The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
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SUMMER CHALLENGE 2010
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Summer Challenge 2010 Completed Tasks (do NOT delete any posts in this thread)

My favorite flavor of ice cream is Chocolate Chip. i read
The Chocolate Chip cookie Murder by Joann Fluke
Total Tasks Completed: 9
Total Points: 135

B Read a book of your choice with a Blue, Red or White Cover:

Task Points: 25
Total Points: 90
Books Read: 7
Pages Read: 3369
Tasks completed: 5


5.05 DROPPING NAMES “Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress” Dai Sijie
5.10 IF ONE CANNOT ENJOY… “The Wind in the Willows” Kenneth Grahame
10.09 YOU CANNOT OPEN… A) “Cottage Style Decorating” Cynthia Overbeck Bix
10.10 GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE “Mrs. Dalloway” Virginia Woolf, from Kay Douglas’ page (also gave 5 stars to “All Quiet on the Western Front” Erich Maria Remarque)
15.04 LEARN YOUR NUMBERS A) “The Garden Party” Katherine Mansfield (#3) B) "Busman's Honeymoon" Dorothy L. Sayers. Lord Peter Wimsey, especially, demonstrates "expression, verbalization, socialization, the arts, the joy of living", in fact, all of these, and verbalizes his feelings and reservations to his beloved in an astonishing and never-abating flood, punctuated by frequent bouts of minor expletives and self-recrimination. He demonstrates his charm to a wide variety of disparate characters and displays his enjoyment of various periods of music and a discriminating eye for antiques, as well as a joie-de-vivre which usually manifests itself in spontaneous outings, flights of fancy, and a determination to, if possible, enjoy trials of patience rather than to merely endure them.
15.07 YOU MUST BE THE CHANGE…A) “The Case of the Missing Servant: A Vish Puri Mystery” Tarquin Hall, B) I would really love to see more knowledge about special needs in my community. Our community has a general willingness to learn and ask questions, and openness to new information. It’s usually a real pleasure for me to answer questions about Down syndrome in particular, and I’m so pleased by how my child benefits so quickly from the newfound knowledge of others, and even more from the general good will. It’s worth the extra time it takes to get through the grocery line and to settle in at the park. GOODREADS AUTHOR
25.5 HELEN’S TASK, A) I read “On a Black Hill” Bruce Chatwin, as a representative of fiction about a family. I like fiction about families because it is so interesting to see how the same person acts so differently with the people who know him best. It is fascinating to see how these long-term relationships evolve over time. Full review here (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10...) .
B) I read “Gaudy Night” Dorothy L. Sayers, as a representative of the mystery genre. I like mysteries because they are such a pleasure to solve, and also because I think the writers of mysteries are so very interested in what the reader is thinking. There are few genres where the state of mind and point of view of the reader are so well considered, and that kind of specific care and attention results in a very involved, though occasionally perplexed, reader. Full review here (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29...).

Total Points = 25
Kate.x.

I have just read Watching the English by Kate Fox for task 5.9 - Get Caught Reading, I read it on the train to London, in the Pub at half time (when friends had gone out to smoke) and I even managed to fit a page in at the theater during the interval.
Total points = 30
Kate.x.

5.1 Heat Wave
Face the Fire by Nora Roberts
Total points: 30
Tasks completed: 2
Tasks in progress: 4
Books read: 3
Books by Goodreads authors: 0
Big books: 1 (500+), 0 (750+), 0 (1000+)

I have read Carl Haaasen's Tourist Season for 20.6 - Supporting Goodreads Authors - Nicole CA's Task - List Maker, Although at first not a conventional choice, I think this is a really good read that highlights issues such as the over commercialisation of Florida (but it could be all over the world) and does this without the reader feeling that they are sitting through a lecture on how much humans are ruining the world.
Total points = 50
Kate.x.

After 3 weeks without internet I am back and my updates :)
5.10 The Children of Noisy Village Astrid Lindgren (5 points)
15.1

The Awakening Kate Chopin (15 points)
20.2 Nefertiti Michelle Moran (20 points)
20.5 The Girls Lori Lansens (20 points)
20.10 The Book Thief Markus Zusak (20 points)
25.2 When Will There Be Good News? Kate Atkinson
4:50 From Paddington Agatha Christie (25 points)
and that is it.
Total points 160
Tasks completed 11
Books read 14

I read Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies by Erin Dionne since my favorite ice cream is Cookies and Cream.
Points for this task: 20
Total Points: 150
Tasks Completed: 11
Books Read: 15
Pages Read: 4028

Cynthia probably hasn't gotten to your post yet. At the top ..."
Oh ok thanks, I didn't see that!

ReadHeat Wave by Richard Castle and Heat Wave: A Novel by Jill Marie Landis .
I didn't enjoy the Richard Castle book as much as I do the TV series but loved the Jill Marie Landis book. I will definitely look for more of her books.
Points 15
total points 225
total books 24
ttl pages 6813
**Jill Marie Landis is a Goodreads Author

Baseball! I read Robinson and Rickey by Harvey Frommer (I read 1/2 of Satchel by Larry Tye but left it at my in-laws. That would not happen with a kindle!)
I also read The Iowa Baseball Confederacy by W.P. Kinsella
New Total: 80 points
Mike in MA

5.4 Lesser Known Awards
I chose the British Fantasy Award (didn't know what it was) and read
If I Stay by Gayle Foreman. It's about a girl who was in a car crash and her experiences in an in-between world as she struggles to survive.
10.6 Stand Up For Your Rights
I read Children of the Flames: Dr. Josef Mengele and the Untold Story of the Twins of Auschwitz Auschwitz is a sad, but morbidly interesting. I didn't know much about Mengele and wanted to read more after I saw a show about him. A definite read for history buffs.
Total Points: 15

I love love LOVED this book! It was a very tough read though. It was like watching a train wreck- you can’t take your eyes away and at the same time you can do nothing to stop it. I think it was knowing that there was no possibility of a happy ending that really got to me. There were two scenes in the book that really affected me deeper than the others- I ended up bawling my way through… A definite 5 star read.
I don’t know if I could handle re-reading it though…
So that brings me to 80 pts.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 7/1/10, 272 pages
I learned way more than I ever wanted to about hyphens, and spaces, and the like, but it's something I needed to learn.
Total Points: 30
Tasks Completed: 3
Books Read: 3
Pages Read: 977

Total Points: 300/950
Tasks Completed: 17
Books Read: 22/74
Books by Goodreads authors: 2
Big Books: 1 (500+), 0 (750+), 0 (1000+)

I love love LOVED this book! It was a very tough read though. It was like watching a train wreck- you can’t..."
I just read two books in a row that made me feel just like that: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and Stolen Innocence. I've decided to read something extremely lighthearted next or I may run out of tears.

Tasks Completed - 1
Books Read - 1
Pages Read - 292
Total Points - 5

15.5A 72 Hour Hold by Bebe Moore Campbell (This is a change from previously reported for a different task per your e-mail--thanks)
15.5B Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
15.6A Republic of the Congo by Terri Willis
15.6B Jury Rigged by Laurie Moore
15.9A I Was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader by Kieran Scott
15.9B I had the loudest mouth of all the cheerleaders in high school and am still considered the biggest cheerleader in my family, especially when the Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers, and the University of Arkansas Razorbacks are playing!!!!!!!!


A. The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann -- Great book about the explorer Percy Fawcett. I really enjoyed it.
For part B, I was born on a Monday so I needed to read a novel in verse. I decided on:
B. By the River by Steven Herrick -- not my normal style, but I liked it. It was certainly a quick read.
Points for this task: 30
Total Points: 140
Tasks Completed: 8/56
Tasks in Progress: 25.4, 25.5, 25.9, 30.3, 30.5
Books Read: 15
Books by Goodreads authors: 2 (Sarah Addison Allen (10.2), Kathryn Stockett (20.9A))
Big Books: 0 (500+), 0 (750+), 0 (1000+)


My passion is my daughter. I had been told that the odds were slim to none that I would ever have a child so who knew that in my 40s, I would receive such a blessing.
My non-fiction read with the word "child" in it was Raising Your Spirited Child Rev Ed: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, and Energetic by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka. A decent read in that it helped me to identify some characteristics about my daughter, but overall, her traits don't fit into to most of categories. She's intense, but that's about it, and I really enjoyed the chapter on introverts versus extroverts. The book also opened up my mind to understanding what drives my child to act in certain ways, but I had some problems with some of the analyses in the book. I gave it 3*.
My fiction read with "child" in the title was The Last Child by John Hart. I loved this literary thriller, giving it 5*.
Total Points: 105 + 25 = 130

5 POINT TASKS
1.
2. Eclipse by Stephine Meyer
3.
4.
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1) by J.K. Rowling
6.
7. Up in the Air by Walter Kirn
8. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
9.
10.
10 POINT TASKS
1.
2. The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium, #2) by Stieg Larsson
3. The Host By Stephine Meyer
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1) by Stieg Larsson, Reg Keeland (Translator) (rolled a 465)
5. True Believer by Nicholas Sparks
6.
7. The Murder of King Tut by James Patterson
8.
9. The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
10.
15 POINT TASKS
1. Cyrano de Bergerac (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)by Edmond Rostand and Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
2.
3. Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell
4. Salem's Lot by Stephen King and Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye (A Psychic Eye Mystery, #1) by Victoria Laurie
5. Carrie by Spehen King and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Blindness by José Saramago, Giovanni Pontiero (Translator) and Breaking Dawn by Stephine Meyer
7. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
8.
9. A Hopeless Romantic by Harriet Evans
10. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
20 POINT TASKS
1. Throw Darts At A Cheesecake (Bernstein/Miller Mystery, #1) by Denise Dietz
2. Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Anonymous, Seamus Heaney (Translator)
3. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
4. The Toaster Broke, So We're Getting Married: A Memoir by Pamela Holm
5.Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library by Don Borchert
6. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
7. Wicked by Gregory Maguire
8. The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
9. Catching Fire (Hunger Games, #2) by Suzanne Collins
10. The Hunger Games (Hunger Games, #1) by Suzanne Collins
25 POINT TASKS
1. Killing Floor (Jack Reacher Series, #1) by Lee Child and Look Again by Lisa Scottoline

2.
3. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and Anonymous Celebrity (Latin American Literature) by Ignácio de Loyola Brandão, Nelson Vieira (Translator)
4. Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1) by Dan Brown and The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood
5.
6.
7. A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines by Anthony Bourdain and Cooking Up Murder (A Cooking Class Mystery, #1) by Miranda Bliss
8. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
9. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
10.Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, #1) by Charlaine Harris and Chocolat by Joanne Harris
30 POINT TASKS
1.Body Art by Kym Menzies and Uglies (Uglies, #1) by Scott Westerfeld
2. Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr., Ernestine Gilbreth Carey and Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
3. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith and Deep End of the Ocean (Oprah's Book Club) by Jacquelyn Mitchard
4.Postmortem (Kay Scarpetta, #1) by Patricia Cornwell and Beat the Reaper: A Novel by Josh Bazell
5.
50 POINT TASK
5803/26243 Pages Read
190/950 Total Points
20/71 Books Completed
Books by Goodreads authors: 3
Big Books: 0 (500+), 0 (750+), 0 (1000+)


90 points

10.2 The Girl who Played with Fire - Stieg Larrson
Points this task: 10
Total Points: 115
Tasks Completed:10
Books Read:12
Big Books: 500+ (2), 750+ (0), 1000+ (1)

20.9 - Spirit of Independence:
Book - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon. This one was an adult fiction honor book in 2004.
Movie - Man on Wire. This was the Independent Spirit Award winner for Best Foreign Film in 2009. It's about the guy that tightroped across the World Trade Center towers in 1974. All I have to say is Where was his mother???
Points for above tasks: 25
Tasks above completed: 2
Total tasks completed: 6/56
Points completed: 95
Books read: 7
Books by Goodreads authors: 1
Big Books: 0 (500+), 0 (750+), 0 (1000+)


5.7 The God of Animals (mode of transportation: horse)
10.4 Rain Is Not My Indian Name (Rolled a 134)
Points for above tasks: 15
Tasks above completed: 2
Total tasks completed: 2/56
Points completed: 15
Books read: 2
Books by Goodreads authors: 0
Big Books: 0 (500+), 0 (750+), 0 (1000+)
I finished
15.2, Stars and Stripes, with
A. Stars- state- Winesburg, Ohio
B. Stripes- NJ- Fearless Fourteen
Winesburg, Ohio was so well done- and it felt surprisingly modern considering it was written in 1919. I found myself comparing it to Olive Kitteridge- another story cycle. Anderson is direct and unflinching.
Fourteen was fun- maybe not quite as good as the earlier books,but much better than the Plums
20.7, Dionisia's Love to Hate, with
Booth: A Novel by David M. Robertson
A novelization of the assassination of Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth- it was interesting and had a great feel for post Civil War Washington DC- but was lacking emotion and character motivation.
30.2, For the Children, with
A. classic: Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
B. child protagonist: Matilda by Roald Dahl
I recommended both books to my niece- she needed titles for her summer reading assignments. We did our own version of an aunt/niece book group and e-mailed comments back and forth.
30.4, Science of Crime, with
A. male author: Carved in Bone by Jefferson Bass
B. female author: Devil Bones by Kathy Reichs
Both were good reads with lots of grisly details and super interesting science. Fun references in Carved in Bone to Patricia Cornwell 's Kay Scarpetta
+95
total 515
15.2, Stars and Stripes, with
A. Stars- state- Winesburg, Ohio
B. Stripes- NJ- Fearless Fourteen
Winesburg, Ohio was so well done- and it felt surprisingly modern considering it was written in 1919. I found myself comparing it to Olive Kitteridge- another story cycle. Anderson is direct and unflinching.
Fourteen was fun- maybe not quite as good as the earlier books,but much better than the Plums
20.7, Dionisia's Love to Hate, with
Booth: A Novel by David M. Robertson
A novelization of the assassination of Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth- it was interesting and had a great feel for post Civil War Washington DC- but was lacking emotion and character motivation.
30.2, For the Children, with
A. classic: Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
B. child protagonist: Matilda by Roald Dahl
I recommended both books to my niece- she needed titles for her summer reading assignments. We did our own version of an aunt/niece book group and e-mailed comments back and forth.
30.4, Science of Crime, with
A. male author: Carved in Bone by Jefferson Bass
B. female author: Devil Bones by Kathy Reichs
Both were good reads with lots of grisly details and super interesting science. Fun references in Carved in Bone to Patricia Cornwell 's Kay Scarpetta
+95
total 515

Task 25.9: Tankini: I read An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon (814 pages) and The Secret of Everything by Barbara O'Neal (385 pages).

New total: 105
Heather in KS

I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling which won the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction.
New Total: 45

20.1
Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder
by Joanne Fluke
my favorite ice cream is actually a tie. Favorite ice cream from a store (Baskin-Robbins) is Chocolate & Peanut Butter.
My favorite from the grocery store is Blue Bell Cookies N Cream.
Tasks Completed: 14
Books read: 16
Points earned:190
Goodreads author tickets: 1

and
Cooking for One: 150 Delicious Recipes to Treat Yourself by Amy Willcock
Posted recipe for black bean corn salsa


< COMPLETED TASKS:
30.1 Birthdays/Birth Months
A. October: Hundred Years’ War related (NF)
Joan of Arc by Kathleen V. Kudlinski GOODREADS AUTHOR - READ 6.29.10
My Rating: ★★★
B. Wednesday: Fanfiction - "Castle"
Heat Wave by Richard Castle - READ 6.30.10
My Rating: ★★★★
Good mystery with lots of twists. I liked the sharp dialogue between Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook. The homicide humor was amusing. Overall a quick, witty mystery. Probably more a 3-1/2 star read, but more a 4 than 3. Now to watch the show; I've only seen one episode, twice.
30.3 Ode to Illinois
A. Abraham or Mary Lincoln
Mary by Janis Cooke Newman - READ 6.30.10
My Rating: ★★★★
This was quite a book. At a little over 700 pages, I was daunted by its size; however once I started reading I was absorbed by the life of Mary Todd Lincoln. There were so many revelations for me regarding Mary's mental health, her family, and her relationship with Abe. Newman began Mary's story in the Bellevue Mental Hospital and alternated her telling with snapshots of her life in the sanitarium and Mary's recollections of the past.
B. Chicago setting or Oprah Book Club Picks
*Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover if Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, or Why Pie is Not the Answer by Jen Lancaster - READ 6.15.10
My Rating: ★★★★
I love Lancaster's humor and her self-confidence. She made me laugh. She made me recognize a few things about myself. She also made me wish she was my next door neighbor, or maybe not, since she has a habit of calling 911 on her neighbors.

Total Tasks: 14/56
Total Points: 240/950
Total Books Read: 20/76
*Books Read I Own: 10
Big Book Ticket Claim: (✓)500+pp ( )750+pp ( )1000+pp

5.3 - Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr (a Goodreads author)
5.7 - A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
20.6 - The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain (a Goodreads author and book over 500 pages)
(Definitely a must-read, Chamberlain gave the book a large emotional jolt, and I found it unsettling that I could find bits of my own life in a story that was so far removed from the life I know. Chamberlain takes us into the world of a naive girl who is sucked into a world of crime, and yet she comes out on better moral ground than when she went in. This is a story for anyone who enjoys family dramas and a little mystery.)
25.3 - Part A: Changeless by Gail Carriger (a Goodreads author)
Part B: A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrisot
Total Points: 55

Total Points: 310/950
Tasks Completed: 18
Books Read: 23/74
Books by Goodreads authors: 2
Big Books: 1 (500+), 0 (750+), 0 (1000+)

25.9 Swimsuit Edition C. Tankini (Read 850 pages of book(s) published in last 5 years Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (611 pages)
25.10 Name Game A. Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
B. Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris
Total Points: 30
Tasks Completed: 2
Tasks in Progress: 1
Books Read: 4
Pages Read: 1486



20.3B 350+ pages from St. John's reading list
Plutarch's Lives of Themistocles, Aristides, Pericles, Alcibiades and Coriolanus, Demosthenes and Cicero, Caesar and Antony by Plutarch 389 pp
885 points

Part A: I read Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister.
Part B: I love the fact that my family can fight/argue and make up in the same 5 minutes (especially true for my sisters and me!).
15 points
Total points: 135

I absolutely LOVED this book. All I can say is - READ IT!
10.10 Great Minds Think Alike
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (from Kim in the USA)
Total points: 40
Tasks completed: 3
Tasks in progress: 4
Books read: 4
Books by Goodreads authors: 0
Big books: 1 (500+), 0 (750+), 0 (1000+)

My second favorite genre is Fantasy. I love that I can be transported to a different time and place and get lost in a good story. So I read Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George. Both books got 4* from me.
Jessica Day George is a goodreads author.


10.3 The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Total Points: 20
Tasks Completed: 2

Points 20
Total points 245
Books 25
Total Pages 7061

The Abortionist's Daughter Elisabeth Hyde is a goodreads author
Secrets of Eden: A Novel Chris Bohjalian is a goodreads author
New point total: 135
Heather in KS

---
5.9 Get Caught Reading
Voyage
I read this at the airport and on the plane during my vacation.
15.3 Books and Blogs
I Kissed a Zombie, and I Liked It
From http://hiplibrariansbookblog.blog-cit...
I'm not really a blog reader, but I liked the title and recommendations from this one. The book was short and cute, with a few tongue-in-cheek references to a few well-known vampires and vampire wannabes *_~
20.6 List Maker
Hero
Very cute. Not sure if this would be on my list of books that Need to Be Read by Everyone, but it's still a decent book. It'd probably be in my top 150.
20.10 Group Read
The Hunger Games
I posted in the thread already.
Total: 60 + 330 (from earlier) = 390pts

Points this task: 15
Total Points: 130
Tasks Completed: 11
Books Read: 14
GoodReads Authors: 1
Big Books: 500+ (2), 750+ (0), 1000+ (1)
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Books mentioned in this topic
Daughters of the North (other topics)At the Sign of the Golden Pineapple (other topics)
The Catcher in the Rye (other topics)
Every Man Dies Alone (other topics)
Sepulchre (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Elise Broach (other topics)Virginia Woolf (other topics)
Roald Dahl (other topics)
Shel Silverstein (other topics)
J.K. Rowling (other topics)
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The First Year of Lupus-an Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed by Nancy C. Hanger
I have been diagnosed with lupus and wanted to find out more about the disease and how to cope with it.
15.1 New and Borrowed-Borrowed from the library
A.
The Chocolate Bear Burglary by Joanna Carl-the first book i've read of hers
B. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813) it has a blue cover(sorry lack the skills to show the cover)