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

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

5.10 A Holiday Gift For You
Help Thread
Read a book of your choice that meets SRC rules.

For this task, a book with the MPG Childrens, Kids, Middle Grade or Juvenile that is NOT found in ARBF may be used

15.10 Here be Dragons
Chinese New Year/Lunar New Year will occur on 10th February 2024 & welcomes the year of the Dragon.
Choose either option A or option B:
a) Read a book with a dragon on the cover
b) Read a book with the word Dragon intact in the title or subtitle

Required: state which option you have chosen.
Required: If choosing option a, post the cover

15.8 An Extra Day
Leap year happens every 4 years & is happening in 2024. This gives you a bonus day for this challenge - will you spend it reading?
Read a book first published in a leap year (2024, 2020, 2016, 2012, 2008, 2004 etc)

15.9 Pass the Parcel

Pass the Parcel is a popular children's party game in the UK.
Read a book that has been "passed on". For the purposes of this task, your book may have been gifted to you, obtained second hand, or borrowed from the library
Required: State where you obtained the book

15.7 When the music stops ...
Many party games require music (Musical chairs, pass the parcel etc)

Read a book with MPG Music

15.6 Let's Celebrate!
Many festivals are celebrated during our Winter Challenge period, and fireworks form a huge part of many of these celebrations around the world.

Read a book where the authors initials can be found in FIREWORKS

15.5 What the Dickens!
Charles Dickens was born on Feb 7th 1812

Read a book that shares a word of 3 letters or more in the title with one of Dickens novels/novellas (excluding "The" and "And")
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles...
The word must match exactly. A possessive (eg Oliver's) would be permitted. Plurals are not permitted (eg Friends)

15.4 Feed the Birds
21st Dec is National Robin Day, which aims to raise awareness of small birds and other wildlife in winter and how you can help them through this tough time of year. The RSPB organise "The Big Garden Birdwatch" every January, where ordinary people are encouraged to spend an hour in their garden, park etc to record the birds they see & hear.

OPTION 1: read one book A & one Book B
OPTION 2: Read ONE book that fulfills both requirements

a) Read a book with a bird on the cover
The bird may be sketched, outline, silhouette or realistic but must be identifiable as a bird with a significant portion of wing and either beak or feet visible
Required: Post the cover
Examples:

b) Read a book where ALL of the author's initials are found in ONE of the following most common British garden birds, according to the Big Garden Birdwatch 2020:
House sparrow
Starling
Blue tit
Woodpigeon
Blackbird
Goldfinch
Great tit
Robin
Long-tailed tit
Magpie
(you cant take for instance B from Blue tit & W from woodpigeon, initials must be found in one bird)
Where a book has multiple authors, the initials of ALL the authors must appear in the same bird and can only be used as often as they appear in the bird name.

15.3 Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All
10 December 2023 marks the 75th anniversary of one of the world's most groundbreaking global pledges: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

This is a two book task, read one book for each option:

a) Read a book where the letters of UDHR appear in the title

b) The 2023 Theme is Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All
Read a book that is on the first 20 pages of one of the following shelves: "human rights", "dignity", "freedom" or "justice"
Human Rights
Dignity
Freedom
Justice

Required: State which shelf you chose and what page the book is on.

10.10 - The End?

As the year turns, it's a time of endings and new beginnings. Why not reflect that in your reading this season?

Read a book from either this list of Best Endings or this list of Best Beginnings.

Required: State which list you used and which page of the list your book appears on

10.9 - Winners of Winter
Help Thread
Looking for a good book to cosy up with on these long dark nights? You can't go wrong with an award winner (or nominee), surely?

Read a book that has won or has been nominated for a literary award that begins with one of the letters found in WINTER. The award must show up on book's main page under Literary Awards.

Examples:

The Bone Clocks (World Fantasy Award for Best Novel - Won)
Babel (Nebula Award for Best Novel - Won)
Bad Science (Royal Society Science Book Prize - Nominated)

Required: Indicate which award fits the task.

10.8 - Winter Migration
Cold weather and grey skies getting you down? Time to make like our feathered friends and fly off somewhere warmer! Since the Southern Hemisphere is currently in Summer, it seems like a perfect destination to stave off the winter blues.

Read a book set in one of these countries listed as being in the Southern Hemisphere: https://www.worldatlas.com/countries-...

Required: If the setting is not evident from the book description or GR metadata, provide a reference.

10.7 - It's-a Me, Mario!
From its humble beginnings producing the card game Hanafuda, Nintendo has gone on to dominate the video gaming world with its Mario franchise. Outside of the mainline Super Mario Bros. series, its digital party games such as Mario Kart, Mario Party and WarioWare are ever popular.

Read a book by a single author whose name contains all the letters of one of the following Mario characters: MARIO, LUIGI, PEACH, YOSHI, WARIO or BOWSER.

Required: State the character.

10.6 - Roll the Bones

Dice are a common staple in games, and while many newer games (especially roleplaying games) use fancy custom dice, there are still multiple games out there based entirely around the traditional D6, from Yacht to Dudo to Bunco.

Read a book whose page count consists solely of numbers found on a traditional six-sided die: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6. Digits may appear multiple times.

10.5 - A Ghost Story For Christmas

Think Ebenezer Scrooge and his hauntings are the only ghostly goings-on in the Winter season? Think again. From 1971 to 1978, the BBC made a tradition of adapting a classic ghost story to be broadcast in the days (or rather, nights) before Christmas. This tradition was revived in 2005, providing spine-chilling festive frights for a new generation.

Read a book that features ghosts or spirits.

Required: If the ghostly connection is not evident from the GR description, provide a reference.

10.4 - You All Meet In A Tavern...
Dungeons and Dragons might not be a party game, but it is a game with a party! Gather your band of merry adventurers as your storytelling Dungeon Master guides you through a world of wonder, facing off against fierce foes in search of legendary treasures. Just pray the dice rolls are in your favour.

Read a book that contains one of the following D&D classes in its title or subtitle: Fighter, Bard, Cleric, Warlock, Sorcerer, Wizard, Paladin, Rogue, Ranger, Druid, Monk or Barbarian. Plurals and possessives allowed, no other variations.

Required: State the class.

10.3 - Season of Love

Time to curl up by the fireside with your beloved! The Winter season sees the feast days of two patron saints of lovers - Saint Dwynwen on January 25th and Saint Valentine on February 14th - and of course, let's not forget about all the stolen kisses under the mistletoe in December.

Read a book with the MPG Romance. Genres may be embedded such as Paranormal Romance or Historical Romance.

10.2 - Festive Folklore

Christmas traditions around the world often involve traditions and figures from local mythology: from the demon-horned Krampus of Germany and Austria who carries away naughty children in his sack, to the Mari Lwyd of Wales who battles local residents in verse and song for the right to enter their homes and partake of their food and drink.

Read a book from the first 25 pages of the Folklore shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

Required: State the page of the list your book is found on.

5.9- Secret Santa

The Secret Santa tradition goes a long way back, but a famous origin story ties it to Larry Dean Stewart, an American philanthropist and business-owner who gave anonymous gifts during Christmas.

Read a book with a Santa or a gift on the cover.

For this task the Santa needs to be clearly wearing a Santa coat hat ( red with white trim) and the Gift must be a box with a ribbon and/or bow.

Required Post the Cover

5.8- Polar Bear Plunge

Every year on January 1st, Polar Bear Plunge Day encourages people to take a dip in cold, freezing waters.

Read book with a cover of at least 70% White according to Tineye. https://labs.tineye.com/color/

Complete directions for using Tineye can be found here: "How Do I Use Tineye?

Required Post the Cover