katelisim's book challenge

So, I'm new to this site and never tried a challenge like this before and thought 'why not?' So far I've read 3 books this year: Staying Dead by Laura Anne Gilman, The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson, and The Named by Marianne Curley. I'm about to start Curse the Dark also by Laura Anne Gilman.

75 books seems like a lot... but I'm going to try it. If anyone has any suggestions for me to read I'd love to hear them.

katelisim

Welcome! My suggestion to you is that you simply begin to read some of the threads. You will most likely find some very interesting books and descriptions that will connect with you and thus your to be read pile will become large in no time.

Also, you can use touchstones to summarize your books on your thread in the right column and to allow others to click on the books or authors to check them out. You do it by putting a square bracket on either side of the title, like this: Staying Dead or double square brackets on either side of the author's name, although many of the authors don't work. Welcome to the group!

Welcome to the group!

I second Whisper's suggestion in message 2. In no time you will have a great TBR list going.

Welcome! It's true... you'll find no shortage of recommendations here :)

Thanks for letting me know about the touchstones. My tbr list is definitely growing from some other lists. And I completely spaced that I also read Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer and Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card in early January. So that makes my actual total 5.

So I finally finished Curse the Dark by Laura Anne Gilman. Making that 6. And I have started three others... but I started teaching myself Turkish and that's kind of sucked up a lot of my time/interest. Otherwise I'm sure I could have gotten through 3 or 4 books in the time it took me to do a few chapters worth of Turkish.

7: The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

I really liked it, but who doesn't like a good darker twist on a classic children's story?

#8: My local library has The Looking Glass Wars on audio. I will give it a listen!

Whoo-hoo, I have Looking Glass Wars on my shelf, unread. Time to dust it off!

I guess there is a sequel Seeing Redd, that I need to get next.

Like you, Faith, I have a copy on my shelf, unread. I even reread the originals last summer to prep--but it is still there unread. Soon?

It's a fairly quick read. The action kind of sucks you in and it's different enough from the originals that you don't get bored. Really, all that's the same are the names... Anyhoo, I read the about 350 pages in one night.

8: Ninth Grade Slays by Heather Brewer

9: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaimen

10: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card... reread, needed a good familiar quick book :)

Been kinda slow on the finishing of books, although I have 4 or 5 partials going right now, so starting them seems to be no problem

What did you think of The Graveyard Book?

I liked it. It's kind of like a lot of mini stories that add up to a whole, which made it nice to read in sections, as I'm finding it hard to sit still these days. I blame the continued taunting of spring. Anyways, I kind of wanted a little more about the guard, but I guess the story was about Nobody and not the guard, so it works even w/o it. A really interesting take on ghosts and growing up.

You may not be aware that the format follows that of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Books (and if all you know is the Disney version, it's very little like that), as well as its genesis in Gaiman telling his young son stories. So that's why it is so episodic. Glad you enjoyed it.

I've always had Jungle Book on a distant shelf in my mind of things to read.... maybe I need to pull it forward a bit :)
Thanks for letting me know it's format, it might be good for my unable-to-sit-still-for-any-amount-of-time mood

I've always loved Ender's Game but haven't gotten around to reading any other of Card's books! How was Ender in Exile? I know that's the newest one in that series?

I absolutely am in love with the entire series, which I feel is too cutesy to say about them, since that's not what they are at all :)

Anyway, Ender in Exile was definitely on par with the rest of the series. It sticks with Ender and Valerie while they are in the colonies after the war. You could even read this w/o reading any of the other books, since you've read the first.

Then the Shadow books of the series focus on the other kids during the war and after they get back to Earth. A lot more politics in those than in Ender's Game.

I would highly recommend the entire series.

And that was a long post.... goes to show just how much I like them :)

The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliot. I believe this has made it to my top 5 faves.

>22 katelisim: That wasn't a long post; you should see how long my rants and raves posts can go on.... lol. More about politics, eh? We'll see how I will like the rest of the series since the parts I like best about Ender's Game is the battle room scenes.

>24 Cauterize: You might want to start with Ender's Shadow then... It's basically Ender's Game from Bean's point of view, so you still have all of the battle room scenes. The rest of the shadow series has fights with their strategies, just focuses more on who gets control of Earth, which is more than a two sided fight with Earth vs aliens :)

Re: your message no. 7 - teaching yourself Turkish? I am impressed. How's it going?

It's going so/so, I have some of the basics down... I had to give back the text book I was borrowing though, so it's kind of been pushed to the back, until I re-borrow it.... or find a cheap teach yourself book, which for Turkish I think would be a hard thing.

12. Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor

13. The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding

14. Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey. Reread, after threading with someone about the series I felt I needed to read one again, since it's been a few years.

I think I need to speed up to make 75.

#30: Funny enough, I finished my annual re-read of the Crystal Singer trilogy. BTW, I ended up reading Speaker of the Dead since digging through storage, I found out I had bought a copy long ago. I'll still get to Ender's Shadow eventually!

Yeah... I love finding things I forgot I had :)

I have so many books in the 'eventually' pile of the tbr

#32: I have so many books in the 'eventually' pile of the tbr

Don't we all?

15.Little Brother by Corey Doctorow

16. Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman
An interesting take on superhero stories. It's told from the point of view of the villain and a new recruit into a dysfunctional superhero group trying to stop him.

#35: Looks interesting!

17. Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr
Sequel to Wicked Lovely. Leslie decides to take charge of her life by getting a tattoo, little does she know, the particular one she picked will bind her to the king of the Dark fairy Court.

18. Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr
Third in the Wicked Lovely series. Focus is back on Aislinn and the Summer Court and all the changes in court leaderships. This one wasn't my favorite, it felt more like a transition book where a couple big things happen but it feels like nothing really did.... kind of like the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Although, it does give me high hopes for the fourth book whenever that may come out.

19. Milk, Sulphate, and Alby Starvation by Martin Millar
When the paranoid and constantly ill Alby Starvation discovers he's allergic to milk, he accidentally starts and anti-milk campaign causing the Milk Marketing Board to lose a lot of money. Their response: send a hit man to take care of it.

Quirky and amusing, I enjoyed this book. Several characters interacting and come to a conflict point. My only problem with the book is that it ends during action. I would've liked to see how Alby got his way out of the situation.

#39: I think I would enjoy the book, too, but I hate it when the author leaves the ending of the book unresolved in the middle of the action!

^Ditto. It was a quick read too, only around 170 pages.

Only Revolutions by Mark Z. Danielewski
Super awesome :)
It's writing style is so different from anything else I've ever read. And some of the phrasings are really close to how I butcher the English language with my friends. Makes me excited to read his other book I have, House of Leaves.

You read the most interesting stuff!! Book number 19 sounds hilarious. I agree with Alcot that I hate when the end of a book concludes without a clear resolution, especially in a situation like the one described. But if the journey there is fun, then sometimes it can be forgiven.

^Thanks! I try to keep it varied and to stick with unpredictable story lines.... or at least ones that haven't been over-killed :)

I have mostly forgiven the end-during-climax aspect of Alby for its quirkiness .... my curiosity will never be abated though.

21. The Hollow People by Brian Keaney
I really liked the concept behind this one and it turned out soooooo differently than I expected, in a good way. On this island home to an asylum, people aren't allowed to dream. They are given a drug, Ichor, to suppress it along with negative human conditions, ie theft, violence, war, etc. Dante is the son of a patient that committed suicide and was raised in a kitchen staff position. He turns out to be immune to ichor and still dreams. He meets Bea who is just before the age to recieve ichor and dreams of a ruined city. When a new arrival Ezekial arrives at the asylum, their lives do a 180. This is the first in a trilogy and I'm super excited to see where it goes :)

22. The Cracked Mirror by Brian Keaney, sequel to ^
Good, but too short. It was only 144 pages. And now I find out that the third doesn't come out until November grrrr

#45/46: A couple more for me to add to the Continent, although I may wait until book 3 is out.

#21 - sounds really good, good luck on your list :)

^Thanks!

23. The Unseen 1: It Begins by Richie Tankersley Cusick
24. The Unseen 2: Rest in Peace by Richie Tankersley Cusick

Not the best books in the world, but interesting. Quick reads full of suspense. You know enough to keep wanting to read but not enough to completely understand what's going on. These are the first 2 and there's 2 more.... but apparently my library doesn't have them :(

^Good news for that series... inter-loan library system

24. Planets by Dava Sobel
25. Elephants on Acid by Alex Boese
26. Flyers and Swimmers --A kid's dinosaur fact book given to me by my cute little cousins :)

Hey guys, I started a new mini-challenge thread for 6 Degrees of Separation. If anyone is interested check it out
http://www.librarything.com/groups/minichallenge6degree#forums

But feel free to ignore this as well :)

> 50 Kate, what did you think of The Planets. Have you read her other books, Longitude and Galileo ' s Daughter? I especially liked Galileo's Daughter.

~ TT

I haven't read either of her other books, but I have heard of them. Don't really know what they're about either. The Planets was good. Each chapter is a different planet or the sun or the moon type deal, so it was easy to read a chapter and come back the next week for another. She uses good prose and her own experiences, as well as myths/stories, to tie things together.

27-29. Demon Diary 1-3 by Lee Chi Hyong. Reread. I had a long day of waiting and I find the best things to read in those situations is manga. You don't lose your place as easily in them as a book. There may be more of them added after today.... Orientation lasts 10:30 to 4

30-31. FLCL 1&2. Reread. There were gaps in that orientation that lasted forever.

32. Rebel Angels by Libba Bray. It took me forever to get through this one. I found the first third of it dullsville. After that it was pretty okay. Picked up with the Realms and the fight against Circe. This time they are in London during Christmas time(the last 2/3 of the book) instead of the school, which is coincidentally when the story starts to pick up.

I have promised myself to read the final in the trilogy The Sweet Far Thing this year, I started it when it first came out but found it quite difficult to get into. It is quite an interesting world so I do want to see how the whole thing wraps up and I'm sure if I persevere far enough into the story it will pick up. Are you going to go on to the final book?

^I will finish the trilogy, I'm just not sure when. I think it'll take me another year or two before I get to that one, but I also really like the world it's in.

33. Blood Brothers by Richie Tankersley Cusick

34. Sin and Salvation by Richie Tankersley Cusick.
This was the 4th and final in the quartet.... and I really hope there is some follow up book or series or maybe a book in the 'unseen' perspective, cause I don't know what the hell just happened. It was an okay series, in a good confusing sort of way, but then it left you questioning it at the end. My head sorta hurts from trying to figure out which path my imagination took is the right one...

35. The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks
It was a bit daunting to start at first, since it's 645 pages long, but it flew by! Azoth is pretty much a street urchin. Durzo Blint is the most skilled wetboy, which is an assassin with some magical abilities. When Azoth becomes Durzo's apprentice he has to leave everything behind and start a new identity as Kylar Stark, a poor nobleman living with a Count. This book is filled with assassinations, lies, magic, new cultures in a wonderfully created world, politics, and an action packed coup on the throne. Just brilliant, one of my new faves.

#60: That one looks pretty good. I am going to give it a try. Thanks for the recommendation!

>60 katelisim:: I echo Stasia, sounds interesting and I'm adding it to the TBR.

It's awesome, AND, the first of a trilogy. I went and picked up the other 2 last night :)

Cool beans! I hope the other books in the trilogy live up to the first one. Thanks for the info, Kate.

I hope so too, I plan on starting the second soon.

I am soooooo glad someone else still uses 'cool beans' :)

I have used 'Cool beans' for so long now I cannot remember a time in my life when I did not :)

36. Shadow's Edge by Brent Weeks
The second of the Night Angel Trilogy, just as good as the first. Started the third, and that one's shaping up to be amazing as well

37. Beyond the Shadow The final of the Night Angel Trilogy. Amazing.

38. Trigun Max 1
39. Trigun Max 2

40. Primitive
41. City of Bones
42. City of Ashes

43. City of Glass

44-47. Demon Diary 4-7

48. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
This one's kind of hard to describe. Johnny finds pieces and mixed up pages of Zampano's, the old man that died in his friends apt building, book. So he decides to put it back together. This book though, is based on a fake documentary/video, with a non-existent shape shifting house, with fake people, made up quotes, and an excessive amount of foot notes. Through it all, Johnny adds in the footnotes little things about his life past and present. It's entirety deals with fear, death, bonds of friendship and family, the unknown, and what all of these do to a persons psychological state of being.

Somehow all of these elements come together to form some crazy amazing book, the likes I've never read before. Definitely not light reading and maybe not for those that get easily paranoid.

49. Extras by Scott Westerfeld. The fourth of the Uglies series.

50. I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max. I'm so torn on whether or not I like this book. The stories are hilarious but the people are despicable. And just some of what these guys do makes me so want to knock them flat on there backs.

edited: forgot #'s

Wow, just discovered your thread, you've read some really interesting books! I will be starring it for the future, as it seems we both like YA fantasy type books.

In re I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell I don't know that I could actually read it. I've heard so many bad things about it (and it's author) on Jezebel. I think my feminist self would have a conniption fit! Did you know they are making a movie version? It looks horrible! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXTmNApNrxM

Thanks! I don't know how much more reading I'll be able to get done this year tho, I just started classes today... other than textbooks anyway.

I didn't know that! That would be a horrible movie! I'm sitting where I can't watch the clip now, but I can imagine. I made the mistake of loving the title and going from there. I read the back, and it was just 'I'm a bad person etc etc' and me and my friends joke that way all the time. Darn creative hooks

I totally understand! My out of class reading goes downhill during the semester, too. I'm actually doing mostly independent study this semester, too, so it'll be interesting to see if I can actually get any work done or if I just sit around and read for pleasure!

I think I will aim for at least 1 non-textbook book a month during classes, but with the rule 'no more than that until work is done' . . .That should keep a good balance going, I think, or an illusion of it anyway.

That sounds like a good plan! Better than me, lol. Ever since I was a little kid and used to hide my chapter books behind my textbooks, pleasure reading has taken priority over schoolwork, sometimes to the detriment of my grades!

I'll be adding House of Leaves to my TBR based on your review. I generally like "crazy" books :)

^If you like HoL, you will probably like his other book too Only Revolutions. They're both the perfect amount of crazy. OR plays more with semantics and sentence structure than themes in HoL.

51. Bridge to Terabithia
That was way too depressing for a children's book.

Bridge to Terabithia may be depressing, but I do love it! Made me cry every single time I read it (which was often) when I was a kid...

It was depressing. Also Where the Red Fern Grows. My teachers read both of those out loud to the class in elementary school. I sat there trying not to cry so the other kids wouldn't pick on me. The teachers cried. But I do remember both books fondly...

#83: OMG, people from my class in Grade 5 still remember our teacher reading Where the Red Fern Grows to us. That book is amazing.

I never had to read WRFG. I was in an advanced reading class that had harder reading levels. And they got really mad at me when I read anything below my reading level, which was around 11/12th in 6th grade. Middle school libraries don't, or at least didn't, have much at that level, unfortunately.

That sucks that they wouldn't let you read below your reading level! That's ridiculous, making their student miss out on the wonderful world of children's and YA literature... Grrr.

Yeah, my mom went off on my teacher one day. I had just started to like reading and they were telling me I couldn't read the books I wanted. It was a great spectacle. Plus, now I get to read a whole bunch of silly YA books in between text books. So not all bad, I guess :)

Good for your mom! I probably would've pulled my kid out of that school, or at least gotten them a different teacher, lol. I'm kind of passionate about kids books...

And really, just because your reading level is at a 11th/12th grade level, it doesn't mean that your maturity level is the same. Sixth graders don't often identify with the same type of characters or situations that a 17 year old would. I remember being in the same situation as a kid - I was too advanced for books at my age level, but too young for challenging books. I know I read a lot of adult stuff that I shouldn't have read at such a young age, and I missed out on a lot of children's classics.

Exactly. I remember reading Hamlet in 6th grade. I really liked it then, but when I had to read it for senior year I understood so much more of the subtleties and especially the comedy aspect to it. I didn't know it had funny parts to it in middle school. Or holocaust books. My choices were pretty much holocaust, Shakespeare, Anne McCaffrey, or Tolkein. I did like a lot of them then, but rereading some of them just makes me realize how much I didn't understand of them to begin with.

52. Tenth Grade Bleeds by Heather Brewer. #3 in the series and continues to become more interesting with every book.

53. The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales

54. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

Yay! This semester is almost over. . . so I will be able to read again soon, non-textbooks anyway. Here are those:
55. Media Writing by Whitaker
56. Visual Communications by Lester
57. Communicating at Work
58. Marketing Real People Real Choices
59. Business and Administrative Communication
60. Business Writer's Handbook 8th Edition by Alred

#94: No offense, but I would be bored silly if I had to read those books.

Yes, I was. . . except the marketing and vis comm ones. They had a lot of pictures :)

61. 24 Bones by Michael F. Stewart --3.5 Stars
I got this one a while back from early reviewers. Super interesting. It takes old Egyptian myth and brings it into the present via small-ish religious groups that have kept a low profile. They story surrounds a prophecy that is set to come to fruition. There's good (Shemsu Hor) and evil (Shemsu Seth) that are battling it out to retrieve pieces of the Osiris. Whoever gets it, becomes a demigod and rules the world. One of the best openings ever--during an intense ritual. Also, the characters did not end up as what I thought they would be.

You can tell the extensive research that went into this book. A lot of different Egyptian myths are incorporated, as well as, Christian myths. I've always been interested in Egyptian myths, so it was great to get some a lot of the 'basics'.

While the story was wonderful, there were a few bumpy spots. Some of the sentences were a bit awkward and needed rereading to understand exactly what was being said. It was also a bit jumpy, though out of necessity. There were several characters that needed to be incorporated, so it went back and forth with short chapters.

Overall, a good read. I liked it, but probably won't go back for a full second read.

Okay, last book read last year. . .

62. Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody

Didn't quite make 75, but that's okay. I'll just try a little harder next year :)

That's ok, congrats for making 62!