The Complete Idiots Guide to the Ultimate Reading List discussion

Ha! Fooled you didn't I? You thought there would be something wonderful here. Well...there will be shortly - just as soon as we come up with something.

I hope to have June's challenge posted by 10pm CST on May 23rd. Cross your fingers.

By the way, if you haven't stopped by the "challenge suggestion" thread, please do so.

Happy reading to you!

CIGURL's June 2011 Reading Challenge
Duration: 06/01/11 - 06/30/11

Tasks:

1. Father's Day - In honor of Father's Day, read a book recommended to you by your father or another influential male in your life, or a book by an author that you know your father would like.

2. Summer Time - Read a book with the word "summer" in the title, or a "summer" word in the title. Summer means different things to different people--as long as the word means "summer" to you.

3. Candy Month - Read a book that relates to candy, either by title or cover.

This list may be of interest: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/16...

4. Rose Month - Read a book by an author with initials found in the word "rose".

Levels:
Level One: Read one book from the CIGURL list - 1 book total

Level Two: Read one book from the CIGURL list and one book of choice - 2 books total

Level Three: Read a combination of book(s) from CIGURL list and book(s) of choice - 3 or 4 books total

Most importantly - have fun!!

Okay, this took some serious digging through the guide for me.

Level Three Challenge w/ 4 guide books:

1. male recommended book - ** Updated: Done ** Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two
by Joseph Bruchac
This one was tough because I don't have a "father" figure and other men in my life don't really read, so I made my husband look through the guide and pick one.

2. "summer" - ** Updated: Done *** Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
I live in Oregon ~ and the only time there's sun is in the Summer. Sun definitely means summer to me!

3. Candy - ** Updated: Done *** Chocolat by Joanne Harris
Luckily, I hadn't read this yet!

4. Author Initials: ** Updated: done ** Utterly Devoted by Regina Scott
Wow, finding one I hadn't read with initials was tough!!

A quick question about the June Challenge...Is there any specification on how many should be from the Guide?

Cassandra, I think it depends on the level you choose... if you choose Level 1 the one book has to be from the Guide, for all the other levels (2 and 3) at least one book must be from the Guide, but you can do more if you want... You don't have to do them all from the Guide though.

Hope this helps.

1. Father's Day- I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max June 7
(I don't think my father has ever read a book in his life, so this was recommended by my boyfriend who reads only slightly more than my dad)

2. Summer Time- Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen **list** July 4
(Nothing says summer to me like traveling)

3. Candy Month- Dying for Chocolate by Diane Mott Davidson June 30

4. Rose Month- The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin June 17

Cassandra wrote: "A quick question about the June Challenge...Is there any specification on how many should be from the Guide?"

Hi Cassandra,

Nicole answered it perfectly.

The purpose of different levels is to give everyone a chance to include other books they are reading that may not be on the CIGURL list.

I'm in and will do level 2 - 2 books, one from the CIGURL list and one of my choosing.

Southpaw's CIGURL June 2011 Challenge
Duration: 06/01/11 - 06/30/11


3. Candy Month - Like Water for Chocolate/Laura Esquivel (list)

4. Rose Month - His Lady Mistress/Elizabeth Rolls

Man, as crazy as month has been, my June challenge is probably going to be just to finish my May challenges. Ugh!

Lol, Gini. I hope you are having fun with your May challenges.

My May life challenges have included starting a beehive and prepping to remodel my kitchen, so they are pretty challenging! But also fun.

Wow, Gini. I must say that starting the beehive sounds very interesting. On remodeling the kitchen - you will love it when it's done.

It is exciting, and we are learning on a crazy learning curve.

As for the kitchen, I know I'll be happy when it's done, but the cabinets arrived yesterday and have completely filled the guest room. My office is full of open boxes of food from our pantry, and the pots and pans are all stacked under the dining table. It's temporary, but right now my house looks like the beginning of an episode of Hoarders!

I'd probably be aiming to high by doing all four, but I'm going to list them.

1-I haven't yet asked my Dad for a book, but that should be interesting.

2-Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

3-Candy in Action by Matthue Roth...this one seems interesting but I don't know if I will enjoy it.

4-A Prayer for the Dying by Stewart O'Nan (from the list)

If anything I will most likely go for level 3, but will probably settle for 2.

I must admit, it is REALLY hard not to start these books until June!! :D Now that I've chosen them, I'm ready to start! LOL!

I know what you mean... I'm literally counting down the days :)

Trisha wrote: "I must admit, it is REALLY hard not to start these books until June!! :D Now that I've chosen them, I'm ready to start! LOL!"

Whereas I haven't managed to finish a single book on my May challenge list.

It's been a very stressful month....

Gini, sorry it hear it's been stressful!
I hope June brings you some sunshine and a little reading time to yourself!

Hopefully this new challenge aren't adding any additional stress!!!

Hang in there!

I'm simply ignoring the June challenge, except for commenting. The way things are going, I'll be lucky to finish May's challenge in time for July's. But that's okay - mostly they are positive stresses, just very time consuming.

Yay! June is finally here... can't wait to get started.

Nicole wrote: "Yay! June is finally here... can't wait to get started."

Agh! I haven't even gotten the books yet. Darn Amazon's slow shipping...

Nicole, you go girl! I've not even started on June's challenge, although I will admit to being antsy to get started.

I'm starting a new job on Monday (which was supposed to actually start this past Wednesday), and so everything is in an uproar right now. Very unsettled here.

Hopefully I will get to start soon.

Gregory - I'm with you on that Amazon thingy...it can take forever sometimes. See this is where you need a Kindle, lol.

southpaw285 wrote: "Nicole, you go girl! I've not even started on June's challenge, although I will admit to being antsy to get started.

I'm starting a new job on Monday (which was supposed to actually start this ..."

That is really good advice. What's funny though is that later after I wrote that message I checked the mail and there it was! Ha ha, funny how things work like that sometimes.

I'm sorry everyone for being mia. I started a new job and everything is just crazy right now. How is everyone else doing?

I just updated my challenge. Three down, 1 to go. How is everyone else doing?

1 down, 3 to go for me... I got sidetracked because some of my books on hold at the library finally came in :)

woohoo, completed this challenge! :)

Three down, one to go... maybe I can finish most of it by tonight???

LOL! You can do it, Nicole! :) Good luck!!!

I FINALLY finished this one... took me 4 days longer than expected :-P

Yay!!! Congrats Nicole!!