October 2008 Summation

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Here is an abstract of my literary doings in October.

Books Read

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman - 10/8/2008
The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood - 10/13/2008
An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green - 10/20/2008
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows - 10/21/2008
Midnight Sun, by Stephenie Meyer - 10/23/2008
Rue de la Pompe, by James Earle McCracken - 10/28/2008
The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield - 10/29/2008
Coraline, by Neil Gaiman - 10/29/2008

October Total = 8
Year-to-Date Total =71

One five-star book this month: The Handmaid’s Tale. Lots of excellent four-star reads this month too: An Abundance of Katherines, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Midnight Sun, The Thirteenth Tale, and Coraline. My pick of the month has to be An Abundance of Katherines. I know it got four stars, not five, but this is the book I’ll be rereading the most. Love the John Green.

Book Club

Bleak House, by Charles Dickens - Meeting: 10/23/2008

No one finished this month’s selection, so we continued the discussion to our next meeting.

Challenges

Ah, the cyclical challenge update. I completed the R.I.P. Challenge this month - barely. I finished up The Thirteenth Tale and Coraline on the 29th in order to complete my four books. I joined the Really Old Classics Challenge and am looking forward to my selections. At the same time, I quit the Wind-Up Book Chronicles Challenge. It ends on November 15, 2008, and I haven’t read a single one of my four selections. Sigh. Finally, I couldn’t resist adding another perpetual challenge - the Printz Project.

R.I.P. III - 4/4 COMPLETE!
The Wind-Up Book Chronicles Challenge - 0/4 [ends 11/15/2008]
The Classics Challenge 2008 - 1/6 [ends 12/31/2008]
Lit Flicks Challenge - 5/5 books; 2/5 movies [ends 2/28/2009]
Book Awards II Challenge - 4/10 [ends 6/1/2009]
Really Old Classics Challenge - 0/2 [ends 7/31/2009]

The Pulitzer Project - 7/91 [perpetual]
The Printz Project - 1/8 (+2 Honor books) [perpetual]
The Newbery Project - 12/87 (+7 Honor books) [perpetual]

Miscellany

• The Lit Flicks Challenge is concluding its second month. You can still sign-up and win prizes every month!
• I reviewed two movies for the Lit Flicks Challenge: Rebecca and City of Ember.
• I won The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield from Lisa @ Books Lists Life in celebration of her first Sunday Salon post. Thanks, Lisa!
• I won Sailing Alone Around the Room, by Billy Collins from unfinishedperson @ Just a (Reading) Fool in celebration of his 200th post. Thanks and congratulations, unfinishedperson!
• I created a new Blue Leaf: The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows. All of the Blue Leafs available for download can be found here.
• I participated (for 15 whole minutes) in the 24-hour Read-a-Thon, hosted by Dewey.
• I hosted one blog tour stop this month: Rue de la Pompe, by James Earle McCracken.
• I submitted an entry in this month’s Bookworm Carnival.
• And, as always, I participated in Booking Through Thursday and Weekly Geeks.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by my blog this month!