SA Book & Challenge Lovers discussion
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Updated!
Done with Before I Fall (Lu's nomination)Wow l really do believe everyone should read this book at least once, what an eye opener!
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Updated!
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Wow l really do believe everyone should read this book at least once, what an eye opener!"
So glad you loved it :D
Done with The Lovely Bones (Emma)I wanted to read this for so long until somebody told me it is a bunch of crap. I would never again have considered reading it! But WOW, thank you for nominating it Emma, I love this book!
Riana wrote: "Done with The Lovely Bones (Emma)I wanted to read this for so long until somebody told me it is a bunch of crap. I would never again have considered reading it! But WOW, thank you for nominating i..."
Thanks Riana, I am so glad that you liked it, far better than the movie and it was a book that really touched me.
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Guys, Riana is putting everybody else to shame. Are we going to do something about that?
Completed Before I fall (Lu)Not sure which one to read next. Will have a look.
Finished Perfume by Patrick Suskind (Barbara). Was just as good as the first time I read it, although this time I kept looking at the way it differs from the movie.I read the last bit sitting on the Trocadero, just before the Eiffel Tower lit up for the evening - so pretty!
So just wondering if anyone has the ebook version of Carl Sagans Contact and also The Mists of Avalon.Will check the library tomorrow for the paperback. Thanks
Read Postmortem BY Patricia Cornwell (CLAUDIA'S CHOICE)I just want to ask a question as Im not sure if I have made a mistake with this challenge. I notice tha on Claudia's nomination that Postmortem is a reserve book not on the original 5 books, I didnt actually check this before reading it which I should have, so does this book still count. I also notice that Laurens Nomination that I had planned to read Perdido Street Station is also a reserve book, can I read this book? Some days If my head wasnt screwed on I forget it.
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Ok Thanks Barbara I will change my points back. Will also have to change the Laurens book I planned on reading.Currently reading your nomination The Mists of Avalon and really enjoying it this another book that is a reserve book (Why dont I read the rules? ahhhh, I just knew though that any book that you chose would be extremely long :-)Going to stick with reading this though as Ive read too much now to stop.
The Mists of Avalon was going to be my No.1 book, but Barbara was a step ahead of me. :P
I think I might also have used Perfume if Barbara hadn't chosen it first :)Sorry about Perdido Emma! I think I might have had it on an earlier version of my main list before I decided on the final one.
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A second reason for me to suggest this challenge was to get suggestions for good books. I like reading books that my friends say are good. And this way, besides doing another challenge which we all like doing, I got all these great recommendations. So I will be reading a lot of books that were suggested, maybe not right now but certainly at some point in the future. You just got a head start on this second reason, Emma :)
Barbara wrote: "I am sorry for picking books with so many pages. The only thing I can tell you is that they are worth reading and I didn't pick them because they have so many pages but because I really really love..."@Lauren...Maybe I will get to read Perdido another time Lauren :-)
@Barbara...In no way was your choice of long books meant as a criticism Barbara, infact I rather like long books myself. In this case it happens that I really like the book. It shows you that these kind of challenges can introduce you to authors and or books that you would never have read before. Infact I have never heard of this book before so thankyou for nominating it. Would definately like to do this challenge again and hope that it will be a regular challenge in our Book Club.
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It's just that I did pick a lot of long books and some of our readers might have a problem with it and I really didn't think about it. These really are my favorite books.
The reason of being introduced to books and authors you didn't know of, is precisely the reason for this challenge. It is a great way of getting new ideas for books. It is also one of the reasons I was glad that one of my books was a Dutch author (Harry Mulish) and something you guys would probably not be exposed to regularly.
I am glad you like this challenge and that you would want to do it again. In the same format it would be a bit difficult because my best books I have read some time ago and the list doesn't change much so I would probably give the same list again next year, but Lauren S has some ideas to adapt the challenge a little so we can do it again next year. So I guess it will be a regular challenge and it will come back as soon as we're done with it this time round :)
I dont participate in alot of challenges as to be honest I prefer a book club to have maybe just a few running at the same time, I get confused with so many that we have. I think if there was less challenges then more people might participate, or not maybe Im wrong and Im the minority here. At the moment I am really struggling with one book, I dont know whether I am going to finish it, as it is extremely hard going (Yes I know its a challenge)and thats the whole point, but neither am I a sadist, Im putting myself through torture just to finish this book. I might have to change it and read something else and hope that I will enjoy that book instead. Just goes to show that people have different tastes, and ones greatest book might be anothers nightmare. :-)
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A lot of our challenges can be combined quite easily. At least in my opinion. But I can get frustrated if I join a lot of challenges and I want to read a certain book and I can't use it in any challenges. I also can get frustrated if I can't finish a challenge.
It is supposed to be fun and you can join as many or as few challenges as you like. So just pick the ones you like and forget about the rest. And you know I am always up for a buddy read, so if there is ever a book you want to read and discuss, you know where to find me :)
That is what makes this challenge fun. Finding out what other people like and reading books you normally would never pick up.
I actually didn't want to read Contact because I'd heard - possibly from Crusader - that it was considered one of the most scientifically accurate sci fi novels, and I don't like hard sci fi. I really don't care about all the finer details of how the tech or biology works; I want to know how it affects the story and characters.But then we got a MishMash challenge task where you have to read a book published in the year you were born, and if I read Contact it will count for both challenges.
I agree with Barbara - we have a lot of challenges, but you choose your level of participation. I don't even open the threads for the challenges I'm not doing. It's nice to have a lot of challenges to choose from, and to have them starting at different times in the year, so you always have something new. It's also good for the fast readers like Lauren F and Barbara, who finish challenges quickly.
I don't know if we'd get more participation by having fewer challenges. I guess newer members might be less intimidated, since a lot of people seem to think you have to do everything. But the most active members would get bored, and anyway, I think the most interesting participation comes from group and buddy reads rather than challenges, where people mostly just fill out their challenge threads and go.
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The same with Amanda Quick (and her many pennames). I would never have found her and loved her, if I didn't need an author with a Q for the A-Z challenge.
And I can think of several more examples.
If I don't know what to read I just check out what the rest is reading or have read and liked. It always gives me great ideas.
Thanks!
I agree with Barbara's last comment. Before I joined SABL I had a few favourite authors and I just read all their books, every now and then I would try something else, but I kept to those favourites. And suddenly through all the challenges I discover all these different books and authors and I am loving it!
I love all our challenges too. It was a little much when I first joined, but I found my way. I feel like sometimes there's not much to discuss in the group and then the challenges sort of keeps us occupied. Everyone here is always really encouraging and friendly, and even though challenges are a huge part of the group, when there's a discussion going on it gets lots of attention and is fun to follow. Our group has more challenges than some other challenge-exclusive groups (hehe), but that is not necessarily bad or what is keeping people from participating. SA Book lovers has a very diverse group of readers with different tastes and I think that's primarily the thing that makes discussions and general book chats harder than in say, a group for lovers of SFF or YA.
Agreed. I think our relatively small number of active members inhibits discussion too - there usually aren't that many people who have read a particular book and some people just aren't that keen on in-depth discussions anyway.
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I tend to agree with all the comments regarding challenges. I like a challenge although at times they can be frustrating especially when I start reading a book then find out its not even part of the challenge. Maybe theres something about having a baby that decreases brain cells. Anyway I do tend to be selective in the challenges that I take part in, I look for the ones that I HOPE I can complete and fund enjoyment in doing so. Being part of a book club has opened up the reading world to me and its great to try new books and new authors.Although I have discovered that although I like sci fi its not the Hard sci fi. Way over my head.
I read one of my own nominations. That must count at least half a point, eh? :P
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But with tasks comes loophole-spotting :D
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More points please, hnnrgh.
Barbara wrote: "A favorite hobby of all girls named Lauren!"Hehe :D
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Varla Fiona wrote: "most of my friends don't read, or at least, not as much as me, so I turn online for discussions!"Same here! That's one of the main reasons I love this group :)
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I read The Virgin Suicides for Lauren's nomination.
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Can everyone check their score, because there was a lot of chatter in between the completed task posts and I might have missed something. Thanks!
I've read one of Claudia's choices - The Night Circus.
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SA Book & Challenge Lovers
Books mentioned in this topic
Uglies (other topics)The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (other topics)
The Green Mile (other topics)
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (other topics)
Contact (other topics)
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We have 9 participants and that will mean this challenge will run for 9 months. So you could read one book a month and have one catch up month.
We start on 1 May 2012 and will finish on 31 January 2013!
Good Luck Everyone and Happy Reading!
Participants:
Riana - 8 (Barbara, Lu, Emma, Claudia, Lauren S, Henri, Crusader, Lauren F)
Emma - 8 (Lu, Crusader, Henri, Barbara, Riana, Claudia, Lauren F, Lauren S)
Barbara - 8 (Rianna, Lu, Emma, Claudia, Lauren F, Crusader, Henri, Lauren S)
Lauren S - 8 (Barbara, Lu, Claudia, Lauren F, Emma, Crusader, Henri, Riana)
Claudia - 2 (Lauren, Crusader)
Lu - 2 (Riana, Henri)
Crusader
Lauren F
Henri