12 Days of Summer Challenge - the Official Game Room - ended

[Amy]

Finally finished The Alienist by Caleb Carr. After reading so many rave reviews, I thought this book would be great, but I found it a bit slow.

[Sam]

I have finished by C with the Crossing by Cormac McCarthy, which I found good once I got past his style of writing and my H with a Human Condition by Rhys Davies which was an entertaining and insightful look a life in the quite valley towns of Wales.

I'm now starting on my next B with the Book Thief and so far I'm quite enjoying it :-)

[Luann]

I FINALLY finished The Last Unicorn. I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would, so it was easy to get distracted with other books. (I LOVED Catching Fire, BTW. I highly recommend it! But be sure to read The Hunger Games first.) Now I'm starting Aunt Dimity's Christmas, which should go pretty quickly. I want to finish this challenge before the end of September.

BEACH BLANKET

[Lauren]

I finished the challenge while on vacation

E - Everlasting
T - Two Truths and a Lie

[Luann]

I finished "A" with Aunt Dimity's Christmas and will immediately move on to "N" with A Nun in the Closet by Dorothy Gilman.

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[Lyn (Readinghearts)]

Congrats Lauren!!

Luann - you are almost done. Go Luann!

[Lauren]

Thanks Lyn! I really enjoyed this challenge :)

[Sam]

I finished my second B in the wee small hours with the Book Thief, all I can say is it is an amazing book and if it can get an ecologist all emotional at the side of a road during an all night bat survey it is a damn damn good book.

Reading Let The Right One In next...

[Luann]

I finished "N" with A Nun in the Closet by Dorothy Gilman. A great cozy mystery set in the 70s with nuns, hippies, and mobsters! :) Now on to "K" with Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer. Although I have a couple of other books I have to read first.

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[Amy]

Finished two more -- Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and The Keepsake by Tess Gerritsen. Two to go and then I'll be ready for the next challenge.

[Tara]

Amy and Luann are neck in neck! Congrats to everyone who finished!

[Lyn (Readinghearts)]

Go Amy and Luann - you can do it.

[Luann]

Why did I pick a 540-page book? :) Although it was very good. It took a while, but I just finished Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer. Now I'm moving on to Even Money by Dick Francis. Yay!

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[Amy]

I Finished The Echo by Minette Walters and am now reading Tropical Depression by Jeffry Lindsay, the last book in my challenge list. I was hoping to finish by the end of September, but I didn't make it. Oh well...

[Luann]

Amy wrote: " I was hoping to finish by the end of September, but I didn't make it..."

You and me both, Amy! :)

[Amy]

Finished!!!! Woohoo! Read Tropical Depression by Jeffrey Lindsay as my last T. Now to tackle the "One-Shelf-Down" challenge.

[Lyn (Readinghearts)]

Congrats Amy. Luann - we know you can do it !!

[Tara]

Congrats Amy!!

[Luann]

Congrats, Amy! I'll be there in about a book and a half!

[Luann]

One book to go! I just finished Even Money by Dick Francis and will now move on to The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan.

BEACH BLANKET!

[Leonie]

Have finished reading Hearts in Atlantisand The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Enjoyed both,
Cheers Leonie

[Sam]

Just finished Let The Right One In and on to the Amityville Horror next, I will finish this challenge before the clocks go back I'm determined...

[Sam]

Now finished the Amityville Horror, wasn't bad but not a brilliant as I was hoping, bit cliched on occasion (could be that a lot of other horror stories have stolen from this one but I'm not old enough to remember the book when it first came out), onto No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy next...

[Luann]

BEACH BLANKET!!

Finally finished!! I can't believe it took me so long. I had other books that had to be read in-between, but still! I'm just happy to have finally finished this one. My final book was The Titan's Curse, the third in the Percy Jackson series.

[Lyn (Readinghearts)]

Yay Luanne. Congratulations and kudos for sticking with it.

[Amy]

WTG Luann! Keep plugging away, Sam. You will make it!

[Lyn (Readinghearts)]

Ya Sam, you are almost there!

[Sam]

Well done Luann :-)

I've just finished No Country for Old Men onto The Katyn Wood Murders next, and thanks for the support guys :-)

[Luann]

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone! It really did help.

And keep at it, Sam! You're getting there!!

[Sam]

Finished The Katyn Wood Murders onto the End of Mr Y, which also contributes to my one shelf down challenge too :-)

[Luann]

Isn't it great when books count for more than one thing?

[Sam]

Oh yea it is Luann :-)

Finished the End of Mr Y, thoroughly enjoyed it too, Next on to the Three Musketeers for my T but have to read The Prestige in between to keep my OSD challenge going, ah well keeps me busy lol

[Leonie]

Just finished reading The Almost Moon didn't enjoy it as much as The Lovely Bones, couldn't connect to the characters and the writing seems to jump backwards and forwards from present to past without any indication that that was happening, making it hard to follow at times.

[Leonie]

Forgot to post that I finished The Life of Graham by Bob McCabe (authorised biography of Graham Chapman). Really enjoyed this book and would recommend it for Monty Python fans as a lot of input from the other Pythons as well as Chapman's family and friends.

[Sam]

And I have finished the Three Musketeers and thus the challenge WOOHOO. Was a very good book, had everything in it you would want from love and hate to conspiracy, intrigue, loyaty and betrayal.

Can't believe I did it, awesum!

[Luann]

Congratulations, Sam!!! Well done!

[Sam]

Thanks very much Luann, thoroughly enjoyed the challenge :-)

[Lyn (Readinghearts)]

Congrats Sam!!

[Sam]

Thanks Lyn :-)

[Leonie]

Finished reading Nefertiti A Novel. Came across this book when I was looking for historical fiction to read but needed something starting with "H" at that time for this challenge. Enjoyed this book - it was easy to read and very interesting.

[Lyn (Readinghearts)]

Leonie - I have been wanting to read this novel. What did you think?

[Tara]

Congrats Sam! You guys are doing great!

[Sam]

Thanks Tara :-) Good luck to those still going with it, keep going you'll get there :-D

[Leonie]

Have finished Killing Floorwhich was a rip-roaring page-turning thriller, couldn't put it down. Lots of twists and turns and surprises - quite gory though so wouldn't recommend it for the faint-hearted! Only 2 books to go now, nearly there!

[Leonie]

Just finished Empire of the Sunvery powerful and moving story of a young boy separated from his parents in 1941 Shanghai and spent the rest of the war in an internment camp. Very descriptive and graphic portrayal of what life was like for Jim and the other prisoners. Great book but I wouldn't recommend it for anyone with a weak stomach.

Only 1 book to go for this challenge - yeh!!

[Lyn (Readinghearts)]

Wow Leonie, good going.

[Luann]

Keep going, Leonie! Great job!!

[Sam]

Keep going Leonie, you're nearly there :-)

[Leonie]

I finally finished my last book A Thousand Splendid Suns and what a fantastic book to finish this challenge on especially if you consider that the Taliban banned books - how lucky are we to be able to read whatever we want, this really made me appreciate all the freedoms that we take for granted on a daily basis. Highly recommend this book to everyone!

[Sam]

Congratulations Leonie :-D