Summer Reading Challenge Wrap Up

Okay, the Summer Reading Challenge 2010 is over. Below you will find my list, the goals I set for myself for this challenge.  I fell far short of reaching my goals.  I really thought they were doable.  I'm pondering what happened that caused this great failure.  I know this was supposed to be fun, not a lot of pressure.  I really thought I would be able to read the books on this list and write reviews for them.  The books I did get read didn't all get reviews.  If I start another book before writing my review I can't focus on the previous book well enough to write a decent review. 

So, let's see, what did I read this summer.  The books in green are the books I successfully read and reviewed.  The books in blue are the ones I read but didn't review.  The ones in red are the ones I didn't get to.
Thriller/Suspense Challenge:

Seaport Suspense Series by Kathy Herman: (forgot all about wanting to read this series, they will be on my Fall Into Reading Challenge list)

1. A Shred of Evidence


2. Eye of the Beholder


3. All Things Hidden


4. Not By Chance

Other Christian Suspense

5. Beguiled by Deeanne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand (finished 6/30)

6. The Last Christian by David Gregory





The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod by Heather Brewer

7. Eighth Grade Bites (finished (6/28)

8. Ninth Grade Slays


9. Tenth Grade Bleeds


10. Eleventh Grade Burns

(Gotta finish reading that series, the 12th grade book should be out now, or soon will be)

Nancy Drew:

11. The Mystery at Lilac Inn (review here)


12. The Secret of Shadow Ranch (reveiw here)

13. The Secret of Red Gate Farm


14. Clue in the Diary

15. Nancy's Mysterious Letter


16. The Sign of the Twisted Candles


17. Password to Larkspur Lane


18. Clue of the Broken Locket


19. The Message in the Hollow Oak


20. Mystery of the Ivory Charm


21. The Whispering Statue


22. Haunted Bridge


23. Clue of the Tapping Heels


24. Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk


25. Mystery at the Moss-Covered Mansion


26. Quest of the Missing Map


27. Clue in the Jewel Box


28. The Secret in the Old Attic


29. Clue in the Crumbling Wall


30. Mystery of the Tolling Bell

(so much for the Nancy Drew Challenge)

31. Teenage Vampire by Florence Wilson
(All I want to say about this book is that I feel it was a great attempt by a young author (I actually know the girl who wrote this, she lives in my town and is homeschooled/cyberschooled).  There were a couple of problems though.  Almost the first half of the book appeared to be a rip off of the Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer.  By the middle of the book she seems to go off on her own plot, the story takes off.  However, there are quite a few inconsistencies and mistakes that I feel a good editor should have found.  With this I would have to rate this 3 or 4 with looking at my rating system, though partway through the book it was going to get 1 or 2.)
Non-fiction (Didn't get these read for the Spring Reading Thing, or the Summer Reading Challenge, still hoping to get them read with in the next few months.)


32. Einstein Never Used Flash Cards by Kathy Kirsh-Pasek and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff


33. Better Late Than Early: A New Approach to Your Child's Education by Raymond S. Moore


34. School Can Wait by Raymond S. Moore


35. The Power of Play by David Elkind


36. Storm Warning by Billy Graham (really need to read and review this sucker)


37. The Baby Signing Book by Sara Bingham

Here are some extra books I read that were not on my list:

Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (review here) 
Time Riders by Alex Scarrow (review here) 
One by One by Gilbert Morris
How to Write (and sell) a Christian Novel (I am halfway through this book)
Shades of Blue by Karen Kingsbury

Head on over to My Book Retreat to see what others have read this summer.  Hopefully others were more successful that I was. 
 
Stay tuned for my initial Fall Into Reading post which will be linked up over at Callapidder Days.