Fall Into Reading



Well, looking at my book list from the summer reading challenge I realize I need to set more realistic goals.  Obviously the baby isn't going to let me get a lot of reading done.  And my bedtime reading is not happening

1) because Hannah sleeps in our room and I can't have the light on

2)I am on my blog til all hours.

So I am going to create a whole new list with the books I am interested in reading right now. 

1- Masquerade by  Nancy Moser

2- Before I Wake by Dee Henderson (thriller/suspense challenge)

3- A Shred of Evidence  by Kathy Herman(t/s)

4- Eye of the Beholder by Kathy Herman(t/s)

5- All Things Hidden by Kathy Herman(t/s)

6- Not By Chance by Kathy Herman(t/s)

7- And Then There Were Two by Gilbert Morris (t/s)

8- Nancy's Mysterious Letter by Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew)

9- The Sign of the Twisted Candles by Carolyn Keene (ND)

10- Password to Larkspur Lane by Carolyn Keene (ND)

11- The Honorable Imposter by Gilbert Morris

12- Queen Esther and the Second Graders of Doom by Allie Pleiter

13- How to Write (and sell) A Christan Novel by Gilbert Morris

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

15- Storm Warning by Billy Graham

I am also trying to finish Harry Potter before the movie comes out


16- Order of the Phoenix
17- Half Blood Prince
18- Deathly Hallows

And last but not least-
19- New Moon (again. It's been awhile since I reread this one. Definitely the movie didn't do it justice)

There, that looks a little more realistic.  To see what others are challenging themselves to read this fall or to join in yourself, head on over to Callapidder Days.  To be eligible for any prizes you need to be signed up by midnight Sept 24th.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
•Grab your current read

•Open to a random page

•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

•Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
 
My Teaser Tuesday this week is from the book I am reviewing for Bethany House, Masquerade by Nancy Moser.  It is also the same book MizB shared a teaser from.
 
p. 53 "The events of the night rushed back to her: cough, Mother, doctor.  She last remembered sitting in a chair outside her Mother's bedroom, vowing to stay awake in case she was needed."

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.

Friday 56: September 17th

Friday 56 hosted by Tonya, over at Storytime With Tonya and Friends.




Rules:

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.

* Turn to page 56.

* Find the fifth sentence.

* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blogor (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.

*Post a link along with your post back to this blog.

* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

My closest book is Time Riders by Alex Scarrow seeing as I just wrote a review for it.  Here is my Friday 56:
 
"'No, it's an artificial.' Foster said. 'Grown from engineered human genetic data.'
Liam shrugged; the word 'genetic'meant absolutely nothing to him, but he was reassured by Foster's answer that he wasn't looking at a real child floating like a pickled egg in a vinegar jar."
 
on to Friday Finds hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS! 

I received my review copy of Masquerade by  Nancy Moser from Bethany House this past week and I am looking forward to reading it.  It has the feel of The Prince and the Pauper, with places being switched between a rich young lady who wants some freedom and her maid who agrees to go to the man her mistress is pledged to be married to.
 
When we were at the thrift shop I also found two interesting books
You Be the Jury: Courtroom V by Marvin Miller.  There are ten courtroom mysteries for the reader to decide.  Just a fun book I figured.
 
Queen Esther and the Second Graders of Doom by Allie Pleiter. 

Review: Time Riders

I found the book Time Riders by Alex Scarrow on the new book shelf at our town library.  I was immediately drawn to the book because I love time travel.  My favorite Star Trek episodes (either movie or series) are the ones that involve time travel and Back to the Future is one of our favorite movies.  Even with all those silly paradoxes that my mind keeps getting all twisted up in.  This book looked very promising.

This book centers around three teenagers who were destined to die in terrible tragedies but were spared that fate by taking the hand of a stranger from the future.  When Foster shows up seconds prior to their demise they are given two choices, join him and the agency called Time Riders or die the death they are about to die.  Liam, Maddy and Sal choose to follow him and find themselves in a different time preparing to enter training to become protectors of time.  They discover they are chosen for certain skills they have. They are joined by one more unique member of their team and begin their training.  Before long they notice a shift in time and, even though they don't feel ready, need to discover when the time line changed so they can change it back. 

I have to tell you, I had a hard time putting this book down.  It was very action packed and suspensful.  What is going to happen to the team members left in the field office where the earth they are now on is no where like the one they had gotten used to, the real timeline, while their team memebers are back in time trying find out what went wrong?  However, I did feel there were parts of this book that didn't mesh quite right.  In their training they go to a certain event in history and prevent it from happening, which changes the future where the other team members are sitting looking for any slight changes.  Supposedly the agency uses this time period because the events are "self correcting." The problem I have with this is, if the events are going to correct themselves in the real timeline, why would the prevention of the first act make any changes in the future. 

I loved the different scenes/time periods we find the characters in.  The reader gets to see quick glances of several important dates in history.  Yet I feel the characters could have been better developed.  I didn't get that emotional attachment I like to get when I am crazy about a book.  Another illogical piece of the plot involves the angency.  If there are other teams out and about, why don't they work together to rectify problems, wouldn't they have noticed the change too.  Some of the other things I found confusing are just related to the fact that any time travel story is going to end up with paradoxes, so I won't worry about them. 

Warning to parents, there is battle fighting in the story with descriptions of some bloody acts.  And there is some minor language, nothing too intense though. 

I will have to give this book 4 stars, it is a great story but needs some tweaking.  I believe there are going to be more books in this series, which I will be greatly anticipating.  Hopefully we will get to know the characters better and have some things explained.

I did like the fact that 9/11 plays a role in this book. 

Musing Monday and Teaser Tuesday

MizB over at Should Be Reading hosts both:

and

It has been a while since I linked up to these, so of course at 2 in the morning I decide to play along.  Because it is so late I did decide posting together would save some time.

This week’s musing asks…

Where do you buy / get most of your books?

I would have to say the majority of my books come from the library as we just don't have the cash to go out and buy books.  I love to read, but to own all the books I read would be crazy.  (You wouldn't know I read lots of books the way my challenges this summer have been going, oh well)  Besides, we wouldn't have the room to store them.  I figure they will most likely be at the library if I want to read them again.
I do, however, find books at the thrift shop occasionally.  Sometimes I purchase them for the church library, other times they are for me.  Can't go wrong at 10-25 cents a piece.  Of course these are all older books.  But I have found some great classics this way, great for the homeschool book shelves.
My 3rd source of books, which is only just starting up, is getting them through book review offers from publishers, like Book Sneeze and Bethany House.  Once again, they may end up in the church library though.

Now for Teaser Tuesday.  This book was found at the library in town (I usually go to the one in the nearby town because it is bigger and their interlibrary loan program and the availability of their books is so much better) It is an intriguing new young adult book called Time Riders by Alex Scarrow.  I love time travel books and movies, so I picked it up and I have to tell you, I have had a hard time putting it down.

page 122 "Foster nodded. 'Tonight is special,' he said. 'I always think of this evening as the last one of the "old" New York."

Friday Fun September 10, 2010

Well, I sort of took a week off, not just from this blog, but from reading as well.  I was busy preparing our lessons for our homeschooling journey this year.  You can find details of this week's success at my homeschool blog, just click on the button to the left.
I will also be sharing book reviews of the books I read to the girls.  These will be on my homescool blog and linked up each week to What My Child Is Reading over at Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns.
However, this is my book blog and it is Friday, so it is now time to link up to Book Blogger Hop hosted by Jennifer at Crazy-For-Books

RULES:

1.  Enter your book blog link in the Linky List at Crazy-For-Books

In your link, please state the main genre that you review:  eclectic, contemp. fiction, ya, paranormal, mystery, non-fiction, etc.  Please do not list every genre you review - if you are review a variety, please put eclectic!  The Hop gets jumbled up if the title is too long, so please limit to one genre.  I will be limiting the number of characters in the title to ensure the Hop doesn't look messy!  Thank you!

Example:  Crazy-for-Books (literary fiction)
NOTE:   You no longer have to enter the length of time you've been blogging, but do let us know if this is your first time hopping with us!

2. Post about the Hop on your blog.  Spread the word about the book party!  The more the merrier!  In your blog post, answer the following question (new question each week!).  If you have a suggestion for a future HOP question, click here to fill out the form!  Thanks!

This week's question/topic comes from: Anne @ My Head Is Full of Books

Post a link to a favorite post or book review that you have written in the past three months.

3.  Visit other blogs in the Linky List!  Make new friends!  Follow new book bloggers!  Talk about books!  Rave about authors!  Take the time to make a quality visit!  Check out other posts and content, make a new friend!  Don't randomly follow someone if you never intend on actually following them!  No spamming please!  (Please do not leave your link and not visit other blogs - it's just not cool and not in the spirit of the Hop!)


And just as an FYI - this event is not something you should feel that you have to participate in every week.  If you want to join in and link up once a month, GREAT!  It's up to you how often you participate!

So, have fun HOPPING and enjoy your BOOK PARTY weekend!!!

Here are two links in response to this week's topic.  One is my favorite Christian book review, the other is my favorite young adult book review.

Day of Reckoning was my favorite book in the Baxter Series by Kathy Herman.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner was a eagerly awaited book in our house.  It is written by Stephanie Meyer, author of the Twilight series.

Now, onto Friday 56 hosted by Tonya, over at Storytime With Tonya and Friends.

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blogor (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
*Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Time to go find a book.

The book closest to me was the book we are going to be using for our math curriculum.  Count on Math: activities for small hands and lively minds by Pam Schiller and Lynne Peterson. 

"Just as children need vocabulary to describe attributes, they also need vocabulary to describe position, direction and relationships.  Children will use this vocabulary and the corresponding conceptual awareness when they classify and order materials."