Challenge your brain while reading challenge! Is that name redundant? Probably but it’s fun! And at Hour SEVENTEEN I think we all need a little fun right about now!!! And that’s what all of this is about, we’re reading and we’re having fun! And we’re probably drinking gallons of coffee 😉
On to the challenge!
**You must be a read a thon participant!**
This is a two parted challenge that has everything to do with words! We are reading quite a few of them!
- Choose a book! My TBR is filled with horror, paranormal romance, more romance, basically the fun stuff! I love finding books that are outside my normal reading or even better, those that are challenging to read. So, for this part of the challenge, choose a book that is outside your normal sphere of reading. You don’t have to read it during the read-a-thon but share with us if you were to pick a challenging book to read, which would it be and why?
- Choose a word! And, for even more fun, let’s strengthen our vocabulary! Sadly I don’t use mine often enough while blogging but I have many favorite words and I love to learn new ones. So, this little sharing challenge has two steps: Share the below items…
- Any words you come across during the read-a-thon that are unfamiliar to you.
- Any favorite word(s)
- Please comment below to be eligible for the prize! 😉
Winner is Chris from dream-stuff.com !! Grats 😀
$10.00 Gift Certificate from Barnes & Noble or Amazon
Cut off for this challenge is at 2am cst!!
On my list of challenging books that I want to read are:
- Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand – I’ve always wanted to read this.
- The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot – Another that seems enticing and right up my alley!
- Les Misérables by Victor Hugo – My daughter is in theater and has done this play, fabulously I might add! When I saw the movie trailer and the great actors that are in it, I just couldn’t help but pick it up and start reading!
My favorite words:
pe·num·bra
[pi-nuhm-bruh]
noun, plural pe·num·brae [-bree] , pe·num·bras.
1. Astronomy .
- a. the partial or imperfect shadow outside the complete shadow of an opaque body, as a planet, where the light from the source of illumination is only partly cut off. Compare umbra ( def. 3a ) .
- b. the grayish marginal portion of a sunspot. Compare umbra ( def. 3b ) .
2. a shadowy, indefinite, or marginal area.
sur·rep·ti·tious
[sur-uhp-tish-uhs]
adjective
1. obtained, done, made, etc., by stealth; secret or unauthorized; clandestine: a surreptitious glance.
2. acting in a stealthy way.
3. obtained by subreption; subreptitious.
Only a few more hours left!! Hang in there. We can do it!
My Seryniti 
One challenging book I’ve been meaning to read for ages is The Brontes: A Life in Letters. It’s nonfic, which I struggle to enjoy and it’s been sitting on my shelf for so long.
Favorite word I read today: dissident, either a person who dissents or as an adjective, disagreeing in opinions, etc.
Loving that word as well. You don’t hear that one often!!
Great challenge!
here’s mine! 🙂
http://www.justalillost.com/2012/10/12/deweys-24-hour-readathon-2012/#Hr17
Love that word, Avocet! Another new one for me 😀 YAY!
I was excited to read the new J.K. Rowling during readathon, but have so far found it a challenge so switched to easier things. I have a stack of books on my dresser – a literal TBR PILE – and several of them are challenges: The Prague Cemetary, The Art of Fielding and Moneyball all come to mind.
As for new words, one of the books I’m reading is set in Scotland, so I’m learning fun new words like:
Stoater = very pretty girl
Love that word! I’ve never heard that one! I have yet to pick her new one up, probably will soon. 😀 Thanks for stopping by!
book: Moby Dick. I’ve been trying to motivate myself to try this one for ages now.
word: jejune…which can mean something uninteresting. that has always cracked me up, because “jejune” seems like it should be such a peppy word!
It does sound like it would be a kick in your step or something. Love it! Ohhh I have yet to read Moby Dick. Definitely on my TBR!
A really challenging book would be Consciousness Explained by Daniel Dennett. It took my boyfriend a whole year to finish it because is so dense and makes you think ALL the time.
As for the words…so far I’ve been lucky, and I haven’t found unknown ones in the books I’ve been reading. But one of my favorite words is Eucalyptus but in Spanish (Eucalipto) is a word that has all the vowels, which I like and the smell of it reminds me of my mother
Awww… what a fabulous answer! I like it better in Spanish also!
Consciousness Explained sounds like it would be up my alley. I’m going to have to check that out! Thank you for sharing! 😀
My book is Echo and the Bone by Diana Gabaldon. I like her books but they are often so long that it is hard for me to really committ to. Also the price is an issue or not wanting a huge hulking hardback.
Secondly being that I am a blogger I think it is great to share new words so you don’t fall into a rut. My word is Mockingjay. Coming for the popular Hunger Game Series. A mockingjay is originally the genetic merging of a mocking bird and a jabberjay. This can also refer to a person.
Echo and the Bone sounds like an amazing title! I’ll have to look that one up. I love your word!! I did absolutely die over those books though 😀
My most challenging book to read would be The White Goddess by Robert Graves. I have tried to read that befor and there is so much information in there that my brain goes on overload. I have read five chapters in five years.
Word of the day is Gymnophobia( noun) the fear of nudity.
Ohhh wow… Gymnophobia! I was thinking back to my high school gym days where I hated to run! LOL Loving it!
I love words, and the more odd the better I love them. Just watch out for the dodge balls 😉
Same here! Love the ones that jump out at you and say You must remember me!!
Hmm… I would like to read Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, 11 22 63 by Stephen King, and Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness -and haven’t yet based on the size alone! (sad, no?)
I also love words! One of my favorites is scofflaw! (http://onelook.com/?w=scofflaw&ls=a) And it’s surprisingly easy to use in a sentence! Go ahead, give it a try!
Funnily enough I have both a Discovery of Witches and Wolf Hall and haven’t finished either! Probably for the same reasons as you. 😀
My new text book: Forensic Psychology
The Rights of Spring: David Kennedy
Hypnotizability: hypno·tiza·bili·ty
Noun of Hypnotize. Means “An individual’s susceptibility to hypnosis”
Lawyerly: lawyer·ly
Adjective. Means One whose profession is to give legal advice and assistance to clients and represent them in court or in other legal matters
Forensic Psychology, that does sound deep! I love that word. I think I may have heard it before but I had to read it through a few times!! Apparently I need more coffee!
I am not reading it for the read-a-thon, but I took a giant leap out of my comfort zone and started the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. I absolutely love it and I am now about halfway through the fourth book. I am really too tired to pick a clever word, but I do love wonky. Back to the books! Thanks for the break.
Wonky!! I love it! I have yet to pick up George R.R. Martin but those that read him, love him! I know my hubby does!
Challenging book: Anna Karenina
Favor word: Myriad. So fun to say!
Yes it is fun to say! I’m going to have to look up Anna Karenina, lots of people are talking about it tonight!
Happy reading!
1. The book I would pick is the collected work of H.P. Lovecraft. My best friend loves the Cthulu mythos, and I’ve always wanted to see what it’s all about.
2. crass
adj. crass·er, crass·est
So crude and unrefined as to be lacking in discrimination and sensibility.
[Latin crassus, dense.]
crassi·tude (–td, -tyd), crassness n.
crassly adv.
Ohhh I am such a fan of H.P. Lovecraft! Sadly I haven’t read a lot of his books but I do have one. Cthulu is definitely on my TBR as well.
The challenging book I most want to tackle is War and Peace. I’ve always wanted to get around to it but never have.
My challenging word is:
tenacious-1a : not easily pulled apart : cohesive
b : tending to adhere or cling especially to another substance
2a : persistent in maintaining, adhering to, or seeking something valued or desired (from http://www.merriam-webster.com)
I have no idea why that set up as a link. Sorry about that. HTML and me…not friends.
And I forgot my email–bookslikebreathing(at)gmail(dot)coom
No worries at all 😀 I’m not sure HTML is BFF’s with anyone!
I’ve been seeing a lot of War and Peace tonight! It’s on my list as well. And Tenacious, such a beautiful word!
I updated my post that has all of the updates/challenges on my blog here http://frodosco.wordpress.com/2012/10/13/deweys-24hr-read-a-thon/ for anyone interested in checking mine out. It is at the bottom. ^.^ I hope everyone is having fun! Oh, and I added my snacks for anyone who wants to see! 😀
I’m jealous of your double stuffed oreos!!
Fun challenge! I always have lots of books on my “challenge” list. A couple that are actually in my read-a-thon pile are Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban, which is one of my co-blogger’s favorite books, and Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.
For words, I really enjoy “lacuna,” which is a small opening or missing part. One of the books I’m reading, A Fountain Filled With Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming, takes place in Millers Kill. “Kill” is an old Dutch word for river, according to the book. I think it’s neat for two reasons: a. false cognates are awesome! and b. that that particular false cognate survived in the name of a (fictional, but probably based on real places) town!
I’m loving the sound of that book! Ohhh Cloud Atlas! Read it before the movie!!!
I would choose Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. I was a huge fan of Steve Jobs and the book has been sitting on my bookshelf since Christmas, just begging to be read.
One of my favorite words is asyndeton.
Ohhh he was brilliant wasn’t he? Fabulous choice. I don’t normally read Non-Fiction but I may have to pick that one up as well!
Challenging Book: Swann’s Way by Proust. I’ve always wanted to read this, but one blogger finished it today during the readathon, so I feel like I really should pick it up!
New word I discovered today: Retinue, which means “a body of retainers in attendance upon an important personage; suite.”
avidreader25 [at] gmail [dot] com
Ohhh Proust. I’ve heard great things but never picked them up. I will have to do so soon!
Book: An Abundance of Katherines By: John Green
Favorite Word:
KAF-IR
1. is an Arabic term used in a Islamic doctrinal sense, usually translated as “unbeliever,” “disbeliever,” or “infidel.” The term refers to a person who rejects God or who hides, denies, or covers the “truth.”
(Used in humorous ways, not religious)
Awesome word, I’ve never heard it before! Yay! Another new word for my list!!! 😀
Happy Hour 17! 🙂 Thanks for the challenge!
If I were to pick a challenging book to read it would be Les Miserables. And I think I’ll be reading it soon actualy 😀
Shoot, I came across a word today in one of my books that had me scratching my head..can I remember it now? NO, ugh.
But one word that I love is accouterments! I just love the frenchy way it rolls off the tongue, lol.
Definition of ACCOUTREMENT
1
a : equipment, trappings; specifically : a soldier’s outfit usually not including clothes and weapons —usually used in plural
b : an accessory item of clothing or equipment —usually used in plural
The Relentless Reader
That IS a fabulous word. Funnily enough I can absolutely never get it into my head. I have to look it up every time I see it. Maybe I’ll remember now. 😀
1) I’m actually reading a challenge-list book right now: Tekkonkinkreet, by Taiyo Matsumoto. I enjoy comics and manga, but Tekkonkinkreet is pretty action-y and has a different story arc than the kinds of comics I usually enjoy, and I’ve started and stopped it a couple of times in the past. I’m determined to finish it this time!
2) I haven’t come across any unfamiliar words in my reading today, but one of my favorite words of all time is “crepuscular”: active during twilight, like bats or rabbits.
YAY! Good for you! Don’t you love reading something you previously couldn’t get through? Such a feeling of accomplishment! 😀
Ah, my challenging book would probably be Ulysses by James Joyce. I own it and do intend to read it, but I’m sure it will be quite difficult to get through. I’m not a big fan of stream of consciousness or “experimental” prose. It would probably be the worst book ever to choose for a readathon, haha.
(As a side note, I just finished reading Les Mis about two weeks ago. I had the same idea as you – wanted to read it before the movie comes out in January. It’s pretty challenging to get through because of its length and Hugo’s tendency to go off on cultural/historical tangents that can last for 50 pages or more. Good luck with it!)
Some of my favorite words:
Skulduggery — Noun. Underhanded or unscrupulous behavior; trickery.
Demagoguery — Noun. Impassioned appeals to the prejudices and emotions of the populace.
Bivouac — Noun. A temporary camp without tents or cover. (I love saying this one!)
pseudoeden[at]gmail[dot]com
Ohhh Ulysses! Another I have yet to read! But yes, I will be starting Les Mes VERY soon. Hopefully Monday, after sleeping all day tomorrow 😀
Loving these words. I actually saw skulduggery the other day!
Challenging Books:
-Anything by Vladimir Nabokov because, while I love him and his novels, they are very time consuming. He wanted his readers to take their time while reading and enjoy the words. Sometimes I’m just impatient and want to get to the action!
-The Toss of a Lemon. I just got this book. It is over 600 pages and looks like it will be a challenging read.
New and Favorite Words:
I just read Sea today and it was full of Indonesian words. I love foreign words in books. But I like learning new English words too.
-philandering: (1) To carry on a sexual affair, especially an extramarital affair, with a woman one cannot or does not intend to marry. (2) To engage in many love affairs, especially with a frivolous or casual attitude. Used of a man.
-princedom: The territory, jurisdiction, sovereignty, rank, or estate of a prince.
-seraphs: A celestial being having three pairs of wings.
Oh I love those words… Seraph has always been really interesting to me and I had no idea they had three pairs of wings!
Those ARE challenging books, I have mostly read Les Mis for school, but admit I pretty much skipped the history parts and just read the main story, though I love the musical! Also some great words! My answers are HERE. Thank you for the challenge, it was fun!
1) For a challenging book I’d say Finnegans Wake. I made it through Ulysses, but I was defeated very early on by FW.
2) My favourite word is “concomitant”, first learned in the school questions (Law 11), “Every right brings with it a concomitant responsibility.” I think I believe that so firmly in part because the concept gave me a new word to fall in love with.
Finnegans Wake! New TBR Book yay! I have yet to read Ulysses also… that’s on my TBR but for later.
I love that word by the way! Thank you!!
Challenging books hmm.. Night huntress serie – heard awesome things about it, really want to read but never felt in the right mood to do it. So I think it’s definitely challenging 🙂 And The Future of Us – definitely I need the right mood.
As for the words… I beg your pardon but I really don’t remember any – I am somehow tired a bit 😛 heehe no, but really, no word comes to my mind right now – only the uncomplicated ones 😛 Happy readathon! 🙂
At hour 17 of reading, uncomplicated words are probably the best!
I am very impressed by your choice of books because I have been reading “Les Miserables” for years! I suspect that Atlas Shrugged will take years too. Anyway here is my link to my answers.
http://gabbylikesbooks.blogspot.com/2012/10/deweys-read-thon-hours-13-18.html
Thanks for this challenge. It really got me to think outside my usual genres.
I’m so glad it did. I’m learning new words from everyone tonight! Exciting!!
I’ve yet to venture into Les Mes but I have to before Christmas. It’s on my read NOW list.
I thought I wanted to read War and Peace. A year later, and a hundred pages into that thousand-plus page book, I realized I wanted to read Peace but not really War.
I still hope to one day read Toni Morrison’s Beloved.
And I adore words. My current favorite is whimsy.
http://www.readerbuzz.blogspot.com
Ohhh Whimsy. Fabulous word! Seems so perfect for a day like today too!
Just think, one page at a time!
Well, I am reading Big Breasts and Wide Hips now, by Mo Yan who just won the Nobel Literary Prize a few days ago. That’s what made me decide to read it. Certainly a more challenging read than I would normally do.
Another book I’d like to read but probably never will, is Anna Karenina.
As for words. I recently finished Reading the OED, so I learned a lot of new words. My favorites:
Introuvable (adj.) Not capable of being found, specifically of books.
(Good to know that I don’t have too many books, just some that happen to be sneaky and introuvable.)
Onomatomania (n.) Vexation at having difficulty in finding the right word.
(Now I will have the added vexation of not remembering this word to describe my vexation.)
LMAO!!! New favorite word! Onomatomania! And I totally agree, I’ll forget later. I’ll have to write that one down!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Yay! That’s fun!
1)
No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden by Mark Owen
I usually don’t read non-fiction books or religious. When I saw this book on goodreads I thought, sounds interesting but would be a mental challenge for me.
2) my word:
smuggling
I’m Mexican so my English is not that good. I did not know that word, so I went to the dictionary and found this:
smug·gle (smgl)
v. smug·gled, smug·gling, smug·gles
v.tr.
1. To import or export without paying lawful customs charges or duties.
2. To bring in or take out illicitly or by stealth.
v.intr.
To engage in smuggling.
[Probably Low German smukkeln, smuggeln or Middle Dutch smokkelen.]
smuggler n.
On spanish: contrabando. Yeah! Now I know a new word in English.
Cheers!
~Yel
Ohhhh contrabando! I love it!
Without a doubt War and Peace!! In fact, I bought that gorgeous hardcover edition that came out a few years ago with the aqua cover and still plan on reading it eventually….it just scares the living HELL out of me. But I WILL read it! As for a favorite word, melancholy has always been my favorite word 🙂 It’s a beautiful word and it’s like the word itself invokes the feeling of it’s definition 🙂
You’re right, melancholy just has an awesome feel to it! Whew War and Peace. Definitely a great one! I read Dante’s Inferno a while back and that one was crazy but I did it, so can you! One page at a time 😉
Grats!!! You are lucky #62 and won the gift card! I”ll be sending you an email shortly!
Thanks again 😀
How funny! Les Miserables is one of mine too! I’m actually going to try to keep up on the read-a-long that Historical Tapestry is hosting in November. I’m finding the idea somewhat daunting. Another book that I feel very challenged by is War and Peace. Whew!
My words:
Plethora:
[pleth-er-uh]
noun
1.
overabundance; excess: a plethora of advice and a paucity of assistance.
2.
Pathology Archaic . a morbid condition due to excess of red corpuscles in the blood or increase in the quantity of blood.
Debacle:
[dey-bah-kuhl, -bak-uhl, duh-]
noun
1.
a general breakup or dispersion; sudden downfall or rout: The revolution ended in a debacle.
2.
a complete collapse or failure.
3.
a breaking up of ice in a river. Compare embacle.
4.
a violent rush of waters or ice.
Thanks for the fun, Nova!
Whew girl! Love your words but especially Pathology Archaic 😀 File that under Awesome!
That’s so crazy! Atlas Shrugged is at the top of my classics that I want to read but am totally intimidated by. I want to at least attempt it this year! I will watch for unfamiliar words, however my favorite word: joy. Short and sweet 😉
Awww! Joy!! Fabulous 😀
I’ll have to tell you if I start Atlas Shrugged. Maybe I’ll give it to myself for my birthday in Jan. LOL
[…] Challenging Book Challenge […]
I always want to read more classics but never get around to it. I have had Anna Karenina on my Kindle for a while and haven’t managed to read it yet. I just saw the trailer for Les Miserables yesterday and it looked awesome and I thought about reading the book before but the size intimidated me. Maybe I will give it a go.
For a favorite words maybe Onomatopoeia.
Another fabulous word!
There are read a thons going on for Les Mes. I have to catch up for Tien’s Blurb but you have until December 😀 We can do it!!
I read Atlas Shrugged when I was 16 before I knew it was going to turn into the conservative bible. It’s rather weird, because the main messages I got out of it were rather left-wing! Glad I read it, but do remember it taking foreeeeeever. Now, on to the challenge!
A challenging book on my shelf: The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell – This non-fiction exploration of myth has been on my shelf for a while now. It was a gift from my mother and has been described as a rather life-changing book. But its weighty-ness has made it a rather difficult one to approach!
A challenging word: This one I spotted in Defiance by Lili St Crow; I understood it off the bat from the context, but the word itself was new to me!
di·ur·nal
adj.
Relating to or occurring in a 24-hour period; daily.
Occurring or active during the daytime rather than at night: diurnal animals.
Ohhh what a perfect word for today! 😀 Love it!!!
My TBR has only a one book which I would call challenging: War and Peace by Tolstoy. Unless you count non-fiction. Those I have a lot: When they severed Earth from the Sky – how the human mind shapes myth by Barber and Barber, Guns, Germs, and Steel by Diamond, A Renaissance Rapestry by Simon, and Northern Mythology by Thorpe.
My favorite words are pretty ordinary: mother, myth, lock.
I would definitely count nonfiction! That one sounds fantastic. I may need to get my hands on that soon! 😀