The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
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SPRING CHALLENGE 2010
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Spring Challenge 2010 Completed Tasks
For task 15.10, I read The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine. Thomas Paine was the Founding Father who wrote Common Sense. I liked the actual arguments in this book, but it could have done without the underlying antisemitism.My personal philosophy is pretty much the golden rule and to live life to the fullest. Nothing fancy.
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pjreads wrote: "15.6 Friends - Never Let Me Go
Hated it!!!
Drivel about whether clones have souls, but no explanation why they passively accept being carved up for their vital organs. My mental ..."
I thought it was just me - glad to see someone else had the same thoughts as me on this book!
10.8 Michelangelo and the Pope's CeilingRoss King
I was in Italy two years ago and got to see the Sistine Chapel close up. The work was so beautiful and detailed. I could have looked at it for hours. It is magnificent! However, Michelangelo was trained as a sculptor. The Pieta is the most elegant and beautiful piece of art that I have ever laid my eyes on. I think what I like best about Michelangelo is his mastery of the human form.
10.5-Fiction/JournalistI read "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson.
I loved this book, and reading the sequel next!
This was a big book with 644 pages in my edition.
Susan I loved the second book even better!! The first was great too.
Finished:5.6 Asian-Pacific Month:
A. Novel that takes place in Asian/Pacific country: IndiaHaunting Bombay by Shilpa Agarwal, which is a ghost story
AND B. Book by an Asian/Pacific American authorThe Girl from Foreign: A Search for Shipwrecked Ancestors, Lost Loves, and Forgotten Histories by Sadia Shepard, who went to India to search out her Pakistani Muslim grandmother's Jewish roots.
10.2 Three/Four/Five:
The Winter Queen: A Novel by Jane Stevenson. Historical fiction speculating on the life of the daughter of James I and VI of England and Scotland. This takes place in Holland after the death of her husband Frederick Elector of Palentine. First of a trilogy. This was 3.35 when I selected and started it.
10.5 Freedom of the Press: My Friend the Fanatic by Sadanand Dhume, a look at Indonesia's slide into a radical Islamic state. Very readable.
I have completed the following tasks:15.7--Seven Deadly Sins
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls
One of the characters in the novel keeps secret his true abilities and presents himself as being far superior than he really is. The decision to do this puts many of the characters' lives in jeopardy. (I can't say more because I don't want to post spoilers and ruin it for everyone.) Personally I think there are far worse sins than being prideful, but in this particular situation, it was a matter of life and death.
15.9--What's in a name
Hourglass
Claudia Gray is the pseudonym for Amy Vincent. As a child, I started to write a novel and thought it would be fun to have a secret identity. I didn't have any rhyme or reason for the name I chose, but the pen name I created was J.B. Cheslar. I still have that tattered blue spiral notebook.
I'm at 30 points
5.4 The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley10.4 The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Total Points: 15/980
Books Read: 2
Tasks Completed: 2/57
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25.9 - Spring Break Survivor (I was in high school '99 to '03 and Palahniuk was popular then)Total Points: 30/980
Tasks Complete: 2
Tammy wrote: "pjreads wrote: "15.6 Friends - Never Let Me Go
Hated it!!!
...
I thought it was just me - glad to see someone else had the same thoughts as me on this book! "
Tammy, I guess we're the minority of the minority -- 3% one stars and only a few for similar reasons.
I hate to see such a terrible waste of writing talent.
I completed task 15.5 by reading B Is for Bad Poetry. She calls it bad because its not written to be cryptic, or for academia, however the poems are still quite genius in some cases in my opinion, some hilarious, some slap you in the face. I would recommend it to anyone who thinks poetry is for everyone. I really don't like haiku, I much prefer writing poetry w/rhyme. But, for the challenge: my original haiku: (Ok, I swear the rhyme was completely unintentional, but I like it. LOL)
Moment before day
The sunrise is on its way
The darkness remains
Books Read: 3
Pages Read: 558
Points: 35
Heather wrote: "20.5 Done. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS TASK!!!1. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
2. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
3. Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
4. I Love Y..."
Yeah, well since March 1st I have read a lot to my students AND my kids. I do this GREAT lesson with Click Clack Moo and Orff instruements plus a variety of other percussion instruments. It's a BLAST! Dooby Dooby BOING!
Tammy wrote: "pjreads wrote: "15.6 Friends - Never Let Me Go
Hated it!!!
Drivel about whether clones have souls, but no explanation why they passively accept being carved up for their vital organs..."
I wasn't a fan of this one either - too many unanswered questions for me.
TOTAL POINTS: 60 + 10 = 7010.8 Spin State by Chris Moriarty
This was a very interesting scifi book that combined the themes of cyberpunk, FTL space travel, and first contact. All was based on quantum theory...you should see the authors bibliography at the end of the book!
Completed Tasks
5.2 Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart
5.9 Walking Dead by C. E. Murphy
10.9 Moving Target by Mercedes Lackey et al
15.9 Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews
25.1 Recipes from a American Herb Garden by Maggie Oster
Finished:20.2 - Clean Sweep
Wench: A Novel - Dolen Perkins-Valdez*
I have mixed feelings on this book - in the beginning I was confused and couldn't really follow the story line. Then the author got more into the characters of the story and their background, but the ending was kind of blah.
TOTAL POINTS = 30
*Goodreads Author
I just completed task 10.5 by reading Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, with Recipes. The author, Elizabeth Bard, is a journalist and has written for the New York Times.I found it incredibly charming in the way that I love all memoirs that incorporate recipes and are told by incredibly likable, human narrators. I have yet to tire of this "sub-genre"!
Tasks Completed: 7/57
Books Read: 9
Pages Read: 2861
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My first post!10.1 Never Cry Werewolf by Heather Davis
(see the edge of a tree on the left...)
10.4 Reuse - I think I've had How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff on two challenge plans now, and still hadn't gotten around to it yet.
TOTAL = 20 POINTS
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Completed 20.6 (Favorite Series). I read The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan.This is book 3 in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I am devouring this book! Percy is a "half-blood", half god/half mortal. He is the son of Poseidon and attends a summer camp for half-bloods. The series focuses on Percy and his friends going on quests to prevent the rise of the Titans who are threatening to overthrow the gods on Mt. Olympus. A great series for anyone who loves Greek myths.
Total Points: 45
15.7 - Lust, Loathing and a Little Lip Glosss by Kyra Davis (goodreads author)Tasks - 1
Books - 1
Pages - 361
Total Points - 15
10 point task10.4 - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
In honor of Earth Day which falls on April 22 complete one of the following options...
C. Recycle - For this option: read a book from your personal collection and when your finished pass it on so another person can read it.
The Alchemyst by Michael Scott
Current Point Total: 10
Jessica MI
My first 5* of the spring! 15.9 What's in a Name: Death in the Garden by Elizabeth Ironside, which is the pseudonym of Lady Catherine Manning, wife of the British Ambassador to the US. This was a great book that was both a traditional English country house mystery and a compelling portrait of the time. If you have an interest in the modern era (WWI and post-WWI years) I would recommend this!
Yay for finally feeling better! And double-yay for reading! And massive amounts of yay for 50 degree weather in March!25.10 Deja Vu
The Hidden Staircase (from The Nancy Drew Mysteries, written 1930) and Buried Secrets (from The Nancy Drew Files, written 1987). "Carolyn Keene" is a pseudonym for the dozen or so authors who wrote books in the various ND series, and different authors wrote each of the books--which were actually published by different houses, as well.
I don't think I like the second book as well as the first. In the original mysteries, Nancy Drew is definitely an independent woman for whom romance doesn't even seem to matter--she goes on a single date in The Hidden Staircase, and that is glossed over in one paragraph tucked at the beginning of the book. The mysteries start immediately, and the book focuses mainly on how Nancy boldly solves the problems set before her. However, in Buried Secrets, Nancy Drew is equally concerned with her romantic relationship with Ned (a character not even mentioned in The Hidden Staircase) and the mystery she is trying to solve. She is in more danger throughout the book and less in control of the situations in which she finds herself. She relies on other people, such as Ned, to "rescue" her from these dangers, and is presented as a weaker sort of heroine who fumbles her way through solving the mystery, blindly tossing herself into danger without considering the consequences. I definitely prefer the stronger, more confident Nancy Drew of the '30s to the more bubble-headed Nancy Drew of the '80s. What's really interesting about the comparisons is that you'd imagine that the '80s version would be more "girl-power," given that the Women's Movement had occurred and girls were supposed to be proactive and strong.
30.5 Six Degrees of Separation
After and Hate That Cat: A Novel
Goodreads author Amy Efaw wrote After, and she also reviewed Monster by Walter Dean Myers, who was the favorite poet of protagonist Jack in Sharon Creech's Love That Dog and its sequel, Hate That Cat.
Total: 55 + 165 (from earlier) = 220pts
10.2 - Three/Four/FiveMarch, April, and May are the 3rd, 4th, and 5th months of the year - Read a book whose average rating is made up of the numbers 3,4, and 5 (i.e. no other number can be found in it so 3.34 is fine while 2.35 is not). (The book must have that rating when you start to read it - if the rating changes after you or other Goodreads members review it...i.e. if the score is higher or lower than 3.45 when you post the task it will still count.)
The Lost Symbol by Brown 3.33 rating on March 1
10 points
50 total
505 pages so it is a long book too.
5.1 Read a book with a type of bird in the title,I read Six Geese A-Slaying by Donna Andrews.
I think I am getting tired of the series it is not any different than the rest just a lite cozy.
Points: 35
Tasks: 3
Pages read: 1467
Mod
Road Map to Holland: How I Found My Way Through My Son's First Two Years With Down Syndrome
I really liked this book. The author writes with honesty. She brought me to tears- from the insensitivity of some and the heroism of others. I hope it has made me more aware and sensitive. Thanks to Rachel for the great suggestion.
+5
total 40
I completed 5.7 by reading Overcoming Autism: Finding the Answers, Strategies, and Hope That Can Transform a Child's Life. My youngest was recently diagnosed with ASD and even though the advice seems mainly geared toward children a little older than her, I still felt it gave some excellent advice.I now have 5 points.
I finished 15.6 by reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (popular among my GR friends and Go Ask Alice by Anonymous (5 star on a friend of a friend's list)I gave both these books 5 stars. They were both easy reads, but I couldn't put either of them down.
What shocked me so much about Go Ask Alice was how young and innocent she seemed at the beginning of the book- her diary entries read EXACTLY like my diary read at that age. And given the contents of the book, it makes me feel how lucky I was to get through my teen years (relatively) unscathed.
Water for Elephants was simply fantastic from beginning to end- a little bit of suspense, a little bit of romance- and an elephant with attitude :) . The writing style was great- I read the entire book in a day, I just couldn't drop it.
That should bring me to 25 points.
Books Read: 3
Pages Read: 949
Total Points: 25
Mod
25.8
A. A book narrated by or written in the voice of an animal
Waiting for Gertrude: A Graveyard Gothic
AND
B. A book demonstrating the relationship between owners and pets
Catalyst
points: 25
pages: 440
tasks: 1
Task 20.2 Clean Sweep: Grime and Punishment by Jill Churchill. A cozy mystery about the murder of a cleaning woman. Cute!Task 25.8 Talk to the Animals
A: The Frog and Toad Treasury: Frog and Toad are friends / Frog and Toad together / Frog and Toad all year. by Arnold Lobel. Three of the Frog and Toad books. Frog and Toad are two best friends - awesome books for kids.
B: Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie. I actually got this one out of Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels by Sarah Wendell, which I'm using for 30.6. But having read it, it is a natural for this task. It's a fun little romance, but the central relationship is definitely the heroine and the dog she adopts in the first chapter. Makes me really want to have a dog!!!
This brings me to 125 points.
7/57 tasks
10 books
Just noticed I can fit one of my already read books in the following task:10.4 Recycle
I am giving this book to Ellen, a girl in my book club, on Tuesday. It is our book club selection for March. When she returns it, I will be swapping it on paperbackswap (any PBS'ers that want it? Let me know!)
I'm at 40 points now.
20.8 - Happy Birthday To You Rachel Lee (March 24th)! - A Magical Birthday Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris & Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris
Total Points = 50
I finished task 30.4 with The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel and A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul. I also finished 20.3 with The Bell Jar. Esther isn't actually diagnosed with anything, but the Wikipedia page says either depression or bipolar disorder. I now know what it's like to get shock treatments, and how a person with a lobotomy might act. I thought the main points of the novel was that a mentally ill person can't just snap out of it through force of will, and that mental illness isn't anyone's fault.
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25.4A. Read a book written by an author that shares your first, middle, OR last name.
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynn Truss
My middle name is Lynn.
C. Read a book with a character’s name in the title
Claire by Lisi Harrison
Total points: 35
20.7 - Time to declutter: Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. A fun satirical end-of-the-world book. Objects to be thrown out: one of these days I will get rid of the cat beds that are no longer in use, or never were used. The cat prefers cardboard boxes over anything else I've purchased.
Pages read: 545
Books read: 2
Tasks completed: 2
Total Points: 45
Liz (Bklyn)
10.6 And the Oscar Goes to...Greater Than Angels
I'm connecting this book to Inglorious Basterds.
1. The protagonist of the book is a Jewish girl who is interested in the performing arts (not cinema like IB, but it's close enough).
2. The book takes place primarily in France, and the people of a rural French town help hide Jewish families (like the family at the beginning of IB).
3. The protagonist and a few of her friends and fellow Jews are interested in helping the resistance against the Nazis (just like the girl and her lover in IB plot to stop the Nazis).
4. Both works have a certain amount of dark humor involved--the protagonist of the book is constantly telling jokes, while Tarentino's film has its own morbidly amusing moments.
Total: 10 + 220 (from earlier) = 230pts
25.10 Deja VuThree Men in a Boat
To Say Nothing of the Dog
To Say Nothing of the Dog not only lives up to Three Men in a Boat, it raises the fun of everything by a factor of ten ... to say nothing of the cats.
120 points
I just completed task 25.10. Melissa gave me permission to read 2 books that are variations on the classic tale Beauty and the Beast.I read Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast first and it turned out to be extremely true to the original. Nothing much was added to make it "shine" but it was faithfully told, if not a little boring compared to the original because it was much longer and drawn out and none of the details improved on the traditional fairy tale in any way.
The second book however was quite clever and I gobbled it down! The book is called Beastly and I love how it modernizes the story in as believable a way as possible (even though magic is obviously involved). This book was written for a YA audience and I like how the beast is an arrogant boy who gets turned into a beast to learn a lesson.
I would not say either "live up to the original" since I love the original in and of itself, but I certainly prefer Beastly for a new take on an age old story!
Tasks Completed: 8/57
Books Read: 11
Pages Read: 3421
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Just finished this task:5.5 - "Whatever is popular deserves attention."
Using the following link (Popular Books) read a popular book that was published in a year ending in 3/4/5.
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Inkheart was popular in 2003.
45 points total
5.7 I read the Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark HaddonTasks Completed: 4
Books Read: 4
Pages Read:1688
(I'm participating in the seasonal reading challenge again. The last challenge I did was the spring of '09 challenge.)Tasks Completed:
30.4 A) The Long Valley by John Steinbeck and B) Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper
Probably my last one for tonight...10.1 Books Really DO Grow on Trees
It's actually easier to see the trees on here than on the physical cover! They're on the left, by the spine.
Total: 10 + 230 (from earlier) = 240pts
My first tasks completed.... I think I went a little crazy with the Haiku!15.5 - "A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom."
April is National Poetry Month. For this task read a collection of poetry (Must be at least 75 pages). When posting this write and share with the group an original Haiku.
For this task I read Where the Sidewalk Ends. And here is my Haiku (kinda long but oh well)
The birds are singing
Listen to the sounds of spring
The bees are buzzing
The sun is shining
A beautiful spring day
A breeze is blowing
Watch children playing
Couples strolling hand in hand
Love is in the Air
5.7 - March is Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month
To celebrate this month read a book featuring a character with mental retardation or a developmental disorder (i.e. Autism, Down Syndrome etc.), or a non-fiction book that relates to one of the disorders.
For this task I read By the Light of the Moon. The main character's brother has autism.
Total Points: 20/980
Books Read: 2
Tasks Completed: 2/57
TOTAL POINTS: 70 + 20 = 9020.7 The Pleasures of Cooking for One by Judith Jones
I have six full bookcases of cookbooks. I read them like novels, making lists of recipes that I would like to try and tucking them inside the front cover. For this task, I combed through all of them and came up with a short stack of cookbooks that I wanted to rehome. I hosted a contest on a recipe BB that I participate on and they will be shipped out to their new owner come Monday. The book I read for the challenge was another cookbook, but one from the library so I didn't even add another book! Now I just need to copy down some good-sounding recipes...
BTW, for anyone who read the book or saw the movie, Julie & Julia, Judith Jones was the foodie that Julie was all in a tiddle about hosting at her apartment (the one that didn't show up?).
Completed Tasks
5.2 Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart
5.9 Walking Dead by C. E. Murphy
10.8 Spin State by Chris Moriarty
10.9 Moving Target by Mercedes Lackey et al
15.9 Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews
25.1 Recipes from a American Herb Garden by Maggie Oster
25.8 - Helen's Task - Talk to the AnimalsA. A book narrated by or written in the voice of an animal - Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson.
B. A book demonstrating the relationship between owners and pets - Leaving Jack by Gareth Crocker.
Total Points: 80/980
Books Read: 9
Tasks Completed: 6/57
Tasks in Progress: 6
From Owned TBR: 8
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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)
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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)
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I guess he is one of my "guilty" pleasures.
Tasks Completed: 6/57
Books Read: 8
Pages Read: 2573
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