15.4 - Two Anthologies/SUmmer shorts - I read two books because I was not sure where the Chelsea Handler Book would fit in - as an anthology by several authors or single - Lies that Chelsea Handler Told Me & Palo Alto: Stories
15.5 - Mind the Gap - Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover
15.7 - 2010 Goodreads Choice Awards - The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag
15.8 - COUntry Codes - Monaco MC - The Princess Diaries
20.2 - Book with an 11 letter word in title - Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later
20.4 - #3 - book by female author - 1022 Evergreen Place
20.6 - Book while sitting on my patio - Navy Brat
25.3 - Ice cream truck - Bubble Gum bar x 2! - Only the Good Spy Young & Rules of Attraction
25.4 - Color - purple - cover -

30.1 - Best friends name - Micheal - The Brass Verdict - and no this is not seomthing he would enjoy. He reads mostly nonfiction. #7 in the title - 74 Seaside Avenue
30.6 - die rolls - 6 - humorous book -"...Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers", 4 - murder - The Fifth Witness
30.7 - Literature Map - I used JK Rowling for the first part - What Happened to Goodbye, then used Sara Dessen (author of book A) and chose to read - The Rescue
Points this post: 345
Total points: 345
NickiSTL

15.10 - Summertime and the Reading is Easy
Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War
This is a big book with 690 pages.
Post Total: 15
Grand Total: 315

A. Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley
Chose this from D-friend (Cynthia) rated 5 stars and for 1- 700+ pages.
***Big Book 896 pages***
B. Testimony by Anita Shreve
Chose this from C-1 word title
C. Hounded by Kevin Hearne
Chose this from F-Published in 2011, 1-GR Author, 2-Part of a series
GR Author
Points: 50
Tasks: 1
Books: 3
Pages: 1490
GR Authors: 1
Big Books 750+: 1
Total Points: 1000
Total Tasks: 58
Total Books: 78
Total Pages: 33,217
GR Authors: 25
Big Books 500+: 19
Big Books 750+: 2
FINISHED!!!!!!!!
Thanks to all the task creators for another awesome challenge.

Viking Heat (Viking II #9) by Sandra Hill
15.9 Pulling Weeds
What the Librarian Did by Karina Bliss - one of the 50 lowest rated books on my TBR pile
Goodreads Author: Karina Bliss
30.5 -- Donna Jo/Deedee's task: To the Moon
A. Hubble: Imaging Space and Time by David Devorkin & Robert W. Smith
B. Rebels and Lovers by Linnea Sinclair
Goodreads Author: Linnea Sinclair
Points This Post: 60
Total Points: 925
Total Goodreads Authors: 24

20.7 A Trip to the Past
I read Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters. It was published in 2000 and the story takes place in 1880s London.
Points this task 20
Total points 200
Tasks Completed: 9
Books read: 13
Total pages: 4932 + one audiobook
GR Authors: 2
Big Books: 500+(3), 750+(1), 1000+(0)

Deadly Housewives is a collection by several authors including Nevada Barr, Sara Paretsky, S.J. Rozan, Denise Mina, Carole Nelson Douglas, Marcia Muller, Nancy Pickard, Julie Smith, Vicki Hendricks, Suzann Ledbetter, Elizabeth Massie, Christine Matthews, Barbara Collins and Eileen Dreyer.
Points this task: 15
Total Points: 445
Goodreads Authors: Berwin, Skye, Coelho
Big Books: 500+: 1

Feuerspur by Franz-Josef Körner
20.1 Birthday Time!
Option 3: The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul by Douglas Adams, which was originally published in 1988, the year of my birth.
Total points: 575


Read a book about pirates.
The Pirates of Somalia: Inside Their Hidden World by Jay Bahadur
This Post: 5
Total Points: 830
Tasks Completed: 51/57
Goodreads Authors: 3
Big Books: 500+ (0), 750+ (1), 1000+ (3)

Option 3-

Option 4-

Points for this Task: 30
Total Points: 165
Goal Total Points: 165
Completed Tasks: 20.2, 20.7, 20.8, 20.10, 25.3, 30.1, 30.4
Tasks in Progress: 25.4, 50.1
Pages Read: 3283
Books Read: 8
Goodreads Authors: 5 (Kelley, Armstrong, Sara Shepard x3, Kathryn Stockett)
Big Books: 500+(2) 750+(1) 1000+()


Book 1 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K Rowling - category B (has a Goodreads rating of 4.38) - fits criteria 3 book that is part of a series
Book 2 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K Rowling - category D (friend rated 5 stars) - fits criteria 1 book over 700 pages - CLAIMING BIG BOOK TICKET 500
Book 3 - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K Rowling - category H (more than 25K ratings) - fits criteria 3 book that is part of a series - CLAIMING BIG BOOK TICKET 750
Points this post - 50
Total points earned - 50

Completed Tasks-
25-3 Sandy's Task-I chose 1. Bubble Gum Bar and read: Witch & Wizard by James Patterson and 6. Pink Panther Pop and read: The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
25-4 Christine US's Task- Book 1- The Case of Jenny Brice by Mary Roberts Rinehart who was from Pennsylvania. Book 2- Helmet for my Pillow by Robert Leckie. The author wrote this book about his experiences in the Pacific during WW II.
30-1 Cheryl Tx's Task- Part A. The Alibi by Sandra Brown. My bff's name is Sandra. Part B. I chose option 1 and read: Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich.
30-5 Donna Jo/Deedee's Task: A. We Seven: By the Astronauts Themselves edited by Malcolm Scott Carpenter. B. From the Earth to the Moon and 'Round the Moon by Jules Verne
760 points


First Die - 6. As You Like It - I read the Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry an English comedian
Second Die - 2. Midsummer Night's Dream - I read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K Rowling, a fantasy novel
Points this post - 30
Total points earned - 80

I read Life by Keith Richards while on holidays chilling out by the pool! :)
Points this post - 20
Total points earned - 100

10.02 PHONE HOME
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Points: 10
Total points: 480
Tasks completed: 30
Books read: 38
Goodreads authors: 2
Big Books: 500+(1), 750+(0), 1000+(0)



Task 30.6 - Shakespeare Under the Stars
First die: 3 (Anthology) Small Wonder: Essays by Barbara Kingsolver
Second die: 1 (Romance from the list) Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas ***GR AUTHOR***
Total GR Authors: 10
Total Challenge points = 570
Books mentioned in this topic
Looking for Alaska (other topics)Flawless (other topics)
A Game of Thrones (other topics)
An Abundance of Katherines (other topics)
Juliet, Naked (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Molière (other topics)P.G. Wodehouse (other topics)
Robin Oliveira (other topics)
Fannie Flagg (other topics)
Barbara Delinsky (other topics)
More...
Task 25.1 - Tennis, Anyone
Book A - Break in Title
Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean
Sarah MacLean is a Goodreads Author
Pages - 397
Book B - Autobiography of Tennis Player
Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi
Pages - 388
Points - 25
Task 25.3 - The Ice Cream Truck
Book A - Bubble Gum Bar - YA Book
The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan
Pages - 452
Book B - Big Dipper Cone - Fantasy
Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Pages - 455
Points - 25
Task 30.6 - Shakespeare Under the Stars
Book A - Rolled 3 - Anthology
On the Edge: WITH Capsized AND Shelter Island AND Bougainvillea by Heather Graham and Carla Neggers and Sharon Sala
Heather Graham is a Goodreads Author
Pages - 284
Book B - Rolled 2 - Fantasy
Samson's Lovely Mortal by Tina Folsom
Tina Folsom is a Goodreads Author
Pages - 268
Points - 30
Points this Post - 80
Total Points - 930
Big Book Tickets this Post - 0
Big Book Tickets Total - 8(500) / 1 (750)
Goodreads Authors this Post - 3
Goodreads Authors Total - 21