I am really excited about this little challenge as I have never done a Christmas one before! Christmas is my favorite holiday of all, and I will confess right now, that I will start playing Christmas music either tomorrow or the day after! My family laughs at me, but they still love me! I have a little collection of Christmas books which I never seem to have time to read. I hope to have time to read 2 or 3 books for the challenge--
Here are the titles I have to choose from, the italicized being ones I want to read for sure:
The Xmas Factor by Annie Sanders--finished Journey into Christmas and Other Stories by Bess Streeter Aldrich This Year it Will be Different by Maeve Binchy ( a collection of short stories) The Quiet Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott On Strike for Christmas by Sheila Roberts Christmas on Jane Street by Billy Romp Blue Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews 'Tis the Season by Lorna Landvik (an epistolary story) The Gift: a novel by Cecelia Ahern-finished
Want to know more? Then keep reading or click on the button above to be taken to the challenge post. It is being hosted by The True Book Addict.
The Christmas Reading Challenge:
will run from Thanksgiving Day, November 26 through New Year's Eve, December 31, 2009
you can choose 1 - 3 books...I know it seems a small amount, but it's a busy time of year and the challenge is only a little over a month.
These must be Christmas novels, books about Christmas lore or a book of Christmas short stories (sorry, no children's books, but YA novel is okay).
Sadly, I just realized that there are a couple of challenges I will not finish.
1. The Genre Challenge
This one runs until November 1st and there is no way I will be able to finish the 3 books I need to in order to complete it.
2. The Everything Austen Challenge
While I have Emma on my list to read for a few other challenges and feel confident I will get it read, I don't feel that confident that I will get the rest of the requirements completed in time.
Both challenges are great ones, and I enjoyed the books I have read for the Genres one already.
I hate quitting and not completing things, but sometimes it just can't be helped.
Edited October 2009: FINISHED! Click the highlighted book titles to see my reviews.
This is a challenge which runs throughout all of 2009. ClickHERE to get all the details, including a link to a list of WWII related books in case you need some ideas.
I have always been drawn to books set in and/or centered around this war. It was not surprising to me that I already have 6 books on other challenge lists which will qualify for this one. So, I am committing to read 6 and may add more later!
Edited October 2009: FINISHED! Click the titles below to read my reviews.
The Support Your Local Library challenge has been announced and will run from January 1, 2009 until December 31st, 2009.
What better thing than to support our local libraries--although for me, supporting book sellers is up there in importance too! I am going to choose the first level of the challenge, which is to read 12 books from the library. I probably will end up reading more, but know that so many of the ones I want to read next year I already own. It is being hosted by J. Kaye and you can read more about it here!
Book: The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman Pages: 323 Finished: October 2009 Challenges: ** Fall Into Reading ** War Through the Generations ** To Be Read** Read and Review ** Well Rounded ** Support Your Local Library ** A-Z Challenge
Author's Note: "Jan and Antonin Zabinski were Christian zookeepers horrified by Nazi racism, who capitalized on the Nazis' obsession with rare animals in order to save over three hundred doomed people. Their story has fallen between the seams of history, as radically compassionate acts sometimes do. But in wartime Poland, when even handing a thirsty Jew a cup of water was punishable by death, their heroism stands out as all the more startling."
Summary: Amazon Significant Seven, September 2007: On the heels of Alan Weisman's The World Without Us I picked up Diane Ackerman's The Zookeeper’s Wife. Both books take you to Poland's forest primeval, the Bialowieza, and paint a richly textured portrait of a natural world that few of us would recognize. The similarities end there, however, as Ackerman explores how that sense of natural order imploded under the Nazi occupation of Poland. Jan and Antonina Zabiniski--keepers of the Warsaw Zoo who sheltered Jews from the Warsaw ghetto--serve as Ackerman's lens to this moment in time, and she weaves their experiences and reflections so seamlessly into the story that it would be easy to read the book as Antonina's own miraculous memoir. Jan and Antonina's passion for life in all its diversity illustrates ever more powerfully just how narrow the Nazi worldview was, and what tragedy it wreaked. The Zookeeper’s Wife is a powerful testament to their courage and--like Irene Nemirovsky's Suite Francaise--brings this period of European history into intimate view. --Anne Bartholomew
My Thoughts: What is there to say when you read a story of extreme heroism, set in Nazi Europe during the war? I find these stories breathtaking, heart wrenching, and remarkable. Having read countless books about WWII : memoir, biography and historical fiction, I had not read anything that gave so much detail regarding the Warsaw ghetto and the Polish Underground and the Uprisings.
I find myself wondering, "How would I have responded? Would I have been brave? Would I have been smart enough to evade the enemy while saving people? How would I have handled the stress of living under those conditions and deprivations?"
I hope I would have handled myself just like Antonina Zabinski.
After the war her husband had this to say about her: Jan always felt and said publicly, that the real heroine of this saga was his wife, Antonina.
"She was afraid of the possible consequences. She was terrified the Nazis would seek revenge against us and our young son, terrified of death, and yet she kept it to herself, and helped me [with my Underground activities] and never ever asked me to stop."
" Antonina was a housewife. She wasn't involved in politics or war, and was timid, and yet despite that she played a major role in saving others and never once complained about the danger."
All that being said, I must say that this is not a quick book to read through. At times it became tedious with detail and lists, and meanderings down the path of popular philosophical thought of the day. It did not flow like a true memoir or work of historical fiction might, but it so worth the time taken to read and to remember these everyday heroes.
Book: Jane-Emily by Patricia Clapp Pages: 139 Finished: October 2009 Challenges: ** Fall Into Reading ** Genres ** Read and Review **
First sentence: "There are times when the midsummer sun strikes cold, and when the leaping flames of a hearth fire give no heat."
The current cover:
The cover I remember from childhood:
My Thoughts: This little Young Adult gem is a treasure from my childhood. I am pretty sure I checked this book out of my school library multiple times and just discovered that it was brought back into print in 2007 after being out of print for several years. Reading the customer reviews on Amazon was pretty amusing--to read of other women who have been looking for this book from their childhoods dating back to my generation. First published in 1969, I probably found it in the early '70s, back in the days when I liked scary stories, which I don't like so much anymore! I needed a horror book this year for the Genre challenge, and what could be more horror- like than a good old fashioned ghost story? I must admit that it was scarier when I read it in 6th grade, but the classic writing style of Patricia Clapp still sent shivers down my spine a few times even now. I enjoy re-reading some of the books that must have made some kind of impression on me that I still remember them 35 years later. This book has it all: a Gothic setting, slight romance, ghost, reincarnation, and suspense.
Product Description from Amazon
A spine-chilling tale of terror. Emily was a hateful, selfish, strong-willed little girl who died when she was twelve years old. But that was a long time ago. Jane was nine years old, and an orphan. When her grandmother (Emily's mother) invited Jane and her young aunt Louisa to spend the summer at Grandmother's large, dark mansion in Massachusetts, neither girl had any idea of what lay in store for her. It was Jane who first sensed Emily's presence. Then one day, Jane looked into the reflecting ball in the garden -- and the face that looked back at her was not her own. What did the long-dead Emily want of her?
Book: Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan Pages: 160 Finished: October 2009 Challenges: ** Fall Into Reading ** Support Your Local Library ** What's in a Name ** Read and Review **
First Sentence: "Mall traffic on a gray winter's day, stalled."
Summary: From Publishers Weekly : Set on the last day of business of a Connecticut Red Lobster, this touching novel by the author of Snow Angels and A Prayer for the Dying tells the story of Manny DeLeon, a conscientious, committed restaurant manager any national chain would want to keep. Instead, corporate has notified Manny that his—and Manny does think of the restaurant as his—New Britain, Conn., location is not meeting expectations and will close December 20. On this last night, Manny is committed to a dream of perfection, but no one and nothing seems to share his vision: a blizzard batters the area, customers are sparse, employees don't show up and Manny has a tough time finding a Christmas gift for Deena. Lunch gives way to dinner with hardly anyone stopping to eat, but Manny refuses to close early or give up hope. Small but not slight, the novel is a concise, poignant portrait of a man on the verge of losing himself.
My thoughts: I enjoyed this book, in spite of its slightly depressing plot line. I had not read anything by O'Nan previously and I must say that his sparse prose was very easy to read and he had a way of making even the sleaziest of characters worthy of some empathy from me. It is definitely a story of the every man, the working class man, at the mercy of the corporate boss. I liked it enough to think about checking into his other novels.
You know how when you feel kind of sick, but not too bad, and you have to decide if you really are coming down with something but you don't know for sure, and you agonize over whether you should risk going to work and exposing your co-workers?
Yeah.
That is where I was at at when I woke up at 6:30 this morning with a sore throat. (For the second day in a row.)
So, I stayed home today.
I have several little reviews to write up, but for now I am headed back to bed to read. Cheers!
Too exhausted to post much--the picture above was taken this morning, driving to work, while stopped at a stoplight. It was the view out my driver's side window. Very gray. Very rainy. Very Yucky.
Work was work. Then after dinner, I went and helped my daughter pack a bit more.
Now I am off to bed where I will probably manage to read 1/2 page before drifting off. Good-Night....
The read-a-thon is over. How sad. It was fun while it lasted.... I looked forward to this for weeks and was downright giddy on Friday in anticipation. Sam and I had a great time reading and laughing together (he has done this with me both times I have participated) and I will be a bit melancholy when he someday won't/ cant read along with me. We had great snacks, fun taking pictures, and talking about our books. He out-read me by a mile and I am amazed at fast he can read! I don't have his final stats right now but if you scroll down a bit you will see an update with his info. I will update this later so we will have his info recorded for posterity's sake.
He crashed about 1:30 and I made it to 3:00 a.m.--that would make me up for 22 hours straight although I did not read for that long--life got in the way and the computer.
Now it is back to real life--laundry, cooking and getting ready for work tomorrow.
End of Event Survey
1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Oddly, I found the late afternoon to be daunting! Around 4:00 pm (hour 10) I found my eyes closing and needing to take a little 15 minute nap. After I ate dinner I really got my energy back. Then of course around 3:00 am I hit the unmovable wall. (hour 22)
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I don't normally read much YA literature, but under my co-reader's (son Sam) recommendation I picked up Diary of a Wimpy Kid and laughed my way through it. It was easy also, which made me feel like I was really tearing through a book. I made the mistake of feeling like I needed to make the best use of my time during the event and work my way through some challenge books which need to be finished by the end of the year. Unfortunately, many of the books I have left are classics or on the heavy side. They did not lend themselves to good event material when the hour grew later.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Heck no! What a well run event. Perhaps those behind the scenes have suggestions?
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I loved the event homepage--it seemed less cluttered and easier to follow this time around. The min-challenges seemed better/easier to complete and even though there were some more complicated ones which would be too time consuming for my tastes, there were plenty that were quicker.
5. How many books did you read? 3 complete books and bits and pieces of several others.
6. What were the names of the books you read? The Last Night at the Lobster, Varmint (a picture book), Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Read a bit in: **Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners--(dropped this one and will probably need to drop the challenge it was for.) ** The Governess: The Little Female Academy--This is one I will finish, it was just a little boring and too small print for the later hours.
7. Which book did you enjoy most? Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the one I started right before I crashed--The Xmas Factor.
8. Which did you enjoy least? The Jane Austen one.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? I wasn't one.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Oh VERY likely! I will be a reader, and hopefully host a mini-challenge
Miscellaneous: I read for about 10 hours of the 22 I was up. I read 457 pages I participated in 9 mini-challenges and won 2 prizes We listened to a smooth jazz radio station all day
(This is probably my last post for the event. I am fading quickly and know when I lay down in a minute to read, I will fall asleep. It has been a blast!)
Picturiffic Mini-Challenge I want you to post a picture (or pictures) in the next three hours - with a small catch. The image(s) you post need to have something to do with the book you're currently reading. You can post a painting or photograph that makes you think of the story or the characters, choose a few pictures that highlight some of the book's most important elements, or do a little of both. You don't have to create the picture yourself; something you find on a Google image search is fine. :)
I just started a new book, The Xmas Factor. A book that actually arrived today in the mail. This book is not available in the USA so I had to order from Amazon.UK. It is set in a small village in England, during Christmas. Since I am only on page 5, that is all I really know about the book. I thought this picture depicts the the tone of the book so far!
Here’s a mini-challenge to give your mind a little break.
1. Grab your camera and and snap a pic. This pic can be of your completed reading pile, or maybe can be a representation of all the snacks you've consumed so far. Or for the really daring take a pic of what it feels like to be up at this hour. It can be a pic of you or something more abstract....what ever.
Earlier today I needed to take an unexpected break from the read-a-thon. My daughter is 37 weeks pregnant with her first child--(our first grandchild). She has been put on a little bit of bed rest, due to some high blood pressure issues. The big problem is that they are needing to move to a new apartment next weekend. Currently they live in the valley, and there is a very significant chance that due to a dam's deterioration there could be widespread flooding this winter. Anyway, she called me this morning and asked me to come down and help her pack up her kitchen. Of course I said yes. Later, they stopped by our house to get more packing tape and I snapped this picture of her belly.
My little girl, who is "cooking" her own little girl bun!
Me: Title of book(s) read since last update: Varmint (a picture book), Diary of a Wimpy Kid Number of books read since you started: 3 plus a smattering of others Currently Reading:The Xmas Factor Pages read since last update: 108 Running total of pages read since you started: 447 Amount of time spent reading since last update: 75 minutes Running total of time spent reading since you started: 580 minutes Mini-challenges completed:8 (most recently, Take a Break and Turn the Page) Prize you’ve won:2
Sam: Is currently conked out in bed--will get his final stats tomorrow!
Title of book(s) read since last update: Number of books read since you started:
Currently Reading: Pages read since last update: Running total of pages read since you started:
Amount of time spent reading since last update: Running total of time spent reading since you started:
