The Tudor Challenge-COMPLETED

Apparently the person who was hosting this challenge removed her blog! I believe I had committed to reading 9 books from the Tudor period---I ended up finishing 6.

So, for posterity's sake, if nothing else, here they are:

1. The Pirate Queen by Susan Ronald
2. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory
3. Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory
4. Royal Diaries: Elizabeth I by Kathryn Lasky
5. The Tudors by G.J. Meyer
6. The Sisters Who Would Be Queen by Leanda de Lisle

Children's Award-Winning Classics

This is the last month of Children's Award-winning Classics sponsored by 5 Minutes for Books
I have really enjoyed this monthly event focusing on children's classics as these were books I had always meant to read but now had "permission" -lol- to read them!





The Giver by Lois Lowry
This book was amazing on so many levels, I'm not sure where to begin! I liked the idea of a simple community where everything is decided for you but soon became aware of all the things we all take for granted, simple things like making our own choices about our lives. But how do you know what choices to make if you've never been allowed to make your own choices. Definitely an all-time favorite of mine...




The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelley
Another wonderful book. I like the exploration of Calpurnia's relationship with her grandfather whom she never really knew. Also Calpurnia's own exploration as she struggled to deal with her family and society's expectations of her as a young girl.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Sheila from One Persons' Journey Through A World of Books sponsors this weekly event for us to share what we are reading!

I didn't post last week so this covers two weeks!

I finished:
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks
The Sister by Poppy Adams
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

I'm currently reading:
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephanie Meyer (and like her other books, it's looking like I can't put it down for long!!)
The Sisters Who Would be Queen by Leana de Lisle (last book for the Tudor Challenge)
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (I have been bad about actually participating in the posts for the read-along but I am reading it and enjoying it!)

Waiting in the wings:
The Whole World Over by Julia Glass
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Audio Book Challenge- COMPLETED

Somehow I missed that we were supposed to write reviews of the books! Her's my list anyway since I kept track of it and listened to 20 books (actually ended up listening to almost 50!!)

1. Queen of the Underworld by Gail Godwin
2. The Pirate Queen by Susan Arnold
3. Three Junes by Julia Glass
4. Son of A Witch by Gregory Maguire
5. A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire
6. The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
7. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
8. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
9. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
10. Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani
11. The Shack by William P. Young
12. The Last Time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg
13. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Stout
14. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
15. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
16. The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
17. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
18. I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass
19. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
20. Gap Creek by Robert Morgan

Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge- COMPLETED

Home Girl Book Blog sponsored a great challenge this year encouraging us to read books from our libraries! I completed it at the Super-Size Me level, having checked out 100 books!!!
(Note: This is a combination of both my books and the books of my 8 yo son. )

1. Chicken Dance by Tammi Sauer.
2. The Pirate Queen: Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers, and the Dawn of Empire by Susan Ronald
3. Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery
4. Kilmeny of the orchard by L.M. Montgomery
5. Emily of New Moon by L. M. Montgomery.
6. Emily's Quest by L. M. Montgomery
7. Katy and the Big Snow by Viginia Lee Burton
8. Shawn Sheep the Soccer Star by Erin Mirabella
9. The Penguin and the Pea by Janet Perlman
10. Ants are Fun by Mildred Myrick
11. Jack's House by Karen Beil
12. James and the Rain by Karla Kuskin
13. Jake Gander, Storyville Detective by George McClements
14. The Mystery on Blizzard Mountain by Gertrude Chandler Warner
15. The Fattest, Tallest, Biggest Snowman Ever by Bettina Ling
16. A Giraffe and a Half by Shel Silverstein
17. Emmett's Snowball by Ned Miller
18. A Really Good Snowman by Daniel J. Mahoney
19. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr by David Adler
20. The Zebra-Riding Cowboy : a folk song from the Old West by Angela Shelf Medearis
21. Three Junes by Julia Glass
22. Explore Antarctica by Bobbie Kalman
23. M is for Meow : A Cat Alphabet by Helen L. Wilbur
24. Penguins! Strange and Wonderful by Laurence P. Pringle
25. Moon plane by Peter McCarty
26. Axle Annie by Robin Pulver
27. Millions to Measure by David M. Schwartz
28. Hit the Ball, Duck by Jez Alborough
29. Bungalow mystery by Carolyn Keene
30. When the fly flew in by Lisa Westberg Peters
31. Kermit the hermit by Bill Peet
32. Jeremy's muffler by Laura F. Nielsen
33. Brewster the Rooster by Devin Scillian
34. The Perfectly Orderly House by Ellen Kindt McKenzie
35. Bartleby Speaks! by Robin Cruise
36. Flying High by Jergen Stamp,
37. Epossumondas Plays Possum by Coleen Salley
38. Bungalow mystery by Carolyn Keene
39. The help by Kathryn Stockett
40. The St. Patrick's Day shamrock mystery by Marion M. Markham
41. Revolutionary War on Wednesday by Mary Pope Osborne
42. Cinderdog and the Wicked Stepcat by Joan Holub
43. The Everything Machine by Matt Novak
44. Bed Bouncers by Kimberley Knutson
45. The Baseball Birthday Party by Annabelle Prager
46. Sam, the Minuteman by Nathaniel Benchley
47. Johnny Appleseed Gwenyth Swain
48. Who was Harry Houdini? by Tui Sutherland
49. Who was Harriet Tubman? by Yona Zeldis McDonough
50. Mrs. McCool and the Giant Cuhullin : an Irish tale by Jessica Souhami
51. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
52. Rabbits, Rabbits, & More Rabbits! by Gail Gibbons
53. The Story of the New York Yankees by David Fischer
54. Hey batta batta swing! : the wild old days of baseball by Sally Cook
55. Rabbit surprise by Eric L. Houck
56. --if you lived at the time of the Civil War by Kay Moore
57. Lewis and Clark : explorers of the American West by Steven Kroll
58. Moe McTooth : an alley cat's tale by Eileen Spinelli
59. Double play at short by Matt Christopher.
60. Hawaii by William Russell
61. Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse by George Selden
62. The three little Hawaiian pigs and the magic shark by Donivee Martin Laird
63. High tide in Hawaii by Mary Pope Osborne
64. Martin Luther King Jr by Peter Roop
65. When Washington crossed the Delaware : a wintertime story for young patriots by Lynne V. Cheney
66. Our 50 states : a family adventure across America by Lynne V. Cheney
67. Ladybug by Emery Bernhard,
68. The bus ride by William Miller
69. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
70. The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
71. The lady in the tower : the fall of Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir
72. Elizabeth I, red roase of the House of Tudor by Kathryn Lasky
73. The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
74. Atomic Ace : (he's just my dad) by Jeff Weigel
75. Slumpbuster by Kevin Markey
76. Alvin Ho : allergic to girls, school, and other scary things by Lenore Look
77. The king's rose by Alisa M. Libby
78. Papa is a pirate by Katharina Grossman-Hensel
79. To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee
80. The Tudors [the complete story of England's most notorious dynasty] by G.J. Meyer
81. The color purple by Alice Walker
82. A monarch butterfly's life by John Himmelman
83. The Penderwicks : [a summer tale of four sisters, two rabbits, and a very interesting boy] by Jeanne Birdsall
84. Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky
85. Viking ships at sunrise by Mary Pope Osborne
86. The haunted lighthouse by Stan Berenstain
87. Oliver's game by Matt Tavares
88. Chomp! : a book about sharks by Melvin Berger
89. Fat cat : a Danish folktale by Margaret Read MacDonald
90. Down at the bottom of the deep dark sea by Rebecca Jones
91. The widower's tale by Julia Glass
92. The castaways by Elin Hilderbrand
93. What a Viking! by Mick Manning, Mick
94. Corn by Gail Gibbons
95. Number the stars by Lois Lowry
96. Lon Po Po : a Red-Riding Hood story from China by Ed Young
97. The hour I first believed : a novel by Wally Lamb
98. Books to build on : a grade-by-grade resource guide for parents and teachers edited by Hirsch, E. D
99. What your third grader needs to know : fundamentals of a good third-grade education edited by Hirsch, E. D.
100. Nantucket Nights by Elin Hilderbrand