The Lost Challenges discussion

Sam wrote: "Week three: Sunshine

I read: You Don't Love Me Yet - Jonathan Lethem
Rating: 1/5
Finished: December 19th 2012

I picked up this book by accident a couple of years ago, instead of another book I wa..."

Kangaroo??...LOL

Yeah, I have NO idea what the kangaroo has to do with anything. One of the characters steals it from the zoo as a sort of protest, then returns it. And it serves absolutely no purpose to the plot, except maybe to introduce the zoo's director, but I'm sure there must have been better ways?!

Ugh, sorry, ranting. I reallllly did not like this book lol.

I was just thinking it would be "sweet" (as my son would say) if I would get 3 point for musical instrument since my post listed flute, harp, and lyre...hehehe

Too bad that's not how it works!

Here's the link to items where we need 2 or less reviews to complete.

Finished my book! Will get my review up asap. :)

Week Three: Sunshine


I read: Engraved by Amber Garza
Finished: 12/20/2012

Rating: 4 stars
My review:

Engraved was a very interesting read - just like the other three books I've read by Amber Garza (The Prowl Trilogy). I really liked the characters and while there weren't that many surprises in the book, I still found parts of it suspenseful.

Engraved dealt a lot with drugs and addiction. There was also mention of a rape and some heavy kissing. Because of that, I would only recommend this book to mature readers.

Overall, I really liked Engraved and look forward to reading more of Amber Garza's books in the future. If you like books that deal with addiction and have some suspense, then I think you'll like Engraved.

*I received a complimentary eBook copy of this book from the author for my review. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion - which I've done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.*

Items claimed:
Sunshine: "Triangles of sunshine appeared on the stained tan carpet." Kindle Location #1227
Glasses: "She peered up at the nightstand where her tattered paperback book and reading glasses sat on top." Kindle Location #1868
Curly Hair: "Leaning over, she held back her curly hair and blew out the flame." Kindle Location #301
Cake: "She was supposed to be testing cake samples tonight and she was late." Kindle Location #2391

Way to go! This will give us our first no called point too! Ill get our request up in the am. Once the item is called lets all search our books and see what all is included in them, make a list and get a game plan for the week. Ill definitely get boots so well get a point for them next week :)

Sounds great! This challenge is really fun! Way easier than I had first thought. :)

It sounds more complicated than it is.

Melanie, I totally agree! I almost didn't sign up because it sounded really complicated, but I'm glad I did :)

Sam wrote: "Melanie, I totally agree! I almost didn't sign up because it sounded really complicated, but I'm glad I did :)"

Same here. :)

Well done ladies!

This was pretty easy to figure out after having participated in the Rapid Readers Scavenger Hunt...Melanie and Sam you might also like the RR Hunt. There will be another round starting on Jan. 15 (I think)...if you are interested and have questions I'm sure Jenne and I can answer them :)

Ok, I finally figured out what was confusing me...Jenne according to the overall teams speadsheet it says you claimed "boots" in post 125 but you claimed "belt" didn't you? It threw me for a loop when you said you would definitely be claiming "boot" next...I was thinking we just got that point.

Wow good catch Jennifer! In hindsight maybe I should if claimed boots that week! I'll pm Dawn and let her know.

Big hit for our team it's boots!

Here's where this week's status will be:

Boots Week 4:
Melanie:A Promise to Protect Claimed:Moonlight, boots, tail, emergency vehicle 12/22/12 Post 230
Jenne: Passion Unleashed Claimed:Wind, Boots, Shoulder, Paper 12/27/12 Post 262
Jennifer:Moving Target Claimed:moonlight, boots, shoulder, emergency vehicle12/23/12Post 231
Sam: Wonder Boys :Claimed:Boots, Wind, Shoulder, & Musical Instrument12/31/12 Post 274


Point Request

is what I'm going with. It has boots, wind, rain, fog (possibly would need to be okayed with Dawn), eyes, shoulder, nose, toe, elbow, paper, fruit, sky for sure maybe musical instrument.

Here's the link for what has already been claimed.

Things we're close to having (2 reviews or less)

Moonlight:
Jennifer & Melanie

Boots:
Jenne

Glasses:
Jennifer

Tail:
Melanie

Curly Hair:
Jenne & Sam

Musical Instrument:
Jenne & Sam

Bike:
Melanie & Sam

Emergency Vehicle:
Melanie & Jennifer

I might have one for moonlight, boots, tail, and emergency vehicle... I need to check with Dawn first, though.

Sunshine point awarded.

I'm going to be reading:

A Promise to Protect by Liz Johnson

I plan on claiming moonlight, boots, tail, and emergency vehicle.

I'm going to be reading Moving Target by Elizabeth Lowell

It really bites about the word of the week being boots but I can claim moonlight, emergency vehicle, shoulder and of course boots...if Jenne and Sam could also claim shoulder that would give us 3 non called points :)

I can definitely claim shoulder this week!

I'm hoping I stumble across musical instrument too,

I think I'll be reading Wonder Boys but I probably won't start it for a couple of days. I should be able to claim shoulder though! :)

Is this Post correct? I thought we had 4 points.

She posted it before I turned in the point request.

Finished my book for this week. I'll get my review posted within a few days.

Week Four: Boots



I read: A Promise to Protect by Liz Johnson
Finished: 12/22/2012

Rating: 5 stars
My review:

A Promise to Protect was a great read! I liked it from the beginning and the book just kept continuing to get better as I read! I loved the characters - especially Matt, although Ashley and her brother Tristan were also favorites. I particularly liked how protective Tristan was and found myself chuckling a few times from things he did. ;)

The mystery was very good. I actually didn't guess who the culprit was and found myself surprised when it became known what was really going on. The romance was sweet and I liked how the book had an epilogue so it didn't seem like things were rushed.

After reading A Promise to Protect, I now plan on going back and reading some of Liz Johnson's previous books (especially The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn)... because if they are as good as this one, I know I'll like them. :)

I definitely recommend A Promise to Protect if you like suspenseful romance books - it's a great one.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author for my review. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion - which I've done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.*

Items claimed:
Boots: "...both dressed in all black from the beanies on their heads to the paint on their faces to the boots on their feet." Page 205
Moonlight: "The moon shone big and bright in the morning sky, showing him the exact path towards his destination." Page 154
Tail: "What if a few choice words from Tristan hadn't made him run with his tail between him legs?" Page 144
Emergency Vehicle: "Do you need me to send an ambulance?" Page 106

Week 4:Boots


Moving Target by Elizabeth Lowell
Finished:12/23
Rating:★★★

Items Claimed:
Weather:
Moonlight-It would have shimmered even under thin moonlight. _ Part 4 (13:39)

Clothing:
Boots-Wearing jeans, hiking boots, hunter-green shirt... _ Part 3 (41:37)

Body Part:
Shoulder-He figures that anyone with shoulders like yours... _ Part 1 (28:27)

Miscellaneous:
Emergency Vehicle-...sirens warned of approaching emergency vehicles. _ Part 6 (33:57)

Review:
I classify this as a middle of the road book. The story line was interesting and I enjoyed the history but it seemed to have some holes which made parts of it a bit hard to understand.
I enjoyed the characters but there was nothing real special about them. I found out after I finished the book that though this the first book in the series that both main characters, Erik and Serena, had appeared in another series by Lowell. So, there might be pertinent information in the other series that may have filled in those holes that I spoke of earlier.

Wow you guys were fast! Plus 3 (?) more points with these reviews. Haven't had enough coffee yet so my figuring could be off lol.

Good job Melanie and Jennifer! :)

I should probably warn you guys, I'll probably be a bit slower this week than I'd like. Last-minute mad dash to get ready for Christmas hasn't left a lot of time for reading lol.

Me too I've got 23 people coming here and I do all of the cooking.

We have 3-4 people (plus a couple of dogs) staying over tomorrow night, and there still seems to be some debate over who's hosting the dinner/réveillon tomorrow night so I need to get ready in case it's here. Lots of last minute stuff to do! Aren't the holidays relaxing? :P

Lol I know I'm going to need a trip to the casino when this is over!

It's just my son and I for the holidays...been that way since my grandma passed away 4 years ago. I cannot fathom what it would be like to have Christmas with more than 3 people :)

This year my dad is bringing his new girlfriend her two daughters and their boyfriends. I've never met these people it'll be curious to see how it goes lol.

We've got my dad and brother staying over, plus a friend since her family is out of the country for Christmas, and maybe my mom. It's also not clear yet whether my mom is bringing her boyfriend and his kids, so it could end up being a much fuller house than we expected!

Nothing like last minute changes lol! I'm off to get another turkey because apparently my husband doesn't think a ham 2 fried turkeys and a smoked turkey is enough.

Jenne wrote: "Nothing like last minute changes lol! I'm off to get another turkey because apparently my husband doesn't think a ham 2 fried turkeys and a smoked turkey is enough."

I've always wanted to try a fried turkey

IMO it's way better. It kills any gamey taste. And it's cooked in like 45 minutes!

This was the first time I tried soaking the turkey in a brine. It was very moist but my son said it didn't taste as good.
I got myself a new toaster oven this Christmas. It's more like a super oven it bakes, broils, it has a griddle on top, a rotisserie, and it even toasts...lol
So, next year I will use the rotisserie to do the turkey:)

Oh that sounds cool!

I'm always outvoted when it comes to turkey. No one else really likes it, so I think we're doing roast beef for dinner. Listening to you two talk about your turkeys is making me sad LOL.

So company is finally gone and I survived somehow! I will get us all updated and point requests in first thing in the am! Thanks for being patient with me this week :)

I'm amazed you are ready to start posting again tomorrow...having 23 people at my house would cause me to be backlogged forever:) So, no worries on my part:)

Lol I know I feel like I'm returning from the land of the dead. I had 4 extra dogs here as well. The only problem is my male dog doesn't like any other male dogs so we had to do some shuffling and locking up so no one would get hurt.

Hey all just to clarify the new point system. Since this round I am having team captains submit points you won't get the non-called item points until you have also claimed points for te called items.

To give you all the points requested I would have to claim some of the boot points. If I start doing partial team points I am going to end up confusing myself which ones have been posted and which ones not. So until the whole team claims boots you can't submit for those extra items.

I'm not sure I like the points this way.