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LauraLoves Ultimate Teen Guide Book Challenge


lauraloves

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Have only just spotted this thread, maybe because you're latest entry bumped it up a bit. Great one. What a brilliant list! I've got the Ultimate Book Guide (which is for 8-12 year olds, 2004 edition), which I use a lot at school (I teach Year 5), but hadn't come across the Teen version before. Looks like I need to acquire a copy soon!

 

Later edit: I've merged the lists into one of the spare posts at the start of my thread for ticking off - it's one I think will take me to some very enjoyable books. Have read 110 to date, but I'm not going to be rigorous about series - once I've read one from the series, I'm not going to push myself to read any more unless I want to!!

BTW - I notice that Stormbreaker is listed as well as Alex Rider series, so a bit of a bonus there!

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Have only just spotted this thread, maybe because you're latest entry bumped it up a bit. Great one. What a brilliant list! I've got the Ultimate Book Guide (which is for 8-12 year olds, 2004 edition), which I use a lot at school (I teach Year 5), but hadn't come across the Teen version before. Looks like I need to acquire a copy soon!

 

Later edit: I've merged the lists into one of the spare posts at the start of my thread for ticking off - it's one I think will take me to some very enjoyable books. Have read 110 to date, but I'm not going to be rigorous about series - once I've read one from the series, I'm not going to push myself to read any more unless I want to!!

BTW - I notice that Stormbreaker is listed as well as Alex Rider series, so a bit of a bonus there!

 

Wow youve read a lot of books on the list, a lot more than i have. I was going to read all the series books but ive been thinking that i will just read the first and if i like the book ill continue with it. Good luck with your challenge cant wait to see how you get on with it :)

I haven't looked at my teen guides for ages, I've been too busy battling my TBR shelf (It's winning :( ) I must get then out again soon!! :)

 

I've only read a couple of books this year, despite having so many on my TBR. I'm going to have to try and read some towards the end of the year!!

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2012 Book 4 - Notes on a Small Island - Bill Bryson

 

Age Rating - 12+

 

Recommendations - Notes From A Big Country - Bill Bryson

Round Ireland With A Fridge - Tony Hawks (UTBGC)

The Kingdom by the Sea - Paul Theroux

Queenan Country - Joe Queenan Country

 

Synopsis - After nearly two decades in Britain, Bill Bryson took the decision to move back to the States for a few years, to let his kids experience life in another country, to give his wife the chance to shop until 10 p.m. seven nights a week, and, most of all, because he had read that 3.7 million Americans believed that they had been abducted by aliens at one time or another, and it was thus clear to him that his people needed him.

 

 

 

 

But before leaving his much-loved home in North Yorkshire, Bryson insisted on taking one last trip around Britain, a sort of valedictory tour of the green and kindly island that had so long been his home. His aim was to take stock of the nation’s public face and private parts (as it were), and to analyse what precisely it was he loved so much about a country that had produced Marmite, a military hero whose dying wish was to be kissed by a fellow named Hardy, place names like Farleigh Wallop, Titsey and Shellow Bowells, people who said ‘Mustn’t grumble’, and Gardeners’ Question Time.

 

My Thoughts - Although I'm not a massive fan of travel writing i really enjoyed this book. Its from an Americans point of view of Great britain and his travels around the country. A very good book although it doesnt really fit in with others that i have read from this challenge list.

 

Rating - 4/5

 

Progress - 3.51% complete

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  • 2 weeks later...

2012 Book 5 - Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

 

Age Rating - 14+

 

Recommendations - Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier

The Red Badge of Courage - Stephen Crane

Katherine - Anya Seton (UTBGC)

 

Synopsis - Tomorrow is another day… Set against the dramatic backdrop of the American Civil War, Margaret Mitchell’s magnificent historical epic is an unforgettable tale of love and loss, of a nation mortally divided and a people forever changed. Above all, it is the story of beautiful, ruthless Scarlett O’Hara and the dashing soldier of fortune, Rhett Butler.

 

My Thoughts - Although i was a little bit put off by the size of the book i really ended up loving the story. Its an epic book that was very difficult to put down. This is so much more than a romance story it covers everything and i found it so very sad at times. A Brilliant book though.

 

Rating - 5/5

 

Progress - 3.65% complete

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  • 3 months later...

2013 Book 1 - Chocolat - Joanne Harris

 

Age Rating 14+

 

Recommendations - Blackberry Wine

Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel

Lucas - Kevin Brooks (UTBGC)

The Wood of Love - Anthony Capella

 

Synopsis - When an exotic stranger, Vianne Rocher, arrives in the French village of Lansquenet and opens a chocolate boutique directly opposite the church, Father Reynaud denounces her as a serious moral danger to his flock – especially as it is the beginning of Lent, the traditional season of self-denial.

As passions flare and the conflict escalates, the whole community takes sides. Can the solemnity of the Church compare with the sinful pleasure of a chocolate truffle?

 

My Thoughts - This was a book that i really enjoyed. Its set in France in a chocolate shop and at times it really made me hungry while reading. I dont understand why it has such a high age rating as i found it very enjoyable and easy to read.

 

Rating - 4/5

 

Progress - 3.78% complete

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I loved Chocolat too, Laura. :) I loathed the film though - they made the character in conflict with Vianne the town's mayor (or whatever the French equivalent is) and the priest a simpering idiot - which completely negated the point of the chocolatier being in conflict with the church. Ugh!

 

ETA: And the turned Pantouffle into a kangaroo - why?!!! Grr!

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I loved Chocolat too, Laura. :) I loathed the film though - they made the character in conflict with Vianne the town's mayor (or whatever the French equivalent is) and the priest a simpering idiot - which completely negated the point of the chocolatier being in conflict with the church. Ugh!

 

ETA: And the turned Pantouffle into a kangaroo - why?!!! Grr!

 

oh, maybe I wont be in such a rush to watch it then. It really gets on my nerves when a film takes a different view than the book!

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I like the film - I thought it was so different from the book that I can view it as almost a different story ... and it's got Johnny Depp in it, so it's already onto a winner with me! Juliette Binoche is lovely as Vianne too. :D

 

I've had a look and I've found it on netflix :) so I might watch it a bit later :D I do want to watch it even if it is just for Johnny Depp :D

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Definatly not! Rumour has it he has a house in Hunstanton which is about a half an hour drive from where i live, think i would actually combust if i saw him there! :P

 

My parents moved away from Heacham (very close to Hunstanton) when my Mum was pregnant, just think, he may have been my neighbour!!! :D

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My parents moved away from Heacham (very close to Hunstanton) when my Mum was pregnant, just think, he may have been my neighbour!!! :D

 

Hehe I went into Heacham a couple of months ago hehe I could have bumped into him there! :P

 

 

There are rumours that he lives near Bath too! :giggle2:

 

Hehe maybe he has two houses :P I can dream :P

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There are rumours that he lives near Bath too! :giggle2:

 

I love all these rumours - there were rumours that he was house hunting near me a couple of years back, and apparently was spotted in my local Waitrose! I take it all with a pinch of salt, personally, but it did make me look at all the other shoppers carefully when I went in to Waitrose for a couple of weeks after I heard the rumour ... just in case! :lol:

Edited by chesilbeach
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  • 4 weeks later...

2013 Book 2 - The Woman in Black - Susan Hill

 

Age Rating - 14+

 

Recommendations - The Mist in the Mirror - Susan Hill

                                 The Classic Ghost Stories of M. R. James (UTBGC)

                                 Yaxleys Cat - Robert Westall

 

Synopsis - Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is summoned to attend the funeral Mrs Alice Drablow, the sole inhabitant of Eel Marsh House, unaware of the tragic secrets which lie hidden behind the shuttered windows. The house stands at the end of a causeway, wreathed in fog and mystery, but it is
not until he glimpses a wasted young woman, dressed all in black, at the funeral, that a creeping sense of unease begins to take hold, a feeling deepened by the reluctance of the locals to talk of the woman in black –and her terrible purpose.

 

My Thoughts - I did really enjoy this book but i didnt find it all that scary which surprised me as I'm normally a person that gets scared easily. I liked how the story unfolded and things came to light as the book went on. However the only part that disturbed me was the end part with the children which i didnt really like.

 

Rating - 4/5

 

Progress - 3.92%

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  • 1 month later...

2013 Book 3 - Life of Pi - Yann Martel

 

Age Rating - 14+

 

Recommendations - The Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling

                                 Kim - Rudyard Kipling (UTBGC)

                                 House of Spirits - Isabelle Allende (UTBGC)

                                 Love in the Time of Cholera - Garcia Marqez (UTBGC)

 

Synopsis - One boy, one boat, one tiger ...After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, a solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild, blue Pacific. The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orang-utan and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger. The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary and best-loved works of fiction in recent years.

 

My Thoughts - I really enjoyed this book. Its one of those books that I've always wanted to read but never got around to it. Its a very magical story and i didnt really expect the twist at the end. I really think i should read the book again and i might enjoy it even more the second time around.

 

Rating - 4/5

 

 

Progress - 4.05% Complete

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  • 10 months later...

I had kind of forgotten about this challenge thread! Well in the last few months I have . . .

 

Added to the TBR

87th Precindent Series - Ed McBain (1st Book)

Alex Rider Series - Anthony Horowitz (1st Book)

Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging - Louise Rennison

Atonement - Ian McEwan

The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

The Call of the Wind - Jack London

The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde

How I live Now - Meg Rosoff

Roxy's Baby - Catherine MacPhail

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13.5 - Sue Townsend

Stormbreaker - Anthony Horowitz

A Tale of Two Cites - Charles Dickens

Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells

 

Added to the Wishlist

Noughts and Crosses - Malorie Blackman

 

And Read

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

The Woman In Black by Susan Hill

 

I will hopefully read more books this year for this challenge!

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  • 2 years later...

I actually have this book - although I think my copy has a white cover, so I might have a slightly different version - I bought it ages ago for inspiration and to get recommendations, but I never thought to incorporate it into a challenge. Fab idea and one I'd love to join in with if that's okay?

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