2013 BOOK CHALLENGE! Are you in?

[WowLookAtThat]

Book #51 Anne of the Island by LM Montgomery

Review: Anne of the Island is my favorite Green Gables book in the series. This one tells how Anne went to Redmond college and I think that she matures greatly in this story. Anne meets a new friend, Phil and is reunited with her old ones from Queens,Stella and Priscilla. Gilbert Blythe is still sweet and it takes Anne a while to realize how much she loves him. We also find out what happened in Avonlea and Anne's friends.

 

[Narnia_girl]

Finished book #41: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

My DH loved this book & kept telling me to read it. It was shocking to read all that this man went thru during WWII. There were multiple parts so brutal that were difficult to read b/c it was too much. I don't know how he survived & came out sane in the end.


Next book: Some Kind of Fairy Tale

Another for Unbroken. One of the best books I've read in the last few years.

I'm a little late to the party, but I almost always set my yearly goal at 50. I keep track on Goodreads and it lets me know when I'm not keeping up. (You're 15% behind )

Here is what I've read this year:

Abigail Adams by Woody Holton
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper
Finding God in the Story of Amazing Grace by Kurt Bruner
The General and Mrs. Washington: an Untold Story of Marriage and Revolution by Bruce Chadwick
The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie King
Amazing Love: True Stories of Love & Forgiveness by Corrie ten Boom
Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis
A Winter Dream by Richard Paul Evans
Amazing Faith: Stories of Christians in Defining Moments by Dwight Clough
Fatherless by James C. Dobson
The Killing Sea by Richard Lewis
Her Daughter's Dream by Francine Rivers
How to Stay Christian in College by J. Budziszweski
Sparkly Green Earrings by Melanie Shankle
Ultra Marathon Man: Confessions of an All Night Runner by Dean Karnazes.
Gods and Kings by Lynn Austin

 

[wvjules]

So I've been inspired by the Paris Wife to read A Moveable Feast and then A Farewell to Arms. Are there any Hemingway readers on here?

 

[BearcatsFan]

34/50 - The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

I enjoyed this a lot. I rarely read YA novels, but after reading the description of this it sounded so good I couldn't say no.

My only gripe is that I wish more things about "the slowing" had been explained - the why, the how, etc. I liked the way it ended, though, and I would recommend it.

4/5 stars

Don't know what I'll read next. I'm #1 on the waitlist for 4 different books at the library, so it all depends on what comes up first.

 

[threeboysmom]

I know we are halfway through the year but I would love to join in. Can I have a 6-month target (till the end of the year)?

Me too!!

Sure you can join! It's NEVER too late for reading! I would just need a book count for you as your goal so that I can add you to the list in the first post.

Another for Unbroken. One of the best books I've read in the last few years.

I'm a little late to the party, but I almost always set my yearly goal at 50. I keep track on Goodreads and it lets me know when I'm not keeping up. (You're 15% behind )

Here is what I've read this year:

Abigail Adams by Woody Holton
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper
Finding God in the Story of Amazing Grace by Kurt Bruner
The General and Mrs. Washington: an Untold Story of Marriage and Revolution by Bruce Chadwick
The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie King
Amazing Love: True Stories of Love & Forgiveness by Corrie ten Boom
Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis
A Winter Dream by Richard Paul Evans
Amazing Faith: Stories of Christians in Defining Moments by Dwight Clough
Fatherless by James C. Dobson
The Killing Sea by Richard Lewis
Her Daughter's Dream by Francine Rivers
How to Stay Christian in College by J. Budziszweski
Sparkly Green Earrings by Melanie Shankle
Ultra Marathon Man: Confessions of an All Night Runner by Dean Karnazes.

Welcome! Thanks for sharing your books so far this year. I'll be adding your goal of 50 books to the original post. HAPPY READING!

 

[K and K's Mommy]

So I've been inspired by the Paris Wife to read A Moveable Feast and then A Farewell to Arms. Are there any Hemingway readers on here?

I read Paris Wife last year and was inspired to do the same. It hasn't happened yet, though....

My son just got done with Old Man and the Sea because it was on his summer reading list. He said it was better than he thought it would be.

 

[nemofans]

Finished book #42- Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce

This book is like an adult version of Alice in Wonderland. A teenage girl disappears one day, then shows up 20 yrs later. She says she was taken to another world & says she's been gone only 6 months. She hasn't aged & is confused why so much time went by. No one believes her story. I give this 3.5/5 stars. I love being drawn into mystical, fairy tale type stories, but this one didn't draw me in as much as I hoped. I think it was b/c of each chapter being written by a different character, it broke up the story too much. Plus, the few chapters where she does explain what happened to her, it is after the fact when she is telling this to her family or psychiatrist. This way it felt like we weren't getting the whole story. I think it would have been better if we had experienced it w/her originally as one whole experience.

Twenty years ago, teenager Tara Martin disappeared in the dense English forest known as the Outwoods, leaving her parents and her brother, Peter, to fear the unthinkable.
But on Christmas Day, the doorbell rings and there Tara stands—disheveled, unapologetic, and not looking a day over sixteen. It’s a miracle, but Peter is skeptical, especially when Tara claims that she was abducted by fairies. As those who loved and missed Tara attempt to understand where she’s been for two decades, they begin to ask the same question: Has Tara lost her sanity … or have they?

Next book: The Prison Angel: Mother Antonia's Journey from Beverly Hills to a Life of Service in a Mexican Jail (this is for my book club)

 

[wilma-bride]

Sure you can join! It's NEVER too late for reading! I would just need a book count for you as your goal so that I can add you to the list in the first post.

Since we are halfway through the year and I have read 58 books so far, I will go for a further 58 by the end of 2013

Although I won"t count it towards my total, I feel I must recommend the book I have just finished. It is called Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton. It is about a Mother and her teenage daughter, who get caught in a fire at a school, and how they try to find out who set the fire...and why. This really was a great book, a real page-turner. I started it on Sunday and have barely been able to put it down since. I really identified with the characters and the relationships between them. I was honestly sad when I finished it as I didn"t want it to be over. A very firm 5/5.

I have over 100 books waiting to be read on my Kindle so who knows what's next.

 

[threeboysmom]

Since we are halfway through the year and I have read 58 books so far, I will go for a further 58 by the end of 2013

Although I won"t count it towards my total, I feel I must recommend the book I have just finished. It is called Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton. It is about a Mother and her teenage daughter, who get caught in a fire at a school, and how they try to find out who set the fire...and why. This really was a great book, a real page-turner. I started it on Sunday and have barely been able to put it down since. I really identified with the characters and the relationships between them. I was honestly sad when I finished it as I didn"t want it to be over. A very firm 5/5.

I have over 100 books waiting to be read on my Kindle so who knows what's next.

HOLEY MOLEY!! That's 116 books in a year?! I wish I could read that many books!

Adding you! WELCOME!

 

[jenny105]

Just finished book #13 Crushed by Sara Shepard. I love the Pretty Little Liars series (guilty pleasure!) but she needs to wrap it up already. This was over the top crazy.

 

[GaBelle]

Since we are halfway thru the year, I will set a goal of 20.
I just finished Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I enjoyed it, but absolutely hated the ending. But I'm intrigued by the author, so I'll check out Dark Places and Sharp Objects.

 

[portia9]

I'm on holidays so I've read 3 books this week

Goal 100

#73 The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler-Anne Tyler is my favourite writer and this book didn't disappoint
#74 Call The Midwife by Jennifer Worth-I did enjoy the stories but I didn't warm to the author
#75 And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini-not my favourite of his but he writes fascinating female characters

I have started around three other books that I have struggled to get into. I love having a kindle on holidays!

 

[portia9]

Although I won"t count it towards my total, I feel I must recommend the book I have just finished. It is called Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton. It is about a Mother and her teenage daughter, who get caught in a fire at a school, and how they try to find out who set the fire...and why. This really was a great book, a real page-turner. I started it on Sunday and have barely been able to put it down since. I really identified with the characters and the relationships between them. I was honestly sad when I finished it as I didn"t want it to be over. A very firm 5/5.

I read that last year-I agree, it was fantastic.

 

[threeboysmom]

Since we are halfway thru the year, I will set a goal of 20.
I just finished Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I enjoyed it, but absolutely hated the ending. But I'm intrigued by the author, so I'll check out Dark Places and Sharp Objects.

OK, I'll mark you down for 20! Welcome, GaBelle!

 

[CaliBear]

Book 14/40: America's Dream by Esmeralda Santiago

Here is amazon's summary:

América Gonzalez is a hotel housekeeper on an island off the coast of Puerto Rico, cleaning up after wealthy foreigners who don't look her In the eye. Her alcoholic mother resents her; her married boyfriend, Correa, beats her; and their fourteen-year-old daughter thinks life would be better anywhere but with América. So when América is offered the chance to work as alive-in housekeeper and nanny for a family in Westchester County, New York, she takes it as a sign that a door to escape has been opened. Yet even as América revels in the comparative luxury of her new life, daring to care about a man other than Correa, she is faced with dramatic proof that no matter what she does, she can't get away from her past.

I liked the plot of this book. It was a good story. I thought the writing was pretty poor and it was not at all helped by the horrible Kindle version, which featured creative spelling of simple words such as "ypu" and "E1-le" (He. Yes, really. That's how Kindle spelled He in this book.)

 

[PigletsPal2]

Goal: 75 books this year.

#59 down and done.

Les Miserables: From Stage to Screen by Benedict Nightingale and Martyn Palmer. This was a very interesting book, chronicling the process of transferring the stage musical to the big screen. As a confessed Les Mis uber-fan, I found the whole thing fascinating, from concept to fruition. It was neat to read about the little behind-the-scenes tidbits, and the pictures were gorgeous. A must-read for any fan of the stage musical or the movie.

Queen Colleen

 

[3smithboys]

Book # 26 The Book Thief.... I've had this on my Kindle for almost a year, and I'm not sure why I've put off reading it.... it was an amazing book! I'm so sad that I've finished it...

 

[vicki_c]

Book # 26 The Book Thief.... I've had this on my Kindle for almost a year, and I'm not sure why I've put off reading it.... it was an amazing book! I'm so sad that I've finished it...

I'm not participating in this thread (I have a challenge on Goodreads) but this caught my eye. I've had this book for a couple years and haven't read it yet! Maybe you will inspire me.

 

[wilma-bride]

Book # 26 The Book Thief.... I've had this on my Kindle for almost a year, and I'm not sure why I've put off reading it.... it was an amazing book! I'm so sad that I've finished it...

I'm not participating in this thread (I have a challenge on Goodreads) but this caught my eye. I've had this book for a couple years and haven't read it yet! Maybe you will inspire me.

I also have this book on my Kindle (and have had for a couple of years). I have read nothing but good reviews of it and I really don't know why I am so reluctant to read it, I suspect probably because I like books that are 'easy to read'. I will definitely get round to it though as it seems a shame to be missing out on a potentially great book because of some unfounded reservations.

 

[nemofans]

Everyone should read The Book Thief. It's such a great book. One of my favorites of all time.