J.D.’s Comments (group member since Jun 21, 2017)

J.D.’s comments from the It's a Summer Reading Challenge! group.

Finally got my whole list decided on. Now that most of you are already finished with your first (or second or third) book/s. But better late than never, right?

- A classic: The Good Master by Kate Seredy
- A fantasy\sci-fi: Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
- A contemporary: Deadfall by Robert Liparulo
- An indie published book: Dead Broke by Bruce A. Borders
- A non-fiction: Lessons My Father Taught Me by Michael Reagan
- A book set between the years 2000 and 1901: The Singing Tree by Kate Seredy
- A book set between the years 1801 and 1900: Destry Rides Again by Max Brand
- A book set between the years 1701 and 1800: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
- A book set between the years 1601 and 1700: The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
- A book set between the years 1501 and 1600: The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

Lorrie wrote: "I LOVED LOVED LOVED the 39 Clues! The first 10-11 (Maze of Bones) are the best!! "

I've had that series recommended to me sooo many times, but for some reason I've never started it. I guess I really need to.

Lorrie wrote: "Will audio books count?"

Yes.

Sarah Grace wrote: "Thanks JD! :)"

Welcome!

Side note: GR doesn't make threaded convo very easy. :)

Lisa wrote: "Good to know. I will sure put a hold of them at the library. I'll have to start adding more Dekker books to my tbr. I've also read the two AD books and Outlaw... I want to do House soon too :)"

Not to tell you what to do, but I'm going to tell you what to do. ;) Start with The Martyr's Song even though it was published last it is sort of the beginning of the whole series.

I loved House, but I have friends who hated it. It seems like there is no middle ground on that one. It's certainly one of the creepiest things he's written. I did actually have nightmares during the time I read it. LOL

Lisa wrote: "JD wrote: "Lisa wrote: "JD wrote: "@Lisa: I love Ted Dekker's books too! Which is your favorite?"

The Books of History Chronicles. :D"

Really?! That's very interesting! You're the first Dekker fa..."

You're correct. My bad. I was thinking the Paradise books. :)

You've got to read the Martyr's Song series! So good! Very different from his fantasy stuff, but excellent storytelling with compelling life and spiritual lessons embedded in them, but not in an overt/in-your-face sort of way.

Lisa wrote: "JD wrote: "@Lisa: I love Ted Dekker's books too! Which is your favorite?"

The Books of History Chronicles. :D"

Really?! That's very interesting! You're the first Dekker fan I've ever meet who chose those! :)

I think my faves are The Circle series (especially books 1, 2 and 3) and The Martyr's Song series. With the two Blessed books a very close third. :)

Sarah Grace wrote: "*perks head up* World Wars??? I'll read it! ;)"

It's called The Singing Tree. I read this one also many years ago, but I'm going to re-read it this year. Hopefully as part of this challenge. Unless I come across something else.

@Lisa: I love Ted Dekker's books too! Which is your favorite?

Welcome Sarah! Nice to have a New Zealander in the group!

@Erudessa: Cool! I'm looking forward to starting it tomorrow. Then I'll have to read the sequel for the date specific category! :)

@Tarissa: I look forward to reading your review of The Thin Man. I've had it on my mental "to read" list for quite awhile being a fan of Hammett's characters in OTR.

Victoria wrote: "@JD, I read that book in school! I remember liking it, though it has been a while."

I read it many years ago too, but I recall virtually nothing about it. I've been on a quest of late to re-read many of the award-winning books I read in school as I think that I'll appreciate them even more now than I did then.

Sarah Grace wrote: "Hmph, I didn't know Robert Liparulo wrote novels! "

Yep! He's been a novelist for years before starting to write audio drama scripts.

Here's what I've got so far:
- A classic: The Good Master by Kate Seredy
- A fantasy\sci-fi: Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
- A contemporary: Deadfall by Robert Liparulo
- An indie published book: Dead Broke by Bruce A. Borders
- A non-fiction: Lessons My Father Taught Me by Michael Reagan

Sarah Grace wrote: "For the criteria of a classic, I am not super picky. I would define a classic as "a book that is widely known, and held up as an example of good literature. Usually written before the 1950s. E.g. T..."

Oh good! Then I can read the one I was hoping to! It is The Good Master by Kate Seredy, published 1935 and Newbery Award winner in '36.

Good question, Victoria.

What are the criteria for a Classic in this challenge?

R.S. wrote: "I want to listen to music, but I'm in a small hotel room with three relatives (we're on vacation). How do I ensure that they don't judge me?"

Blast the tunes for the whole group. ;)

Hanna wrote: "A question- can one book count for more than one category?"

I was wondering this too...

Thanks for the invite, Sarah Grace!

Hi! I'm JD. I'm the founder of Porchlight Family Media, an audio production studio in Phoenix, AZ specializing in podcast production.

I'm an avid reader and I've been reading all sorts of books for nigh onto 3 decades. (My that makes me feel old!) I am new to Goodreads so my shelves here are kind of bare. My personal library has over 600 volumes which I catalogue using LibraryThing and TinyCat. I have decided to use Goodreads as a place to track my current reads and post reviews of books that I want to syndicate to my book review/author interview website, Bookworm Banquet; which is quite easy thanks to the auto-post-to-blog feature.

Anyway, this challenge should help me get a good start on some great books I've been meaning to read for quite some time now. Looking forward to seeing if I can finish!

I think I've rambled enough. :)