You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

*******WELCOME CAMPERS!!!!!*********

Report what you’ve read here. Each camper should set up one post to use for all their reporting. When you finish a book, you’ll edit your post to report the book and the task (this makes the counselors jobs easier)

Feel free to start a separate thread letting us know when you've finished a book....what you thought...or....well whatever.

Let's make this a great week here at camp AmLy!!!

this thread will be open for posts at 12pm est on June 8

When you have accomplished a task, start a reporting comment on this thread.

Use only this thread for reporting and edit that first comment each time a new book has been read. Please try to remember to include the following information for each book:
1) Title (with link)
2) Pages
3) What challenge if fits

Once you have set up your reporting comment, I will link that comment to the names below so you can find it each time:

Amy
Lynn
Debra
Sharon
MarieC
Lori
Marnie
Beverley
Anna M
Connie
Thing Two
Helen2
Naomi
Joes



Total: 1124

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Arts and Crafts Book - 10 points
Do an art project or make a craft from it (picture must be posted) - 10 points

Talent Show Read about a singer, dancer, or musician - 10 points
Post a short video of yourself singing, dancing, or playing an instrument - 15 points

Movie Night Read a book that was made into a movie - 10 points
Pick a scene and tell how it will be/has been ruined in the movie, in decent detail - 10 points

The Big Dance Read a book about young love - 10 points

Campfire Stories Read a scary book - 10 points

Camp Nicknames Read a book written under a pen name OR Read a book where the character is using an alias, or going by a nickname - 10 points

Read a fantasy - 10 points


Diary Read a book that’s in a diary, letter, journal, or similar format - 10 points

Read a book that has siblings fighting - 10 points

Read a book about a long journey - 10 points

Read a book set in a place you’ve never been - 10 points

Read a book located in the opposite setting to your camp / vacation - 10 points

Read a YA book OR history or historical fiction - 10 points

Round Robin 3 team mates will read the same book and discuss it - 10 points each

Extra points for those extra pages:
225 – 325 pages – 1 extra point
326 – 425 pages – 2 extra points
426 or more – 4 extra points

Lynn's reads:


Easy
310 pages - 1 point
YA Task - 10 points
Total - 11 points

The Great Gatsby
Movie Task - 10 points

To me, the film stayed pretty true to the book so I don't think the film detracted from the book at all. I actually think the film improved the stories experience because it was visually stunning and really brought the story to life.

'We walked through a high hallway into a bright rosy-colored space, fragileley bound into the house by French windows at either end. The windows were ajar and gleaming white against the fresh grass outside that seemed to grow a little way into the house. A breeze blew through the room, blew curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags, twisting them up toward the frosted wedding cake of the ceiling - and then rippled over the wine colored rug, making a shadow on it as wind does on the sea.'

This is a perfect example, such a small paragraph in the book was turned into fabulous visual experience that made me smile in a slightly 'childlike wonder'. Dozens of beautiful, long, see-through-white curtains billowing in the wind, showing snippets of the room as if entering some dream like paradise. When the doors are closed, the curtains gently drift to the floor to reveal Daisy and Jordan. It’s a stunning scene. - 10 points

Total - 20pts

Face the Music
266 pages: 1 point
Talent Show Task: 10 points
Post a short video of yourself singing, dancing, or playing an instrument - 15 points

I am front row, end singer on the right
http://vimeo.com/54301568
http://vimeo.com/54361000
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ_MU...
(It's hard to see me on the last link because of the lighting but at 1:20 I come to the front for a group-solo)

Ok so seen as Jmom is a big meanie, here's a link to a video I did today (Edit - which has now been removed)

Total - 26 points

Pandemonium
375 pages: 2 points
YA task: 10 points
Total: 12 points

Requiem
391 pages: 2 points
YA task: 10 points
Total: 12 points

Forbidden
432 pages - 4 points
YA task: 10 points
Total: 14 points

Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog
343 pages - 2 points
Movie task: 10 points

This is a re-read for me but as soon as I saw this task my first thought was for this book / movie combo. I love this book and dreaded the movie coming out because I knew it wouldn't even come close. My dread was increased when I realised who had got the two leads, Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. Not that I've got anything against either of them in particular but it was obvious to me from those choices that the emphasis would be on the comedy aspect of the book rather than the true hero of the story, the emotion and love between Marley and the family.

Of course there was emotion in the film but it just didn't touch my heart like the book did. One of the stand out scenes in the book for me is when Jenny comes back from the hospital (view spoiler)[after the miscarriage (hide spoiler)]. When reading this bit, I remember doing a small gasp, my heart melting and thinking for the first time 'Ah, this dog isn't just crazy.' The film just didn't manage to capture that special moment in my eyes.

Total: 22 points

The Diary of a Young Girl
283 pages - 1 point
Diary task: 10 points
Total: 11 points

I, Zombie
Campfire task - 10 points

Anna M

Halo
484 pages: 4
YA task: 10
Total: 14

Hades
424 pages: 2
YA task: 10
Total: 12

Nor Iron Bars a Cage
244 pages: 1
Fantasy: 10
Total: 11

Ripple
260 pages: 1
YA Task: 10
Total: 11

Strangers
206 pages: 0
Campfire Stories: 10
Total: 10

The Selection
327 pages: 2
YA Task: 10
Total: 12

1001 Cranes
240 pages: 1
Arts and Crafts Book: 10 points
[image error]Total: 21

Shatter Me
338 pages: 2
YA Task: 10
Total: 12

Karlology: What I've Learnt So Far
218 pages: 0
Diary: 10
Total: 10

Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror
240 pages: 1
Campfire Stories: 10
Total: 11

Marnie
The Housekeeper and the Professor
180 pages
Place I've never been -Japan
10 points


The Hobbit- 10 points
351- pages+2
Movie night
Wait a minute The Hobbit is a trilogy!!! How can a 350 page book take three movies to tell the tale- talk about a Bait and Switch! That is how the movie is worse than the book!

While Tolkien' s book was a charming read filled with splendid adventure that I literally could not put down the movie is way more violent. Showing Thorin's father getting beheaded at the beginning of the movie did not add to the story.
Obviously if you are making a short book into three movies you will need to add things that were not in the book.

 The book opens with an impromptu tea party where Bilbo Baggins' frustration of the uninvited dwarves made me giggle. In the movie the dwarves arrive for supper and Baggins' frustration is not nearly as charming.

Radagast is mentioned by name once in the book as one of the wizzards of Middle Earth. In the movie he has a whole scene where he is portrayed as a wacko animal loving wizzard.

My favorite part of the book was the slow unfolding of Bilbo Bagins' heroism but in the movie they definately downplayed that. 
I could go on but I will end this by saying I gave the book 5+ stars and the movie 3 stars... Less is sometimes better.
22 points

The Nobodies Album
320 pages
Campfire story
11 points

Buttercream Bump Off
240 pages
Arts & Crafts


Carrot Cake with extra Buttercream Frosting.
21 points

The Great Gatsby
180 pages
Movie night



I listened to the book instead of reading it. I have read the reviews that this is " the great American novel" and I was excited to finally listen to it. I enjoyed the story. Set in the 1920s when prohibition was in place, this book showed all the excess of the time. Lavish parties, fancy cars, and lots of extramarital canoodling. Throw in a little mystery mixed with romance and the scene is set.

I thought the movie followed the book pretty closely. There were some differences but nothing that ruined it for me.
I thought the movie enhanced the book. When I was reading about  the opulence of the time I pictured expensive- big  houses, fancy clothes, fantastic parties- but the movie showed it even more lavish than I had pictured. The costumes were exquisite! The party scenes at Gatsby's house were way more circus like than I had imagined.

The scene I was  looking forward to seeing  the most was at The Plaza Hotel.  When Gatsby tries to convince Daisy to leave Tom ,Fitzgerald wrote it so that the angst was palpable, the movie portrayed that scene just as I had imagined it in my head. I think the movie is a nice companion piece to the book.
20 points
Sweet Revenge
317 pages +1
Arts & Crafts

Chocolate Chunk Cookies
21 points

Murder on the Rocks
281 pages
Campfire story
11 points

Sharon's Reads

Coastal setting - The Accidental Husband – Jane Green

392 pages

12 points

Connie


XVI
325 pages: 1 point
YA Book: 10 points
11 points

The Joy Luck Club
332 pages: 2 points
A Book Set in a Place You Have Never Visited: China (also a book about a long journey): 10 points
12 points

The Year of Magical Thinking
227 pages: 1 extra point
Long Journey: Sometimes a journey is spiritual and emotional, not physical. This book is about Joan Didion's long journey after her husband dies and leaves her to care for their very ill daughter. I love Didion's way of expressing the vulnerability each of us feels when confronted with an awful situation like the one she survived with such grace.
11 points

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
397 pages: 2 points
Long journey: 10 points
12 points

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
375 pages
HIstorical fiction
12 points

Until Thy Wrath Be Past
Campfire Stories
256 pages
11 points

Mary Poppins
Fantasy
224 pages
10 points

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
Long Journey
302 pages
11 points

Gone with the Wind
Movie Night
1037 pages: 4 points
24 points

(view spoiler)[It has been many, many years since I last saw the movie Gone with the Wind; however, I do not recall the scene where Scarlett has a baby boy, Wade, by her first husband, Charles Hamilton being in the movie. She learns she is pregnant after he has gone to fight in the Civil War and dies from the measles. Being a new mother and a widow leaves her depressed and bored. Later, she has another child, Ella Lorena, by her second husband, Frank Kennedy. This birth is not included in the movie either. I think the book is much better than the movie because including the births of these two children present a more developed character for Scarlett.

Also, the book presents nuanced clues from the very beginning about the characters’ motives and the probable outcome of the plot. At the beginning of the book, the gentry in the county are going to a barbecue, and one of them says Ashley is so strange he would probably “rather read a book than hunt.” Scarlett is not an intellectual; she is one of the hunting set, so she has set her cap for the wrong man. Ashley understands this, and does not want to hurt her, but he does not know how to go about telling her. Rhett is precisely the sort of man Scarlett needs, but she does not see it until it is too late. I love the book more than the movie because of the little nuances between the characters that give extra meaning and depth to the story and the characters.

One example is Ellen O’Hara. We really do not learn much about her in the movie except she is Scarlett’s mother. However, in the book we find out that she married Gerald O’Hara, a man twenty-eight years older than she was because the man she loved was forced from the city by her family and was killed in a duel in New Orleans. When she received news of her lover’s death, she told her father that she was going to marry O’Hara or go into a convent. It gives so much more depth to her character when we know that she has suffered loss. (hide spoiler)]

Moll Flanders
Camp Nicknames: character (Moll Flanders) uses an alias
339 pages
12 points

Winter's Tales
Camp Nicknames: Isak Dinesen is the pseudonym of Karen Blixen
313 pages
11 points

The Lady and the Monk: Four Seasons in Kyoto
Set in a place you have never been: Japan
338 pages
12 points

But Mama Always Put Vodka in Her Sangria!: Adventures in Eating, Drinking, and Making Merry
Arts and Crafts
272 pages
21 points
(view spoiler)[
Judy's Bloody Mary Mix (hide spoiler)]
Click spoiler for photo.

The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes of My Life
Arts and Crafts
304 pages
21 points
Dunbar Macaroni(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
Click spoiler to view photo.

The Big Dance
The Great Gatsby
180 pages
10 points

Helen2 book reporting:
Total: 88 points

Book 1: Deadly Little Lessons
336 pages = 2 pts
YA novel = 10 pts
12 pts

Book 2: Calico Joe
198 pages
Long journey = 10 pts
10 pts

Book 3: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight
236 pages = 1 pt
Big Dance - First Love 10 pts
11 pts

Book 4: On the Island
347 pages = 2 pts
Place never been - tropical island in South Pacific (Maldives) - 10 pts
12 points

Book 5: The Fault in Our Stars
318 pages = 1 pt
YA novel - 10
11 points

Book 6: The Queen of the Big Time
304 pages = 1
Historical fiction = 10
11 points

Book 7: Just Plain Weird
318 pages = 1
YA book = 10
11 points

Book 8: The Five People You Meet in Heaven
196 pages
Movie = 10
10 points

What I read at camp:


Insurgent
525 pages = 4 pts
YA = 10 pts
14 points

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
493 pages = 4 pts
Movie Night = 20 pts
I loved this book so much that I wanted to read it again almost as soon as I put it down. The book covered the time before Francie was born until she was 16 years old, whereas the movie only covers about 9 months of the time. There were several scenes that were thrown in those few months that happened on a totally different timeline than the book.
The were a lot of things done differently, name changes, different people dying, how people met.
In the book Francie goes to the library and checks out a book and asks the librarian to recommend a book for her. The librarian never looks at her, or really notices that she is there other than grabbing a book from under the counter (one of two that she has already read)
In the movie, that scene happens so differently as the librarian is friendly and has a conversation with her about what she is checking out and then offers her the recommendation.
24 points

toppler total 38 pts

MarieC's Toppler Reads

Total: 79 points

The Crossroads; 325 pages; Theme Park (YA novel) = 11 points
Curse of the Spellmans; 409 pages; Sibling fighting = 12 points
The Christie Curse; 304 pages; Camp nicknames = 11 points
Murder on the Mind; 251 pages; Camp nicknames = 11 points
Catching Fire; 391 pages; Movie = 22 points
This book is currently being adapted, the movie being announced for November. I am pretty sure they will not make the spectators feel how much life has changed for Katniss when she comes back from the Victory Tour and that the regime changes in District 12; she has nothing to do each day since Gale is the mine, she can no longer hunt in the woods and everybody has to be careful not to get the attention of the Peacekeepers.
Mockingjay; 390 pages; YA novel = 12 points

Debra's Camp Fun Reads

Tortured Spirits
Campfire story
480 pages
14 points

Breakfast with Buddha
Road Trip
323 pages
11 points

The Great Gatsby
Movie Night
180 pages

JMom says I can make something up about what might have been in The Great Gatsby movie for extra points. So, I think that Daisy would have told her husband she was driving the car that killed her husband's lover. Daisy wouldn't have known it was her husband's lover, of course. But, I think she would have been too distraught not to tell him and that he covered for her. In the book, it SEEMS that he doesn't know.

21 points

Vampires in the Lemon Grove: Stories
243 pages
Fireflies (fantasy)
11 points

Mr. Shivers
327 pages
Campfire stories
12 points

The Troupe
512 pages
Fireflies (fantasy)
14 points

Total 83 points

Naomi Stays in her Bunk and Reads:

For Historical Fiction 10 pts + 4 points for 512 pages: The Beggar King total= 14 pts

Movie night 10 pts + 10 pts for scene description + 1 point for 289 pages = 21 points The Silver Linings Playbook
This book differs a bit from the movie. It is told in 1st person from the point of view of Pat the main character. I liked the book and I liked the movie. I think a scene in the movie I like better was the actual dance competition. In the book they were just dancing for recognition, not a trophy or place and were mainly dancing with teenage girls. The movie was a real competition for a trophy and place. The father in the book has some mental issues himself and doesn't deal with his family well at all. In the movie, the father was a little more involved yet still gruff. I think the movie didn't need the scene where the cops kept showing up to keep Pat "in-line". I also like the scene in the book where he meets his therapist at the Eagles game better than in the movie. In the movie, there is a big racist fight. In the book, the Indians and the fat guys become friends because Pat tells his fat guy buddies to leave the Indians alone.


Arts and Crafts : Red Velvet Cupcake Murder 10 pts + 323 pages 1pt + baked blueberry muffins 10 pts total = 21 points

Lori's Campfire Reads and Hiking Day Audios


Read a book set in place you've never been; 256 pages = 11 pts


Movie Night-Book to Movie 10pts
340 pages 2 pts
Comments on movie changes 10 pts
TOTAL 22 pts

(view spoiler)[There were quite a few changes from the book to the movie. The scene change I disliked the most was when she left Kevin. In the book her escaped was very well planned giving her a good 24 hours before she would be discovered (husband away over night). She cut and dyed her hair at home, forwarded phone calls to a disposal cell phone, had clothing hidden away from the house so she took nothing from home, she left the local bus station and got to Philadelphia undetected.

In the movie, it was more like she was prepared IF the opportunity presented itself. She left following a beating by her husband in which she stabbed him with a kitchen knife, grabbed a few things, ran to her neighbors house in hysterics, cutting and dying her hair in a panic and was pursued by her husband (and police) at the local bus station just barely escaping town. (Well planned versus spontaneous decision) Guess they needed more drama?!!

In the book her trail was discovered by Kevin via the neighbors daughter mention of a deceased sister, Katie, who Erin favored. In the movie, he traced her through a phone number on the neighbors caller ID. (Accidental discovering via innocent person versus stupid mistake on Erin's part)

In the movie, her husband loses his job because he puts out an APB flyer identifying her as a first degree murder suspect. In the book, it's because of his unprofessional behavior at work.

In the movie, the boyfriend, Alex, sees the flyer and confronts her for being a liar before she tells him the truth regarding her past. In the book, she voluntarily tells Alex her past while he is at her cabin for dinner. (hide spoiler)]

The end was slightly changed and I actually liked the ending in the movie better than the book.


Read a book set in a place you have never been--Viscos, France 10 pts


Book to Movie 10 pts
Comments on movie 10 pts
Total 20pts

This was a re-read for me and I have the same feeling about the book as the first time I read it. It just "okay". I really don't find much to like about an entire cast of characters who are self-absorbed, self-deceived and self-justified. At best its a warning of what not to do. The dangers of the glamorous lifestyle if one does not have the maturity to handle it.

For me, the movie made the book a better book in the same manner as some books being more enjoyable in an audio version. The visual grander of it all made it more interesting.

Hello Meanie #1! Hello Meanie #2!
Here I am at Camp Amly.
The books here are very entertaining.
If I'm lucky it will never stop this raining.

1. A Slanting Light written by Gerda Charles (real name Edna Lipson)
337 pages
Camp Nicknames
12 points

2. Bring Up the Bodies written by Hilary Mantel
432 pages
Siblings Fighting
14 points

3. Vox written by Nicholson Baker
176 pages
Diary
10 points

4. Island Beneath the Sea written by Isabel Allende
480 pages
Long Journey
14 points

5. Morte D'Urban written by J.F. Powers
360 pages
Opposite Camp
12 points

6. The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective written by Kate Summerscale
400 pages
Campfire stories
12 points

Total camp points: 74

I like your Crane Anna :-).

Marnie your cake looks delicious! One of my favourites, carrot cake and the frosting looks so sinful!

Cathie wrote: "I like your Crane Anna :-).

Very clever, Anna. Are you going to make 1001?

1. NOS4A2
2. 692
3. scary
4. 14 pts.

Well I finished Seraphina by Rachel Hartman (Sorry i cant add html on my iphone) on the plane to Boston (my wife and i are on a mini-vacation) for the fantasy challenge. If you like fantasy books and YA novels, you'll love this book. Very creative characters and lots of references to music - real and made up - made this a great book. I will be putting it on the classroom bookshelf when I get back to school in August!

If I remember correctly, that's 10 points for fantasy and 4 points for it being 400+ pages for a total of 14 points?

Unfortunately, that may be my only contribution since I'm now on vacation with my wife. I think reading the whole time may be frowned upon!

No I don't think reading while on your vacation is a good idea! :) We all read as much as we can, thanks for your contribution :)

1. Along Came a Spider
2. 435
3. Movie night

The book is much more developed than the movie. The movie follows the movie only in the basic story line (the kidnapping), while the book goes into the mind of the kidnapper and his relationship with Alex Cross. There is no romantic interest between Alex and the secret service woman and nothing about his dead wife.
The book is so much more interesting than the movie. The movie was predictable while the book had more plot lines and twists.

Connie, that macaroni and cheese looks delicious and you made enough for all of us! Now, where'd I put my fork...

Joe enjoy the vacation!!!

edited my movie night post Lynn.

So I've just tallied up the scores and posted the new spreadsheet ...... we've hit the 1000 score mark!

WELL DONE EVERYONE! Thank you for all your efforts :)

Please check your score and let me know if I've recorded anything incorrectly. If have something to add please let me know too.

You missed my addition from half and hour ago. I finished a book for Arts and Crafts for 21 more points.

Hi, Lynn,
I edited my post minutes before the deadline. I finished a re-read of The Great Gatsby this AM. Good thing it's a short read!!! So, I should have an extra 20 points.

Thanks!!!

Thanks :)

Just sort my scavenger hunt pics and then I'll come back to this.

Lynn wrote: "So I've just tallied up the scores and posted the new spreadsheet ...... we've hit the 1000 score mark!

WELL DONE EVERYONE! Thank you for all your efforts :)

Please check your score and let me k..."

I just updated. Finished that last book at 11:58 a.m. EST! If I only had 4 more hours ... lol

Upated with the above changes.

Group Score Total: 1124

Let me know if there are any more updates / mistakes.

You guys are awesome!! ~ 1124 points. Outstanding job!

That's awesome!!

Wow!! Did you guys sleep at all? Great job, Camp AmLy!

We were reading machines! lol

:D

WOW! Our team is amazing!

I can't believe how many books some of you have read during the week! I am not worthy! LOL

But I hope I'll always be in your team though ;o)

Marie Claude, you are more than worthy; you are the best! : ) Together we are the best team! I am on my phone, so I can't see Amy 's photo, but I am sure it is grand!