OFFICIAL SPRING CHALLENGE - 2009 Showing 501-550 of 6,381

[Ryan Mac]

This is my first challenge and I'm going to try for a reasonable number of points--maybe 175 or so. Here is my list thus far:

Five Point Tasks
1. Science Fiction/Fantasy Novel: Gathering Blue
2. Letters collection: TBD
3. Spring Cleaning: Snow Crash
4. While Traveling: TBD
5. Christian Fiction: TBD
6. Women's History Month: Sandra Day O'Connor (by Joan Biskupic)
7. Arbor Day: TBD
8. Humorous Novel: When You are Engulfed in Flames
9. Spring Animal Title: Lamb, the Gospel According to Biff
10. Book with Tree or Flower: TBD

10 Point Tasks
1. Irish Author: Somewhere in Ireland, A Village is Missing Their Idiot
2. Mexican Theme: TBD
3. ANZAC Day: TBD
4. Author Birthday in May: Limitations - Scott Turow
5. Book with Magic: Mr Sebastian and the Negro Magician
6. Earth Day: Stargirl
7. Mother's Day: TBD
8. Armed Forces Day: The Silent Man - Alex Berenson
9. TNBBC Top Books List:The Shadow of the Wind
10. Five Stars Member's List: The Handmaid's Tale

15 Points
1. ARIES: Sea of Monsters - Rick Riordian
2. National Poetry Month: Where the Sidewalk Ends
3. TNBBC Group Read: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
4. Spring Visit: TBD
5. Award Winning Author: The Forever War
6. Translated Book: TBD
7. Rhyming Books: TBD
8. Get to Know the Author: Handle with Care
9. Book with Colour Title: TBD
10. 3-4-5: maybe the Chronicles of Narnia

Points: 180

[Kristina]

I hope to get lots of read! Here is mine list of what I want to read so far:
5 points
1. Fantasy - Wicked Lovely
2. Epistolary - Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable
3. Spring Cleaning - The Third Angel: A Novel
4. Car - The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell [sound recording:]
5. Christian Fiction - Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature
6. Women's History -The Women
7. Arbor Day - The Cat Who Robbed a Bank [Sound Recording:]
8. Humor - Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life [sound recording:]
9. Spring Animal - Owl in Love
10. Rain - Guitar Highway Rose

10 points
1. Ireland - Annie Dunne
2. Mexico - Como Agua Para Chocolate
3. Australia - Three Wishes: A Novel
4. Author Birthday - The Sweet Far Thing (March)
5. Magic - Bewitching Season
6. Earth Day - The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things
7. Mother's Day - Skin Hunger (Kathleen)
8. Military - Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles [audio recording:]
9. TNBBC Top Book List - Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books
10. TNBBC Member's 5 Star - The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (Addie)

15 points
1. Sign - Cordina's Royal Family: Gabriella (Leo - Royalty)
2. Poetry - Sylvia Plath: The Collected Poems
3. TNBBC Group Read - Love in the Time of Cholera
4. Spring Break - The Clock Winder (Baltimore, MD, USA)
5. Award Winner - Without Reservations: The Travels of an Independent Woman (1895 Pulitzer Alice Steinbach)
6. Translated - My Invented Country: A Nostalgic Journey Through Chile (Spanish to English)
7. Rhyming Books - The Children of Men & When We Were Romans: A Novel (Men & When)
8. Get to Know Author - Skinned (Robin Wasserman)
9. Color Book/Food - When the Black Girl Sings & food to be determined.
10. 3-5 of a Series - Charmed Thirds, Fourth Comings, & Perfect Fifths.

25 Points
1. G & R - Gone & The Reader
2. Diarist - Extraordinary Women: Louisa May Alcott: Life, Letters & Journals
3. Off Lindsey's List - The Perks of Being a Wall Flower & The Picture of Dorian Gray
4. Big Read - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
5. New Genre - Third Girl (Mystery)
6. 400+ Page Monarchy - Monarch: The Life and Reign of Elizabeth II
7. Reference - Pride & Prejudice
8. 2 Young Adult - Life as We Knew it & Sloppy Firsts
9. 12+ Word Title - The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible As Literally As Possible

[Lindsey]

Kristina, I think for the final 15 point task, you have to have third, fourth and fifth in the 3 titles, you can't use the same nominal for each book.

[Jeane]

♡ Eva ♡ wrote: "Jeane wrote: "♡ Eva ♡ wrote: "Jeane- if Moby Dick is my only choice this is one challenge NOT getting finished! LOL Tried that in high school and have NO desire to ever crack that again! LOL
I don..."

Thanks. I kind of admire myself too for doing it:-)))
Last weekend we went to eat at Eddie's rocket (kind of happy days styile) and ordered a Moby dick fishburger. i felt like that way I completely had finished with the book.

[Jenny]

Anyone else born in 1984 and found a good book for 'read a book written by an author who won a major literary prize?' I'm struggling.

[Kristina]

I now noticed that we were two Kristina's - so I'll go and try change my name to Tina, Stina, Kicki - or something. :)

[Jeane]

Joanna wrote: "Eva, I was having trouble with the Irish task until I remembered that those were the ones we voted on for March's group read. Then I went downstairs and found a hoard of Irish Fairy Tale and Irish..."

The book thief also...

[Jeane]

Jamie wrote: "Cynthia - Persuasion would be acceptable as a book about sacrifice, right? Self-sacrifice is a major el..."
Jamie, if I manage to read that one i will be so glad because didn't have a clue what I would read for this task!

[Jeane]

Karen wrote: "Jeane wrote: "Is there anybody who found a book for the award task and is born in 1980?"

Hi Jeane, that's me! :) It was hard since most of them didn't appeal to me! However, just keep in mind t..."

Karen, you are an angel. I looked up some books by that author and I find them very interesting1 Thanks a lot1 Alwyas better to try a book that looks interesting by an unknown author than one you aren't sure about the book.

[Jeane]

Cynthia wrote: "Bridget Jones is fine and so is The Enchantment of Lily Dahl.

Big Thanks to our wonderful mod Lori for creating a separate folder for the challenge."

It looks great the sperate folder and very handy too!!!!

[Jeane]

Tina wrote: "My first Challenge, I'm so excited! Am I the only one who just spent a freakishly long time on their list? But what fun!

5 POINTS

1. Science Fiction OR Fantasy Novel. --- The Time Machine by ..."
Tina, I am going to use 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (French to English) for the same task as you!!!

[Jeane]

Cynthia wrote: "Jeane - it would be the very first one listed - even if multiple books are on the same day.

Linda - yep One For the Money is good

Becky - that's what my handy-dandy excel spreadsheet is for...lol..."

Thanks cynthia, it is Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia and I am very curiosu about it!

[Jeane]

Jenny wrote: "I've never done a challenge before but I've had loads of fun just finding the books I want to read :P Let me know if any of these are wrong. If they've got a question mark it's because I don't know..."

Oooooh Jenny, you plan to read The horse whisperer!!! Read anything else by Nicholas Evans?

[Jeane]

Jon wrote: "yep C S lewis is a prominent Christian author - he wrote a lot of other Christian stuff - i had no idea till the film came out and they made a big fuss of the christian themes - Aslan = Jesus, sacr..."

What a weird surprise!!!! Even with all the explanations I read about it here it keeps being a big surprise....but interesting to know for the challenge!

[Jenny]

Oooooh Jenny, you plan to read The horse whisperer!!! Read anything else by Nicholas Evans?

I haven't no! My mum loved it and now has loads of his books!

Has anyone got a good suggestion for a virgo book? I've put down Lolita as its on my tbr list but it feels wrong using that one ha ha!

[Jeane]

Wow, I have jsut gone for the last two hours through eleven pages for the challenge and taking notes to make my choices...and should be finishing my books for the winter challenge actually.

Cynthia, for the star task I am a scorpio..would Saharacount for this one?

[Lindsey]

Jenny, for the literary award winner in 1984, Beverly Cleary won the Newbury Medal for Children’s Literature and Marguerite Duras won the Prix Goncourt, a French literary prize.

[Jenny]

Thank you Lindsey!! Marguerite Duras it is :)

[Robin]

Jamie wrote: "Robin - If you're still looking for an epistolary book, you can search here by going to the "Explore" tab, then "Books," then type in epistolary on "search by shelf name." Right now, there are 64 b..."

Great idea - Thanks Jamie - OOh I forgot about 84 Charing Cross Road - I really want to read that - That might be the one!

[Robin]

Melody wrote: "Robin - Sorry Ive just told you the wrong thing. Steinbeck won the Nobel prize in 1962, Edwin O'Connor won the Pulitzer in 1962."

Thanks Melody - So we can still use Steinbeck right - because he was a prize winner in 1962?

[Robin]

Joanna wrote: "Neil Gaiman is big on interviews, and has a great blog at http://journal.neilgaiman.com/ and if you like fantasy type stuff he always has fun things to talk about. There are a ton of interviews wit..."

Also for fantasy lover's if you read The Crown Conspiracy I also have a number of interviews from Michael on his webpage - I think he's been interviewed 4 - 5 times now - and there is another one coming out in a few days. You can find his interviews here

Some of the links with his interviews are:
Old Bat's Belfry
Reality ByPass
Renderosity Magazine
Springfield Connection Newspaper

[Jenny]

Thanks for that Robin. I've had your husbands book on my tbr list for a while and now I know where to slot it in :) Just got to get my hands on it now!

[Robin]

I love the idea of the ticklers


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[Robin]

Susanna UK wrote: "I'm having real trouble finding interesting books - eg. the book prize author is a totally dire choice for 1966...????

And my mother's name is Mollie; which I think leaves me with Ulysses or Moll ..."

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. won a prize in 1966 here are a list of his writings:

1939 Orestes A. Brownson: A Pilgrim's Progress
1945 The Age of Jackson
1949 The Vital Center: The Politics of Freedom
1950 What About Communism?
1951 The General and the President, and the Future of American Foreign Policy
1957 The Crisis of the Old Order: 1919-1933 (The Age of Roosevelt, Vol. I)
1958 The Coming of the New Deal: 1933-1935 (The Age of Roosevelt, Vol. II)
1960 The Politics of Upheaval: 1935-1936 (The Age of Roosevelt, Vol. III)
1960 Kennedy or Nixon: Does It Make Any Difference?
1963 The Politics of Hope
1963 Paths of American Thought (ed. with Morton White)
1965 A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House
1965 The MacArthur Controversy and American Foreign Policy
1967 Bitter Heritage: Vietnam and American Democracy, 1941-1966
1967 Congress and the Presidency: Their Role in Modern Times
1968 Violence: America in the Sixties
1969 The Crisis of Confidence: Ideas, Power, and Violence in America
1970 The Origins of the Cold War
1973 The Imperial Presidency — reissued in 1989 (with epilogue) & 2004
1978 Robert Kennedy and His Times
1983 Creativity in Statecraft
1986 Cycles of American History
1988 JFK Remembered
1988 War and the Constitution: Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt
1990 Is the Cold War Over?
1991 The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society
2000 A Life in the 20th Century, Innocent Beginnings, 1917-1950
2004 War and the American Presidency
2007 Journals 1952-2000

[Lindsey]

Jenny, I highly recommend L'Amant by Duras. Then afterwards, watch the movie, it's really good.

[Fiona (Titch)]

Cynthia, its 1.28pm in GMT here in the UK, so I wondered what time it needs to be in ur time for us to be able to post points for the challenges.

Also, where am I lookin for the Author chats that have been done so I can look for a book for Task 8 (15pts)?

Thanks xx

[Beth F]

Fiona asked...Cynthia, its 1.28pm in GMT here in the UK, so I wondered what time it needs to be in ur time for us to be able to post points for the challenges.

In post 503 Cynthia said: as long as you start on your time and finish on your time - but don't post any points until March 1st EST (Eastern Standard Time - my time zone)

[Fiona (Titch)]

Beth, I have no idea what Eastern Standard Time is hun? Could you elaborate for me please?

[Jen B]

Fiona wrote: "Also, where am I lookin for the Author chats that have been done..."

Fiona, I've had good luck finding these just by searching on Google. Many authors have their own websites where they'll post interviews they've done about their books. I've also seen them on sites like You Tube and on the book publishers' websites as well. It may be easier to pick a book you're interested in first and then search for whether the author has done an interview.

[Robin]

Almost all author's post their interviews on their websites -- I would pick an author you like - go to their site - and I bet you can find an interview - or two or three.

[Beth F]

Eastern Standard Time is the long-spelling of EST, which is the equivalent to GMT -5


And because I'm a nerd, I looked up this website with a list of all GMT time zones around the world, hehe: http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/info...

[Fiona (Titch)]

So its 8.50am where Cynthia is?

[Beth F]

Yes!

Or rather, 8:51

:P

[Jeane]

We have five hours extra!!!!! I guess....

[Fiona (Titch)]

Thanks Beth. I can post any points from 12pm (GMT) which would be 7am (EST)

[SusannaW]

Thanks for all the 1966 suggestions.

Cynthia - you're a genius...! Thanks for uncovering Margaret Atwood - that will be a great read.

I managed to also find Marie-Claire Blais won the Prix Médicis in 1966, so that would be a good option too.

LOL @ Susanna. Maybe we should look for novels on doppelgängers...! :)

[Lynlee4]

ITunes has quite a few author interview resources. My favorites are from Barnes and Noble ~ they have TONS!

[Jeane]

for the task with the interview can it be an author you read already books from or has it to be an author you don't know yet?

[Maggie]

Does anyone know, were the 25pt tasks being posted today? I can't wait any longer!

[Beth F]

I remember hearing a rumor along those lines, Maggie.

I'm looking forward to their unveiling too...and the mad dash to my unread bookshelf to see if I can make anything fit. :D

[Angela]

I am also patiently waiting!!! ladeeda...

[Maggie]

Glad I'm not the only one slobbering over the computer this morning waiting to find out!

[Cynthia]

Sahara is fine for the Scorpio task.

Jeane - You can have read the authors books before but you have to read one of their books during the challenge for the get to know the author task.

[Jon]

I just submitted mine for approval! - not sure if the official call outs happened though as the Winter ones not technically over yet

[Terri]

I can't wait to get started on this! I have an enormous pile of books on my bedside table!

Cynthia would you prefer us to post our proposed list of tasks and books here or is it ok if we just post as we go along?

[Jeane]

Thanks Cynthia. If you have somewhere time could you check if my last total is okay?

[Cynthia]

I'm going to post the 25 pointers that I have received now - I'm waiting on Darla's and there are 2 other people that are close to finishing the winter challenge - if they finish I'll post their challenges when I get them.

[Jon]

Cynthia...now i cant go to bed for excitement, ill have to stay up a bit longer lol

[Maggie]

Yowsers!

[Cynthia]

SusieR - you can just post as you go along.

Jeane - do you mean your point total for the winter challenge or your task list for this challenge?

Oh and because of space I had to move the 5 point tasks up one post under the rules so I could fit the 25 point tasks in the second post.