Introductions!

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Welcome, Joy! And congratulations on your shiny new degree!

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Welcome, Erica, glad you've joined us.

[Liz M]

Hello Joy & Erica!

[Elizabeth]

My name is Elizabeth and I'm 24 years old. I live in Kentucky (Louisville, to be precise). I have a BA in psychology and did two minors in English with a concentration in literature and Medieval Studies. I studied French for 5 years and have experience with Japanese, German, and Latin. One of my dreams is to translate Medieval Latin and French manuscripts. The other is to eventually become an archaeologist.

Currently, I work with toddlers as a teacher in a daycare. It's not exactly my dream job, or the best use of my degree, but it works for now. I am going back to school in August to work towards a degree in education so that I can become a third grade teacher. I also plan on doing another major in either microbiology or anthropology. I do enjoy some aspects of my job such as being able to teach my children and the joy that I receive when they finally catch on to what I've taught them. I also enjoy the smiles, hugs, and kisses that I get from my kids when I come to work in the mornings.

I am an avid reader and have been since I was a child. I generally read anything except westerns, romance, and inspirational/Christian books. I quite enjoy horror, fantasy, historical fiction, and mysteries. I have also gotten into the Quirk classics recently. Right now, I am reading Android Karenina. Classic literature is another favorite of mine with Edgar Allan Poe, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, HP Lovecraft, Victor Hugo, and Gaston LeRoux being among my favorites.

I look forward to making new friends and participating in the challenges.

-Elizabeth

[Liz M]

Elizabeth, glad to have you with us!

[Renata Ruby]

Hi I'm Rena, I enjoy non fiction books such as the psycopath test and fiction books such as" the invisible ones." I am writing books as well and have published on amazon kindle, Wattpad and smashwords.

I enjoy being a mother, cooking, music and photography.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Welcome, Rena. Hope you enjoy the challenge!

[Renata Ruby]

Thanks

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Welcome, Claire - we look forward to getting to know you better! If you have questions, just ask. In the meantime, don't forget to check out our FAQ.

[Karen Michele]

It's nice to have you join us, Claire!

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

My name is Theresa, and I'm so glad I found this group! I've been looking through all the posts before posting an intro, and I really look forward to the Fall 2013 activities. I now live in Texas, but grew up in New York. I work as a CPA, and I really love to read and/or listen to books. My daily commute has me in the car at least 1 1/2 hours a day, so I always have books loaded on my iPod. I carry a Kindle with me for lunch breaks and such. I love almost all genres of books and hope the group will encourage even more diversity in my reading.

[Kate S]

Welcome, Theresa! We look forward to seeing what you read in the upcoming months. Please let us know if you have any questions.

[Karen Michele]

Welcome to you, Theresa. This is a great group and I'm glad you've joined in!

[Liz M]

Teresa,

I'm glad you found us, can never have to many former, recent, or born and bred New Yorkers. Feel free to jump into the Summer Challenge -- any book you've read since June 1st that fits a task can be claimed. That way you can get your feet wet in the understanding the crazy, ever-changing bonus points we use! or just sit back and plan for the Fall challenge.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Hi Theresa! Welcome!

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

Thanks for the welcomes! Liz, I think I'll just finish out August with the reading plans I'd already had in place. That will leave time for planning the Fall Challenge.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Everyone!!! :)
My name is Malissa. I am 20 years old and live in Oklahoma. I am currently a sophomore in college. However, I am not currently enrolled in college at this time. I recently moved back to the United States from living in Japan so I had to put my college studies on hold while I get settled. Once I get more settled, I'm hoping to attend the University of West Florida as an English or Library Sciences major. Even though I miss being in school full time, I love having the extra time to read the books that I want to read :)

I am excited about this new group and am looking forward to participating in discussions with y'all! :)

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Welcome, Malissa!

[[deleted user]]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Welcome, Malissa!"

Thank you, Elizabeth! :)

[Karen Michele]

It's nice to have you here, Malissa. I'm a high school librarian and I love it!

[[deleted user]]

Karen GHHS wrote: "It's nice to have you here, Malissa. I'm a high school librarian and I love it!"

Hi Karen! :)
That is an awesome job! When I was a senior in high school, I volunteered at an elementary school library and I fell in love with it. I started going to college as a psychology major but it just didn't "feel" right. When I thought about changing my major, I remembered how much I loved being around books so that's what helped me make my decision to switch majors :)

[Karen Michele]

Maryann wrote: "Hello!
Maryann. Age 37. grad of Harvard Medical School. Married,no children. 1 cat. Voracious reader. i prefer the classics but tend to be eclectic."

Welcome, Maryann! It's great to have a new member reading with us.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Welcome, Maryann! Hope you enjoy the challenges - feel free to ask any questions. Someone is always willing to help out.

[Liz M]

Maryann,

Glad to have you with us! This challenge are complicated, but fun (I hope). Please poke around the group -- the Welcome folder is a general overview of the challenges and "Challenge Home (Fall 2013)" contains the information about what we're currently doing. And like Elizabeth said, don't hesitate to ask questions.

I look forward to seeing what you're reading!

[Connie]

Hi, I'm Connie from Connecticut and I would like to join the Winter 2013-14 Challenge. I belong to a few library bookgroups, a short story group, and enjoy lifelong learning classes. I read a mix of books, with many of the books set in other countries. I used to work in healthcare so I enjoy books with medical themes too. I enjoy the theater so try to read some plays too. I'm married and have two adult daughters.

[Karen Michele]

Hi, Connie! It's great to get a new member, and I'm sure you will love the challenge.

[Liz M]

Welcome, Connie! You found us at just the right time - gearing up for the next quarter's challenge! And I see you've already started finding your way around, I am interested to see what you read for your Pacific Rim journey!

[Connie]

Thanks for the welcome, Karen and Liz. It was fun planning for the Pacific Rim journey, and I just posted my tentative books.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Welcome, Connie! I hope you enjoy our challenges.

[Connie]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Welcome, Connie! I hope you enjoy our challenges."

Thanks, Elizabeth.

[Kathleen (itpdx)]

Welcome, Connie. The planning and selecting adds to the fun of reading. Enjoy!

[Connie]

itpdx wrote: "Welcome, Connie. The planning and selecting adds to the fun of reading. Enjoy!"

Thanks, itpdx. I'm looking foreward to trying a new challenge.

[Jama]

Hi. I'm Jama and I recently stumbled on this group. I live in the NYC area, but am originally from northern MN. I like to read a wide variety of fiction, classics and contemporary, sci fi and realistic. I am a real sucker for post-apocolyptic novels, and I am very interested in post-colonial lit. as well.

I have three young sons and a busy life, so it is usually a challenge for me to read 50 books a year. I have some concerns that the rules of these challenges will limit my choices and cause me to read less. Usually my book choices are heavily dependent on the one I just finished. I want to continue reading books that take place in one particular place, or time period, or genre. I hope joining this group makes it easy for me to find my next book without limiting my choices.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Jama wrote: "Hi. I'm Jama and I recently stumbled on this group. I live in the NYC area, but am originally from northern MN. I like to read a wide variety of fiction, classics and contemporary, sci fi and ..."

Welcome, Jama. I hope you enjoy the challenge! The 10- and 20-point tasks can be repeated as many times as you want, unless the task says otherwise. That leaves you quite a bit of freedom in choosing your next book.

[Jama]

Jama wrote: "Hi. I'm Jama and I recently stumbled on this group. I live in the NYC area, but am originally from northern MN. I like to read a wide variety of fiction, classics and contemporary, sci fi and ..."

Thanks, Elizabeth! That's good to hear. I am looking forward to trying out the winter challenge!

[Liz M]

Jama wrote: "Hi. I'm Jama and I recently stumbled on this group. I live in the NYC area, but am originally from northern MN...."

Hello Jama! I live in Brooklyn, but grew up in St. Paul. Always happy to see another Minnesotan transplant.

[Rebekah]

Just go for it, Sam and you'll get the hang of it! I mess up a lot but the moderators are nice about it. (smile)

[[deleted user]]

Hello everyone. My name is Norma Padro. I'm the author and photographer of several books. I'm not new here. I have been here for a while now, but didn't come across this forum before. I'm happy to be here. Thanks for allowing me to enter and read many of your posts. Have a great day.

[Stan]

Just visited Italy and loved it! Anyone know any good historical books based in Florence? Thanks! http://www.stanloomis.com/florence-it...

[Rebekah]

Stan wrote: "Just visited Italy and loved it! Anyone know any good historical books based in Florence? Thanks! http://www.stanloomis.com/florence-it..."

Hey, Stan! I went to Rome last month. Loved it but would like to go back when weather not so bad. I haven't been anywhere else in Italt but the whole country is on my To Do list.

[Katrina]

Hi, I've just joined and now can't wait for June 1St.
I've been reading for as long as I can remember, I mainly read literary fiction but do like a mixture of genres - although I avoid romance and spacey sci fi. I'm love this style of challenge as I like to look at my the stack in a different way, I do have a rule not to buy books for a challenge.
this group seems ideal, I tried the challenge on bookish but some challenges are just so obscure I wasn't getting very far, and some of the other challenges seem very general, looking at the past challenges here it seems you lot are somewhere in the middle.
I teach English literature at secondary school, I love the teaching side but look forward to the holidays so I can read lots.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Welcome, Katrina.

[Liz M]

~waves hello to Katrina~

I love your author chain!

[Karen Michele]

Hi, Katrina---- it's nice to have you!

[Natalie]

Hello Everyone,

I'm Natalie and have found my way here through the Seasonal Reading Challenge and have joined up because I am looking for a more flexible reading challenge.

I live in Europe, love to travel, read, and learn new things.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Welcome, Natalie! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in either the General Questions thread or the Socializing thread.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Group
I just joined , after seeing that this group's system is based a lot like the SRC . This sounds like fun . I have to take a look at the summer tasks since we're early into June . Maybe I can jump in and get a start now !

[Liz M]

Welcome Natalie!

[Karen Michele]

Hi Natalie and Kaye----- it's great to have you in the challenge!

[Liz M]

Hello Kaye,

You should absolutely jump in! The style points may be a bit confusing at first, but everyone is good about answering questions & Kate, the score-keeper, will find those that are missed.