Lyn (Readinghearts)’s Comments (group member since Apr 07, 2009)

Lyn (Readinghearts)’s comments from the Pick-a-Shelf group.

Just finished two today and both deserve an A.

Ghosts of a Beach Town in Winter by Kathleen Valentine
A short story by one of my favorite new authors. Her writing draws me in from the first sentence. Very well crafted story.

Sister by Rosamund Lupton
This is my first book by this new author. I loved this story, and no matter how many times I thought I had figured out what was going on, I never quite did. I loved the ending. I can't wait to read her next book.

Dee wrote: "I have like 3 minutes left of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - I have to say that I never realized how much my memories of the movie influenced my remembering the book. Like the goo..."

Eric Idle seems like he would be perfect for this one!

My first book for this month was a small 85 page book called Cats of Velvet by Maria Mitchell. What a cute little book with a great feline main character. Anyone with a cat would love this book and most likely see their own feline in a lot of Bizcos actions and thoughts. I know I did!

Dee - thanks for those. I am a LHoP fanatic, so I just may have to check those out.

Luann, those are some of my favorites of all time. I have read them all several times, and even read them to my boys when they were little. Enjoy!

So - my dearest sis, you all know her as mod Lynne, suggested I read my favorite book from childhood, which I just found out is actually part of a series, so I am going to add Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney, and maybe one other from the series.

Good idea, sis.

I know, all. I looked at the list and have already read almost all of the first page. I do have several around that I haven't read though. I will for sure read Cats of Velvet by Maria Mitchell and then probably try The Lightning Thief and we'll see from there. My life has been so hectic lately, that my reading has really taken a beating.

Ok, I just started this anthology, but I had to post. My first one is Classic Horror Stories: Sixteen Legendary Stories of the Supernatural. I have to say, you gotta love a "classic horror story" anthology that starts off with a story from the bible. I was not expecting that at all.

Kick me out!!!!! Try it sista.......cuz paybacks are a (you know what) And I know where you live XD

I have managed to not read a single book on the last two shelves. What's up with that, lol. In honor of October, I am going to try to go with:

Classic Horror Stories: Sixteen Legendary Stories of the Supernatural
Blood Lite II: Overbite

And of those go well, maybe I will try 20th Century Ghosts

The ones that interested me were the Stephen King books. I think every one of his books is on the list, even though most of them are stand alones.

I have a couple picked out, although I have sucked at keeping up with this group lately. Some day I will get back on track.

SEPTEMBER

1. Mini SAT: 50 points when you have read off the following 12 shelves (with 5 books or less):

childhood
childhood-favorites
2010
2008
21st-century
animals
historical
historical-fiction
historical-romance
lit
literature
crime

2. Banned Book Week: For 30 points read “banned” books

3. Talk like a Pirate Day: For 20 points per book, read books with each of the following

1 = The word PIRATE in the Title
1 = With a picture of a ship / boat / jolly roger / parrot on the cover
1 = About Pirates or a character who is a pirate
1 = A picture of the ocean / a Beach / an island / treasure chest on the cover
1 = About an oceanic journey (plane ride across ocean does not count but we'll count survival stories, ie. an accident happen then they are floating in ocean etc)

4. Peace Day: For 20 points, read books with either picture on cover or word in title related to peace symbolism.
To assist, here is a list of peace symbols on Wikipedia which includes the peace sign itself, dove & olive branch (which can be separated for this task), paper cranes, Shalom / Salaam, etc. If you know of others that aren’t on this list, as long as you can explain it, you can use it for this task.

5. Branching out: This task is worth 25 points per book.
Firstly, go to your read shelf, scroll down and sort it by ‘Random’ (20 books per page). Choose the book that is highest rated (if there is more than one, you have the privilege to choose one) and take note of the author. Go to this site: http://literature-map.com/, type in your chosen author and enter. From the results, choose an author to read one of this author’s books.
For subsequent books, use the previous author.

For example,
Author from my shelf (ie. ‘search’ author): Charles Dickens
1st author to read from: Ian McEwan
For my second book, I’d use ‘Ian McEwan’ as my ‘search’ author… 2nd author to read from: Sarah Waters, and so on…

MID MONTH

For 30 points:

**NEW GR FEATURES** ;)

Go to your Home Page, look to your right and click on ‘your recommendation’.

Read a book shown on this page.

These recommendations are based on your books, shelves, & ratings so hopefully you would actually found a book you’d love ;)

I will go for:

Watchmen by Alan Moore
The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman
AND possibly Dream Country by Neil Gaiman

AUGUST


8.1. Mini SAT: 50 points when you have read off the following 12 shelves (with 5 books or less):

2004
chick-lit
chicklit
adventure
political
politics
academic
art
adult
adult-fiction
biography
autobiography

8.2. Read around the world: 30 points:

Read a book written by an author from or where it is mostly set in a country of your choosing but... your choice for this month is limited to a country where the first initial starts with the letters u, v, w, x, y, z

Use only this List of Countries for this challenge

8.3. Back to School (30 points): Choose your 5 subjects (books) for this month:
a. Ancient History: read a book set in / written before 16th century
b. Modern History: read a book set in / written after 16th century or after
c. English: read book set in Great Britain
d. Mathematics: read a book of minimum pages of "your age with a 0 at the end" (ie. if you're 30, min of 300 pages)
e. Personal Development, Health and Physical Education: read a book in connection with sports
f. Science: read book which has forensic science, lab work or experimentation in the story
g. Geography: read a book set in a country you have never visited
h. The Arts: Biography about a Musician, Actor, Photographer, designer

8.4. Proverbial sayings: Choose a proverb your parents / grandparents use a lot of the time, or just choose one and read words in title (exact match of words). 20 points per book for up to 5 books, 100 points bonus if completed with 5 books or less. No points applicable for any books over the 5 books limit (no penalty applicable either).

For example:

"Those who lose dreaming are lost" - Australian Aboriginal proverb
Those Who Save Us
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Are You There God It’s me Margaret
The Lost Symbol

"Beauty is the wisdom of women. Wisdom is the beauty of men" – Chinese proverb
Beauty and the Beast
She Walks in Beauty
On Account of Conspicuous Women: A Novel
The Children of Men
Sometimes Madness is Wisdom: Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald: A Marriage
The Goddess is in the Details: Wisdom for the Everyday Witch

8.5.Common Sense (20 points): Read book/s with words in title that relates to our senses (ie. sight, hearing, smell, taste, & touch). Synonyms / variables are acceptable, for example: see, listen, touching, etc.
edited to include author's names for this task

Mid-Month:

Read a book written by a Goodreads Author --> 25 pts

Read a book written by a Goodreads Author that is already on your to-read list prior to 15 August 2011 ---> 25 pts + 20 pts

Mid Month

Read a book written by a Goodreads Authors whose birthday is in August --> 25 pts + 30 pts

Read a book written by a Goodreads Author that is already on your to-read list prior to 15 August 2011 and whose birthday is in August --> 25 pts + 20 pts + 30 pts

From True Grit

"What are bushwackers?"

"I don't know. That is what they called us. Anyway, we was not easy about that Kansas major. We didn't know that he would lock us up or worse, us having rode with Bill Anderson and Captain Quantrill. Potter lifted a revolver from a office and we lit out that night on two government mules. I am still traveling on that one-day parole and I reckon that jayhawker is waiting yet. Now our clothes was rags and we didn't have the price of a plug of tobacco between us. About eight mile outside town we run into a Federal captain and three soldiers. They wanted to know if they was on the right road for Kansas City. That captain was a paymaster, and we relieved those gents of over four thousand in coin. They squeaked like it was their own. It didn't belong to anybody but the Government and we needed a road stake.

True Grit by Charles Portis

When the remake of the movie came out, my husband and I watched the classic with John Wayne, Kim Darby, and Glen Campbell. Then we went to see the remake. Both movies have different approaches to the story, so I decided to read the book to see which one is closer to the original. I was glad that I read the book. It was enjoyable, although the whole book is written in the voice of Mattie Ross, which took some getting used to. I liked the book quite a bit and give it 3 stars.

I definitely have The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot and The Help by Kathryn Stockett


I have a few more I might try, though lately I have not been doing very well, lol.

Jessica wrote: "In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin is definitely on my list.

Considering...
The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Tu..."</i>

<i>Karen wrote: "Am considering [book:In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin and Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, but I found at least anot..."

For those of you thinking of In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson, I highly recommend it. But again, it is a book that is better read in chunks. I read a chapter a night and it was great.

JULY


1. Mini SAT: Mini SAT: 50 points when you have read off the following 12 shelves (with 5 books or less):

fantasy
spirituality
nature
classic
classics
2000s
writing
children-s-literature
children-s-lit
childrens-picture-books
2003
all-time-favorites

2. 30 points: Independence Day (US, Canada, and quite a few countries) & Bastille Day:
Read books about / set during revolutionary era (of any countries). Fiction examples: Chains - Seeds of America 1 by Laurie Halse Anderson, The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy, etc

3. 30 points: Read around the world:
Read a book written by an author from or where it is mostly set in a country of your choosing but... your choice for this month is limited to a country where the first initial starts with the letters k, l, m, n, o

Use only this List of Countries for this challenge


4. 20 points: Read across generation:
Read 5 books published in the decades surrounding your birth - if you're looking for some suggestions: Books of the Century

The easiest to explain is by example, so if you were born in the 70's, read a book published in the 50's, 60's, 70's, 90's and the noughties (total 5 books).

For 100 bonus points: Read books published during the year with the same last digit of your birth year, for example if you were born in 1977, then read books published in 1957, 1967, 1977, 1987, and 1997.

5. 20 points: New Seven Wonders of the World was announced on 07/07/2007. Choose 5 out of 7:

1. Great Wall of China, China: (fortification) read a book in connection with military / war
2. Petra, Jordan: (UNESCO has described it as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage.") read a book in connection with civilization / culture
3. Christ the Redeemer, Brazil: (considered the second largest Art Deco statue in the world) read a book in connection with art
4. Machu Picchu, Peru: (brought to international attention in 1911) read a book in connection with exploration / archeology
5. Chichen Itza, Mexico: (Itzá in Spanish is often translated as "Brujas del Agua (Witches of Water)" but a more precise translation would be Magicians of Water) read a book in connection with magic / water
6. Collosseum, Italy: (ampitheatre originally for entertainment) read a book in connection with entertainment
7. Taj Mahal, India: (a symbol of eternal love) Read a love story

*"in connection" can mean set in a particular time (eg. war) / place (eg. lake) or main character being military person / witches / actors / etc etc etc...