Five Stars (or favorites) for Fall Challenge

[Cynthia]

I had a lot of 5 stars during the fall challenge...
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AND


BUT THE BEST BOOK OF FALL 2009 IS

[Jenny]

Nicole wrote: "I was starting to despair that Alice Hoffman was never again going to write a book that really sunk it's teeth into me and then I read her most recent, and LOV..."

I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed this book. It's one of the books in my plan for the winter challenege!

I'd say my favorite book for the fall challenege was hands down The Hunger Games. I gave it five stars and can't wait to read the second in the series.

[Krista]

Cynthia wrote: "I had a lot of 5 stars during the fall challenge...
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I waded through The Fiery Cross and enjoyed A Breath of Snow and Ashes during the Fall Challenge.

I'm going to read An Echo in the Bone early in the Winter Challenge. I've worked hard to get it set up JUST right.

[Asho]

My five stars during this challenge were The Bluest Eye and What Is the What. I'm very stingy with 5 star ratings and usually I reserve 5 stars for books I can envision reading over and over. While the subject matter was so intense in both of these books that I doubt I'll re-read them, they really made me think and feel.
While it wasn't quite five starts for me, The Devil in the White City Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America gets an honorable mention. It was really well-written, exciting popular history.

[Usako]

Wonder if someone will compile all the Five Star Reads from this discussion thread into a single tally. I'd be interested if a book was marked 5 stars by multiple people.

[Donna Jo]

Tanja wrote: "Wonder if someone will compile all the Five Star Reads from this discussion thread into a single tally. I'd be interested if a book was marked 5 stars by multiple people."

I'll be glad to compile a list. It may take me a couple days as I have some commitments today and tomorrow. (And I want to READ.) I should have it done before the weekend.

[Donna Jo]

Compilation of Fall Challenge 5* Books

84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff 2
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The Angel's Game by Garlos Ruiz Zafon
Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik
Anne Frank The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Another Place at the Table by Kathy Harrison
Apollo 13 by Jeffrey Kluger
Apple of my Eye
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks
Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell
Best Friends Forever A Novel by Jennifer Weiner
Blackout Girl: Growing Up and Drying Out in America by Jennifer Storm
Blindness by Jose Saramago
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak 2
A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
The Broken Teaglass by Emily Arsenault
Busted Live Inside the Great Mortgage Meltdown by Edmund L. Andrews
A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins 3
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
A Change in Attitude : A Novel by Anita Shreve
Change Me into Zeus's Daughter by Barbara Robinette Moss
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
Cleopatra's Daughter by Moran Michelle
A College of Magics by Caroline Stevermer
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Courage of Fear by Barbara Boyer
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
Dragon House by John Shors
The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon
Eleven Hours by Paullina Simons
Ella Minnow Pea a Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Farthest Shore, The by Ursula K. LeGuin
Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich
Fireflies in December by Jennifer Erin Valent
Fool A Novel by Christopher Moore
Gilead A Novel by Marilynne Robinson
The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
The God Cookie : A Novel by Geoffrey Wood
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows 2
Hands of my Father A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love by Myron Uhlberg 2
The Help by Kathryn Stockett 3
Highland Velvet by Jude Deveraux
The Host by Stephanie Meyer
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely
Hunger Games, The by Suzanne Collins 5
Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali 3
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Julian Comstok A Story of 22nd -Century America by Robert Charles Wilson
A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux
The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vida
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Lost in Austen Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure by Emma Campbell Webster
Louis Riel A Comic-Strip Biograph by Chester Brown
Love in the Present Tense by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Marley & Me Love and Life with the World's Worst Dog by John Grogan
Miracle in the Andes 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home by Nando Parrado, Vince Rause
Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park by Steve Kluger
Nice to Come Home To by Rebecca Flowers
Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly
One Bad Apple by Sheila Connolly
The Piano Teacher by Janice Y. K. Lee
Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Q's Legacy by Helene Hanff
Resistance by Owen Sheers
Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James
Sex as a Second Language by Alexa Kwitney
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
Something from the Nightside by Simon R. Green
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Steal Across the Sky by Nancy Kress
The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman
Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon
A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle
That's The Way the Cookie Crumbles 65 All -New Commentaries on the Fascinating Cemistry of Everyday Life by Joe Schwarcz
Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
Underfoot in Show Business
Water, Stone, Heart A Novel by Will North
What Is the What by Dave Eggers
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle
Wishful Drinking by Carie Fisher
Zombie Haiku Good Poetry for Your…brains by Ryan Mecum

I did not include posts saying "I really liked this book" as I didn't know if that was a 5 or 4 *.

[Usako]

Donna Jo, you are awesome!

Looks like for the Fall, The Hunger Games (5) and its sequel Catching Fire (3) plus Infidel (3) and The Help (3) were at the top of the list!

[Alyssa]

i gave 5 stars to:

Atonement
Dibs in Search of Self
Equus

I might be a little biased against Atonement and Equus because i saw the movie and the play first, loved those and probably as result loved the books. Dibs is just phenomenal for anyone who works with kids. He is an absolutely amazing child!

[Bonnie]

Donna Jo's list, but with covers instead of titles/authors. I have a hard time reading rows of words and pictures help me focus (probably TV's fault...). Thank you Donna Jo for the list! Going back through the posts and alphabetizing (!) must've been a pain. Btw, if anyone knows how to get all the bookcovers to be the same size, let me know!

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[Bonnie]

Continued


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[Jayme(theghostreader)]

I loved Infidel and Marley and Me. I also read Anne Frank: The Diary of A Young Girl. I am still working on some of the books.