Non-fiction Five - DONE

1. Read 5 non-fiction books during the months of May - September, 2008

2. Read at least one non-fiction book that is different from your other choices (i.e.: 4 memoirs and 1 self-help)

My books:
* No Compromise - Melody Green (Biography)
* Long Walk to Freedom - Nelson Mandela (Autobiography)
* The Alpine Path - L.M. Montgomery (Biography)
* Wild Swans - Jung Chang (Memoir)
* The Five Love Languages - Gary Chapman (inspirational)

Another Blooming Challenge x2 - DONE?

More cool challenges are coming up, so here we go again :-)
Here's flower-themed challenge to get you in the spirit of the season.

1. The challenge will run from March 20, 2008 - June 20, 2008.
2. You can choose one of the four levels (or participate in several levels!)
3. You can cross-post with other challenges. You can even count the same book for different levels in this challenge!

You can see all the levels at the original challenge. I'm going for the bud-vase (DONE) and/or bouquet (DONE).

Books:
Biggest disappointment: The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
Favourite read: The Primrose Way - Jackie French Koller
Whitethorn Woods - Maeve Binchy
Wild Mountain Thyme - Rosamunde Pilcher

Extra credit:
Rose in Bloom - L. M. Alcott
Flowers in the Rain - Rosamunde Pilcher

(If I get the two 'extra credit' read I qualify for the Garden challenge as well.)

f2f - Phillip Finch

While waiting for the Spring Reading Challenge starts, I'm catching up on some of my rereads. Weirdly enough f2f wasn't nearly as good as I remembered it, but never mind. Still a quick read :-)

Looking Forward - Marcia Willett

Marcia Willett reads a lot like Rosamunde Pilcher, so Looking Forward made for a very enjoyable and relaxing read.

D.E.A.R. challenge - DONE

The D.E.A.R. challenge starts today for level 4 participants, so I figured it was time to post about it here :)

What is National D.E.A.R. Day? (which has just become International as D.E.A.R. stands for Drop Everything and Read. National D.E.A.R. Day is a special reading celebration to remind and encourage families to make reading together on a daily basis a family priority.

Level One: Commit to reading 30 minutes on D.E.A.R. day, April 12, 2008. It's a Saturday in case you're wondering.
Level Two: Commit to reading 30 minutes per day for three days. April 11, 2008 - April 13, 2008.
Level Three: Commit to reading 30 minutes per day for an entire week. April 6, 2008 - April 12, 2008.
Level Four: Commit to reading 30 minutes per day for an entire month. March 12, 2008 - April 12, 2008.

It can come as no surprise to you, that I've signed up for level 4. For the next month I will try to remember to write down exactly how much time I've spent reading each day. I won't be posting daily updates here, but will probably make a post with the grand total.

Edit April 13th: Well, I forgot to keep track of how long I read each day after the initial half hour was passed, but I easily made 30 mins each day - most days lots more.

Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank

I've read Diary of a Young Girl several times before, but for some reason it made me really depressed and restless this time. I think it's time for me to read something not ww2 related.

Spring Reading Thing - Done!

It will probably come as no surprise that I'm signing up for a Spring Reading Challenge.

Who: Anyone! Everyone! If you read, you can join :)

What: Spring Reading Thing 2008 is a casual, low-pressure challenge. There is no required number of reads to 'reach'. Just make a list of books you'd like to read (or books you'd like to finish!) this spring.

When: I bet you can guess: Spring 2008. The official dates are March 20th through June 19th.

As per usual the challenge runs for 13 weeks, so I'm picking 13 books to read for it:

• The Red Tent - Anita Diamant
  
• The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
  
• Pope Joan - Donna W. Cross
  
• Mathilda - Roald Dahl
  
• Seven For A Secret - Victoria Holt
  
• Mrs. Darcy's Dilemma - Diana Birchall
  
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne
  
• Wild Swans - Jung Chang
  
• No Compromise - Melody Green
  
• The No 1. Ladies Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith
  
• The Clan of the Cave Bears - Jean M. Auel
  
• Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
  
• The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
  

The Hiding Place - Corrie ten Boom

The Hiding Place was one of the first books I ever read about World War 2, and it still stands to me as one of the most important books to read on the subject, in order to remember that God is present - even when we cannot see Him.

Evacuation Plan - Joe M. O'Connell

Unfortunately Evacuation Plan was quite a disappointment, so it'll be going straight up on my bookmooch list. But at least it still counts for a book read :-D

Helvedet - og en kærlig Gud - Claus Tondering

Helvedet - og en kærlig Gud (Hell - and a Loving God) is an amazing book of how to unite the belief in God's love with the reality of Hell. I've learned a LOT from it.

Spiritual Reading Challenge - DONE

Yeah, I figured it was time to sign up for another challenge ;) The Spiritual Reading Challenge runs from March 1st to June 1st. The goal is to read three books with a spiritual theme in that timeframe.

My books are:
* Celebration of Discipline - Richard Foster
* No Compromise, The Life Story of Keith Green - Melody Green
* Hell and a Loving God - Claus Tondering

The Princess and the Goblin - George MacDonald

The Princess and the Goblin is a sweet fairytale, but I would probably have enjoyed it more, had I read it when I was the target age.

The Enchanted Castle - Edith Nesbit

I finished The Enchanted Castle by Edith Nesbit yesterday on my way home from work. Very sweet and charming novel :)

Seduced by a Spy - Andrea Pickens

It's been some time since I posted last. Not because I haven't been reading, but because I've been reading non-challenge stuff. Yes, there's time for that as well :-D However, now I'm back on track with Seduced by a Spy - a wonderful regency novel I read for the 888 challenge.

Sweet Valley High 2: Secrets

The first SVH of the year read and snarked at 1Bruce1. Probably only interesting to read if you already know the Sweet Valley universe.

The Emerald City of Oz - L. Frank Baum

The Emerald City of Oz is the last 'real' book of Oz... or at least the one L. Frank Baum himself intended to be the last, so I'll end my foray into Oz here as well. They were charming books, but not entertaining enough that I feel any need to continue my visits there.

Anybody Out There? - Marian Keyes

I always enjoy reading about the Walsh-sisters, and fortunately Anybody Out There? was no exception. Highly recommendable.

Anatomy of a Boyfriend - Daria Snadowsky

I finished Anatomy of a Boyfriend over the weekend - would have liked it a LOT more if it hadn't been aimed at teenagers. I'm not usually a prude, but this book handled sex much too casually to be appropriate for somebody that age.

The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper

I think my expectations had probably been raised too much about The Dark is Rising, because unfortunately I ended up quite disappointed. It's okay, but not as amazing as I'd been lead to believe.

Stolen Lives - Malika Oufkir

Stolen Lives absolutely blew me away. I highly recommend it, even if it is disturbing reading. See my review for details.