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3rd Annual Reading Challenge
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Lea's Third Annual Reading Challenge - COMPLETED
Dear Ms. Forman,Reading If I Stay was so much better than I expected. After my last several books where I've disliked most, if not all, of the characters in the book, it was nice to read a book where there were so many good people in it. It wasn't as sad and depressing as I thought it might be either. I'm curious to read the sequel as I have heard that there are some people who liked it better than the original and others who think it wasn't necessary. It will be fun to see which camp I fall into. Thanks again for writing such an interesting book. I hope to read more of your work.
Regards,
Lea
Loved this story! I'm on the "love the sequel" train =)
Alissa wrote: "Loved this story! I'm on the "love the sequel" train =)"I loved it too. I was afraid it would feel dated or I was too old to read it, but it turns out it wasn't. I'll be reading the sequel next month.
Dear Mr. King,I had watched the movie based on The Green Mile and wasn't sure that I wanted to read the book. The movie was good, but it was so depressing and dark. The book was too, but I was able to set it aside for a little bit while my heart was sore and then return to it. I liked that it was written as a serial and while I can't say I "enjoyed" the book, it was a good one and made me think long after it was over. 4 stars for now.
Regards,
Lea
Lea wrote: "Dear Mr. King,I had watched the movie based on The Green Mile and wasn't sure that I wanted to read the book. The movie was good, but it was so depressing and dark. The book was too,..."
That sums up The Green Mile perfectly Lea. Great King.
Michelle wrote: "That sums up The Green Mile perfectly Lea. Great King."Yes, it is one of my favorites! I'm so glad I read this one.
Lea wrote: "Dear Mr. King,I had watched the movie based on The Green Mile and wasn't sure that I wanted to read the book. The movie was good, but it was so depressing and dark. The book was too,..."
Great book, glad you got to read it and enjoyed it.
Ioana wrote: "Lea wrote: "Great book, glad you got to read it and enjoyed it."Thanks! You and I were both late to the party to appreciate King, but I'm glad we got there eventually. I'm trying to read at least one work per year, and this year probably two, since we are reading Holly also! I can't wait!
Mod
I had watched the movie based on The Green Mile and wasn't sure that I wanted to read the book. The movie was good, but it was so depressing and dark. The book was too,..."
Loved this little serial ... it was exciting picking up those little books every 6 weeks or so; which was too long to find out what happened. Glad you loved this too.
Alondra wrote: "Loved this little serial ... it was exciting picking up those little books every 6 weeks or so; which was too long to find out what happened. Glad you loved this too."Yes! I'm disappointed that I didn't get a chance to read the serialized version, but I know I would have struggled waiting for the next installment. I'm also glad I got to read the Dark Tower series all together. And I regret that I ever started the Game of Thrones books. :-) :-) :-)
Alissa wrote: "Great review!! The Green Mile is one of his best for sure"I loved it. Next year, I should have you all decide which is the next old King book that I should read, since there are so many I missed out on. I was kind of thinking I need to read Carrie at some point.
Patricia wrote: "I haven't read many King books but I loved The Stand. I need to reread it (someday. Ha!)"Yes! I enjoyed The Stand also. I finally got it read five years ago. It was another tome and I do try to read one every year. This year, maybe two. We'll see.
Mod
I'm glad you pushed through The Gunslinger so that you could enjoy the series. I'm scared of Midworld, but loved the story. 🥴
Yeah, I love the ASOIAF series; and realized a couple of years ago (midway through the HBO series), that there would be no more books. I've made peace with it. It's sad, because the books are so much better than the tv series. IMO
Alondra wrote: "I'm glad you pushed through The Gunslinger so that you could enjoy the series. I'm scared of Midworld, but loved the story. 🥴Yeah, I love the ASOIAF series; and realized a couple of years ago (midway through the HBO series), that there would be no more books. I've made peace with it. It's sad, because the books are so much better than the tv series. IMO"
I'm not sure how I would have felt about Dark Tower if I'd had to wait in between books...I'm not very patient. That's probably why I'm so annoyed with ASOIAF. It sounds like Martin has had a hard time with his writer's block, but I agree that the series will never be finished. I hope we will get one more book, but we will see about that. I haven't decided if I'll continue reading an unfinished series or not.
Lea wrote: "Alissa wrote: "Great review!! The Green Mile is one of his best for sure"I loved it. Next year, I should have you all decide which is the next old King book that I should read, since..."
Yessss Carrie is a must!!
Alissa wrote: "Yessss Carrie is a must!!"That's what I was hoping to hear. :-)
I got If It Bleeds from the library, and read it. So if you want to move Holly sooner, that would be fine with me.
Ioana wrote: "I got If It Bleeds from the library, and read it. So if you want to move Holly sooner, that would be fine with me."Yay! I'll message Lindsey and see what she's got going on. I think we were all going to try and read Bright Young Women in April too. Are you up for that one also?
Lea wrote: "I think we were all going to try and read Bright Young Women in April too. Are you up for that one also?"Yes! I can do both.
My overdrive where I could download the audiobook on my ipod and keep it until needed, went poof! Now it's libby only, with only 3 holds at a time at my library, and I need to read the books as I get them. Can't keep them for later 😢
I am heartbroken. But I have these 2 saved, so anytime would work form me.
Ioana wrote: "Yes! I can do both.My overdrive where I could download the audiobook on my ipod and keep it until needed, went poof! Now it's libby only, with only 3 holds at a time at my library, and I need to read the books as I get them. Can't keep them for later 😢
I am heartbroken. But I have these 2 saved, so anytime would work form me."
Only three holds at a time?!? That's brutal.
I also have Libby, but I currently have 44 books on hold since I have 5 library cards in play. I'm considering adding a few more library cards also, if I have time to apply.
Library 1 - 30/30 holds
Library 2 - 8/15 holds
Library 3 - 4/10 holds
Library 4 - 0/30 holds they have a lot of eBooks, but not many audiobooks
Library 5 - 2/10 holds
How do you have so many libraries? I only have my local one (which is technically a county library, serving several towns, each with their local public library) and the NYC one, because I work there.Yes, NYC public library only allows 3 holds - it used to be 15, they went down to 3 when covid started, and never went back. My local one allows 5 holds. Of course I am maxed out in both.
Lea wrote: "Ioana wrote: "Yes! I can do both.My overdrive where I could download the audiobook on my ipod and keep it until needed, went poof! Now it's libby only, with only 3 holds at a time at my library, a..."
I'm laughing at all your holds! I thought I was bad. I don't even know what our limit is. I'll have to check now. Definitely more than 3 though.
Ioana wrote: "How do you have so many libraries? I only have my local one (which is technically a county library, serving several towns, each with their local public library) and the NYC one, because I work there.Yes, NYC public library only allows 3 holds - it used to be 15, they went down to 3 when covid started, and never went back. My local one allows 5 holds. Of course I am maxed out in both.."
I don't know how it works in other states. In California, most libraries are part of an association that allows for free borrowing of materials between each other. Schools and really nice cities that have unique materials they don't want to share don't join the association, but just pay to borrow items from other libraries. One of the conditions to be part of this association is that you have to offer free library cards to the other members. So...that's a long way around to say that most libraries in California offer free library cards to state residents.
Since I can get a free library card almost everywhere in California, I do. I'm not going to tell you how many library cards I have, but it's a lot. Embarrassing. Way more library cards than credit cards in my wallet.
Library 1 - A large city 25 miles away from me that has an awesome library system with 75 branches
Library 2 - A neighboring county that also has a super fabulous library system with 105 branches
Library 3 - A city library of a neighboring city that has banded together with a bunch of other city libraries and we get access to all of their books 37 branches total
Library 4 - My city library 2 branches
Library 5 - My county library 34 branches
I'm learning about Hoopla also right now. There's a lot of resources, too bad I have no time to learn all of them.
Patricia wrote: "I'm laughing at all your holds! I thought I was bad. I don't even know what our limit is. I'll have to check now. Definitely more than 3 though."Yeah, we are traveling to a nearby large city in a few weeks where I don't have a card and I keep wondering if there will be enough time for me to sprint to their library and get another library card. Sure, I can apply online, but I get more privileges if I apply in person. I might have a problem. :-)
Lea wrote: "So...that's a long way around to say that most libraries in California offer free library cards to state residents."I am so jealous...NJ doesn't do this. The towns in my county do, but their digital library is combined, so it's only one place where I can hold books.
Ioana wrote: "I am so jealous...NJ doesn't do this. The towns in my county do, but their digital library is combined, so it's only one place where I can hold books."Libraries are such a good use of tax dollars and a great equalizer of opportunities for all. It's too bad it is so political to get grant money and donations to provide these services, but I'm grateful for them nonetheless.
Lea wrote: "Ioana wrote: "How do you have so many libraries? I only have my local one (which is technically a county library, serving several towns, each with their local public library) and the NYC one, becau..."Why so many cards? In Minnesota you have a card from the system where you live, and you register that card with other libraries. It is good all over the state. You just have to register it.
Laurel wrote: "Why so many cards? In Minnesota you have a card from the system where you live, and you register that card with other libraries. It is good all over the state. You just have to register it."That must be nice and makes so much sense!
We need to fill out a full application for each different library system here. We don't have to pay the fee, but we have to apply and each system gets to decide independently if we qualify for a card or not. There are many different systems in California (state, city, county, region) and they are all funded differently, so they all seem to function independently.
Dear Mr. Moore:I read Bloodsucking Fiends, which was published in 1995. I didn't go into reading the book with many expectations, as I am not a huge fan of vampire fiction to begin with and I was sure this would feel dated. I wasn't wrong. Much of your book didn't age well; yet, there are bits that were laugh out loud hilarious today and I couldn't take the other parts too seriously. I was amused by it, and look forward to reading the other two books in the series. It earned 3 stars.
Regards,
Lea
Lea, have you ever read The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova? It is the only vampire novel aside from the original Dracula that I have liked.It's lengthy, but I listened to it on audio and was totally captivated by it.
I enjoyed The Historian as well. And I'm not usually into vampire books.
Patricia wrote: "I enjoyed The Historian as well. And I'm not usually into vampire books."Me too.
Karol wrote: "Lea, have you ever read The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova? It is the only vampire novel aside from the original Dracula that I have liked.It's lengthy, but I listened to it on audio and was totally captivated by it."
Karol, yes! I did read The Historian, and I did like it fine. Dracula was even better, it's hard to think of a better vampire book than that one. I also really enjoyed The Passage. That entire series was better than I expected.
Dear Ms. Grant,I just finished reading Feed, and what a crazy ride that was! I hadn't been expecting to enjoy a YA book about zombies to be so good. I have a few quibbles, but overall, I enjoyed the journey and am looking forward to seeing where the rest of these books take us.
Your newest fan,
Lea
Mod
I just finished reading Feed, and what a crazy ride that was! I hadn't been expecting to enjoy a YA book about zombies to be so good. I have a few quibbles, but over..."
Sounds interesting. You're moving right along.
Lea wrote: "Karol, yes! I did read The Historian, and I did like it fine. Dracula was even better, it's hard to think of a better vampire book than that one. I also really enjoyed The Passage. That entire series was better than I expected.."Well, it appears you and I have the same tastes when it comes to vampires.
I'm not sure about zombies, however . . . :-)
Bill wrote: "Sounds interesting. You're moving right along."Yes, I was pleasantly surprised with this book. I even started reading the in between books in the series. I hope I like the rest of the books in the series, but I am not going to get my hopes up too high!
Karol wrote: "Well, it appears you and I have the same tastes when it comes to vampires.I'm not sure about zombies, however . . . :-)"
Have you read much zombie literature, Karol? I would have said I haven't, but then I started thinking about it and I guess I have read some.
I have to say that Feed is among my favorite thus far. Of course, we already discussed The Passage which could be said to have zombies in it...and I also liked The Girl with All the Gifts.
I did enjoy some of The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye graphic novels, but not all of them.
I did not care for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies or Warm Bodies.
Dear Mr. King,I just finished Holly and while it wasn't my favorite Holly Gibney story, Holly is one of my favorite characters. I think the villains in this story were super creepy, but there were a few points in the story where I wanted to shake Holly for being ridiculous. She should have known better than to get into the scrapes that she got into. I think Holly deserves better, especially in a book named after her. Please write more books about her.
Sincerely,
Lea
Holly is one of his best characters as of late. I love her
Alissa wrote: "Holly is one of his best characters as of late. I love her"Yes! I think she can do more. I hope he will write more books about her.
Alissa wrote: "Holly is one of his best characters as of late. I love her"Me too!
I really have to focus on catching up on King's work. I understand his new short stories that are coming out soon You Like It Darker include a "sequel of sorts" to Cujo which I haven't read. I've got to get to those older ones soon. :-)
Mod
I agree about your zombie novels, but always want to add Autumn. I think because it is not just mayhem and murder. It takes us from the beginning and seems a little more realistic, than zombies being more human than humans; which is what happens in most zombie fiction.
Of course, I don't think Alissa liked Autumn very much. *cries zombie tears*
Alondra wrote: "Of course, I don't think Alissa liked Autumn very much. *cries zombie tears*.."Girl I liked that one it was a 4 star read!! ;-)
Alondra wrote: "Glad you enjoyed Feed, Lea. It really is a good trilogy. I agree about your zombie novels, but always want to add Autumn. I think because it is not just mayhem and murder. It takes It takes us from the beginning and seems a little more realistic, than zombies being more human than humans; which is what happens in most zombie fiction.
Of course, I don't think Alissa liked Autumn very much. *cries zombie tears*"
Thanks for the suggestion, Alondra. My library has the first two books in the series, but not on audio, so I have to physically get there. Maybe I'll start there sometime soon. I just know that if I really like the first two books, I will feel compelled to get my hands on the rest of the series. :-)
Alissa wrote: "Alondra wrote: "Of course, I don't think Alissa liked Autumn very much. *cries zombie tears*.."Girl I liked that one it was a 4 star read!! ;-)"
I just checked my friends list and nobody has rated the book lower than 3 stars. You guys are very persuasive! :-)
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Me too! I'll send you a message. :-)