2010 Reading Challenges Wrap Up

Okay...this year I down right sucked at my reading challenges. I wish I would have kept better track of them. I just could not keep up this year. I decided to post my info anyways as a non-official entry deal. Recently I opened up a brand new reading challenge for The Pink Carnation series by Laure Willig for more info or to sign up check it out here.

Jean Plaidy 2010 Challenge, Royal Intrigue

The Royal Road To Fotheringhay

Rochester: The Mad Earl

The Loves of Charles II part 1, part 2, part 3

End of the year status: 5 Plaidy novels read.

Book Review Journal Challenge, Con-tain-it

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The White Queen
The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick

End of the year status: 2 journal entries.


French Historicals Oh La La, Enchanted by Josephine

The Princess of Nowhere
 A Royal Likeness by Christine Trent
Désirée: The Bestselling Story of Napoleon's First Love by Annemarie Selinko
The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
The Rebel Princess by Judith Koll Healey
The Canterbury Papers by Judith Koll Healey
Dracula In Love, Karen Essex
How To Mellify a Corpse, Vicki Leon
The Royal Road To Fotheringhay
I Serve by Rosanne E Lortz
The Confessions of Catherine De Medici by C.W. Gortner
Watermark by Vanitha Sankaran
The Queen's Pawn by Christy English
Claude and Camille by Stephanie Cowell
The Scarlet Lion by Elizabeth Chadwick
The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick
The Loves of Charles II part 1, part 2, part 3
Powder and Patch by Georgette Heyer
Notorious Royal Marriages by Leslie Carroll  
End of the year status:20 French historicals read.



Romance Challenge, Royal Reviews

By Royal Decree by Kate Emerson
 A Royal Likeness by Christine Trent
Désirée: The Bestselling Story of Napoleon's First Love by Annemarie Selinko
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
The Jewel of St. Petersburg by Kate Furnivall
His Last Letter by Jeane Westin
Dracula In Love, Karen Essex
Lady of The Butterflies, Fiona Mountain
Claude and Camille by Stephanie Cowell
Powder and Patch by Georgette Heyer
Arabella by Georgette Heyer

End of the year status: 11 romances read.



ARC Reading Challenge, So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

The Rose of York: Fall From Grace by Sandra Worth
Lily of the Nile by Stephanie Dray
By Royal Decree by Kate Emerson
The Darling Strumpet by Gillian Bagwell
The Princess of Nowhere by Prince Lorenzo Borghese
Dark moon of Avalon by Anna Elliott
Twilight of Avalon by Anna Elliott
Désirée: The Bestselling Story of Napoleon's First Love by Annemarie Selinko
A Royal Likeness by Christine Trent
The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
Penelope's Daughter by Laurel Corona
The Jewel of St. Petersburg by Kate Furnivall
The Rebel Princess by Judith Koll Healey
The Countess and the King by Susan Holloway Scott
The Canterbury Papers by Judith Koll Healey
His Last Letter by Jeane Westin
Dracula In Love, Karen Essex
The Red Queen, Philippa Gregory
For The King's Favor, Elizabeth Chadwick
Georgette Heyer's Regency World, Jennifer Kloester
Prisoners In The Palace, Michaela MacColl
Lady of The Butterflies, Fiona Mountain
For The King, Catherine Delors
How To Mellify a Corpse, Vicki Leon
I Serve: A Novel of The Black Prince, Rosanne E. Lortz
The Confessions of Catherine De Medici, C.W. Gortner
Watermark, Sankaran Vanitha
The Queen's Pawn, Christy English
Claude and Camille, Stephanie Cowell
Within The Hollow Crown, Margaret Campbell Barnes
The Scarlet Lion, Elizabeth Chadwick
The Stolen Crown, Susan Higginbotham
Powder and Patch, Georgette Heyer
Arabella, Georgette Heyer
Notorious Royal Marriages 
End of the year status: 36 arc's read in 2010.


Historical Fiction Reading Challenge, Royal Reviews

The Rose of York: Fall From Grace by Sandra Worth
Lily of the Nile by Stephanie Dray
By Royal Decree by Kate Emerson
The Darling Strumpet by Gillian Bagwell
The Princess of Nowhere by Prince Lorenzo Borghese
Dark moon of Avalon by Anna Elliott
Twilight of Avalon by Anna Elliott
Désirée: The Bestselling Story of Napoleon's First Love by Annemarie Selinko
A Royal Likeness by Christine Trent
The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
Penelope's Daughter by Laurel Corona
The Jewel of St. Petersburg by Kate Furnivall
Beauty's Release by A.N Roquelaure
The Rebel Princess by Judith Koll Healey
Beauty's Punishment by A.N Roquelaure
The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by A.N Roquelaure
The Countess and the King by Susan Holloway Scott
The Canterbury Papers by Judith Koll Healey
His Last Letter by Jeane Westin
Dracula In Love, Karen Essex
The Red Queen, Philippa Gregory
For The King's Favor, Elizabeth Chadwick
Georgette Heyer's Regency World, Jennifer Kloester
Prisoners In The Palace, Michaela MacColl
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
Lady of The Butterflies, Fiona Mountain
The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold
Royal Road to Fotheringhay, Jean Plaidy
For The King, Catherine Delors
How To Mellify a Corpse, Vicki Leon
I Serve: A Novel of The Black Prince, Rosanne E. Lortz
The Confessions of Catherine De Medici, C.W. Gortner
Watermark, Sankaran Vanitha
The Queen's Pawn, Christy English
Claude and Camille, Stephanie Cowell
Within The Hollow Crown, Margaret Campbell Barnes
Rochester-The Mad Earl,  Kathleen Kellow
The Scarlet Lion, Elizabeth Chadwick
The Greatest Knight, Elizabeth Chadwick
The Stolen Crown, Susan Higginbotham
The Loves of Charles II, Jean Plaidy
Powder and Patch, Georgette Heyer
Eve: A Novel of the First Woman, Elissa Elliott
Arabella, Georgette Heyer
Notorious Royal Marriages 

End of the year status:  46 HF books read in 2010

Tudor Book Challenge, Benedictionary

The Rose of York: Fall From Grace by Sandra Worth 

By Royal Decree by Kate Emerson 

His Last Letter by Jeane Westin

The Royal Road To Fotheringhay by Jean Plaidy

End of the year status: 4 Tudor novels read.

The Royal Mistress Challenge, Misadventures of Moppet

By Royal Decree by Kate Emerson

For the Kings Favor by Elizabeth Chadwick

The Confessions of Catherine De Medici by C.W. Gortner

The Queen's Pawn by Christy English

The Loves of Charles II part 1, part 2, part 3 by Jean Plaidy 3 book in one reprint

End of the year status: 5 royal mistress novels read.

Read Your Own Books, MizB's Reading Challenges

Beauty's Punishment by A.N Roquelaure 

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Royal Road To Fotheringhay by Jean Plaidy

The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick

The Loves of Charles II part 1, part 2, part 3

End of year status: 5 books owned by me read.

Lauren Willig Reading Challenge and Giveaway

What better way to kick off the new year than with a brand new first ever hosted by Historically Obsessed reading challenge. I know scary thought but I decided that since I fell so far behind last year in my reading challenges this year would be different for me. I will post about my challenges later this month to prove just how bad I really was.

Since I fell in love with Lauren Willig's The Pink Carnation this past year I figured there was no better way to challenge myself than to have a Lauren Willig Pink Carnation Reading Challenge. I am going to be doing things a bit different than other challenges and that is mostly because of the larger volume of books that typically go into other challenges. For one see that link at the top of the page that says "Lauren Willig R.C."? That is Pink Carnation central. After this initial post everything you could ever need or want gets posted there unless it is a giveaway. Of course I will post the progress and lots of other Lauren Willig relevant things though out the year on the blog. One very big thing about this challenge is the page is where you enter and post your read links at. Sorry but no Mr. Linky here because it way too time consuming for me and for you. The page will be up all year long and will stay there until the end of the year. If you want to enter the reading challenge go to this page and post your official entry.

Objective of challenge: to read as many novels in The Pink Carnation Series as possible.

Go here, pick your level of commitment and post a comment with your email, it is just that easy.

After you are entered swipe the badge or large badge and display it on your site if you have one.

I want to make sure this part is very clear: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE A BLOG to enter. I do however need some kind of verification that you finished a novel. You could post it on facebook in the status update (once you post it hover over the link and right click and tell it to copy link location and paste it into your comment), through goodreads, or even twitter. I just need something that has a link that you can post in your update status comment on the page.

Here is my profile on Goodreads, Twitter, and Facebook just in case you want to find me there.

To kick off this wonderful new challenge let celebrate by having a Lauren Willig giveaway. YAY I knew that would excite you. I know that EVERYONE wants the brand new one "The Orchid Affair (Pink Carnation)" but...since this is the kick off I want to make sure we get the first one handled. I promise there will be a giveaway for the new release asap. Giveaway time!!

"The Secret History of the Pink Carnation book #1 by Lauren Willig

"Nothing ever goes right for Eloise. The day she wears her new suede boots, it rains. When the subway stops short, she's the one thrown into some stranger's lap. And she's had her share of misfortune in the way of love. So, after deciding that romantic heroes must be a thing of the past, Eloise is ready for a fresh start.

Setting off for England, Eloise is determined to finish her dissertation on two spies, the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian. But what she discovers is something historians have missed: the secret history of the Pink Carnation-the most elusive spy of all time. As she works to unmask this obscure spy, Eloise has more and more questions. Like, how did the Pink Carnation save England from Napoleon? What became of the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian? And will Eloise Kelly escape her bad luck and find a living, breathing hero of her own"?

The Giveaway Rules

 Up for grabs is one paperback copy

The giveaway is open to the US or CANADA Only, sorry.

For 1 entry leave me a comment with a way to contact you.

For 2 entries follow my blog. If you already do, thank you for following my blog, and please let me know in the comments. You're eligible for the extra entry as well.

For 3 entries blog or tweet this giveaway to spread the word.

Giveaway will end on January 20th at midnight.

I will draw one winner using Random.org 

Good luck to everyone!

You can also check out Lauren's Store for all kinds of Pink Carnation stuff.

Amazon

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation

The Masque of the Black Tulip

The Deception of the Emerald Ring (Pink Carnation)

The Seduction of the Crimson Rose (Pink Carnation)

The Temptation of the Night Jasmine (Pink Carnation)

The Orchid Affair (Pink Carnation)

The Mischief of the Mistletoe: A Pink Carnation Christmas

Book Review Journal Update

Finally I got it together and here is my Book  Review Journal's cover. I made it with scrap booking paper and some decals I have collected over the years. I find that I like the new cover I gave it so much that I want to leave it laying around more so I can see it. That way it acts like a reminder saying "hey over here...what was it you though when reading that last book"?

My latest addition to the Book Review Challange which is hosted by Roberta and she is hosting an ART JOURNAL for reading and reviews challange!! She calls it: THE BOOK REVIEW JOURNAL, To read more on this- and if you’re interested in joining, please visit Roberta at Con-tain-it. Art Reviewing Journal Challenge 

Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor was made with water color pencils and ink pens. I did the first version of her in the Review Journal and then repeated it on watercolor paper.

You can guess which novel this one came from hum...."The Greatest Knight", what a shock. That was such a good read.

The Burton Review: Tudor Reading Challange and HFBRT April Event Claude and Camille by Stephanie Cowell

This is so cool Marie from The Burton Review is stepping up her game and is hosting a Tudor Reading Challenge. Here is what Marie had to say about it:

 "With April just around the corner, you may have some books in your piles that you need to read for the month, which is why I am telling you in advance of the challenge as you prepare your summer reading schedules.

Do you have any Tudor-themed reads in your pile? If so, then join the Tudor Mania Challenge at The Burton Review. I would love to have you there!

Those who are lucky enough to not have piles of books can get started on the challenge and prep their reviews right away. The trick is that reviews need to be posted in the months of May, June and July.

Mark your calendars!

Spread the word to your follow readers, bloggers and Tudor lovers! We have a month to help spread the word, and tweet about it using this shortened link http://bit.ly/TudorMania

Prizes WILL be AWARDED at the end of the Tudor Mania Challenge!

There is no limit to the amount that you read! You will be linking to your reviews on my blog and this will help promote your reviews in the process, it's a win-win"!

I am all in for this one if I can get past the other on my desk. I am sure I will be itching for  a Tudor one at least by the time these are done.  Especially some new Jean Plaidy's I ordered hum.... "The Queen's Favorite".

http://www.theburtonreview.com/p/tudor-mania-challenge.html

Cool Marie Thank you and I am off to post my link to the challenge. This is perfect for so many of you out there you just have to go and check it out.

Also this week opens April's Historical Fiction Bloggers Round Table Feature which is "Claude and Camille" by Stephanie Cowell.

 “Sometimes he dreamt he held her; that he would turn in bed and she would be there. But she was gone and he was old. Nearly seventy. Only cool paint met his fingers. “Ma très chère . . .” Darkness started to fall, dimming the paintings. He felt the crumpled letter in his pocket. “I loved you so,” he said. “I never would have had it turn out as it did. You were with all of us when we began, you gave us courage. These gardens at Giverny are for you but I’m old and you’re forever young and will never see them. . . "

The Book Review Journal Challenge: Lizzy's Review Art

I love Lucy from Enchanted by Josephine for finding this one. I know I said "NO MORE CHALLENGES THIS YEAR" but what the heck was I to do? This is so perfect for me since I make stuff for my reads, I must jump in on it.

Roberta is proposing an ART JOURNAL for reading and reviews!! She calls it:

THE BOOK REVIEW JOURNAL
To read more on this- and if you’re interested in joining, please visit Roberta at Con-tain-it.

This is the button for Roberta’s Art Reviewing Journal Challenge to place on your sidebar with link back to her-once you’ve joined at her site.

So after reading this post I went to work and doodled a little something to go into my review journal. It is for my current read "The Greatest Knight" by Elizabeth Chadwick keep in mind it is a doodle and it took me a whole whopping 15 minutes to make it: so nothing too spectacular. Maybe I will go back and make a bigger version of it in color but who knows.

Last Reading Challenge of 2010

This I could not pass up because Lucy (sweet as pie) over at Enchanted by Josephine is hosting her first ever reading challenge! FRENCH HISTORICALS Oh-La-La! Challenge

I have to do this since I love anything about France.
Here is the Down Low from Lucy:

The reading Challenge will run from January 1st to December 15th 2010.

All you have to do is read any Historical Fiction or Non-fiction books based on French history or French historical figures. Books can also overlap with other Challenges.

Reading Levels: La Princesse: Read 3 books La Dauphine: Read 6 books La Reine: Read 9 books L’Impératrice: More than 9 books

To join: Paste my French Historicals Oh-La-La! Challenge button on your sidebar- with a link to this page

Thank you Lucy for hosting this wonderful new challenge, I am going for La Reine: Read 9 books. Since I know of at least five that are French that I had already planned on reading I am going big this year.

More 2010 Reading Challenges! Plaidy and Mistresses

Arleigh and Lucy have planned a GRAND Plaidy Lady Challenge!

Last year, we had a wonderful turnout for our reading challenge and so we’ve decided to go on a grander scale and make it official!

Challenge will begin January 15, 2010 and end on Dec. 15, 2010.

Please Note: You must have a blog to participate. If you don’t have one, you can sign up very quickly and easily at Blogger.com and at least post what books you’re reading, if not reviews.

Thank to Heather at The Maidens Court I am also going to jump on this one too!

Hosted by The Misadventures of Moppet
Runs from January 1st, 2010 to December 31st, 2010. But this is an ongoing challenge and I will be renewing it next year.
Join anytime during the year – just leave a comment, with a link to your signup post if you do one – you don’t have to! Anyone can join, you don’t have to have a blog.
Books can be re-reads, or can overlap with other challenges.
If you’d like me to include a link to your review, leave me a comment or email me at: misadventuresofmoppet [at] googlemail [dot] com.
Choose your own level. You can change level anytime or change your mind about the books you will read at any time. I noticed other people have fun names for their challenge levels, so here are mine:

Orange Girl – Read one book

Maid of Honour – Read up to three books

Courtesan – Read up to five books

Maitresse en titre – Read up to seven books

Secret Wife – Read more than seven books!

I am picking Maid of Honour, 3 books

My Reading Challenges 2010

I had to add this one hosted by Alaine at Royal Reviews. Since I am going to be reading my first Georgette Heyer novel very soon I figured I should add this one because I am pretty sure I will read more of them. I decided to go with:

Curious – Read 3 Romance Fiction novels
My known reads so far will be Arabella and Powder and Patch both by G.H.


The Tudor book Challenge is hosted by Michelle at Benedictionary, a book worms blog. Tudor Book Challenge: From January 1st, 2010 to December 31st, 2010 The Tudor Book Challenge challenges you to read books about or inspired by the Tudor era of the English monarchy.

I choose Commoner – Your role in the kingdom is small but mighty. You are going to read at least 5 Tudor-related books. I am pretty sure I will end up reading more than that but just to be safe I picked a lower one. I plan on reading the Tudor related novels from my Arc's list and unread owned books list.
ARC's 2010
Arc Reading Challenge is hosted by Teddy Rose at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time.

Here is this list for 2010 so far...

1. Georgette Heyer's Regency World by Jennifer Kloester 
2. How To Mellify A Corpse by Vicki Leon 
3. I Serve by Rosanne E Lortz
4. The Confessions of Catherine De Medici by C.W. Gortner
5. Watermark by Vanitha Sankaran
6. The Queen's Pawn by Christy English
7. Claude and Camille by Stephanie Cowell
8. Within The Hollow Crown by Margaret Campbell Barnes 
9. The Scarlet Lion by Elizabeth Chadwick
10. The Secret of the Glass by Donna Russo Morin
11. Powder and Patch by Georgette Heyer
12. O' Juliet by Robin Maxwell
13. Arabella by Georgette Heyer
14. Notorious Royal Marraiges by Leslie Carroll
15. The Harlot Progress by Peter Mottley

Level Bronze: .a. All of us who have or will have less than 12 ARC's must read all of the ARC's we have. Note, that if you have 11 ARC's and then receive a 12th one you will be bumped up to a category

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge is hosted by the ladies over at Royal Reviews. I chose Obsessed – Read 20 Historical Fiction novels. It is only fitting since the size of the owned unread books is over 50 novels all historical fiction.
Hosted by MizB's Reading challenges Read Your Own Books and TBR (To Be Read). Both of these challenges I will be using my unread owned books list. I just want to get through as many of them as possible.




Books Owned To Be Read
1. Hammer of Scots, Jean Plaidy
2. Red Rose of Anjou, Jean Plaidy
3. Indiscretions of the Queen, Jean Plaidy
4. The Courts of Love, Jean Plaidy
5. Goddess of the Green Room, Jean Plaidy
6. Williams Wife, Jean Plaidy
7. The Third George, Jean Plaidy
8. The Queen’s Confession, Victoria Holt aka Jean Plaidy
9. To Hold the Crown, Jean Plaidy
10. Lady in the Tower, Jean Plaidy
11. Mary Queen of France, Jean Plaidy
12. The Kings Grace, Anne Easter Smith
13. Rose for A Crown, Anne Easter Smith
14. Royal Harlot, Susan Holloway Scott
15. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, Lauren Willig
16. The Mask of the Black Tulip, Lauren Willig
17. The Deception of the Emerald Ring, Lauren Willig
18. The Last Boleyn, Karen Harper
19. Twilight Tower, Karen Harper
20. The Poyson Garden, Karen Harper
21. Through A Glass Darkly, Karleen Koen
22. Dark Angels, Karleen Koen
23. Guenevere Queen of the Summer Country, Rosalind Miles
24. The Knight of the Sacred Lake, Rosalind Miles
25. The Child of the Holy Grail, Rosalind Miles
26. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
27. Persuasions, Jane Austen
28. Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen
29. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See
30. The Last Greatest Dance on Earth, Sandra Gulland
31. The Memoirs of Cleopatra, Margaret George
32. In the Shadow of the Sun King, Golden Keyes Parsons
33. Courtesan, Diane Haeger
34. Leonardo’s Swans, Karen Essex
35. The Tea Rose, Jennifer Donnelly
36. The Duchess of Milan, Michael Ennis
37. Elizabeth the Great, Elizabeth Jenkins
38. The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
39. The Golden Nineties, Lisa Mason
40. We Two, Gillian Gill
41. Margaret Pole, Hazel Pierce
42. Ovid, The Poetry Library
43. Pandora, Anne Rice
44. Merrick, Anne Rice
45. Blood and Gold, Anne Rice
46. Black Wood Farm, Anne Rice
47. The Grand Sophy, Georgette Heyer
48. The Nonsuch, Georgette Heyer
49. Devil's Club, Georgette Heyer
50. The Masqueraders, Georgette Heyer
51. Faro's Daughter, Georgette Heyer
52. The Black Moth, Georgette Heyer
53. The Unfinished Clue, Georgette Heyer
54. Cassandra, Lost, Joanna Catherine Scott

Thank you to all the wonderful blogs that are hosting a reading challenge, it give me an excuse to read what I want to read.
I will update my lists as a read them. Wish me luck because I am going to need it on these ones.

Unread Owned Books TBR update

I feel I need to put this out there so I can put my mind at ease about my TBR (to be read) list. When I originally set up my TBR list I was a brand new blogger and did not really comprehend how the whole thing worked before it was too late to change it. I being the goofy goober I am picked out some books I owned but many of the books I had picked were not ones I owned. What made it worse was that I did not look to much into the novels I picked and I found out after the fact that many of them were non fiction, blah.

To date there are 16 books on the list and I have finished reading 6. I am calling it quits on the list and decided that for next years TBR list it will be compiled of only books I own. Until the new TBR opens I am keeping my own list and as I read them I will take them off. I am hoping to at least have a few finished finished off the list before the new year opens. If you would like to see my original TBR post from 3.17.2009 go here. Who knows if I can even finish all of my owned unread books with a list like this it might spill into 2011 for all I know. I promised my husband no more buying books until I read at least half of these books. Enjoy my insane list there are a few odd balls in there that might stir up some rukus.

Books Owned To Be Read

1. Hammer of Scots, Jean Plaidy
2. Red Rose of Anjou, Jean Plaidy
3. Indiscretions of the Queen, Jean Plaidy
4. The Courts of Love, Jean Plaidy
5. Goddess of the Green Room, Jean Plaidy
6. Williams Wife, Jean Plaidy
7. The Third George, Jean Plaidy
8. The Queen’s Confession, Victoria Holt aka Jean Plaidy
9. To Hold the Crown, Jean Plaidy
10. Lady in the Tower, Jean Plaidy
11. Mary Queen of France, Jean Plaidy
12. The Kings Grace, Anne Easter Smith
13. Rose for A Crown, Anne Easter Smith
14. Royal Harlot, Susan Holloway Scott
15. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, Lauren Willig
16. The Mask of the Black Tulip, Lauren Willig
17. The Deception of the Emerald Ring, Lauren Willig
18. The Last Boleyn, Karen Harper
19. Twilight Tower, Karen Harper
20. The Poyson Garden, Karen Harper
21. Through A Glass Darkly, Karleen Koen
22. Dark Angels, Karleen Koen
23. Guenevere Queen of the Summer Country, Rosalind Miles
24. The Knight of the Sacred Lake, Rosalind Miles
25. The Child of the Holy Grail, Rosalind Miles
26. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
27. Persuasions, Jane Austen
28. Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen
29. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See
30. The Last Greatest Dance on Earth, Sandra Gulland
31. The Memoirs of Cleopatra, Margaret George
32. In the Shadow of the Sun King, Golden Keyes Parsons
33. Courtesan, Diane Haeger
34. Leonardo’s Swans, Karen Essex
35. The Tea Rose, Jennifer Donnelly
36. The Duchess of Milan, Michael Ennis
37. Elizabeth the Great, Elizabeth Jenkins
38. The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
39. The Golden Nineties, Lisa Mason
40. We Two, Gillian Gill
41. Margaret Pole, Hazel Pierce
42. Ovid, The Poetry Library
43. Pandora, Anne Rice
44. Merrick, Anne Rice
45. Blood and Gold, Anne Rice
46. Black Wood Farm, Anne Rice
47. The Loves of Charles II by Jean Plaidy
48. The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. by Sandra Gulland
49. Victoria Victorious by Jean Plaidy
50. Cassandra, Lost by Joanna Catherine Scott
51. Royal Road to Fotheringhay by Jean Plaidy
52. The Courts of Love by Jean Plaidy
53. Peoney in Love by Lisa See

Everything Austen Challenge, R U up for it?

The Everything Austen Challenge will run for six months (July 1, 2009 – January 1, 2010)! All you need to do is pick out what six Austen-themed things you want to finish to complete the challenge and sign up here

This is exactly what I was looking for and I did not even know it. I recently went on an expedition to the library and I talked to someone about Jane Austen because believe it or not I have never read any of her novels or seen any of the movies. Scary right? My problem was I did not know where to start with all the novels. There was multiple versions, some not by her, and edited in many different ways. It got so confusing that I put it on the back burner for later. Then low and behold Ms. Lucy over at Enchanted by Josephine posted about her entry into the contest, so I am going for it!

Here are my six: Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, and Emma. Since all three books also have a movie based off of them, my choice is three books and three movies

tbr (to be read) Challenge

Wish I had found this earlier. I will be getting a late start since I just discovered this challenge. The challenge is 12 books in 12 months. Here are my 12 plus a few alternatives. I have marked my current progress. Keep checking back.

To Be Read:
Courtesan, Diane Haeger p576

The King's Grace, Anne Easter Smith p608
The Wild Irish, Robin Maxwell p378
To hold the Crown, Jean Plaidy p398
We Two, Victoria and Albert, Gillian Gill p480
Margaret Pole, Countess of Shrewsbury, Hazel Pierce p192
Books I have completed from the list:
Lady of the Roses, Sandra Worth p404 3-31-09

The Secret life of Josephine, Carolly Erickson p352 4-19-09
The Other Queen, Philippa Gregory p448 5-5-09
The Perfect Royal Mistress, Diane Haeger p416 4-6-09
The Reluctant Queen, Jean Plaidy p294 4-15-2009
The Queens Secret, Jean Plaidy p416
Books That I did not find appealing:
Marie-Therese Child of Terror, Susan Nagel 448
I, Elizabeth, Rosalind Miles p630 A Secret Alchemy, Emma Darwin p448 Jane Boleyn, The infamous Lady Rochford, Julia Fox, p379

6 / 12 works. 50% done!