SUMMER 2015 READING CHALLENGE

[Rachel]

Please post all questions, comments and updates regarding the summer 2015 challenge in this thread :)


The Summer Reading Challenge will start June 3rd and end August 31st.

Rules of the challenge:

Read 3 books (or more)
Complete 3 tasks (or more)
Books can be any genre
Re-reads are okay


So this summer complete 3 (or more) of the following:


1. June is Audio Book Appreciation Month

so this summer:

LISTEN TO AN AUDIO BOOK


2. June 14th is Flag Day

so this summer:

READ A BOOK WITH THE LETTERS

S-T-A-R-S

OR

S-T-R-I-P-E-S

IN THE TITLE (THESE LETTERS DON'T HAVE TO BE IN ORDER)


3. July 1st is Canada Day

so this summer:

READ A BOOK SET (AT LEAST IN PART) IN CANADA

OR

READ A BOOK BY A CANADIAN AUTHOR


4. July is International Blondie and Deborah Harry Month

so this summer:

READ A BOOK IN WHICH THE MAIN CHARACTER HAS BLONDE HAIR

OR

READ A BOOK IN WHICH ONE OF THE CHARACTERS IS A MUSICIAN


5. July is National Vacation Rental Month

so this summer:

READ A BOOK IN WHICH THE MAIN CHARACTER GOES ON VACATION


6. The first week of August is Psychic Week

so this summer:

READ A BOOK THAT FEATURES A CHARACTER WITH ESP (has visions, sees dead people, can read minds, etc)


7. Random Task-This task counts towards the challenge but is not inspired by the season

so this summer:

READ A "FIRST"-

READ A DEBUT NOVEL

OR

READ AN ESTABLISHED AUTHOR'S FIRST BOOK

OR

READ THE FIRST BOOK IN A SERIES


HAVE A HAPPY SUMMER EVERYONE! :D

[Christine]

Woohoo! Summer (challenge) is almost here!

[Rachel]

Glad you like it Christine!
Also glad summer is finally here (almost:)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Thank you Rachel. Looking forward to participating :-)

[Rachel]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Thank you Rachel. Looking forward to participating :-)"

You're welcome, Dustin :D

[Josh]

YAY!!! Its here! =D I gotta figure out what book I am reading! =D

[Danell]

Thank you for a great challenge! #1 is a slam dunk for me, listened to 18 audio books since I changed jobs!

Happy Reading!
Happy Summer!

[Rachel]

Glad everyone likes the new challenge-Look forward as always to chatting with all of you (and adding to my tbr:)

Happy Summer everyone! :D

[Josh]

Okay so this is my plan.

For 6... I am finally going to finish Saint Odd.

For 7... I am gonna finish Carrie.

[Rachel]

Josh wrote: "Okay so this is my plan.

For 6... I am finally going to finish Saint Odd.

For 7... I am gonna finish Carrie."

Hope you enjoy them both! :D

[Jenn]

Thanks Rachel, I'm loving this challenge!!!

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

The audiobook task will be easy for me :-) The Stars & Stripes task with double S's might be a bit tricky.

[Josh]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "The audiobook task will be easy for me :-) The Stars & Stripes task with double S's might be a bit tricky."

Star Wars! Tah Duh! Easy! XD

[Rachel]

Jenn wrote: "Thanks Rachel, I'm loving this challenge!!!"

You're welcome, Jenn! Glad you like it :D

[Rachel]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "The audiobook task will be easy for me :-) The Stars & Stripes task with double S's might be a bit tricky."

Actually everyone in the group has books that will fit this task-whenever I do a letter or word task- I check all your tbrs to make sure most if not all of you will have at least a few options :D

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Wowzers! Your dedication is very impressive :-)

[Rachel]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Wowzers! Your dedication is very impressive :-)"

Thank you :)

I just want everyone to have fun.

[Jenn]

I'm going to start out on #4 Blondie month with

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

I am currently listening to the first of many audiobooks I will listen to during this challenge :-)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

FYI: Strange Highways (Dean Koontz's short story collection) is the June Group Read in the Koontzland - Dean Koontz group and also meets the S-T-A-R-S task :-)

[Rachel]

Thanks for the updates, Jenn & Dustin! :D


Looking forward to your comments on The Likeness

Unfortunately that dean koontz book seems harder to find than many of his others-hope that everyone who's able to get a copy enjoys it!

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Strange Highways is hard to find as an audiobook & ebook, but should be easy enough to find for someone who wants to read the old fashioned printed on paper way :-)

[Danell]

Finished , which works for challenge #7, first book in a series. Good book!

[Rachel]

Danell wrote: "Finished , which works for challenge #7, first book in a series. Good book!"

Thanks for the update, Danell!

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

I am enjoying The Likeness, which is book 2 in a series. Now I want to go back and read book 1 which will meet one the tasks of the Summer Challenge :-)

[Rachel]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "I am enjoying The Likeness, which is book 2 in a series. Now I want to go back and read book 1 which will meet one the tasks of the Summer Challenge :-)"

Glad to hear it's good so far :D

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Is it true that Mr. Mercedes is actually book one in a trilogy? If so, that will be another one I can use for this challenge :-)

[Rachel]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Is it true that Mr. Mercedes is actually book one in a trilogy? If so, that will be another one I can use for this challenge :-)
"

yes :D
i can't wait to read the 2nd one!

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

When is book two expected?

[Rachel]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "When is book two expected?"

it just came out this month :)

[Rachel]

Finders Keepers

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Wow! Awesome! I can read one right after the other then :-)

[Rachel]

Hope you like them! :D

[Christine]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Wow! Awesome! I can read one right after the other then :-)"

I think I will do that too!

[Christine]

I just finished Its first in a series. Its been on my shelves for a long time.

[Rachel]

Thanks for the update, Christine! :D

[Christine]

I finally finished Strangers by Dean Koontz. I can't tell you why it took me so long to read it. It was so suspenseful. I loved the characters. It counts as my book with S-T-A-R-S in the title.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Christine wrote: "I finally finished Strangers by Dean Koontz. I can't tell you why it took me so long to read it. It was so suspenseful. I loved the characters. It counts as my book with S-T-A-R-S in the title."

HELL YEAH!

[Rachel]

Christine wrote: "I finally finished Strangers by Dean Koontz. I can't tell you why it took me so long to read it. It was so suspenseful. I loved the characters. It counts as my book with S-T-A-R-S in the title."

Thanks for the update, Christine! :)

[Danell]

I listened to which works for #6.

[Christine]

I finished
Lord John has blonde hair!

[Rachel]

Thanks for the updates, Danell & Christine! :D

[Rachel]

Listened to My Mother Was Nuts for the audiobook task. I'm a Penny Marshall fan so I really enjoyed this. 4 stars

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

I love Penny Marshall. Maybe I should listen to that book :-)

[Rachel]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "I love Penny Marshall. Maybe I should listen to that book :-)"

If you're a Penny Marshall fan-I definitely recommend the audio book.

Hope you like it if you decide to pick it up. :)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Thanks for the recommendation. Are you a Laverne & Shirley fan also? Did you see that new year movie (2011) where Penny made a cameo appearance? How about Hocus Pocus where she was Satan's wife? :-)

[Rachel]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Thanks for the recommendation. Are you a Laverne & Shirley fan also? Did you see that new year movie (2011) where Penny made a cameo appearance? How about Hocus Pocus where she was Satan's wife? :-)"

Definitely a Laverne & Shirley fan! The book made me want to watch the show again. I didn't see those movies but will look out for her if I do :D

p.s. She gives a behind the scenes look at her time working on the show and all the movies she directed in the book.

[Danell]

Listened to Half Broke Horses, going to count this book for #1 in the challenge, although it seems all I do is listen to audio books now. Good book!

[Rachel]

Danell wrote: "Listened to Half Broke Horses, going to count this book for #1 in the challenge, although it seems all I do is listen to audio books now. Good book!"

Thanks for the update, Danell! :D

Is that the author's grandmother's story? I read and thought it was good-should probably read more of her books. Glad you liked it!

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

I read the Glass Castle 5 years ago, thought it was good :-)