The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
WELCOME
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INTRODUCTIONS
Hi, my Name's vikz and I'm glad to join your challenge
Melissa wrote: "Hi Katie! If I had to guess I'd have to say your in the Severna Park or Millersville area. I went to College Park too. Go Terps!Good Luck with your reading challenge and finding your forever job!"
Yup, SP. Go Terps, indeed.
Hello I'm Tracy. I'm 47 and live in England. I have 3 grown up children and a 7 year old daughter.I love reading and challenges so this is perfect for me. I've only just joined this site and this is the first group I've joined. I'm looking forward to my first challenge.
Katie wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Hi Katie! If I had to guess I'd have to say your in the Severna Park or Millersville area. I went to College Park too. Go Terps!Good Luck with your reading challenge and finding ..."
Hi Katie,
I luv the turtle! We try to tailgate one home game a year. Good luck with the challenge.
Hi, I guess it's about time I got around to posting in this thread. I'm Leslie, I'm 27 and I live in Sacramento, California. Live by myself and have a cat, who doesn't so much lie on my books as she does try to bite the corners of them while I'm reading. Excited about starting the fall challenge, and loving the new forum! It's so much easier to find ideas for specific tasks and answers to specific questions.
Hi, all. My name is Angie and I live in Fort Worth, TX. I'm a library assistant at a local elementary school. I've returned to college this semester after several years of being away. The first seasonal reading challenge I participated in was the Winter '08/09 challenge and I really enjoyed it. I did pretty well in the Spring '09 challenge. I expected to do even better in the Summer '09 challenge, but I took several trips and lost track of the books I read while I was away. It's ok, though, my travels were worth it.
I hope to pick up my reading for the Fall '09 challenge, but with school and work, it's really going to be a challenge.
Tracy wrote: "Hello I'm Tracy. I'm 47 and live in England. I have 3 grown up children and a 7 year old daughter.I love reading and challenges so this is perfect for me. I've only just joined this site and th..."
Hi Tracy! Looks like us UKers are a bit outnumbered in here LOL! I think you're the third that I've noticed :) Where in England are you?
Hi, my name is Lisa. I love reading and reading challenges so I was excited to find this one. My first job was as a work study in my college library, and I spent many hours thinking that such work was the best job ever. Many years later I'm a married, stay at home mom of 3 children, and spend most of my reading time searching for books that will help my children develop the love of reading which I have always cherished. This challenge is hopefully a way for me to broaden my reading horizons.
Hi, I'm Jennifer. I just joined this group and I'm excited about getting started reading on Tuesday. I'm a substitute librarian (not too much work these days). I have two kids, one three and the second should be born in January. I'm looking forward to the challenge & I'm hoping to find some gems because lately I've been reading a lot of duds.
Hello! My name is Emily, I'm 30, and I live in Hudson, NY with my husband and kitten and backyard garden keeping my happy and busy. I work for an amazing non-profit organization called Children's Media Project where we teach young people how to make media. The downside to the job is that it is an hour commute so I am in the car for at least 2 hours a day. But luckily there is an upside to the downside! I love audiobooks and I credit them in large part to my increase in reading in the past year. Sometimes I listen to the book in my car and then pick up where I left off once at home with the physical book and sometimes I have an audiobook that I am "reading" and a different book that I am reading in print. I also love to listen to books while gardening - something about the work of weeding makes my ability to get into a story that much greater. Also, because I work with amazing young people each day, I've been rediscovering YA fiction - both re-reading books that I read in my youth and reading favorites of my students' as well. I am excited for this challenge and glad that I thought to check it out when I noticed that my cousin Leslie had joined the group! Leslie and I live on opposite coasts and rarely get to see one another so it's nice to be able to share this challenge (along with the occasional online Scrabble game)!
Hello! My name is Kristina and I live in Georgia. I love reading and find these challenges fun. I am terribly excited that there is a new group for this and can't wait for the next season to begin!
I just finished reading (OK, skimming) each bio and blurb. What a great group we have here!I'm Amanda, known as Amanda R. in Louisville. I'm 27, and share a birth date with our fearless leader, Cynthia. I was born in South Bend, Indiana, grew up outside L.A. (in a beach city) and now consider Louisville my home. I live with my husband, known online as J or JRob, and we share a newly launched book blog.
We have one pet rat, who is sadly in the last weeks of her life. We have been "phasing out" our pet rats, as they grow old and pass, in the hopes of having fewer expenses so we can start a family.
I've been a reader since I learned how to read. My parents used to ground me from reading, as that was the only thing that would get my attention. I got in trouble numerous times in school for reading, which I still think is ridiculous. I found the Wild Things challenges first, then TNBBC, and now this group. I haven't participated in any of the seasonal challenges yet. I needed a break from "assigned reading" over the summer, and joined too late for the Spring Challenge.
I am really looking forward to this challenge, and hope to finish. If I don't, at least it will give me a goal for next time - beat that point total!
Amanda R. in Louisville
Hi! I'm Christine currently based in the UK. This is my first challenge and so far I have thoroughly enjoyed sourcing the books for this autumn's challenge. I haven't been able to do a lot of leisure reading for a while, as I have just finished my masters dissertation and I am also working full - time. I am really looking forward to spending all my free - time reading for pleasure and discovering new authors.
Angie wrote: "Hi, all. My name is Angie and I live in Fort Worth, TX. I'm a library assistant at a local elementary school. I've returned to college this semester after several years of being away."Hey, Angie! I'm grew up in Fort Worth, but I'm down in Bryan right now, while the hubby goes to Texas A&M. Which school do you work at?
Hi! My name is Jessica. I am 23 and live in rural Canada. I live with my boyfriend, our two year old daughter and our Golden Retriever in a small town surrounded by wheat and canola fields. I am beginning my final year of university next week, so I am worried I might not get as much time to read as I would like. But, I stumbled upon this challenge and cannot resist.
Emily wrote: "Hello! My name is Emily, I'm 30, and I live in Hudson, NY with my husband and kitten and backyard garden keeping my happy and busy. I work for an amazing non-profit organization called Children's ..."Yay Emily! I'm so excited that we're both doing this!
Hello! My name is Sherrie and I am 37 years old. I have been married for 18 years and have a 5-year old son who just started kindergarten. We also have two dogs (one is a new puppy) and two cats. This will be my first challenge. I'm not sure how much I will actually get done, but I'll be reading anyway, so I figure I might as well have something else to keep me branching out! I've seen how much fun everyone has had with this one TNBBC and decided to join in this time.
I love to read and don't always get to do it as much as I would like, but GR has definitely been feeding my addiction and my TBR list :)
Can't wait to see how this all goes!
Oh, and thanks Cynthia for all your hard work on this!!
Hello! I'm Nicole. I'm originally from the Northern VA/DC area, but now I live in SoCal. I have a BA in English and a JD. I am so happy to be returning to the seasonal challenge. I had to sit the summer challenge out because, seriously, my numbers were just embarrassing in winter and spring. And I knew that July and August were going to kill my free time with gobs of work. Can't wait to start this set of tasks!
Interesting how many VA/DC/MDers are out here!! Kickin'.
Hi, I'm Kari and currently living in Ohio and making trips back to Texas when I can to visit my husband, where he is currently living. I'm taking care of my dad's estate here and this will make for a wonderful diversion when I'm tired of going through all the stuff my parents managed to accumulate--that's a full time job in itself. However, I want a better job and planning to go to school in the spring and work on a master's degree (Intervention Specialist-Mild to Moderate) and hoping the job market improves by the time I finish so I can teach here. I thought this would be a good time to use my spare time and expand my reading horizon (as I have spent the past year reading a lot of kid's/YA books--very good stuff, and the ocassional Fantasy and SciFi), as well as meet some others who enjoy reading.
I saw that Julie & Julia was one of the books for this challenge (Fall) and happened to have bought the book in August. Now I have a reason to start reading it sooner than I was planning to. Then I can go see the movie (or probably just rent it). I prefer to read the book first when it has been made into a movie. This particular movie made from this book has piqued my interest as well and was why I got the book. I hope it's good!
Hi, I'm Kathryn. I am currently living in San Diego, California and I am a senior Accounting major! I have been participating in challenges since the winter one. I never complete that many tasks, because I don't have a lot of free time, but I love doing what I can! I never read as much as I currently am until I started the tasks. Now I see a task I really think I would enjoy, or that would help me branch out, and I go for it!!! I love that we have our own group now! I think that it is a really good thing that we now have our own group!!!
Hello everyone. My name is Ryan and I'll raise my hand to be one of the few token males in this group. I am 33, live in St. Paul, Minnesota and manage the financial systems group at my company--basically, I'm an IT/accounting geek. I have been married for 11 years with one child currently who is almost 14 years old. My wife is a librarian and started me on both Goodreads and LibraryThing (I like Goodreads much better). My Goodreads friend, Beth(MN), recommended that I take a look at the reading challenges and I have been hooked. The fall challenge will be my fourth one. I haven't been even close to finishing but I hope to get 50% complete sometime.
I enjoy all kinds of books from science fiction to thrillers to Jodi Picoult. I have stayed away from the latest vampire craze though. Outside of reading, I like to play golf, video games (one big reason for my inability to complete the challenges) and kickball.
Thanks again Cynthia for organizing these challeges. They are a lot of fun and force me to look at books that I otherwise might not think about. It is also great to read all of these introductions! I see the names and pictures in the postings but it is good to meet everyone. I should stop typing and start reading since it is already September.
SuzieR wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Hello I'm Tracy. I'm 47 and live in England. I have 3 grown up children and a 7 year old daughter.I love reading and challenges so this is perfect for me. I've only just joined this..."
cool Ryan - I wish I could get my husband hooked on this! Beth, you are so lucky.
Lyn,As much as Beth(MN) is a lovely person and would probably be a great spouse, I cannot claim her as my wife. :) In fact, I haven't even met her in person. She was my first Goodreads friend and happened to be a local resident. Just wanted to set the record straight so Beth's husband won't hunt me down.
Mr. Beth(MN), I have never met your wife, honest. I'm just a lowly Goodreads addict. Please, have mercy.
Lyn wrote: "cool Ryan - I wish I could get my husband hooked on this! Beth, you are so lucky."Oh,we're not married. We're just GR friends who live in the same area. My husband also loathes reading, lol. He doesn't understand why I'm so addicted to this site!
Hi, just found this challenge, sounds like fun.I'm Angie and I live in Wales, UK with my husband and four children.
That's it for now...I'm off to find books.
Hi, I'm Sara and I heard about this group through another one of my groups on Goodreads, so I thought I would give it a try. I am currently a stay at home mom in VA of a 2 1/2 yr old. She doesn't always allow me time to read, but we will see how it goes. Always up for more reading!
I'm Lexi, and new to this group.My friends and I have done the last two challenges just among ourselves, not through the TNBBC. I love them! I read so much more now. (In other words, I'm very competitive.) Thanks, Cynthia!
I'm 30, fundraise for a bicycle promotion and youth education organization, and live in Seattle.
Hi, I'm Danielle. I'm 24 and I live outside Boston, MA. I've always loved to read and there are very few occasions where one won't see me with a book in my hand. Actually I define purses/handbags by the fact that you can fit a book in it. If you can't, it's a glorified wallet.My favorite genre is fantasy, specifically vampire novels, but I'll read pretty much anything. I love these challenges because I HAVE to read something other than vampire novels.
I graduated from Westfield State College in May '08 with my BA in English, though currently I'm a waitress, leaving me plenty of time to read. I always looked forward to the summers/vacations at school because I could finally read what I wanted, but now find my 5 bookcases of unread books a little daunting. This is one of the main reasons I love these challenges, it forces me into some sort of organization instead of the whole "what do I read now?" quandary. I've tried a few of these but always forget to look at them till the season's almost over and have NO CHANCE of beating any of you addicts so I give up haha. This is my first serious one and I look forward to trying to contend with you all.
Thanks Cynthia, this is awesome!
Danielle wrote: "Hi, I'm Danielle. I'm 24 and I live outside Boston, MA. I've always loved to read and there are very few occasions where one won't see me with a book in my hand. Actually I define purses/handbags b..."Oh Danielle. I so hear you about the "what do I read now" quandry. My boyfriend is actually happy that I found something that will give me a reason to read certain books instead of standing in front of shelves of books for 20 minutes trying to figure out what book strikes my fancy.
Good luck with the challenge!
Hi, I'm Sandie. I'm 36, live in Derby, UK and work full time as a Payroll Officer. I stumbled across this site in February, just in time for the Spring Challenge, so this will be my third challenge.I joined Bookcrossing 5 years ago and became a bit obsessed with buying books to release. This has left me with a large To Be Read pile and I love using the challenges to 'dictate' which books I am going to read next. Unfortunately, I still keep buying books (how can I resist an ex-library book that only costs ten pence?) and now I am borrowing books off friends to fulfill challenge tasks! Still, I have read more books this year than I have since I was a child and that is all thanks to the challenges.
I don't have much free time to read, so I will never complete a whole challenge, but it is just fun to take part. Thanks Cynthia for all your hard work.
Hi everyone! My name is Teresa and I live very near Jacksonville, FL. I'm 44, single and have no kids so I fill my time with reading, knitting, crochet and needlework. I'm currently looking for a job, since I'm between contracts. I'm a consultant/contractor in IT as a Quality Analyst. My reading tastes are varied. Depends on my mood and what I'm interested in learning. Some days I want "brain candy" and others I really want to read something that makes me think. I love history, so books that are historical in some way often make their way onto my shelf. I also love mystery and suspense and good chick-lit.
Cynthia - thanks for putting this group together and for all you do. It's wonderful and the last challenge introduced me to some new books and authors.
Beth(MN) wrote: "Lyn wrote: "cool Ryan - I wish I could get my husband hooked on this! Beth, you are so lucky."Oh,we're not married. We're just GR friends who live in the same area. My husband also loathes r..."
Ryan and Beth, sorry for the confusion, *hangs head in shame*.
Ryan - Beth's husband should hunt ME down, I'm the trouble maker.
Beth - That is exactly my husband's sentiments.
Hello.My name is Kelley. I am 35 -- soon to be 36 ("I wish I were a woman of 36, dressed in black satin with a string of pearls!"-Mrs. DeWinter) -- and living in the Milwaukee suburb of New Berlin, Wisconsin. I work in the Conflicts of Interest Department at a Milwaukee law firm, but would love to be a librarian or archivist or both -- really need to think about that whole going back to school thing.
My friend Amy K. introduced me to this group during a recent road trip to visit friends in Kansas City. We swapped some ideas and titles for the Fall Challenge and I'm looking forward to getting started! For most of the tasks, I am going to try to use books that I own but have not yet had a chance to read.
Thank you for organizing the challenge!
Hello.I'm Anna. I'm a 32-year-old children's and teen librarian in Fauquier County Virginia. I read a lot of children's and YA books for my job (best job ever). I love children's literature, but I'm hoping this will give me the opportunity to squeeze in a few "big girl" books just for me.
This is really such a cool idea. I'm really excited about the fall challenge. Thanks for organizing it.
Hi. My name is Sara E. and I am a public librarian in NYC, originally from Miami. I need a twelve step program for books. I love to read all genres, but I especially love Young Adult lit since I order it for my library and also work with the Teens.
I love foreign films, food, and crafting.
I love foreign films, food, and crafting.
I'm 39, live in Santa Cruz, CA, teach 1st grade, and read every free moment I have. I was intrigued by the Spring Challenge, and I'm excited to try my hand at the Fall Challenge! It's really the perfect excuse (not that I need one!) to go to the bookstore! :) Hope I can keep up!
Hi, I'm Livy. I'm soon to be 27, and I work with horses. I also do a lot of competitions in ridden dressage and pleasure driving. I'm hoping to branch off into combined driving but there aren't enough events near me. Anyway! Reading and writing is almost all I do in my spare time, so I was excited to find this and I'll be giving it a try, seeing just how much I can manage to complete! What a great idea this is.
Hi all! I'm Diane, soon to be 53 years old, married and the mother of 4 (2 boys 2 girls). The kids are 15 - 23 years old. I'm home fulltime. My eldest son has epilepsy that is only partially controlled (see Newsweek's excellent April 20, 2009 issue http://www.newsweek.com/id/193484 for a description of what our family life is like). I've been a reader all of my life. Right now I'm reading The Brothers Karamazov with my younger son (he's a college sophmore). I am usually reading 2-3 other books at the same time. I particularly like fantasy/science fiction and non-fiction/ history & biography.
I found this group today and it sounded interesting so here I am! I set up a ticker and now I'll print out the challenge and see what books I can come up with.
Later all!
Hello!I'm just getting around to this here introduction thingy :-)
My name is Judith and I've been doing these challenges since Spring 2009. I was Judith IA, and now I'm Judith MD, after finishing law school and moving back to Baltimore. I'm looking for a job in a feminist or LGBT nonprofit in DC.
I like to read a lot of different genres. In fiction, I enjoy historical, YA, queer, literary, classics, and fantasy. In non-fiction, I like memoirs, food and travel writing, and books about feminism and LGBT issues.
Lyn wrote: "Wendy wrote: "Hi. I'm Wendy. I am going to be 59 years old next week. I teach kids in and outside of Boston, Massachusetts how to beat the SSAT, ISEE and the SAT. I finished the Spring and the Sum..."Sorry I took so long to respond, I didn't see your thread. Max is majoring in math and mechanical engineering and Max blew right by us academically a long time ago. It is soccer season right now and frat rush so my boy is very busy!!! Tell me about your boy. Talking about them makes me smile!!!!
Amy wrote: "Hey Hey Hey - My baby just made the Varsity Soccer team for her high school - there is n.o.t.h.i.n.g better than a happy seventeen year old girl !!!!"Awesome. Colleges love soccer players!!!!
Judith wrote: "Hello!I'm just getting around to this here introduction thingy :-)
My name is Judith and I've been doing these challenges since Spring 2009. I was Judith IA, and now I'm Judith MD, after finish..."
Welcome back to MD Judith!!
Mod
Thanks to Cynthia for this terrific idea. It has helped me find great books that I might have missed.
Dlmrose wrote: "Hi, I'm Donna. I've been lurking on Goodreads for a few months. I worked on the Summer Challenge, but never posted. I'm a stay-at-home mom with an almost empty nest. I have a daughter in college an..."Wow, it does sound like you have a lot of down time!!! Two books a day, I would think that I had died and gone to heaven!!!
Hi my name is Chrissy. I'm 25 and a social worker in IL and work with the mentally ill. I also tutor a 17 yr old boy. I am getting married in June 2010. We have two dogs, a terrier mutt Lucy and a lab mutt Wrigley.
Hi everyone! My name is Katie (but since I think there are already two other Katies on here, I will shorten things up to KT) and I hail from the small (but pretty) state of New Hampshire. I wish that I had more time to read and write, two of my biggest passions along with HOCKEY:) Sadly my crazy job and it's wacky hours do their best to minimize my reading time. Luckily, I am a vampire and never sleep, so I get some extra time for reading on the back end of my days ;P
I have a dual degree in English and Political Science and have recently contemplated going back to school to get a teaching degree (since my efforts at breaking into the boys club of the sporting world have not been very successful and the publishing houses haven't discovered my literary genius yet!)
I have participated in (if you can call it that) Cynthia's challenges in TNBBC for the past three seasons, but to my shame have not made it very far. But I am uber competitive and I NEVER give up, so I'm back for more in this new forum! My goal each time is to do better than the last round, and like several of you have said, to try to get through some of Mt. TBR. I do love these challenges because they help you explore books you may not have otherwise encountered or given the time of day to, but occasionally my OCD gets in the way of my completion of them (I have to read things IN ORDER, and usually once I start reading an author, I then have to go through and read everything by that person.) Of course it also doesn't help that I get so excited to read different books, that I am rarely to be found with less than 10 books going at a time! *L*
Thank you, Ms. Cynthia for all of your organizational wizardry in setting up and moderating these challenges and for giving all of us crazy book-loving kooks a place to be our insane bibliomanic selves:)
HAPPY READING, EVERYONE!!! I look forward to chatting with and competing against you all:)
Hi Everyone, my name is Stella, I'm 25, living in Europe and working as a lawyer. I have 2 little sisters (the youngest is already 18, but they will always remain little sis to me), and had a lot of animals while growing up: had several rabbits, birds, parrots, a duck and a dog who was with us for 16 years! I love reading, travelling, going to the cinema/theatre/concerts, going out with my friends, eating at restaurants, and sunbathing on the beach or in our garden.I have loved and devoured books ever since I learned how to read.
I have tried to participate to 2 seasonal challenges, but always forgot to post my results at the end :-/ So hopefully now I will be more active in posting the books I have finished off the list.
By the way, these challenges are a great idea Cynthia, and many thanks for all your efforts in organising them!!
The Seasonal Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Escort: The True Story of an Orange County Call Girl (other topics)Joy in the Morning (other topics)
To Kill a Mockingbird (other topics)
A Little Princess (other topics)
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Sacha Haughtee (other topics)Beth Moore (other topics)
C.S. Lewis (other topics)
Francine Rivers (other topics)
Philippa Gregory (other topics)
More...
Good Luck with your reading challenge and finding your forever job!