SRC Moderator’s Comments (group member since Aug 19, 2016)

SRC Moderator’s comments from the The Seasonal Reading Challenge group.

5.5 Summer Solstice
June 21st is the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. Get ready for summer.
Read a book where the first letter of each word in the title (subtitle words excluded) from the phrase "Summer Solstice".
Letters may only be used as often as they appear.

5.4 World Environment
World Environment Day is celebrated annually on 5 June and encourages awareness and action for the protection of the environment.
Read a book whose author's first and last initials can be found in "World Environment Day".
Letters can only be used as often as they appear

5.3 Women's Rights
Seneca Falls National Park in New York is the location of the First Women’s Rights Conventions, which discussed expanding rights of women in the mid-19th century.
Read a Non-Fiction book with a MPG genre of womens, gender, or feminism.

30.1 JennRenee's Task: The Great Yellowstone

On March 1, 1872, Yellowstone became the first national park for all to enjoy the unique hydrothermal and geologic features. Within Yellowstone's 2.2 million acres, visitors have many natural things to experiance and view. This task is all about the wonderful sites in Yellowstone.

Since Yellowstone was the first national park, at least one of your books needs to be a debut book by the author.
Required: state which book is a debut book.

This is a two book task. Choose two options and read 1 book for each.
Required state the options

Option 1: Water Water and More Water
Yellowstone National Park features numerous waterfalls and rivers, with the most prominent being the Yellowstone Falls and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. Yellowstone National Park boasts a vast and diverse array of water resources. It includes over 600 lakes and ponds, 2,500 miles of streams and rivers, 45 waterfalls, and thousands of small wetland areas.
Read a book with a title/subtitle that contains one of these words. Plurals/Possessives accepted, no other variations
waterfall, lake, river, stream, pond, wetlands

Option 2: Yellowstone National Park is renowned for its extensive hydrothermal features, including geysers, hot springs, and mudpots. Yellowstone boasts over 500 geysers, which account for more than half of the world's geysers. Some of the most well-known geysers include Old Faithful, Steamboat, and the Great Fountain Geyser.
Get hot and steamy and read a book with MPG Romance, may be standalone or embedded

Option 3: Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone’s largest hot spring, is 200-330 feet in diameter and more than 121 feet deep. The Grand Prismatic Spring's vibrant colors are primarily due to microorganisms called thermophiles that thrive in the hot water. These thermophiles, grouped together in large numbers, appear as masses of color, and different species tolerate different temperature ranges, creating the distinct bands of color seen in the spring.
Read a book with a cover featuring at least 5 different colors according to Tineye. A guide to using Tineye can be found here. the percentage does not matter but the colors need to be distinctly different not different shades of the same color. Red, blue, purple/violet, green, yellow, orange, pink, brown, gray
For the purpose of this task, black and white do not count as colors.
Required: post the cover.

5.2 Civil War
The Gettysburg National Military Park protects and interprets the landscape of the Battle of Gettysburg, fought over three days between July 1 and July 3, 1863, during the American Civil War.
Read a book with MPG War, Civil War, or Military Fiction.
MPG may be standalone or embedded.

5.1 Victory Day
World War II Victory Day on the European front is May 8th and Victory Day over Japan is August 15th. In commemoration go to this website...
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/worldwar...
Read a book that takes place in one of the states or countries that have a National Park honoring WII. The parks are shown with a green number on this map (to enlarge the map, click on any green number.)
Only those distinguished as a National Park may be used.
Required: State the park

National Parks listed

Acadia - Maine
Carlsbad Caverns- New Mexico
Denali- Alaska
Haleakala - Hawaii
Hawai'i Volcanoes- Hawaii
Mount Rainier - Washington
National Park of American Somoa - American Somoa
Olympic- Washington
Redwood- California
White Sands- New Mexico
Yosemeti- Calfornia

t's that time again! Let's brainstorm some fun ideas for the Summer 2025 Challenge.

The bonus theme is It's A Wonderful World: National Parks

As in past challenges some tasks may revolve around the seasonal theme of Summer. Others may reflect the bonus theme. Other tasks may have nothing to do with either of those themes, they’re just fun or unique ideas to stimulate your reading.

Feel free to post as many ideas as you can come up with. Don’t worry about repeating what someone else has might have already suggested. The more ideas, the better!

The moderators will draw from these ideas as well as their own to create the 5, 10 and 15 point tasks. This thread will be open for ideas until May 15 . Summer tasks will begin to be posted on May 20. We look forward to seeing what you come up with!

50.1 - Angela IL's Task: Task Complete!
link: Help Thread


We are going to be using the Spring Challenge Completed Task Thread. in this group for this task. You must choose a post claimed by another player. (not your own)

Books must total at least 750 pages. No books with the MPG Childrens/Middle Grade or Graphic Novels/Manga/Sequential Art may be used for this task.

Required: State the option

Option 1: Choose a task from below: A, B, OR C
Required: State the option

A. Read three different books that have been claimed in the Spring Challenge Completed Task Thread.
Required: State the Message # for each book.

B. Choose an author of a book claimed on the Spring Challenge Completed Task Thread.
Enter the authors name into this website: https://www.literature-map.com/
Read one book each for 3 different authors listed. You can use the author entered in the map as long as it is a different book.
Required: State the author and the message# of post.

C. Choose 3 books from the Spring Challenge Completed Task Thread. For each book, choose a different book from the Readers Also Enjoyed section.
Required: State each original book and the message# of post


Option 2: Read one book from each task: A, B, AND C.
For B: You must choose a different author from the one chosen from the Spring Challenge Completed Task Thread.
Required: State the books, author, and message# of the post.

50.1 - Angela IL's Task: Task Complete!


We are going to be using the Spring Challenge Completed Task Thread. in this group for this task. You must choose a post claimed by another player. (not your own)

Books must total at least 750 pages. No books with the MPG Childrens/Middle Grade or Graphic Novels/Manga/Sequential Art may be used for this task.

Required: State the option

Option 1: Choose a task from below: A, B, OR C
Required: State the option

A. Read three different books that have been claimed in the Spring Challenge Completed Task Thread.
Required: State the Message # for each book.

B. Choose an author of a book claimed on the Spring Challenge Completed Task Thread.
Enter the authors name into this website: https://www.literature-map.com/
Read one book each for 3 different authors listed. You can use the author entered in the map as long as it is a different book.
Required: State the author and the message# of post.

C. Choose 3 books from the Spring Challenge Completed Task Thread. For each book, choose a different book from the Readers Also Enjoyed section.
Required: State each original book and the message# of post


Option 2: Read one book from each task: A, B, AND C.
For B: You must choose a different author from the one chosen from the Spring Challenge Completed Task Thread.
Required: State the books, author, and message# of the post.

It's time to starting thinking about some fun and interesting categories for our Group Reads! The ideas gathered from this thread will be used to build a list from which categories will be randomly chosen. Please include a short definition or description with your suggestion.

Each season's Group Reads will have 2 fiction categories and 1 non-fiction category. The Gutenberg Classics will continue.
The year's categories will be posted in advance so Group Reads nominators will have time to research and select appropriate books. For more information about the nominating process, please see task 20.10 in the Rewards of the Challenge.
As always, polls will be set up each season to choose between the nominated books for that season's Group Reads.

Choices from the past 5 years we would prefer not to repeat:

Fiction:
Anthologies
Comedy
Fantasy Not Originally Written in English
The Book Was Better Than The Movie,
Southern Literature
Love Triangles,
Parallel Timelines,
Cabin in the Woods
Continuation Novel
Young Adult Science Fiction
Bad Girls
Locked Room Mystery,
Knights/Middle Ages
Pun Titles,
Time Travel
Non-US Based Mystery
Cozy Mystery
Translated Short Stories
Asian Fiction
Murder Mystery
Animals
Historical Fiction 1900-1939
Popular Book Group Fiction
Feminist Dystopia
Aviation
Canadian Fiction
Families
Books Turned Into TV Shows
Indigenous
Road Trips
Biographical Fiction
Space Opera
Cryptids
Victorian
Musicals
Magical Realism
Australian Crime
Celebrity Book Club Picks
Historical Fantasy
Strong Women


Non fiction:
Female Entrepreneurs
Health,
Fashion,
Female Artists
Food,
Disability,
Social Justice
Travel
Nature,
A President or President's Spouse
A Comedian's memoir/biography
Animals
Poetry
Medicine
Treasure Hunting
Extreme Survival
True Crime
Journalism
Witch Trials
Cults


Feel free to get creative and submit your ideas here! This thread will be open for ideas until March 31. We're looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

This is the thread where you can submit a task idea for the 50 Point Task contest. The thread is now open for submissions and will close at Midnight Eastern time on April 5th 2025. Voting will start the next day, April 6th and will close at the end of the day on April 12th. If the moderators determine that the vote is close, a 3-day runoff poll will be held. The person whose idea gets the most votes will host the 50 point task for the Spring Challenge.

The 50 point task will require:
1. Only 3 options. These options may not include more than 2 "sub options" - 6 total in the task.
2. One book per option.
3. Three books totaling at least 750 pages. Your task idea may require a higher page threshold but this must be disclosed in your entry.
4. No books with the genres children or kids on the main book page may be used.
5. Books whose main page lists any of these genres: Sequential Art, Comics, Comic Book, or Manga may not be used.
6. No “free choice” options will be allowed. This is a challenge, so tasks that have no element of challenge do not fit the purpose.
7. A task must be accessible to the majority of players, i.e. not limited to a specific format, edition, publisher, etc. and reviewable by the moderators.

Anyone eligible* to design a task may submit an idea for a task that follows the general guidelines above. Your idea should be a sketch that may be developed with the moderators.

* To be eligible to create a task, the player’s profile must be set up to accept Goodreads messages, and they must not have a task in the current challenge. Only one task per person per challenge.


The group will vote to determine the 50 point task. All ideas that fit the general guidelines will be included in a poll. The poll winner will develop their idea with the moderators to refine their task. The final task may differ from the original idea submission. The task will be posted as close to the midpoint as reasonably possible. The task creator will monitor and answer questions in the help thread.

Please include your Readerboard name and a title for your task. The entries will be listed by Readerboard name and task title in the poll. Please include only one task idea entry per post.

PLEASE DO NOT comment on people's entries in this thread - this is for submissions only - you will be able to comment when voting begins. Comments in this thread will be deleted.

Here is the Review Raffle thread for Spring 2025.

We will draw a random name from anyone who posts a review in this thread and they will be given the opportunity to create a task in the Summer 2025 season - the more reviews that you post, the more chance of being drawn!

Reviews must be for books read within the current challenge period. You may link to your review on Goodreads, or type the review in the thread. (Please do not link to a review on a site outside of Goodreads).

Your review does not have to be positive but it should be at least a couple of sentences long - "loved it" or "not for me" is not helpful to other readers!

Please remember to include your Readerboard name when posting your review.

20.5 - Bigger is Better - Christine V's Task: Spring Growth

Spring is synonymous with growth! Choose one option and read one book for that option.
Required: State the option.

Option 1: One of my favorite parts of spring is watching all the green come back to the landscape. Read a book with a green leaf on the cover. This could be a single leaf or an entire forest, but if using tree leaves then this should be deciduous leaves only (e.g. oak, birch, maple), no conifers or evergreen needles.
Required: Post the cover.

Option 2: Growth can also refer to personal growth. Read a book with the MPG Self Help.

Option 3: Read a book with a synonym for “grow” in the title or subtitle. Choose a synonym from this list (possessives and plurals allowed, but otherwise words must match exactly): advance, age, become, breed, build, cultivate, develop, expand, flourish, gain, increase, mature, multiply, produce, raise, rise, spread, sprout, swell, thrive, turn, widen.
Required: State the word.

Task has been updated to say that 2B needs to be a fiction book.

25.6 - JenJ IA's task - Triple Crowns

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary a triple crown is “a set of three noteworthy awards, wins, or achievements in a particular field.” One that is particularly well known is the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, which is when a three year old thoroughbred horse wins the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes in the same year. This year’s chase will kickoff on May 3rd with the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby and will wrap up with the Preakness Stakes in early June.

In keeping with this season’s theme, “It's A Wonderful World: Long Distance Trails,” there is also a Triple Crown of Hiking, which refers to completing the entire length of three U.S. National Scenic Trails: The Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail.

This task requires that you choose TWO books, one from option 1 and one from option 2. Additionally, each book must either have a three word title (ignore subtitles), a page count including a 3, publication year ending in 3, OR a series # ending in 3 (whole numbers only, no 1.3, etc.).

Required: State the options you chose.

Option 1: Thoroughbred Racing

A) The first winner of the Triple Crown was the horse named Sir Barton in 1919. The most recent Triple Crown winner was Justify in 2018. Read a book with the author’s first initial in “SIR BARTON” and the author’s last initial in “JUSTIFY.”

B) The locations of the three races are in Louisville, Kentucky, Baltimore, Maryland, and Elmont, New York. Read a book that has all of the letters of LOUISVILLE or BALTIMORE or ELMONT in the combined title/subtitle, series name, and author’s name.
Required: State the location you used

C) Read a book with a horse on the cover. This is a standard horse only, no zebras or mythical beasties like unicorns or pegasus.
Examples:
Required: Post the cover

Option 2: Hiking

A) The trailheads for the Appalachian Trail are located at Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. Read a book with a 4+ letter word in the title/subtitle that can be made out of the letters in SPRINGER and KATAHDIN. Letters may be used only as often as they occur in these words. You can pick just one of the words or use a combination.
Required: State the word

B) The Continental Divide and Pacific Crest Trails are both located in the western United States. Read a book set at least 50% in one or more of the states that these trails pass through: California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming.
Required: Provide a reference if the location is not obvious from the Goodreads book page

C) All three trails pass through mountain ranges. Read a book with a mountain or mountain range on the cover.
Examples:
Required: Post the cover

25.5 Jessica S’s Task: Signs of the Zodiac - Pisces, Aries and Taurus

This is a two book task. For this task, choose one zodiac sign, and complete both tasks for that sign. Your total page count should be at least 500 pages.
Required: State the option you chose

Option 1: Dreamy Pisces (February 19th - March 20th)
Pisces symbol is two fishes facing opposite directions. They are empathetic, romantic and imaginative. On the flip slide they can be gullible, clingy and out of touch with reality.

Book A: Read a book that was published between February 19th and March 20th of 2024 or 2025. This should be the original publication date, not the publication of the edition you read.

Book B: Read a book with MPG High Fantasy or MPG Spirituality. Genres must be stand alone and cannot be embedded.

Option 2: Energized Aries (March 21st - 20th April)
Aries symbol is the ram. They are natural born leaders with heaps of passion and enthusiasm, but as such, they can be self-centered, overly-competitive and bossy.

Book A: Read a book that was published between March 21st and April 20th of 2024 or 2025. This should be the original publication date, not the publication of the edition you read.

Book B: Read a book with MPG Adventure or MPG Autobiography; MPG Memoir will work as long as the author is the subject of the book. Genres must be stand alone and cannot be embedded.

Option 3: Dependable Taurus (April 21st - 20th May)
Taurus symbol is the bull. They are patient, loyal, and grounded. They love their creature comforts of food, sleep and affection which can sometimes make them over-indulgent and lazy.

Book A: Read a book that was published between April 21st and May 20th of 2024 or 2025. This should be the original publication date, not the publication of the edition you read.

Book B:Read a book that is MPG Food or MPG Family. Genres must be stand alone and cannot be embedded.

20.2 - Rookie at the Top - Masoodah's Task: Mother's Day

Mother's Day, or Mothering Sunday, is now a day to honor mothers and other mother figures, such as grandmothers, stepmothers and mothers-in-law. Many people make a special effort to visit their mother. They take cards and gifts to her and may treat her to brunch, lunch or high tea in a cafe, restaurant or hotel. People who cannot visit their mother usually send gifts or cards to her.
It falls on Sunday 30th March this year.

Read one book from the three options:
Required: State the option.

Option 1: Mothers Day in the UK is known as Mothering Sunday.

Read a book with an author whose first and last initials appear in MOTHERING. A book with multiple authors may be used as long as at least one of the authors meets this criteria.

Option 2: Some people do not give a physical gift, but choose to treat their mother or grandmother to a special meal, beauty treatment or fun outing.

For this option , read a book in which a title word of at least 4 letters appears in the phrase:
FUN OUTING and/or SPECIAL MEAL.

Letters can only be used as often as they appear.
Required: State the word and which phrase(s) it appears in.

Option 3: The modern holiday was first celebrated in 1907, when Anna Jarvis held the first Mother's Day service of worship at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia. Andrew's Methodist Church now holds the International Mother's Day Shrine. Forty years before it became an official holiday, Ward Howe had made her Mother's Day Proclamation in 1870, which called upon mothers of all nationalities to band together to promote the "amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace." Anna Jarvis wanted to honor this and to set aside a day to honor all mothers because she believed a mother is "the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world".

For this option read a book where the original publication date consists of exactly two of the numbers from 1, 9, 0, 7. You may use the full date, not just the year - i.e. 7 June 1823 would be acceptable.
Required: State the publication date.

This thread is for "marking" a book genre. It is not for assigning genres - only for locking in genres that currently appear on the book's main page.

The verifications in this thread apply only to the Spring 2025 challenge - they do not carry over to future challenges and genre verifications from the past challenges do not carry forward - verifications are only applicable to the current challenge.

A book need only be verified once in the thread - then it can be used by any participant in the Spring 2025 challenge.

Please do not post task-specific questions here ("is this cover green enough?") and other such questions.

If you are planning to use a book for a genre task and fear that the genre may disappear, post a link to the book in this thread. We will not "lock in" the lack of a childrens or kids genre on the main page.

When you post your book, if the genres have changed, just link to the post in this thread in which it was verified and you'll be good to go.

Because of the volume of verification requests in this thread, I will not be trying to compile any sort of master lists. If the book you are using does not have the required genre at the time of posting, but has been verified in this thread, please link to the post in which it was verified in your completed task posting. If the book you are posting still has the genre on the main page, there is no need to refer to any posts here or in other help threads - if it's there on the main page, you're all set.

20.4 - Golden Oldies - Ritika's Task: Dopamine for Winter

Winter in the PNW is a wet, grey mess but also the perfect time to pick up every possible indoor hobby one can. For this task, please choose one of the activities which helped me while away the winter and read a book which meets the requirement.

Required: State the option

A. BALDUR’S GATE 3: This game is an intense time suck. It also can be replayed many times because the game experience often changes based on the class of the character you create.
For this task, read a book with a word in the title (not subtitle) or series’ name which matches one of the character classes. Plurals and possessives are allowed, no other variations. The word should stand on its own. The classes are- Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard.

B. KNITTING: I knit my first hat, and it does not matter how wobbly the pom-pom is, I am wearing it until the weather improves.
For this task, read a book with a cover which shows someone wearing a hat/cap. Any hat/cap of any era works. The hat should be on a person's head, not held by them or by itself.
If you are unsure if something is a hat, if the style can be found on this list, it is allowed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

Examples:


Required: Post the cover.

C. TRAVEL: I had a weeklong getaway to Mexico City, a beautiful city which I almost did not see because I was too busy eating mangoes every waking moment.
For this task, read a book which is set at least 50% in the country of Mexico.

Required: If the setting is not evident from the Goodreads main page or metadata, provide a reference.

20.7 - Shorter is Sweeter - Lisa MD's Task: Take a Walk on the Wild Side

Are you ready to explore nature? Then lace up your shoes and join me for a walk on the wild side. Let's begin our adventure by deciding what terrain we would like to travel. Pick the landscape you would like to explore and read a book from the shelf provided. Don't forget to enjoy the scenery along the way!
Required: State the option you chose to take a walk on.

Option A: Mountains - Do you want to elevate your hiking experience, then read a book from the 1st 25 pages of the "Mountains Books" shelf:
Mountains Books
Required: State the page of the list your book is found on.

Option B: Forests - Do you prefer a tree-lined walk in the wild, then read a book from the 1st 25 pages of the "Forests Books" shelf:
Forests Books
Required: State the page of the list your book is found on.

Option C: The Plains - Do you feel more comfortable on a flatter expanse of land with few trees, then read a book from the "The Plains" shelf:
The Plains Books