Sam's YOU CHOOSE Challenge

[Sam]

Crickey, this is a challenge and a half! Will add lists once decided what books to include where...

[Sam]

Books From Your Shelves

1. The Ingoldsby legends by Thomas Ingoldsby - finished 15/07/10, 3*
2.Going with Gabriel by Bryan Islip - finished 25/07/10, 4*
3. Lowboy by John Wray - finished 01/08/10, 4*
4. Graves by Justin Cawthorne - finished 01/09/10, 4*
5. The Legend of Darkness and Light by Kristine Williams - finished 08/09/10, 4*
6. Nippon 2357: A Utopian Ecological Tale by Alex Shishin - finished 21/09/10, 4*
7. Beasts of New York: A Children's Book for Grown-Ups by Jon Evans - finished 22/09/10, 5*
8. The Face of Innocence by William Sansom - finished 16/12/10, 3*
9. I am Scrooge: A Zombie Story for Christmas by Adam Roberts - finished 29/12/10, 5*

[Sam]

Borrowed Books

1. Leviathan: Or, The Whale by Philip Hoare - finished 26/09/10, 4*
2. The Help by Kathryn Stockett - finished 01/10/10, 4*
3. Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History by Paul Begg - finished 08/10/10, 4*
4. Cod by Mark Kurlansky - finished 06/11/10, 4*
5. The Grumpy Driver's Handbook by Cedric Grump - finished 08/11/10, 4*
6. The Collector by John Fowles - finished 14/11/10, 5*
7. The Godfather by Mario Puzo - finished 19/11/10, 5*
8. The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse - finished 24/11/10, 4*

[Sam]

Recommended Books

1. Zombie Nights by Tom Lichtenberg - finished 01/09/10, 3*
2. Dame Demise by Stuart Neild - finished 02/09/10, 5*
3. Classic Fairytales, Folklore, Myths and Legends by John Halsted - finished 03/09/10, 4*
4. The Witch's Ladder by Dana Donovan - finished 09/09/10, 3*
5. Loyalists by Peter Taylor - finished 04/10/10, 4*
8. The Book by M. Clifford - finished 11/10/10, 5*
7. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield - finished 13/10/10, 4*
8. The Coral Island by R.M. Ballantyne - finished 15/11/10, 5*
9. Jumble Tales by Steve Morris - finished 20/11/10, 5*
10. Witch and Wizard by James Patterson - finished 25/11/10, 4*
11. Loose Rabbits of the Rabbit Trilogy by Ellen C. Maze - finished 11/12/10, 3*

[Sam]

Dreaded Books

1. a gunless tea by Marco Giovenale (reputation) - finished 13/08/10, 1*
2. Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft by H.P. Lovecraft (size) - finished 15/08/10, 5*
3. On Murder by Thomas de Quincey (reputation) - finished 30/08/10, 4*
4. The Isles: A History by Norman Davies (size) - finished 21/09/10, 4*
5. The Trial by Franz Kafka (reputation) - finished 23/09/10, 3*
6. The 39 Steps by John Buchan (reputation) - finished 02/10/10, 5*
7. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (reputation) - finished 06/10/10, 4*
8. Moby Dick by Herman Melville (reputation) - finished 28/12/10, 5*

[Sam]

On TBR The Longest

1. The Lost Throne by Chris Kuzneski - finished 15/07/10, 5*
4. The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld - finished 31/07/10, 3*
3. 48 by James Herbert - finished 23/08/10, 4*
4. A Place Of Execution by Val McDermid - finished 29/08/10, 3*
5. Blood Junction by Caroline Carver - finished 25/10/10, 4*
6. The Magicians by Lev Grossman - finished 30/10/10, 4*
7. Lesson Of Her Death / Speaking In Tongues by Jeffery Deaver - finished 06/11/10, 3*
8. Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas - finished 09/12/10, 4*

[Sam]

Shortest TBR book

1. The Vampire Bible by The Temple of the Vampire - finished 12/07/10, 1*
2. Bublos by Billy Young - finished 21/07/10, 4*
3. Animals by Lauren Shain-Raque - finished 28/07/10, 3*
4. The First Lost Tale of Mercia: Golde the Mother by Jayden Woods - finished 28/07/10, 3*
5. The Second Lost Tale of Mercia by Jayden Woods - finished 28/07/10, 3*
6. The Third Lost Tale of Mercia: Aydith the Aetheling by Jayden Woods - finished 29/07/10, 3*
7. The Fourth Lost Tale of Mercia by Jayden Woods - finished 29/07/10, 3*
8. The Fifth Lost Tale of Mercia: Alfgifu the Orphan by Jayden Woods - finished 29/07/10, 3*
9. The Sixth Lost Tale of Mercia: Hastings the Hearth Companion by Jayden Woods - finished 29/07/10, 3*
10. A McMemoir with Fries by Linda Sacco - finished 17/08/10, 3*
11. Hildred the Maid by Jayden Woods - finished 18/08/10, 3*
12. The Eighth Lost Tale of Mercia: Canute the Viking by Jayden Woods - finished 26/08/10, 3*
13. Jailbreak by Shannon, Harry - finished 27/08/10, 4*
14. The Ninth Lost Tale of Mercia: Runa the Wife by Jayden Woods - finished 08/09/10, 3*
15. The Tenth Lost Tale: Edmund the Aetheling by Jayden Woods - finished 21/09/10, 3*

[Sam]

Spell Something

C Crime Scene Investigation: Serial by Max Allan Collins - finished 24/07/10, 3*
W Where's My Cow?: A Discworld Novel by Terry Pratchett - finished 24/07/10, 3*
M The Messengers by Jason Hall - finished 24/07/10, 2*
B Beowulf by Gareth Hinds - finished 24/07/10, 4*
R Requiem Vampire Knight: Resurrection v.1 by Pat Mills - finished 24/07/10, 2*
A Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: The First Death by Laurell K. Hamilton - finished 24/07/10, 1*
N NEVERMORE: A Graphic Novel Anthology of Edgar Allan Poe's Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe and others - finished 24/07/10, 3*

[Sam]

Non-fiction Books

1. The Fern Guide: A Field Guide to the Ferns, Clubmosses, Quillworts and Horsetails of the British Isles by James Merryweather - finished 02/08/2010, 5*
2.Great Unsolved Crimes by Rodney Castleden - finished 04/08/10, 3*
3. Blackie's Science Readers Volume III: The Young Scientists - Lessons on Simple Principles of Classification and on the Materials of the Industrial Arts by Blackie's Science Readers - finished 05/08/10, 4*
4. Darwin's Notebook by Amanda Wood - finished 15/08/10, 3*
5. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century by Thomas L. Friedman - finished 17/08/10, 1*
6. The Chemistry of Common Life Volume 1 by James Johnston - finished 21/08/10, 3*
7. The Trials of Life by David Attenborough - finished 25/08/10, 5*
8. Home Baking by Christine France - finished 26/12/10, 4*
9. Soups (Bitesize Chunky series) by Murdoch Books - finished 27/12/10, 4*
10. Innocent Smoothie Recipe Book: 57 and a half recipes from our kitchen to yours by Innocent - finished 27/12/10, 4*

[Sam]

Books From A Series

1. Second Sight: Second Tale of the Lifesong by Greg Hamerton - finished 23/07/10, 5*
2. Broken by Kelley Armstrong - finished 18/08/10, 4*
3. All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris - finished 21/08/10, 4*
4. The Prophecy by Chris Kuzneski - finished 02/09/10, 4*
5. More Birds of the Day by Eric J Hosking - finished 14/10/10, 4*
6. Erich's Plea by Tracey Alley - finished 16/10/10, 5*
7. This Proud and Savage Land by Alexander Cordell - finished 23/10/10, 5*
8. Murder Imperfect by Lesley Cookman - finished 12/11/10, 4*
9. The One from the Other by Philip Kerr - finished 30/11/10, 4*
10. The Amityville Horror 2 by John G. Jones - finished 16/12/10, 2*

[Sam]

Classics (Never Finished)

1. Green Tea and Other Ghost Stories by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu - finished 18/07/10, 4*
2. The Lair of the White Worm: Complete, Original Text by Bram Stoker - finished 19/08/10, 3*
3. The House of the Vampire by George Sylvester Viereck - finished 20/08/10, 3*
4. The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole - finished 21/08/10, 3*
5. Candide by Voltaire - finished 22/08/10, 3*
6. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger - finished 30/08/10, 1*
7. Eirik The Red and Other Icelandic Sagas by Gwyn Jones - finished 07/09/10, 4*

[Sam]

Progress to date:

Tasks: ____/10

Books: _3_/70

[Sam]

Progress to date:

Tasks:_1_/10

Books:_13_/70

[Luann]

Am I missing something, Sam? I can't figure out what you spelled. CWMBRAN?

[Sam]

Luann wrote: "Am I missing something, Sam? I can't figure out what you spelled. CWMBRAN?"

That's right Luann, it's the name of my home town. It's Welsh, it means Valley of the Crow :-)

[Luann]

Oh, Welsh! Very cool. Thanks for explaining that.

[Sam]

No problem Luann, glad I could spread my native tongue that little bit further :-)

[Luann]

Now if only I could figure out how to pronounce it! :)

[Sam]

Well, the C is pronounced as the c in cat, the w is an oo sound as in look and the rest is similar to the English letters (accent dependent), think of it as Coombran, that might help a bit :-)

[Sam]

Aye it's not bad but does cause some difficulties for those not familiar with the language. Although that's nothing compared to some places lol!

[Luann]

Sam wrote: "Well, the C is pronounced as the c in cat, the w is an oo sound as in look and the rest is similar to the English letters (accent dependent), think of it as Coombran, that might help a bit :-)"

Thanks, Sam! That helps.

[Susan]

Sam wrote: "Well, the C is pronounced as the c in cat, the w is an oo sound as in look and the rest is similar to the English letters (accent dependent), think of it as Coombran, that might help a bit :-)"

The Welsh sound I've never been able to pronounce correctly is "ll" as in "Llewellyn," which annoys me, since that was my grandfather's last name. Any hints for how to do that, Sam?

[Sam]

No problem Luann, glad I could help.

Susan, that's actually quite easy once you get the hang of it. Just place your tongue to the roof of your mouth and blow around your tongue with a soft L sound. Think of it like trying to say an English th (as in the) with your tongue stuck to the roof of your mouth. Hope that helps :-)

[Susan]

Thanks. I can do it on the initial "Ll" ok. I find it incredibly hard in the middle of the word. But thinking of it as a "stuck" th helps. Is it really voiced (like English the as in the) or unvoiced (like English th as in think)? Hmmm ... I'm suddenly in the mood for a Pargeter or Penman book. :)

[Sam]

It can actually depend on where in Wales you are, there is some variation between the dialects of North and South Wales, and also where in the word it is. At the beginning of a word it is voiced harder like th in the whereas in the middle of a word it is often voiced softer as th in think. This latter will vary depending on the adjacent letters.

The best way to think of it is to find how it is easiest to pronounce comfortably (or relatively comfortably) and stick with that. I follow the same rule with many of the Welsh letter and sound mutations and it tends to work the best.

Hmmmm I can't think why ;-)

[Sam]

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Tasks:_2_/10

Books:_21_/70

[Sam]

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Books:_29/70

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[Sam]

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[Sam]

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[Sam]

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[Sam]

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Books:_70_/_70_

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[Sam]

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Books:_76_/_76_