Reading with Style discussion

Please continue socializing about the fabulous Summer 2013 Challenge created by Elizabeth & Kate!

(And any other topics you wish to discuss, of course)

Don't forget to vote in the polls!

Many of you may have noticed that the search has not been working very well the last few days. Staff has reported that the problem has been identified and repaired, but that it will take awhile for the index to be regenerated. I don't know how long that means.

Is everyone saving their Name your Own Task until you find out the poll winners?

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Is everyone saving their Name your Own Task until you find out the poll winners?"

I am;)

I'm lobbying ;) I have 33 books on my list for summer that have a "u" as the second letter in the title or author name!

Karen GHHS wrote: "I'm lobbying ;) I have 33 books on my list for summer that have a "u" as the second letter in the title or author name!"

I have a few too, and I regret I have but one vote! ;-)

Karen GHHS wrote: "I'm lobbying ;) I have 33 books on my list for summer that have a "u" as the second letter in the title or author name!"
Successful lobbying. I had assumed the state abbreviations would cover more books. When I did my research I found that I had more than double the number of books on my "to read" list that qualified for the second "u" task!

itpdx wrote: "Karen GHHS wrote: "I'm lobbying ;) I have 33 books on my list for summer that have a "u" as the second letter in the title or author name!"
Successful lobbying. I had assumed the state abbreviati..."

Yay! I was surprised at how few state abbreviation books I actually had. Keeping my fingers crossed for the "u"!

OK, convinced. Changed my vote.

Bea wrote: "OK, convinced. Changed my vote."

Hooray!

Karen GHHS wrote: "I'm lobbying ;) I have 33 books on my list for summer that have a "u" as the second letter in the title or author name!"

The reason I voted for the state abbreviations is that I see it as 50 potential opportunities for a combo on every book we read. With the second letter "u" option, that's only one opportunity. But I'll be happy no matter which way it goes!

Karen GHHS wrote: "Bea wrote: "OK, convinced. Changed my vote."

Hooray!"

Convinced me too, changed my vote. I think the "u"s win!

I like all of them (smile)
But if you wanted state abbreviations here are some authors. It IS much harder than it looks!
AL- Anne Lamott
Ak
AR – Ann Rice, Ann Rule, Ann Radcliffe
AZ
CA – Chinua Achebe, Chris Adrian, Cecilia Ahern
CO
CT
DC
DE – Dave Eggers, Debby Edwardson, David Ebershoff, Deborah Eisenberg
FL
GA
HI – Henrik Ibsen
IA – Isabelle Allende, Isaac Asimov, Izzeldin Abuelaish
ID
IL
IN
KS
KY
LA – Lewis Aleman, Louisa May Alcott, Louis Auchincloss
MA – Margaret Atwood, Monica Ali, Maya Angelou, Miguel Angel Asturias
MD – Mahmoud Darwish, Mike Dennis, Margaret Daley, Matthew Dicks
ME – Maria Edgeworth
MI - Molly Ivins
MN
MO
MS – Marshall Saunders?
MT – Mark Twain
NE - Nicholas Evans
NV
NH – Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ninni Holmqvist, Nancy Horan, Nick Hornby
NJ
NM – Nellie McClung
NY
NC
ND
OH - O. Henry, Oscar Hijuelos
OK
OR
PA- - Paul Auster, Paul Alexander, Peter Ackroyd, Pearl Abraham, Pamela Aidan
RI
SC – Stephen Crane, Samuel Coleridge, Susan Coolidge
SD – Sandra Dallas, Siddhartha Deb, Shirley Damsgaard, Sarah Dunant
TN
TX
UT
VA – V C Andrews
VT - Victoria Thompson
WA - Walter Abish, William Aicher
WI- Washington Irving
WV
WY

Rebekah wrote: "I like all of them (smile)
But if you wanted state abbreviations here are some authors. It IS much harder than it looks!"

To add to Rebekah's list, here are the state abbreviation authors from the current challenge:

AL -
AK - A.S. King
AR – Ayn Rand, Adam Rapp, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Ann Rule, Ann B. Ross
AZ
CA – Catherine Anderson, Cecelia Ahern
CO - Carol O'Connell
CT - Colm Toibin
DC
DE –
FL
GA
HI –
IA – Isaac Asimov, Isabel Allende
ID
IL
IN
KS - Kerrelyn Sparks, Kate Summerscale
KY
LA –
MA – Margaret Atwood, Mary Kay Andrews, Mark Adams, M.T. Anderson, Matthew Algeo, Margery Allingham, Marcus Aurelius, Maya Angelou
MD – Marguerite Duras
ME –
MI
MN
MO
MS – Maria Semple, Maj Sjöwall, Mary Ann Shaffer, Mary Stewart, Muriel Spark, Maggie Stiefvater
MT – Marjorie J. Thompson, Margaret Truman, M.E. Thomas
NE
NV
NH –
NJ
NM –
NY
NC
ND
OH - Oscar Hijuelos
OK
OR
PA - Piers Anthony
RI
SC – Stephen Colbert
SD –
TN
TX
UT
VA –
VT -
WA -
WV -
WI -
WY -

And now to try to read a book or two during the break between challenges...

My school library was giving away free books today. So I got "A Great and Terrible Beauty", "Lady Elizabeth", and two children books "The Book of Three" and The Castle of llyr" part of the Prydain Chronicles which is based on Welsh Mythology.

Free is so much fun!

Yep! I feel like I went to the bookstore and I got them for nothing :)

I'm surprised by the number of votes for the Stephen King group! He and I don't seem to share the same taste in books at all!

Rosemary wrote: "I'm surprised by the number of votes for the Stephen King group! He and I don't seem to share the same taste in books at all!"

The shelf seems to have a rather broad spectrum, from Wilkie Collins to Evelyn Waugh to Nora Roberts. I don't know that I'll get to it, but I've been hoping for a place for The Secret History, which I've had on my shelf for over a year.

Don (The Book Guy) wrote: "Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "My school library was giving away free books today. So I got "A Great and Terrible Beauty", "Lady Elizabeth", and two children books "The Book of Three" and The Cast..."

I am a teacher's assistant.

Yesterday, during our "break", I finished two books that I didn't get finished in time for the last challenge. One The Italian by Ann Radcliffe I finished at 1:00 am Central Time. Rats! It had a lot of combo points too. Oh well at least I had the chance of reading a creepy Gothic novel during the midnight hour! (Smile)

The other I finished yesterday afternoon was Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton . Great adventure story!

What are the rest of you doing during the break?

I have a couple of books to read that are on my list for other groups this month and don't seem to fit any of the summer challenges. I've started Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff (assuming having a U as the second letter of her middle name wouldn't count) and the second one is Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn.

That second one was on a book circle that I'm a member of through a book swap site here in the UK. You have 12 people in the circle and you each contribute a book. The first month you send yours to the next person on the list, and then all the books circulate round over the year. You have no idea what you're going to get each month until it arrives. It's been fun!

Rosemary wrote: "I have a couple of books to read that are on my list for other groups this month and don't seem to fit any of the summer challenges. I've started Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff (assuming hav..."

sounds like fun! Like a round robin.

Not sure what all I'll read, but I've been wanting to read Silk for awhile and it's only 80 pages. I'll find another short one - maybe Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Although that one works for 10.1, I probably won't get to it for the challenge and may take the opportunity now.

I read Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. It didn't fit the Spring Challenge. It is my book group's selection for June and although it would fit the journalist task, our meeting is Thursday.

I'm planning to read Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health in the "off" days and cooking from the accompanying recipe book. (Fingers crossed) ;)

I am thinking of reading Mother Desert: Poems a book of poetry that is under 100 pages and is the authors only published poetry so far so it never qualifies for any tasks.

I'm reading An Artist of the Floating World and listening to Identical. I expect I'll get both finished this week before the summer challenge starts.

I had to change my vote on another poll. After looking over my TBRs, I found that I have a lot more books with city names in the title than bodies of water.

More lobbying! I love it.

The polls are open for another day yet, so there is time for you to reconsider and change your votes if you find it is in your interest.

I've got some "shorties" I want to read too. One was a Jane Austen book, Lady Susan

Camille wrote: "I'm planning to read Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health in the "off" days and cooking from the accompanying recipe book. (Fingers crossed) ;)"

itpdx wrote: "I read Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. It didn't fit the Spring Challenge. It is my book group's selection for June and although it would fit the journalist task, our meeting is Th..."

Keep us posted on how that goes, Camille!

Rebekah wrote: "I've got some "shorties" I want to read too. One was a Jane Austen book, Lady Susan"

Our usual rules apply, and this is under 100 pages.

itpdx wrote: "I had to change my vote on another poll. After looking over my TBRs, I found that I have a lot more books with city names in the title than bodies of water."

I'm taking another look at this one. I have one book with ocean in the title that I really want to read and I don't think it will fit anywhere else, but that's about it:

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Karen GHHS wrote: "itpdx wrote: "I had to change my vote on another poll. After looking over my TBRs, I found that I have a lot more books with city names in the title than bodies of water."

I'm taking another look..."

You could get the best of both worlds with the Name Your Task - but maybe you had something else in mind.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Karen GHHS wrote: "itpdx wrote: "I had to change my vote on another poll. After looking over my TBRs, I found that I have a lot more books with city names in the title than bodies of water."

I'm ..."

Yes, I think I'm going to do a task to read authors I will see at ALA in Chicago, since I get to go the last week of June!

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Rebekah wrote: "I've got some "shorties" I want to read too. One was a Jane Austen book, Lady Susan"

Our usual rules apply, and this is under 100 pages."

I mean it as something to read during our one week break before the challenge starts

when does this challenge start?

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "when does this challenge start?"

June 8 - Saturday!

I already started reading a book for this challenge. Can I still use it?

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "I already started reading a book for this challenge. Can I still use it?"

Our usual rule about one book that you have read less than 50% may be claimed for the challenge.

okay, I haven't read much of it yet.

I changed my vote after closely looking at books that Stephen King would recommend. At first I didn't vote for this because I don't like his books or genre but I'm glad to see he recommends things I actually like to read!

Camille wrote: "I changed my vote after closely looking at books that Stephen King would recommend. At first I didn't vote for this because I don't like his books or genre but I'm glad to see he recommends things ..."

Yes, he's a reader first, it seems, and there are some really good titles on that group's shelf. I did notice a certain "bent" to the books, though.

I got sidetracked last challenge (seems to happen every challenge when I read a book I wouldn't normally pick) so am hoping to finish The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle tomorrow. The challenge is that gives me two days before the challenge starts!!

I also just downloaded the 14-vol collection of Oz books on my kindle (only USD .99!) so I may use those two free days to plan for the challenge and peruse the Oz books.

The polls are closed - you've made your choices. This season might be one for lots of combos!

Will there be a 15 point challenge this season?

Louise wrote: "Will there be a 15 point challenge this season?"

Not this time. Please see post 1071 and post 1087 for details.