I've compiled all of my challenge lists into one post this year. So keep scrolling if you don't see the challenge list you are looking for! The books I've completed are linked to my review.



TBR Challenge
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1. My Name is Asher Lev by: Chaim Potok
2. The Terror by: Dan Simmons
3. The Great Gatsby by: F. Scott Fitzgerald
4. The Pillars of the Earth by: Ken Follett
5. Adam by: Ted Dekker
6. Kiss by: Ted Dekker
7. Cloud Mountain by: Aimee E. Liu
8. Middlesex by: Jeffrey Eugenides
9. The Angel's Game by: Carlos Ruiz Zafon
10. Her Fearful Symmetry by: Audrey Niffenegger
11. 84, Charing Cross Road by: Helene Hanff
12. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by: David Wroblewski



YA Challenge
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1. Inkheart by: Cornelia Funke
2. Inkspell by: Cornelia Funke
3. Inkdeath by: Cornelia Funke
4. Eragon by: Christopher Paolini
5. Eldest by: Christopher Paolini
6. Brisingr by: Christopher Paolini
7. The Two Princesses of Bamarre by: Gail Carson Levine
8. Deenie by: Judy Blume
9. The Subtle Knife by: Philip Pullman
10. The Amber Spyglass by: Philip Pullman
11. River Secrets by: Shannon Hale
12.



What's in a Name? 3 challenge
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A book with a food in the title: Five Quarters of the Orange by: Joanne Harris
A book with a body of water in the title: River Secrets by: Shannon Hale
A book with a title (queen, president) in the title: The Two Princesses of Bamarre by: Gail Carson Levine
A book with a plant in the title: Girl in Hyacinth Blue by: Susan Vreeland
A book with a place name (city, country) in the title: Shanghai Girls by: Lisa See
A book with a music term in the title: Music for Chameleons by: Truman Capote




Read Your Name Challenge
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A - Adam by: Ted Dekker
N - Nineteen Minutes by: Jodi Picoult
D - Dead Until Dark by: Charlaine Harris
R - River Secrets by: Shannon Hale
E - Eragon by: Christopher Paolini
A - A Game of Thrones by: George R.R. Martin




First in a Series Challenge
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1. Inkheart by: Cornelia Funke (Inkworld Trilogy)
2. Eragon by: Christopher Paolini (The Inheritance Cycle)
3. A Game of Thrones by: George R.R. Martin (A Song of Ice and Fire)
4. Dead Until Dark by: Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse Series)
5. Last Light by: Terri Blackstock (Restoration Series)
6.

Today is my 2nd blogiversery! It feels like it was just yesterday that I started this blog although so much has happened since then. 2008 and 2009 were both crazy years...2008 in a bad way and 2009 in the best way. So I wasn't able to read as much as I would have liked either year, but hopefully I'll pick back up in 2010.

Challenges I participated in:Young Adult Challenge (finished 9 of 12)
TBR Challenge (finished 8 of 12)
What's in a Name? Challenge (finished 5 of 6)
First in a Series Challenge (finished 6 of 12)
R.I.P. IV (finished 1 of 1)


My favorites (in the order I read them):The Gargoyle by: Andrew Davidson
The Hunger Games by: Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire by: Suzanne Collins
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by: Ann Brashares
The Historian by: Elizabeth Kostova

# of books I read in 2009:38 (down from 81 in 2007 and 48 in 2008)

Least favorite:The Last Days of Dogtown by: Anita Diamant (I didn't review it)

Repeated authors:Garth Nix (3)
Shannon Hale (2)
Suzanne Collins (2)
Kristen Cashore (2)
Jodi Picoult (2)

I hope you all had a happy New Year! Let me know what challenges you're doing this year, what your favorite books were, leave me a link to your end of year review, and tell me what you think about my review. :-)

The Historian
by: Elizabeth Kostova

Published: 2005

# of pages: 720


I didn't know what to expect from this book, but I was pleased with what I discovered. This is a great classic vampire book. It isn't filled with sexuality and bad language, it's just a good suspense novel that is also a unique historical fiction book.

The story is crazy with the many different characters and how the time line jumps back and forth. However, the main character and narrator is a 16 year old girl who discovers a strange book in her father's library. After that, her life is never the same as she learns about her father's strange past that includes mystery, love, adventure, and vampires.

The book centers around Dracula and includes a lot of historical facts about the man the character Dracula is based on. The book has several settings - including America, Amsterdam, Britain, Istanbul, Romania, and Bulgaria. I wonder how many of the things mentioned in the book are true (like about the search for Dracula's tomb, historical events, etc). I also wonder how many of the places are real. Maybe they are all real, I'll have to do more research to figure it out.

The book refers to the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker regularly, so that may be worth reading before picking up this novel, but isn't necessary to read first. I also thought it was interesting that the novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy was briefly referred to, but once again, it isn't necessary to read that to understand the reference.

This is a very long book, but it mostly held my attention. I have to admit, in the 3rd quarter of the book I became a little bogged down. However, it may have been because I only had time to read it in short spurts. Maybe it wouldn't have dragged if I could have devoted longer periods of time to reading it. It was definitely worth continuing to read it though and I highly recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction and/or the vampire genre.


Other reviews:
book-a-rama


Have you reviewed this? Let me know and I'd be happy to post yours as well.

The Golden Compass
by: Philip Pullman

Graceling
by: Kristen Cashore

Challenges: 1st in a Series Challenge

Published: 2008

# of pages: 471


For some reason I had The Hunger Games in mind when I started to read this. It must be because in my LibraryThing account it always shows this as a recommendation right next to The Hunger Games. Anyway, I couldn't help but compare the two for the first few chapters, but eventually I separated them in my mind and then enjoyed this book more. I did find the similarity in the main characters' names annoying. Katniss is the heroine of The Hunger Games and Katsa is the heroine of Graceling.

Katsa lives in a world where certain people are born with a grace. It could be the grace of cooking, the grace of fighting, the grace of drawing...or the grace of killing. The last is Katsa's grace. The people with graces are called Gracelings and they are the property of the land's many rulers. Katsa may be able to kill without effort, but it doesn't mean she enjoys it. She finds ways to rebel against her uncle the king, but until she meets another Graceling one fateful night, she doesn't do anything to change her situation.

Katsa's world is turned around when she meets a handsome Graceling who invades her world. He's mysterious and is on a mission, one in which Katsa is soon caught up in. The two Gracelings seem unstoppable, but can they survive traveling across the country's rugged terrain and becoming involved in a horrifyingly evil plot?

Like I said, I had a hard time enjoying the novel at first because I kept comparing it to one of my all time favorite books, but after awhile it seemed more individual and unique. I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have if Katsa was a little more open to love. I think her romantic decisions made the book less romantic. That's not necessarily bad, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had a little more traditional romance. :-)

This is appropriate for adult lovers of fantasy and possibly some young adults as well. There's mild sex scenes and maybe some mild language (I can't remember for sure). There's obviously some violence since Katsa is skilled in killing, but it isn't descriptive or overwhelming. Overall this was a unique and interesting read, I can't wait to read the sequel (Fire).



Have you reviewed this? Let me know and I'd be happy to post yours as well.

Haunting Bombay
by: Shilpa Agarwal

Challenge: R.I.P. IV

Published: 2009

# of pages: 368


It's past the due date for the R.I.P. IV challenge, but I finished this book October 28, so I completed it within the time frame. I was just too lazy to write a review before today!

The story follows the Mittal family living in Bombay in 1960. The main character, Pinky, is a 13 year old girl who lives with her grandmother, uncle, aunt, and cousins in a bungalow that is haunted by the ghost of an infant. One night the ghost is released from the room it has been confined in for 13 years and the Mittal family is never the same.

This is a "scary" book, but it is really horrifying because of the nature of the ghost and the family's secrets. There were a few times, especially at the beginning before much is revealed, where I felt a little creeped out. However, after learning more about the family, I just felt so sad for all of them, but especially Savira. I suppose this wasn't the best book to read as the mother of an infant.

Anyway, in spite of the sadness, it was a good mystery that I kept wanting to read to find out what happened. However, I felt like it was a little choppy. The scenes kept jumping from one thing to another and there were a few parts I felt could have been left out. I found it interesting that the women in the book were all connected, but in a way that was what was a little confusing.

And I just have to say...part of the reason I enjoy reading books that take place in India or have Indian characters is because of the beautiful names! I loved the names Savira, Maji, Jaginder, Avni, Parvati.... so pretty. Haha, I just noticed several of them have Vs in them, and that's obviously something I'm drawn too (my son's name is Evan).

Anyway, I recommend this to adult readers who enjoy the Gothic genre, Indian history, or ghost stories/mysteries that are more suspense filled than scary.



Have you reviewed this? Let me know and I'd be happy to post yours as well.
book-a-rama

Chalice
by: Robin McKinley

Published: 2008

# of pages: 272


First of all I have to say, I love the cover illustration on this book! It's hard to see in the picture, but it really is gorgeous! THIS LINK takes you to the artists' website.

Other than that, I was disappointed in the book. McKinley is one of my favorite authors of all time. The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown are the 2 books that drew me into the world of fantasy. Before then I had never had a desire to read fantasy and the few fantasy books I had read I didn't enjoy because they were too unrealistic. haha! Beauty and Sunshine are 2 of my all time favorite books as well. So I had high expectations for Chalice, but I thought the narration style of the book was boring and confusing.

The story is told from the point of view of the main character, Marisol. The narrative is mainly her thoughts that ramble on and are repetitive. There isn't nearly as much dialogue in this novel as there is in most books. I felt like this really hindered my enjoyment of the story. The plot is interesting, but the narrative took away from it.

The story is about Marisol, an orphaned young woman whose world is turned upside down when the master of the estate she lives and works on as a beekeeper dies. She is chosen to be the new Chalice, cup bearer, of the new master. She is part of a circle of people who help keep the land intact with magic, otherwise it will fall apart and be destroyed.

If it isn't enough that Marisol has been thrown into this position, the new master is in an identical predicament. Both the master and Marisol work hard to keep the land together and keep the people satisfied. Everything seems to be going fine until the overlord of the lands gets involved and chooses an heir for the master to train. Things quickly go downhill and it's up to Marisol to save the day.

I appreciated the story and the magical world that McKinley created. However, I just couldn't get over the repetitiveness of the narration and the lack of dialogue. I felt that I couldn't really get to know the characters.

This book is classified as a young adult book, but I feel like it is more of an adult book. Not because the content is mature, it just isn't your typical young adult book. Even the main character is an adult, she isn't a teenager. I recommend this book to people who really love fantasy. I think the redeeming factor is the unique magic structure that is in the story, something that will appeal to lovers of the fantasy genre.



Have you reviewed this? Let me know and I'd be happy to post yours as well.

I'm starting late! However, since I'm just about to start reading a book that qualifies, I might as well join. I always mean to do this every year, but I always remember too late! Next year I'm determined to participate more.

The "rules":

"There are two simple goals to the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge:

1. Have fun reading.
2. Share that fun with others.

As I do each and every year, there are multiple levels of participation that allow you to be a part of R.I.P. IV without adding the burden of another commitment to your already busy lives.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
by: Ann Brashares

Catching Fire
by: Suzanne Collins