summer 2012 reading challenge

[Rachel]

i've noticed that some other groups do reading challenges and i thought it looked fun. this is the first time i've created or participated in one but here it goes:

rules for the summer challenge: complete 3 or more of the following tasks between June 20th (the official 1st day of summer 2012 and labor day (september 3, 2012). books can be any genre.

1. july 4th - independence day in the usa- read a book this summer with either a red, white or blue cover. (post the cover)

2. july is cord blood awareness month- read a book with the letters b-l-o-o-d in the title (these letters do not have to be in order)

3. garlic is celebrated for some reason in july- read a book this summer about vampires or vampire hunters

4. july 29th is national lasagna day- read a book this summer set at least in part in italy or read a book by an italian author

5. august is national immunization awareness month- read a book this summer in which a character gets shot

6. august 26th is women's equality day- read a book this summer with a great female heroine as the main character

7. summer is hot so read a book that is set in a warm setting

8. finally for many the summer = the beach so read a book with beach in the title

hope some of you will join me!

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Great idea Rachel, you can create an official group challenge and it will be featured on the group home page. I've only used this feature once in Koontzland - you can see if it will work for you.
Click the link on the far upper right of this page & good luck :-)

direct link to create challenge:
http://www.goodreads.com/challenges/n...

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

I could probably read 3 "summer" books between now and labor day - I will definitely give it some thought.

[Rachel]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Great idea Rachel, you can create an official group challenge and it will be featured on the group home page. I've only used this feature once in Koontzland - you can see if it will work for you.
C..."

posted the challenge dc- thanks for the link

[Rachel]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "I could probably read 3 "summer" books between now and labor day - I will definitely give it some thought."

i hope you do the challenge with me dc! qualifies for number 1 (blue cover)
PEER PRESSURE lol :)

[Tracy]

I love a good challenge so I will try it.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

I will do it - some of the books I'm already planning on reading may meet the qualifications anyway so why the hell not :-)

[Rachel]

Tracy wrote: "I love a good challenge so I will try it."

thanks tracy!

[Rachel]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "I will do it - some of the books I'm already planning on reading may meet the qualifications anyway so why the hell not :-)"

thanks dustin! (peer pressure does work lol :)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Okay all you ambitious people are having an influence on me. I have set my goal to 10 books now - some books will meet more than one requirement and some requirements will be met by more than one book.
Here are the Red,White and Blue Bookcovers I plan to read so far (and will add more)



If anyone wants to join me in reading No Greater Sacrifice, be aware that the author is a member of this group and I started a discussion thread for the book - It could be fun :-) No Greater Sacrifice also meets the Female Heroine criteria and could meet even more - I'm not sure since I haven't read the book yet, but I posted a comment in our NGS thread and John might let us know.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Here are two other Red,White and/or Blue books I plan to read:

[Christine]

This looks like a fun challenge. I'm in. It will help me clean out some of my TBR books too!

Thanks Rachel for the inspiration!

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

I highly Recommend NO GREATER SACRIFICE as a book to read this summer because the author will be available to answer questions/comments and check this out....
No Greater Sacrifice will meet the following requirements:

July 4th-Independence Day in USA-

Read a book this summer with a RED, WHITE OR BLUE book cover (or combo of these colors) (post the book cover)

August 26th is Women's Equality Day

Read a book this summer in which the main character is a FEMALE HEROINE

July 29th is National Lasagna Day

Read a book this summer set at least in part in ITALY OR read a book by an ITALIAN AUTHOR

August is National Immunization Awareness Month

Read a book this summer in which a CHARACTER GETS SHOT

Summer is hot

Read a book this summer set in a WARM CLIMATE

Here is the link to the DARE TO DREAM No Greater Sacrifice Discussion Thread:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/8...

[Rachel]

dustin so happy your doing the challenge-have you signed up on the home page? FYI in addition to no greater sacrifice The Land Beyond the Portal
written by another member of our group also meets the b-l-o-o-d letters in the title challenge (the letters don't have to be in order)

[Rachel]

Christine wrote: "This looks like a fun challenge. I'm in. It will help me clean out some of my TBR books too!

Thanks Rachel for the inspiration!"

christine, so happy your joining the summer challenge!

[Rachel]

everyone interested in the summer challenge-please sign up on the home page. thanks again for participating :)

[Christine]

I did and have made a shelf for the books that meet the criteria. Does one that I am reading now count or should I start from something new? Someone gets shot in the book I am reading now


I did start it after June 20th!

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Count it Christine. I just finished The Program today and I'm counting it :-)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

I will have to consider The Land Beyond The Portal :-) Thanks for pointing that one out Rachel. I hadn't thought realized :-)

[Rachel]

Christine wrote: "I did and have made a shelf for the books that meet the criteria. Does one that I am reading now count or should I start from something new? Someone gets shot in the book I am reading now
[bookco..."

it counts! (the challenge runs from june 20th to sept 3rd)

[Christine]

Oh good!

[Tom]

Here is what I have for the Summer Challenge:

7. Summer is hot
Q. Read a book this summer set in a WARM CLIMATE.
A. Hot : living through the next fifty years on earth. Hertsgaard, Mark.

2. July 2012 is Cord Blood Awareness month.
Q. Read a book this summer that has the letters
B-L-O-O-D in the title (these letters do not have to be in order).
A. In cold blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences 1st Vintage International ed. Capote, Truman.
3. Garlic is celebrated in July.
Q. Read a book this summer about VAMPIRES OR VAMPIRE HUNTERS.
A. The strain : book one of the Strain trilogy 1st ed. Toro, Guillermo del. [Trilogy, currently on Book II]

[Rachel]

welcome to the challenge tom

in cold blood is a great book

don't forget to sign up for the challenge on the home page and thank you so much for paticipating :)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

So far, I've got 9 titles out of 10 titles selected.
The only ones I haven't added are a Vampire book and a Beach book.

[Tom]

Thanks Rachel. Cool challenge.

[Rachel]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "So far, I've got 9 titles out of 10 titles selected.
The only ones I haven't added are a Vampire book and a Beach book."
that's awesome dc- i think i might end up reading more than the 3 i had planned.

[Tom]

I got five right now. A Trilogy and two other books.
I may up that too.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

This is addicting. I keep finding titles that I've been meaning to read for a long time - it will be good to finally get around to reading them. I will stick with 10 unless I really exceed my own expectations :-)

[Nora aka Diva]

Do rereads count towards this?

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

why the hell not? they better the hell count because I am re-reading The Keepsake in July :-)

(Female heroine as main character)

If it meets one or more of the criteria, then I think it counts :-) READ READ READ and RE-READ

[Rachel]

Nora aka Diva wrote: "Do rereads count towards this?"

re-reads count- so happy you joined the challenge nora :)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Re-read that book!

[Christine]

I just finished my first book of the challenge, The Program. Its a really good read from the Alan Gregory series by Stephen White. I think it could be a stand alone book from the series if someone is looking for a mystery to read. Hint: someone gets shot in the book.

[Rachel]

thanks for the recommendation christine!

don't forget to update the challenge homepage (it's keeping track of everyone's progress)

of course feel free to continue to update your progress on this thread as well :)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

I'm going to move this topic from the Misc folder to the Books folder.

Rachel,
Will you consider creating a Fall Reading Challenge to start after this amazing Summer Reading Challenge is over?

I love your idea & think it should continue :-)

[Tracy]

I am enjoying it as well DC. I think I have read three already. Really makes you sit up and pay attention to what you are reading and REALLY helps with that TBR.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

How about it Rachel? Can we do this every season?

[Rachel]

of course we can-i've already started to think of ideas lol

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Excellent! Amazing! I'm already Anticipating! I think you have found a role here...and you're on a roll :-)

We can continue as long as you have fun putting the challenges together - I think 4 times a year with the seasons is perfect.

[Tracy]

Ok so far I have read three for the challenge. Here's my three. For:

1)11th Hour
3)Undead and Unemployed
5)Unnatural Acts

[Tracy]

I may make it past the 10 mark.

[Rachel]

tracy- you rock :) i upped my challenge from 3 to 5 but 10 or more is awesome!

[Rachel]

tracy if you get a chance can you let us know which tasks go with which books (some people may be looking for recommendations for books in which a character gets shot, etc)

(this is completely optional)

[Nora aka Diva]

still trying to narrow down my options... lol

[Tracy]

Rachel wrote: "tracy if you get a chance can you let us know which tasks go with which books (some people may be looking for recommendations for books in which a character gets shot, etc)

(this is completely opt..."

Sure Rachel. I put the number beside the book but I could write it out. I just do all my GR on my cell phone and less is better for a phone. I will edit it though.

[Tracy]

1)red/white/blue cover- 11th Hour
3)vampire /vampire hunter- Undead and Unemployed
5)someone gets shot -Unnatural Acts

[Rachel]

thanks tracy- i am so clueless- i didn't even notice the numbers lol

[Tracy]

1) red/white/blue cover -Odd Hours by Dean Koontz

It's really not difficult to do this challenge and it may lead you to read something you have been putting off for a long time.

[Rachel]

for the challenge i read

The Ghost and Mrs. McClure

this book has a character that gets shot (and a female heroine)

[Tracy]

5) someone gets shot

In too deep by Jayne Ann Krentz
Obsidian Prey by Jayne Anne Krentz