Sock Poppet at Play's 2015 Read-By-the-Month Reading Challenge for September was to read a book:

1. with school as a setting.
2. about the beginning of something (new school, new job, new marriage).
3. about teaching, teachers.
4. where a character learns a new skill.

the first book i read and reviewed for September answered all 4 prompts:

1 - two senior high school students from different schools and both are in the swimming teams
2 - these two fell in love so it was the beginning of a new relationship especially for the girl. it was her first time to be involved with someone.
3- although it didn't really focus much on the teachers, they were there in the background and it was towards the end of the book that the guy's Sociology teacher and his Coach helped turn things around for our MC
4 - our boy MC learns a new skill - people skills (more understanding/acceptance of the diversity of the human species [e.g. the LGBTQIA community], etc)

this book fit prompt 2 to a tee:
    

An Iranian Metamorphosis is a graphic novel based on the author's imprisonment and his escape to freedom. now in France, he begins a new life in a new country with his wife.

this short ebook answered prompt 4:

a police officer discovers something about the case he's working on. he now must learn to hone his "deception" skills if he wants to keep innocent lives safe and maintain his sanity on the job

these three books answered prompts 1, 2 and 4:

this YA coming-of-age series is about gay teen Sam Dorsey who seems to have a 'birthday curse' attached to him as far as he can remember:

1- Sixteen Candles and First Days in College tell of his adventures and misadventures in high school and college respectively

2 - something new happens to our MC in all three books like he falls in love twice, gets a new job waiting on tables, etc. at a resort

4 - waiting on tables at a resort requires skills in taking orders, remembering who gets who and maneuvering dishes from the kitchen to the dining hall and vice-versa

this was a great challenge and i loved it that i was able to answer all four prompts!

October's challenge is about thrills and chills and i need to find something:

1 ~ with characters disguised in some way.
2 ~ i have to read with the lights on.
3 ~ with characters who are scared or scaring someone else.
4 ~ with character, setting, or theme that will thrill me to my toes.

i already have a couple lined up and will be looking for more!

Sock Poppet at Play's 2015 Read-By-the-Month Reading Challenge for August was to read a book:

1. with a character who heads a company.
2. about an important person.
3. with a character who was a real-life famous person.
4. about royalty or with royal characters

unlike the previous challenges, i was able to read two titles that were perfect for prompts 2 and 4.

2. about an important person:

no explanation is needed i think why Tolkien is/was an important person!

4. about royalty or with royal characters:

Healing Fire is an mm/fantasy romance about a prince and his guardian who are also dragon shifters.

September's challenge has a back to school theme and participants have to read a book:

1. with school as a setting.
2. about the beginning of something (new school, new job, new marriage).
3. about teaching, teachers.
4. where a character learns a new skill.

i'll be scouring my shelves, hard drives, thumb drives and e-readers to look for appropriate titles. this is going to be fun again!

Sock Poppet at Play's 2015 Read-By-the-Month Reading Challenge for July was to read a book:

1. that is a good beach read.
2 . that takes place near a body of water.
3. that you thought was all wet.
4. where a character(s) drowns or almost drowns or a ship sinks

to answer the fourth prompt, what could be more appropriate than something about the Titanic!

"God himself could not sink this ship!" - Unknown Titanic crew member to embarking passenger Mrs Sylvia Caldwell

Callie Elizabeth is in the eight grade and loves history. when her class goes to an exhibit about the RMS Titanic, Callie is drawn to a black and white photograph of a girl who looks like her. after the school trip, Callie's normal life is drastically altered when she experiences ghostly visitations from the little girl in the picture. determined to solve the mystery of the hauntings,  Callie, together with her friend and her grandmother's help, delves deeper into her family's history. along the way, she uncovers secrets and brings to light treasures kept hidden for almost a hundred years.

this book appears to be intended for young readers and i think this group would be entertained by the story. there is a mystery to be solved, a ghost that keeps showing up and treasures to be discovered. in between, they will be treated to snippets of factual information about the tragic sinking of the "unsinkable" RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912. the timeline shifts from the present to the past but it is clearly drawn and the reader will never get lost.

a passionate educator with a creative mind could transform this fictional account into a great learning tool for young minds. it could complement lessons on maritime history, disasters at sea, shipbuilding and a lot more. the newspaper articles, journal entries, old photographs and letters have also great potential as learning materials in a writing and/or art class.

a few niggles. i saw a few errors that should be corrected. one example that stands out would be "broach." i know that one broaches a subject but one could never wear it. a "brooch" would be more appropriate, don't you agree?

there are also a few ancestors mentioned whose relation to Callie overwhelmed me. i can just see young readers scratching their heads with "A was her 'great-grand-' or B was her 'great-grand-grand -'or that C was her 'great-grand-grand-grand-'. a simple family tree at the beginning or end of the book would have helped lessen the confusion. there were already photographs in the book so why not include a chart as well. just my two cents.

pardon the pun but it was not a total disaster though. it did not even come close. it was still a good read. extra credits go to the author for managing  to mesh fact and fiction  and coming up with a novel that not only entertains but also informs.

RMS Titanic

the July prompts for Sock Poppet's 2015 Read-By-the-Month Reading Challenge have been posted:

"Life's a Beach"
 
This month you will read a book:
 
1 ~ that is a good beach read.
 
2 ~ that takes place near a body of water.
 
3 ~ that you thought was all wet.
 
4 ~ where a character(s) drowns or almost drowns or a ship sinks.

after going through my Kindle, i found the book for the challenge! i doubt if this one would make a good beach read considering that it's about the RMS Titanic but it more or less answers prompts 2, 3 and 4.

 
http://booklikes.com/groups/show/255/sock-poppet-s-2015-read-by-the-month-reading-challenge

June's Reading Challenge by Sock Poppet at Play is called Six It Is. 

for this month, the prompts are to read a book:

1 ~ with six words in the title.
2 ~ whose author has six letters in first or last name.
3 ~ that was published in a six year (ex. 1776, 1868, 1967, 2006).
4 ~ that is the sixth (or 16th, 26th) book the author published.

fortunately, i was able to find one that had "six words in the title" and "was published in a six year" - John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (pub. 2006)

i started reading this last night after dinner and didn't stop until about 2:30 in the morning. it was that good! no, it was excellent and after having read it, it's no brainer why it was a huge bestseller and was later made into a film. i don't care what the critics or other readers say. i loved the story and the way it was written. 

i was moved by the innocence of Bruno and his friendship with Shmuel who lived on the other side of the fence. their meetings were tense-filled moments that kept me glued to the page. i was also horrified by the atrocities committed during the Holocaust. the fact that they were not directly specified in the novel made it all the more frightening to my vivid imagination. 

the last couple of chapters gave me chills all over. you would too if you were that invested in the story and its characters. 

this is a book that touched my heart. it might have been a fictional account yet it was based on a truth that could never be erased from the pages of history and from the minds of those who experienced it.