FALL 2013 READING CHALLENGE

[Rachel]

HAPPY HALLOWEEN :D

[Josh]

Happy Halloween!!!! =D

[Jenn]

Halloween was great!! I took my nephew out trick or treating and got lots of candy. Carved pumpkins and watched scary movies.

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

A bunch of freaks kept knocking on my door and asking me for candy so I told them to go to Hell.

[Josh]

I finished The Halloween Tree. It was a great but very strange book. It was just crazy what all happens in it.

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Now I am for real reading Chase by Dean Koontz for the Addicted to Drinking challenge. Once I am finished with that book, I will be rereading Fear Street: In To The Dark by R.L. Stine for a character with a disability. The main character is blind. With books, I expect to be done with them by next week since both are short.

[Rachel]

thanks for the update josh :)

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

Crazy, Strange - that Halloween Tree is sounding better all the time! :-)

I had forgot about that disability task. My friend J.S. has a new book where a character has cerebral palsy and uses leg braces. There is also a Ghost in this book so it would meet the Halloween Party task too.

[Rachel]

thanks for the update dc :)

[Danell]

I finished for #6 in the challenge. Challenged myself to read 5 books and ended up reading 6, not sure yet if I will try to read 7.

[Rachel]

thanks for the update danell :)

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

Danell! You are such an overachiever!!! :-)

[Danell]

lol you crack me up Dustin!

[Josh]

I would totally read 7 if I were you! =D

[Danell]

maybe...if I chose to read 7, I need to read a book where the character is addicted to drugs or alcohol. Any suggestions?

[Rachel]

Danell wrote: "maybe...if I chose to read 7, I need to read a book where the character is addicted to drugs or alcohol. Any suggestions?"

I took a quick look at your to read list and there are definitely some books that fit this task-

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood- I haven't read this one but loved the movie

On Writing- I really liked this one- if you have any interest in writing or Stephen king-i'd recommend it (king is a recovering alcoholic)

Doctor Sleep- haven't read this and have heard mixed reviews from gr friends

Sharp Objects- i'm reading this right now-not sure what I will end up rating it-it's a well written very interesting story-it's also really really disturbing. I've read her other 2 books and although i'm not done reading this one yet- I can definitely say gone girl is my favorite of the three (unfortunately I don't recall an addict in that one)

there are probably more but these jumped out at me- hope this helps.

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

Danell wrote: "maybe...if I chose to read 7, I need to read a book where the character is addicted to drugs or alcohol. Any suggestions?"

Burned by Ellen Hopkins. That's the one I read for that task.

[Josh]

I suggest Chase by Dean Koontz, I am slowly reading it now... POKEMON LEAVE MY 3DS ALONE!!! lol.

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

Josh wrote: "I suggest Chase by Dean Koontz, I am slowly reading it now... POKEMON LEAVE MY 3DS ALONE!!! lol."

Is Chase available by itself or only in the Strange Highways Collection?

[Rachel]

finished Sharp Objects-character was a alcoholic

[Danell]

All these choices...great! Am #42 for Doctor Sleep at the library, this would be my first choice because the Stephen King group I belong to is reading it this month. Am venturing to the library within a few days to search the shelves for the other titles that have been suggested. Thanks everyone for the great suggestions!! You guys ROCK!!

[Josh]

It is available as its own book, it was originally released in 1971. Koontz barely touched it up when he put it in the Strange Highways Collection. The UK does have it as a stand alone book.

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

Josh wrote: "It is available as its own book, it was originally released in 1971. Koontz barely touched it up when he put it in the Strange Highways Collection. The UK does have it as a stand alone book."

Interesting. I have Strange Highways and I did listen to it once on audiobook but don't remember much. been a while.

[Christine]

Another book to add to my challenge: 20th Century Ghosts These are excellent short stories. I am not a big fan of the short story because I usually feel cheated. I want more than the story will give me. Joe Hill, who is Stephen King's son, is an excellent writer and I found these stories very satisfying.

[Josh]

Just finished to the addicted to drinking challenge with Dean Koontz's Chase. It was a great novel. It is a short novel and old but it was great.

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My next book is of course Fear Street: Into the Dark by R.L. Stine... like I said in my last update. Then I will be unfortunately completed with this challenge which of course makes me sad.

[Rachel]

Thanks for the update Josh! Don't be sad- there will be another challenge in December ;)

[Rachel]

Thanks for the update Christine-I've never heard of that book-will have to check it out-thanks for the recommendation :)

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

Fear Street! R.L. Stine! Now that bring back some memories :-)

[Josh]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Fear Street! R.L. Stine! Now that bring back some memories :-)"

It is bringing back memories to me as well... Its a reread for me. Its the first Fear Street book I have read in a long time. The one thing I don't like about the book is there is too much dialogue and too little detail. Granted I still like the story and am enjoying it. lol.

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

Do you still read Goosebumps too?

[Danell]

I did it! Read for #2 of the challenge. I loved this book Rachel, thanks for the suggestion! It was my first time reading Flynn, look forward to reading more by her.

[Josh]

To be truthful, I have never read Goosebumps. I think we have a few laying around the house somewhere. I got into reading for fun when I was about 12... I got into reading when I got Cirque Du Freak. Somehow all my conversations have ended up with Darren Shan today. XD

[Rachel]

Thanks for the update Danell-glad you liked the book!

[Josh]

I finished the last challenge I had with R.L. Stine's Into the Dark. It good but not as great as I remembered it being when I first read it at the age of 14.

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I am now reading Kiss the Girls by James Patterson... finally. Anyways, Alex Cross is a detective so it fits the Sherlock Holmes Challenge... I didn't plan it but I am reading it now. =D

[Christine]

I just read a beautiful book about a deaf child The story as well as the drawings are stunning.

[Rachel]

Thanks for the updates Josh & Christine!

[Rachel]

Josh- Kiss the Girls is a great book -hope you like it.

[Rachel]

Christine wrote: "I just read a beautiful book about a deaf child The story as well as the drawings are stunning."

thanks for the recommendation, Christine! (going to add this book to my tbr :)

[Christine]

I'm trying to get the rest of my challenge done this week and next. We are moving again. I'm not sure I will have access to my books for about a month :( Anyway I added another book to this challenge, a book about a private investigator. I thought this one would be interesting because she was a fairy PI, instead it bored me.

[Rachel]

Thanks for the update, Christine- Good luck with the move! Hope you will be able to join us for next season's challenge once you're settled in.

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

Where are you moving this time Christine? Staying in Utah?

[Christine]

Nope, we are moving to Seattle area this time. I am hoping we will stay put for a while.

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

Christine wrote: "Nope, we are moving to Seattle area this time. I am hoping we will stay put for a while."

Did you consider Colorful Colorado? I would like you to be my neighbor :-)

[Josh]

Christine wrote: "Nope, we are moving to Seattle area this time. I am hoping we will stay put for a while."

TAKE ME WITH YOU!!!! XD I am from the Seattle area and I totally miss it. I hope you do enjoy you time in Seattle it's a great place for music and video gaming. The King County Library system ROCKS!!! They have a HUGE library between all the libraries in the county! =D

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

If you love Seattle so much just move back :-) Maybe Christine has an extra room you can rent.

[Josh]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "If you love Seattle so much just move back :-) Maybe Christine has an extra room you can rent."

I totally would move back if I had the money to do so. I sadly don't, so I am stuck where I am at the moment.

[Christine]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Christine wrote: "Nope, we are moving to Seattle area this time. I am hoping we will stay put for a while."

Did you consider Colorful Colorado? I would like you to be my neighbor :-)"

Not this time. We have to go where the job is. Only a few more years to retirement and then we can go where we want. Salt Lake City is high on the list to come back to.

[Christine]

Josh wrote: "Christine wrote: "Nope, we are moving to Seattle area this time. I am hoping we will stay put for a while."

TAKE ME WITH YOU!!!! XD I am from the Seattle area and I totally miss it. I hope you do..."

We used to live in Seattle about 20 years ago. I know what its like and I know that I will like it. My son lives there and I am looking forward to living close to him again. If the King County Library System is anything like I remember, I know I will love it again. Josh, I hope you get to go back there someday. We have talked before about how much you miss it.

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

I heard it rains a lot in Seattle but at least you'll have some good coffee :-)

[Josh]

Christine wrote: "Josh wrote: "Christine wrote: "Nope, we are moving to Seattle area this time. I am hoping we will stay put for a while."

TAKE ME WITH YOU!!!! XD I am from the Seattle area and I totally miss it. ..."
I dont know how it was 20 years ago. I was in Kitsap County for 13 years. But I lived in King County for the two years after that. They had a great program where they would hold books from other branches of King County library through the internet. I remember that being so cool because Kitsap County didn't have that.

[Josh]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "I heard it rains a lot in Seattle but at least you'll have some good coffee :-)"

I dont know if you have seen Phinas and Ferb but in the episode called Meepless in Seattle, they were flying a UFO to Seattle. They ran right into a wall of rain when they got to Seattle. Then the Grunge like music started playing in the background. Once they landed, you could see coffee shops EVERYWHERE. I thought it was so funny, Seattle is known for rain, grunge, and coffee. XD