3rd Completed Challenge

My 3rd Challenge is Completed!!!!

I joined the Spring Reading Challenge hosted by Kathleen at Rock Creek Rumbling.

Out of the 15 books that I said I would read for this challenge, I read 18!!!!! Instead of reposting all 18 books here - I am going to have a link to the Original Post that includes a list of all the books, dates I completed them, and links to my reviews.

Out of all that I read - there wasn't a bad one in the bunch!!

Thanks Kathleen for a great challenge!

2nd Completed Challenge

Finished my second challenge - except I wish I could have done a little better. You didn't have a required number of books to read - but I thought I would get more done in May. I guess with mid-terms and two major projects getting in the way I didn't do too bad.

Thanks to MaryP for hosting The Book Binge Challenge. I completed 3 books:

1. The Choice by Nicholas Sparks - 5/8/08
2. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield - 5/18/08
3. Summer at Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs - 5/20/08

Links to all my reviews are here.

This was a fun challenge and I'm glad that I participated.

Series Challenge Season 2

I borrowed this button from Joy at Thoughts of Joy because the new Series Challenge doesn't have a button and I thought this was cute!

I am joining the Series Challenge Season 2 because there are numerous series that I want to get caught up and I thought this would be a fun way to do it. It is being hosted by Crazy Cozy Murders.

There is no set number of books. All you have to do is get up-to-date on one of the series that you are reading. It runs from June 1, 2008 to November 30, 2008.

I have a lot of series that I am working on but only a few that I might be able to get up-to-date by the end of this challenge.

So here is the list that I am going to work on:

Charlaine Harris
Harper Connelly
#2 Grave Surprise
#3 An Ice Cold Grave

Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick
The Arcane Society
#3 Sizzle and Burn
#4 The Third Circle (2008)

I will see how this goes and if I complete these quickly, I will choose another series to work on.

Celebrate the Author - Susan Wiggs

It's May and time to Celebrate another Author!! This month I chose Susan Wiggs.



To celebrate her birthday, I read Summer at Willow Lake. I found this an engaging story that revolves around a love gone wrong, family dysfunctions, redemption, and filled with believable characters.

Susan Wigg's has a way of portraying the dynamics between lovers, family members, and friends that appeals to every reader.

You can read my full reveiw here.

Rating: 3.75/5

Pages: 534 (Paperback)

Completed: 5/20/08

Southern Reading Challenge 2008

Hey, guess what!!!

I decided to join another reading challenge - I think I need to go to Challenges Anonymous. LOL.

It is the Southern Reading Challenge that began May 15 and runs through August 15. It is being hosted by Maggie at Maggie Reads. The rules are easy. Read THREE southern setting books by southern authors in THREE months. The books have to be set in the south and written by authors who are from the south. I already have my three picked out:

Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris Completed 6/6/08; Review
Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

What a fascinating, engaging, and gripping novel. I was totally captivated by this book. It is a tale of a Gothic mansion called Angelfield, the willful Isabelle, the twins Adeline and Emmeline, ghosts, a governess, and a devestating fire.

A young woman, Margaret Lea, is commissioned to write the biography of Vida Winter, an aging author who has hidden her life from the public eye. Margaret surrenders to the power of Miss Winter's storytelling but remains suspicious of her sincerity.

Quote from the book synopsis: "She [Margaret] demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming finally, transformed by the truth themselves."


You can read my full review here.

Rating: 5/5
Pages: 406
Completed: 5/18/08

The Choice - Nicholas Sparks

What a wonderful story. Once again Nicholas Sparks has enraptured me with his writing. The Choice raises some tough questions, makes you take stock and look at your beliefs and even goes so far as to ask the question - How far should you go to keep the hope of love alive?

You can read my full review here.

Rating: 4/5
Pages: 272
Completed: 5/8/08

Wind-up Book Chronicle 2008

This challenge is being hosted by 3M at 1morechapter. This is a great challenge for me to belong to as I have a habit of starting books and then not finishing them because another one looks so good I have to start it too.

The rules of the challenge are that you choose a minimum of 3 books that you have started (read 50 or more pages) before May 1 but haven't finished yet. It can overlap with other challenges and you can change your list but the book has to have been started before May 1. This Challenge runs from May 15 till November 15, 2008.

Here is my list:

1. Summer at Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs 5/20/08; Review
2. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
3. Carolina Moon by Nora Roberts
4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
5. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield 5/18/08; Review

Book Binge Challenge

COMPLETED 5/31/08

Another Day, Another Challenge. Only this one is really, really easy. All I have to do is record the number of books I read from May 5, 2008 to June 1, 2008. No lists, no categories, nothing - just a list of books that I have read this month.

So I'm in - I'm in!!!

1. The Choice - Nicholas Sparks 5/8/08; Review
2. The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield 5/18/08; Review
3. Summer at Willow Lake - Susan Wiggs 5/20/08; Review

The Summerhouse - Jude Deveraux

Well, I tried another Jude Deveraux book (thanks to Walking on Sunshine). I have to say that this book made me laugh, cry, wish for a second chance, and hope for the future. Leslie, Madison, and Ellie each get a chance to discover what would happen if they had chosen a different path in their lives when they were twenty-one. Would they finally find their heart's desire or would they choose the life they have now?

While I know that going back is impossible, going forward doesn't necessarily mean to go forward on the path we are on now. The future holds our hopes and dreams and we can change what we are today to what we want to be tomorrow. This book made me take stock of my life, my choices, my hopes, and my dreams. I have come to realize that, though I can't change the past, I need to make a few changes in order to have the future that I want.

Jude Deveraux writes the three individual stories with fascinating detail. However, she ties all three stories together to keep with the main focus of the book. This was a thought-provoking and entertainingly great read!!!


You can read my full review here.

Rating: 4/5
Pages: 362
Completed: 5/1/08

1st Completed Challenge!

My first completed challenge!!! Thank you Jenn at The Book Zone for hosting the 2NEW2U Challenge. I had a fantastic time reading new authors (and I have started some new series as well - LOL).

Here are the authors that I have read with links to my reviews:

1. Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death - M.C. Beaton

Finished 3/14/08 - Review

2. Never Change - Elizabeth Berg

Finished 4/13/08 - Review

3. H.P. and the Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling

Finished 2/8/08 - Review

4. Dead Perfect - Amanda Ashley

Finished 3/12/08 - Review

5. Light of the Moon - Luanne Rice

Finished 4/2/08 - Review

6. The Smoke Thief - Shana Abe

Finished 4/15/08 - Review

7. Twilight - Stephenie Meyer

Finished 4/9/08 - Review

I rated all these books either 4 or above. If I had to pick my favorite, I would choose Light of the Moon by Luanne Rice with Never Change by Elizabeth Berg a very very close second.

All of these authors are on my list to read more of their books. I enjoyed this challenge so much that I hope that they have another one just like it. Thanks again, Jenn.