The Bone People by 3M

Here are all my June reads, but the only book officially on this challenge was The Bone People. Click on the titles to see the reviews.

37. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde ****
38. A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken ****
39. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle ****
40. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry ****1/2
41. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys ****
42. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke ****1/2
43. New Testament *****
44. Coraline by Neil Gaiman ****1/2
45. The Bone People by Keri Hulme ****
46. Wild Swans by Jung Chang ****1/2

Pheelya - Week 1 & 2 catch-up

I'm a little behind on posts due to join a little late, but I have two books finished from my list.

The first is The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl. I picked up this book because I really liked his first book The Dante Club and because I love Poe. I wasn't as impressed with this book as I was his first. The book is based on my mysteries surrounding Poe's death. The setting of the book was mainly Baltimore, but there was an extended period in France. It's set back in the 1840-1850 as if it took place literally days after Poe passed. It was a bit dry in places. I find it somewhat hard to believe this was the same author at The Dante Club *highly recommend reading if you like mystery*

Next up is Black Moon Rising by Damien Ashton. If you like werewolf books, this is a must read! Terrifying! One of the best modern day horrors comparable to horror classics. The action in the book was intense and the descriptions are amazing.

The Poe Shadow - Matthew Pearl
Danse Macabre - Laurell K. Hamilton **up next
The Double Bind - Chris Bohjalian
Twilight - Stephanie Meyer
A Killer Stitch - Maggie Sefton
Mistreal's Kiss - Laurell K. Hamilton
Rain Village - Carolyon Turgeon **almost finished
Black Moon Rising - Damien Ashton
The Demon Awakes - R.A. Salvatore
Disobedience - Naomi Alderman
Ophelia - Lisa Klein
Voodoo Season - Jewell Parker Rhodes
Wild Women's Weekend - Lynne Kaufman
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting - Stephanie Pearl-McPhee **newly added and almost finished!

Weeks 1 and 2

I don't know where the time goes . . . it is all ready week 2 of this challenge?! Wow! Well, since the 1st of June I have read 3 fabulous books---

Veronika Decides to Die
A Thousand Splendid Suns
The Killing Sea

Each of these books were compelling, but in different ways; each was well worth the read! Presently, I am about a quarter of the way through Mansfield Park (KtC's June selection) and last night I just started the newest installment of Maisee Dobb's=Messenger of Truth.

Week 1

The first week I read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which I absolutely loved. It's now one of my favorite books. I also read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, another new favorite. A pretty slow week.

Week 1--Elusive Pimpernel & Broken for You

I finished two books in time for Week 1:
The Elusive Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
and
Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos.

I enjoyed reading them both. I'm moving on to The Book Thief next. It is an interesting connection that Broken and Book have a World War II & holocaust connection.

Review of the Week 1 books Here

At the End of Week One

I only have one book finished - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - I'll have to do better. It was a great, fun read, though. I'll have a short review on my blog later today or tomorrow.
-adrienne:)

I finished reading The Contrary Farmer at the end of week 1. I actually put off reading the last chapter just to make the book last a little bit longer, it was so good. It was a fantastic read: educational (from a farmer's point of view: that would be mine!), entertaining, eye opening.
More at Country Acres. I want The Contrary Farmer for my own library for reference!

AAAAAAAAAGH!

We left for a business trip (leaving early for a family emergency) and our packing got side-tracked. So here I am in Texas and True Grit is sitting somewhere in Illinois. I'll have to wait a week to finish and see how true the movie stayed to the book! And I only have a third left!

On the bright side--Confessions of a Pastor (also on my list) made it into the suitcase and I'm halfway through already. I'm looking forward to reviewing it on Book 'em Benj-O next week. So far it's been funny, engaging, challenging, and enraging, all at one time.

More to come,
Benjie

Starting the SRC!

My first book for the Summer Reading Challenge is The Sorcerers of Majipoor by Robert Silverberg. I started reading it earlier in the week and hope to end it sometime next week.

Week 1 Book

Well, today I began Pride and Prejudice. I would've read more if life hadn't gotten in the way. I hope to have it done by the end of the weekend.

Week 1: Noir New York In Ninety-Nine

A vacation to Hawaii was just what Lily Quinn needed. As another semester ends, she still doesn't have enough credits to graduate from City College and dreads another summer of waitressing at the diner. Now that she's been dumped by her boyfriend, her rent on the apartment she shares with best friend Amy seems even more out of her reach. Sure, Hawaii means staying with her parents, who haven't been getting along since they bought the timeshare, but at least she'll get a decent tan.

When she gets back to New York, an NYPD detective named Spencer Patrick O'Malley is waiting in her apartment. Amy has disappeared, and O'Malley thinks Lily knows where she is. But to find out what happened to Amy, Lily and the detective will have to go back into her past, to find out why she might have disappeared -- and with whom.

Paullina Simons' A GIRL IN TIMES SQUARE is not always a fun read, but I was glued to its nearly 600 pages the entire time. The novel spirals outward from the life of Lily to her immediate and extended family, and to the career of Spencer, a former traffic cop who can't seem to file Amy's case away with the other "MPs." I definitely recommend this book to people who like their detective stories with a side dish of families in crisis.

Week 1

Well this week I finished "The Mermaid Chair" by Sue Monk Kidd. I enjoyed it, but not as much as I enjoyed "The Secret Life of Bees." I'll review it later on my own blog when I have more time.

I also read "Somebody Else's Children: The Courts, The Kids, and the Struggle to Save America's Troubled Families." This wasn't on my list, but I'm adding it now. This was a great first-hand account by two journalists of the California Juvenile Court system. They personalized the stories of these kids, and tried to present a balanced picture. I'll write a full review of it eventually.

SO now on to "The Plague Tales" I think, unless something else grabs my attention first.

done!

i finished reading the Magic or Madness trilogy earlier this week. they were fascinating and quick reads. i devoured them all in two days. i will have my reviews up by tomorrow.
the next books on my list to read are Many Waters by madeleine l'engle and Witchery by amber benson. i might even sneak a couple of plays in there, too.

Week One

For Becky's Book Reviews, I have read since last week:

The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
Harmless by Dana Reinhardt
The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean
Coraline by Neil Gaiman (review not posted yet)
Miss Spitfire by Sarah Miller
A Dog Needs A Bone by Audrey Wood
Letters From A Slave Girl by Mary Lyons (review not posted yet)
Letters From A Slave Boy by Mary Lyons (review not posted yet)
Gentle's Holler by Kerry Madden (review not posted yet)

For Becky's Christian Reviews I've read:

The Warrior by Francine Rivers
The Prince by Francine Rivers

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

I've just completed my first book of the SRC - better by Atul Gawande. An astute probe into improving success in the practice of medicine, both his own and in the field at-large. It's thoughtful, skillfully written, and a fun and fast read. My complete review is right here.

And we're off!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have started the first book for this challenge - very naughty as I have another challenge I should be finishing but I know I'll never get there as everything is very hectic at the mo and the and the last two books are ones which are difficult reads which I just don't have time to concentrate on at the moment. I've started reading The Book of Lost Things, I'm only one chapter in and I love it already - it now has high expectations to live up to!

I may go missing for a little while as I am moving house in the next 10 days so won't have internet connection for a good few weeks, I'll maksure I come on and update all my lists as soon as I can get back to a computer.

Week 1 - Kelly

Just finished the first book from my SRC list, Daphne Du Maurier's The House on the Strand. Although she is a very good author, this is not her best work in my opinion. I have posted a review here: The House on the Strand. I'm hoping for better luck with my other picks. Happy reading everyone!

Week 1

I've already finished two of the books I mentioned for the challenge, The Tiger in the Well and The Tin Princess, both by Philip Pullman. I also read Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster for the fun of it. I'm going to start another SR challenge book Watership Down over the next couple of days. Since I've eliminated two books already and I just joined the Book Awards Challenge (begins in July), I am going to add The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy to be SRC list and add more from that challenge to this list as my readings continue. It's a good start to the month and the challenge, and I hope to keep it up for the rest of the summer. Cheers.

Week 1 - Laura

Since the beginning of this month, I've been reading a book for the NonFiction5 Challenge: Nelson Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. It is really fantastic and very inspiring. I should finish in a couple of days and will include a link to my review in my next update.

Since I only picked 3 books for the Summer Reading Challenge, I have updated my list to show the other books I plan to read in June and July. That way I'll have something to say here each week!

Substitution

Well, only Week 1 and already I am replacing one book on my list. I had the best hope of reading Natasha's Dance, for the last two summers, actually. It's not going to happen now. It's a pretty meaty cultural history of Russia. I'm really interested in this subject...but not now.
I had Atul Gawande's new book better on my library reserve list and it came in, so I picked it up today. I've already read about a quarter of it - how does he make a chapter on hand washing such a good read?
I've posted some more comments on it here.