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Sunday, April 18, 2010

I found a new challenge I couldn't resist. I like the idea of this one, because there's a wide selection of books to chose from. It's the Read, Remember, Recommend Fiction Reading Challenge.
Bibliobabe sent me a copy of Read, Remember, Recommend reading journal last year and I found it to be a great resource for readers.
Here's the challenge rules:
Read as many books from the Read, Remember, Recommend reading journal as you can in one year. Books read before April 1st, 2010 do not count. Overlaps with other challenges (including the Read, Remember, Recommend Teen Reading Challenge) are acceptable – and encouraged!
Dates:
April 1st, 2010 to April 1st, 2011
I'll be linking my reviews as I read the books.
1. The Road
2. Gone With the Wind
3. Cold Mountain
4. Mrs. Dalloway
5. All The Pretty Horses
6. The Awakening
7. The Great Gatsby
8. Revolutionary Road
9. Frankenstein
10. Of Mice and Men
11. Where The Heart Is
12. Nights At The Circus
13. To Kill A Mockingbird
14. The Bell Jar
Labels: reading challenge
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Nymeth is hosting the Try Something New Mini-Challenge:
During the month of March, you’ll be asked to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. It can be something Dewey-inspired, like a comic aka graphic novel, a YA novel, a book on feminism, etc. But it can be something else too: poetry, a short story collection, manga, non-fiction, a cookbook, a book on knitting or other crafts, a book on social issues, a play, a horror book, fantasy, sci-fi, a collection of fairy tales or a fairy tale retold…you decide. It’s not mandatory that you have never ever read a book of the kind you pick before…all I’m asking is that you pick something that is still mostly new territory for you.
1) Sign up and get in touch with your partner
2) Read one book
3) Collaborate on a post
deadline: 7th of April
My partner is Rhinoa, who made some great reading suggestions for me. I figured i'd go with sci-fi.
Since I don't read as much science fiction as I'd like to, I am reading:

title: The Colors of Space
author: Marion Zimmer Bradley
published: 1963
genre: science fiction/YA
first line: It was a week before the Lhari ship went into warp-drive, and all that time young Bart Steele had stayed in his cabin.
Interesting tidbit, Marion Zimmer Bradley is the same author who wrote The Mists of Avalon.
Labels: reading challenge
Sunday, March 22, 2009

Carl is hosting the Once Upon a Time III and I couldn't resist.
fan⋅ta⋅sy: a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting.(Wiki)
fairy tale: a fictional story that may feature folkloric characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, and talking animals, and usually enchantments, often involving a far-fetched sequence of events. (Wiki)
folk⋅lore: the traditional beliefs, legends, customs, etc., of a people; lore of a people; The traditional beliefs, myths, tales, and practices of a people, transmitted orally. (Dictionary dot com)
my⋅thol⋅o⋅gy: a body of myths, as that of a particular people or that relating to a particular person; a set of stories, traditions, or beliefs associated with a particular group or the history of an event, arising naturally or deliberately fostered.
I'm choosing to do The Journey:
This is really as simple as the name implies. It means you are participating, but not committing yourself to any specific number of books. All reading is a journey, perhaps none more so than reading fantastical fiction. By signing up for The Journey you are agreeing to at least read one book within one of the four categories during March 21st to June 20th period. Just one book. If you choose to read more, fantastic!
My picks:
Eragon by Christopher Paolini
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
Labels: fantasy, reading challenge
Sunday, December 21, 2008

My Year of Reading Dangerously Challenge:
Your job: Read 12 books you deem "dangerous." between January 1st and December 31st 2009. They may be banned or challenged books, new-to-you genres, books that seem to inhabit a permanent space on your stacks, or authors you're afraid of. The possibilities are endless! If it's dangerous to you, it's challenge-worthy to us!
Here's my list of Dangerous reads and why:
1. Gone With the Wind: I've been wanting to re-read it, and its dangerously long and dramatic.
2. Tao Te Ching: This is a totally different read from what I would normally pick up.
3. Bridget Jones Diary: Another re-read, loved the film and want to re-visit the book.
4. Sense and Sensibility: I started this one a while ago, then never finished it. It's time to read it.
5. The Other Boleyn Girl : A Chunkster at over 600 pages, it's about time I read it.
6. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale: I bought this one because so many of my blog friends recommended it, then I just wound up adding it in my TBR mountain, shame on me.
7. Cold Mountain: Another film I love, went and bought the book, then just ignored it.
8. The Virgin's Lover : Every time I join a challenge I add this one in there, it's time to read it. I loved The Constant Princess.
9. Northanger Abbey: I'm a big Austen fan and have never read this one. It's been sitting on my shelf for some time now.
10. Just Ella : I've wanted to read this one for years. I just got it as a gift, and must make time to read it.
11. A Science Fiction book: I don't know which one yet, but I always neglect this genre: The War of the Worlds by HG Wells
12. A non-fiction book: Another genre I tend to neglect, but enjoy very much: In The Land of Invisible Women and The Obama Revolution
Labels: reading challenge
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Triple 8 Challenge
1. Challenge runs from January 1 through December 31, 2008.
2. Choose 8 categories of your own that you would like to read 8 books EACH in.
3. You will be allowed 8 overlaps, for a total of 56 unique book titles.
4. You may overlap these 56 titles with any other challenge.
5. You may change your list or your categories at any time.
my lists: Challenge Completed 12/11/08
Because I Love to Read:
1. The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory
2. A Jolly Good Fellow by Stephen V. Masse
3. The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston
4. Considering SomeplacElse by B. L. Lindstrom
5. Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase
6. First Daughter by Eric Van Lustbader
7. Operation Blue Light: My Secret Life among Psychic Spies by Philip Chabot
8. Soup in the City by Kelly Hollingsworth
Because I felt like staying up late reading:
1. Trust Me by Brenda Novak
2. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
3. Wife In the North by Judith O’Reilly
4. The Good Guy by Dean Koontz
5. Beneath A Marble Sky by John Shors
6. Romeo, Romeo by Robin Kaye
7. The Reluctant Widow by Georgette Heyer
8. The Exchange by Inga Ellzey
Horror/Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
1. Dracula by Bram Stoker
2. All The Pretty Girls by J.T. Ellison
3. The Colorado Kid by Stephen King
4. Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill
5. The Ruins by Scott Smith
6.
The Ghost of Blackwood Hall (Nancy Drew) by Carolyn Keene
7. 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
8. Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
Books that were made into movies:
1. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
2. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
3. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
4. The Shining by Stephen King
5. The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares
6. Persuasion by Jane Austen
7. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
8. Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Random Picks:
1. Like Lightning by Charlene Sands
2. The No Complaining Rule: Positive Ways to Deal with Negativity at Work
by Jon Gordon
3. Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife by Irene Spencer
4. Wicked Ties by Shayla Black
5. Chasing Windmills by Catherine Ryan Hyde
6. Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth by Xiaolu Guo
7. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
8. Matrimony by Joshua Henkin
More Romance
1. Scandalous Love by Brenda Joyce
2. Gone With the Witch by Annette Blair
3. Wicked Nights by Nina Bangs
4. Return of the Rogue by Donna Fletcher
5. Everlasting by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
6. Blue Dahlia by Nora Roberts
7. Entangled by Kathleen Dante
8. Enticed by Kathlee Dante
More Random Picks:
1. The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Clayton
2.A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
3. An Absolute Gentleman by R. M. Kinder
4. I Just Want My Kids to Be Happy! by Aaron Cooper & Eric Keitel
5. Perfect on Paper The (Mis)adventures of Waverly Bryson by Maria Murnane
6. Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
7. The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman
8. The Secret Scroll by Ronald Cutler
Fantasy/Sci Fi/Paranormal:
1. Immortal Warrior by Lisa Hendrix
2. Coraline by Neil Gaiman
3. Carpe Demon By Julie Kenner
4. Demons Are Forever : Confessions of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom by Julie Kenner
5. The Host by Stephenie Meyers
6. The Taking by Dean Koontz
7. Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland
8. The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter
Labels: reading challenge, triple eight
Friday, November 14, 2008
These are the NINE categories to celebrate 2009!
The Challenge starts 12/27/08 to 12/27/09
1. Long: You decide how long is long. If you normally read 250 pages, then 251 is LONG: Inkheart
2. Free: Stardust: gifted to me by Serena
3. Dusty
4. Used: A book that has been previously owned, that you paid for. The Lovely Bones
5. Letter: Find a Letter, Any Letter. Select any letter (from the alphabet) in your first name or blog name. Find the letter anywhere in the title of the book: N
The Virgin's Lover
6. Strange: Leave Your Comfort Zone.
Read something that you normally don’t pick up
Science Fiction
Fahrenheit 451
7. Distance:Read a book in which the author’s birthplace or setting is more than 1000 miles (1609.344 kilometers) from your present location:
Saudi Arabia: Distance is 10,548 kilometers or 6554 miles or 5695 nautical miles:
In The Land of Invisible Women
8. Alive or Not: ALIVE Or NOT!
Select an author that was nominated or won any literary prize. (Your book does NOT need to be the prize winner.)
But if you can’t find any prize nominated/winning, live authors in your collection, choose any dead author from your stacks. The dead author doesn’t have to have won anything.
The War of the Worlds by HG Wells: 21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946
9. Cover: Find the book with the prettiest or ugliest cover.
Let us know which you selected and whether the work lives up to the illustration or photograph.
Just Ella: Pretty Cover. Yes, the story does relate to the cover art.
check out the challenge blog for details
Labels: reading challenge
* set a goal for how many of your OWN books you’d like to read in 2009
* read from your own collection between January 1st and December 31st, 2009
I'm going to try and read as many of my books in my TBR mountain in 2009.
Here's the book list as I go along, linked to the reviews:
1. Inkheart
2. Cold Mountain
3. Gone With the Wind
4. Sense & Sensibility
5. Mansfield Park
6. Eragon
7. The Virgin's Lover
8. The Goose Girl
9. The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing
10. Just Ella
11. The Almost Moon
12. The Tales of Beedle the Bard
13. Beloved
Labels: reading challenge

The 2009 Support Your Local Library Challenge
You all know what a supporter of the library my family and I are. What better way to pay homage than by having a reading challenge in 2009? Since we are all different, there will be three sizes of challenges.
** The first is to read 12 books from your local library in 2009.
** The second is to read 25 books from your local library in 2009.
** The third is to read 50 books from your local library in 2009.
You decide which one of the three challenges is best for you.
I'm going for 12.
Here are the guidelines:
1) You can join anytime as long as you don’t start reading your books prior to 2009.
2) This challenge is for 2009 only. The last day to have all your books read is December 31, 2009.
3) You can join anytime between now and December 31, 2009.
1. Heartsick
2. Blackbird House
3. Fahrenheit 451
Labels: reading challenge
Sunday, September 21, 2008

I swore up & down I wasn't going to join any more reading challenges this year. But this one was too hard to resist, especially since it's so simple.
Fall Into Reading 2008
What: Fall Into Reading 2008 is a casual, low-pressure challenge that revolves around -- you guessed it -- reading. My goal is simply to provide you with motivation to read, and to provide an opportunity for all of us to set goals when it comes to our personal (or family) reading.
As a participant, all you'll have to do is make a list of books you want to read this fall and post that list on your blog. They can be books you intend to read on your own, books you want to read with your kids/family, Bible study books you're working through, or a combination of any of those things.
Bottom line of the challenge: We'll share our goals with each other, and then share our experience and results when the challenge is over.
When: I'm sure this will come as no surprise. Fall Into Reading 2008 will take place throughout the fall of 2008. Shocking. The official dates are September 22nd through December 20th.
1.
2.
3. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
4. The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory
5. Romeo, Romeo
Labels: fall into reading, reading challenge
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
There is just something about this time of year, when the ghosts of past Autumns and the Autumn to come chase away the dog days of summer, that entices one to read books that fit into the above categories.
It was a desire share the love of eerie, creepy, things-that-go-bump-in-the-night literature that brought me into the online reading challenge game for the first time back in September of 2006. My goals today, in this its third iteration, are no different than the inaugural R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge:
1. Have fun reading.
2. Share that fun with others.
And so, on to the particulars:
R.I.P. III runs from September 1st through October 31st, 2008. But I’m no stickler, start reading now if you feel so inclined.
I choose:

Peril the First:
Read Four books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories that you choose.
here are the subgenre's:
Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.
Last year I had fun with this challenge, that's when I read Anne Rice for the first time, and loved 'Interview With the Vampire' and 'The Vampire Lestat'. I've been waiting for R.I.P. to come around again :)
Here are my picks, I want to read at least 4: (Since I am on a book ban, self-imposed believe it or not...lol!3 of these books I already have in my TBR, the rest I will be borrowing from the library)
1.
2.
3. Something Wicked This Way Comes
by Ray Bradbury
4.
5. Odd Hours
by Dean Koontz
Labels: horror, r.i.p., reading challenge
Monday, August 25, 2008

c.j. over @ 'The Trillionth Page' was hosting Nancy Drew week.
Starting August 18th, will be Nancy Drew week here at The THRILLIONTH PAGE, full of mini-recaps and reader reviews of favorite Nancy Drew adventures, recollections from the books or series, opinions, and more!
I've been reading The Ghost of Blackwood Hall with my daughter. It's her first time reading Nancy Drew and she really enjoyed it. Read on for my review.
title: The Ghost of Blackwood Hallauthor: Carolyn Keene
pages: 178
genre: mystery
published: 1948
first line: "If I ever try to solve a mystery with a ghost in it, I'll use a smart cat to help me!"
rated: 4 out of 5




Widow Mrs. Putney, asks Nancy Drew for help finding her stolen jewelry. Nancy's friends Bess and George, wind up helping her and the search leads them to New Orleans. Mrs. Putney keeps telling Nancy that her late husbands ghost has been speaking to her, first telling her where to bury his jewels, then once the jewels are stolen and replaced with fake ones, his spirit tells her not to seach for them any longer. Nancy notices this odd behavior from Mrs. Putney, and doesn't believe in spirits herself, but choses to humor the widow until she can solve the case. The case leads her to a deserted old mansion called Blackwood Hall, that is haunted by a ghost playing a piano.
With some help from her friends George, Bess and Ned, Nancy solves the mystery and all ends well.
'Nancy's attractive face tightened as she realized that danger might be lurking in the forest. She was convinced that the theft of Mrs. Putney's buried treasure was no ordinary affair.'
I read this book a few chapters at a time to my daughter each night before bedtime. Being a 3rd grader, I hoped she was ready for a Nancy Drew mystery. And she was. She really enjoyed reading it and followed the storyline very well. Some of the writing is a bit outdated, so I had to stop and explain certain words or phrases to her, but all in all, she really liked the story.
Part of the fun about the Nancy Drew books are the creative covers. Here's a few I found. Click on each to read about the story.





About the author:
Nancy Drew is an amateur sleuth, the fictional heroine of a popular mystery series, primarily aimed at the children-young adult audience, and written under the collective pseudonym "Carolyn Keene". The series was created and outlined in detail in 1930 by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, with the first manuscripts written by Mildred A. Wirt Benson and edited by Stratemeyer's daughter Harriet Stratemeyer Adams. The Stratemeyer Syndicate had a strict non-disclosure contract; writers such as Mildred Benson produced books based upon outlines provided by the Syndicate. As a ghostwriter, Benson was the second most prolific writer (after Stratemeyer-Adams herself), producing twenty-three of the first thirty volumes.
quoted from wikipedia
visit http://www.nancydrewsleuth.com/ for more
Nancy Drew is a movie made in 2007 based on the mystery novels. We did watch the film and enjoyed it too. Nancy's character was just how you'd expect her to be and Ned is a cutie!
In the movie, Nancy is trying to give up sleuthing. She winds up moving to LA with her father, and going to a new school, where they do make fun of her and her 'old fashioned' style of dressing. Of course, there's a murder mystery involving a movie star and the home she and her father are staying in, that she just has to solve.
Nancy solves the mystery, with the help of her friends and some of her housekeeper's baked goodies. And her 'old fashioned' outfits even end up being featured in a fashion magazine. WTG Nancy :)
Labels: childrens, movies, mystery, nancy drew, reading challenge, reviews
Sunday, August 17, 2008

j.kaye came up with this great idea for a book challenge. It's kind of a challenge, but with a twist. Read on...
Guidelines for the 2008 Ban on Book Challenge:
1. No purchasing books for yourself until all the books listed are gone. No purchasing books for other people with the intention of reading them after they are finished. Library or other borrowed books can’t be listed.
2. Any books won in a raffle or given to me as a gift will be added to this list.
3. Books to be reviewed for promo companies, other blogs, authors, etc. do not count and are not added to this list.
4. Start anytime and list as many or as few books as needed. Once all books are checked off from the list, the ban is lifted and the spending can begin again.
5. The ending date for each person can vary to a few weeks or months as long as it doesn’t exceed December 31, 2008. This ban can be lifted earlier if all books listed have been read or donated.
6. If you don't have a blog and would like to still join, list your books in the comment section below.
Now, since I placed myself on a book ban a few months ago, promising not to buy any more books till there is snow on the ground, this is the perfect challenge for me. I won't buy any more books until the following are read: (this is my TBR mountain)
I'll be updating this list with links to my book reviews as I go along.
Wish me luck!
How nuts is it that I need to read 29 books before I can buy more?
1.The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston
2. The Preacher and the Presidents by Nancy Gibbs, Michael Duffy
3. Swine Not? by Jimmy Buffett, Helen Bransford
4. Miscarriage of Justice by “Kip” Gayden
5. Trespassers Will Be Baptized by Elizabeth Hancock
6. He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not by Trish Ryan
7. A Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand
8. Barefoot by Elin Hilderbrand
9. Made in the U.S.A. by Billie Letts
10. Off Season by Anne Siddons
11. A Rose by the Door by Deborah Bedford
12. Remember Me by Deborah Bedford
13. Child 44 by Tom Smith
14. Close by Martina Cole
15.Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase
16.Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
17.The Shining by Stephen King
18.The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares
19. Taken By Storm by Donna Fletcher
20. The Goose girl by Shannon Hale
21. Good Man Hunting by Lisa Landolt
22. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell
23. The Richest Season by Maryann McFadden
24. The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory
25. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
26. The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
27. Inside my Heart by Robin McGraw
28. The Raven by John Lawson
29. Rich Ember by John Lawson
Seeing them listed this way just made me panicky...lol!
However, the one book I will break my ban for is 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Harry Potter Series) by by J. K. Rowling'. It's a must have for me.
Labels: reading challenge
Wednesday, July 9, 2008

I found another challenge that sounds like fun.
New Classics Challenge
1) Copy the list (which I have pasted here, just in case that link ever disappears) and bold the titles that you have already read.
2) Choose at least 6 other books from the list , read and review them between 1 August 2008 and 31 January 2009.
2) Come back here and post links to your reviews.
3) In January 2009, cast your vote for which one of the 100 books on the list is your favorite (and write a post on why). The winning book will be sent to a lucky winner chosen by the scientific method favored here in the blogosphere, i.e. names in a hat. Other contests are very probable too, I have some ideas, but they need planning.
4) Have fun! :-)
Here's the list:
I bolded the ones I already read.
And the ones in italics are the ones I want to read for this challenge, a few of these are already on my TBR.
1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
4. The Liars' Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
17.
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (1990)
32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998)
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988)
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
47. World's Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000)
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1998)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)
98. The Predators' Ball, Connie Bruck (1988)
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)

Labels: new classics challenge, reading challenge
Sunday, July 6, 2008

I was over @ Stephanie's Blog and found her post about the
LOST Books Challenge. I'm a big fan of LOST. So of course, I have to join.
Here are the rules of the Challenge:
1) Check out this site, and this site and compile a list of 5 books and upwards that you want to read to complete this challenge. (If you know another book mentioned on the show or relating to the show, you can defend your choice in your post) Update: If you have not finished watching the show, please use this list, so as not to be spoiled!
2) Write a post on your blog announcing your intention to participate in the challenge, list the books you want to read, and invite your readers to do the same. Then come back here and add a direct link to your post to Mr. Linky. (not a general link to your url)
3) You are absolutely welcome to cross books from this challenge with books in other challenges.
4) You must complete the challenge by December 31st, 2008.
5) There will be prizes raffled for those who complete the challenge, I just haven't figured out what yet!
6) If you are not a blogger, you can email me your plan to participate and I'll make a post for you right here on my blog...see? I love you too!
here's my picks, I will read 5 of the following:
1. Through the Looking Glass
2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone <-re-reading
3. Alice in Wonderland
4. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
5. Lord of the Flies
6. A Tale of Two Cities
Labels: LOST, reading challenge
Thursday, June 5, 2008

100 + reading challenge
Yes, yes, another reading challenge?? what am I thinking? lol
I couldn't help myself. This challenge is being hosted by j.kaye ...who I totally blame for making my TBR pile get larger...*joking*...lol... j.kaye...but it's actually true...i've won a few very nice books over at her blog... :P
Like this one recently:
All The Pretty Girls
Thanks J.Kaye, and haven't stopped by her blog, you should visit, you won't be dissapointed.
More about this challenge:
Up for a serious challenge? Then come join us! Our goal is to read 100 or more books in one year.
So what I'm doing is just making a list as I go along, and so far, I've read 27 books this year. That is quite an accomplishment for me. Even if I don't get up to 100, I'll enjoy trying.
Books read and reviewed in 2008:
1. Pride & Prejudice
2. Persuasion
3. Angels and Demons
4. The Secret Sroll
5. Entangled
6. Enticed
7. The Wastelands and Other Writing
8. Return of the Rogue
9. Coraline
10. The Constant Princess
11. Practical Magic
12. The Ice Queen
13. Heart Shaped Box
14. The Colorado Kid
15. Duma Key
16. An Absolute Gentleman
17.
The Good Guy
18. Velocity
19. Carpe Demon
20.
Demons Are Forever
21. Eclipse
22. The Host
23. Blue Dahlia
24.
Key of Light
25. A Killer Stitch
26. Snowflower and the Secret Fan
27. Everlasting
28. The Wednesday Sisters
29. A New Earth
30. Beneath A Marble Sky
31. Gone With the Witch
32. All The Pretty Girls
33.Wicked Nights
34. The Taking
35. Perfect on Paper The (Mis)adventures of Waverly Bryson
36. Scandalous Love
37. Like Lightning
38. Love in the Time of Cholera
39.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
40. The No Complaining Rule: Positive Ways to Deal with Negativity at Work
41. Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife
42. Wicked Ties
43. Pay It Forward
44. Chasing Windmills
45.
Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth
46. Breaking Dawn
47. Matrimony
48.Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict
49. I Just Want My Kids to Be Happy!
50.
The Ghost of Blackwood Hall (Nancy Drew)
51. Considering SomeplacElse
52. Your Scandalous Ways
53. The Shining
54. First Daughter
55. Operation Blue Light: My Secret Life among Psychic Spies
56. Dracula
57. A Jolly Good Fellow
58. Soup in the City
59. Any Given Doomsday
60. The Monster of Florence
61. The Second Summer of the Sisterhood
62. The Darkest Night
63. 20th Century Ghosts
64. Immortal Warrior
65. Romeo, Romeo
66. Grit for the Oyster: 250 Pearls of Wisdom for Aspiring Writers
67. Trust Me
68. Wife In the North
69. The Reluctant Widow
70. The Exchange
71. The Ruins
72. An Unlikely Place for Love
Labels: reading challenge
Sunday, March 30, 2008
I found a couple new reading challenges and couldn't help myself, so I joined them. They sound like fun and I can't wait to get started.
There is only one rule:
1) You must commit to reading 6 historical novels over 6 months.
my picks:
After reading 'The Constant Princess', I'm hooked on Philippa Gregory...
Queen's Fool
by Philippa Gregory
Virgin's Lover
by Philippa Gregory
The Other Boleyn Girl
by Philippa Gregory
Atonement
by Ian McEwan
(of course I had to throw in a Jane Austen book here)
Persuasion by Jane Austen
The Viscount Who Loved Me
by Julia Quinn
...................
Quest the First
Read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time II criteria. They might all be fantasy, or folklore, or fairy tales, or mythology…or your five books might be a combination from the four genres.
my picks:
Enchantment
by Orson Scott Card
Coraline
by Neil Gaiman
Eragon
by Christopher Paolini
Ella Enchanted
by Gail Carson Levine
Princess Bride by William Goldman
...................
Labels: fairy tales, reading challenge, romance

