June Book Challenge 2011 - Page 3

[zebra15]

Oh my, I have not updated since mid May.  Things are current again and I STILL LOVE MY NOOK.  I just discovered 'free fridays' with them a few weeks ago.

January

1. Only Son - Kevin O'Brien

2. Planning To Live - Heather Wardell

3. The 7 Wonders That Will Change Your Life - Glenn Beck/ Keith Ablow

4. Life, Love and a Polar Bear Tatoo - Heather Wardell

5. Carved In Bone - Jefferson Bass

February

6. Thirteen Reasons Why- Jay Asher

7. The Abstinence Teacher- Tom Perrotta

8. One Fine Day Your're Gonna Die- Gail Bowen (90 pgs)

9. Term Limits - Vince Flynn

10. Scars - Cheryl Rainfield

March

11. After- Amy Efaw

12. Hold Still- Nina LaCour

13. Pretty Little Things-Jilliane Hoffman

14. Happen Every Day- Isabel Gilles

15. School Days- Robert B. Parker

April

16. I Am Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World - Eve Ensler

17. Plea of Insanity- Jilliane Hoffman

18. Unsweetined- Jodie Sweetin

19. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants- Ann Brashares

20. The Second Summer of the Sisterhood - Ann Brashares

May

21. Vicious- Kevin O'Brien

22. Listen- Rene Gutteridge

23. No Time Left- David Baldacci

24. Throwaway- Heather Huffman

25. Plan B- Joseph Finder

June

26. Saving Rachel- John Locke

27.Buried Secrets- Joseph Finder 

28.Vanished- Joseph Finder

29. The Abbey- Chris Culver

30.

[Igraine]

38)  Ghost Town at Sundown, MPO

39) Lions at Lunchtime, MPO

40) A State of Wonder Ann Patchett  “Expect miracles when you read Ann Patchett’s fiction.”—New York Times Book Review

Award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Ann Patchett returns with a provocative and assured novel of morality and miracles, science and sacrifice set in the Amazon rainforest. Infusing the narrative with the same ingenuity and emotional urgency that pervaded her acclaimed previous novels Bel Canto, Taft,Run, The Magician’s Assistant, and The Patron Saint of Liars, Patchett delivers an enthrallingly innovative tale of aspiration, exploration, and attachment in State of Wonder—a gripping adventure story and a profound look at the difficult choices we make in the name of discovery and love.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I love how Ann writes stories. Her characters are so full and interesting. I will certainly read more. 

[kangamitroo]

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

I loved this, and put it down twicenear the end just to make it last longer.  Set in 1899 Texas, 11yo Calpurnia spends time with her grandfather while exploring nature.  she reads Darwin, engages in scientific learning--and is angered by the idea that her mother expects to train her to be a wife, with all of the time-consuming housework that entails.

"It's funny that girls have to be pretty.  It's the boys that have to be pretty in Nature. Look at the cardinal.  Look at the peacock.  Why is it so different with us?"

"Because in Nature it is generally the female who chooses...."

[raksmama]

Eyes Like Leaves by Charles De Lint

  Reading this book has confirmed the fact for me that I just don’t like High Fantasy, even when it is from one of my favourite all time fantasy authors. Eyes like Leaves is one of De Lint’s earlier novels written in the 80s.  At the time he wrote it he had already written one High Fantasy novel and one contemporary one (what later would be referred to as urban fantasy). His publisher told him that if his next book was also High Fantasy, he would be forever categorised as a high fantasy writer, and so De Lint opted not to have Eyes like Leaves published, and published more Urban fantasy novels instead for which he became known for. Honestly, I am so happy he made this decision! Also, his writing has improved so much with then.

I would only recommend this book if you are either a big fan of Tolkien style high fantasy or a hard core De Lint fan who wants to read everything he has written. This novel is not his best.

Edited by raksmama - 7/2/11 at 2:41pm

[Bufomander]

82. Trapped by Michael Northrup
83. Perelandra by C. S. Lewis

[cathe]

Moon over Manifest by Claire Vanderpool

It's 1936 and Abilene is sent to the Kansas town of Manifest when her father feels like he can't care for her properly. Though she tries to find out what her father was like as a child, she ends up stumbling across letters and mementos that have to do with two other boys Jinx and Ned and gets caught up in their stories. 

 

I was absolutely caught up in this historical fiction story right from the first page. I just loved the characters and all the different mysteries--and the ending was so completely satisfying as well. A great, great read for fifth grade and up--as well as adults. I can see why this won the Newbery.

[cathe]

Anne Frank's Tales from the Secret Annex by Anne Frank

Short stories, essays and memories from another of Anne Frank's journals. An interesting fast read giving more insight into what Anne was like and what was important to her.

[Igraine]

41) These Things Hidden Heather Gudenkauf

"Allison Glenn tried to hide what happened that night...and failed. The consequence? Five years in prison. Now she's free. But secrets have a way of keeping you caged...When Allison is sent to prison for a heinous crime, she leaves behind her reputation as Linden Falls' golden girl forever. Her parents deny the existence of their once-perfect child. Her former friends exult in her downfall. Her sister, Brynn, faces the whispered rumours every day in the hallways of their small Iowa high school. It's Brynn - shy, quiet Brynn - who carries the burden of what really happened that night. All she wants is to forget Allison and the past that haunts her. But then Allison is released, and is more determined than ever to speak with her sister. Now their legacy of secrets is focused on one little boy. And if the truth is revealed, the consequences will be unimaginable for the adoptive mother who loves him, the girl who tried to protect him and the two sisters who hold the key to all that is hidden."

This book is not really the type of book that I normally read. A mystery and some family conflict. It was a total impulse choice at the library knowing I had a long weekend. I did not really enjoy the story. The writing was so so. I finished it though. 

[kofduke]

The Name of the Wind, Rothfuss

Kvothe ("pronounced nearly the same as 'Quothe' "), the hero and villain of a thousand tales who's presumed dead, lives as the simple proprietor of the Waystone Inn under an assumed name. Prompted by a biographer called Chronicler who realizes his true identity, Kvothe starts to tell his life story. From his upbringing as an actor in his family's traveling troupe of magicians, jugglers and jesters, the Edema Ruh, to feral child on the streets of the vast port city of Tarbean, then his education at "the University," Kvothe is driven by twin imperatives—his desire to learn the higher magic of naming and his need to discover as much as possible about the Chandrian, the demons of legend who murdered his family. As absorbing on a second reading as it is on the first, this is the type of assured, rich first novel most writers can only dream of producing. The fantasy world has a new star.

I simply couldn't stop reading this.  The book is the first part of a trilogy, and recounts the youth of Kvothe, destined to become one of the most powerful wizards of his time.  As can be expected, Kvothe is powerful and arrogant, yet driven both by a love of learning and a desire to discover more about the Chandrian, demons who murdered his parents, travelling minstrels, for singing the wrong songs.  The novel makes you think about how you portray and make yourself, and how you turn into what you pretend to be.  Fascinating.

Hoot, Hiassen

With a Florida setting and proenvironment, antidevelopment message, Hiaasen (Sick Puppy) returns to familiar turf for his first novel for young readers. Characteristically quirky characters and comic twists will surely gain the author new fans, though their attention may wander during his narrative's intermittently protracted focus on several adults, among them a policeman and the manager of a construction site for a new franchise of a pancake restaurant chain. Both men are on a quest to discover who is sabotaging the site at night, including such pranks as uprooting survey stakes, spray-painting the police cruiser's windows while the officer sleeps within and filling the portable potties with alligators. The story's most intriguing character is the boy behind the mischief, a runaway on a mission to protect the miniature owls that live in burrows underneath the site. Roy, who has recently moved to Florida from Montana, befriends the homeless boy (nicknamed Mullet Fingers) and takes up his cause, as does the runaway's stepsister. Though readers will have few doubts about the success of the kids' campaign, several suspenseful scenes build to the denouement involving the sitcom-like unraveling of a muckity-muck at the pancake house. These, along with dollops of humor, help make the novel quite a hoot indeed.

I enjoyed this, and I think the story would make a wonderful introduction to the conflict between development and environmental preservation for younger readers.

[raksmama]

Life by Keith Richards

A must read for all stones fans. I am not a huge stones fan. I have always liked their music but not to the point where I have read lots of books about them. Nevertheless I enjoyed this book. It is interesting reading about the different time periods.  Richards does assume you know certain rolling stones like about the death of Brian Jones, the infamous Almont concert, so the book is definitely not for everyone.

[Bufomander]

84. The Phone Book by Ammon Shea
85.The Clockwork Three by Matthew J. Kirby
86. A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch

[fremontmama]

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/1320293/july-2011-book-challenge

Oops!  Forgot to put the link to July's thread in June's thread!  Sorry!