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Cynthia's Seasonal Challenges
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OFFICIAL SPRING CHALLENGE - 2009
I've finished 15-point task #2 - Read a book of poetry: I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder. It was really good.My new total is 20 points.
Aaaaaah!!! Where did the 'buy this book' link come from?! That's the LAST, LAST, LAST thing I need to see when I look at a book on here!!
Jon wrote: "Karen and Fallon ive just noticed you have koala pics too! Aussie Aussie Aussie :)"Oy Oy Oy!
LOL
I just finished Full Frontal Feminism A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters by Jessica Valenti for 5 pointer #6, women's history month. I really enjoyed the book - it has a jokey, blog-style tone, but it's a great primer on feminism, especially for teenagers but also for women in their twenties who are relatively new to feminism and want an easy read to introduce the issues (I turned twenty four today and I didn't find it "too young"). You can see my full review on the book page.[image error]
I'm at 20 points! 7. For Arbor Day – Do your part to save some trees by…
- Reading an e-book OR
- Listening to an audiobook OR
- By reading a book and “recycling” it - giving it away to someone else like a friend or through an online book swap/trading site or by donating it to a local library or charity.
Jen - yep Diana biog is all good for mine
My update:15 point task
1) It's written in the stars.
I am a Libra. I read THE ASSOCIATE by John Grisham.
my points- 20
Am I going blind? LOL which could be quite the possibility but how come I can't see any of Ros's posts like his plan on what he is going to read or what he has already read? I'm curious to know what he's reading. :~)
I think Ros is a girl. Ok, I finished 2 challenges.
5 pointer # 8 (for April Fool's Day), I read Why We Suck A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid by Denis Leary.
10 Pointer # 5 (for Harry Houdini), I read The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling.
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New total: 20
Just completed task 10-9. I was born in 1973 and choose a book from the third person on the list: Persuasion by Jane Austin.Since Pride and Prejudice is my all-time favorite book I am a bit ashamed that I
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hadn't read Persuasion! Loved it!
Sorry, forgot to add that it was a 10 point task, so I now have 15 point.Whoever came up with the ticker site-Thanks! Those are so cute, it's funto see what others have chosen to represent their progress.
Lindsey, do you have another book to count for Sara's 12 or more word title, because yours is 14... That would work there, and be worth more points... Just a thought.
Yep, for that task, I'm gonna read: The Radical and the Republican Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triumph of Antislavery PoliticsThanks though :)
Lisa wrote: "Am I going blind? LOL which could be quite the possibility but how come I can't see any of Ros's posts like his plan on what he is going to read or what he has already read? I'm curious to know wh..."Lisa, Ros is a girl hon. She has her copy of the tasks and she has never written them down on the last task. I am goin to see her in just under 3 weeks.
So the US Army has now blocked GoodReads from its computers. :( It was what kept me sane during night shift. This is me shaking my fist at the US Army.
I just finished another one.I read The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting for my ebook.
5pt task number 7!
That makes 35!
Jeane i dont know anything about this book, how easy it is to find or how heavy going it would be, but is along the right linesThe British Monarchy and Ireland 1800 to the Present
10 Points6. Earth/Moon/Sun/Planet: Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer.
For the first couple of chapters I thought that this would possibly, maybe be one of the better works in the series (Edward's initial reaction to Bella made for good reading). But then everything that annoyed me about the rest of the series came out in full force to make me equally annoyed by this book.
Total Points: 15
Completed tasks.5 POINTS
1. Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel - the book of lost things - john connolly
15 POINT TASKS
2. National Poetry Month - The best Australian Poetry of 2003
Points - 20
I need some help with the number seven 10 pointer - can anyone think of a book with a main character called Sandra?!
Just finished Ulysses audiobook - 10 pnts (dont go there!)Five Point Tasks
1. Science Fiction/Fantasy Novel: Brave New World
2 Letters: Paper Darts by Virginia Woolf
3. Spring Cleaning: Girl with a Pearl Earring
4. While Traveling: True History of the Kelly Gang A Novel
5. Christian: The Magician's Nephew
6. Women's History: Smart Blonde
7. Arbor Day: Fugitive Pieces A Novel
8. Humorous Me Talk Pretty One Day
10. Book with Flower: The Name of the Rose
10 Point Tasks
2. Mexican Theme: Under the Volcano A Novel
3. ANZAC Day: Cloudstreet A Novel
4. Author B'Day in May: Heat and Dust
5. Book with Magic: The Mistress of Spices
6. Earth Day: A Home at the End of the World A Novel
7. Mother's Day: Moominvalley in November
8. Armed Forces Day: The Ghost Road
9. TNBBC Top Books List: 84, Charing Cross Road (#98)
10. Five Stars: Of Human Bondage
15 Points
1. GEMINI: Twelfth Night
2. National Poetry Month: Singing the Snake Poems from the Western Desert, 1979-88
3. TNBBC Group Read:The Witch of Portobello
4. Spring Visit: Possession A Romance
5. Award Winning Author: Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally (won Miles Franklin Award for Australian Literature in 1968)
6. Translated Book: Our Lady Of The Flowers
7. Rhyming Books: The Remains of the Day / The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
8. Get to Know the Author: The Blind Assassin
9. Book with Colour Title: White Teeth
10. 3-4-5: Three Continents , Four Queens The Provencal Sisters Who Ruled Europe>, Slaughterhouse-Five
25 Points
1. G/R The Godfather/The Road Home
2. Diarist Illustrated Pepys Extracts from the Diary
3. Jamie's Shelves: Interpreter of Maladies and Mrs. Dalloway
4. Big Read : Pride and Prejudice
5. Off Genre - fantasy/chic lit The Time Traveler's Wife
6. Monarchy: War of the Windsors A Century of Unconstitutional Monarchy
7. PENDING
8. YA : I Am the Messenger/I Capture the Castle
9. Saras Crazy Title Sisters to the King The Tumultuous Lives of Henry VIII's Sisters - Margaret of Scotland and Mary of France
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25 Points5. Outside Usual Genre: The Toughest Indian in the World by Sherman Alexie.
And this is why I generally don't like short story collections. I think I will still try Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian but I didn't actually like any story in this collection (though "Dear John Wayne" started out with so much potential).
Total Points: 40
Hello all this is Rosalind (Ros) some are confused to if I am male or female. I am defently a female. I will sort out my reding pile for you later when I get home from helping at charity shop today.
I just finished The Lover, Marguerite Duras for challenge 5 in the 15 point tasks. She won the Prix Goncourt in 1984.5 Points
1. Alice in Wonderland
2. The Color Purple
3. The Last Empress
4. TBA
5. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
6. Falling Leaves The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter
7. Pride & Prejudice audio book
8. The Princess Bride
9. To Kill a Mockingbird
10. Sea of Poppies
10 Points
1. In the Woods
2.
3. True History of the Kelly Gang A Novel
4. Watership Down, Richard Adams (May Bday!)
5. The Magician's Nephew
6. Stardust
7. The Horse Whisperer
8. Captain Corelli's Mandolin
9. The Bell Jar
10. The Kite Runner
15 Points
1. Virgo Lolita/The Virgin's Lover
2. TBA
3. Jane Eyre
4. Aberystwyth Mon Amour
5.
6. Sky Burial An Epic Love Story of Tibet
7. Wuthering Heights & Northern Lights
8. The Lies of Locke Lamora
9. Redwall
10. 3, 4 & 5 of the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series
25 Points
1. The Russian Concubine & The Good Women of China Hidden Voices
2. Something about Lewis Carroll
3. TBA
4. Lord of the Flies
5. Into the Wild
6. TBA
7. TBA
8. I Capture the Castle & Across the Nightingale Floor
9. TBA
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I've only read one book so far, but I'm working on a few more. Too bad I've got so much to read and write for school right now. [image error]
Right, here's my list (with a few blanks):5 Points
1. A Darkling Plain - Philip Reeve
2. The Mislaid Magician- Patricia Wrede
3. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
4. Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris
5. Redeeming Love - Francine Rivers
6. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
7. Absent in the Spring - Mary Westmacott
8. Three Men in a Boat - Jerome K. Jerome
9. The Velveteen Rabbit - Margery Williams
10. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Graeme
10 Points
1. The Picture of Dorian Grey - Oscar Wilde
2. Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel
3. Finding Grace - Alyssa Brugman
4. Seven Daughters & Seven Sons - Barbara Cohen
5. The Prestige - Christopher Priest
6. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
7. TBA (still need help finding a book with a 'Sandra' in it!)
8. All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Remarque
9. 84 Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff
10. Rules of Deception - Christopher Reich
15 Points
1. TBA
2. TBA
3. Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
4. TBA
5. Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurty
6. Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
7. The Princess Bride - William Goldman, & The Devil Inside - Jenna Black
8. TBA
9. TBA
10. TBA (these 15 pointers are giving me a lot of trouble!)
20 Points
1. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens, & Rebecca - Daphne DeMaurier
2. Daniel Deronda - George Eliot
3. The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith, & Bridget Jones' Diary - Helen Fielding
4. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
5. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
6. Elizabeth, the Queen - Alison Weir
7. Pending
8. The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray - Chris Wooding, & City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare
9. Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe that Ended the Outlaw's Bloody Reign - Stephan Talty
I finished two more tasks:5 points
4. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Task: In Flammen - Minette Walters
10 points
4. author's birthday: Pictures of Perfection - Reginal Hill (his birthday is April 3rd)
Total points so far: 35
I just read A Light in the Attic5 points
1. Fantasy - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
2. Epistolary - Elisabeth The Princess Bride, Austria-Hungary, 1853
3. Spring Cleaning - Dragon of the Red Dawn
4. Planes, Trains,... - The Princess Diaries
5. Lent/Book about Sacrifice - Confessions of a Closet Catholic
6. Women's History - Stargirl
7. Arbor Day - Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban
8. April Fool's Day/Humorous - Zippity Zinger
9. Spring Animals - Junie B. First Grader: Dumb Bunny
10. Rain-Related - Electric Storm
10 points
1. Ireland - Maggie's Door
2. Mexico - Esperanza Rising
3. Australia - I am the Messenger
4. Author Birthday - The Tiger Rising Kate DiCamillo - March 25
5. Book about Magic - The Tales of Beedle the Bard
6. Earth Day - Walk Two Moons
7. Mother's Day - Night Flying Woman
8. Military - Flags of Our Fathers: Heroes of Iwo Jima
9. TNBBC Top Book List - I Capture the Castle
10. TNBBC Member's 5 Star - Tuck Everlasting
15 points
1. Leo (Royalty) - Fairest
2.
3. TNBBC Group Read - Stardust
4. Spring Break - The Kingdom Keepers
5. Award Winner - From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler
6. Translated -Pippi Longstocking
7. Rhyming Books - Blizzard of the BLUE Moon & The TWO Princesses of Bamarre
8. Get to Know Author - Princess Academy
9. Color Book/Food - Where the Red Fern Grows
10. 3, 4, and 5 Books - Reach for the Stars, Have Wheels Will Travel, & Look Before You Leap - Amazing Days of Abby Hayes
25 points
1. G & R - The Goose Girl and River Secrets
*2. Diarist - No idea
3. Person below post - Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator and The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles (Susanna)
4. Big Read - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
5. Other genre - Woodsong (non-fiction)
*6. 400 page British Monarchy - No idea
*7. ?
8. 12+ word title - Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot: Being the Correspondence of Two Young Ladies of Quality Regarding Various Magical Scandals in London and the Country
9. 2 YA novels - Enna Burning and The Wish
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Jon, I chose King Edward VIII: The Official Biography - Philip Ziegler for your task. It has 560 pages, hope thats ok.El, I chose A Moment's Liberty: The Shorter Diary of Virginia Woolf - (Abridged and edited by) Anne Olivier Bell for your task. I hope this ok for your task.
Lindsey said: So the US Army has now blocked GoodReads from its computers. :( It was what kept me sane during night shift. This is me shaking my fist at the US Army. GAH! I 100% completely sympathize with you. My company blocked Goodreads last Wednesday.
:(
Now I can only read/post when I'm at home. Not the end of the world...but still...
Okay, so a question for everyone who has a copy of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (the paperback version). Is there any brown on the edges of the pages? Like, brown splotches around most of the edges? I have a bad mold problem in the house and some of the books that have been in the closet for the while have molded. However, I bought Ladies' Detective Agency only a few months ago and it has been on my bookshelf, so I'm not sure if the brown spots are mold or are supposed to be there (I'm fearing it's mold...).
4. Read a book by an author who was born in March, April, or May.- You can find a list that will help with this task at http://www.authdir.net/
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson (22nd March) 10 Pts
1. KAREN’S TASK - As we are all totally completely addicted to GR (Goodreads), let's read…
- A book which title starts with the letter G AND
- A book which title starts with the letter R.
- Books like The Gargoyle or A Raisin In the Sun – that have titles beginning with A OR THE followed by a G or R word are acceptable for this task.
The Gargoyle & Robinson Crusoe by Andrew Davidson & Daniel Defoe respectively 25 Pts
Total as at 3 March: 40 Pts
I am finally on the board :) 15 Points
2. April is National Poetry Month – Read a book of poetry OR about a famous poet.
Identical by Ellen Hopkins-3/3
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Thanks Jon, I started it on the bus on way home. Did you know his full name was Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David (this is the Prince who was with Wallis Simpson)
sounds about right Fiona - they all have about 20 names lol. Prince charles is Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor :)I read a biography of mrs Simpson and it was really interesting
Okay, my preference for my task is that the diary is written before 1900. It's super easy to find a diary by someone in the 20th century - the challenge is finding someone before that.Fiona, those diaries of Virginia Woolf's were written 1915-1941.
I saw a while back Cynthia said if they were born in the 1800s it would be okay, but that really opens it up then for everyone to read a 20th century diarist which is not what my task was asking for.
Did u know that his mother (Edward's) was meant to marry his uncle before he died (he died just before their wedding). So she married his dad instead.
the saucy minx. that must have been Queen Mary right?
El wrote: "Okay, my preference for my task is that the diary is written before 1900. It's super easy to find a diary by someone in the 20th century - the challenge is finding someone before that.Fiona, t..."
El, I am struggling to find a diary from my local library that was written then. I showed my papers (what I printed of the list) to her and she even said its hard to look for as well. I can't find anything to read El, sorry.
Jon wrote: "the saucy minx. that must have been Queen Mary right?"Yes Jon, thats true. I actually have a family tree starting from Queen Victoria to just a few ppl on the new Monarchy.
do they have anything about Pepys for the diarist Fiona? mine had quite a few as major part of known English history from that period came from him
They do Jon, but not that I can see. Cos I think most of the books have been copyrighted and Abridged and edited by other people.
Fiona--I'm reading John Adams by David McCullough (Adams was a diarist; this is a biography of him). Or, as I previously recommended Boswell's London Journal, 1762-1763 is a pre-1900 diary (Boswell actually published several journals, but the London one is the most well-known). Or you could read Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson. There's also The Diary of Samuel Pepys (although I doubt you'll read his entire unabridged diary; that man wrote A LOT; you could read one of the years, like The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Vol. 4 1663). Pepys is one of THE primary sources for his time period. Almost any book about 17th century England will have at least one quote from him. Or you could read a biography of Pepys, i.e. Samuel Pepys The Unequalled Self. If none of these books are in your local library you can find them on interlibrary loan.
Bonnie wrote: "Fiona--I'm reading John Adams by David McCullough (Adams was a diarist; this is a biography of him)..."Bonnie, that last book u mentioned was in my library today. I will get that and read that if thats ok El.
LEADERBOARD
ROS - 70
FIONA (33) - 55
BONNIE - 40
KAREN - 40
LOUISE - 40
ASHLEY - 35
PERS - 35
BETH MN - 25
DOROTHY - 25
JENNY - 25
LIZ VEGAS - 25
SANDIE - 25
ANN FROM SC - 20
EVA - 20
FALLON - 20
LINDSEY - 20
SARA - 20
SUZIER - 20
ABBIE - 15
ANGELA - 15
JAMIE MN - 15
JON - 15
KATE - 15
LEORA - 15
ROBIN - 15
STEPHANIE - 15
ANGIE - 10
MELODY - 10
SANDY - 10
JUDITH - 5
KICKI - 5
KRISTINA - 5
LISA CO - 5
MEL - 5
SUSAN - 5
TINA - 5
VICTORIA - 5
Well now I'm confused. You said someone who *lived* before 1900s. I picked someone who lived a substantial part of his life in the 1800s and some in the 1900s, but I have no clue when he did most of his writing. I picked a book about him that was written after his life.
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4:A Great and Terribly Beauty by Libba Bray (3/02/09) Her birthday is March 11th.
15 POINTS
8:City Dog by Alison Pace. (3/01/09)
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Points: 25
Beth from (MN)