2013 BOOK CHALLENGE! Are you in?

[willowsnn3]

Originally Posted by PigletsPal2

Goal: 52 books this year

Book #6 down and done.

Miss Julia Rocks the Cradle by Ann B. Ross picks up the story of Miss Julia Springer, now Mrs. Sam Murdoch, who takes in her late husband's lover and illegitimate child in spite of the shock of her conservative Southern town.

Hazel Mae and Lloyd have become part of Miss Julia's family, and when Hazel Mae marries a private investigator, J. D. Pickens, and prepares to deliver twins during a snowstorm, Miss Julia has to deal with someone passing bad checks on her account and the suspicion among some in town that Miss Julia had something to do with the dead body found in a tool shed six blocks from her home.

The story is better than I described it, but it is pure fluff, something to read between weightier tomes.

Queen Colleen

I've read several of the Miss Julia books. Some have literally made me laugh out loud. Fun to read between more intense books.

[*JoGo*]

Originally Posted by momto3gr8boys

Thanks for the review! I'm reading the Paris Wife right now and am enjoying the interaction of these writers and artists of the 1920s. I will add this to my to read list. Fitzgerald is one of my favorites.

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I read Paris Wife early last year and then read A Moveable Feast and The Sun Also Rises along with two biographies on Hemmingway. Loved Paris Wife!

I am also now interested in the biography of Zelda!! Especially since I want to reread The Great Gatsby before seeing the new movie.

I recommend watching Midnight in Paris! I loved it! Purely fictional but so many of the Lost Generation made appearances.

[kimblebee]

Goal 50


#5 Life of Pi

4/5 A good read for me. I liked the descriptions of all the animals, both in the zoo and the ones he encounters later. Before I read the book I knew there was a movie but had not heard or seen anything about it (no cable or Internet). I liked that because I hate seeing the actor instead of my own interpretation of the character while reading. As soon as I was done I went to IMDB to see the trailer. It looks like a good movie and I will try to go see it. I would recommend this book because I was really able to picture what the writer was describing.

I am already halfway through The Giver. My daughter has apparently read the book and deemed it 'weird'. We shall see.

[tiggrbaby]

Originally Posted by WowLookAtThat

Book #6 Zelda: A Biography by Nancy Milford

Review: This is a very comprehensive biography of Zelda Fitzgerald. On the surface, she seemed bubbly and a woman of the 1920s who danced in the best clubs of New York. There is more to the story however, the disrepair of life and her own time in institutions. She had a very difficult relationship with her daughter,Scottie and with her husband. I remember in HS hearing that it was Zelda's mental illness and ambition that had hurt Scott Fitzgerald's career but to me without Zelda there wouldn't be a Scott Fitzgerald. Her influence and personality is found greatly in the female characters that he wrote about. Even some of her letters found its way through his books. I would recommend this book but under the suggestion that if you want to read Milford's book be ready to invest your time in this book due to the exhaustive research and many facets to Zelda and Scott's personality and life.

After this book I am totally ready to read a romance or a novel full of lurid drama.

I read that book back in high school; I was mesmerized and saddened by her life and death. Maybe it's time for me to read it again!

Originally Posted by kimblebee

Goal 50


#5 Life of Pi

4/5 A good read for me. I liked the descriptions of all the animals, both in the zoo and the ones he encounters later. Before I read the book I knew there was a movie but had not heard or seen anything about it (no cable or Internet). I liked that because I hate seeing the actor instead of my own interpretation of the character while reading. As soon as I was done I went to IMDB to see the trailer. It looks like a good movie and I will try to go see it. I would recommend this book because I was really able to picture what the writer was describing.

I am already halfway through The Giver. My daughter has apparently read the book and deemed it 'weird'. We shall see.

I read The Giver years ago when it was a 7th grade requirement for my kids. The ending can be interpreted in more than one way. There are two companion books: Gathering Blue and The Messenger.

[nemofans]

So I started reading Home Front today & I have been crying while reading for the last 30 minutes! I had to stop to make dinner, but I can't wait to get back to reading.

[illuminationsfanatic]

Current progress: 2 / 52

Book #2: Party Princess
Another book/series that my middle schoolers have been reading. It is part of the Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot. I definitely will be finishing the series to see what happens with the characters, but overall it is just an ok series.

I can't wait to get reading some of the books that you all have read so far. My to read list just keeps growing and growing!!!!

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[tinkerbellfan6880]

I am reading 80 books for the 2013 Book Challenge this year. This is the first time I am during this challenge. I have read 4 books so far out the 80 books.

[K and K's Mommy]

Originally Posted by tiggrbaby

I read The Giver years ago when it was a 7th grade requirement for my kids. The ending can be interpreted in more than one way. There are two companion books: Gathering Blue and The Messenger.

A fourth one just came out. It is called "Son." It wraps the whole series up and ties them together according to my DD 11. She really likes them all. I read The Giver several years ago but would like to go back and reread it and then read the next three.

[Meetmeinmontauk]

I have been so busy already with school starting back. However, I am determined to keep up with my goal of 1 book a month.

I am a little over 1/4 through Fifty Shades Freed

I will probably pick back up with A Game of Thrones next month!

[StephMK]

Wow, this thread is always hopping! I love to read everyone's choices and reviews.

I'm not working on much at the moment but have been reading this since last year-

#5 - The Gift of Fear by Gavin DeBecker - it is a book about personal security, intuition, and includes several real life stories. He is a security expert and details behaviors and thought processes of different types of stalkers, killers, etc. Very interesting read and easy to pick up as the mood hits.

[kimblebee]

Goal 50


#6 The Giver

This was such an easy read that I got it done in one day. It was different. I'm sure there's TONS of symbolism in it that I'm just not getting. I didn't really feel that way until a PP said the ending could be taken several different ways. It could? LOL I might look for the other books in the series after I read everything else on my list. 3/5 due to it being such an easy read. I know it's a YA book so maybe that's not fair.

ETA book 7 is Replay based on the way it was reviewed on this thread.

[threeboysmom]

Originally Posted by quietgirll

I'm in! I'm setting my goal as 100, which is definitely doable for me, even tho I'm starting late. I just finished my re-read of gone girl last night, and today I'm starting the new Linwood Barclay, Trust Your Eyes. I always love his books, and this one has great reviews! I'm looking forward to getting lots of book suggestions from this thread, finding books to read is always way harder for me than reading them!

Originally Posted by Maridw

Count me in. I think I'll try for 25.

Got one down - The Blood Gospel by James Rollins

Maybe those that are involved in this could join the Disreaders on Goodreads.com. I know there is at least 1 that is doing the challenge in this group.

Good Luck everyone.

Originally Posted by tinkerbellfan6880

I am reading 80 books for the 2013 Book Challenge this year. This is the first time I am during this challenge. I have read 4 books so far out the 80 books.

Welcome to our new members! So glad you could join us!

It's exciting to see what everyone is reading!!

[Ginny Favers]

My Book #5 was Blood She Read by Sara Hubbard. It was a REALLY good YA about a girl witch with the power to touch people and read their past, who gets involved with solving the murder of a girl from her school.

Book #6 of 50 was The Secret Life of a Soccer Mom, which was really funny. I like cozy mysteries and with this one, I could really identify with the sleuth, who was a harried mom to 2 young kids. At one point, my husband asked me why I was laughing so hard!

[threeboysmom]

Just finished Book #4 out of 30.

The Passage by Justin Cronin

It's an apocalyptic book which is not really my cup of tea, but it had good reviews here on the DIS so thought I'd give it a try. I'm game for anything, lol!

Basically it's about a military science experiment gone awry leaving mutants (vampires) to take over the world leaving very few survivors. The key to survival lies mysteriously in one little girl's hands, Amy.

I grew a little bored during the middle, but all in all, I liked this book which surprises me. I could not put it down the last 300 pages or so.

There's a sequel to it but I'm on the fence as to whether I'll read it or not. I've heard it's not as good as the first... but yet I can't leave the characters hanging, lol.

I give it a 3.5 out of 5.

Next up: The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani

[Kewz1]

I was pretty excited to find out this morning that coming April 23 Edward Rutherfurd's new book Paris will be released. I've read Sarum, Russka, and London and really enjoyed them. I think I know what I'll be reading on my cruise -- if I can hold off reading it until then!

Here's the overview from bn.com:

From the grand master of the historical novel comes a dazzling epic portrait of Paris that leaps through centuries as it weaves the tales of families whose fates are forever entwined with the City of Lights

As he did so brilliantly in London: The Novel and New York: The Novel, Edward Rutherfurd brings to life the most magical city in the world: Paris.

This breathtaking multigenerational saga takes readers on a journey through thousands of years of glorious Parisian history—from its founding under the Romans to the timeless love story of Abelard and Heloise against the backdrop of the building of Notre Dame; to the martyrdom of Joan of Arc during the Hundred Years War; to the dangerous manipulations of Cardinal Richelieu and the bloody religious conflicts between Catholics and Protestants; to the gilded glories of Versailles; to the horrors of the French Revolution and the conquests of Napoleon; to the beauty and optimism of the belle epoque when Impressionism swept the world; to the hotbed of cultural activity of the 1920s and '30s that included Picasso, Salvador Dali, Ernest Hemingway, and the writers of the Lost Generation; to the Nazi occupation and the incredible efforts of the French Resistance.

Even more richly detailed, thrilling, and romantic then anything Rutherfurd has written before, Paris: The Novel illuminates thousands of years in the City of Lights through intimate and vivid tales of characters both fictional and true, and with them, the sights, scents, and tastes of Paris come to sumptuous life.