July 2009 Book Challenge

[NewCrunchyDaddy]

Welcome to July's Challenge. Summer's in full swing, and if where you are is anywhere like where I am it's been too hot to do anything other than sit in a cool, dark room and read. Or is that just me?

Anyway...

Now, repeat after me...

So, just by way of clarification (for comers both new and old), new and improved guidelines for the Book Challenge Thread are as follows:

1) Post the books you read ... or not
2) Post a recommendation ... or not
3) Number your book ... or not
4) Make a goal ... or not
5) Have fun with books (This one, unfortunately, is MANDATORY)


So, with that, avante and a happy reading May to everyone!


2008's Threads can be found HERE
January's Thread can be found HERE
February's Thread can be found HERE
March's Thread can be found HERE
April's Thread can be found HERE
May's Thread can be found HERE
June's Thread can be found HERE

[PassionateWriter]

i could have sworn i had at least a few posts in the June thread, but i guess not.

I just finished Pride and Prejudice and Zombies...im a huge Jane Austin fan so i thought this was great....very funny. I worry about Zombie books b/c i dont like horror (says the one addicted to Vampires right now) but i did enjoy this one.

1. Club Dead, Charlaine Harris. #3 of the Southern Vampire Series.
2. Dead to the World #4 of the Southern Vampire Series.
3. Dead as a Doornail, book #5 of teh Southern Vampire Series.
4. Holidays on Ice, David Sedaris.
5. Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins.
6. Life as We Knew It
7. Definitely Dead #6 of the Southern Vampire Series.
8. A Thousand Splendid Sunsets
9. All Together Dead #7 of the Southern Vampire Series
10.Graceling
11. David Sedaris: Live at Carnegie Hall.
12. Star Beast, Robert Heinlein
13. Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
14. When You Are Engulfed In Flames, David Sedaris
15. From Dead to Worse, #8 Southern Vampire Series
16. Animal Vegetable Miracle
17. Pride and Prejudice, Austin
18. Harry Potter #2
19. The Big Over Easy, a Nursery Crime, Jasper Fforde
20. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
21. The Undomesticated Goddess, Sophie Kinsella
22. Dead and Gone, #9 Southern Vampire Series
23. Raising Your Spirited Child
24. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

[PassionateWriter]

and Bryan, i have to thank you....i didnt think i could read a lot f books this year bc the kids are always underfoot. my goal was 24.....and i have already hit it....thanks for the push!

[fremontmama]

Originally Posted by cathe

Mine are stacked on the coffee table -- my hard part is finding a place to move them to whenever we have company.

I have that problem too Most of those are big pretty coffee table books from the library. And I should say, I still have a HUGE stack next to the bed and on the dresser, but a short stack of ones that are due back to the library, so I'm trying to finish those quickly. Total to be read will probably never be a short stack.

Started You Can't Say You Can't Play. It's really good. I kinda wanna read the rest of her books.

Originally Posted by NewCrunchyDaddy

July's thread is up and running HERE (is it JULY already?! WTH happened?!)

No kidding! I can't believe it's July either. Our neighborhood wading pool opens up today. :

[kangamitroo]

about to move my bedside pillar of books so i can vacuum...

today i should finish The Life of Pi, and bedtime can't get here quickly enough!

[kaliki_kila]

Originally Posted by NewCrunchyDaddy

and if where you are is anywhere like where I am it's been too hot to do anything other than sit in a cool, dark room and read.

That's me!

[Fiestabeth]

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Really fun book! I did feel at points that it was a little longer than it needed to be, but overall I really enjoyed it. Very imaginative and inventive.

[Daffodil]

#10 - The English Major by Jim Harrison

Cliff is a former English major who taught for a while, then became a farmer. But after 38 years of marriage, his wife divorced him for another man, and now the farm has been sold and he's at loose ends. He goes on a road trip during which he takes pictures of cows, has an affair with a former student, does some fishing and a lot of eating, reminisces about the past, visits his son, talks to his ex-wife on the phone, and decides to rename all the U.S. states and North American birds.

[Jenifer76]

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

The latest book from the author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, this is the story of two modern girls in 1930s Shanghai. (to be continued ... have to go)

[mammastar2]

#33 - White Teeth by Zadie Smith

This was a good read, very funny. It focuses on the interrelationships between 2 families of North Londoners, that of Archie Bowden and Samad Iqbal, who served together in the second world war and, in the 1970s, both married much younger women. Smith's dialogue and the scenes she paints are sharp-witted and entertaining, and some of her observations are spot-on. She wrote it when she was in her early 20s, and it's definitely written by a young person, in that while she is very good about being funny and rather tart about the characters, I'm not sure in the end how insightful she really is about how people function. I read her third book first, On Beauty, and in it she seemed more generously inclined towards people. Nonetheless, I enjoyed White Teeth.

[cathe]

The Rapture by Liz Jensen

I got an advance copy of this to review so not sure if it's out yet. It started off a tad slow but by the end I could not put it down. I recommend this.

The premise of the book is a tad complicated so bear with me: A therapist who has been in a car accident where her lover died is now paralyzed from the waist down. She gets a job in a British psychiatric hospital for dangerous adolescents. One of her patients is a 16-year-old girl who brutally murdered her mother. The girl, however, seems to be able to predict meteorological incidents -- not to mention read minds. The therapist begins to wonder if these powers are in the girl's mind or actually real . . . and if they're real, is the apocalypse the girl is predicting really going to come to pass -- and should she do something about it.

[kaliki_kila]

56. Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley

Everyone knows Belle is the best Disney princess (because she likes to read) and so I was excited when I came across this retelling of the story. If you like fairytales/fantasy, then you'll like this - Peter S. Beagle even gave it a great review. There were some annoying "ums" and "ers" that only belong in chick lit, but otherwise I really liked this and I bet there's more good stuff out there by this author.

[cathe]

My dd's and I just read/listened to The Dead Composer by Lemon Snickett (requested it after reading NCD's review). I was surprised to find it was a picture book--though a very long one. We enjoyed listening to it. The music really added a lot. It's cool how much you can learn about musical instruments and music from this story -- but I wonder if a lot of the humor goes over kids' heads. Maybe that's what makes it so good -- something for both kids and adults.

[NewCrunchyDaddy]

Originally Posted by cathe

I was surprised to find it was a picture book--though a very long one.

Guess I forgot to mention that.

Originally Posted by cathe

but I wonder if a lot of the humor goes over kids' heads. Maybe that's what makes it so good -- something for both kids and adults.

That's the joy of a Lemony Snicket book, though. The A Series of Unfortunate Events books were like that too.

[cathe]

True -- my favorite were the poor violas . . . who sometimes have to stay after to stack chairs!

[kaliki_kila]

57. Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner

I had a sister once. She was a beautiful baby, eyes silver as moonlight off the river at night. From the hour of her birth she was long-limbed and graceful, faerie-pale hair clear as glass from Before, so pale you could almost see through to the soft skin beneath.

My father was a sensible man. He set her out on the hillside that very night, though my mother wept and even old Jayce argued against it. "If the faerie folk want her, let them take her," Father said. "If not, the fault's theirs for not claiming one of their own." He left my sister, and he never looked back...

[caiesmommy]

Can I join? I'm unsure what I'm going to read this month so I'll come back as I read or I'll make a list soon

Originally Posted by kangamitroo

today i should finish The Life of Pi, and bedtime can't get here quickly enough!

The Life Of Pi is one of my fave books! A friend suggested it to me and I read it in a day...back when I wasn't chasing a toddler with a 6 month old

[cathe]

Originally Posted by caiesmommy

Can I join? I'm unsure what I'm going to read this month so I'll come back as I read or I'll make a list soon

Welcome! And you don't need to make a list unless you want to . . . you can just start from here on in.

[principii]

Joining too, please?

I just finished my first (and probably only) Jude Devereaux book, The Summerhouse. It was the fluffy reading I was looking for.

Right now I'm reading The Scarecrow by Michael Connolly.

Thinking about reading Terry Brooks' Magic Kingdom For Sale: Sold! books, so I can read his new one coming out later this summer - The Princess of Landover. (I am a HUGE fan of all of his Shannara books, minus the prequels, I just like the imaginary land of Shannara).

I also just got Water for Elephants from the library and can't WAIT to get my hands on The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton (anybody read it? Comments?)

[friendtoall]

Fresh from the farmers' market : year-round recipes for the pick of the crop and Local flavors : cooking and eating from America's farmers' markets

Good recipes, neither organized in a way that works for me, but helped me find ways to use some veggies from the CSA.

Complete book of home preserving : 400 delicious and creative recipes for today

No low sugar or sugar free jam recipes, but some very interesting ideas for other preserves and conserves.

Hands-on holidays : charitable trips, rewarding adventures, volunteer breaks

A wide range of options for combining travel and volunteerism, including some family friendly options.

Papier-mâché treasures with Teena Flanner

I was looking for a guide to free form papier mache creating, but all the projects in this book required forms, so it wasn't very useful to me.

The Rowan by Anne McCaffrey

Fun sci-fi with strong female lead.