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Reading Challenges
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2013 Summer Reading Challenge
I recommend Princess Academy: Palace of Stone for the last category. :)
My first one for afterlife/undead/etc... Is the enchantress by Michael Scott. The characters are Immortal.
here is my thinking on summer challenge books. 1- The Forgotten Garden- Kate Morton
2-The Enchantress- Michael Scott
3- The Cave- Marek Stephanowski?
4- Deep Fathom- James Rollins
5- A Tale of two Cities (No I have never read it)
Ooh I loved Tale of Two Cities in high school and I've been thinking it's time to reread it....
What a fun topic. I think for the undead/after life I will read Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder. It. Has a life magician with an undead army in it :)
Hmmm I'm trying to think of creative interpretation of afterlife/undead, as I find most of them are creepy, and I don't do creepy. Also, I recently made a decision to read more uplifting, hopeful, funny, warm books this summer. Still want thoughtful, intelligent writing, just not so heavy.....It will be fun searching!
How about The Night Circus for the "afterlife/undead category?"
So how does this work? Do I post the books I am reading or do I just tell you when I have completed them.
Molly wrote: "Hmmm I'm trying to think of creative interpretation of afterlife/undead, as I find most of them are creepy, and I don't do creepy. Also, I recently made a decision to read more uplifting, hopeful, ..."Molly, I've had a few friends recommend If I Stay by Gayle Forman (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43...), which is YA and I've been told is not a downer. Might qualify for #2.
Mod
I loved If I Stay and the sequel Where She Went. Really lovely exploration of dying, and not depressing at all.
So far I am thinking of:Garden: The World According to Monsanto: Pollution, Corruption, and the Control of the World's Food Supply or The Red Garden
Afterlife/Undead: The Dark and Hollow Places or Life After Life
Caves/Underground: The Caves of Steel
Natural Disasters: Zeitoun or The Year of the Flood
Revolution: Revolution
But, I often change my mind, so we'll see. I'm anxious to see others' ideas; maybe I can find better choices.
Susan wrote: "So how does this work? Do I post the books I am reading or do I just tell you when I have completed them."Let us know what you are reading as you go, because it's always fun to see what others are reading and have thought of for the challenge. But once you have actually completed the challenge all the way be sure to post saying so with a list of the five titles you picked for the challenge. (Seeing as this challenge runs for three months, and the discussion tends to get kind of long, I really need that post saying you're done or I'm likely to miss people.)
Right now I'm reading Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi and I think I'll include that under caves/underground. :)
I just finished a collection of H P Lovecraft in which two stories qualify for this challenge. I haven't decided which one category I'll file it under, Caves/Underground or Undead. I recommend both stories. They are readily available to read online.The Shunned House is perfectly horrible and related to the undead. I refuse to read vampire or zombie stories.
The Beast in the Cave was also freaky and heartbreaking. Perfect for Underground/cave.
I think I will use Clarissa, or, The History of a Young Lady for revolutionary because the style was revolutionary and the book caused quite a stir in the day. I started it late in May, but as I only finished Volume 1 of 9 yesterday, page 222 of 1534, I don't think anyone can complain of my "starting early." I've owned the book for 20+ yrs, and the size has been daunting. Two volumes are available as audio, the rest, thank heavens, are eBooks through Project Gutenberg, so far easier to lug around. I keep going to online commentary, too. I'm really enjoying myself. Here is hoping I can finish before summer's end!
Mod
Garden: The World According to Monsanto: Pollution, Corruption, and the Control of the World's Food Supply or The Red Garden
Afterlife/Undead: The Dark and Hollow Place..."
Becky wrote: "So far I am thinking of:
Garden: The World According to Monsanto: Pollution, Corruption, and the Control of the World's Food Supply or The Red Garden
Afterlife/Undead: The Dark and Hollow Place..."<
I really loved Revolution. I liked the way she mixed the main character's contemporary emotional landscape with the historical stuff. Very interesting.
Jennifer wrote: "Becky wrote: "So far I am thinking of:Garden: The World According to Monsanto: Pollution, Corruption, and the Control of the World's Food Supply or The Red Garden
Afterlife/Undead: The Dark an..."
Oh, good, then I'll stick with "Revolution" and won't go looking for another one in that category.
I just finished "Three Times Lucky," which works nicely for natural disasters. It was excellent--fun and insightful at the same time.
Suggestion for afterlife: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. One of my favorites, though parts of it aren't for the squeamish...
I've picked my five, although the title of two already changed from my first list that I never posted. So here is the current list. Wonder what I will finish actually having read.• gardens - Winter Garden
• afterlife/undead, etc. - Deeply Odd
• caves/underground - The Land of Painted Caves: Earth's Children
• natural disasters - The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea
• revolution - Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor
I am currently reading Winter Garden and Deeply Odd. Deeply Odd is the sixth novel of the Odd Thomas series. Since The Odd One sees dead people, I think that counts.
Land of the Painted Caves is the last novel in the "Clan of the Cave Bear" series. I hope this one does not have as much light porn as the last 3 did. I'll be doing it as an audio book so if I get to sex scenes, I'll just have to suffer through instead of just flipping a couple of pages.
For the remaining two, The Perfect Storm is the base from which the George Clooney/Mark Wahlberg film of the same name came. Andersonville is about the infamous Confederate Civil War prison camp. The Civil War was, after all, a revolution.
So there is my plan.
Carolyn wrote: "My first one for afterlife/undead/etc... Is the enchantress by Michael Scott. The characters are Immortal."And apparently now there are going to be zombies!
Debbie wrote: "I've picked my five, although the title of two already changed from my first list that I never posted. So here is the current list. Wonder what I will finish actually having read.• gardens - Win..."
I love the Odd Thomas series, I have read the first 4.
I think I will read "The Secret Garden" as my garden pick. it has been on my "to-read" list forever!
This should be fun! Right now I'm reading Madame Tussaud which will count for revolution. I'm not sure about the rest yet. But if anyone's looking for an undead book Graveminder by Melissa Marr was good and I don't think it was creepy. I loved the Forgotten Garden too!
Love all of Kate Morton's books, including The Forgotten Garden. I also loved the first Odd Thomas book, but haven't read the others. Thanks for the reminder. I may choose #2 for my "undead" book.
Here it is my list for right now I reserve the right to change it. 1. The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton
2. Embrace, Entice, Emblaze (I know there is three but I had to finish all the library had)
3. Underground - Jean Ferris
4. Without Warning - John Birminham
5. Signing Their Rights Away - Denise Kierman
I have finished number 2 so far.
Here's my list so far:Gardens: Clarissa Vol 1-2. Clarissa communicates with Anna and Lovelace by secreting letters in her poultry h house in the garden. She also is abducted by Lovelace from the garden.
Afterlife or Undead: The Shunned House, by HP Lovecraft.
Caves or Underground: The Beast in the Cave, by HP Lovecraft
Here’s a really odd unplanned coincidence with this summer’s reading challenge. Two of the most recent books I’ve read have centered around mines—I’ve definitely hit the caves or underground component, and totally by chance. (For those of you wondering what the titles are, I read My Loving Vigil Keeping and Web of Lies, which are about as different as two books can get, but I enjoyed them both.)
Summer reading challenge progress:• gardens - Winter Garden - In Progress
• afterlife/undead, etc. - Deeply Odd - Completed
• caves/underground - The Land of Painted Caves: Earth's Children
• natural disasters - The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea
• revolution - Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor
One finished, four to go.
Carolyn wrote: "I love the Odd Thomas series, I have read the first 4. "The fifth, Odd Interlude was good but this last one was as good as the ones based in Pico Mundo. Koontz had said his original plan was 6 novels but events in this one suggest there may be, in fact, one more. I hope so.
Dark Memories by Jeff Jeffrey S. Savage covers both caves/mines and afterlife/undead. It's well written too.
I am going to read the following:garden: the Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
afterlife/undead: Proof of Heaven: a neurosurgeon's journey into the afterlife by Eben Alexander - or- Francis of Assisi: the life and afterlife of a medieval saint by Andre Vauchez
caves/underground: The Lost Goddess by Tom Knox
natural disasters: Washed Away: How the Great Flood of 1913, America's most widespread natural disaster, terrorized a nation and changed it forever by Geoffrey Williams
Revolution: John Adams by David McCullough
Lynn wrote: "I am going to read the following....Revolution: John Adams by David McCullough"
It's been a couple years since I read it, but I really enjoyed John Adams; McCullough does an excellent job of covering John Adams' life. Though I wouldn't call it action-packed I found it really interesting and learned a lot.
I just finished The Glass Castleby Jeannette Walls. I'm definitely calling it a Natural Disaster. Disturbingly dysfunctional parents with four children. Yep, it fits.
If we scroll down to the very bottom of Merriam-Webster's definition of Garden, I can count It Happened at the Fair by Deeanne Gist. The setting is the Chicago World Fair and the generous descriptions definitely peg it as 1) a public recreation area, 2) an open-air eating/drinking place, AND 3) a large hall for public entertainment. That's two down already!
In Carrot Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke a main character escapes the murderer by hiding in a water -lily garden. So I am going to count that as my Garden book.
This is a tiny bit of a stretch but I'm going to count And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini as my garden. There is an orchard that plays an important role as well as gardens mentioned in a couple of other important scenes. It isn't a prominent theme in the book, but I think it works. I loved it!! Highly recommended.If I have time, I may read Morton's The Forgotten Garden as well for number 1.
I'm just starting Dark Memoriesfor my afterlife/undead.
I don't know what I'll read for the others.
I love these categories. They are so creative. I'm going to spend some more time thinking of the 5 books to read, but I want to read The Kill Order by James Dashner for natural disasters.
Afterlife/undead-- The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. The characters are immortal. (Well, some of them.)(Bizarre story-- remember the movie Big Fish? Yeah, it's like that.)
Summer reading challenge progress:• gardens - Winter Garden - Completed
• afterlife/undead, etc. - Deeply Odd - Completed
• caves/underground - The Land of Painted Caves: Earth's Children - In Progress
• natural disasters - The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea
• revolution change - Johnny Tremain - In Progress
I loved Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah. It's an incredble story that I highly recommend.
Two young girls, Meredith and Nina, love the fairy tale their mother tells them. Why Mama insists on telling it only in the dark, they do not know. Why Mama will never look at them, never give them a kind word, never give them any word at all except in the dark telling the fairy tale? What is wrong with them that Mama doesn't love them. At least there is Daddy who loves them and cares for them. In a frantic attempt to get Mama to notice them and to show approval, the girls and the neighbor boy Jeff write the fairy tale into a Christmas play for their family and friends. It all goes horribly wrong. After that night Mama won't even tell the fairy tale any more.
The girls grow up, Meredith remaining there working with her father in the apple orchard they own. Nina has become a world famous photographer, specializing in women in horrific circumstances -- famine, drought, war. Mostly she stays in Africa and the Middle East, wherever there is an "incident" her publisher wants her to cover.
Nina gets a call. Come home. Daddy is dying. Meredith pledges to her father to take care of her mother -- to get to know her. But how? He asks Nina to make her mother tell the fairy tale in full, all the way to the end. But Mama won't talk to them. So how?
Nina finally finds a way by being the journalist bitch who won't take "no" for an answer. She pushes and pushes and pushes her mother and finally wears her down. "Why didn't you ever look at us? Why didn't you ever talk to us?" she presses. Finally Mama answers "I did not want you to know my shame. I did not want you to know why I do not deserve your love."
Thus begins a trek into an unknown fairy tale, one that defines Mama's history. Who she was, what was her life, what she had done that was so bad that she knew her daughters could never love her once they knew her shame. And they would be ashamed of her, too.
Natural disasters-- Three Times Lucky.:)
Ok, I have officially read Unravel Me for underground, If I Stay for undead, and I'm reading Landscaping for Privacy for the gardens category. Still working out what to read for revolution and natural disaster...
Carolyn wrote: "here is my thinking on summer challenge books. 1- The Forgotten Garden- Kate Morton- in process
2-The Enchantress- Michael Scott- finished
3- The Cave- Marek Stephanowski?
4- Deep Fathom- James Rollins
5- A Tale of two..."
Ok finished oneUndead- Scent of Magic
Starting on my garden book - reading The Victory Garden with my children for garden.
I just finished a book for the undead category: Shadow of Night. It's the second in a series I've just started and really enjoyed. The series is about a historian witch and a scientist vampire--only in this book they're back in time in Elizabethan England. (Lots of different elements got combined in this book, but the author made it work and I really enjoyed it.)
The book I am currently reading for caves and underground is The Island House which is about a girl who is an archeologist. She digs underground to find her relics.Because I don't like most undead stories, I am going to read Ghost at Work for that category. For my garden book I am going to read The Secret Garden. I don't know for the other 2 categories. I am looking for good suggestions.
I just finished Underground by Jean Ferris. It is about a slave named Stephen whose owner has a hotel right by the Mammoth Caves. Stephen explores the caves and leads hotel guests through the caves. He also gets involved in helping other slaves hide in the cave as they try to escape to freedom. I will count this as my cave book.
Do you need to have read the first book in this series to enjoy/understand the second?Ann wrote: "I just finished a book for the undead category: Shadow of Night. It's the second in a series I've just started and really enjoyed. The series is about a historian witch and a scientist vampire--onl..."
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Books mentioned in this topic
The Night Circus (other topics)The Forgotten Garden (other topics)
Journey to the Center of the Earth (other topics)
A Tale of Two Cities (other topics)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Justin Cronin (other topics)Veronica Roth (other topics)
Joanne Fluke (other topics)
Joanne Fluke (other topics)
Deeanne Gist (other topics)
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• gardens
• afterlife/undead, etc.
• caves/underground
• natural disasters
• revolution
Feel free to creatively define how your book choices match up with the groundbreaking categories listed above. You have until August 31 to complete the Summer Reading Challenge.