Category: Challenges

Oh, bad challenge host….bad!!!  I totally forgot this was my month to host this challenge so I am two days late getting this post up and I apologize…..  thank you to klibrary on twitter who gently reminded this spacey blogger…. :O

The idea behind this 12 by 12 Reading Challenge came from two bloggers, Pizza’s Book Discussion in 2009 and FOMA’s National Just Read More Novel’s Month 2010. There will be twelve book bloggers, each hosting their own Just Read More Novel’s Month throughout 2010.

Participants can join in one, two, or all twelve of these separate reading challenges. Each month starts a brand new reading challenge. And the goal? To simply read more novels. Each of us will follow the guidelines set for January’s NaJuReMoNoMo.

The rules are whatever you want to make of them, but here are the guidelines the creator of NaJuReMoNoMo goes by:

1. Must Be A Novel. Works of fiction only, please. Memoirs, non-fiction, how-to books, and Garfield collections don’t count.

2. Memoirs Aren’t Novels. No matter how made up the story, anything ostensibly true isn’t a novel. Also known as The James Frey Rule.

3. Start and Finish in February.

4. Re-reading Doesn’t Count. Try something new. Read something by your favorite author or try an entirely new author or tackle that novel you have always wanted to read.

5. Have Fun. Nobody is grading you or paying you or judging you. Read what you like and like what you read.

Some of you had questions about the rules/guidelines. The rules are whatever you want to make of them.

If you can’t participate in this one, maybe you can in the one or more of the months ahead. Below is a list of book blogs and the month each will be host to.

J. Kaye’s Book Blog hosted February.
Alaine – Queen of Happy Endings hosted March.
One Person’s Journey Through a World of Books is hosting April.
Page Turners is hosting May.
Misfit Salon is hosting June.
Good Books & Wine is hosting July.
Bookworming in the 21st Century is hosting August.
Bibliofreak is hosting September.
Book Crazy is hosting October.
Teens Read & Write is hosting November.
My Life in not so many Words is hosting December.

For book bloggers who would like to participate, create a post for your challenge. Feel free to use the button or make your own. Please link back to this post using McKLinky so that others can find their way here.

For non-bloggers, keep a list of novels you read in April and post that list during the wrap-up post at the end of the month.

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Click here to enter your link and view the entire list of entered links…

When I thought of how to do this challenge I really liked the concept of giving up something I enjoy for one month, and putting that money aside to help someone else.  However, when it came time for me to write my post… I struggled.  Not on the cause to give to – the charities and causes I believe in are numerous and I was not at lack of ideas for that part.  I struggled on the what to give up.

I enjoy coffee, but I make it at home and hardly ever go into a coffee shop.  I am not a big pop drinker, and I am not a smoker.  I thought about giving up book purchases for a month, but wasn’t sure how to monitor that.  I don’t buy a lot of shoes.

I do however – cave in for snacks, baked chips, candy, McDonalds Hot Fudge Sundaes…..     so that is what I am giving up for a month.  Whenever I crave a snacky item…. instead of giving in, the money instead will go into a jar for the cause.  I am afraid I may scare myself with how much I may spend in a month on snacky items.

My cause for the month is going to be Wild And Free.   Wild and Free is a non-profit organization, is dedicated to the education of the public regarding wildlife and their habitat, and relieving the pain and suffering of wild animals. Professional and humane care is provided in efforts to preserve our local wildlife.  We are a non-profit organization, supported entirely by grants and donations and the many hours donated by a talented group of volunteers. Wild and Free receives no federal or state funding for any portion of our program. We provide food, shelter, medical and surgical care to orphaned or injured wildlife under permits from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for suffering and animals are no exception.   We have used Wild and Free personally twice.  One time about 4 years ago we were on our way to a football banquet for our son in a snow storm and on the highway by our driveway was a pigeon that would not fly.  I shooed him off the road so he did not get hit by a car and we went on our way.  That night when we came home he was on our back deck hiding in the leaves that had gathered under our outdoor grill.  I put on big gloves, caught him, put him in a large box in our entryway for the night and in the morning took him to Wild And Free.  They do not charge for their services, but appreciate donations.  They fixed his broken wing, and brought him back to our house when he was healed to be released.  It was an amazing experience.

I hope you will consider joining me in this challenge.  Click here for more details.

Ok ok…. before you go calling the CAA (Challenge Addicts anonymous) – hear me out.  This is a POSITIVE thing.  What Delgal’s Book Reviews has presented here, is a challenge for us to put away $1 for every book we read.  From Jan 1 – Dec 31, a buck a book put somewhere that you can not spend it.  At the end of the year you have a little bonus money for all the wonderful reads you read during the year and the money is to be used for something special for yourself.  Is it books?  A new book shelf?  Maybe it is a little pampering?  Die hard readers this could be the start to your BEA 2011 fund!  Whatever it is – it is yours for the reading!  How super fab cool is that?

So – of course I am in!  And I owe money for my January reads!  Pop in at Delgal’s Book Reviews for official details and to get signed up!  Come on!  EVERYBODY’S doing it!  🙂

In honor of the wonderful Gilmore Girl Challenge – Lisa over at Lit and Life asked me if I would do a Mini Challenge and I was honored to do so.  If you are familiar with the series (and I hope you are!)   This mother/daughter quick whit team refers to so many books…. well so many – that there is a Gilmore Girl Challenge.

Another thing they refer to almost as much as books, is movies.  Since Lisa has the book part of this Challenge well covered, I am going to take the movie part.  I think many of us who love books, also love good movies!  So here is my Challenge to you.  Over these winter months we tend to watch more tv…. SO – your task, my fellow Gilmore Girl addicts….. is to watch and review some of these wonderful choice movies!

This Challenge will start today and go through March 8, 2010.  To do this challenge you need to watch and review any of the movies on the list below.  As you do your reviews, use Mr Linky to link directly to your movie review for this mini challenge.  Be sure to link DIRECTLY to the review so I can count it.  For each review you do on the movies from the Gilmore Girls, you will receive one entry for a change to win choice – either The Gilmore Girls Soundtrack or the Coffee AT Luke’s book.

One more thing… You must be signed on for the Gilmore Girl Challenge in order to participate in this one.  What!  You are not signed up?  Well it is not too late!  Pop over and look at the challenge – the books are a wonderful selection and it is going to be a ton of fun!

The Movie List

2000 Year old man
2001
3 Days
8 mile
9 1/2 weeks
AI
Alive
All About Eve
All the President’s Men
American Gigolo
American in Paris
Amistad
An Affair to Remember
Animal House
Annie Hall
Apocaplypse Now
Arthur
Attica
Autumn in New York
Babe
Babe II
Bambi
Banger Sisters
Basic Instinct
Batman
Battlestar Galactica
Beautiful Mind
Ben Hur
Benji
Bewitched
Billy Jack
Blades of Glory
Blood on the Highway
Blue Crush
Blue Lagoon
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Bonnie & Clyde
Boogie Nights                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Boxing Helena
Breakfast Club, The
Breaking Away
Bride of Chucky
Bridge On The River Kwai
Brigadoon
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Bringing up Baby
Brokeback Mountain
Bugsy Malone
Bull Durham
Bye Bye Birdie
Byron
Cabaret
Cabin Boy
California Suite
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
Casablanca
Champ, The
Charlemagne: Holy Barbarian
Charlie’s Angel’s Full Throttle
Chico & the Man
Chinatown                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Christmas Carol (Also on the book list!)
Cinderella
Citizen Kane
Cocktail
Cocoon
Coming Home
Cool Hand Luke
Courtship of Eddie’s Father, The
Crimes & Misdemeanos                                                                                                                                                                                                               Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Crucible, The
Damned, The
Dances with Wolves
Dangerous Liasons
Das Boot
Dead Calm
Dean Martin Roast Don Rickles
Deerhunters, The
Delovely
Desperately Seeking Susan
Detective, The
Dick Tracy
Dig
Diner
Dirty Dancing
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Dog Day Afternoon
Dollhouse,The
Dr. Dolittle                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Dream A Little Dream
Driving Miss Daisy
Duece Bigalow
Dumbo
Easter Parade
Ed Wood
Edward Scissorhands
Electric Boogaloo
Endless Love
Endless Summer
Enter the Dragon
Erin Brockovich                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Everest
Exorcist, The
Fair Pentitent, The
Fame
Farenheit
Fast & the Furious, The
Fatal Attraction
Fatso
Ferris Bueller’s Day off
Fiddler on the Roof                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Field Of Dreams
Final Destination (1,2,3)
Flashdance
Fletch,
Fly, The
Footloose
For Keeps
Forty-Year-Old Virgin
Freaky Friday
Fried Green Tomatoes From Here to Eternity                                                                                                                                                                              Funny Face
Funny Girl
G.I. Jane
Gaslight Ghost                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Ghostbusters, The
GI Jane
Gigi
Girl, Interrupted
Glitter
Godfather, The
Gone with the Wind
Good Morning Vietnam
Good Night & Good Luck
Good Ship Lollipop
Goonies, The                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Graduate, The
Gray Gardens
Grease
Great Santini
Grease
Grinch Who Stole Christmas
Hairspray
Hamlet
Hannibal Lector Movies
Hardbodies
Harold & Maude
Harvey
Heathers, The
Heidi
High Noon
His Girl Friday
Hitch
Hoosiers                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Hotel Rwanda
Hudson Hawk
Ice Castles
Inconvenient Truth, An
Inherit the wind
Into the Woods
Invasion of the Bodysnatchers
Ironweed (ALSO ON THE BOOK LIST!)
Ishtar
It Happened One Night
James Bond Movies
Jarhead
Jerk, The                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Jerry McGuire
Joe vs. the Volcano
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat
Julia
Karate Kid
Ken Burns Boring Sod Documentary that I couldn’t find
Kill Bill
Kiss My Grits
Kujo
La boheme
Lady & the Tramp
Lake House, The
Last Tango in Paris
Legend of Bagger Vance, The
Les Miserables                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         License To Drive
Little House on the Prairie
Little Man Tate
Little Rascals, The
Lord of the Rings
Love in the Afternoon
Love Story
M. Night Shyamalan movies
Mad About Ballroom                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Mad Max
Magnolia
Marathon Man
March of the Penguins, The
Mary Poppins
Mask
Master & Commander
Matrix, The
Midnight Express
Midsummer Night’s Dream
Milton, John
Misery
Mission Impossible
Moment by Moment
Mommie Dearest
Money Pit, The                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Monty Python and The Holy Grail
Monster
Moose Murders
Mr. & Mrs. Bridge
Mr. Baseball
Music Man, The
Mystic Pizza
National Velvet
Nell
Network
Norma Rae
Not Without my Daughter
Officer & a Gentleman
Old Yeller
Open Water
Othello
Out of Africa                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Oxford Blues
Paper Moon
Parent Trap, The
Passion of the Christ
Philadelphia Story                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Pippi Longstocking
Pleasantville
Poseidon Adventure, The
Postman, The
Power of Myth, The                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Pretty In Pink
Primary Colors
Princess Bride, The
Producers
Psycho                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Pulp Fiction
Purple Rain
Pursuit of Happyness, The
Rainman
Rent
Reversal of Fortune
Richard III
Riding the Bus with my Sister
Risky Business
River Wild The
Rocky Horror Picture Show The
Room with a View
Rosemary’s Baby
Sabrina
Saint Elmo’s Fire
Sandra Oh
Saturday Night Fever
Saw II                                                                                                                                                                                           Say Anything
Schindler’s List
Seventh Samurai
Shaft
Shakespeare in Love
Shallow Hal
Shane
Shanghai Express
Shoah
Showgirls
Silent Movie
Silkwood
Singing in the Rain
Sixteen Candles
Sleeping Beauty
Snakes on a Plane
Snow Dogs
Sophie’s Choice
Sound of Music, The
Space Odyssey
Speed                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         St Elmos Fire                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Star Is Born
Star Wars
Sting, The
Streetcar Named Desire, A
Taboo Broadway Show
Taxi Driver
Terms of Endearment                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Thelma and Louise
Them
This is Spinal Tap
Thomas Crown Affair, The
Titanic                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   To Kill A Mockingbird (Also on the book list!)
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Turning Point
Untouchables, The
Urban Cowboy
Valley of the Dolls
View from the Top
Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Guthman
Wall Street
Way We Were, The
Welcome to the Dollhouse
West Side Story
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory                                                                                                                                                                                Witches Of Eastwick, The
Wizard of Oz
Working Girl
Xanadu
Yearling, The
Young Frankenstein
You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown

*Remember to link each movie review here – the more reviews the more chances you have to win!  Now grab your popcorn and lets get started!

Lorelai: So, apparently, I’m now the Reigning Lorelai.

Rory: Huh. I guess you are.

Lorelai: It’s a lot of responsibility.

Rory: Well, sure.

Lorelai: I mean, it’s mostly ceremonial stuff nowadays. Declaring knighthoods, opening supermarkets. But now and then, you get to banish someone or pose for a stamp.

Rory: Neat. And coins.

Lorelai: Yeah, and coins. You know, someday you’ll be the Reigning Lorelai.

Rory: I don’t like that idea!

Lorelai: Why not? You get a cape.

Rory: Because if I’m the Reigning Lorelai, then that means you’ll be gone.

Lorelai: Gone? No, not me. I’ll step down way before that. I’m not going to pull a Queen Elizabeth on you, make you wait around forever, force you to develop interests in polo and architecture.

Rory: I am scared of horses.

Lorelai: I know that.

Rory: So there’s a cape, huh?

Oh come on!  I had to!  Look at this great challenge picture!  Plus I read Thrillers and Suspense…. so I am in!  Book City Chick is hosting this challenge this year and you can peek over there for full details and signing up.  Here is the basics:

Yes it is another Challenge.  But wait!  Let me explain!  While blog hopping the other day I found my way to Socrate’s Book Reviews and this Challenge is August 15 2009 – August 15 2010.  I have actually read and listened on audio to several James Patterson lately so this is a no brainer!  It’s not to late!  Anyone care to join me?

The challenge is to read at least 10 James Patterson books in a year. You do not need to make a list of what you will read now or, if you want, you can. However, nothing is written in stone and the books you list can be changed at any time. Overlapping books with other challenges is allowed.  Stop over at Socrate’s Book Reviews for the challenge link and more details.

Game on:
1.  Run For Your Life by James Patterson (audio)

2. The Murder Of King Tut by James Patterson (audio)

3. Swimsuit by James Patterson (audio)

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If you are ever in a radio contest and you have a chance to win big bucks if you can answer the question, “What is Sheila’s all time favorite tv series”?  You will win the bucks if you answer Gilmore Girls.  I am a total Gilmore Girl addict….. to the point that:

1. I own all seven seasons and have watched them at least three times all the way through
2. I have often wished like Loreli that I could run a bed and Breakfast
3. Have paused the DVD’s to look closely at the screen to see what book Rory is reading
4. Would pack up tomorrow if I could live in Stars Hollow

Ok…. so now you know.  Gilmore Girls is my comfort show…. it plays this time of year in the background on evening that I am downstairs curled up with a blanket and my lap top…. I root for Dean…. I get angry at Jess….

ANYWAY… when I seen that Lisa from Lit and Life was hosting a Gilmore Girl Reading Challenge…. lets just say that being lab partners with Paris for three years would not have kept me from joining.  🙂

Before you think that you could not do this challenge know that the list of options (all nicely displayed at the Gilmore Girl Reading Challenge blog) are in all categories and are books you know and if you have not read – there are many you should.  You can enter the challenge at different levels….

Emily: Read 5 books from at least two different categories.
Lorelai: Read 10 books from at least three different categories.
Rory: Read 20 books from at least four different categories.

I personally am going to go for the Rory!  With choices from childrens to YA reads, to classics, to modern fiction…. these are the books we read anyway!  Go check out the post and join…. it would be great to share reviews with you!

1. Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone by JK Rowling (Children/YA Category)

2.  To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

3.  The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

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