THE WINTER/SPRING CHALLENGE (Jan. 1 - March 31)

[Dawn]

Hey everyone...okay I am officially book on this site:) I'm sad that I missed out on this challenge....are we doing a spring/summer challenge next?

[Alicia]

The challenge isn't done yet, it ends the end of the month so you can count anything you have read from 1/1/10 until present.

[Suzanne]

Task completed
5.1 An Abundance of Katherines - John Green
Bonus points: 5 (library book)
total points: 10 pts.

Total: 230 pts.

[Ashley]

Dawn said, "are we doing a spring/summer challenge next?"

I believe they are- I hope they post the challenge soon so I can start looking up books to read! :) I didn't read very much in January, and only really started this current challenge part way through February, so I hope to be more in the running the next time around!

[Stacy]

We're in the final stretch ladies!

Jen and I (actually, pretty much just Jen) have cooked up a different kind of challenge for the next three months and we'll be posting info on it soon...

[Suzanne]

Stacy wrote: "We're in the final stretch ladies!

Jen and I (actually, pretty much just Jen) have cooked up a different kind of challenge for the next three months and we'll be posting info on it soon..."


I can't wait to hear about the next one! :) I have a list of books I want to finish before the end of the month--hopefully I can fit them all in!

[Kristine]

Task Completed:

15.10: Name’s the Same – Flirting With Forty – Jane Porter/ Dangerous Admissions – Jane O’Conner

Total: 360

[Cathy]

Tasks completed (2)

15 pts - 9. That’s A Mighty Long Title: Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly, Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide to Why it Often Sucks in the City, or Who are These Idiots and Why Do They All Live Next Door to Me? 15 Task + 5 Subsequent series = 20

10 pts - 8. Initially Speaking - CH (My First and last initials): Chelsea Handler's My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands 10 pts Task + 5 Library = 15 pts

Total = 35 pts for these tasks

Grand Total: 280 pts

[Alicia]

25.4.2 Read any three books from a series (they don't have to be the first three): One, Two, Three - Cedar Cove Series by Debbie Macomber:

16 Lighthouse Road: 2/22/10 5pt E-book
204 Rosewood Lane: 3/2/10 5pt E-Book 5pt Series
311 Pelican Court: 3/12/10 5pt E-Book 5 pt Series

25 pts + 25 bonus pts = 50 pts

Total Points:210
Total Tasks: 12/34
Books Read: 22
Books Read That I Own: 14

[Cathy]

I just realized I forgot to give myself 10 pts for Love, Rosie because it's over 500 pages when I added it to the 10 pt Task Crosing the Pond (Us and Ireland).

Total to date: 290 pts

Thanks everyone for these great tasks! Can't wait to see the next group...it really motivates my reading:)

[Tara]

I need something to motivate me....LOL! I think it's the weather. We are finally getting some warm weather this week (60's). I am ready to be able to sit outside and read or write.

[Ashley]

Tasks Completed:

5.5 Luck of the Irish: The Next Thing on My List by Jill Smolinski (+5 library book)
5.8 Picture Perfect: Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch (+5 library book)

10.7 How Sweet It Is: The Chocolate Lover's Club by Carole Matthews (+5 library book)

15.5 Groundhog Day: No god but God by Reza Aslan (+5 library book) & What Went Wrong? by Bernard Lewis
15.9 That's a Mighty Long Title: Jen Lancaster's Pretty in Plaid, etc, etc :) (+5 library book)

Working on 25.1 and 25.4

Total Points: 75
Total Tasks: 5

[Kourtney]

Stacy wrote: "Kourtney wrote: "Ahhh I'm sliding off the board! Turns out school and dating have taken a HUGE chunk out of my life and that life sadly was reading. I'm staying in for the evening to catch up on sc..."

How funny I was just thinking of you yesterday wondering if you would email again! Not too too many funny stories now since I am taken (check out FB to see his picture...yay!) He just got into a car accident on Friday so I have been driving like a crazy woman back and forth to take care of my dog and him. One great thing though is he sleeps REALLY late so I finally got to finish the second Queen of Babble book since I'm an early riser!

[Nicole]

So I forgot that Succubi Like It Hot (read for 5.4) was the second book of a series I've read for this challenge. So that's a extra 5 for the series bonus.

5.6: White Cat by Holly Black (+5 GR bonus)

10.1: Love in Mid Air by Kim Wright

Total Points: 255

[Suzanne]

Task completed:
10.7 Sweet Little Lies (L.A. Candy, #2) - Lauren Conrad

10 pts.

Total points: 240

[Cathy]

Task 15.5 Completed

Dianne Sweeney – Kissing Frogs In Cyberspace – GR Author 5pts + 5pts ebook +
Milkrun – Sarah Mlynowski –10 RDI, GR Author 5pts + 15pts Task = 40 pts (Both about women on the dating circuit)


Total Points = 330 Points
Actual Books: 20
Actual Tasks: 10

[Stacy]

Ok, sorry everyone! I've been too caught up in the lemons that life has been throwing at me! Here's an updated leaderboard...and I hope to post the new challenge soon.

LEADERBOARD
Kristine - 360
Cathy - 320
Nicole - 260
Alicia - 235
Suzanne - 230
Kourtney - 165
Jen - 150
Tara - 130
Stacy - 125
Ashley - 110

[Ashley]

Tasks Completed:

5.5 Luck of the Irish: The Next Thing on My List by Jill Smolinski (+5 library book)
5.8 Picture Perfect: Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch (+5 library book)

10.7 How Sweet It Is: The Chocolate Lover's Club by Carole Matthews (+5 library book)

15.5 Groundhog Day: No god but God by Reza Aslan (+5 library book) & What Went Wrong? by Bernard Lewis
15.9 That's a Mighty Long Title: Jen Lancaster's Pretty in Plaid, etc, etc :) (+5 library book)

25.4 One, Two, Three: One for the Money, Two for the Dough, Three to Get Deadly by J. Evanovich

Total Points: 100
Total Tasks: 6

[Kristine]

Task Completed:

Stacey, can I switch a book for a task?

I want to use The Brightest Star for task 5.9 star light, star bright(I already received points for this one)

5.5 Luck of the Irish – The Next Thing On My List – Jill Smolinski Save A Tree Bonus: 5 Points for any library book

10.10. Pamper Yourself – House Rules – Jodi Picoult/Length Bonus : 10 Points for any book that’s over 500 pages
I got a hair cut & a color

Total: 390

[Kourtney]

TASKS COMPLETED:

25.4 One, Two, Three – (a)Queen of Babble, Queen of Babble In the Big City, & Queen of Babble Gets Hitched – Meg Cabot (b) Away Laughing on a Fast Camel, Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers, Startled By His Furry Shorts and Love is a Many Trousered Thing - Louise Rennison

Series Bonus: 20
Total: 235

I'm back in the game!

[Ashley]

Tasks Completed:

5.5 Luck of the Irish: The Next Thing on My List by Jill Smolinski (+5 library book)
5.8 Picture Perfect: Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch (+5 library book)

10.7 How Sweet It Is: The Chocolate Lover's Club by Carole Matthews (+5 library book)

15.5 Groundhog Day: No god but God by Reza Aslan (+5 library book) & What Went Wrong? by Bernard Lewis
15.7 Making a List: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (+5 GR author) (From GR's Best Books of 2008 List)
15.9 That's a Mighty Long Title: Jen Lancaster's Pretty in Plaid, etc, etc :) (+5 library book)

25.4 One, Two, Three: One for the Money, Two for the Dough, Three to Get Deadly by J. Evanovich

Total Points: 120
Total Tasks: 7

[Suzanne]

Task completed
15.7 Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver
This is on quite a few lists. One is 2010 Debut Authors (Young Adult & Middle Grade Literature). This was a great book. Can't believe it was her first novel! I'll definitely read her future books.

Bonus points:
5 pts. - Goodreads author
5 pts. - library book
total: 25 pts.

Grand total: 255

[Tara]

Thanks for the recommendation Suzanne. I will have to check that out.

[Stacy]

Kristine wrote: "Task Completed:

Stacey, can I switch a book for a task?

I want to use The Brightest Star for task 5.9 star light, star bright(I already received points for this one)

5.5 Luck of the Irish ..."

Sure Kristine - I'll update the leaderboard on Tuesday or Wednesday, it's saved on my computer at work and I'm off tomorrow.

[Suzanne]

Tara wrote: "Thanks for the recommendation Suzanne. I will have to check that out."

Did you get an actual recommendation from me? Or do you just mean in general? I am confused...

[Tara]

Just in general Suzanne...LOL! Sorry! :)

[Suzanne]

Tara wrote: "Just in general Suzanne...LOL! Sorry! :)"

OK, thanks :)

[Suzanne]

Task completed
5.8 To Live Again - Lurlene McDaniel
Bonus points- 5 pts (library book)
total: 10 pts.

Grand total: 265

[Jen B]

Ok ladies, I finally got the next challenge posted! We've been in the new baby fog, so I'm sorry for being a little delayed! :)

[Heather]

I'm a bit confused as to how it's going to work when the challenge ends!!! I've been updating my original post once a week, dropping books I decided not to read and adding books I have read. Do I need to let Jen know that my original list has changed drastically?? I saw the leaderboard a couple posts back, and I'm not on it, when I've got over three hundred points. So, I'm worried I haven't been doing something right. I'm confused!

[Stacy]

Heather wrote: "I'm a bit confused as to how it's going to work when the challenge ends!!! I've been updating my original post once a week, dropping books I decided not to read and adding books I have read. Do I ..."

Heather - I'm sorry! I wasn't looking at the original post, I'll check that out today. I'm planning on updating the leaderboard today. Everyone usually posts a comment when they've finished a task with their updated points so I wasn't aware that you were doing the challenge. Sorry to make you feel left out, I didn't mean to! :(

[Stacy]

Ok, I'm not 100% sure these are correct. I tried to go through everbody's posts and re-add them all up but I got confused on some. If you have different points from what I have, please send me a complete breakdown of all your points so I can update my spreadsheet. Thanks!!

LEADERBOARD
Heather - 815
Kristine - 390
Cathy - 330
Suzanne - 280
Nicole - 250
Alicia - 230
Kourtney - 225
Ashley - 155
Jen - 150
Tara - 130
Stacy - 120

[Kristine]

Task completed:

15.4 Change of Season – Learning Curves – Gemma Townley (winter) Save A Tree Bonus: 5 Points for any library book/Pretty Little Liars – Sara Shepard (fall) GR Bonus: 5 Points for any book written by a Goodreads author/ Save A Tree Bonus: 5 Points for any library book

Total: 420

[Nicole]

10.9: A Hollywood Ending by Robyn Sisman (+5 library bonus)

15.2: Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak and The Wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moran (+5 GR bonus)

Total Points: 290

Stacy, I'll send you my points breakdown shortly. Edit: actually for some reason it's not letting me send you a message, Stacy. Maybe because your profile is set to private??

[Heather]

Sorry, I'm new to the group/challenge so I wasn't sure how I needed to update everything. You didn't make me feel left out Stacy! I just had a sneaking suspicion I wasn't doing something right about posting my points, lol.

[Tara]

TASK COMPLETED

25 Points
1. That really adds up-The Break up Club-Melissa Senate (304 pages), The Second Assistant-Clare Naylor (357 pages), House Rules-Jodi Picoult (532 pages) Total pages=1,193

10 points for length-House Rules (532 pages)
5 points for library book-House Rules
5 points for goodreads author-Melissa Senate
10 poinrs for group read-The Second Assistant

Total points=185

[Ashley]

TASK COMPLETED:

5 points:
3. How Romantic: Kissing Frogs in Cyberspace by Dianne Sweeney (+5 goodreads author)

10 points,
Total 130

[Cathy]

Tasks Completed
15 POINT TASKS
1. Seeing Double -
Mine Are Spectacular – by Janice Kaplan – (5 pts Library Book)
Sex, Murder and a Double Latte – Kyra Davis - (5 pts GR Author) + 15 Points Task = 25 Total pts
**Both Covers have Cartoon Women with their Backs to the reader, with Pinks, Beiges and other colors


10 POINT TASKS
1. Good Reads - Heart of the Matter – Emily Giffin – (Won ARC Copy) - 10pts Total


Total for two tasks = 35

Grand Total for Challenge = 365

[Tara]

I was wondering how you got that book already Cathy. I can't wait to read it. How was it? Where do you sign up to win ARC copies?

[Cathy]

I won the Emily Gifin book and the Heather Webber one earlier on Goodreads...if you go to the top of the page where it says "Explore" and then scroll down to Authors...the Authors page opens up and about half way to 3/4 down the page you can see a glimpse of the book giveaways...and then just lcick on Expand all giveaways...there are so many books/genres etc being given away....

I've learned that once you wina book you must review it before you can win another one...Good Luck!

[Cathy]

Tara wrote: "I was wondering how you got that book already Cathy. I can't wait to read it. How was it? Where do you sign up to win ARC copies?"

BTW the book was excellent!! As good as all her books so far...I really love her strength in developing characters..I always feel like they are real people...definitely check it out as soon as you can!

[Cathy]

Tara wrote: "I was wondering how you got that book already Cathy. I can't wait to read it. How was it? Where do you sign up to win ARC copies?"

One more thing...I also once won a chick lit book on this site...but they give out fewer copies so I imagine it's harder to win than GR:

http://chicklitclub.com/competitions....

[Tara]

Cathy wrote: "Tara wrote: "I was wondering how you got that book already Cathy. I can't wait to read it. How was it? Where do you sign up to win ARC copies?"

One more thing...I also once won a chick lit book ..."


I won a book on there recently but haven't received it yet. I was SHOCKED!!

[Tara]

Cathy wrote: "I won the Emily Gifin book and the Heather Webber one earlier on Goodreads...if you go to the top of the page where it says "Explore" and then scroll down to Authors...the Authors page opens up and..."

Thanks Cathy!

[Suzanne]

I finally reviewed that book I won last year, so I hope that means I'm eligible to win another book now! I'm sooo jealous you won a copy of Heart of the Matter! I am so excited about that one.

[Tara]

I am jealous too!!! LOL!

[Cathy]

Hoestly I totally lucked out to even find that they bok was being given a way....I don't think the compettion was open that long..and usually it's more indie writers I think...and I saw it one day and then really quickly sped read through the other book I won so I could up my chances to win more....
right now there is a Carol Snow book being given away til April 4th i think...I love her so I entered that one too..

[Stacy]

Nicole wrote: "10.9: A Hollywood Ending by Robyn Sisman (+5 library bonus)

15.2: Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak and The Wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moran (+5 GR bonus)..."

I'm not sure why it wouldn't work Nicole but I just sent you a friend request. Maybe then you'll be able to send it.

[Stacy]

Heather wrote: "Sorry, I'm new to the group/challenge so I wasn't sure how I needed to update everything. You didn't make me feel left out Stacy! I just had a sneaking suspicion I wasn't doing something right ab..."

Good, I'm glad you didn't feel left out, and I hope you've enjoyed the challenge.

[Stacy]

Cathy wrote: "I won the Emily Gifin book and the Heather Webber one earlier on Goodreads...if you go to the top of the page where it says "Explore" and then scroll down to Authors...the Authors page opens up and..."

Are you keeping your copy of the Giffin book? If not, I'll mooch it from you on Book Mooch or Paperback Swap...