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Around the World Challenge (Aug 1 - Sept 30, 2012) - Report Points Here
#28 Mexico
Days of the Dead by Barbara Hambly
592 pgs - 6 pts
HF - 1 pt
Review - http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... - 5 pts
Bonus: 10.1 Tourist visa: Read a book where the author is from a different country than the setting of the book.
The author is American and the book is set in Mexico.
Total - 50
Challenge Total - 125
Days of the Dead by Barbara Hambly
592 pgs - 6 pts
HF - 1 pt
Review - http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... - 5 pts
Bonus: 10.1 Tourist visa: Read a book where the author is from a different country than the setting of the book.
The author is American and the book is set in Mexico.
Total - 50
Challenge Total - 125

Left Neglected by Lisa Genova
324 pgs - 4pts
Review - 5pts
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Book Total - 28 pts
Challenge Total - 50 pts


The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
Country number: 25 points
Bonus points: 0
237 pages: 2 points
Book total: 27 points
Challenge total: 146 points

The Girl On The Cliff by Lucinda Riley
576 pgs. = 6 pts.
Review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... = 5 pts.
Total = 33 pts.
Challenge total = 309 pts.

240 pgs. = 2 pts.
Review = http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... = 5 pts.
total = 33 pts.
Challenge total = 342 pts.

245pgs: 2pts
Review: 5pts http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Total: 22pts
Challenge Total: 175pts

549 pages = 6 points
HF = 1 point
Book total = 27 points
#10 Poland - Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian
372 pages = 4 points
HF = 1 point
Bonus 15.3 - Traveler's Warnings - this book is about refugees enduring cold, hunger, and illness as they journey across Poland to escape possible rape and execution by the advancing Russian army during WWII. Not a pleasant place to be at that time...
Book total: 30 points
Total points this post: 57
Total challenge points: 493

11. China
Cinder by Marissa Meyer = 11 points
387 pages = 4 points
review:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... = 5 points
10.1 Tourist visa: Read a book where the author is from a different country than the setting of the book. Mayer is from the US and this book is set in China = 10
Total for task 30 points
Total for challenge = 60

Day After Night by Anita Diamant
294 pgs - 2 pts
HF - 1 pt
Review - 5 pts
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Book total - 25 pts
Challenge total - 367 pts

Tiger Hills by Sarita Mandanna
593 pgs. = 6 pts.
HF = 1 pt.
Review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... = 5 pts.
Total = 21 pts.
Bonus 15,2 Read a book which describes a specific custom of the country that you did not know about.
After a woman has a baby she stays inside for forty days, at the end of that time she goes to the local seer to have the babies horoscope read. If anything adverse is read, she is given a charm to fight that particular negatvie event to come and must wear it forever.
Total & Bonus = 36 pts.
Challenge total = 378 pts.

One Good Knight by Mercedes Lackey - takes place in Acadia, which is one of the Five Hundred Kingdoms
393 pages = 4 points
Book total = 9 points
Bonus 10.2 Planes, trains, and automobiles: Read a book which has a mode of transportation or the name of a vehicle in the title.
The Night Train: A Novel by Clyde Edgerton
224 pages = 2 points
Book total = 12 points
Total points this post: 17
Total challenge points: 510

The Wine of Solitude by Irène Némirovsky
256 pgs. = 2 pts.
HF = 1 pt.
Review - http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... = 5 pts.
Total = 16 pts.
Challenge total = 394 pts.

Partitions by Amit Majmudar
244 pgs - 2 pts
HF - 1 pt
Review - 5 pts
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Book total - 22 pts
#12 India
The Last Kashmiri Rose by Barbara Cleverly
322 pgs - 4 pts
HF - 1 pt
Review - 5 pts
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Book total - 22 pts
Challenge total - 411 pts


The Myths, Legends, and Lore of Ireland: 101 Things You Didn't Know about the Emerald Isle by Ryan Hackney
Bonus 15.2 A specific custom of the country that you did not know about
On 1 May a woman could achieve great beauty by rolling naked in the morning dew!
(Wonder if it works?!)
Country: 27 points
258 pages: 2 points
Bonus: 15 points
Book total: 44
Challenge total: 131
Bonus: 5.2 -Out of this world: Read a book which is set in another world; this book cannot be used on your itinerary.
Entwined by Heather Dixon
472 pages - 4 pts
Task Total - 9 pts
Challenge Total - 134
Entwined by Heather Dixon
472 pages - 4 pts
Task Total - 9 pts
Challenge Total - 134


Book takes place in England during the King Arthur reign and the author lives in the US.
Task +10
Bonus + 4(349pp)
Total: 14

The Sea Captain's Wife by Beth Powning (Canada, United States, Peru, England, China, Belgium)
384 pages = 4 points
HF = 1 point
Book total = 30 points
I'm also claiming the 100.1 World Traveler bonus for the following books (all except the India book have already been claimed for regular points):
Next to Love by Ellen Feldman (United States = North America)
The Sound Of Butterflies by Rachael King (Brazil = South America)
The time in between by MarÃa Dueñas (Morocco = Africa)
Winter in Madrid by C.J. Sansom (Spain = Europe)
#5 India - The Splendor of Silence by Indu Sundaresan (India = Asia)
403 pages = 4 points
HF = 1 point
Book total = 10 points
Total points this post = 140
Total challenge points = 650

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory
408pages=>4pts
HF=>1pt
Reviewed=>5pts
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
25.3 Travels with your Family: Read a HF book set in a country of one of your ancestors.
This is probably TMI, but I thought I would share. Last month I was researching my family history and came across the Bourchiers in my family tree. According to sources, Sir Humphrey Bourchier was killed at the Battle of Barnet fighting for the Yorks. Humphrey's wife was Elizabeth Tilney and they had a son. Elizabeth Tilney served as a lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth Woodville the subject of this novel, but Tilney was not mentioned, probably because there would be too many Elizabeths. Elizabeth Tilney later married Thomas Howard and was the grandmother to Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard and great-grandmother to Queen Elizabeth I. Sir Humphrey's uncles, Thomas Bourchier and Henry Bourchier were mentioned in this novel...I think all of this is pretty super cool if I do say so myself. :-)
Book Total=>54pts
Challenge Total=>224pts

Christina, yes that is pretty super cool!

337 pages = 4 points
HF = 1 point
Book total = 18 points
#7 Syria -
Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled by Dorothy Gilman
224 pages = 2 points
Bonus 10.1 Tourist Visa - Author was from the United States, book is set in Syria.
Book total = 19 points
Total points this post: 37
Total challenge points: 687
@Christina: that is really cool!!
@Butterflycager --- what did you think of Beautiful Ruins -- it's on my tbr
@Butterflycager --- what did you think of Beautiful Ruins -- it's on my tbr

@Butterflycager --- what did you think of Beautiful Ruins -- it's on my tbr"
JoLene, I loved Beautiful Ruins. I didn't think I was going to like it at first, and I was debating about finding something else to read for Italy...and then I realized I'd read over a hundred pages and I was enjoying it. I had never read this author before, and now I'm eager to try one of his other novels.

Empress of the Seven Hills by Kate Quinn
486pgs: 4pts
HF: 1pt
Bonus 10.3 Set in location you'd like to visit, Rome Italy... I'd love to see Rome one day.
Total: 31pts
Challenge Total: 184pts
Scoreboard as of 8/31.
Butterflycager * 691
Cheryl 411
Diane * 393
Christina 224
Christy * 206
Ashley 134
Laura 131
Shannon 131
Jennbunny 60
Sue 50
Jon 34
Jayme 14
HollyP 0
If there is * by your name, please see the note in the itineraries thread for more explanation. Please do NOT edit any posts from 1-75 -- I will not be re-checking them.
Butterflycager * 691
Cheryl 411
Diane * 393
Christina 224
Christy * 206
Ashley 134
Laura 131
Shannon 131
Jennbunny 60
Sue 50
Jon 34
Jayme 14
HollyP 0
If there is * by your name, please see the note in the itineraries thread for more explanation. Please do NOT edit any posts from 1-75 -- I will not be re-checking them.
# 24 Ireland
1916: A Novel of the Irish Rebellion by Morgan Llywelyn
576 pages - 6 pts
HF - 1 point
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... - 5 points
Book Total - 36
Challenge Total - 170 points
1916: A Novel of the Irish Rebellion by Morgan Llywelyn
576 pages - 6 pts
HF - 1 point
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... - 5 points
Book Total - 36
Challenge Total - 170 points

For Hinterland Let's use it for the 25.1 Bonus task. Most of the story took place in Greece, but I'm not sure if it was 50% or not.
And obviously, my addition skills are crud. Thanks for keeping me straight!! :)

The Other Half of Me: A Novel by Morgan McCarthy
336 pgs. = 4 pts.
Total = 23 pts.
Challenge total = 416 pts.
Headmaster's wager was on my kindle and is now deleted. Know it covered the occupation of Vietnam by the Chinese and continued on through the fall of Saigon. I took the point off in my challenge total because I am not sure how much of the book was during what time period.
@ Christy -- if most of the story was in Greece, you can count it (I'm not counting pages or anything ;-) It is just strange that Greece was no mentioned in the GR description. You can count for Greece and the 25.1 bonus task if you want.
@ Diane, thanks for making the adjustment.
@ Diane, thanks for making the adjustment.

Easter Island by Jennifer Vanderbes
320 pgs - 4 pts
HF - 1 pt
Review - 5 pts
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/99...
Book total - 17 pts
Challenge total - 418 pts
JoLene - This was another one of those dual storylines - one taking place in 1913, the other in 1973. It was about half and half, with the 1973 line just a little more, so I've claimed the HF point. Let me know if this is okay - most GR users have it as HF.

After thinking about it, I don't think 50% happened in Greece... it really is hard to tell because of how it was written. Should I edit the original post or delete it and start over?
@Cheryl -- That is fine, you can count the HF point.
I am using the Historical Fiction definition of Becky and Jackie (and also generally accepted). Many people think of HF as a setting in the past, so many would classify Dickens and Austen as HF, but it isn't because they were writing (mostly) in their own time period.
I am using the Historical Fiction definition of Becky and Jackie (and also generally accepted). Many people think of HF as a setting in the past, so many would classify Dickens and Austen as HF, but it isn't because they were writing (mostly) in their own time period.
@Christy, in your next entry, just back out the Greece points 22 (so I will remember to remove from my spreadsheet). Your new total should be 184.
In your next entry, claim the bonus task.
In your next entry, claim the bonus task.

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
384 pgs - 4 pts
Review - 5 pts
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I was surprised when reading this book that a lot of the first part of the book took place in Victorian England (although with some fantastical elements carried through), but, as the story progressed, the majority of the activity shifted back to taking place in Wonderland, with a final tally of 75% of the book taking place in the alternate world. Phew! I did not have to change my plans about using this book for this task! :)
Task total - 14 pts
Challenge total - 64 pts

The Malice of Fortune by Michael Ennis
416 pgs. = 4 pts.
HF = 1 pt.
Review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... = 5 pts.
Total = 25 pts.
Challenge total = 441 pts.
Also like to claim 100.1
The Malice of Fortune by Michael Ennis (Italy, Europe)
Invisible Country: A Mystery by Annamaria Alfieri (Paraguay, South America)
The Twelve Rooms of the Nile by Enid Shomer (Egypt, Africa)
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman (Australia)
The Midwife of Hope River by Patricia Harman North America, Appalachia
320 pgs. = 4 pts.
HF = 1 pt.
Review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... = 5 pts.
Total = 110 pts.
Challenge total - 551 pts.

Mrs. Mike by Benedict Freedman
320 pgs - 4 pts
Review - 5 pts
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Book total - 17 pts
Challenge total - 435 pts

The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny
384 pgs. = 4 pts.
Review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Total = 39 pts.
Challenge total = 590

Garden of Madness by Tracy L. Higley
400 pgs - 4 pts
HF - 1 pt
Review - 5 pts
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Bonus task 25.2 - Wonders of the World. Read a HF which features one of the wonders of the world (Hanging Gardens of Babylon).
Book - 25 pts
Bonus task - 25 pts
Book total - 50 pts
Challenge total - 485 pts

A City of Broken Glass by Rebecca Cantrell
336 pgs - 4 pts
HF - 1 pt
Review - 5 pts
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Bonus task 25.3 - Travels with your family. Read a HF set in a country of an ancestor (Germany).
Book - 34 pts
Bonus - 25 pts
Book total - 59 pts
Challenge total - 544 pts

211 pgs. = 2 pts
HF = 1 pt.
REeview http://www.goodreads.com/review/new/5... = 5 pts.
Total = 11 pts.
Challenge total = 601 pts.

304 pages = 4 points
Book total - 22 points
#14 Switzerland -
The Bells by Richard Harvell
374 pages = 4 points
HF = 1 point
Bonus: 25.3 Travels with your family - my father's family came from Switzerland.
Book total = 44 points
#12 Denmark - The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard
430 pages = 4 points
Book total = 16 points
Total points this post: 82
Total challenge points: 773

The People of Forever Are Not Afraid by Shani Boianjiu
352 pgs = 4 pts.
Review =http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... = 5 pts.
Total = 21 pts.
Challenge total = 622 pts.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell
245 pages = 2 pts.
Review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... 5 pts.
Book total = 36 pts.
Challenge total = 100 pts.
Note-This was one of those books that alternate between the present and the past (1920's-1930's), via characters' memories,... but somewhat more than half of the book takes place in the present - so, no HF point for this one.
#22 Scotland
Regeneration by Pat Barker
252 pages - 2 pts
HF - 1 pt
Review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... - 5 pts
Total - 30
Challenge Total - 200
Regeneration by Pat Barker
252 pages - 2 pts
HF - 1 pt
Review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... - 5 pts
Total - 30
Challenge Total - 200
Scoreboard as of 9/17.
Butterflycager 773
Diane * 621
Cheryl * 554
Christina 224
Christy 206
Ashley 200
Laura 131
Shannon 131
Sue 100
Jennbunny 60
Jon 34
Jayme 14
HollyP 0
If there is an * by your name, please check the scoreboard and itineraries thread. Please do not edit previous points, I will not check anything up to this point.
Butterflycager 773
Diane * 621
Cheryl * 554
Christina 224
Christy 206
Ashley 200
Laura 131
Shannon 131
Sue 100
Jennbunny 60
Jon 34
Jayme 14
HollyP 0
If there is an * by your name, please check the scoreboard and itineraries thread. Please do not edit previous points, I will not check anything up to this point.

The Song of Achilles
Greece 12 points
HF 1 point
review 5 points
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
pages 352 - 4 points
and id love to claim a wonder of the world as i was reading it whilst visiting where the collosal statue of Zeus was housed in Olympia... sadly they didnt actually go there in the book though... so ill claim a place i always wanted to go.. the classical sites of Ancient greece... and i did go there, after i started the book and finsihed it on the flight home! . so 10.3 for me
total 32 points

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
214 pgs - 2 pts
Review - 5 pts
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Book total - 26 pts
Challenge total - 580 pts

369 pages = 4 points
HF = 1 point
Book total = 22 points
#16 Belgium - Resistance by Anita Shreve
284 pages = 2 points
HF = 1 point
Book total = 19 points
Bonus 50.2 Two sides of the story - both of the above books are about resistance efforts during World War Two.
#15 The Netherlands - The Coffee Trader by David Liss
384 pages = 4 points
HF = 1 point
Book total = 20 points
Total points this post: 111
Total challenge points: 884

Please back off my points for Greece. My new total will be 184.
29. USA- Tributary by Barbara K. Richardson
352pgs: 4pts
HF: 1pt
Total: 34pts
15.2 Country Custom
Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
584pgs: 6pts
Total: 21pts
Total points this post: 55pts
Challenge total: 239pts

Dear Zari: The Secret Lives of the Women of Afghanistan by Zarghuna Kargar
250 pgs. = 2 pts.
Review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... = 5 pts.
Total = 17 pts.
Challenge total = 638 pts.
Books mentioned in this topic
Raven Black (other topics)Genghis: Lords of the Bow (other topics)
Gilead (other topics)
The Invisible Mountain (other topics)
Alexandria (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Ann Cleeves (other topics)Lindsey Davis (other topics)
Carlos Ruiz Zafón (other topics)
Carolina De Robertis (other topics)
Conn Iggulden (other topics)
More...
The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken by Tarquin Hall
320pgs=>4pts
Reviewed=>5pts
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
15.2 Customs Official: Read a book which describes a specific custom of the country that you did not know about. Please share what that was.
In the book Vish Puri, attends a mundan ceremony for one of his younger relatives. This is the child's first (boys and girls) haircut. During the mundan ceremony the child's head is shaved and this usually occurs somewhere between the 1st and 3rd year. The Hindu culture believes the hair from birth is associated with undesirable traits from past lives.
Book Total=>31pts
Challenge Total=>170pts