Fall 09/Winter 10' Challenge: Tasks, Questions, & Discussion

[Lindsay]

Jessi wrote: "Jamie wrote: "Ahh! I need to find some time to read! Like a whole day!! I have just been tooo busy and it's irking me!"

I love when I have whole days to just sit and read :)"

I love that too Jessi!!!

[Tenderine]

I'm really disappointed with my pace :( I genuinely thought I'd be doing much better. So far I've only read two books, I'm in the middle of Anna Karenina, The Graveyard Book and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. And as if not enough I started reading Of Human Bondage yesterday! This way it takes me ages to finish even 1 book.
Give me 26/7 and I'll be fine though :)

[Lindsay]

I have a question about the romance novel; can it be a paranormal romance?

[Lori]

Lindsay, As long as it fits the length requirements and is classified as a romance, it will work.

[Lori]

Does anyone else have any questions that haven't been answered yet?

[Lindsay]

Perfect, it's over 350 pages so that works, and it is classified as romance.. Thanks Lori!!

[Emily]

Lori wrote: "Does anyone else have any questions that haven't been answered yet?"
Me.
Is The Complete Maus ok for 15pts #7, for the fiction book?

[Lori]

Well, it says it's an "illustrated narrative," which makes me think non-fiction. But it's a cartoon (sorry, I'm forgetting the technical term for this kind of book) which makes me think fiction. If you were in the room with me, I'd flip a coin in the air and tell you to call it (don't know what made me think of No Country for Old Men). Long story short, I'll allow it for fiction.

[Emily]

Sweet. Thanks.

[Tahleen]

Can I use The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane for as a disaster book, since it's about the Salem Witch Trials? Or is that not the kind of disaster we're going for?

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

Hmm..yeah I'll take that.

[Tahleen]

Cool. Thanks!

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

So..for task 10.8 we have to read a non-fiction about something we don't really know much about but are interested to learn in and then we also have to post some things we learned. I read Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. Very interesting book! I learned alot of weird things. Some of the crime investigation stuff is really interesting. They have a school where they have a ton of land and they put bodies out so that they can study decomposition to help them solve crimes better. They put the bodies in shade, in sun, or change other variables just to learn more about decomp. I also learned that the French at the time of the Revolution were obsessed with discovering how long guillotined heads remained aware of their surroundings. They would try to see if the heads knew what was happening while detached from the bodies. There was also a point in time when they couldn't just get bodies to experiment on so people started digging up bodies and stealing them to bring them to scientists who would pay them. Those are just a few of the MANY things I learned in this book.

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

So anybody read any really good books for the challenge or any really horrible books?

I've been really pleased with what I've read so far-- Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. I've also read some stuff for tasks with multiple books but just can't claim the points yet..like Little Women and The Mirror.

[Anna]

I just read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and was hoping to use it for the task about disaster (25.8) but while reading I realized it was related to 9-11 but not exactly about it. Would that work for the task or should I use it for something different?

The Power of One is one of my favorite books so no surprise there but I had expected Extremely Loud to be kind of over the top edgy but I actually really liked it. Most of the other books though I had expected to be really great but found them only mediocre.

[Lori]

That's a really good question Annashu. I'll have to double check with Jamie.

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

Yeah, that's fine.

[Emily]

I really really liked Possession A Romance, which I just finished, The Martian Chronicles, and Never Let Me Go.
The Kite Runner, on the other hand, was terrible, and I regret wasting my time on it.
So far my challenge experience has been very positive though. I've been having a good time and I've discovered some really awesome books.

[jessi]

Jamie wrote: "So anybody read any really good books for the challenge or any really horrible books?"

Yes.

Horrible books: The Notebook, The Alchemist, Twilight, Mere Christianity.

Great books: Revolutionary Road, The Glass Castle, The Kite Runner.

[Kayla]

I loved The Glass Castle, Animal's People, and Ragtime.

Housekeeping, Sexing the Cherry, and The Book About Blanche and Marie were all very strange books. I really enjoyed Blanche and Marie, but the other two books I was on the fence about. I kind of liked them, but I kind of hated them too. If they had been long books, I'm not sure if I would have finished them.

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

The leaderboard has been updated! There are some people kicking some major butt already!

[Emily]

So, how is everyone doing. I'm mildly impressed with my progress so far, but I still have so much longer to go! I have no idea how I'm going to finish all these books (or even where to find some of them). Still, I'm hoping to have a mildly respectable score by the end.

So, how is your progress everyone? Are you going faster/slower than you thought? Do you think you can finish all of them in time?

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

I've been doing HORRIBLE. I keep reading other books because I have either books from the library to read or I'm borrowing them, etc. I'm hoping that I'll make some progress soon!

[paulabits]

I'm doing ok so far, better than I thought but I've been slow this past weeks.
But I haven't read any good book, or at least, one I've really loved.
The last good book I read was The Book Thief (love it!) but it wasn't for the challenge.
Recently I finished The Thief's Journal by Jean Genet, and it has really good comments but I thought it was really boring.
I already expressed my hate to On The Road.

I'm not sure I'll finish all of them, althought my summer vacations start on December but I agree with you Emily, I want a decent score.

[Jen]

I think I'm happy with my progress so far. October was a fairly slow reading month for me!

I'm going to try to finish! If I calculated it correctly from now until the end of the challenge I'd have to read 2.5 books a week. It's been taking me about 8-10 days to finish a book lately. So, we'll see. I do have a week off of school at Thanksgiving and I'm sure I'll be reading then.

Does anyone know if The Unbearable Lightness of Being can be fit into the challenge anywhere? I am planning on reading it for this months group read and was just curious to see if it could also fill a spot of the challenge. I was thinking Task 15.2 Around the World.

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

Definitely the around the world task..that's what I'm using it for!

[Tahleen]

I am reading a lot, but none of them fit into any categories haha.

[Emily]

Actually, I may have changed my mind again. Does The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society work for 15pts #7, for the fiction one, if my historical time is WWII? I know it is technically set after WWII, but it talks a lot about what happened during the occupation and the aftermath and such, so I would really like it to count. My mom just gave it to me for a birthday present, and I really want to read it, but I'm limiting myself to challenge books right now.
If it doesn't count I'll understand.

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

Yeah that's fine! It works. I've read it before and I'd set that alot of it is set in that time.

[Emily]

YAY!!!

[Tahleen]

I love that book Emily! I hope you enjoy it!

[Kayla]

I was wondering if Journey to the Center of the Earth could count for 15.3 (alternate universe). Most of the book takes place inside the Earth which doesn't really exist (or at least it doesn't exist in the way the book decribes it) :)

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

Yeah that's fine.

[Tami]

I have a question on the fall word one. I am trying to keep my list as much as possible on the 1001 list and I had Poe's Fall of the House of Usher but it is really short. If I include with it a bunch of other short stories by Poe, would that still work. I was thinking of getting the complete works book, and it is quite long, but the fall word isn't in the title. :)

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

That's fine with me! Especially because it's only a 5 point task.

[Tami]

great, thanks.

[Tahleen]

Could Shiver count for a winter-related word, or is that stretching it?

[Lori]

Go for it. I'm definitely shiver my butt off when it's winter.

[Tahleen]

Haha awesome. Thanks!

[Lindsay]

LOL Tahleen, that's the one I'm using too, I didn't even think to ask! :) I just assumed it encompasses winter!!!

[Tahleen]

Hooray! Did you read it yet? I thought it was pretty good.

[Lori]

Well, Lindsay, since you just assumed it would be OK, I'm not so sure you can count it. Tahleen can though.

;-) (I don't know if you can tell or not, but I used my sarcastic font)

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

New leaderboard update! Some people are kicking butt in this challenge!!

[Lindsay]

hahah Lori!!

Im reading it right now Tahleen... so far its "ok" but I hear it picks up and gets really good

[Tahleen]

It does, definitely.

[Anna]

for 25.7 it was mentioned that we could read about an athlete if gym was our worst subject, would a surfer count as an athlete?

[Lori]

If it's on ESPN, it's technically supposed to be a sport (although, seriously? Poker? Bowling?). So, I guess you can count it but only if it's on ESPN.

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

I'd say it counts as well!

[Anna]

oh good thanks, and I think the book really is about surfing and not just some beach bum who surfs.

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner), The Founding Bookworm]

Haha either way you are fine!
And ps. you are kicking major butt in these challenges..finishing the other one with alot of time to spare..and being in the lead with this one!