January 2009 Reading Challenge

[Gail]

If I weren't on deadline, this would be Easy-peasy. But... I HAVE to finish this dang book!

I am, however, currently reading one that fits into the Psychics category, the new Jayne Ann Krentz RUNNING HOT.

What about books that are about magic, but not necessarily witches/wizards? My upcoming book (and my previous ones) don't really fit into these categories. They're more "high fantasy." Robin Owens' Luna books are too, as are Laura Ann Gillman's. Though Gillman's are not real romantic...

That category--high fantasy?--might go in another month's challenge, with the ghost books, maybe?

[♥Tricia♥]

bah my strike out explination didnt work. lol

If you click on the (some html is ok) link at the top right of the reply box it will s how you :)

[Jacalyn]

What would you guys attribute Plum Spooky to? I mean there's definitely something up with Diesel. It definitely has some sort of fantasy element but I'm not sure how I'd fit it into this list we were given.

Is anyone else readng Plum Spooky? Got thoughts?

[Yz the Whyz]

Gail,

I'm going to add fantasy/magical as another category, plus ghosts, and whatever else you guys can suggesst for another month challenge.

Furthermore, our categories are pretty loose, so if you want to adjust them to accomodate what you wish to read this month..feel free...this is really more in the spirit of fun and an incentive to finish 9 books in the month...

Lady Ozma,

I would put Plum Spooky under psychics/time traveler...just add a slash "paranormal powers"...i think that will work.

[♥Tricia♥]

Sounds cool Yz :D And thank you again for creating this! It has me pumped and ready to read read read! :D

[Jacalyn]

Rats, I already have something under there, but it's OK. :) I'm going to try to get at least something in each category, but I'm not sure it will happen. But since Plum Spooky is book 8 for the month, I think I'll get nine books, even if all the categories aren't full!

I'd love to keep this pace, but normally I can't. I just took full advantage of vacation combined with some quickie reads. :) But I look forward to seeing what I can get done! Goodness knows the TBR needs me to read more than 9 books a month. :) (There's over 200 books on said TBR shelf. It's actually a bookcase. And I know more will be coming in from my crack dealer... I mean mother who kindly loans me books when she gets done reading them.)

[Sarah]

Thanks, Jael, for asking, and thanks, Nichole, for the answer. I had forgotten how to do a strike. It makes things look much neater.

[Sarah]

1. Vampires-From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris;
2. Werewolves-Blood & Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause;
3. Shape-shifters-Heart of the Dragon by Gena Showalter;
4. Demons-Pagan Stone by Nora Roberts;
5. Witches/wizards-Raintree: Inferno by Linda Howard;
6. Fae-Thirty Nights with a Highland Husband by Melissa Mayhue;
7. Aliens-Darkness Unknown by Alexis Morgan;
8. Psychics-Running Hot by Jayne Ann Krentz;
9. Dragons-Immortals: The Calling

[Jennifer]

I'm in for the challenge! I'll edit my list as I complete the books. Thanks for the great idea!

Categories are:
1. vampires- Bloodfever by K.M.Moning
2. werewolves- Tempting Evil by K. Arthur
3. shifters- King of Sword and Sky by C.L. Wilson
4. demons- The Black Jewels Trilogy by A. Bishop
5. witches/wizards- Morrigan's Cross by N. Roberts
6. fae- Beyond the Highland Mist by K.Moning
7. aliens
8. psychics/time travelers- The Highlander's Touch
9. dragons or mythical creatures- Cast in Fury by M.Sagara

[Jacalyn]

OK, I finished Plum Spooky, which is book 8 for me for the month.

Without giving any spoilers, I do have an answer to my question. I'm claiming it under #9: Dragons and mythological creatures. There's several appearances by the Easter Bunny, Sasquatch, and The Jersey Devil. If those three hanging out ain't mythological creatures then Stephanie doesn't blow up yet another car. *SNICKERS*

BTW Anyone who does read the Plum books, this is by far the best. Let's put it this way, I never went to sleep. HAHA

So here's my updated list:

1. vampires - Backup by Jim Butcher
2. werewolves
3. shifters
4. demons - A Wizard Alone by Diane Duane
5. witches/wizards - Welcome to the Jungle by Jim Butcher and/or A Wizard Alone by Diane Duane and/or The Scot, the Witch and the Wardrobe by Annette Blair
6. fae
7. aliens - A Wizard Alone by Diane Duane
8. psychics/time travelers - The Scot, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by Anette Blair
9. dragons or mythical creatures: Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich

[Yz the Whyz]

Lady Ozma wrote: "OK, I finished Plum Spooky, which is book 8 for me for the month.

Without giving any spoilers, I do have an answer to my question. I'm claiming it under #9: Dragons and mythological creatures. ..."


Great job, lady Ozma! We are barely half of the month and you have only three books more to go.....

Yep...those sound like they would fit category 9 and now, you have perk my interest on said book...will be adding it on my list ...

[Jacalyn]

I just happen to have a lot of to be reads... ROFL. And some of them were quick reads so I scored over the holiday ;)

Do you read the Stephanie Plum books? I LOVE them. And funny enough, they get referenced in a vampire series I found last year. Awesome! If not, don't worry, the author does a good job of pretty much bringing you up to speed on the characters. The Between the Number books are the ones that have the paranormal without really being paranormal... This is the fourth one, and the first that's a full length novel. Usually they are novellas. LOL I was so happy it was full length!

OK, so can you tell I just finished a book I loved???? GUSH GUSH GUSH. *GRINS*

[Jael ~ *~ Syhren ~* ~]

Thanks Nicole for teaching me how to do the strie out. YZ I have to TY once again because this idea is great usually I have a hard time picking what read next from my TBR pile but with this challenge I don't have to worry about that

[Yz the Whyz]

Jael wrote: "Thanks Nicole for teaching me how to do the strie out. YZ I have to TY once again because this idea is great usually I have a hard time picking what read next from my TBR pile but with this challen..."


Thanks Nichole for teaching everyone how to strike out...will make it easy for me to count the books done. I will do an update of everybody's progress every 5 days.

Jael,
Glad you are enjoying it. I will announce our February theme like 5 days before Jan ends...so everybody can sort of start looking at their TBR...for now...enjoy reading...

[Jael ~ *~ Syhren ~* ~]

Lady Ozma wrote: "I just happen to have a lot of to be reads... ROFL. And some of them were quick reads so I scored over the holiday ;)

Do you read the Stephanie Plum books? I LOVE them. And funny enough, they g..."
I thought all the b/t the numbers were full length novels. I have Plum Lovin/Lucky on my shelf. also they have a group here on GR that discusses all the SP books as well as other things SP related. here's the link http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/3...

[Jacalyn]

Jael,

No the other three Between the Number books are novellas. But this is a full 300+ pages! Schweeeeeet! :) Everyone here is all aflutter at having a full length book. Those Between the Number books go way way way too fast!

[Jacalyn]

Here's an idea for a topic for upcoming months: Deity. I've got a book going right now that mentions mythological gods... So I thought I'd throw it out there! You never know when you might stumble across a great book with greek or aztec or viking gods!! :)

[Yz the Whyz]

Welcome London Girl to our monthly challenge. Hope you will have fun reading.

Lady Ozma,

Your suggestion for deities is going right now into my monthly challenge ideas list. Thanks.

[Jacalyn]

You are welcome! :) If I come up with any more, I'll let you know! I'm sure you already have "ghosts" right? It's the only other one I have. If so, I've got a stack of Aunt Dimity books ready to go! LOL

[Yz the Whyz]

Okay, I should have done this yesterday, but I messed up the date..but here is our every 5-day update.

Running total so far are the following:

Jael - 3 books done
Jennifer - 4 books done
Lady Ozma - 6 books done
London Girl - 1 book done
Lori - 1 book done
Nichole - 2 books done
Nicole - 3 books done
Sarah - 2 books done
Tricia -1 book done
Yz - 4 books done

new_user and Jodz - no updates so far.

Everybody seems to be progressing nicely down their list. Great job. Next update will be on the 15th.

[Jacalyn]

Wow, Yz, that's great!! Looks like our little group is doing well!!!

This is really exciting! Thank you so much for heading this up and doing all this work for us!

[Yz the Whyz]

London Girl,

I know what you mean about the crazy TBR list. I'm actually on a self-imposed ban of not borrowing anymore books from the library until I finished reading everything I borrowed. Do you know how difficult it is to drop off books without actually going in and getting more new ones?..LOL...

[Yz the Whyz]

London Girl,

I'm noting angels down as a possible category in another monthly challenge.

Karen,

Welcome aboard. I have Murder Game, but haven't read it yet. Love the Ghostwalkers series. I got my complete set aside from Murder Game from eBay.

[Sarah]

1. Vampires-From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris;
2. Werewolves-Blood & Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause;
3. Shape-shifters-Heart of the Dragon by Gena Showalter;
4. Demons-Pagan Stone by Nora Roberts;
5. Witches/wizards-Raintree: Inferno by Linda Howard;
6. Fae-Thirty Nights with a Highland Husband by Melissa Mayhue;
7. Aliens-Darkness Unknown by Alexis Morgan;
8. Psychics-Running Hot by Jayne Ann Krentz;
9. Dragons-Immortals: The Calling by Jennifer Ashley

[Ann aka Iftcan]

I just joined this group. Lady Ozma is my daughter (and most of the books in her TBR pile are from me.)

I have a suggestion you missed for this month. Alternate Universes. You know where things are ALMOST the same, but there is 1 change in history.

Time to TRY to remember what I've read so far this month, and see if any of them fit these categories. Hum, or should I start fresh? Since I average about 1 book a day--I have plenty of time to make this. :o)

Off to search bookcases for the books I've read so far.

[Yz the Whyz]

Ann wrote: "I just joined this group. Lady Ozma is my daughter (and most of the books in her TBR pile are from me.)

I have a suggestion you missed for this month. Alternate Universes. You know where thi..."

Welcome Ann! Glad to have you join us. I'm taking note of your suggestion. We will have different kind of challenges each month...I will be varying it to keep it fresh and exciting..

Feel free to create your own list, and you can start fresh if you like, considering, we are not even half of January yet...so I'm sure 9 books will not be that hard for you....

Just remember, all of this is in the spirit of fun...just an extra motivation (as if we need any..LOL) to keep reading..

[Jacalyn]

Hey mum! Thanks for supporting my habit and giving me lots and lots of books to read! *GRINS* HEHEHE

Gdancer is cool. She has excellent taste in books. :) I told her she needed to haul her fanny over here and join our group!

[Jacalyn]

We have so many good ideas. Yz, you should have several months worth of ideas in no time! :) I love it! I'm planning on participating as many months as I can! Thank you so much, again!

I was trying to think of ideas and you could always do one month where we try to hit as many different mythos as possible. The book I'm reading now just had a very cranky Freya being... well cranky. So in this case I would have nailed Norse. There's all sorts of fun stuff for Egypt and Greece and whatnot as well, I bet.

I read once about an armchair traveler where they just read a lot of books and tried to go "around the world" that way. So the whole Freya thing had me thinking of that... :)

[Lori]

Here's my updated list. Tonight I'm starting Swallowing Darkness which I've been chomping at the bit to read. I was able to get all the books on this list except for Outlander which I'm on a waiting list for at the library. I may need to come up with an alternate for that book.

I'm loving this Yz and am so glad you're going to continue doing it each month.

1. vampires - Dark Prince by Christine Feehan
2. werewolves - Wolf Tales by Kate Douglass
3. shifters - Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh
4. demons - One Silent Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon
5. witches/wizards - Fistful of Charms by Kim Harrison
6. fae - Swallowing Darkness by Laurell K. Hamilton
7. aliens - Victorious Star by Morgan Hawke
8. psychics/time travelers - Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
9. dragons or mythical creatures - Mona Lisa Awakening by Sunny

[♥Tricia♥]

Oh Lori you are going to LOVE Swallowing Darkness!! :D

[Yz the Whyz]

Lady Ozma,

I've taken note of your new suggestion. I have already decided what February would be, but I'm putting a "scavenger hunt" type of challenge for March. So some of the suggestions will be utilize in such adventure...LOL

Lori,
Glad for the update. Good book choices. I love the Psy/Changeling series of Nalini Singh..I'm reading her third book for my category 8: focusing on the Psychic angle.

[Jael ~ *~ Syhren ~* ~]

Wow! wallbanged with Sex and the Psychic Witch by Blair, so I'm changing it toWhite Lies by Krentz.

[new_user]

Lori, I hope you like the Psy/Changeling series. I really like them.

Jael, I hope White Lies is good. I'm planning to read that one too.

[Yz the Whyz]

I like White Lies. I basically enjoyed all of her books in the Arcane Society series.

Btw, guys, I created a new group called Romance Readers Book Challenges. It's a spin off of this challenge, although I will continue the PNR challenge in this group.

Here is the link: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...

[Jacalyn]

A scavenger hunt? I can't wait to find out what you are going to do to pull that off! It sounds like fun!!!!!

[Murrrmaiyd]

Ok, heck, the way I read this should be no problem! :) If I list more than one for a given category, that's just a bonus book. :) Here's what I've read this month so far:

Categories are:
1. vampires
Dark Curse - Christine Feehan - finished 1/4
Twilight - Stephanie Meyer - finsihed 1/10 (early AM)
New Moon - Stephanie Meyer - finished 1/10 (late PM)
Eclipse - Stephanie Meyer - finished 1/11
Breaking Dawn - Stephanie Meyer - finished 1/12
Dead After Dark - Story of Son by JR Ward - 1/2

2. werewolves

3. shifters

4. demons

5. witches/wizards

6. fae
A Kiss of Shadows - LKH - finished 1/5
A Caress of Twilight - LKH - finished 1/7

7. aliens

8. psychics/time travelers

9. dragons or mythical creatures

Next in line is for #9, Shelly Laurenston's Dragon Kin 1 and 2.

[Yz the Whyz]

Murrrmaiyd wrote: "Ok, heck, the way I read this should be no problem! :) If I list more than one for a given category, that's just a bonus book. :) Here's what I've read this month so far:

Categories are:
1..."


Welcome Mur. Yep, for crazy readers like us, 9 should not be a problem. Have fun with the categories.

[Ann aka Iftcan]

Ok, so far I have:

1) shifter/mythical creature--Fish out of Water (Fred the mermaid is both mythical and a shifter, since she can shift between human and mer)

2) witch--the Scot, the Witch and the Wardrobe

3) Psychic---Star Quality, which is a book of 3 short stories, all having to do with Full Moon psychic abilities

The rest of the books (all 15 of them) that I've read so far this month are mysteries. WIll get to work on the others in the list later tomorrow.

[Ann aka Iftcan]

ok, what about "golden oldies"? You know authors that are "no longer with us" (looking at some of the works of Andre' Norton or Robert Heinleins as a for instance) Or authors that are so old they have been writing for the entire lifetime of our members (Anne MacCaffrey--ok, I'm 50+ and I started reading Anne wwaaayyyyy back when I was about the age of Oz's oldest son (he's 12 for enquiring minds)

I'm sure that between us we could probably come up with LOTS of names for this list of fav authors who are either older than dirt or have passed away (sorry, I STILL think that the day Andre Norton passed away should be declared a national day of mourning)

[Ann aka Iftcan]

1) shifter/mythical creature--Fish out of Water (Fred the mermaid is both mythical and a shifter, since she can shift between human and mer)

2) witch--the Scot, the Witch and the Wardrobe

3) Psychic---Star Quality, which is a book of 3 short stories, all having to do with Full Moon psychic

4) Dragons/mythical Up in Smoke by Katie MacAlister

5) Demons/wizards/vampires Smoke and Ashes by Tanya Huff. Ok, not sure how "romance" this is, but hey, boy GOT boy, so I guess that's romance, right? Besides, Tony has always been a favourite of mine, ever since the first Blood Ties book. :o) And with Henry Fitzroy, vampire son of Henry VIII

[Yz the Whyz]

Ann wrote: "1) shifter/mythical creature--Fish out of Water (Fred the mermaid is both mythical and a shifter, since she can shift between human and mer)

2) witch--the Scot, the Witch and the Wardrobe

3..."

I've seen some episodes of Blood Ties on lifetimetv...yes Henry is definitely a cutie..

Btw, Ann, if you like this challenge...you might be interested in another challenge I'm running in a group I just recently started.

Here is the link: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...

Feel free to drop by and check it out.

[Ann aka Iftcan]

actually I was a little displeased with what they did on Lifetime. For one thing, Corrine (the secretary) appeared for about 4 or 5 pages TOTAL in the books. And I LOVED Henry's job in the books a lot more than having him be a graphic novelist. I mean, come on--that's something that anyone could see a vamp doing. In the books he was actually a romance author--he wrote as Elizabeth Fitzroy (and used the description of his half sister, Elizabeth I as HIS for the blurbs on his books) Now come on--isn't that just a KICKER for an occupation for a vamp? :o)

[Yz the Whyz]

Now, you got me intrigued. I haven't read the books yet, so I'm going to go ahead and add them to my TBR list.

[Dawn]

I am late but this looks like fun so I am in :>

1. vampires - The Palace Chelsea Yarbro
Kiss of Midnight by Lara Adrian
2. werewolves - Broken by Kelley Armstrong
3. shifters - Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh
4. demons - Dark desire after dusk - kresley cole
5. witches/wizards - The Outlaw Demon Wails by Kim Harrison
6. fae - faefever by karen marie moning 1/14
7. aliens - The Host by Stephanie Meyers
8. psychics/time travelers - Dark Prince by Christine Feehan 1/11
9. dragons or mythical creatures - Heart of the dragon by Gena Showalter

[Yz the Whyz]

Dawn wrote: "I am late but this looks like fun so I am in :>

1. vampires - The Palace Chelsea Yarbro
Kiss of Midnight by Lara Adrian
2. werewolves - Kitty and the deadman's hand
3. shifters - Slave to Sens..."


No problem. Just jump right in, Dawn. Simply put a date in front of the book's title when you finished reading it.

[Murrrmaiyd]

Ann wrote: "actually I was a little displeased with what they did on Lifetime. For one thing, Corrine (the secretary) appeared for about 4 or 5 pages TOTAL in the books. And I LOVED Henry's job in the books ..."

Yeah, I have to agree, but I read Tanya Huff's blog about the show and she said she never thought to do that with Corrine and if she'd thought of it when she was writing the book she'd probably have done that...lol... so I guess she liked it. Corrine got on my nerves a time or two interrupting Vicki and Henry deliberately... made me want to slap her...lol.

[Jacalyn]

See I find that interesting. I tend to let things slide. Like in the Dresden show, I didn't care that Murphy was a brunette instead of a blond. I had no idea people cared that much. Geeze, it's hair colour. I've been brunette and blonde in my life. It's easy enough to change hair colour with a bottle of Clairol. LOL But people went nuts. Yet if you read the behind the scenes stuff you learned that it was done for several reasons, one being legal! I think the brunette was a great Murphy.

In Tanya's show, I really liked the secretary. She was pretty cool. :) Actually she was my favourite character.

I thought Henry was a romance author in the show. I remember them making cracks in that regard.

[Murrrmaiyd]

Lady Ozma wrote: "See I find that interesting. I tend to let things slide. Like in the Dresden show, I didn't care that Murphy was a brunette instead of a blond. I had no idea people cared that much. Geeze, it's..."

Nah, they changed it and made him a graphic novelist. I remember one episode where Vicki goes to his place and is checking out his artwork. As a character, I liked Corrine in the show, but I still wanted to slap her when she interrupted Henry and Vicki on purpose...lol...

I LOVED Dresden files, I think they brought the feel of the books to the screen well. I totally forgot about the blonde/brunette thing on Murphy, I liked the one they had play Murphy on the show. That being said, there have been shows where they change a person's appearance like that and it does make me mad, but Dresden Files wasn't one of them. :) I think it depends more on how major the character is in the book and how much I like them. To use a random example from a book that is NOT being made into a show, if they tried to make the BDB's Wrath a blonde, or short haired, THAT would make me mad. The long dark hair is part of who he is, like Rhage has to stay a blonde. It's significant. Murphy, well, her hair color just wasn't that important, so it didn't matter to me.

[Jacalyn]

I've never read the books and I could have sworn he was a romance author... HAHA Oh well. *Shrug*

See, I don't mind little things. Some things need to be altered to go from book to screen. Like Dresden's car. The actor was actually really tall. Like six and a half feet. They TRIED the bug. Guess what, not doable. It's a freaking car. They still got an old beater... same deal. LOL I don't know, like i said, sometimes you have alter things. Combine characters, cut characters,alter a timeline, that sort of thing.

What i hate is when they completely and utter chuck everything or completely change the person. Blonde vs brunette is no big deal. But when you change plot devices? Character types? That bugs me. You can't give the book the back flap treatment. It's bad.

I don't watch Tru Blood. I tried watching the pilot and it was way... wow. No thanks. Too bad, because i love the series and I hate that they've basically turned it into pr0n. Seems to me that if Home Pr0n Office wanted that, they shoulda contacted LKH for her books. Left my Southern Vampires alone for a channel that wouldn't destroy it. Bleck.

Too bad they won't do a post-watershed version. Think they might if they syndicate it out to regular channels? Does HBO do that?

[new_user]

Sure, HBO has done it before. Case in point, the highly popular Sex and the City.