Holiday Break Reading Challenge #15

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Create a Cover is the title of today's challenge:

1 – Go to “Fake Name Generator” or clickhttp://www.fakenamegenerator.com/

 

The name that appears is your author name.

2 – Go to “Random Word Generator” or clickhttp://www.websitestyle.com/parser/randomword.shtml

The word listed under “Random Verb” is your title.

3 – Go to “FlickrCC” or click http://flickrcc.bluemountains.net/index.php

Type your title into the search box. The first photo that contains a person is your cover.

4 – Use Picnik, or something similar to put it all together. Be sure to crop and/or zoom in.


5 - Link your Book Cover using Mr. Linky.

In terms of the activity for the Reading Challenge, I’m asking the participants to create the cover and write a short synopsis to go along with it.  

 

Here is my attempt:

Kyle Brown has always felt like he is on the fringes of society. He likes it that way. Kyle is a loner, he likes living his own life without being involved with other people. Kyle's hurts run deep. Abused and abandoned as a child Kyle has been taught the "hard knocks" of life. He has decided that life on his own is better than ever being hurt again.

Kyle's life is about to change. When he encounters Jessica and her young son at the local library he soon realizes that they have nowhere to go. Kyle realizes that something needs to be done about the rising population of single mothers trying to raise young children on little or no means. When Kyle steps out of his comfort zone and attempts to do something about the problem the local media steps in. The people of the city are not happy with Kyle. They do not want "undesireables" coming into their city. Is Kyle ready to open his heart to other human beings in need by taking on City Council and the media?

Well, there you have it. That's my attempt at writing a synopsis. I'm not a writer or story teller so this was pretty difficult!

Holiday Break Reading Challenge #14

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Today's challenge is to list our Top 10 of 2010. It was so hard to choose, so I went through my reviews and picked the ones that I had given 4 or 5 hearts to.  Here are my picks:



10. BAD GIRLS DON'T DIE by Katie Alender

Isn't the cover creepy? I would have picked it up just for the cover!



9. THE TOTAL TRAGEDY OF A GIRL NAMED HAMLET by Erin Dionne

This was such a cute book. I love the cover!



8. Candor by Pam Bachors

This was a real page-turner! I don't know how many hearts I would have given it as I didn't have a rating system at the beginning of the year. But it was one of those books that stuck with me for a while after I had finished it so deserves to be on my Top 10.



7. LITTLE MERCIES by Lynn Coulter

This was a wonderful Inspirational book, non-ficti0nal. I'm usually not a non-fiction fan, but found myself needing some inspiration so this came to me at just the right time. Thanks to B&H Publishers for sending this ARC to me.



6. WORDS by Ginny L. Yttrup

This was a double winner! I loved the cover AND it was one of those books that stuck with me after I finished reading it. Even though the subject matter was heart-breaking it was a good book. Thanks again to B&H Publishers for sending this ARC to me.



5. MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins

The long-awaited finish to the Hunger Games trilogy lived up to my expectations and more! I loved it!!



4. HAVAH( THE STORY OF EVE) by Tosca Lee

A thought-provoking read to say the least. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this book. B&H Publishers were once again suppliers to my reading vice!



3. SHIVER and LINGER by Maggie Stiefvater

I had to choose both as my #3 picks. I enjoyed them both and am eagerly waiting for the 3rd book to come out...hurry please Maggie!



2. THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB SERIES by Heather Vogel Frederick

I love love love this series! I love the covers too! I read DEAR PEN-PAL and PIES AND PREJUDICE this year.





1. LET THE SUN SHINE IN by Jackie Gilmore

Imagine my surprised when I opened this book for Christmas last year! My MOM wrote this book! It is her first published book and I am so proud of her. Our family always knew she could tell good stories, but to actually get her book published was something that we all were very proud of. And it is a good story. My only problem is that she left it open for another book and I am anxiously awaiting that! Hurry up MOM!!!

So there you have it, my Top 10 of 2010. Can't wait to see what reading adventures 2011 brings!

Holiday Break Reading Challenge #13

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Today's challenge is book character best friends. Who would be your best friends if the characters were actually real?

Once again I find that I am truly an "Old Soul." When I think of book characters I always go back to my favorites as a kid. So here are my choices:

Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice, I would have been Charlotte Lucas! I love Lizzie's sassiness and her loyalty to family and trueness to herself even when she didn't really know herself that well.

Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables, I would have wanted to be her "bosom friend." Lucky Diana!

Jane Eyre, plain Jane...we would have gotten along great!

Trixie Belden and Honey Wheeler from the Trixie Belden series, I would have wanted to be part of the Bob-White club. Growing up I was envious of the characters in this series since I didn't have many friends. I always wanted to have fun adventures like this group did.

The Mother-Daughter Book Club series by Heather Vogel Frederick, I would have liked to have been in a book club like that as a young girl, but also as a mom with my girls.

So there you have it...like I said, "an old soul"

Holiday Break Reading Challenge #11

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Today's challenge is to make a sentence using books on your shelves. I went to my TBR shelve and came up with this:



My sentence: The innocent man ( tried to) escape under the forever sky (while on) lockdown( for) running on the cracks.

Holiday Break Reading Challenge #10

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Today's challenge is to post books as gifts. Did we give a book for Christmas or did we get any books for Christmas.

I sent my parents a big box for Christmas...it wasn't full of gifts for them though :( it was full of BOOKS! They were for my nieces and nephew and my sister. They are books that I had received as ARC's. So there were some grown up books and some YA books. I passed on the Vlad Todd books also. I sent my dad a book that was something about weird ways that people have died. I remember reading one of the stories about a woman who chewed her hair and finally died from a blockage of that hair in her system...nasty! But my Dad loves to read about stuff like that. So a whole book of gruesome deaths is right up his alley. I didn't receive any books for myself, which is okay with me as I have TONS to read on my TBR shelf. Ack!

We gave my oldest daughter 2 series of books that she wanted. Both series by Christian writer Lori Wick. We gave our youngest daughter one book...can't remember what it was though!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas with family and friends.

Holiday Break Reading Challenge #9

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Today's challenge is easy. Go to page 25 of the book you are currently reading then count down 25 lines and copy the sentence that is there. Here is the book I am currently reading:



Trixie Belden and the Mystery of the Whispering Witch

Page 25, line 25: "Undaunted, Bobby looked up at him and asked, "Will you tell me another story?"

Holiday Break Reading Challenge #7

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Today's challenge is titled "Busting Bookshelves" the assignment is to take pictures of our bookshelves and to tell what type of system we use to organize our shelves.

Here are my shelves:

There are 4 bookshelves in my livingroom(these pictures kind of overlap). I have them lining the wall behind 2 recliners. My husband felt a little claustrophobic at first, but he is getting used to them. There is no room in any other room of the house! I arrange my books alphabetically by author...because I am anal like that!  Here is my "To Be Read" shelf:



I found out with my last years challenge that the TBR pile is never going to shrink! But it does change quite often. I weed out those that don't look interesting anymore and then of course I am always adding to it!

I have a bookshelf in another room that has childrens books in it and then I have another bookshelf in my daughters room that has books that we both enjoy reading that I couldn't fit on the shelves in the livingroom and her closet is full of books! Ack! I have passed on my addiction to both daughters!

Holiday Break Reading Challenge #6

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Today's Holiday Break Challenge is a Waiting on Wednesday post. Choose a book that you are waiting to come out and post a picture.

Here is a book that I am waiting for: Scorpia Rising by Anthony Horowitz. It is coming out March 2011. This is the latest installment of the Alex Rider series. It is a fun series about a young boy that is kind of like James Bond. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm sure there are other books coming out that I'm sure I would love to read, but this is the one that comes to mind when I think of books that are coming out in the new year.  

Holiday Break Reading Challenge #4

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Today's activity is to find a new blog. Here is one that I found recently that has become one of my favorites:



http://edgyinspirational.blogspot.com/

This blog is run by Joy Tamsin David. I love her reviews, they are informative and catch your interest. I am a fan of all types of genre when I read, but one of my favorite genre's is Romance. Here on Joy's blog I can find good, clean-yet-edgy romance to read.

I know you only asked for one, but I have to do two! This second blog that I found is run by 5 ladies. I started following them when they introduced a holiday Santa's Sac Scavenger hunt. It was fun each day to search for the present and collect the word for the day. They had a daily winner and then wrapped it up with a large prize package give-away. I won a book on the last day of the Scavenger Hunt! I always think it is a bonus when I win! Here is their site:



http://www.bewitchedbookworms.com/

The Treasure Map of Boys by E. Lockhart

Ruby Oliver is a junior in high school. apparently the year before she had a pretty traumatic time(described in The Boyfriend List ), she lost her best friends, lost her boyfriend and had to start in therapy. Continuing on with that theme Ruby is down to pretty much 2 friends Nora and Meaghan. Ruby is still seeing a therapist, still having friend problems and still having boy issues.

Ruby is still pining away for her ex-boyfriend Jackson. When Jackson and Kim(ex best friend) break up Jackson starts flirting with Ruby. Noel is Ruby's Chem partner and guy friend. But their friendship is a bit awkward because Noel had wanted to kiss Ruby and she had told him no. Now she is wishing that she had kissed him. The problem is that Nora likes Noel and has asked Ruby to not act on her feelings for him. Then there is Gideon who is Nora's hunky older brother. There seems to be some chemistry between he and Ruby.

Things seem to go downhill for Ruby her junior year. She has a knack for drama in her life! She loses her job at the zoo, has multiple panic attacks during the week, has to get a job at a shoe store(many stinky feet), gets caught kissing Noel so consequently loses her friend Nora, she meets her therapists boyfriend while working at the shoe store which causes awkward moments during her sessions.

This was kind of a  hard book for me to get through. I guess I have forgotten all of the angst that teens go through with their boy/girl relationships. Ruby's life got a bit tedious for me. No wonder she was in therapy! There was a bit of language which usually I can overlook, but the F-word was sprinkled throughout. So when you look at the cover of the book it kind of looks like an innocent read, but the subject matter is more mature. I'll not be reading the other books in the series. BUT, if you enjoy teen drama there was plenty of that and at times humorous situations so try it!

Holiday Break Reading Challenge #2

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For Activity 2 we are to put the current book we are reading into pictures. So here goes:

The Treasure Map of Boys by e. lockhart 

Ruby Oliver is in her junior year of high school  

She is currently in noboyfriend mode because the year before she had gotten the reputation of being a slut and had lost several of her best friends.

She is seeing a therapist for panic disorders brought on from all of the angst going on with her relationships with boys and girlfriends. Her therapist assigns her the chore of making a treasure map of what her relationships are about. All Ruby can think about is her relationships with boys.



Noel is one of her best guy friends plus her Chem partner. Their relationship is a bit weird because he had asked to kiss her and she said no. She is now discovering that she really likes Noel but her friend Nora likes him and has asked her not to like him. Then there is Jackson who is Ruby's ex-boyfriend, the reason she is no longer friends with Kim. Kim stole him from Ruby. But now Kim and Jackson have broken up and Jackson is once again flirting with Ruby. And then there is Gideon, Nora's hunkey college brother. Ruby really likes him and thinks there may be some flirting going on between them. But she is still tempted by Noel.

When she is caught kissing Noel she once again is the topic of all the rumors in school and it looks like her friendship with Nora may be over

That's as far as I have gotten in the book. I'm getting pretty tired of the rollercoaster high school emotions that are going on.

Holiday Break Reading Challenge #1

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Today's Challenge is to set goals for the Christmas Break. Here are a few of mine:

1. Finish reading the Trixie Belden series. I have 10 more to go!
2. Wrap up a contest that Edifying and Edgy is having(check it out: http://www.edifyingandedgy.com/2010/11/edifying-challenges-edgy.html)
3. Enjoy family and friends!!

What are your goals? Hop on over to the Holiday Break Reading Challenge and share...it's FUN!

Holiday Break Reading Challenge

My friend Karin is hosting a Holiday Break Reading Challenge. Go sign up to participate. A winner every day.



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