The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
SPRING CHALLENGE 2010
>
Spring Challenge 2010 Completed Tasks
15.7 - What's in a name - The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice under the pen name A.N. Roquelaure.
My Total - 15 Points
15.9 What's in a name? - I read The Third Circle by Amanda Quick. Quick is one of 7 pen names used by Jayne Ann Krentz. 15/980 points
Tasks Completed: 1/57
Tasks Pending:
Books Read: 1
Pages Read: 418
Just completed 30.6. I read Special Topics in Calamity Physics, which I loved and was absolutely sucked into and I re-read A Moveable Feast which has always been a favorite. It was one of only 2 re-reads for this challenge! I was trying to avoid them. I guess I need to claim a big book ticket as well for Special Topics which was 528 pages.
Tasks Completed: 2/57
Books Read: 4
Pages Read: 1683
[image error]
Total Points: 10 + 25 = 3525.1 Recipes from an American Herb Garden by Maggie Oster
I would just love to have a semi-formal kitchen herb garden just outside my door for when I am cooking. Instead I have a few herbs tucked here and there into the flowerbeds, making cooking somewhat of a scavenger hunt for herbs.
Argh!! Claimed points twice for the same task! A bit early for that to be happening... So, I have a total of 30 points right now and I just have to figure out another category to fit one of the books I slotted for 5.9. Sorry for any confusion.
What is the page limit for the big book ticket?
15.3 Books That Everyone Should Read At Least Once #317The House on Mango Street
This book should be on this list because "each sentence is carefully crafted to evoke emotion, beauty, or even just the pleasure of sound. It's like reading a poem that tells a story."
I would put King Lear or Hamlet at the top of the list ahead of To Kill a Mockingbird (which is a wonderful book, but not #1).
30 points
10.1 Read a book with a picture of a tree on the front cover.I read Free Fall by Fern Michaels. It was a fun read not as good as the first part of the series.
Total Pts: 30
Books Read: 2
Task Completed: 2
Pages Read: 815
Angela wrote: "What is the page limit for the big book ticket?"You can get up to three tickets. One for a 500 page book, one for a 750 page book, and one for a 1000 page book.
20.1 - The Most Improved Player - Cindy AL - April FoolApril Fool...read three 1000+ page books and write reviews of each without using your computer...April Fool! Read a humorous book of any type and write a short review.
The Edge Chronicles Beyond the Deepwoods by Paul Stewart
20 points
total 30
my review
Too many monsters.. I got dizzy with its repetitive, predictable chapters. The ending was ridiculous. The whole thing was laughable which is why I chose to use it for my April Fool's Task.
I just completed task 15.1 by reading This Charming Man by Marian Keyes for Part B (she is Irish) and Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter for part A (as the title indicates, it was about Greece).I love Keyes. She really brings life to her characters and writes good stories that keep me reading. I could have lived without the second book (see my review).
Tasks Completed: 3/57
Books Read: 5
Pages Read: 1717
[image error]
5.3 S.P.R.I.N.G. - I read The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes (Volume 1) by Neil Gaiman. It took me awhile to get into the series, but by the third section I was loving it almost as much as everything else I've ever read by Gaiman. I'm not usually that into graphic novels, but I'm planning to continue reading the Sandman chronicles! * Neil Gaiman is also a Goodreads Author
20/980 points
Tasks Completed: 2/57
Tasks In Progress:
Books Read: 2
Pages Read: 658
25.9 - Spring BreakI am still in High School, so this one is pretty easy for me!
The Green Mile by Stephen King
Totals:
Points: 25/980
Books: 1
Tasks:1/57
Pages 544
I just completed 15.7 by reading More Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason. Dictionary.com defines lust as "a passionate or overmastering desire or craving." The reason that lust is deadly, in my opinion, is that can make you ignore priorities and set aside important things. The desire for an activity can actually prevent you from living normally, or in all of its irony, carrying on the activity itself. This book is a perfect example - in spending so much energy lusting after books, I spent that much less time actually reading those books.But it was fun. LOL. I now have 74 more books on my to-read list!
Books Read: 2
Pages Read: 430
Points: 20
Julie McVey5.9 ~ Elly: My True Story of the Holocaust ~ Elly Berkovits Gross
Total Points = 5
Books Read = 1
Pages Read = 105
5.7 - March is Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month - Read a book featuring a character with mental retardation or a developmental disorder - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark HaddonTotal Points: 30/980
Books Read: 4
Tasks Completed: 3/57
Tasks in Progress: 2
From Owned TBR: 4
[image error]
5.3 S.P.R.I.N.GCat and Mouse in a Haunted House by Geronimo Stilton (initials are GS)
20.6 Bridgit's Task - Favorite Series
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (Robert Langdon #3)
This series is for people interested in reading novels with suspense, intrigue and mystery and all of this tied in together with historical facts and conspiracies.
Total points:50
Total Points: 30 + 1010.9 Moving Targets and Other Stories of Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey
Lackey's Valdemar is one of my favorite series (and it has telepathic horses, so fits this task) and it was wonderful to see what other authors could do with her world.
10.2 The California Club by Belinda Jones (rating 3.54 when I started it)
Finished my first task for spring! I feel like I am already behind the curve though!5.9 "I think even lying on my bed I can still do something." Must've Done Something Good by Cheryl Cory (a Goodreads author). Charming and sweet.
Finished 25.9: Love: A Novel by Toni Morrison, who was popular when I was in high school in 1998.Total Points: 25
Task 5.4 NewsLetter Dirty Little Secrets
by CJ OMOLOLU (Good Reads Author)
I completed Task 5.8 by reading Once upon a Telephone: An Illustrated Social History.I quite enjoyed this trip through the history of the telephone and how it changed the social attitudes throughout the times.
The book begins with a short biography of Alexander Graham Bell. It was interesting to find out that the invention of the telephone was an accident, that Operators were originally young boys (12-14 yrs old) but they were rude to customers and enjoyed playing practical jokes by misconnecting the phone calls and were quickly replaced by women. Women Operators had very stringent rules of employment put upon them, including that they must be single, could not eat in restaurants alone and bringing a lunch pail was frowned upon (so they hid lunch pails in large purses).
A customer never owned the phone (I remember those days) and in the 1880s, the cost of rental was $4.50 a quarter year, the Yellow Pages were the result of running out of white paper during printing.
The phone then went on to broaden the horizon of housebound housewives (they were “no longer limited by the length of their apron strings”), used as dating tools allowing both men and women to chat without getting dressed up, etc.
Throughout the book are poems, advertisements throughout the ages and small articles and memorandums.
The pictures alone, with their fashions and phone styles over the ages, are interesting in themselves.
Finished:10.10 - Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home - Rhoda Janzen
Total Points = 10
I had the wrong task # in my previous post. 15.9 - What's in a name -
The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice under the pen name A.N. Roquelaure. If I was a writer I would use Juliet Starling as a pen name. I think it sounds classic/romantic & would use that name for those types of books.
My Total - 15 Points
I just completed 25.9 by reading For One More Day because Mitch Albom was very popular during my high school and college years. I liked it, but not as much as some of his other books.Tasks Completed: 4/57
Books Read: 6
Pages Read: 1914
[image error]
3/4(technically)/10"When We Were Orphans" by Kazuo Ishiguro
Task 5.6 (Written by a Japanese-English author, set in Shanghai)
20.2 - Clean SweepA. Read a fiction book with a character that cleans or organizes in some capacity.
The Devil You Know by Mike Carey - the main protagonist is an exorcist and is asked to "clean" an archive building of a ghost.
Task Points: 20
Books Read: 1
Tasks Completed: 1
10.5 Read a book with a main character who is a journalist.I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo , which I would also like to count for the "Big Books" contest since it's 500+ pages.
And wow, this book was good! I definitely recommend it if you enjoy a good murder mystery and thriller.
Total points = 10
For task 10.10 Fashions fade I read:
Turquoise Capris & Peach Daiquiris: A Little Lexicon of Words Derived from Places by Steven Gilber.
This is not a narrative, but more of a dictionary of words that are from place names. The author's little attempts at limericks at the end of manyentries is pretty pathetic. It's more of a bathroom book, since you can open it to any page and read for a minute or two.
25.7 - The Gods must be CrazyI read Truly, Madly by Heather Webber. The Valentine family has a gift for matchmaking bestowed on them by Cupid, God of Love. Well, all of the family exept Lucy, who has some of her own special "gifts". I won this book (her first in the Lucy Valentine series), it was a fun, quick read & I will definately be reading the rest of the series as they are released!
Heather Webber is a Goodreads Author!
My total - 40 Points
25.7 - Ashley FL's Task - The Gods Must Be Crazy - Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs Total Points: 25/980
Books Read: 2
Tasks Completed: 1/57
Tasks in Progress: 1
15.5 - ImpulseRain sounds on the roof
Readers cuddle with a book
Spring Challenge begins
I know that isn't really great, but it is what it is...
Total Points: 30
Books Read: 4
Task Complete: 3
Pages Read: 1332
[image error]
Kathryn wrote: "15.5 - ImpulseRain sounds on the roof
Readers cuddle with a book
Spring Challenge begins
I know that isn't really great, but it is what it is...
Total Points: 30
Books Read: 4
Tas..."
I like it! Haiku is fun!!!!!
First challenge done! 5.2 The Secret Garden : Persahabatan Sejati di Tengah Taman Rahasia by Frances Hodgsen Burnett
Never read this as a child. I spent the whole first half being annoyed by Mary, but eventually grew to sort of like her. Thought Colin was annoying the whole time though...But I did like the neighbor boy.
Total Points: 5
Books Read: 2
Tasks Complete: 1
Pages Read: 608
Thanks guys. lol, I actually went to sleep last night trying to make it up in my head. Glad you guys enjoy it!
Yay, off the mark!10.5 - Freedom Of The Press
In Honor of World Press Freedom Day (May 3rd)...
A. Read a novel with a main character who is a journalist.
Or
B. Read a non-fictional book written by or about a famous journalist.
I read The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest by Stieg Larsson. A great end to the trilogy! 4*
Total points: 10
Mod
The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost his Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden
Alexander gets in over his head and begins a love/hate relationship with his garden. Funny in some spots- slightly whining in others. I enjoyed it. It did make me look for the seed cataogs.
+5
total 15
I finished 25.1 with
The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume III: Conrad's Fate / The Pinhoe Eggby Diana Wynne JonesI really want a cat in the future, and this cover has two of them on it. There's one in front of the unicorn, and one to the left on the column that's a bit harder to see. 50 points total.
[image error]
Leigh wrote: "15.9 What's in a name? - I read The Third Circle by Amanda Quick. Quick is one of 7 pen names used by Jayne Ann Krentz. Sorry Cynthia, I forgot to mention what my own pen name would be. I've always thought my pen name would be Kelley Leigh. If I were going to write something it would either be a children's book or a historical romance, so this seems fitting...especially if it's written in that fancy historical romance script :)
I read The Handmaid's Tale for the group read (20.10). Everyone else needs to hurry up and jump on the discussion board because there's plenty to talk about with this one. :)Total points: 20
Just finished task 20.1 Most Improved Player - Cindy AL - April Fool by reading Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris. I would give this one 4*, I always love a good Sedaris book, and this one totally delivered. I was laughing out loud from the first page. The SantaLand Diaries are hysterical, but tinged with a little sadness. I felt a little guilty for laughing at a grown man in an elf suit, but I couldn't help myself. I also loved the turn he takes towards the "holiday letter" in "Season's Greetings to Our Friends and Family!!!". I know I've laughed at my share of these from friends and family in the past, but Sedaris takes it to a whole new level. Finally, the awful sadistic humor of "Christmas Means Giving" brings whole new meaning to keeping up with the Joneses..."Christmas means giving until it bleeds"...frightening, sad and still laced with humor.
40/980 points
Tasks Completed: 3/57
Tasks In Progress:
Books Read: 3
Pages Read: 792
25.7 The Gods Must Be CrazyThe Lightning Thief
It's weird to say, but I'm not sure if I actually liked it or not. Reading it right after D'Aulaire's was perfect, because all of the references in the myths made sense (I could usually guess what was coming up), but that made it incredibly predictable and therefore a bit boring. It reminded me of Harry Potter, almost--which for me is NOT a good thing. I'll probably read the second one, but I'm definitely not as enthusiastic about this series as the kids who recommended it to me.
Total: 25 + 65 (from earlier) = 90pts
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
The Seasonal Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Frankenstein (other topics)Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang (other topics)
Loving Frank (other topics)
Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began (other topics)
Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Nancy Horan (other topics)Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (other topics)
Elizabeth Gilbert (other topics)
Chelsea Handler (other topics)
Eric Puchner (other topics)
More...
The Beekeeper
5.5 - "Whatever is popular deserves attention."
Labyrinth
Points: 10
Books: 2
p.s: Sorry Cynthia