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Julianne's 8/08-8/10 Book Challenge
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Melissa
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Mar 16, 2009 06:32AM
You spent an entire weekend scrapbooking! Then you had a sick kid! I'm not moving too fast this month, either.
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I'm scared to actually read the book now! lolDid you finish Sweet Far Thing? I swear, it picks up after a while. It took me longer than I expected to finish it, but it picks up.
Yeah, pretty good book, huh? I'm reading a not so fun book (Angela's Ashes) right now, then I think I'll either move to Lamb or Lust Lizard. I think I need some Christopher Moose soon. :-P
I'm planning on getting to A Voyage Long and Strange soon. I just need to focus on what I have on my shelves for the time being, but I'm very easily distracted. Like I've said, I have book ADD. :-D
I hear ya! I have all these books that I've had since at least November and haven't read yet. I need to just hunker down. I always do a bit of the TNBBC seasonal challenges, but I need to maybe skip the summer challenge and focus on getting rid of the books I have on my shelves!
I'm hoping to not go to the library for a while, either. I was going to go this weekend, but decided I'd better not. I do have so many books at home! And the thing is, most of them aren't mine!!
I think I can do it! I'll be sure to send an email to everyone in the office to make sure they know. :-) I'm excited, because I really want to keep somewhat up with things.
Cool! I'll look at my calendar -- the first weekend is out, because I am going outlet shopping with Sue, Becky, Chris, Tyler and Samantha in Williamsburg, but I'm pretty sure the rest of the month is open.
Easter is the second weekend, I'm pretty sure. We'll figure something out!
APRIL:Non-fiction: A Drunkard's Walk
Fiction: Alive in Necropolis
Classic: Great Expectations (maybe I'll finally finish!!!!!!!)
Also:
Loch Ness and Raining Frogs
Smashed, Splattered...
Aunt Dimity and the Duke
Shadow of the Wind
Watchers
MAY:Non-fiction:I'm a Stranger Here Myself
Fiction: Simple Genius
Classic:
Son of a Witch
May not get anything else read this month. I've got super busy workish stuff and ScrapMorial Weekend
June:Fiction: Revenge of the Spellmans
Non-Fiction: Outliers
Other:
Like Water for Chocolate
The Yiddish Policeman's Union
Living Dead in Dallas
Finger Lickin Fifteen
Look Again
July:Looks like I'll have to kick up the reading and tone down the scrapping, since my house will be going on the market. Reading is cleaner than scrapbooking.
Fiction: The Reader
Non-Fiction: Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven
Classic: Treasure Island
Other:
Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Fluke
Coraline
The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
August:The TU semester is over, so I'm looking forward to reading some more.............
Fiction: Coraline
Non-Fiction: Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven
Classic: Treasure Island
Other:
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Fluke
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle-I don't think I'll finish this one. I'm just not interested in where the story has twisted, and not sure I want to know how it ends anymore.
Click
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Okay, so even though my reading is stalled, I can't stop buying books...even though (I think) I have 50+ unread books at home. But all of them were on sale except for the Berenstain Bears ones, and those are for Sam (and only 3.99 apiece!!)The Angel's Game
Darkly Dreaming Dexter
The Berenstain Bears' Moving Day
The Berenstain Bears No Girls Allowed (Sam knows so many of these books, it was hard to pick which one to buy!)
Top Chef Cookbook Original Interviews and Recipes from Bravo's hit show
(Had a 40% off coupon for Dexter, and Top Chef & Angel's Game were 30% off)
I'm also excited to finish Treasure Island, because it's been like 6 months since I've actually finished a classic novel. Gotta get back to my challenge!!
Yeah!!!!!! I finally did my Book Challenge for a month! Finished Treasure Island, so I'm back to the 1 classic, 1 fiction, 1 non-fiction!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Glad to hear you didn't fall asleep before you could finish Treasure Island. Woohoo for getting back on track.
Melissa wrote: "Glad to hear you didn't fall asleep before you could finish Treasure Island. Woohoo for getting back on track. "Umm...no, I did fall asleep. So I had to wait an additional day before I finished the last eight pages!!
Wow! lol, that's kinda sad. And that would be why I don't attempt to read classics very often. I commend you!
Ugh! Just in case I thought my life was back to normal, we put the house on the market. The stress of closing on 2 homes (the one we're selling and the one we're buying) means I'm having a hard time focusing my brain away from the stress to get any reading done. I finally became engrossed enough in a book to finish it--The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Not at all what I would have expected by the title, and it was easily one of the best things I've read this year. I'm quite unfamiliar with anything Swedish, so this was intriguing for me to learn more about their society, and their involvement in the Nazi movement in the 30s-40s.
SUMMARY OF AUGUST 1, 2008-AUGUST 31, 2009:Fiction books read: 68
Non-Fiction read: 16
Classics: 6
Total books read: 90
Wish I had gotten more classics done, but 50% of my classics goal isn't terrible. And it's 6 more classics than I've read in the last 10 years.
SeptemberNon-Fiction: Dog Days
Fiction: Click
Classic: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Other:
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
The Help
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Went to the Library of Congress Book Festival today. OMG--it was not crowded like this last year!! I couldn't believe how many people were there. But, with the help of my family we were able to collectively get the following signatures (ones obtained by yours truly marked by an *)1. John Grisham (Dad was one of the last to get this one!)
2. Michael Connelly*
3. David Shannon
4. Jon Sczieska
5. Junot Diaz* (an awesome person)
6. Craig Hatkoff*
7. David Baldacci*
Mom tried for Paula Deen, but get this--the LOC staff told her that Paula Deen was only signing her newest book. So...Mom ran over to the tent and bought it (even though she brought 2 other Deen books). She got back in line and was ~50 people from getting a signature. While in line Mom was informed that Paula was signing any of her books that you had. I was so disappointed for her! If she hadn't gone and picked up the book in the massively crowded book tent she definitely would have gotten the signature. But she got to hear Paula Deen speak, so it wasn't a total buzz kill.
Just reading the Paula Deen thing again makes me sad. Grrr. And mad! :-P
I know. She said she had fun anyway. I got to tell, you, though, if Dad hadn't gotten John Grisham I think we would have had two totally ticked off parents.
OctoberThis will be a slow month. We moved on Oct. 3, so almost all of my free time is spent unpacking the house, etc. Plus, we have our scrapbooking weekend this month!!!
Fiction: Interred with their Bones
Non-Fiction: Notes from a Small Island
Classic:
Other:
Peter and the Starcathchers
Remember Me
Dave Barry's a Brief History of the Millenium
The Spellman Files (again)
Frankenstein 2 (Koontz)
NovemberFiction: Dead and Alive
Non-Fiction: In a Sunburned Country
Classic: ???
Other:
The Stupidest Angel
Aunt Dimity's Good Deed
Bloodsucking Fiends
Neverwhere
So, has this extended past 8/09, or are you now doing 9/09-9/10? I know I wouldn't be able to do the classic part of your challenge!
Melissa wrote: "So, has this extended past 8/09, or are you now doing 9/09-9/10? I know I wouldn't be able to do the classic part of your challenge!"I just decided to keep going. It's a good challenge for me, though I am not doing nearly so good with the classic part (though still better than what I used to do, which is nothing!). I'm almost done with Aunt Dimity's Good Deed and The Stupidest Angel, so I'm doing pretty good this month (course, a 1 hour commute one way makes a big difference for the audiobooks!)
Sure does! So, what do you think of The Stupidest Angel? I think once I'm done my library books, I'll pick that up. I definitely need to read it this year!
It's typical Christopher Moose. Not what you'd expect from a story about a Christmas Angel, but exactly what you'd expect from him (once you've read a bit from him).
I'm proud of neither of us writing The Stupidest Angle on here. ;-)I still need to dig out The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove for you.
Whoo-hoo! Though, you did write of Mammaw's stove is a "throne" in your side. But, I'll forgive you that typo since you misstyped thorn but still typed a real word! (Unless you really did mean throne and are using the stove as a seat in your newly refurnished living room!)Yes, I'll need the Lust Lizard
HAHA! I knew something didn't look right. And, the best part, I kept thinking to myself, "don't type throne." HA! I made my own day, so far.
December (this is it for 2009?!?!?)Fiction: The Last Dickens
Non-Fiction: Confessions of an Eternal Optimist (MJ Fox's new book)
Classic: Poe (something)
Additional:
Size 12 is Not Fat (had to return to library, so not finished)
Peter and the Shadow Thieves (didn't finish)
The Girl Who Played with Fire
The Eyre Affair
Good thing you have that giant book of Poe!
Uh oh! I only have a few hrs to finish mjf's book before 2009 is OVER!!
Did you succeed? Hope you're having a good vacation!
Okay, I had like 23 pages left when I accidentally fell asleep on NY Eve. I read it at 9 on Jan.1 but I'm still counting it for 09 b/c I read over 90% of the book then!!!
JANUARY 2010Non-fiction: The Book that Changed my Life
Fiction:Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove
Classic:
Other:
Peter and the Shadow Thieves
Fool
Spook
Dog on It
FEBRUARY 2010:Non-fiction: An Inconvenient Truth
Fiction: Witch of Portobello
Classic: The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall
Other:
Never Let Me Go
Darkly Dreaming Dexter
The Lost Symbol
The Zookeeper's Wife
The Darkest Evening of the Year
Out of curiosity, how are you choosing your classics? What do you consider a classic?
Usually its something at or before the Great Depression (if you had to make me pick a date range). Although, I guess if someone listed it as "Classic" on their goodreads page I may consider moving it.
Ah, okay. Well, I guess Hemingway, wouldn't fall under your definitions, but I was thinking that I would consider him a "classic," if I was to define it. I dunno. That's what I don't attempt them! lol
Actually I counted the Old Man and the Sea as a classic, b/c it was listed that way in the library. I guess that would be another determinate for me...
So, the library had a "bag of books" sale yesterday and Sam and I indulged (It was a bag of books for $1). I came home with 10 books, and I'm impressed b/c they are all pretty good catches. I've listed them here...hopefully I'll also remember to add them to my "own" and my "to-read" lists.1. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
2. The Winner
3. Basket Case
4. Simple Genius (this is funny! I read this as an audiobook! But I'm pretty sure I got the abridged version...don't know. So it's going to Mel and Dad.)
5. Falling
6. A Prayer for Owen Meany
7. Bug's Life, A - Collector's Edition
8. Curing Fatigue: A Step-By-Step Plan to Uncover and Eliminate the Causes of Chronic Fatigue (it's a 1993 edition book but for $0.10 I should be able to learn something from it!)
9. Giant Pandas
10. Degunking Your Mac (get my Mac faster again!)
Good finds! I want to read A Prayer for Owen Meany. I know Dad has read it, because I remember him talking about it. Jimmy needs to read Curing Fatigue! Definitely want to check out the Baldaccis. I forgot to bring home Camel Club from work again! You'll get it someday!
March 2010:Fiction:The Darkest Evening of the Year
Non-Fiction: John Adams
Classic: The Hound of the Baskervilles
Other:
The World According to Garp
Thereby Hangs a Tail
Dream When You're Feeling Blue
The Spellmans Strike Again
I am America (and so can you)
Why Do Men Have Nipples?
A Journey to the Center of the Earth
April 2010:Fiction: The 13th Hour
Non-Fiction: Yo! Millard Fillmore
Classic:A Journey to the Centre of the Earth
Other:
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Hunger Games
Await Your Reply
The Snake Has all the Lines
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