Kelli’s Comments (group member since Jun 29, 2011)

Kelli’s comments from the Topeka & Shawnee Co. Public Library group.

Welcome! This ongoing discussion is your place to share what you are reading and what you think about it!

I have never read anything by Thomas Hardy... maybe I should give him a try.

Did anyone see the film yet? What did you think?

Did anyone finish the reading challenge? How many states did you cover with all your reading last year?

I read about the first third of the book and then quit. I did like the concept and found some of his stories very entertaining, but then I just got tired of reading it.

Melanie, I hope you finished the 2012 challenge. I haven't checked yet, but it looks like you're our only hope to finish. I am missing about 10 to 15 states. I didn't think the challenge was going to be that hard!!! I know I can at least finish one of these options next year. Thanks for the positive feedback!

Useless facts are good if they help you win trivia prizes! :)

Time Travel Challenge

Last year, our reading challenge took us on a road trip through the United States. So for this year’s challenge, I thought it would be fun to travel through time instead. Stock up on your science fiction, historical fiction, and history books for this challenge.

Here are the basic ground rules:

1) Read enough books to complete as many options as you can listed below
2) The same book can be used on more than one option
3) Both fiction and nonfiction count
4) Only books that are finished in 2013 count
5) If 1 book takes place in different time periods, it all counts

Option 1: 20th Century Traveler

1900s
1910s
1920s
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s

Option 2: 1st Millennium Challenge

1-99
100s
200s
300s
400s
500s
600s
700s
800s
900s

Option 3: 2nd Millennium Challenge

1000s
1100s
1200s
1300s
1400s
1500s
1600s
1700s
1800s
1900s

Option 4: Back to the Future

Read 10 books that take place in the future

Option 5: Pre-History Lesson

Read 10 books that take place during the Bronze Age (3600-300 BC)

Achievement Levels:

1 Option Completed: BILL & TED - Novice Adventurer
2 Options Completed: SAM BECKETT - Professor of Time Travel
3 Options Completed: DOC “EMMETT” BROWN - Avid Explorer of Time
4 Options Completed: PHINEAS BOGG - Professional Time Traveler
5 Options Completed: TERMINATOR - Nearly Indestructible Time Travel Expert

Check out this fun time travel graphic (http://www.informationisbeautiful.net...)
Good Luck!

I forgot about the The Best/Worst Christmas Pageant Ever. I loved that book!

I just finished Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich and started reading Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier which is book two of the Ruby Red Trilogy. It's been a slow start because I'm trying to remember everything that happened in the first book but I'm about 50 pages in and really enjoying it.

Welcome! This ongoing discussion is your place to share what you are reading and what you think about it!

Here is a list of the most popular nonfiction titles that checked out at our library in 2012:

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier by Ree Drummond

The Obamas by Jodi Kantor

Food Network Magazine 1,000 Easy Meals: Super Fun Food for Every Day

Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman

What was your favorite nonfiction book published in 2012?

Hilary Mantel is on my list (or will be shortly). I keep forgetting about Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies.

Out of the 2012 fiction I've read, I really enjoyed Alex Grecian's The Yard. This book takes you to the dirty streets of London a few years after the Jack the Ripper case and examines the 12 detectives assigned to investigate all of London's murders. It dabbled into the use of early forensic science to catch the criminals. Highly recommend!

A friend of mine told me that I should read Harry Turtledove and let me borrow a copy of How Few Remain. It is an alternative history book where the Confederate States were the winners of the civil war. This story starts in 1881 with the CSA buying more territory which sparks another devastating war. I'm almost 200 pages in and actually enjoying it. It has crammed tons of historical figures that we love in it: Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, General Custer, Stonewall Jackson,and Frederick Douglass.

James Patterson's Private Games and John Grisham’s Calico Joe were the most popular fiction books at our library this year based on our checkout numbers. What new fictional work was your favorite read this year?

I didn't realize they were making a movie. I'm pretty excited now. :)

I saw the movie this weekend and just thought it was fantastic! I even cried a little bit. :)

I just finished reading The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie E. King as well as The Barbary Pirates by William Dietrich. Both were fantastic books. The first book was the debut title in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series while the last book was the fourth in the Ethan Gage historical adventure series.

I have started Insurgent by Veronica Roth finally and hope that I can fly through it (and enjoy it) so I can move on to some other titles that will help me on the US Roadtrip Challenge. I also hope it is as entertaining as the first book in the series Divergent.

Or maybe she won't... the new episode determined that. :)

The end is coming!!! I hope you've made it to all 50 states.