The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
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SPRING CHALLENGE 2010
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Spring Challenge 2010 Completed Tasks
20.5 Melaine's Task - Read Across AmericaThe Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss (72 pages)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss (30 pages)
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss (25 pages)
And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss (64 pages)
In a People House by Dr. Seuss (36 pages)
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (48 pages)
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (32 pages)
Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch (32 pages)
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco (40 pages)
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. (32 pages)
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson (61 pages)
The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn (32 pages)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (26 pages)
Page total: 530 pages
Total points: 110
25.8 A Dog's LifePeter Mayle
and
The Other End of the Leash
Patricia McConnell
Hello! I have completed the following task:
25.4 ~ Name Game. I read the following books for this task:
A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly (same first name)
Fall by Colin McAdam. (Fall, short for Fallon, one of three main characters in the novel.)
Total # Points: 25
Total # Pages Read: 754
Total # Books Read: 2
Total # Tasks Completed: 1
Thank you!
Jennifer D. (Canada)
I have two tasks to claim:
20.3 - Best Review Contest - Amy MO - Mental Health
B. A non-fiction book about a mental health issue/disorder
According to Task Help ( 20.3), message 7: by Amy Feb. 24, 2010 08:50PM
I read:
unSweetined by Jodie Sweetin (Hardcover, 256 pages)
By the end of the book, I (1) had a better understanding of the thought-processes of addicts and (2) disliked Jodie Sweetin. I suspect that the last 30 pages or so record how Jodie would like her life to be, rather than how it actually is.
And
10.6 - And The Oscar Goes To...
Read a biography/autobiography of an Academy Award winning actor, actress, or director..
I chose Audrey Hepburn (Oscar winner: Best Actress: in 1953 for her role in “Roman Holiday”) and read Audrey Hepburn: An Intimate Portrait by Diana Maychick (Hardcover, 247 pages)
(Thanks Nicole for mentioning this book! It was amazing!)
Diana Maychick was able to interview Audrey Hepburn several times during the last year of her life and incorporated the interviews into her biography. It is amazing how Audrey Hepburn was able to overcome her suffering during World War II to become a most amazing person (and actress!). Her earliest acting was on behalf of the Resistance while living under Nazi occupation.
30+20+10=60
Tasks Completed: 3
Points for this task: 20+10
Points thus far: 60/980
Books read: 4
Pages Read: 999
Read but not claimed: 3 books
(Probably will post more tasks tonight :0) )
I have just finished the final book to make up 850 pages from the tbr pile at home!Challenge 25.5
Brixton Beach- Roma Tearne- 408p
Song of the West- Nora Roberts - 187p
The Chalet girl- Kate Lace- 312p
5.9 Spend a day in bed reading a book.The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon
This was a completely fun book to read in bed!
Total Points - 5
15.9 - What's in a name?
Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie5 stars 192 Pages
For this task I read Sleeping Murder from Agatha Christie. Agatha Christie is a pen name as her real name is Agatha Mary Clarissa or Lady Mallowan.
Task 1
Book 1
Pages 192
For 10 points...5-1. Firebird by Mercedes Lackey (4 stars)
5-2. The Forgotten Garden: A Novel by Kate Morton (5 stars) 552 pages
25.7 Ashely's FL's task - The Gods Must Be Crazy - I read Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips. It was a quick read, pretty clever. I'd give it 3*.70/980 points
Tasks Completed: 5/57
Tasks In Progress: 2
Books Read: 6
Pages Read: 1540
20.3 this book is about a girl that has an eating disorder. What i learned out this disease is that it is a common problem amongst teen girls and that most of the teen girls that have this problem also try to hid it from the people the most care about them.
Rhiannon wrote: "20.3 this book is about a girl that has an eating disorder. What i learned out this disease is that it is a common problem amongst teen girls and that most of the teen girls that have this problem..." Which book is it? I still need something for this task, so I'm interested in hearing what everyone else reads!
I've been gone on a long trip, so I've got several to post. One book I posted earlier because it was for the 3,4,5 rating task and it kept changing, the others are new.5.3 SPRING author: Who's Afraid of Virgina Ham by Phyllis Richman, read 3/5/2010.
10.2 Average rating 3,4 and/or 5: With This Puzzle I Thee Kill by Parnell Hall, read 3/3/2010.
The rating was 3.44 when I started this book, I've already posted this one only, because the ratings were changing so fast.
10.5 Journalist as character: or non-fiction book about journalists: Last One In by Nicholas Kulish , read 3/6/2010.
This is a humorous/serious book about a celebrity gossip columnist who through a series of misadventures ends up as an embedded reporter in the Second Iraq War. He gradually becomes a war correspondent despite his best efforts. The beginning is funny, and Kulish does his best writing recounting life in the Humvee (he was an embedded reporter). The ending is problematic, the author becomes more serious, abut has difficulty striking the proper balance. Also, there is a seismic shift back home at the newspaper toward the end of the book, but you never know how that effects the reporter, or indeed what happens after he gets home. I did like it though - 3-4 *s
20.3 Mental health disorder: The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry,read 3/7/2010.
What a great book! This is outside what I usually read, but it was well done. The narrator describes herself as "an unreliable narrator". At the end she is diagnosed with a dissociative disorder and severe survivor guilt, but at various times in the novel she gets a diagnosis of schizophrenia, depression and she undergoes electroshock therapy which further complicates her memories and her hold on reality. She also shares her families talent for "lace reading" (this is magical realism) which is a form of precognition. Sometimes though, she cannot separate reality from vision from precognition. Add to that she is being stalked by an abusive man, and the story gets murky. What I learned from this was the pain of losing reality and know you are losing hold.
20.5 500 pages from NEA booklist: Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke, read 3/4/2010.
This book is on the Teacher's List 100 best books for children... and probably on the kid's list, too, I didn't look.
25.7 The Gods Must be Crazy: The Sea of Monsters, by Rick Riordan, read 3/1/2010. Another great book about Percy and friends.
30.5 6 degrees of separation: The Laughing Corpse and The Shattered Chain by Laurell Hamilton and Marion Zimmer Bradley, read 3/7/2010.
OK, the connection - according to her website, Laurell Hamilton made her first sale, a short story entitled "Stealing Souls" to a magazine edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley.
I want to say this is a SUPER task, and I vote that we have this task or perhaps a slight variation in EVERY challenge, it is a one task version of much of what is fun about this challenge.
Lastly, for you "young folks" I recommend MZB's Darkover series if you have never read them. Supplanted in popularity by her later Mists of Avalon, but I always thought much more imaginative, complete world building.
Books read 11
Tasks completed 7/57
Points 120/980
Pages read 3695
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Finished 20.10 - Group read with The Handmaiden's Tale.Great book, weird setting, but it really makes you wonder how women in the Islamic theocracies live today.
Total Points:45
I completed Task 5.4 (Newsletter) by listening to Catching Fire (December 2009) Ugh! I upgraded The Hunger Games from 2 to 3* because of Roo but Catching Fire has no Roo equivalent and gets 2*. Gracious, Katniss is slow and often dense.
I also didn't like that she was made so weak in this book. At least in The Hunger Games, she came across as a strong advisary. In this book, she doesn't show any strength of mind or action.
Will I be reading Mockingjay when it comes out? Yes...I want to see how this ends. That's another thing I'm not fond of with Catching Fire. It's definitely not a stand-alone book. It stops in the middle of a plotline and leaves the reader dangling.
Mod
Zeus: A Journey Through Greece in the Footsteps of a God
Tom Stone puts the Zeus mythology into historical, cultural, linguistic, and archeological context. Scholarly, but readable- he puts the myths in chronological order- it really helped orient these familiar stories for me.
+25
total 65
Mod
Feed by M.T. Anderson
Points: 30
Books: 3
Pages: 739
Tasks: 2
I completed task 25.1 I read Fireworks over Toccoa by Jeffery Stepakoff which features a couple dancing on the cover. This represents a few things I'd like in life, I'd like to become a better dancer (my moves are limited to the chicken dance and the lawnmower) and I'd like to dance without inhibition romantically under the stars.
This brings me to 55 points.
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Task 20.6 Favorite Series: Invitation Only by Kate Brian. I took up this series as #1 in the Series was a 5* book of Kathryn's, my top "Friend of a Friend". I LOVE this series. Sort of "Gossip Girl" set in a prep school, with a murder sub-plot. It is definitely YA and not for everyone, but I think it is great, escapist fun.Task 15.9 Untouchable by Kate Brian (a pen name for Kieran Scott). #3 in the "Private" series.
My pen name would be Kate Natalin. This is a play on our boat name, which itself is a play on the names of my kids.
This brings me to 160 points.
9/57 tasks
12 books
I read The Golden Compass for task 20.3 and posted a comment on the discussion thread.[image error]
pages read: 575
books read: 2
task completed: 2
For 20.6 - Supporting Goodreads Authors - Bridgit - Favorite SeriesI read The Spellman Files. I'm not usually a series reader, and I'm not usually a mystery reader, but I am a big fan of quirky so this first novel about the Izzy Spellman and her family's private eye business is mostly just quirky fun. I give it a solid 4 stars and definitely plan to read the next 2 (or is it 3 now) books in the series, eventually. Ah, this was a great task except that it took one book out of my TBR pile and put 2 (or is it 3 now) books in!
New points: 20
Total points: 40
Deedee wrote: " I have two tasks to claim:
20.3 - Best Review Contest - Amy MO - Mental Health
B. A non-fiction book abou..."
Oh yay!! I am looking forward to reading it!
5.2 "A book is like a garden carried in the pocket." Green Angel
A very strange, yet beautiful, fairy tale.
5.9 “I think even lying on my bed I can still do something.”
The Time Bike
No, sir, I don't like it.
15.8 "A beautiful thing never gives so much pain as does failing to hear and see it."
Of Flowers and Shadows
Winslow Homerisn't my number-one favorite artist (none of my top three favorites have books about them), but he is in the top five. He also painted my favorite painting, Sunlight and Shadow. It's a picture of a girl reading in a hammock, and my mom always had a print of it hanging in her bedroom. I was lucky enough to inherit the print, and it now hangs in my living room between two bookcases. I've always loved the colors and how serene the girl looks, hanging there on a summer day reading. The book wasn't fantastic (it moved really slowly), but it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.
Total: 25 + 240 (from earlier) = 265pts
I just finished task 5.7 by reading House Rules by Jodi Picoult. I am not unaware that Picoult is quite formulaic in terms of the type of topic she chooses to write about, the stylistic format and even some of the characters (especially the moms). But in my opinion- if it ain't broke, don't fix it! I loved the way she presented her story line in order to examine the life of someone dealing with Aspberger's Syndrome. I also loved how metaphorical she made this novel about an 18 year old who is trapped in a very literal world due to his disease. I loved it (without apology).Oh and I would like to state for the record that I did not figure it out ahead of time and as opposed to feeling dumb for that I will choose to believe I was wrapped up in my enjoyment of the story as opposed to trying to prove that I can predict the ending of every book I read. I will now step off my defensive soap box!
Tasks Completed: 9/57
Books Read: 12
Pages Read: 3953
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10.4 Reduce,Reuse,RecycleA. Reduce: The Host by Stephenie Meyer
This book is 619 pages and counts for a big book ticket.
15.3 At Least Once in a Lifetime
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
(page #3, book #237)
This book is very imaginative and shows how being good and true, and doing good deeds for your family and others can only help you in the long run. I was surprised that the books of Richard Paul Evans were not higher on the list. I find his books to be trully inspirational.
Total points: 135
Nicole wrote: "I just finished task 5.7 by reading House Rules by Jodi Picoult. I am not unaware that Picoult is quite formulaic in terms of the type of topic she chooses to write about, the stylis..."Hear, hear! There are many times when a formulaic book is just the thing you need to read. I say this as a reader of many of the type. I sometimes think people who say they only read and enjoy "Great Books" or "LITERATURE" are faking it. There is a time and place for everything, and pleasure reading should be whatever gives the reader pleasure.
I completed task 10.4B. Reduce Reuse, Recycle. I read "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman which was a group read from last challenge.Tasks Completed: 1
Books Read: 1
Total Points: 10
10.3 Luck of the IrishLottery by Patricia Woods(goodreads author)
Tasks Completed - 2
Pages read - 371
Books Read - 2
Total Points - 25
For 25.7 I read The Lightning Thief which was a fun read and just what I needed for a pick me up today.Total points: 45
Forgot to mention how the title of the book was related to the seven deadly sins - 15.7 - Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove - Christopher Moore
Well The Lust Lizard ( a giant sea monster) apparently exuded some sort of hormone that incited crazy sexual hormones in the entire town. The whole town of Pine Cove started getting crazy randy and having sex with everyone. The lizard also was afflicted, going so far as to try to have sex with a mobile home. Quite the lusty guy.
This is a particularly deadly sin because it can lead people to do things (and people) that they would not ordinarily do. Causing relationship issues and just other weird icky problems when one has random sex with random people.
hoping to be more on the ball with reporting this challenge. here are my first points!20.2 - Rookie Of The Season - Valorie - Clean Sweep
A. Read a fiction book with a character that cleans or organizes in some capacity.
Or
Read a non-fiction book that helps you get a jump start on cleaning or organizing your home.
For Better or for Hearse Laura Durham read 3-5-10 the main character, Annabelle, is a wedding planner so she organizes weddings for a living
Points: 20
# of Books read: 1
20.5 Read Across AmericaI read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (audio), Where the Wild Things Are, Good Night Moon, The Little Engine that Could, Frog and Toad, I love you, Stinky Face; No! David; and The Foot Book
65/980
10 books
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Bridgit, your description is hysterical!
20.6 - Supporting Goodreads Authors - Bridgit - Favorite SeriesRead a book from your favorite series.
Please summarize the overall series in 2-3 sentences so that everyone can decide if they want to start a new series.
Without Fail by Child
Jack Reacher is the best. He solves mysteries, helps people in need. The reader Dick Hill is the best in the business.
25.7 - Ashley FL's Task - The Gods Must Be Crazy
Read a book involving Greek and/or Roman gods. May be non-fiction or fiction. Half-blood Gods are fine.
Ex. Gods Behaving Badly: A Novel or Oh My Gods!: A Look-it-Up Guide to the Gods of Mythology
Lightening Thief-Percy Jackson by Riordan
45 points
total 95
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Ashley wrote: "Rhiannon wrote: "20.3 this book is about a girl that has an eating disorder. What i learned out this disease is that it is a common problem amongst teen girls and that most of the teen girls that ..."it is called kim empty inside by beatrice sparks
10.4 - Recycle - The Gift by Danielle SteeleThis was a book that was given to me by my Mother after she read it, and now, I'll pass it on to my Sister.
I finished:
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..
I read:
The Selected Poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Edna St. Vincent Millay (Paperback, 192 pages)
Edna St. Vincent Millay won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1923, the first woman ever to win a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
I love her poetry! It’s beautiful to read. I appreciate how she can convey an emotion or a moment in time so thoroughly in so few words. I also appreciate that non-English-Majors like myself can read one of her poems and understand it.
Here’s part of one poem:
“After all, my erstwhile dear,
My no longer cherished,
Need we say it was not love,
Just because it perished?”
This collection also has one of my favorite poems: “Conscientious Objector” (from her Wine from These Grapes (1934) collection)
Haiku. The first line contains five syllables, the second line has seven syllables, and the third and final line has five syllables. 5-7-5.
My Haiku:
Spring Break has arrived
Time for sun and fun with friends
Next week school again
(I’m thinking “arrived” is 2 syllables. If it has 3, then the first line would read:
“Spring Break has begun”. I think “arrived” sounds better than “begun”.)
5 POINT TASKS5.2 - "A book is like a garden carried in the pocket."
For this task read a novel featuring gardens OR a gardener OR a non-fiction book about gardening.
Garden in the Wind, Gabrielle Roy.
5.10 - "The important thing is not what they think of me, but what I think of them."
In honor of Queen Victoria, the longest reigning British Monarch, read a book written by an author who lived during her lifetime (May 24, 1819 – January 22, 1901).
The Portable Chekhov, Anton Chekhov (b1860 - d1904). BIG BOOK=640 pages.
15 POINT TASK
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.
NIV: 39 & 27, Nicholas Alexander Hayes. 100 pages.
In the spring of life
Comes honesty and heartache,
Washed away by rain.
30 POINT TASK
30.5 - PJ Reads' Task - As Suggested By Tanja - Six Degrees of Separation
In honor of Six Degrees of Separation (play premiered on May 16, 1990) and Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon (headlined on April 7, 1994, do the following:
A. Read any book off your TBR
AND
B. Read a book that the author is at a maximum of six degrees of separation from the author in Part A. In your post for this task you must explain the connection in order to get credit.
A. Between Lives: An Artist and Her World, Dorothea Tanning.
B. Confessions of an Art Addict, Peggy Guggenheim.
Peggy Guggenheim was married to Max Ernst and helped sell his paintings in her gallery. She held a gallery show and invited Dorothea Tanning, another painter, who ultimately fell in love with Max Ernst - this was a mutual attraction, and Ernst ultimately left Guggenheim and married Tanning.
TOTAL POINTS: 55/980.
Bridgit wrote: "Forgot to mention how the title of the book was related to the seven deadly sins - 15.7 - Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove - Christopher Moore
Well The Lust Lizard ( a giant sea monster) appar..."
Bridgit, you are too funny! I almost choked on my licorice.
25.1 - Michelleo's Task - Future AspirationsThink of something you really want to have in the future and read a book with that thing on the cover. When posting the book tell us what you want and why.
I read : The Future We Wish We Had edited by by Martin H. Greenberg (Editor), Rebecca Lickiss (Editor) (Paperback, 320 pages) , a collection of all-new science fiction stories by different authors. Some stories work well, some don’t, which is usually the case in a collection of this type.
Here’s the cover:
That fits this task for me because: (1) there is an elderly couple on the cover (Me and my husband a few years from now) (and the two are definitely a couple of longstanding – look how she has her arm casually and comfortably linked with his); (2) having the most amazing retirement (look at the windows and walls – obviously living in a nice suburban home); and (3) a life that includes wonders like: flying cars (look at the top of the cover: that's a flying car!)00! The title of this book even works: The Future We Wish We Had !
So, between this one (25.1) and the poetry one (15.5), my totals are now:
60+15+25=100
Tasks Completed: 5
Points for this task: 15+25
Points thus far: 100/980
Books read: 6
Pages Read: 1511
Read but not claimed: 2 books
whoops! I forgot when claiming points for 15.9 I was supposed to say what my pen name would be, were I to use one. I don't know that I would use a pen name, but I would definitely consider my maiden name. I love the idea someone posted earlier about using a formula and choosing letters from your given names, but then I suppose it would depend on what kind of book I wrote... if I wrote a romance, I might consider Liane Dupres. If I wrote a mystery, maybe M.A. Hunter. And if I wrote science fiction, I think something more like Neal Frise. Gosh this is almost as hard as writing a story!
COMPLETED TASKS:
5.6 Asian/Pacific (setting/character OR author)
The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee - READ 3.7.10
RATING: 4 stars
TASKS COMPLETED: 3/57
POINTS COMPLETED: 30/980
BOOKS READ: 3/73
*BOOKS READ FROM MY PERSONAL LIBRARY: 2
Finished 10.5 Freedom of the PressThe girl with the dragon tattoo by Stieg Larsson the main character is a journalist.
LOVED it!!!!! 5 stars
Just finished Blindness for 5.5 (Popular in a year ending with 3, 4, or 5). Blindness was on the list for 1995. AMAZING BOOK! One of my favorites! Total:
Jamie(24)--5 points
I read Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World for 5.9 and I read Flawless for 20.6. Which gives me a total of 25 points. Now to finish task 20.6The series is about a group of friends in high school. One of the girls lives changes in the first book and from there the other girls lives also change. The first book was really good and the second book disappointed me a little but it was good.
Time for me to add some points for this challenge...10.4 - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: The Color Purple is one of those books that has been on my too read list for a long time and I kept assigning to tasks, but never got around to reading. Most recently, my intention was to read this for the Color by Numbers task during the winter challenge.
10.5 - Freedom of the Press: The Glass Castle
20.7 - Time to Declutter: I read the book Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture and the cleaning that I did in relation to this book was to throw away (or put aside for someone who would actually use) many of the cheap/free trinkets that I have accumulated and have been cluttering up my den.
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20.9 - Luck Of The Draw - Rebecca - A Really Cheesy Task - Say Cheese - And Die Screaming.Total Points: 100/980
Books Read: 12
Tasks Completed: 7/57
Tasks in Progress: 7
From Owned TBR: 11
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5.5 Whatever is popular deserves attention...The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
(popular in 2003)
Audrey Niffenegger is a Goodreads Author.
Total points: 140
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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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5.3 (SPRING)
My Abandonment by Peter Rock (4 stars)
I love biographical fiction, because we might never know of some fascinating lives that were not recorded enough for a true biography. My Abandonment tells the story of one of these lives. It is a moving and compulsively readable story about a 13 year-old living in the forests of Oregon.
+5
points: 5
books: 1
tasks: 1