2013 Why Buy the Cow? Challenge Recap

Challenge:  Why Buy the Cow? Challenge
Host:  Reading the Paranormal & On a Book Bender
2013 Level:  Coupon Clipper (12 books) - FAILED!
Thoughts:  Yes, I have free books on my reader, but no, I don't read those free books, except one or two classics a year.1. Thrift by Phil Church
2. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Title: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Author: Mark Twain

Publisher: Kobo
ISBN: n/a

Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges: Why Buy the Cow, A to Z, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: I tried reading this back in grade school and got stuck on the dialect.  Either I have gotten better at reading dialect or this one did not have as much.  Anyway, the story was actually more fun than I would have thought and was less episodic than many novels from the same time period, but I still would have liked a tighter story.

Rating: 3 stars

2013 Why Buy the Cow? Challenge

Challenge:  Why Buy the Cow? Challenge
Host:  Reading the Paranormal & On a Book Bender
2012 Level:  Coupon Clipper (12 books) - FAILED!
2013 Level:  Coupon Clipper (12 books)

1. Thrift by Phil Church
2. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
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Why Buy the Cow? Challenge Recap

Challenge:  Why Buy the Cow? Challenge
Host:  The Unread Reader
2012 Level:  Coupon Clipper (12 books) - FAILED!
Thoughts:  I enjoy trying to read the free books on my ereader, and I might have made it this year if my ereader hadn't crapped out for a month. 1. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
2. Persuasion by Jane Austen
3. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
4. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
5. Initiate by Tara Maya
6. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
7. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
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Anne of Green Gables

Title: Anne of Green Gables
Author: Lucy Maud Montgomery

Publisher: Kobo
ISBN:n/a
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges: Book Blogger Recommendation, Why Buy the Cow

Thoughts: This was a really cute story. Anne is so likeable, but I wish she would have kept a little more of that child-like imagination as she grew.

Rating: 4 stars

Oliver Twist

Title: Oliver Twist

Author: Charles Dickens
Publisher: Kobo
ISBN: n/a
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges:  British Books, Why Buy the Cow? (Kobo), A to Z

Thoughts: I am not a big fan of Dickens, and Oliver Twist did nothing to persuade me. After the first third, the story began winding here and there (it was a serial after all), and I just lost the plot, especially as more and more characters were introduced.

Rating: 2 stars

Initiate

Title: Initiate

Author: Tara Maya
Publisher: n/a
ISBN: n/a
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges:  Why Buy the Cow? (Kindle), YA Mythology, Telling Tales, Self-Published, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: This is a very unique story with a lot of threads that lead up to one heck of a cliffhanger.  At first, it took a while to get into because it is told from so many points of view, but once everyone is introduced and the exposition is over, the story really picks up.

Rating: 4 stars

Mansfield Park

Title: Mansfield Park

Author: Jane Austen
Publisher: Kobo
ISBN: 
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges:  Why Buy the Cow? (Kobo), British Books, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: Mansfield Park is the fourth of Austen’s works that I have read. I was not too thrilled with the last one I read, Persuasion, but I did love Mansfield Park. Fanny was rather shy for a main character, but she was a lot of fun. And the ending made me happy.

Rating: 5 stars 

Heart of Darkness

Title: Heart of Darkness

Author: Joseph Conrad
Publisher: Kobo
ISBN: ebook
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges:  Why Buy the Cow? (Kobo), 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: I tried to read this when it was on my summer reading list in high school; I think I got to the third page before I gave up. This time, I toughed it out to the end. The story was not bad, but just dry. It actually felt more like an essay or memoir than a story. Conrad does play with some interesting concepts, and I guess that is why it is a classic. 

Rating: 2 stars

Persuasion

Title: Persuasion

Author: Jane Austen
Publisher: Kobo
ISBN: ebook
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges:  Why Buy the Cow? (Kobo), British Books, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: I just started reading Austen a year ago, but I have read what I liked so far, but I just could not get into Persuasion. It did not keep my interest and, therefore, I had difficulty following the story. Not a terrible book, but definitely my least favorite of her works. 

Rating: 2 stars

Gulliver's Travels

Title: Gulliver's Travels

Author: Jonathan Swift
Publisher: Gutenberg
ISBN: ebook
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges:  Why Buy the Cow? (Kobo). A to Z, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: I never read Gulliver's Travels when I was younger, although I did know about it.  I found it an interesting way to point of the inadequencies of the English government at the time (which I know I would have not gotten out of it if I had read it when I was younger), but only two travels to strange lands seems too little for a good adventure.

Rating: 3 stars

Why Buy the Cow? Challenge

Challenge:  Why Buy the Cow? Challenge
Host:  The Unread Reader
2011 Level: 12 books - FAILED!
2012 Level:  Coupon Clipper (12 books)

1. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
2. Persuasion by Jane Austen
3. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
4. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
5. Initiate by Tara Maya
6. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
7. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
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