Prizes are in the Mail!

After a long delay, I'm happy to say that all packages will be in the mail as of tomorrow!

Thanks for participating in the Spring Break Reading Challenge.

Random Review Post Winner

Congratulations to Elizabeth.  Her review of THE LIGHTNING THIEF won her a book from the Prize List.  Elizabeth, be sure to email me with your book choice and mailing address at karinlibrarian@gmail.com.

Activity #10 Winner

Congratulations to Mrs. DeRaps.  She is the winner of Activity #10.  Mrs. DeRaps, be sure to email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your prize choice along with your mailing address.

NOTE: All prizes will be mailed out during the next week.  

Activity #9 Winner

Congratulations to Kathy at Kathy's Book Bag.  She is the winner of Activity #9.  Kathy, please email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your book choice from the Prize page.

Activity #8 Winner

Congratulations to Kristen at Bookworming in the 21st Century.  She is the winner of Activity #8.  Kristen, please email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your book choice from the Prize page.

Activity 10 - Last But Not Least

Today is the final day of the Spring Break Reading Challenge.  I hope you've enjoyed participating.  The activities weren't as exciting as the Holiday Break Reading Challenge, but... oh well.  Be sure to post any reviews you've written during the week on the Review post listed in the navigation bar.  I'll pick a random review at the end of the day tomorrow for a book from the Prize List.

Today the activity involves the following:

In Oklahoma (where I live), we are experiencing ANOTHER blizzard - on the first day of Spring, no less.

I want you to find 5 books.  These 5 books need to meet a certain criteria.  These 5 books need to either be about or take place in a winter wonderland.  In other words, snow, ice, or other winter-like weather needs to be involved.

Create a post on your blog with the titles, covers, and book descriptions.

Come back here and use Mr. Linky to connect us to your post.  Hopefully we'll get a wide variety of books from all you guys.

Activity 9 - What Floats Your Boat?

We all have different tastes.  Today's activity is meant to help you get to know a little more about each other and talk about your favorite genre at the same time.  Here is what I want you to do:

1. Create a post about your favorite genre.  What do you read the most and why?  Look at the books you've read this year so far?  How many of those book are ones that fit in your favorite genre?

2. Come back here and link your post to Mr. Linky.

3. After some other people have posted about their favorite genres, go by and visit them.  At least a couple to say hello.

I love reading Dystopian novels.  I have always loved disaster stories and movies.  As a kid I used to play like I was stranded on an island or on the ocean by myself.  My bed was the boat/island and I would pile all of my favorite things on it with me.  Now, years later, even though I don't pretend my bed is a boat, I still like to get lost in a good dystopian story.

I am really looking forward to reading EPITAPH ROAD by David Patneaude.

Now, it is your turn!

Activity 7 Winner

Congratulations to Julie G. She is the winner of Activity #7.  Julie, be sure to email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your book choice from the Prize page.

Here are the answers to the book title collage.

(Top left to right)

Dirty Little Secrets by C. J. Omololu

Teach Me by R. A. Nelson

Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender

Fire by Kristin Cashore

The Walls Have Eyes by Clare B. Dunkle

(Bottom left to right)

Swoon by Nina Malkin

Captivate by Carrie Jones

Darklight by Lesley Livingston

Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr

Need by Carrie Jones

Activity #8 - Status Post

How is everything going for everyone?  Take a minute to post a comment with a status update.  Have you accomplished anything this week?  Are you disappointed with your progress?  Have you gone above and beyond your goals?  

Personally, I haven't accomplished much.  I finally finished THE SECRET UNDER MY SKIN, but I haven't had a chance to straighten any bookshelves. I think I've made progress with my new puppy though.

I look forward to hearing what you guys have done so far.

Activity #6 Winner

Congratulations to Courtney H.  She is the winner of Activity #6 - Create a Cover!  Be sure to check it out if you haven't already.  Courtney - email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your choice from the Prize list.

Activity #7 - Guess The Book Titles

Activity 6 - Create-a-Cover

I love this activity!  I've done it on my own blog, used it with students, and highlighted it on the Holiday Break Reading Challenge.


Today is all about creativity.  Follow the directions below and post your cover and synopsis on your blog then link back here using Mr. Linky.  I can't wait to see what you guys create.

1 – Go to “Fake Name Generator” or clickhttp://www.fakenamegenerator.com/

The name that appears is your author name.

2 – Go to “Random Word Generator” or clickhttp://www.websitestyle.com/parser/randomword.shtml

The word listed under “Random Verb” is your title.

3 – Go to “FlickrCC” or click http://flickrcc.bluemountains.net/index.php

Type your title into the search box. The first photo that contains a person is your cover.

4 – Use Picnik, or something similar to put it all together. Be sure to crop and/or zoom in.

In terms of the activity for the Reading Challenge, I’m asking the participants to create the cover and write a short synopsis to go along with it.  Check out my cover from the Holiday Break Reading Challenge for an example.

Activity #5 Winner

Congratulations to Krystey Belle, she is the winner of Activity #5.  

KrysteyBelle, please visit the Prize page and email me your book choice along with your mailing address at karinlibrarian@gmail.com.

Activity #5 - Obstacles

There are many things that prevent us from doing some of the things we want to.  For instance, I really want to read this week, but we recently purchased a new Chihuahua puppy so a lot of my time is going to be focused on watching her to make sure she doesn't have "accidents" on the carpet.  I've never crate trained or house trained a puppy before so I'm really nervous about it.  I feel like I'm going to have to watch her like a hawk so I she doesn't "go" on the carpet.  

For today's Activity, 1) create a blog post talking about the things that prevent you from getting things done.  It could be reading, updating your blog, or anything else you try to do and 2) can you come up with a plan to get past your obstacle?

Come back and link to you post using Mr. Linky below.

Activity #4 Winner

Congratulations to Becky.  She is the winner of Activity #4.  

Becky - all you need to do is go to the Prize page and pick out what you want.  Email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your mailing address and your choice.

Activity #4 - Blog Designs and Widgets

I desperately want to know how to design web elements or build buttons in PhotoShop.  Looking around the Internet I always come across things I'd like to develop for my blog. Here are a few examples:

Link Back Buttons















Countdown Widgets

Your task:

Create a post explaining what it is you would like to be able to do on your blog.  

• Is there something you really want to create, but don't know how?
• Would you like your blog design to be different?
• What about organization?  Is there something about the arrangement you want to change?

If you feel comfortable enough with the blog use you, feel free to take this time to make some changes and tell us what you did.

Activity #3 Winner

Congratulations to Nikki from Wicked Awesome Books.  She is the winner of Activity #3.

Nikki - be sure to visit the Prize page and make your choice.  Email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your mailing address and book choice.

Activity #2 Winner

Congratulations to Karen B. from Gig Harbor High School.  She linked to her Spring Break Reading Challenge post last night and Random.org spit out her number this morning.

Karen - check out the Prize page and email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with your choice.  Anything not marked out is up for grabs.

Activity #3 - What Are You Reading?

Sundays are busy for a lot of people so today's activity is going to be quick and easy.  All you need to do is create a post including: 


1. Title and author of the book you are reading.
2. Include the cover of the book.
3. Synopsis
4. What do you think about the book so far?
5. Does the author have a website or blog?  If so, insert a link in your post. 


Be sure to link to your direct post using Mr. Linky in order to be eligible for the book giveaway.


CLICK HERE for an example post on my blog.

Activity #2 - Scavenger Hunt

Hello everyone and Happy Spring Break (for me anyway)! If this Reading Challenge doesn't happen to fall during your Spring Break, I'm sorry - I hope you can still participate, even if it isn't for every Activity.  For your first Challenge I'm going to ask you to explore the Blogosphere to find a few things.

In order to be eligible for the Activity #1 Prize, here is what you need to do:

1 - Locate everything I've asked you to find.
2 - Create a blog post highlighting your findings.
3 - Come back here and use the Mr. Linky to link your post so everyone can check in on your post.

So, here is what you need to find:

1 - Using keywords related to your interests, find a blog that is new to you.  Be sure to give us the Blog Title, Link, and Short Description of the Blog.

2 - A blog belonging to an author from a book in your To Be Read pile (just a random one if you don't have a To-Be-Read pile).

3 - A book releasing THIS MONTH you want to read.


Good luck everyone.

Activity #1 Winner

We have our first winner!  

Congratulations to Darci Lenker.

Darci, go to the PRIZE page and choose the book you want and send me an email at karinlibrarian@gmail.com along with your mailing address.

Activity #1 - Goals

Welcome everyone!  Today is the first day of the Spring Break Reading Challenge.  The first activity is going to be easy.  All I'm asking is that you set a simple goal.  This could be anything.  Maybe you want to read 1 book during the week.  Maybe you want to organize your bookshelves.  Perhaps you need to catch up on writing some reviews.  The Spring Break Reading Challenge is meant to fit your needs.

Be sure to create a blog post including your goals and come back here and link to that post using Mr. Linky.  Include the Spring Break Reading Challenge button to you post if you can.  Maybe you can encourage others to join us for this fun-filled week.

I will be choosing a winner from all the entries and posting the winner tomorrow.  Good luck.

Spring Break Reading Challenge Sign Up Post

Okay everyone, now is the time to sign up.  Do you want to participate in the Spring Break Reading Challenge?  Do you want to have the opportunity to win a prize every day?  If so, fill out the Mr. Linky below and leave your name and blog address so we can get to know each other a little bit before the kick off.

Starting Friday, March 12th I will begin posting a new Activity every day.  You have the choice of participating in one or all of the Activities during this Reading Challenge.  Each Activity will have a winner (announced the next day) and will be eligible for a prize.  Be sure to check the Prize List page in a couple of days for a complete list of books up for grabs.

I hope you join us in the fun!  Pass the word around - the more the merrier.

Save the Date! Spring Break Reading Challenge

Announcing the Spring Break Reading Challenge. The fun will start on Friday, March 12, 2010 and end on Sunday, March 21, 2010.

What can you expect? Fun activities and daily prizes! Check out the Holiday Break Reading Challenge to see a sampling.

Prize List

See below for the prize list. Anything not crossed out is up for grabs. Once you are announced as a winner, email me at karinlibrarian@gmail.com with two things:

1) your prize choice

2) your mailing address


ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card
DREAMDARK: BLACKBRINGER by Laini Taylor
DARK SECRETS 1 by Elizabeth Chandler Courtney H. (Activity #6)
THE ROAR by Emma Clayton
THE TOTAL TRAGEDY OF A GIRL NAMED HAMLET by Erin Dionne
THE COFFEEHOUSE ANGEL by Suzanne Selfors Kristin (Activity #8)
SKELETON CREEK by Patrick Carman
ELEVENTH GRADE BURNS by Heather Brewer Karen Burns (Activity #2)
KILLER PIZZA by Greg Taylor Julie G. (Activity #7)
RUINED by Paula Morris Kathy (Activity #9)
THE SEASON by Sarah MacLean
THE DAY OF THE PELICAN by Katherine Paterson
THE GRAVEYARD BOOK by Neil Gaiman Nikki (Activity #3)
A MILLION SHADES OF GRAY by Cynthia Kadohata Becky (Activity #4)
THE MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner Darci Lenker (Activity #1)
SHADOW by Jenny Moss
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID 4: DOG DAYS by Jeff Kinney
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ISLAND by Allegra Goodman 

Krystey Belle (Activity #5)

THE HUNT FOR THE SEVENTH HOUR by Christine Morton Shaw

Spring Break Reading Challenge Reviews

Please post your reviews for the books you read during the Spring Break Reading Challenge here. Be sure to include the DIRECT link to your review.

Winners

Below is the list of winners for every Activity during the Spring Break Reading Challenge.

Activity #1 Darci Lenker

Activity #2 Karen Burns

Activity #3 Nikki

Activity #4 Becky

Activity #5 Krystalyn

Activity #6 Courtney H.

Activity #7 Julie G.

Activity #8 Kristin

Activity #9 Kathy

Activity #10 Mrs. DeRaps