Keep Calm and Read On - Melissa's Corner

[Melissa]

This is one of my own challenges. I received several books for Christmas this year and would really like to read them all by next Christmas. Here they are:

Completed 11/11
Challenge Complete!

1. The Silent Wife - Done 12/27 - 4 stars
2. Joyland - Done 07-17 - 4 stars
3. Tell the Wolves I'm Home - Done - 03/02 - 5 stars
4. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? - Done 12/31
5. Dad Is Fat - done - 12/7
6. Me Before You - done - 2/14
7. The Bat - done - 12/22
8. Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison - Done 4/11 - 2 stars
9. The Dinner - Done 1/3 - 4 stars
10. The Wolf of Wall Street - Done 1/30 - 1 star
11. Reconstructing Amelia - Done 5/28 - 3 Stars

[Kathryn]

You've got some good books there, Melissa! I read 11/22/63 this year and thought it was fantastic! And you've got some books that are on my TBR list as well. Happy reading in 2014!

[Melissa]

Kathryn wrote: "You've got some good books there, Melissa! I read 11/22/63 this year and thought it was fantastic! And you've got some books that are on my TBR list as well. Happy reading in 2014!"

Thank you Kathryn. I've been a Stephen King fan for, oh, about 30 years now! Wow. It hurts to write that :) Happy reading to you also!

[Agnes]

Melissa wrote: "My own challenge: Clear the Book Shelf Goal. These are books that are physically on my book shelf at home, waiting to be read. There are probably more hiding somewhere so I may be adding to this..." I love it! What a great idea, now I need to go clean out my cupboard ~ thanks!

[Melissa]

Agnes wrote: "Melissa wrote: "My own challenge: Clear the Book Shelf Goal. These are books that are physically on my book shelf at home, waiting to be read. There are probably more hiding somewhere so I may b..."

Yes Agnes. I have way too many books sitting there not read and I cannot stop myself from buying more in addition to getting more from the library - it's insanity! I want to read all of these books that have been sitting there for some time now.

Good luck with your cleaning!

[Melissa]

CLEAR MY BOOKSHELF
BOOKS TO READ


Odd Thomas
Under the Dome
American Gods
A Game of Thrones
The Corrections
Empire Falls
Gone with the Wind
The Jane Austen Book Club
Seven Ways to Lose Your Lover
The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women and a Forty-Year Friendship
Good Grief
The Joy Luck Club
The Wonder Spot
Lone Wolf
Townie: A Memoir
Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way
Taking Heat: The President, the Press, and My Years in the White House
The Dirt: Confessions Of The World's Most Notorious Rock Band
In a Sunburned Country
Magical Thinking: True Stories
The Year of Magical Thinking
Shootin' the Shit with Kevin Smith: The Best of the SModcast
Thin Is the New Happy
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
Assholes Finish First
The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World
Notes from the Underwire: Adventures from My Awkward and Lovely Life
Zeitoun
I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution
Columbine
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Inventory: 16 Films Featuring Manic Pixie Dream Girls, 10 Great Songs Nearly Ruined by Saxophone, and 100 More Obsessively Specific Pop-Culture Lists
Earth: a Visitors Guide: Weird, Strange, Bizarre...and True
Sick Puppy
In Cold Blood
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Uglies
What Happened to Goodbye
In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks: . . . And Other Complaints from an Angry Middle-Aged White Guy
The Kite Runner
Too Fat to Fish
Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's
Best Friends Forever
My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands
My Story
A Stolen Life

[Jodi]

You have a lot of books planned. I like the idea of reading the books you already own. I have a few boxes of books in my closet I would like to get through. Most of my books I read on my Kindle now. Good luck with your books.

[Melissa]

Jodi wrote: "You have a lot of books planned. I like the idea of reading the books you already own. I have a few boxes of books in my closet I would like to get through. Most of my books I read on my Kindle now..."

Thank you. I do have so many books picked up over the years and it is really time to read them or give them up so I'm going to go for it. Of course right now I'm only reading the ones I received for Christmas so even though I'm still reading books on my bookshelf, they are not the ones that have been sitting there for years. I tried reading on my Kindle but couldn't get into it. I'm sure I'll attempt again eventually. Thanks for the good wishes and good luck on your 2014 goal as well!

[Melissa]

Sunshine State Young Readers Awards 2013-14
Elementary School

Alas - this list will not be completed! I didn't read Mousenet and this Sunshine State Readers Year is over for my son and I'm moving onto the next year's list but hey, 14 of the 15 is pretty good :)

Melonhead - done Jan14 - 4 stars
Janitors - done Nov13 - 3 stars
The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook - done Jan14 - 4 stars
Touch Blue - done Jan14 - 4 stars
Waiting for the Magic - done Feb14 - 5 stars
The One and Only Ivan - done Mar14 - 2 stars
Fake Mustache - done Feb14 - 3 stars
Floors - done Feb14 - 3 stars
The Year of the Book - done Feb14 - 3 stars
Double Dog Dare - done Mar14 - 3 stars
Glory Be - done Mar14 - 3 stars
The Wish Stealers - done Mar14 - 3 stars
Mousenet
The Candymakers - done Apr14 - 4 stars
Thomas and the Dragon Queen - done Feb14 - 3 stars

[Melissa]

Quarterly Rainbow Reading Challenge
January 1 - March 31, 2014
Completed 10/10

[Melissa]

2nd QUARTER CHALLENGE
#readwomen2014

Wendy Mass done - April - 4 stars

Kimberly McCreight done - May - 3 stars

Erin Morgenstern - Done - June - 5 stars


Madeleine L'Engle Done - June - 3 Stars


Tammara Webber Done - April - 4 Stars

Laurie Halse Anderson - Done - April - 1 Star


Cheryl Strayed - Done - May - 5 Stars

Lisa See - Done - May - 3 Stars

Shilpi Somaya Gowda - Done - June - 3 stars

Anita Shreve - Done - April - 4 Stars

Piper Kerman - Done - April - 2 Stars

Jenny Lawsoni> - Done - December - 5 Stars



Koren Zailckas - Done - April - 1 Star

Sarah Thyre - Done - May - 3 Stars

Joan Didion

Gwen Macsai - Done - April - 1 Star

Jenna Miscavige Hill- Done - November

Maria Semple - Done - April - 4 stars

Betty Smith - Done - August - 4 stars


Ann Brashares - Done - April - 2 stars

- Done June - 5 stars

[Melissa]

SECOND QUARTER CHALLENGE: FINISH THOSE SERIES!


1. Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris

Dead Until Dark
Living Dead in Dallas
Club Dead
Dead to the World
Dead as a Doornail
Definitely Dead
All Together Dead
From Dead to Worse
Dead and Gone
Dead in the Family
Dead Reckoning
Deadlocked
Dead Ever After



Completed: 13/13

2. Pretty Little Liars Series by Sara Shepherd

Pretty Little Liars
Flawless
Perfect
Unbelievable
Wicked
Killer
Wanted
Heartless
Twisted
Ruthless
Stunning
Burned
Pretty Little Secrets
Crushed
Deadly
Toxic
Ali's Pretty Little Lies
Vicious



Completed: 16/18


3. The Giver Series

The Giver
Gathering Blue
Messenger
Son



Completed: 4/4

4. Divergent Series

Divergent
Insurgent - Done - April
Allegiant - Done - June



Completed: 3/3

[Melissa]

2nd Quarter Challenges - All Books TBR
April 1 - June 30, 2014

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42.

[Melissa]

YEARLY CHALLENGE
Recommended by 2014 Reading Challengers
Completed 8/10

The Night Circus
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
Ender's Game
Joyland
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The Knife of Never Letting Go
The Great Gatsby
Still Alice

[Melissa]

2nd Quarter Challenges - Books Completed
April 1 - June 30, 2014

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.
18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 23. 24.
25. 26.

[Melissa]

Summer Reading: June - July - August
Sunshine State Readers Young Readers List
2014-2015

Dorko the Magnificent - Done - September - 3 Stars
Magic Marks the Spot
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library - Done - August - 5 Stars
The Adventures of Beanboy - Done - September - 3 Stars
The Adventures of a South Pole Pig: A novel of snow and courage - Done - September - 4 Stars
Elvis and the Underdogs - Done - August - 5 Stars
When Life Gives You O.J. - Done - August - 4 Stars
Capture the Flag - Done - September - 3 Stars
Hooper Finds a Family: A Hurricane Katrina Dog's Survival Tale - Done - September - 3 Stars
Abby Carnelia's One and Only Magical Power - Done - September - 2 Stars
Stranded - Done - September - 4 Stars
The Sasquatch Escape - Done - June - 5 Stars
Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin - Done - September - 5 Stars
King of the Mound: My Summer with Satchel Paige - Done - July - 3 Stars
8 Class Pets + 1 Squirrel Divided By 1 Dog = Chaos - Done - August - 3 Stars

[Melissa]

Summer Reading

These are books I've brought home from work (Elementary School Library) that I want to read this summer so I can return them at the start of the new school year in August.

The Phantom Tollbooth
The Graveyard Book
Wonder
Hatchet
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Out of My Mind
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Anne of Green Gables

[Alison]

I have read most of the books you brought home from school. There are some good ones!

[Melissa]

Alison wrote: "I have read most of the books you brought home from school. There are some good ones!"

Thanks Alison - I'm looking forward to reading them!

[Melissa]

July Reading
Hoarder Challenge
Challenge Completed! 10/10

✓1. Read the book that has been on your Goodreads TBR list longest.
Midwives by Chris Bohjalian


✓2. Read a book from your physical book shelf or any other stash of books.
Joyland by Stephen King


✓3. Read a book you got as a gift or for free.
The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson


✓4. Read a book recommended by or borrowed from a friend.
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen


✓5. Read a group read that you missed.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith


✓6. Read the next book in a series that you've neglected.
Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris


✓7. Read the book that you've most recently added to your TBR list.
Girlchild by Tupelo Hassman


✓8. Read a book you started and never finished.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card


✓9. Read a book you bought with great intentions to read and just haven't got to it yet.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald



✓10. Read a book that you should have read in high school or college but you faked through instead (I read everything I was supposed to read in school so I threw in this classic)
The Picture of Dorian Gray byOscar Wilde

[Melissa]

July Summer Vacation Reading Challenge
Completed 3/3 - Challenge Complete

✓N = Night
✓S = King of the Mound: My Summer with Satchel Paige
✓B = The Graveyard Book

[Melissa]

JULY READING CHALLENGES
SUMMER VACATION & HOARDERS CHALLENGE
Challenge Completed! 13/13

✓ 1.Midwives - July 29
✓ 2.Joyland - July 17
✓ 3.The Family Fang - July 19
✓ 4.Hatchet - July 4
✓ 5.Deadlocked - July 9
✓ 6.A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - August 10
✓ 7.Girlchild - July 14
✓ 8.Ender's Game - July 23
✓ 9.The Great Gatsby - July 3
✓ 10.The Picture of Dorian Gray - July 2
✓ 11.Night - July 3
✓ 12.King of the Mound: My Summer with Satchel Paige - July 13
✓ 13.The Graveyard Book - July 21

[Melissa]

3rd Quarter 2014
July-August-September
Books Read

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31.

[Melissa]

3rd QUARTER READING CHALLENGE
July Hoarder's Challenge+2nd Quarter Round-up+Summer Reads
Completed 31/44

✓ 1.Midwives - Done - July
✓ 2.Joyland - Done - July
✓ 3. The Family Fang - Done - July
✓ 4.Hatchet - Done - July
✓ 5.Deadlocked - Done - July
✓ 6.Girlchild - Done - July
✓ 7.Ender's Game - Done - July
✓ 8.The Great Gatsby - Done: July
✓ 9.The Picture of Dorian Gray - Done: July 2
✓ 10.Night - Done: July
✓ 11.King of the Mound: My Summer with Satchel Paige - Done: July
✓ 12.The Graveyard Book - Done: July
✓ 13.Dorko the Magnificent - Done: September
14.Magic Marks the Spot
✓ 15.Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library - Done - August
✓ 16.The Adventures of Beanboy - Done - September
✓ 17.The Adventures of a South Pole Pig: A novel of snow and courage - Done - September
✓ 18.Elvis and the Underdogs - Done - August
✓ 19.When Life Gives You O.J. - Done - August
✓ 20.Capture the Flag - Done - September
✓ 21.Hooper Finds a Family: A Hurricane Katrina Dog's Survival Tale - Done - September
✓ 22.Abby Carnelia's One and Only Magical Power - Done - September
✓ 23.Stranded - Done - September
✓ 24.The Sasquatch Escape - Done - June
✓ 25.Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin - Done - September
✓ 26.8 Class Pets + 1 Squirrel Divided By 1 Dog = Chaos - Done - August
✓ 27.The Phantom Tollbooth - Done - August
✓ 28.Wonder - Done - August
29.Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
✓ 30.Out of My Mind - Done - August
31.Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
32.Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
✓ 33.Anne of Green Gables - Done - August
34.Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape
35.Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir
✓ 36.Twisted - Done: September
37.Ruthless
38.Stunning
39.Crushed
40.Pretty Little Secrets
41.Deadly
42.Toxic
43.Dead Ever After
✓ 44.A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Done - August

[Melissa]

[Melissa]

4th Quarter Book Challenge
October-November-December

Completed 15/76

✓ 1.Ruthless -Done-October 2
✓ 2.Stunning -Done-October 6
✓ 3.Burned -Done-October 9
✓ 4.Crushed -Done-October 18
✓ 5.Pretty Little Secrets -Done-October 15
✓ 6.Deadly -Done-October20
✓ 7.Toxic -Done-October 21
8.Ali's Pretty Little Lies
9.Vicious
✓ 10.Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape -Done-November
✓ 11.Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir -Done-December
✓ 12.Dead Ever After -Done-October 24
13.Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
✓ 14.This is Where I Leave You -Done-October 27
✓ 15.Dad Is Fat -Done-December 7
16.Odd Thomas
17.Under the Dome
✓ 18.Heart-Shaped Box -Done-December
19.American Gods
20.A Game of Thrones
✓ 21.Middlesex -Done-November
22.The Corrections
23.Empire Falls
24.Gone with the Wind
25.The Jane Austen Book Club
26.Seven Ways to Lose Your Lover
27.The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women and a Forty-Year Friendship
28.Good Grief
29.The Joy Luck Club
30.The Wonder Spot
31.Lone Wolf
32.Townie: A Memoir
33.Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way
34.Taking Heat: The President, the Press, and My Years in the White House
35.The Dirt: Confessions Of The World's Most Notorious Rock Band
36.In a Sunburned Country
37.Magical Thinking: True Stories
38.The Year of Magical Thinking
39.Shootin' the Shit with Kevin Smith: The Best of the SModcast
40.Thin Is the New Happy
41.The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
42.Assholes Finish First
43.The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World
44.Notes from the Underwire: Adventures from My Awkward and Lovely Life
45.Zeitoun
46.I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution
47.Columbine
48.A Short History of Nearly Everything
49.Inventory: 16 Films Featuring Manic Pixie Dream Girls, 10 Great Songs Nearly Ruined by Saxophone, and 100 More Obsessively Specific Pop-Culture Lists
50.Earth: a Visitors Guide: Weird, Strange, Bizarre...and True
51.Sick Puppy
52.In Cold Blood
✓ 53.Before I Go To Sleep -Done-November
54.Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
✓ 55.Still Alice -Done-November
56.Uglies
57.What Happened to Goodbye
58.In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks: . . . And Other Complaints from an Angry Middle-Aged White Guy
59.The Kite Runner
✓ 60.The Truth about Forever -Done-November
61.Too Fat to Fish
62.Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's
✓ 63.That Summer -Done-November
64.Magic Marks the Spot
65.The Perks of Being a Wallflower
66.The Knife of Never Letting Go
67.Lone Wolf
68.Crossed
69.Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
70.Happy, Happy, Happy
71.What Alice Forgot
72.Best Friends Forever
74.Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Shit? Volume Two
75.My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands
76.Best Friends Forever

[Melissa]

4th Quarter 2014
October-November-December
Books Read

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.
18. 19. 20. 21.