Michelle's Empty Nest’s Comments (group member since Oct 31, 2021)

Michelle's Empty Nest’s comments from the Hooked on Books group.

Ridiculously Random Prompt #20: Blue Whale





You can hear a blue whale's heartbeat from more than 2 miles away.


The world's largest animal's heart weighs about 400 pounds — approximately the size of a small piano.


Complete ONE of the following tasks:

🐳 1. Read a book with a blue cover.
🐳 2. Read a book where someone plays a piano.
🐳 3. Read a book with all the letters of HEART found in the title.
🐳 4. Read a book with a 2 in the page count.

Ridiculously Random Prompt #20: Blue Whale





You can hear a blue whale's heartbeat from more than 2 miles away.


The world's largest animal's heart weighs about 400 pounds — approximately the size of a small piano.


Complete ONE of the following tasks:

🐳 1. Read a book with a blue cover.
🐳 2. Read a book where someone plays a piano.
🐳 3. Read a book with all the letters of HEART found in the title.
🐳 4. Read a book with a 2 in the page count.

Way to go!

Ridiculously Random Prompt #7: Allergic Cats





Some cats are allergic to people.


FYI for all you people allergic to cats: they might be allergic to you, too! It's pretty uncommon due to the fact that we bathe ourselves more often than other species and don't shed as much hair or dead skin, but yes, it does happen.


Complete ONE of the following tasks:

🐈 1. Read a book with a cat on the cover.
🐈 2. Read a book where someone takes a bath or a shower.
🐈 3. Read a book with all the letters of ALLERGIC found in the title/subtitle.
🐈 4. Read a book with the word HAIR or SKIN found in the text.

Exceptional!

Ridiculously Random Prompt #2: Chef's Hat





The 100 folds in a chef's hat represent 100 ways to cook an egg.


Yes, that tall, pleated white hat that chefs wear — technically called a toque — has 100 folds for a reason! According to Reluctant Gourmet, the pleats used to signify a chef's level of experience, like the number of ways he or she knew how to prepare eggs.


Complete ONE of the following tasks:

👩🏼‍🍳 1. Read a book with a mostly white cover. {Your discretion.}
👩🏼‍🍳 2. Read a book where the MC is described as being tall.
👩🏼‍🍳 3. Read a book with a 1 and 2 0s found in the publication date.
👩🏼‍🍳 4. Read a book where the author's first AND last initials are found in RELUCTANT GOURMET.

Ridiculously Random Prompt #54: Ultimate Taser Ball





Ultimate Taser Ball is a kind of extreme and crazy sport that not many would have heard of or believe that it is true. It involves players carrying a real taser gun and using it on opponents to gain possession of the ball. If you are thinking, who would have come up with such an idea, the honors go to three California natives: Leif Kellenberger, Eric Prum, and Erik Wunsch.


The game is played on a 200 x 85 feet field. The ball used is a large 24 inch diameter inflated ball. The objective of the sport is to successfully carry the ball onto the opponents goalpost without getting tased en-route.


Rather than allowing players to go wild with their stun guns, the game fortunately has a rule that only players that have possession of the ball can be tased. The stun guns used emit a maximum of five milliamps, enough to cause muscle spasms to give up the ball, but well under the 1 amp lethal dose, and hence causes no permanent damage.


It's not hard to imagine that the sport was not well received. People would rather play than get tased and fall on their face. The founders, however, seem to be working towards getting a minor league going for the sport.


Complete ONE of the following tasks:

🔫 1. Read a book with a character who is in law enforcement.
🔫 2. Read a book where the title ENDS with a letter in EXTREME.
🔫 3. Read a book with a plot that seems too crazy to be true.
🔫 4. Read a book where the MC's first name ENDS with a letter in LETHAL.

Ridiculously Random Prompt #57: Underwater Hockey





Underwater Hockey, also known as ‘Octopush,' is essentially a game of hockey at the bottom of a swimming pool.


The aim of the game is to push the puck into the opposing team’s goal using a small pusher. The game involves 2 teams of up to 10 players with players using diving masks, fins, and snorkel gear.


Complete ONE of the following tasks:

🏊🏻‍♀️ 1. Read a book with a body of water on the cover.
🏊🏻‍♀️ 2. Read a book with between 2 and 20 MAJOR characters.
🏊🏻‍♀️ 3. Read a book with all the letters of HOCKEY found in the title.
🏊🏻‍♀️ 4. Read a book with the words SMALL and PUSH found in the text.

Ridiculously Random Prompt #57: Underwater Hockey





Underwater Hockey, also known as ‘Octopush,' is essentially a game of hockey at the bottom of a swimming pool.


The aim of the game is to push the puck into the opposing team’s goal using a small pusher. The game involves 2 teams of up to 10 players with players using diving masks, fins, and snorkel gear.


Complete ONE of the following tasks:

🏊🏻‍♀️ 1. Read a book with a body of water on the cover.
🏊🏻‍♀️ 2. Read a book with between 2 and 20 MAJOR characters.
🏊🏻‍♀️ 3. Read a book with all the letters of HOCKEY found in the title.
🏊🏻‍♀️ 4. Read a book with the words SMALL and PUSH found in the text.

Ridiculously Random Prompt #57: Underwater Hockey





Underwater Hockey, also known as ‘Octopush,' is essentially a game of hockey at the bottom of a swimming pool.


The aim of the game is to push the puck into the opposing team’s goal using a small pusher. The game involves 2 teams of up to 10 players with players using diving masks, fins, and snorkel gear.


Complete ONE of the following tasks:

🏊🏻‍♀️ 1. Read a book with a body of water on the cover.
🏊🏻‍♀️ 2. Read a book with between 2 and 20 MAJOR characters.
🏊🏻‍♀️ 3. Read a book with all the letters of HOCKEY found in the title.
🏊🏻‍♀️ 4. Read a book with the words SMALL and PUSH found in the text.

Prompt Name / #: Thrillers #47





The Midwife Murders
Published: August 2020


A missing patient is a hospital ward's worst nightmare -- until even more disappear.

To Senior Midwife Lucy Ryuan, pregnancy is not an unusual condition, it's her life's work. But when two kidnappings and a vicious stabbing happen on her watch in a university hospital in Manhattan, her focus abruptly changes. Something has to be done, and Lucy is fearless enough to try.

Rumors begin to swirl, blaming everyone from the Russian Mafia to an underground adoption network. The feisty single mom teams up with a skeptical NYPD detective to solve the case, but the truth is far more twisted than Lucy could ever have imagined.


Complete ONE of the following:

1. Read a book where the title is mostly in the center of the cover.
2. Read a book set in New York.
3. Read a book where a character is pregnant.
4. Read any James Patterson novel.

Prompt Name / #: Thrillers #38





The Cornwalls are Gone
Published: March 2019


In her career as an Army intelligence officer, Amy Cornwall has seen haunting sights half a world away. None compare to the chilling scene at her Virginia home. A phone rings with a terrifying ultimatum: locate and liberate an unnamed captive in forty-eight hours, or her kidnapped husband and ten-year-old daughter are dead. Now, and in open defiance of Army Command, Amy must employ every lethal tactic she has to save them. To succeed, she must discover not only who dispatched her on this mission, but why. Without her family, she's dead either way.


Complete ONE of the following:

1. Read a book where the MC is in the military.
2. Read a book published in 2019.
3. Read a book where the author's first initial is NOT found in CORNWALL.
4. Read any James Patterson novel.

I gave a 2-year time period. You've got plenty of time. 😊

Works for me!


Prompt Name / #: Romances #3





Sundays at Tiffany's
Published: January 2008


As a little girl, Jane has no one. Her mother, the powerful head of a Broadway theater company, has no time for her. She does have one friend - a handsome, comforting, funny man named Michael - but only she can see him.

Years later, Jane is in her thirties and just as alone as ever. Then she meets Michael again - as handsome, smart and perfect as she remembers him to be. But not even Michael knows the reason they've really been reunited.

SUNDAYS AT TIFFANY'S is a love story with an irresistible twist, a novel about the child inside all of us - and the boundary-crossing power of love.


Complete ONE of the following:

1. Read a book with two people embracing on the cover.
2. Read a book with an author or character named Michael, or a variation of it.
3. Read a book with a day of the week in the title.
4. Read any James Patterson novel.

Mystery Maven's Magical Manipulation of Mirth and Mayhem!
Individual Challenge
Duration: July 1 to September 30 (3 months)


Part 1

😱8. Bizarre Magic: 😱
Uses mystical, horror, fantasy and other similar themes in performance. Bizarre magic is typically performed in a close-up venue, although some performers have effectively presented it in a stage setting. Bizarre Magicians often use authentic antique or simulated artifacts to enhance their presentations. Storytelling is also employed for a greater sense of theatrical authenticity.
Read a book that:
*Is a Main Genre: Horror or Fantasy or Paranormal; or
*From the Trippy Books Listopia; or
*Read This book ---> The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins The Library at Mount Char (one of my favorite bizarre books)


Part 2

M:

Y:

S:

T:

I:

C:

A:

L:

✹When: July 1 to August 31, 2025
✹Standard Challenge Guidelines (With noted exception on Graham Crackers)
✹Use or ignore articles such as A, An, The


🔥Campfire:
First, you need to build your fire. To do so, choose two-to-four of the following tasks.
1. Read a book with a mostly red or mostly orange cover
2. Read a book with "Fire" in the title or series name
3. Read a book with fire/flames on the cover
4. Read a book about a firefighter from one of the following Listopias; name the list you chose:
✹Firemen Are Hot
✹Firefighter Books
✹Best Gay Firemen Paramedics EMTs
✹Firefighters
✹Firefighter Romance Heroes
Note: Whatever list and book, your character *must* be a firefighter, not an EMT/cop/paramedic!


🌭 Hot Dogs:
Roast some wienies by choosing two-to-five of the following tasks.
1. Read a book that is food-related fiction
2. Read a book that you think has a HOT cover (your interpretation!)
3. Read a book that has a three-letter word AND a four-letter word in the title (can have any number of words in total).
4. Read a book with a 7 in the number of pages or in the publication date
5. Read a book with a dog on the cover


🍫S'mores
Put together your ingredients for S'mores. Choose at least one task per ingredient:
1. Graham Crackers
✶Read a book that starts with a "G" or a "C"
✶Read a book with a two-word title
✶Read a book with a character or author with the name of Graham (first or last name is fine)
✶Read two books that are more than 70 pages, each but less than 140 pages, each. Note: For THIS task ONLY, you may ignore the standard rules for page count, but it must be adult or YA; novellas and plays are allowed if they fit page requirements!
2. Marshmallow
✶Read a book with a mostly white cover
✶Read something "fluffy", as represented by one of the following genres on a book's main page:
a. Chick-Lit
OR
b. Humor
✶Read a book where the main character's name starts with an M
3. Chocolate
✶Read a book you consider to be "sweet"
✶Read a book with a mostly brown cover
✶Read a book with chocolate on the cover or in the title
✶Read a book with a one-word title


🍳Mountain Breakfast Skillet
Sauté potatoes, onions, and peppers in a cast iron skillet, then crack in some eggs and toss in sausage or bacon by choosing one-to-four of the following tasks.
1. Read a book from one of these listopias:
✹Favorite American West Novels
✹Best Gay Cowboys
✹Favorite Western/Cowboy Romance Novels
2. Read a book with mountain(s) on the cover
3. Read a cowboy/western themed book
4. Read a book that takes place in one of these mountainous provinces or states:
✶British Columbia, Canada
✶Alberta, Canada
✶Washington state
✶Idaho
✶Montana
✶Wyoming
✶Utah
✶Colorado
✶New Mexico
✶Nevada
✶California
✶Oregon

Prompt Name / #: Thrillers #56





The Paris Detective
Published: December 2021


The evidence is clear—Luc Moncrief, the most famous detective in Paris, is now the sharpest crime-solving mind in the NYPD. Three thrilling cases from the creator of Alex Cross and Detective Michael Bennett.

French Kiss: Very handsome and charming French detective Luc Moncrief joined the NYPD for a fresh start--but someone wants to make his first big case his last. Welcome to New York.

French Twist: Gorgeous women are dropping dead at upscale department stores in New York City. Detective Luc Moncrief and Detective Katherine Burke are close to solving the mystery, but looks can be deceiving....

The Christmas Mystery: In the heart of the holiday season, priceless paintings have vanished from a Park Avenue murder scene. Now, dashing French detective Luc Moncrief must become a quick study in the art of the steal--before a coldblooded killer paints the town red. Merry Christmas, Detective.


Complete ONE of the following:

1. Read a book with the word BESTSELLING found on the cover.
2. Read a book with three or more stories included - can be short stories or an omnibus, etc.
3. Read a book with the word CHRISTMAS found in the text.
4. Read any James Patterson novel.

Fantastic!

Ridiculously Random Prompt #24: Giant Pumpkin Kayaking





Giant Pumpkin Kayaking is quite simply the sport of kayaking inside of a giant, hollowed-out pumpkin.


The most famous race takes place on Lake Pesaquid in Nova Scotia at the annual Windsor Pumpkin Regatta. The course is a half-mile long and competitors often decorate their pumpkins with paint and flags.


Complete ONE of the following tasks:

🎃 1. Read a book set at least partially in Canada.
🎃 2.Read a book with all the letters of KAYAK in the title. {2 As, 2 Ks}
🎃 3. Read a book with something painted or flags on the cover.
🎃 4. Read a book with the word PUMPKIN found in the text.

Ridiculously Random Prompt #15: Chess Boxing





Unsurprisingly, Chess Boxing involves both the classic game of chess and the popular sport of boxing.


The competitors alternate between 5 rounds of boxing and 6 rounds of chess for a total of 11 rounds, each lasting 3-minutes. The game was inspired by a French comic and invented by Dutch artist Lepe Rubingh.


Complete ONE of the following tasks:

🥊 1. Read a book where a character plays chess or another board game.
🥊 2. Read a book that has a French or a Dutch translation.
🥊 3. Read a book with an MPG of HUMOR or COMEDY.
🥊 4. Read a book with the word boxing {can also be box, boxes, boxed, etc.} found in the text.