100 Books of Summer: We Did It!!

Remember the challenge I issued my kids in June??

Let's read 100 books this summer!!

I know ALL of YOU are dying to know if we made it or not.......

As it turns out, WE DID!!!  uh hem....well, we read 100 books before summer was over......hee hee!

If you look real closely at the picture, you'll notice the squiggly line?  That represents us going back to school.  We were up to 80 books at that point.  Frankly- that HUGE!!!  That means the Texas Darlings read 80 books in 11 weeks!!  That's not small potatoes folks.  

However, our goal was 100 books and here in Texas, we don't count the summer over 'til we are at least in the 90s temperature-wise.... So could we read 100 books by September 20?? 

The challenge was thrown down and these kids rose to it.  You should have seen them reading their little hearts out to be the person who read the 100th book!!

       Sis won!  And she deserved it- reading a whopping 54 books!  She read some fantastic classics like,  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Boxcar Children (and several of the "mysteries"), & started the Little House on the Prairie series.   She also discovered some new favorites like Because of Winn Dixie and The Percy Jackson & The Olympians series (which she devoured all 6 books  in 2 weeks).  Here was her favorite books of the summer in her own words:

         

      

         Brody, like I predicted, read a lot of  non-fiction (tanks, submarines, snakes, lizards, you name it) this summer.  He also read a ton of Magic Tree House books and really enjoyed the Diary of A Wimpy Kid series.  For someone who doesn't  pick reading as his first choice of something to do, he read very well this summer, completing 30 books!  Here is his favorite:

           For me, I wanted to read quick, fun reads this summer.  My favorites this summer?? 

The first 4 of the Sookie Stackhouse books (such fun, quick reads!) 

Jen Lancaster's Bitter is the New Black and My Fair Lazy

 Janet Evanovich's First 2 Stephanie Plum books

Quick, easy reads for me....don't come looking for serious novels here.  I also got nice & caught up on my magazines that have been stacked in the corner.  NO time for those any more...need to end my subscriptions....

    
I also fell in love with the Kindle this summer.  It is so, so, so easy to get a book and read on it.  Love toting it around in my purse and having my "book" where ever I go!

So I have quite a few more books on my list to read this fall, including Carl Hiassan's Star Island (or October Book Club read), The Hunger Games series (thanks to all of you out there hyping it up) and I STILL haven't read The Host yet (shame on me!).  


Part of me is intrigued by Eat, Pray, Love and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  There seems to be a lot of mixed reviews about these.   Have any of you read these?  What do you think???

What are you reading right now?  I'd love to hear what's on your bedside table??

100 Books of Summer

At the begining of the summer, I issued a challenge to my kiddos: 

Let's read 100 books this summer!!

Sissy: Yea!  That would be so cool mom! (she thinks anything I suggest is cool)

Brody: Huh?  You mean I have to read 100 books by myself????

No silly, the 3 of us are going to read 100 books!

And so we have started our summer challenge.

As it turns out, we had only gotten to 25 books before we left on vacation, which was pretty good for 3 weeks that included soccer skills and Vacation Bible School!

       

         We have some fun books on our list to read this summer too.  For Sis, we have some great reccommendations.  She also discovered the Little House series and are reading those as quickly as she can get her hands on them.  She is my reader and has spent many afternoons this summer reading in her room.

      

         Brody doesn't pick reading as his "first choice" when asked what he wants to do, but once he gets into a book, he tends to read it to the finish.  He likes a lot of non-fiction (tanks, submarines, snakes, lizards, you name it) and hard Star Wars chapter books.  For a 2nd grader, he is doing amazingly well with the hard words, but it has taken him longer to get through some of the books he has choosen.  Kudos to him for picking books based on what he wants to read!!

           For me, I wanted to read quick, fun reads this summer. I have finished 3 of the Sookie Stackhouse books (don't laugh at me!!  they are awesome!) and am also reading some of the books on Sis's list.  Some of the above "kids" books have been great reads!  I am in a book club and the 2 we have read for the summer so far have included The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell and My Fair Lazy by Jen Lancaster.  I read Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster in June and LOVED IT - I so related to her getting laid off and discovering a whole new person (and new life) in the process.  I also have the Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series on my list as well as The Host by Stephanie Meyer (can't believe I haven't read that one yet!) and a few others.  Quick, easy reads for me....don't come looking for serious novels here.
       
           Also, my totally cool dad got an iPad in June (can i say j-e-a-l-o-u-s?)and discovered he didn't need his Kindle anymore, so he let me use it (did you catch that Matt - ME?).  Somehow my hubby got a hold of it, downloaded a book on it, and conviently didn't have it finished by the time he had to go back to Texas..... hmmm..... looks like someone has a new toy....

       I love to read, but as a busy mom of three, I only find time to read when my head hits the pillow at night.  And I wasn't finishing many books that way.  What really worked for us was to read for atleast 30 mins right when the baby went down for his afternoon nap. Our reading time always lasted longer and sometimes went the whole naptime.  Yes, I had plently of things I needed to be doing while the baby was down, but honestly, it's summer.  Those things can wait!!

    So, as of today, we are only up to 30 books and we are deep into July!! We have lost track of our goal as we are having WAY too much fun on vacation here in Illinois (s much to tell you guys about!!).  Yesterday, we visited the town library (my in-laws live in the best little town!!) and were able to check out a few books and both got back on track today.  Will we hit our goal?  Stay tuned...  If you have been a reader of this blog for awhile, you will know that this family never backs down from a challenge!!

        Now, all this talk of books, makes me what to get off the computer and go read......

         So, leave me a great comment, then unplug and get caught up in your favorite book.  You'll thank me later.