2013 Where Are You Reading? Challenge
What is the point of this challenge? It is to try to read in each of the 50 States between January 1 2013 – December 31, 2013.
How do you decide what state a book is categorized under?
1. In a fiction read it would be the State or Country that the book spends the most time in. (Ie. If your main character is from Wisconsin but the book is all about his/her time in college in California – the books should categorize under California….)
2. Non fiction reads categorize in whatever State or Country it is about (Ie…. a book about fly fishing in Colorado is a Colorado point, and a book about women in Afghanistan is an Afghanistan point.
3. If the book goes from one state to another… go with the state that most of the time is spent.
How to get started
Set up a map under Google Maps. It is easy to do! Every time you read a book in 2012, upload a cover picture to Picasa Web Albums (there may be other sites to use, feel free to use what works best for you).
For those who have covered the 50 states by the end of 2013, they will go into a drawing for a $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble or to Amazon. ** All other areas beyond the 50 states are bonus points and we will have a drawing using random.org for those who read 10 or more books throughout 2013 in that category.That’s it!
Here is a link to tips on how to do it. Any other questions – please leave them in the comments section below.
I can’t wait to see WHERE You Are Reading!
2013 Tea & Books Reading Challenge
This challenge was inspired by C.S. Lewis' famous words, "You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me."
Welcome to the second edition of the TEA & BOOKS Reading Challenge! Once again, you better settle in with a large cup of tea, because in this challenge you will only get to read ... books with more than 650 pages!
Here goes ...
You may pick both fiction and non fiction books!
Contrary to last year short story collections, anthologies or collected works in one volume are now allowed!
Re-reads will now also be ok (though preferably you should read one of those unread tomes that have been collecting dust on your shelves)!
Last year you had to read 700+ pages but I reduced this to 650+ for 2013 (and no, this is not further negotiable)!
And as a little incentive - books with more than 1.200 pages will count for two books (so theoretically you can read four such super-chunksters to reach the Sencha Connoisseur level)!
Last but not least - no large print editions of a book, please!
Are you ready? Go ahead and pick your level!
2 Books - Chamomile Lover
4 Books - Berry Tea Devotee
6 Books - Earl Grey Aficionado
8 or more Books - Sencha Connoisseur
2013 This isn't Fiction Reading Challenge
All non fiction genres are allowed!
Books must be at least 100 pages long (excluding appendix and annotations)!
Books must be read in their entirety and not just in part (which consequently excludes encyclopedias, then again who in their right mind would want to read one of those from beginning to end)!
No picture heavy books - you're supposed to read not just look at pretty photos (that said, books should have a 75:25 text/picture ratio - if it's a big tome with 300 or more pages, then it may be a 50:50 ratio)!
ARCs and re-reads are allowed!
So, what's it going to be for you?
5 Books - Kindergarden
10 Books - Elementary School
15 Books - High School
20 or more Books - College
The Third Wheel
By Alison DeLuca
In my book The Night Watchman Express, there is a girl and a boy. And then there is another boy – the third wheel.
Miriam and Simon don’t like each other, but there seems to be a bit of tension between them that could go a completely different way. Meanwhile, Neil is friends with both, but he is a background figure. Until, that is, he goes out on his own adventure.
As I introduced Neil, he was a way to show that Simon, the rich, good-looking, spoilt only son had a good. In an upper-class school, Neil was poor and wore glasses. He was tall, and thin, and he had no friends except for Simon.
As the action progressed, I really began to like Neil. He and Simon had a great friendship; they made fun of each other like any boys would (except for the fact that they lived in the Edwardian era.)
A grin spread over Simon’s face. He picked up his own pillow and threw it at Neil’s face.
“What? What happened? What?!” Neil sat up in bed, looking wildly around the room.
Simon fell on the larger bed where he had slept the night before, overcome with his own wit. “It was me, you idiot!” he gasped. “You should have seen –” Words failed him, and he doubled over again.
Neil got out of bed, trying to look as dignified as one possibly can in pyjamas. “Oh, very funny – if you are six years old,” he said.
So, when Miriam and Simon got kidnapped on the sinister Night Watchman train, it was Neil who got dispatched to help them. In a twist of events, he ended up on an island, where he ran into an entirely new cast of characters.
As he negotiated a very difficult, energetic girl called Riki as well as a harrowing rescue, I found that I liked Neil more and more. He was intelligent and humble, but he wouldn’t put up with nonsense either. He had a great sense of humor, and he brought out the best in Riki.
“Where did you learn to speak English so well?”
“We all learn English,” Riki said around a large wad of sweet roll. The crumbs blew out of her mouth as she spoke. “So you’re poor, huh?”
“Yes, I told you that already. Stop going on about it, would you?”
She swallowed. “Well, don’t worry. When you and I get married, you’ll be rich.”
Neil shot to his feet and dropped his sandwich onto the beach below, where it was picked up by a triumphant gull. “When we what?” he repeated in a strangled voice.
“When you marry me.” Riki smiled at him and swallowed the last of her sweet roll.
He huffed, catching his breath, and finally managed to say, “Oh, no, I’m not marrying you. No-ho. Mhp-hm.”
She looked up at him in astonishment. “You mean, you don’t want to marry me? Why not?”
“Because,” he responded, “you are, without a doubt, the rudest, most ill-mannered girl I have ever met in my entire life.”
In fact, he and Riki began to develop their own relationship. Despite (or perhaps because of) his poor background he was a very strong character. He was able to convince stubborn individuals such as Riki’s father and brothers.
I’ve had very different reactions to the section in Night Watchman about Neil. Some people are perplexed about the change. Others love the story about the poor son of a fisherman, who is only able to go to school because he has a scholarship, and who chucks it all to go and help his friends.
He is the third wheel – and yet the Express couldn’t move without him.
Miriam Pearson’s father has died. Her guardians, The Marchpanes, take over her house and her father’s company. The strong-willed girl instantly clashes with their son, Simon. The Marchpanes hire a governess, Mana, to take care of her. Mana is black, and has magic powers. She and Miriam eventually become friends. With Simon and Neil, his friend, they uncover a plot by the sinister Barbara Cantwell to use Miriam’s father’s company for evil means. Barbara is very beautiful, and at first, Simon is very attracted to her.
Once Barbara realizes that Miriam and Mana are on to her scheme, she forces the guardians to fire the governess. Mana is hustled out of the house by the Marchpanes, but Miriam, Neil and Simon follow her to the Night Watchman Express. However, Miriam and Simon are captured and put on the Night Watchman, bound for a sinister destination. Mana is loaded onto a boat headed to Big Star Island.
Neil manages to steal a boat and follow Mana’s captors to the island. A native girl, Riki, rescues him and brings him to her house. She is spoiled and her mother has no control over her, but Neil manages to become her friend. Her father forces him to stay with the family so Neil can be Riki’s companion and manage her wild behavior.
Neil learns about Atol, the king of the island, who seized power after the last monarch was killed. Atol is plotting with Barbara Cantwell to force the islands to produce drugs instead of bolemor wood, and he is also shipping his people out for use in human experiments. Neil discovers that Mana is the rightful queen of the island, and is being held by Atol. Neil and Riki manage to rescue Mana, and they head back to the mainland to look for Simon and Miriam.
Miriam and Simon are imprisoned on the Night Watchman Express, heading for the Devil’s Kitchen. It is a huge, dirty factory where the prisoners process the drug imported from the island. Simon tries to fight the guards and is hauled away to a huge, strange house belonging to Barbara Cantwell.
Miriam is forced to live in a cell and work underground under the fearsome Headmistress and Headmaster, who run the factory. Meanwhile, Mana and Neil arrive and start searching for their friends.
Simon wakes up in Barbara’s house and undergoes torture. He manages to gain her trust by pretending to be on her side. Eventually he is rescued by Mana. Miriam is about to be punished by the Headmistress and Headmaster when Mana and Simon arrive and rescues her. Barbara tries to kill Mana but is foiled by Simon.
Mana regains her kindgdom, and Miriam regains her home and future control of her father’s business.
Miriam, Simon, Neil, and Riki reunite on Lampala for the summer holiday. They are happy to be together but wonder what has happened to Neil’s family.
Neil’s sisters, short-sighted Lizzie and beautiful Ninna, are forced to work in the Manor House to help take care of new guests.
The guest arrives, a lovely lady called Miss Wilkinsl. She and her brother have a mysterious obsession with the Crown Phoenix.
Lizzie meets Toby, the oldest son who cannot leave the attic. They become friends. Lizzie is also forced to work in Miss Cantwell’s rooms, where the dresser, Siddons, tortures her with violence and overwork. Siddons locks Lizzie in a room, and Toby finally emerges from his attic to rescue Lizzie.
Toby fixes The Crown Phoenix.They all board a ship called The Lamplighter’s Special and sail to the island. On the way, the typewriter works some strange magic and they arrive in a matter of hours instead of weeks.
Lizzie, Ninna, Toby and Priam discover there is a person hidden below deck in the boat.
Miss Cantwell takes the four children to the island and strands them there. They are rescued by Miriam, Neil, and Mana.
Miss Cantwell threatens to blow up the islands with the Crown Phoenix. She is captured. The rest return to the boat and head back to England, but Toby’s agoraphobia returns.
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