ŷ������

20.5 They Read

The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard
+20 Task

The Manhattan Hunt Club by John Saul
+20 Task

Soulless by Gail Carriger

+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.2-Rebekah)

Simple Genius by David Baldacci

+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.2-Whitney)

State of Fear by Michael Crichton

+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.2-Caroline)

Violets Are Blue (Alex Cross, #7) by James Patterson

+20 Task

20.7 The War to End All Wars

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.2-Bobbie; 10.8)
+10 LiT (German-English)
+10 Oldies (1929)

Post Total: 185
RwS Finish: 100
Mega Finish: 200
Season Total: 2045?

10.1 List Lovers (from 1001 books to read)
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

The first roll on the random generator brought up Pride and Prejudice, which I've already read a few times. I was hoping to pick a book I already owned, so when it landed on MD, I was just thankful it wasn't War and Peace.

Now that I've dragged myself through MD, I wish I had randomly landed on W&P :) this wasn't what I expected at all. I was expecting high seas, big adventure, ginormous creatures. Instead, I got an encyclopedia of all things whaling. Taking each short chapter by itself, and reading a little bit by bit was actually enjoyable. This was my Saturday morning book, that I would read sitting in my big comfy chair with a cup of hot coffee. However, to finish for this challenge, I suddenly found myself with 120 pages left. Trying to get through these quickly was about as easy as Captain Ahab making friends with his crewmen. Daunting.

I did enjoy the "hidden" humor, though, or perhaps that wasn't intentional by Melville and was instead the workings of my bored brain. I'm pretty sure I caught a fart joke early on, and you could write a thesis about the sexual references throughout the book.

All in all, I would recommend this as a leisurely read. If you have a deadline by which to finish and can choose another book, I'd consider the other book. I'm glad the challenge encouraged me to read it, and that I had the extra motivation of needing to finish this to be a mega!

+10 task
+5 jumbo (my version has 540 pages)
+10 review
+15 oldies (published 1851)
+5 combo (10.2)

Grand total = 1040 + 45 = 1085

20.1 Stream of consciousness/I read
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

Dear Mr. Joyce,
I read your book for a group challenge, and because I wanted a taste of your writing style before I someday tackle Ulysses. As a fellow Irish-person (though my family is several generations removed from the homeland) I had high hopes. I understand this book is highly autobiographical for you, too, so thanks for being so willing to bare your soul like that.

All that being said, I feel a strong urge to give you a hug and tell you everything will be ok. I know you've been through some tough times, but I think you were not the only 16-yr old who has "sinned," not the only one who has harbored negative thoughts about your parents, and not the only one who has laid awake at night pondering your life's calling. That all-consuming guilt you felt the whole way is easily explained, you are Irish and catholic, and are surrounded by people who offer their advise.

If I may be so bold, let me offer you an alternative. Instead of all those negative, I'm growing up and doing it wrong feelings, grab a glass, pour some Irish whiskey into it, be happy you have all those people in your life, then tell a few of them to bugger off :) There are too many other good things about being Irish to focus on the negative. And dude, loosen up. It's not that bad.

Sincerely,
Paula

+20 task
+10 review
+10 oldies (1916)

Grand total = 1085 + 40 = 1125

10.5 Bedtime Stories (Laurie R. King)
A River in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters

Dear Ms. Peters,
Thank you. Your timing is impeccable. I had recently finished the most current book in your Amelia Peabody series, and was thinking nostalgically back to some of the earlier books; back to the days before the kids were married, back to the days before Emerson started showing signs of age, back to when Amelia didn't spend pages upon pages hinting at what she had to do to cover up the grey hair.

Reading this book took me back to those "younger" days, but in a comfortable way. At first I had my doubts, you were taking us to Jerusalem but I love Egypt, I thought it wouldn't be suspenseful because I know which characters are in the "later" books and therefore couldn't be killed off. Despite all that, this was fun. It was a little disjointed in places, and I sometimes felt like I must have missed a page, but it was fun.

The ending was only slightly predictable, but that predictability fed into the comfort of it. So thanks. Thanks for knowing your readers wanted a return to "the good ol' days."

Sincerely,
Paula

Ps - don't let the 3-star rating disappoint you; I prefer Egypt with this series, the plot was a bit confusing, and you've set the bar quite high with the other books.

+10 task
+10 review
+5 combo (20.4 and 20.5 Written in the form of journal entries by a mother and her son)

Grand total = 1125 + 25 + 100 RwS finish + 200 Mega-finish = 1450

Now I will go savor the feeling of being a mega as I'm not sure that will happen again! :D

Thanks for such a fun challenge!

Paula wrote: "10.5 Bedtime Stories (Laurie R. King)
A River in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters

Dear Ms. Peters,
Thank you. Your timing is impeccable. I had recently finished the most current book in ..."

If it takes place in Jerusalem, then it counts for a combo with 10.7 Muslim Mindset.

Thanks, Rebekah!

Edit to message 606: +5 combo, 10.7

New grand total = 1455

Congratulations, Kate and Paula and anyone else I missed along the way! I'm looking forward to the winter challenge reading again with everyone.

Paula wrote: "Now I will go savor the feeling of being a mega as I'm not sure that will happen again! :D"

As well you should savor this! Good job!

Kate S wrote: "RwS Finish: 100
Mega Finish: 200"

Excellent! Proud to be seen on the same Readerboard with you!

nsfancy wrote: "+100 RwS finish
+200 Mega finish..."

A belated WOOOOOHOOOO! Congratulations!

Kate S wrote: "RwS Finish: 100
Mega Finish: 200
Season Total: 2045? ..."

Yaaaaaaay!!!!!! I was wondering when you were going to get around to that last task ;)

And, yes, 2045 is what I have as your score.

Paula wrote: "+5 combo (20.4 and 20.5 Written in the form of journal entries by a mother and her son)..."

Pssst, that would be +10 combo points and a grand total of 1455 +5 for 10.7 would be 1460.

Paula wrote: "Now I will go savor the feeling of being a mega ..."

Wowza!!! I am not sure which is more worthy of a congratulations, that you have a mega finish or that you read Moby Dick. Congrats!

10.3 - Meta fiction
Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes

+10 task
+5 combo (20.1)
+5 oldies (pub 1984)

Task total: 20

10.6 - Freebies
The Tin Drum by Günter Grass

+10 task
+5 combo (20.5)
+10 translation
+5 oldies (pub 1959)
+5 jumbo (582 pgs)

Task total: 35

Grand Total: 660 points

One book to go!

Liz M wrote: "One book to go! "

You can do it!

10.2 Highly Rated - One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

This series has been on my radar for quite some time and after GWTW, I needed a quick fun read, which is what I’m told the Plum series is all about. I wasn’t disappointed in that regard. What I liked best about this introduction novel is that Stephanie says things that I would say and I just loved that �� hey, I’ve said that!! I was highly entertained and it was exactly what I was looking for out of a book at this point in time, so much so that I picked up the next book in the series immediately to carry on with the Plum world!

+10 Task (Rated 5 by a few members)
+10 Review

Task Total=20
Grand Total=395

Liz M wrote: "Paula wrote: "Now I will go savor the feeling of being a mega ..."

Wowza!!! I am not sure which is more worthy of a congratulations, that you have a mega finish or that you read Moby Dick. Congr..."

Hahaha - I think that I made it through MD : )

But I also read a lot of great books for the challenge that I wouldn't have gotten to otherwise, so it all balances out!

15.4 World Literature

Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Winner of the Booker Prize in 1989.

+15 Task

Grand total: 675

I'm still hoping to finish the last books that I'm reading. We'll see how this week goes.

One & a half books to go for me & I'll hit mega.

Here goes my last post...

15.5 �� Religion

I read The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker

I learned a lot about Mormonism from this book. It has definitely made me more curious and I will be looking for other books to read to learn more.

I know I won't get points for the review but here it is anyways:

The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker was surprisingly quite good and a mouth full to say when telling people what I had been reading. I had no idea what to expect. I picked up the memoir at a publishers book sale for $2. Honestly, it was the title of the book that made me pick it up in the first place and I am really glad I did.

Elna introduces as to her life as a Mormon in New York City, at surprise surprise the annual Halloween Dance that her church puts on every year. From there Elna takes us through the next six years of her life in New York. Each chapter is another short story of her life. She is very corky, funny and honest which is everything I look for in a memoir.

Elna gives the reader a lot of information on Mormonism and you really start to feel for her and the issues that she is having trying to be a good Mormon while looking for love in the big city. Now, as with all first novels there are some inconsistencies in the storytelling and she loses her way a couple of times but she brings it back in the end.

I wanted to give the novel 5 stars for the humour, honesty and the way she made me think about my own religious (non) beliefs. Then the overall writing and flow of the story made me want to give it 3 stars which is why in the end, I gave it 4 stars. I have told all my friends about the story and the book will be passed around the group. I am really looking forward to hearing whatever one else thought of it.

+15 Task

Grand Total: 260

Now on to the Winter Challenge! Thanks for everyone for keeping score and helping out :-)

20.7 To End All Wars
The War Poems of Wilfred Owen
Review
Wilfred Owen is considered “One of the Lost Poets of the Great War��. Reading his poetry one immediately gets a sense of an unfinished life as many of the poems are in fragments or left with blanks in them. Owen was killed on the battlefield in France, November 4, 1918 at the age of 25. As I listened to the poems and a little of his history, I was struck by the similarities between him and the primary character of William Prior in The Ghost Road, part of Pat Barker’s regeneration trilogy of WWI. Both were bi-sexual, although on Owen’s part it is speculation only, both were under psychiatric care at Craiglockhart, a military mental hospital, both returned to the front after having been granted medical leave and lived shortly as a civilian before returning, both died leading men across the Sambre-Olse Canal in France on that fatal day and both were awarded a military cross posthumously. In fact Barker did use the poet as the model and Owen’s sentiments expressed in his poems guided the diary entries of the fictional Prior. Reading these two together gives more insight to the wasteful war and to the soul of the poet, Wilfred Owen.

+20 - Task
+10 - Review
+10 - Oldies (this was difficult to find. Many of his poems were published in periodicals prior to his death in 1918, but for full collections, I found dates all over the place, the latest being in the 1970's. However in WikiPedia an article siad his sister-il-law turned over all his poems to be put into an anthology in 1935, so I went with that)

30 pts - Task total
1660 - Grand Total

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Liz M wrote: "One book to go! "

You can do it!"

C'Mon, Liz!

Congratulations ot all the the Megas! We had a bumper crop this season! (smile)

10.10 group reads
Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburō Ōe
+10 pts - Task
+10 pts - LiT (Japanese)
+ 5 pts - Oldies (1958)

25 pts - Task Total
1685 pts - Grand total
1695 pts - Grand Total

20.10 Monsterfest
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

+20 pts - Task
+15 pts - Combo(10.2 highly rated by Jayme, Meg & Ravyn,20.3, 20.5 They read uses the voice of a third person narrator and a report written by "the Persian")
+10 - LiT (french)
+10 - Oldies (1911)

55 pts - Task Total
1740 pts - Grand Total
1750 pts - Grand Total

I'll probably go down to the wire. I'm still working on a couple of books!

Rebekah wrote: "Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Liz M wrote: "One book to go! "

You can do it!"

C'Mon, Liz!"


:( Probably won't happen. My book for 20.2, that I took from the wiki page listing works written in second person, isn't actually written in second person. The narrator frequently addresses "you", but in the same paragraph it uses "we" & "I". I'm not sure I can find another book & read it by Weds.

20.6 They Say
Changeless by Gail Carriger
****

While not quite as good as Soulless, Changeless was a delightful read and exactly what I needed to cleanse my brain after reading American Psycho. Gail Carriger writes good, funny yarns. There is a definite amount of repetition, but it can be forgiven. I can't bring myself to say that her stories and characters are original, but there is a certain freshness to her stories. Perhaps it is the way her points of view are written or the very, very mild inclusion of a few steampunk elements. Regardless, I look forward to continuing the series. I mean, how often are Victorian romances & fantasy mixed without being tedious? Not often enough, I say.

+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.2 Highly-rated)
+10 Review

Task Total: 35

Grand Total: 1615

Denae wrote: "20.6 They Say
Changeless by Gail Carriger ..."

Did you mean 20.5 They Say

or

20.6 Unreliable Narration

???

10.6 Fall Freebies (3rd use)

Magic on the Line by Devon Monk

I love this series, but I can't explain why. I start read and just kind of fall in. I like the characters and probably have a crush on Shamus. The plot is twisty enough that I can't predict what will happen next. This one was particularly fun because I won a copy of the book off the authors blog which just made the experience feel special. And gah... the cliffhangers kill me. Devon Monk has said that this will be a series of 9 books that are pretty much set of three ( a trilogy of trilogies). This is number 7, so there was much tangling and dangling of threads.

+10 task
+10 review

10.7 Muslim Mindset

Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of Adventure by Michael Chabon

I wanted to like this. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is one of my favorite books. I’ve also read a lot about the silk road and when Hubby recommended this he gave me the impression this was the setting. It is set in the general location of its end (the Caucasus region), but I think “the road�� of the title is really meant in a general sense not the silk road specifically. I found the writing tedious as well. It is set in A.D. 950 and Chabon wrote it in a historical style that just didn’t work for me. I would be reading along and suddenly realize that I had no idea what was happening and have to go back.

+10 task
+10 review

post total=40
grand total=575

I’m hoping to finish one more for this challenge--I’m more than halfway through and hoping to make it. :)

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Denae wrote: "20.6 They Say
Changeless by Gail Carriger ..."

Did you mean 20.5 They Say

or

20.6 Unreliable Narration

???"

They Say

Rebekah wrote: "20.7 To End All Wars
The War Poems of Wilfred Owen

+20 - Task
+10 - Review
+10 - Oldies

30 pts - Task total
1660 - Grand Total ..."

40 points task total & a Grand Total of 1670 as of post 622 :-D

Liz M wrote: "itpdx wrote: "20.6 - Unreliable Narration
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Previous Total: 305
New Total: 345..."

In post 559, your total was 345. So with post 598, I ..."

Thank you. Thought I had a shot at 400! Back to reading!

20.10 - Sam’s Task - Monsterfest III
Ghostwritten by David Mitchell
(I read a french edition, where the title is "Ecrits fantômes" - "Ghosts writings")

+ 20 Task
+ 15 Combo (10.3 �� Meta-reading, 10.2 �� Highly-rated, 20.5 - They read)
+ 5 Jumbo (my edition was 513 pages)
Task Total = 30

15.7 �� Foreign Languages
One Day by David Nicholls
It is of a foreign language to me (I'm french), and I read it in english

+ 15 Task
Task Total = 30

10.6 �� Fall Freebies
My Life in France by Julia Child
Added on Oct 30, 2009

+ 10 Task
+ 15 Combo (20.1 - I read, 10.3 �� Meta-reading, 10.2 �� Highly-rated)
Task Total = 25

Grand Total = 300

20.6 Unreliable Narration
The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford 4 stars

This is on the 1001 Books list and fulfilled a task in my challenge group for unreliable narration. The form of the narration itself was interesting in that it seemed as if it was a transcription of an oral recording. Of course that couldn't be - recordings weren't yet possible when this book was first published in 1914.

At first, the narrator didn't seem so unreliable. The story moved along, and, although some of the circumstances and characters seemed a bit odd, there was nothing to make me presume the events didn't happen just as told. And then there was a paragraph or page that felt very suspicious. This was followed by a long stretch when everything seem quite plausible, only to again feel things were unlikely to have been as presented.

I'm waffling between this being 3 stars and 4 stars. Parts of it didn't hold my attention as well as I'd like, parts of it were so curious that reading the words and turning the pages couldn't happen quickly enough. I'm not certain I'll read more of this author, but then again I might find myself wanting something else. (How's that for being unreliable and indecisive?)

+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Oldie (pub 1914)

Task Total = 40

Grand Total = 495

Last post of the challenge, couldn't quite make 500 this time! Enjoyed my reads this time, and reading about yours!

Here are my last two books for this challenge...

BtS Task 15.7 - Foreign Language: Harbor by John Ajvide Lindqvist Translated from Swedish

Quick Review - (Yes, I know that there aren't any Revuew points for this sub-challenge.) :-) Just wanted to warn you that I though this book was a snoozefest. Not at all as interesting or compelling as Handling the Undead.
+15 Task
+ 5 Jumbo (512 meandering pages)
Task Total = 20

Task 20.3 She/He Reads:
A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie (Publ 1953)
+20 Task
+ 5 Combo (10.2 5 stars from Bridgette)
+ 5 Oldies
Task Total = 30

Final Grand Total = 530

And another great challenge comes to an end. Now it's on to trying to figure out my CiV books. Thanks for all the great reviews everyone. I've sure enjoyed reading all your opinions!

Is there any way I can fit in "The Sleeping Beauty" by Mercedes Lackey? I couldn't find anywhere to put it. I really like to include it.

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "Is there any way I can fit in "The Sleeping Beauty" by Mercedes Lackey? I couldn't find anywhere to put it. I really like to include it."

Is it told from the viewpoint of more than one character? I looked briefly online and it looks like it might qualify for 20.5 They Read Multiple Narratives, but I'm not sure.

I can try it. Thanks.

20.5 They Read
"The Sleeping Beauty" by Mercedes Lackey


Review
At first, this book was just okay. It combines the Snow White and Sleeping Beauty fairy tales. Everyone's fate is controlled by the Tradition. Rosamund, our heroine doesn't want her life controlled. So when her father dies, she and her fairy godmother come up with a plan to call all the princes of the kingdom to bid for their hands in marriage. Oh, by the way, the fairy godmother is also Queen regent. The story picks up a little and the princess gets kidnapped and their are two princes who want their happily ever after who will fight dragons to win her love.
Review +10
Task +20
Grand Total: 430

Finished my last one for this challenge!


10.8 Karen’s Task: Season Change

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

#43 on Best Bildungsroman list, #65 on Literature of Social Change

I’m trying to figure out how to write a review of this without too many spoilers. This book has been on my “to read�� list for a long time because of all the great reviews and awards, but I kept putting it off. Middlesex is told by Cal, a hermaphrodite with XY chromosomes, who is raised as a girl, but grows up to live as a man. Cal is telling his story from the perspective of his forty year old self and leaps back beginning tale with his grandparents in Turkey during the 1920’s. I enjoyed the stories of Cal’s grandparents and parents. It was a great story of immigrants coming to the U.S. Much of it takes place in Detroit, near where much of my family is from, but where I have never lived myself. I thought the narrative style used here was really interesting--a combination of first person and 3rd person omniscient. It was humorous and poetic at the same time.

I’ve seen this described as being about gender identity. Certainly, it is an important part of the book, but the story told by Cal (age 42) ends just as Callie has become Cal around age 15. There is a lot that surely happened to Cal in his late teens, 20’s and 30‘s that forged his adult identity, but is only vaguely referenced by Cal-the-narrator. Really, the main story seems as much focused on Cal’s parents and grandparents as Calliope/Cal.

+10 task
+10 review
+10 combo (10.2 Highly-rated, 10.3 Meta-reading)
+5 jumbo (529 pages)
task total=35
grand total=610

I did much better than I thought would be possible for me, read a pretty wide selection of books, and added a ton of new books to my "to-read" list. Thanks for the great challenge!

20.9 Reading with IMPAC
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
Review: Wow! Love and a curse and the most unlikeliest warrior of all. Diaz writes on so many levels that it is difficult to know where to begin. This is the story of a Dominican immigrant family living in two (?) worlds. The story of the Dominican Republic is woven into the threads of the book--from Columbus's arrival through democracy (?). Diaz brings out the fear and horror of living in a controlling dictatorship clearly. The narration starts with Oscar and his sister, Lola, and moves back through their mother and grandfather.

For those of us who don't know Spanish, I recommend keeping a Spanish/English dictionary handy. Although I could get the idea of what was being said, the actual translation of some of the words added depth. I am pretty well read in Sci Fi and Fantasy but am lame when it comes to comics and games. I think that those who have a better knowledge will get even more from the book.

The book that I read just before this was Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness which ends with "the horror, the horror". This ends with "the beauty, the beauty".

+20 Task
+10 Review
+20 combo (10.2 highly rated Joanna and others, 10.3 Meta-reading, 10.8 Seasons Change #45 on on the buildungsroman list, 20.5 They Read)
Task total: 50
Previous total: 390
Grand total: 440
Se acabo, as Oscar's family said.
Thanks for the fun challenge.

Congratulations on a great challenge everyone! This is it for me, unless I get ambitious and have time to read one more short book this evening:

BtS Round 2:

15.10 �� Study Hall (nonfiction)

This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson

Task Total: 15

RwS Tasks

20.5 �� They read

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
830 Lexile
Two characters, 50 years apart

I was lucky enough to be at the National American Library Association Conference and attend the awards banquet where Brian Selznick got his Caldecott Award for The Invention of Hugo Cabret, the book behind the new film, Hugo. I loved the concept: both the prose and the drawings made the story come to life. The same is true of Selznick’s new book Wonderstruck. Not only does it tell two stories that happen 50 years apart in different places, but it informs the reader about hearing impairment and museum curators including “Cabinets of Wonder��, an early display concept in museum creation. The pages fly by as one story is told in prose and the other in pictures and the secrets of the two lives are revealed. Highly recommended!

+20 Task
+10 Review
+ 5 Combo: 10.2 Highly Rated

Task Total: 35
(No Jumbo claimed because of the number of pages of pictures only.)

20.5 �� They read

Habibi by Craig Thompson
Told from the points of view of both Dodola and Zam.

I was fascinated by the art in this great comic. The comparisons between the Christian and Muslim religion were powerful. I gained so much insight into the beliefs and how powerful the concept of storytelling is in any culture. I have seen some reviews that wondered at the ability of a white male cartoonist to depict the plight of a young middle eastern female and yet I was entranced and moved by the story. This is not a work that I can put in my high school library collection because of very mature material, but the graphic representations of the difficulties of poverty and abandonment were necessary to tell this moving story. I really appreciated this task and the way it encouraged me to broaden my horizons.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo: 10.8 Seasons Change, (Change & Challenge)/10.7 Muslim Mindset
+ 5 Jumbo: 672 pages

Task Total: 45

Points this Post: 95
Grand total: 2015

10.7 - Rebekah’s Task �� Muslim Mind Set
Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie
Set in Palestine and Jordania

+10 Task
+5 Combo (20.3 - S/he reads)
+5 Oldies (1938)

Task total = 20

Grand Total = 320

And that is my last post for this challenge. Thanks!

20.1 I Read
The Horla and Other Stories by Guy de Maupassant
Review
Guy de Maupassant wrote late 1800’s many stories in the Gothic Horror style made popular in the USA by Edgar Allen Poe. The title novella of this collection of stories, The Horla was a precursor to Stoker’s Dracula. His type of vampire is different though. It originates in South America, is invisible and while sucking out the life of its host, doesn’t do it by drinking blood but sucking the soul from his lips. The Horla lives with its victim and controls his movements so that he cannot leave the house. The author wrote this piece shortly before being institutionalized in an insane asylum and it is often thought that his story was more about the horror of his mental illness, than as a monster of pure imagination. It is interesting the differences in light of later vampire tales. Along with his other short stories of the macabre, a perfect book to curl up with on a windy, rainy November night.

+20 pts - Task
+ 5 pts - Combo (20.10 Monsterfest)
+10 pts - LiT (French)
+10 pts - Oldies (1887)
+10 pts - Review

55 pts - Task Total
1805 pts - Grand Total

20.10 monsterfest
Wicked Witch Murder by Leslie Meier
Review
I was attracted to this book by the cover and with the word “Witch in the title to fulfill this task. I figured it for a bit of fluff as a “cozy�� mystery but I must say I was totally taken unawares at the end as whodunit was revealed. The protagonist, Lucy Stone is a reporter for a small town’s weekly paper. A Wiccan coven is discovered although the head priestess opens a crystal and herb shop in town, making it no secret. Next to the town is a fundamentalist Christian sort who stirs up public opinion against witchcraft and the mix is set up. Add Lucy Stone, her two teen-aged daughters curious about the Craft The fundamentalist’s daughter who also wants to practice the craft to rid her chin of acne, the usual small town hijinks and a found body that was burned at the stake and you have a devil of a mystery! In addition you get recipes for Halloween party refreshments

+20 pts - Task
+ 5 pts - Combo (20.3 S/He Reads)
+10 pts - Review

35 pts - Task Total
1840 pts - Grand Total

That's it for this challenge. There's no way I'm going to finish my audio book. I thought I had until I got to the end and realized it was only Part I and I still had a Part II, that I hadn't even downloaded yet! Maybe i can fit it into this new challenge.

It's been fun and thanks again, Liz for saving me all those points! if we had relied on my math, I probably wouldn't have even gotten to 1000 pts!

15.8 Dance

Mercy by Annabel Joseph

Arg -- one book short of completing the BtS challenge. I thought I'd be able to get the other one done, but staying late at work pretty much killed that.

+15 Task

Grand total: 690

Karen GHHS wrote: "15.10 �� Study Hall (nonfiction)

This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson

Task Total: 15..."

+5 non-fiction

Grand Total: 2020

Joanna wrote: "Arg -- one book short of completing the BtS challenge. I thought I'd be able to get the other one done, but staying late at wor..."

You still have 3 hrs 21 min!

10.4 Native Reading
Deep Rivers by José Maria Arguedas
***

Too busy to write a review tonight.

+10 Task
+10 Translation
+5 Oldies (1973)

Task Total: 25


10.7 Muslim Mindset
Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq by Thomas E. Ricks
****

This one is also reviewless.

+10 Task

Task Total

+100 Reading With Style
+100 Mega Finish

Post Total: 235

Grand Total: 1850

Hooray! :)