Activity #15 Winner

Congratulations to Scott Rader from Scott Rader, Library Dictator. He is the winner of the Create-A-Cover Activity. Scott - email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your prize choice and mailing address.

Activity #15 Create-a-Cover

I've done this one before and LOVE it!!!!

1 – Go to “Fake Name Generator” or clickhttp://www.fakenamegenerator.com/

The name that appears is your author name.

2 – Go to “Random Word Generator” or clickhttp://www.websitestyle.com/parser/randomword.shtml

The word listed under “Random Verb” is your title.

3 – Go to “FlickrCC” or click http://flickrcc.bluemountains.net/index.php

Type your title into the search box. The first photo that contains a person is your cover.

4 – Use Picnik, or something similar to put it all together. Be sure to crop and/or zoom in.


5 - Link your Book Cover using Mr. Linky.

In terms of the activity for the Reading Challenge, I’m asking the participants to create the cover and write a short synopsis to go along with it.  

Here is my example:

"Judy Boom" has "owned" the skating rink for a couple of years.  As the youngest girl on her roller derby team, she has earned the respect of her teammates and other players from the league. Every spare moment she has is devoted to training or competing causing her to get a reputation at school for being rough, tough, and scary.

When Michael Williams comes to school in the middle of the semester, Judy finally sees someone she'd like to get to know, but will her reputation send him running away before she can even talk to him?  

Will "Judy Boom" find a way to balance the roller derby and her life outside the rink? 

Activity #14 Winner

Congratulations to Diana at Books By Their Story. She is the winner of the Top Ten List Activity. Diana - email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your prize choice and mailing address.

Activity #14 Top 10 of 2010

I've been posting my Top 10 of 2010 since December 22nd, revealing one book at a time until December 31st when I post my #1 book of the year. Now it is your turn.  I want  you to look back at all of the books you've read this year and pick your favorite ten. Create a post with Top 10 of 2010 somewhere in the title and come back and link it here using Mr. Linky. Here is my list (minus my #1 title since it won't be revealed until tomorrow).

#10   PRISM by Faye and Alexa Kellerman

#9     DEMON'S COVENANT by Sarah Rees Brennan

#8     RISE OF RENEGADE X by Chelsea Campbell

#7     DASH & LILY'S BOOK OF DARES by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn

#6     ROT & RUIN by Jonathan Maberry

#5     MONSTERS OF MEN by Patrick Ness

#4     HOW I LIVE NOW by Meg Rosoff

#3     FIRE by Kristen Cashore

#2     THE DUFF by Kody Keplinger

#1     ??????? Check my blog on December 31st to find out. (http://www.karinsbooknook.com)

Activity #13 Winner

Congratulations to Alexa at Pages of Forbidden Love. She is the winner of Activity #13. Alexa, email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your prize choice and mailing address.

Activity #13 Book Character Best Friends

You may think I'm crazy, but oh well.....I probably am.  Sometimes when I read a book I love a character so much that I think, "You know, if he/she were a real person I could really be friends with him/her." Some authors just have a knack for writing lovable characters. So, think about some of the characters you have gotten to know over your years of reading. Who would be your best friend (or at least a friend of some kind) if he/she were real?  Here are some of mine:

• Shane Collins from THE MORGANVILLE VAMPIRE Series could totally be my boyfriend. 
• Jace Wayland from THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS Trilogy could also be my boyfriend.
• I think I could get along with Scarlet and Rosie March from SISTERS RED.
• I loved Nastasya from IMMORTAL BELOVED. Her sense of humor would really mesh with mine.

Activity #12 Winner

Congratulations to Jessi from The Elliott Review. She is the winner of the Status Update activity. Jessi - email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your prize choice and mailing address.

Advance Notice for the Final Challenge

Okay everyone - the last activity is going to be a biggie!!!!  Since it is going to take a little while to put together, I thought I'd give everyone a heads up. Here is what I'll be asking you to do on the last day of the Holiday Break Reading Challenge (January 2, 2011). 


Create a collage using all the book covers from the books you read in 2010.  I know, I know!!!! I'm crazy!!!  You can do this any way you want.  You can print out the book covers and cut and paste them on a poster board and take a picture of it.  Or, you can do it all on the computer. OR, if you have all the books in your home you can just lay them out on the floor in a collage and take a picture of that.  Whatever works for you.  Get crackin' and get creative!

Activity #12 Status Updates

Today should be easy. All I want is for you to tell us what you have accomplished so far during the Holiday Break Reading Challenge. How many books have you read? How many reviews have you written? Have you caught up on other blogging duties? You don't have to create a separate post for this activity. Simply leave your status in the COMMENT SECTION of this post. That way everyone will be able to read what you've been up to.

Here is my status update:

Books I've read during the break so far:

DROUGHT (ARC) by Pam Bachorz
PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ by A.S. King
THE DUFF by Kody Keplinger
BITTER END (ARC) by Jennifer Brown

Reviews I've written so far:
THE DUFF
IMMORTAL BELOVED

What I still plan to do:

Finish the book I'm reading now - HOLD ME CLOSER, NECROMANCER by Lish McBride
Write reviews for:
DROUGHT
PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ
BITTER END
SWEETLY
DELIRIUM
and several more (but really, I doubt I'll get to them).

Activity #11 Winner

Congratulations to Kate a.k.a. Midnight Book Girl. She is the winner of the Book Title Sentence activity. Kate, please email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your prize choice and mailing address.

Activity #11 Book Title Sentence

Today's activity requires you to create a sentence out of the books you have on your shelves. The main words for the sentence must come from the book titles, but you can add a small word or two in order to help it make sense if you need to. Just put your added words in [brackets]. You can use as many book titles as you want, but use at least 3. Here is my example:

The thin executioner blindsided you [with] reckless tricks.
Link your post using Mr. Linky.

Activity #10 Winner

Congratulations to Karen from Gig Harbor High School. She is the winner of the latest activity. Karen-email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your mailing address and prize choice.

Activity #10 Books As Gifts

Yesterday was Christmas - the day when most people exchange a few gifts. Being book lovers like we are it stands to reason that we either received books or gave books for Christmas. In this activity I want you to tell us what books (or book related materials) you received or gave this holiday season. If they were books you gave to others - tell us who they were for. Be sure to link your post below using Mr. Linky. Here is my example:

I purchased two books for my mother.
THE CONFESSION by John Grisham (audio book)


TWILIGHT EYES by Dean Koontz


Unfortunately, I didn't receive any books as gifts. I guess everyone figured I have enough to keep me occupied for now. :)

Activity #9 Winner

Congratulations to Nikki from Wicked Awesome Books. She is the winner of the Christmas Day Activity. Nikki, email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your prize choice and mailing address.

Activity #8 Winner

Congratulations to Darci. She is the winner of the Christmas Related Book Activity. Darci, email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your prize choice and mailing address.

Activity #9 Easy Christmas Activity

Since today is Christmas and everyone will probably be busy, I'm making Today's activity easy. Here is what you have to do:

1. Since today is the 25th, turn to page 25 in the book you are reading right now.
2. Count down the page to line 25 and tell us what the sentence says. If there is a partial sentence or word in that line you can leave it out. If you don't have 25 lines on your page just choose the 7th line (2+5=7).
3. Be sure to post a picture of your book along with your sentence and link it below using Mr. Linky.

Here is my example:

"Just started like two weeks ago. He's trying to get on the basketball team." From BITTER END by Jennifer Brown.

Activity #8 - Books Involving Christmas

Merry Christmas Eve.  For today's activity I want everyone to think about books that have Christmas as an important part of the story.  Post the cover and the synopsis so we can see what it is about.  My favorite right now is a book that I just finished listening to:

DASH AND LILY'S BOOK OF DARES by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn

“I’ve left some clues for you.
If you want them, turn the page.
If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the New York Times bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.

Use Mr. Linky to link your post to the blog.

Activity #7 Winner

Congratulations to Mrs. DeRaps from Mrs. DeRaps Reads. She is the winner of the Busting Bookshelves activity. Mrs. DeRaps - please email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your prize choice and mailing address.

Activity #7 - Busting Bookshelves

This is a chance for you to show off your books.  Some of you may have a wonderful system in place for storing your books, but others (like me) may just cram them wherever you can.  Let us see.  Take a picture of your "bookshelves" and post them on your blog along with a little explanation about your system.

Link your post using Mr. Linky below in order to be eligible for today's prize.

Here is an example of how I handle my mounds and mounds of books.  I have absolutely NO SYSTEM at all.  What is the most frustrating is when I know I own a book, but can't find it. Or, go and buy and book only to find one already on my shelves when I go to look a couple of days later.  UGH!!  Anyway, I can't wait to see everyones' pictures.

Activity #6 Winner

Congratulations to Pixie at Page Turners blog. She is the winner of the latest activity. Pixie, email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your prize choice and mailing address.

Activity #6 - Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a blog feature that has been around for a long time.  All you have to do for today's Activity is to tell us about a book that you are dying to be released. There are so many good things coming out in 2011 and I know it will be hard to pick, but you are going to have to try.

I can't wait for:

CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS by Cassandra Clare.  I fell in love with these characters from the moment I read CITY OF BONES several years ago.  I can't wait to fall into their world again.

City of Fallen Angels takes place two months after the events of City of Glass. In it, a mysterious someone’s killing the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine’s Circle and displaying their bodies around New York City in a manner designed to provoke hostility between Downworlders and Shadowhunters, leaving tensions running high in the city and disrupting Clary’s plan to lead as normal a life as she can — training to be a Shadowhunter, and pursuing her relationship with Jace. As Jace and Clary delve into the issue of the murdered Shadowhunters, they discover a mystery that has deeply personal consequences for them — consequences that may strengthen their relationship, or rip it apart forever. Meanwhile, internecine warfare among vampires is tearing the Downworld community apart, and only Simon — the Daylighter who everyone wants on their side — can decide the outcome; too bad he wants nothing to do with Downworld politics. Love, blood, betrayal and revenge: the stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels.

So, link your Waiting on Wednesday posts in order to be eligible for today's prize.

Book Riddles ANSWERS

Activity #5 Winner

Congratulations to Annette from The More You Read, The More You Will Know! She guessed all of the "riddles" correctly! Annette, please email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your prize choice. I'll get it in the mail as soon as possible. As of now, every prize has been mailed out.

Reminder to Post Your Reviews

Be sure to click the page link at the top for the Holiday Break Reading Challenge Reviews page. Be sure to link to your direct review on your blog. Remember, on the last day of the challenge I'll be choosing one review randomly to receive a prize.

Activity #5 - Book Riddles

Please don't judge me too harshly when you see these "riddles." They really aren't riddles I guess, but for our purposes, that is what we are going to call them.  What you have to do is this - figure out the title of the book by the synonyms I used for them.

Fill out the Google form in order to be eligible for the prize.

I'll post the answers after the winner is announced.

1. DWEEBY ROYALTY
2. CIRCUS ATTRACTION PERFORMANCE
3. EVIL BEAUTY
4. BORING LAD
5. PARANORMAL ENTITY CITY
6. ANCIENT SAFFRON
7. MIRROR BATTLES
8. LABYRINTH JOGGER
9. THE MURDER'S RELATIVE
10. OVERWEIGHT BLOODSUCKER

Good luck everyone!

Activity #4 Winner

Congratulations to Beverly from Booklady's Booknotes. She is the winner of this Activity. Beverly, send me your mailing address and your prize choice and I'll get it in the mail as soon as possible. Email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com.

Activity #4 - Find a New Blog

There are so many book blogs on the Internet that it is impossible to see every one of them.  Take some time today to explore the blogs that highlight books in your preferred genre.  Create a post with a picture of the blog through a screen shot if possible and the web link of course.  Then come back and link to your post using Mr. Linky.

Here is an example:
My Pile of Books is new to me.  It is run by Aubrey. (Then go on to tell a little bit about what you like about the blog)

Activity #3 Winner

Congratulations to Julie from My Only Vice. She is the winner of the Guess the Covers Activity. Julie - send me an email with your mailing address and your prize choice at karinlibrarian@gmail.com

Activity #3 - Guess the Covers

This is one of my favorite activities because I love creating the collage for it.  All you have to do is figure out the names of the book covers I have represented in the picture below:

Activity #2 Winner

Congratulations to Alexa from Pages of Forbidden Love. She is the winner of Activity #2. Alexa, email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your mailing address and your prize choice.

Activity #2 - Your Current Book in Pictures

1 - List the title and author of the book you are currently reading.


2 - Use any photo hosting site (Google Images, Flickr, Photobucket, FlickrCC, etc.) to find photos related to your book. "The image(s) you post need to have something to do with the book you're currently reading. You can post a painting or photograph that makes you think of the story or the characters, choose a few pictures that highlight some of the book's most important elements, or do a little of both. The only thing you can't do is just post the cover art and leave it at that, though you're welcome to include a cover image alongside your other selections." (Stella Matutina)

3 - Put a short description with each picture explaining what it means to the book.

Here is my example:

I'm reading DROUGHT by Pam Bachorz.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
It is about a girl named Ruby who lives as a slave with her mother and the other followers of Otto. She is approximately 200-years-old as are the others in her group.  The water they drink gives them extended life.

They are enslaved by Darwin West, an evil, greedy man who is in love with Ruby's mother and furious she doesn't feel the same. He has enslaved the Congregants since the early-nineteenth century and are forced to live as they did back then even though he himself enjoys modern day conveniences.

An example of a Congregant's House



Darwin West has access to modern conviences like TVs



Darwin West and his cruel Overseers force the Congregants to go into the woods and gather water everyday.  The problem is they are in a drought like no one has ever seen.  They haven't seen rain in YEARS. The Congregants are forced to scrape dew off of leaves in order to get the water they need. Darwin's quotas are unrealistic and whoever doesn't gather their share is beaten with chains in front of the group.

Ruby's mother takes everyone's beatings for them since she knows Ruby's secret. It is Ruby that gives the water the power of extending life. Only the Elders of the group know the secret. A drop or two of her blood mixed into the water is all it takes.  It is Ruby that heals her mother's broken body every night by mixing some of her blood in the water they wash over her mother's skin.

Ruby is desperate to leave - to fight back against Darwin and the Overseers, but it isn't the way she has been taught. When she meets a new Overseers named Ford escape becomes even more tempting. She could leave with him so easily and finally be in the modern world, but can she leave the ones she loves behind and doom them all to death at the same time?

Now it's your turn.  What are you reading?  SHOW us.

Activity #1 Winner

Congratulations to Kathy from Ms. Martin Teaches Media. She is the winner of our first activity. Kathy, email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your mailing address and your prize choice.

Your turn may be next. Be sure to complete Activity #2.

Activity #1 - Goals

Welcome to the Holiday Break Reading Challenge. Activity #1 is going to be easy for you.  Simply think of some of the things you want to accomplish during this Holiday Break and let us know. Set some goals - it will make it easier for you to get things done.

Create the post on your blog and come back here and link to it using Mr. Linky. (Remember, link to the specific post.  Not just your blog.)

Here is what I need to accomplish this break:
1) CATCH UP on my reviews.  I am so far behind it isn't even funny anymore.
2) Read more.  I've reached 100 books, but that isn't even what I read last year. 
3) Mail out prizes for this challenge in a timely manner.

2011 Holiday Break Reading Challenge Sign Up

Let the fun begin!!!!  Tomorrow (Friday, December 17th) is the beginning of the 2011 Holiday Break Reading Challenge.  A time for books to be read, goals to be set, prizes to be won, okay okay....I might be getting carried away, but really.  It's FUN!!!!

If you want to join in the fun, take a minute and sign up using the Mr. Linky below:

Mark Your Calendar - Next Year's Holiday Break Reading Challenge Is Scheduled

Friday, December 17th, 2010 - Sunday, January 2nd, 2011

is the next Holiday Break Reading Challenge

More reading, more reviews, more activities, and more winners!

Activity #17 Winner

Congratulations to Kim at LJHS Library.  Her name was chosen for the Activity #17 Winner.

For the bonus prize for posting reviews to the Holiday Break Reading Challenge Review page the winner is....

Kristin at Bookworming in the 21st Century.
Here is the link to her review.

Since Kristin has already won a prize, I chose another winner too.

Caitlin at Vision Quest Fail.
Here is the link to her review.

So, I need Kim, Kristin, and Caitlin to send me there book choices from the Prize List along with their mailing addresses to:

karinlibrarian@gmail.com

Congratulations everyone and thanks for participating!

Karin

Be sure to keep in touch.  You can find me at:
Karin's Book Nook
and
The Book Jacket

Holiday Break Reading Challenge Activity #17

Today is the final day of the Holiday Break Reading Challenge.  I had so much fun and I hope everyone else did too.  For those of you who won prizes, everything should be put in the mail on Monday, January 4th.  The books will be mailed Media Mail so it should take about a week to get to you.

For our final Activity here is what I want to do.  I would like you to post your final results, how many books did you read and how many reviews did you write?

So, in the comment section of this post please answer like this:

Karin

http://karinlibrarian.wordpress.com

I read 7 books during the challenge:

THE GOOD NEIGHBORS: KITH by Holly Black 
BONESHAKER by Cherie Preist 
WHEN YOU REACH ME by Rebecca Stead 
LOCKDOWN by Walter Dean Myers
RAGE by Julie Anne Peters
THE RETURNERS by Gemma Malley
THE LINE by Teri Hall

I wrote 0 reviews.

Then, be sure to attach your reviews to the REVIEW PAGE of the blog. HERE IS THE LINK

**As for the prizes for this Activity I'll choose one of the commenters randomly like usual, but to encourage the addition of your book reviews to the Holiday Break Reading Challenge Review list, I'll choose another random Book Review post for another prize.**

Activity #16 Winner

Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer the survey questions.  Here are some of the results:

1. Which online book community(ies) do you have a profile for?
Goodreads  82.4%
LibraryThing  41.2%
Shelfari  47.1%
aNobii  5.9%
BookJetty  0%
None  5.9%

Other:
WeRead
Litopia
Living Social Books on Facebook
Visual Bookshelf

2. Which online book community(ies) do you REGULARLY keep up-to-date?
Goodreads  76.5%
LibraryThing  11.8%
Shelfari  5.9%
aNobii 5.9%
BookJetty 0%
None  11.8%

Other:
Litopia
Living Social Books on Facebook
Visual Bookshelf

3. Which book swapping communities do you participate in?
Bookmooch  23.5%
Paperback Swap  11.8%
None  70.6%

And Now For Our Winner

Congratulations to Sarah from GreenBeanTeenQueen

Sarah - email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your book choice from the Prize List and your mailing address.  You might want to send me a 1st and 2nd choice since I'm still waiting for the two Activity #15 Winner choices.

Activity #15 Winner

We have another double winner!
Congratulations to Nikki at A Haunt of Ancient Peace and
Heather at Lost in the View.

Nikki and Heather - be sure to email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your book choice from the Prize List and your mailing address.

Holiday Break Reading Challenge Activity #16

Online Book Communities

This issue has been bugging me for a while.  Goodreads, LibraryThing, Shelfari - UGH!  Check out my blog post from July 2009.  I regularly update Goodreads because I think it is much easier to use than the other two communities.  Shelfari is too image based and sometimes takes too long to load on the computer and LibaryThing isn't as user-friendly.  But, LibraryThing has much better blog widgets, but they don't work on my Wordpress blog anyway.  My goal in July was to keep all three communities up-to-date, but I was a total failure.

What I want to find out is how many of you have profiles on these online book communities?

Your task for this Activity is to take the survey from the link on this post. A winner will be chosen from the ones who fill out the survey.

Click here to take survey

Activity #14 Winner

Congratulations to Leslie at Probably Reading.

Leslie - email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your mailing address and choice of prize from the Prize List.

Holiday Break Reading Challenge Activity #15

I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful New Year's Eve.  The start of the new year brings the opportunity for reflection about what we've done during the past year and the goals for what we want to accomplish in the coming year.  Take today to answer the following questions on your blog.  If, for some reason, some of the questions to apply to you, just answer what you can.


REFLECTIONS
1.  What was your favorite aspect of your blog in 2009?


2.  Was there a particular featured/weekly post you participated in that you enjoyed and plan to continue in 2010?


3.  Is there anything you don't like about your blog that you want to fix? (design, posts, followers, blog host, etc.)


4.  Is there a blog you visit that you admire and aspire to emulate?  


GOALS (You fill in the blanks)
1.


2.


3.


Use Mr. Linky to connect your post to this one.