Chaitra’s Comments (group member since Apr 29, 2012)

Chaitra’s comments from the Crazy Challenge Connection group.

Thanks ladies!

Congrats, OM!

Congrats, Mabeelle!

NEW CHALLENGE ALERT!!!

This month's crazy challenge is the new version of Wonderful World of Disney with a few old and a few new movies and music to spell. Check it out!

NEW CHALLENGE ALERT!!!

The 12th country we will visit is a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean, one that might be the first to disappear due to rising oceans. Here is Tuvalu.

NEW CHALLENGE ALERT!!!

If you're experiencing a heat wave like I am, here's a beachy challenge for you to cool off. Visit Outer Banks!

Countries of the World #12: Tuvalu

Duration: Jul 01, 2025 - Jul 31, 2025
Completed: 10/6+


✔ Country: Tuvalu
🚩Read a book whose title starts with a letter in TUVALU (ignore A, An and The or equivalent if not English).
Abide With Me | Jane Willan ★★★★ (07/07/25)

Stats

✔ Capital: Funafuti
🚩Read a book whose author's first and last initials are in the word FUNAFUTI (letters can only be used as many times as they appear in the word).
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant | Anne Tyler ★★ (08/13/25)

✔ Population: 11,900 (2021 estimate)
🚩Read a book whose total number of pages contain at least 2 of the numbers in the population (tell us the page count).
Killing State | Judith O'Reilly ★★ (07/20/25)
400 pages.

✔ Area: 10 sq mi
🚩Read a book whose year it was first published has at least 2 of the numbers in the area (tell us the year published).
Death Comes to the Village | Catherine Lloyd ★★ (07/10/25)
2013.

Trivia

✔ 1. Te Ano
🚩Read a book in which a game involving a ball is played (tell us which).
No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding | Catherine Mack ★ (07/04/25)
Tennis.

✔ 2. Fatele
🚩Read a novel in verse or a book of poetry (book may be less than 100 pages for this option).
I Am Phoenix: Poems for Two Voices | Paul Fleischman ★★★★★ (07/31/25)
66 pages.

✔ 3. Coconuts
🚩Read a book whose cover shows any of the objects mentioned above (post the cover).
A Crime of Poison | Nancy Haddock ★★ (07/02/25)

Food and furniture.

✔ 4. Fire Caves of Nanumanga
🚩Read a book mainly set within a large house (or mansion).
Bran New Death | Victoria Hamilton ★★★ (07/02/25)
Winter Castle.

✔ 5. Atolls and Islands
🚩Read a book whose cover shows an island, an ocean or a reef (post the cover).
The Decagon House Murders | Yukito Ayatsuji ★★★ (07/24/25)

The house is on an island as well.

✔ 6. .tv
🚩Read a book in which the internet is important to the plot (tell us how).
Live and Let Chai | Bree Baker ★★★★ (07/27/25)
The MC Everly’s business has been called out by an internet blogger after a body is found clutching Everly’s iced tea.

*** Completed (08/13/25) ***

Reserved for PARTICIPANTS
The link below will take you directly to your post.

♦♦ Finishers ♦♦

Lali & Michelle🚩(07/07/25)
Joann 🚩(07/17/25)
Frankie 🚩(07/19/25)
Patrizia 🚩(07/20/25)
Angel 🚩(07/20/25)
Olivermagnus 🚩(07/22/25)
Meg 🚩(07/22/25)
Robin 🚩(07/24/25)
Vanessa 🚩(07/28/25)
Mary! 🚩(07/31/25)
Chaitra 🚩(08/13/25)

♦♦♦♦

Amanda K
Jimena
Marie-Anne
Mary
Ruth

Countries of the World #12: Tuvalu
Duration: Jul 01, 2025 - Jul 31, 2025

To finish, you will have to complete a total of six tasks, choosing at least four of the tasks from the Trivia section of the challenge. You do not have to choose the tasks beforehand; you can fill in as you go. You may choose to do all 10 tasks if you wish also. Happy reading!


TUVALU
An island country in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean, about midway between Hawaii and Australia.
🚩Read a book whose title starts with a letter in TUVALU (ignore A, An and The or equivalent if not English).

Stats

- Capital: Funafuti
🚩Read a book whose author's first and last initials are in the word FUNAFUTI (letters can only be used as many times as they appear in the word).

- Population: 11,900 (2021 estimate)
🚩Read a book whose total number of pages contain at least 2 of the numbers in the population (tell us the page count).

- Area: 10 sq mi
🚩Read a book whose year it was first published has at least 2 of the numbers in the area (tell us the year published).

Trivia

1. Te Ano, literally “the ball”, is a national sport of Tuvalu. It is a bit like volleyball, except with two balls in simultaneous use between two teams that face each other. Each team tries to score points by forcing the grounding of the ball in the other team’s court. Using their hand, a player hits a ball to another member of the team who needs to stop the ball from falling to the ground without catching it and needs to hit it to another member of the team. When either ball falls to the ground, the other team scores a point, and the first team to reach 10 points wins.
🚩Read a book with a ball shaped object on the cover (post the cover) -or- read a book in which a game involving a ball is played (tell us which).

2. The fatele is a traditional dance song of Tuvalu. Dancing songs are the most common type of traditional Tuvaluan song. Fatele dancers wear coconut leaf skirts, and such as fau (floral) head wreaths. The traditional fatele was performed in the sitting or kneeling position by five or six young unmarried women, who while singing, moved their arms, hand and upper body.
🚩Read a novel in verse or a book of poetry (book may be less than 100 pages for this option) -or- read a book whose cover shows a person sitting or kneeling (post the cover).

3. Due to the abundance of salt water and poor soil, Tuvalu is only able to grow one major food crop – coconuts. Coconuts are a symbol of Tuvaluan life, and it has many uses in the everyday life of its residents. The husks are used for brushes, ropes and mattresses; the flesh is used as food; the leaves are used to make baskets; the trunks are used to make canoes and furniture; and the roots can be used as a toothbrush.
🚩Read a book set in a tropical country (tell us where) -or- read a book whose cover shows any of the objects mentioned above (post the cover).
Note: for tropical countries, use this list: https://worldpopulationreview.com/cou... . For the purpose of this task, only fully tropical countries work).

4. Fire Caves of Nanumanga is an underwater cave off the northern shore of Nanumanga. A local legend spoke of a “large house under the sea”, which led to an expedition by two scuba divers in 1986. The cave is deeply submerged under water, but its walls and roofs are turned black with coral fragments, which point at the use of fire, suggesting it was once above sea level.
🚩Read a book with fire or smoke prominently shown on the cover (post the cover) -or- read a book mainly set within a large house (or mansion).

5. Tuvalu comprises nine low-lying coral atolls and islands. The country’s average elevation is less than 10 feet above sea level, which puts it at the forefront of the climate crisis. It will be one of the first nations to disappear if the seas continue to rise because of global warming. Tuvalu is currently dealing with more frequent and severe weather events such as cyclones, storm surges and king tides.
🚩Read a book in which climate (and its change) is important -or- read a book whose cover shows an island, an ocean or a reef (post the cover).

6. The domain name .tv is the Internet country code domain for Tuvalu. The domain name is popular, and thus economically valuable, because TV also happens to be an abbreviation of the word television. In 1998, the government of Tuvalu sought to capitalize on the .tv suffix, later signing with the International Telecommunication Union, Information.CA, Idealab, Verisign, and currently GoDaddy to expand the domain. Except for reserved names like com.tv, net.tv, org.tv and others, anyone may register second-level domains under .tv. By 2019, 8.4% of the revenue of the government of Tuvalu came from .tv royalties, with hundreds of thousands of websites registered under the domain.
🚩Read a book in which the internet is important to the plot (tell us how) -or- read a book that has been made into a tv series or episode (tell us what it is if not obvious).


CHALLENGE RULES - PLEASE READ!
See this thread for more detailed rules for CCC challenges.

❖ If you want to participate in a challenge, sign up by posting at least a partial list of the challenge requirements. This gives us a post to link you to, which you can use to update your books as the challenge progresses.

❖ Books must be at least 150 pages long (unless they are graphic novels, see below) and may only be used for one task in this challenge, but cross-challenge posting is encouraged.

❖ Graphic novels must be at least 300 pages long, but two books can be combined to make up the page count as long as they both meet the same criteria.

❖ For each book you read, please post a link to the title and mention the author and the date you finished reading it. If a challenge task gives several options, make it clear which option you’ve chosen. If the task calls for an item/color on the cover, include a link to the book cover.* If it’s not obvious from the book title or cover, be sure to explain how your book fits the task. If you don’t, you won’t get credit for completing that task.

❖ If you want the challenge moderator to verify those books as you post them, please copy/paste your update into a new message. If you do this while you still have the Edit window open, it will copy all of your formatting, etc. too. It will make it easier on the moderators if we won't have to scroll back through the entire thread looking for "message #15," or to follow links back to an original post.

❖ When you complete the challenge, please post your entire list as a new message to make it easier for everyone to see what you’ve read :) If you don’t repost your list, your name will not be added to the list of those who have completed the challenge.

❖ Rereads are allowed, as long as you read the entire book and not just skim the best portions! :)

* If you don’t know how to post a link to the book title, cover or author, see the instructions HERE.

Outer Banks

Duration: Jul 01, 2025 - Sep 30, 2025
Completed: 14/14

✔ 1. Outer Banks
🌊Read a book in which the main character is either protected from danger or protects someone else from danger (tell us how your book fits).
Bran New Death | Victoria Hamilton ★★★ (07/02/25)
Merry protects (view spoiler)[Melvin (hide spoiler)] and Beckett protects her from the killer.

✔ 2. Wild Horses of Corolla
🌊Read a book with horses used as a common mode of transportation (tell us how your book fits).
Sin Eater | Megan Campisi ★★ (07/08/25)
Set in Tudor England.

✔ 3. Virginia Dare
🌊Read a book marked Mystery in its main GR page.
A Crime of Poison | Nancy Haddock ★★ (07/02/25)

✔ 4. Graveyard of the Atlantic
🌊Read a book with a graveyard or tombstone on the cover (post the cover).
Death at a Scottish Wedding | Lucy Connelly ★★★ (08/18/25)


✔ 5. Blackbeard
🌊Read a book whose title or author's name contains one of the following words: Queen, Anne or Revenge (for queen and revenge: plurals okay, no other variations; for Anne, Ann or Anna are fine, no other variations).
Ancillary Mercy | Ann Leckie ★★★ (07/18/25)

✔ 6. U.S. Lifesaving Service
🌊Read a book in which a speaking character goes on a search and rescue mission (tell us who and who or what they're rescuing).
Locklands | Robert Jackson Bennett ★★ (07/17/25)
Berenice, Sancia, Clef, Claudia and Diella go on a search for Crasedes Magnus who is imprisoned in an unknown location.

✔ 7. Richard Etheridge
🌊Read a book in which the main character is a veteran (any branch any country any period, just not active duty during the time the book is set; tell us where and when they served).
Death Comes to the Village | Catherine Lloyd ★★ (07/10/25)
Robert Kurland served in the British military during Waterloo.

✔ 8. Radio Communications
🌊Read a book set in a location that begins with a letter in BUXTON (tell us the location).
Shorefall | Robert Jackson Bennett ★★★★ (07/12/25)
Tevonne.

✔ 9. U.S. Weather Bureau Station Hatteras
🌊Read a book in which a major adverse weather event occurs (tell us what).
No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding | Catherine Mack ★ (07/04/25)
Hurricane.

✔ 10. Orville and Wilbur Wright
🌊Read a book with siblings as main characters.
Half of a Yellow Sun | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ★★ (07/14/25)
Olanna & Kainene.

✔ 11. Cape Hatteras National Seashore
🌊Read a book that is set in a location by the beach (tell us the location and the sea/ocean it borders).
Rosemary and Rue | Seanan McGuire ★★ (07/03/25)
San Francisco, Pacific Ocean.

✔ 12. Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge
🌊Read a book in which the main character encounters an uncaged wild animal (tell us what they see).
Heir to the Empire | Timothy Zahn ★★★ (07/04/25)
Luke encounters a vornskr, a wild canine like beast on the planet Myrkr.

✔ 13. Sea Turtles
🌊Read a book whose cover shows something cute and adorable (your interpretation; post the cover).
Abide With Me | Jane Willan ★★★★ (07/07/25)


✔ 14. Shows and Books
🌊Read a book set in the Outer Banks.
Live and Let Chai | Bree Baker ★★★★ (07/27/25)

*** Completed (08/18/25) ***

Reserved for PARTICIPANTS
The link below will take you directly to your post.

♦♦ Finishers! ♦♦

Lali & Michelle 🌊(07/24/25)
Meg 🌊(08/07/25)
Chaitra🌊(08/18/25)
Angel🌊(08/26/25)
Jonquil🌊 (08/28/25)
Frankie 🌊(08/29/25)
Patrizia 🌊(09/06/25)

♦♦♦♦

Amanda K
Amy
Bubbles
Frankie
Jimena
Kathy
Mary
Meg
Olivermagnus
Robin P
Ruth
Vanessa

Outer Banks
Duration: Jul 01, 2025 - Sep 30, 2025

I was born on the coast and now I live 4 hours away from the closest ocean beach. Every summer I dream of beaches and I'm always planning a beach getaway. Luckily, I live in North Carolina and we're blessed with truly beautiful beaches on our coastline. This is in honor of the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

To finish, you'll read 14 books. Regular CCC rules apply.

The Challenge

1. The Outer Banks (frequently abbreviated OBX) are a 200 mi string of barrier islands and spits off the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, on the east coast of the United States. Barrier islands are so called because they protect the mainland coast from waves and storms of the ocean.
🌊Read a book whose title contains the words IN or OUT (compound words like Outbound or Inward that still generally mean in or out is okay, words like Thin and Trout are not okay) -or- read a book in which the main character is either protected from danger or protects someone else from danger (tell us how your book fits).

2. For centuries, wild horses outnumbered humans on the Outer Banks. The original stock was brought to the New World by the Spanish in the 1500s. Among the first explorers to visit the North Carolina Coast was a Spaniard named Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, a lawyer, nobleman, Spanish conquistador, and explorer who tried to start a colony in North America in 1526. His attempt to settle the coast of the Carolinas was ultimately unsuccessful. The two ships he brought most likely left eighty to one hundred Colonial Spanish mustangs behind who then proliferated. Although their numbers are much diminished today, wild horses still roam the shores of Corolla.
🌊Read a book with horses used as a common mode of transportation (tell us how your book fits) -or- read a book in which a court case is heard.

3. The first English child born in the New World was Virginia Dare on August 18, 1587, at Fort Raleigh on Roanoke Island. Virginia Dare and the colonists of Fort Raleigh would become known as "The Lost Colony", their disappearance an unsolved mystery.
🌊Read a book marked Mystery in its main GR page -or- read a book whose author or main character is a Virginia.

4. Along the Outer Banks, navigational challenges posed by the Diamond Shoals area off Cape Hatteras, caused the loss of thousands of ships and an unknown number of human lives. More than 5,000 ships have sunk in these waters since record keeping began in 1526. This area has been nicknamed the Graveyard of the Atlantic.
🌊Read a book with a graveyard or tombstone on the cover (post the cover) -or- read a book in which a boat or ship capsizes.

5. Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's North American colonies. Teach captured a French slave ship known as La Concorde, renamed her Queen Anne's Revenge, equipped her with 40 guns, and crewed her with over 300 men. He became a renowned pirate. On 22nd November 1718, he was killed on Ocracoke Island following a battle with a small force of sailors led by Lt. Robert Maynard.
🌊Read a book with a pirate of some sort (tell us who) -or- read a book whose title or author's name contains one of the following words: Queen, Anne or Revenge (for queen and revenge: plurals okay, no other variations; for Anne, Ann or Anna are fine, no other variations).

6. In 1874, the U.S. Lifesaving Service was begun by building a chain of seven lifesaving stations along the Outer Banks, at the points of greatest danger to ocean going vessels. The U.S. Lifesaving Service was the forerunner to the U.S. Coast Guard. The lifesaving stations, working in conjunction with the several lighthouses located along the Outer Banks, helped to save and rescue many vessels as they passed through the Graveyard of the Atlantic.
🌊Read a book in which a speaking character goes on a search and rescue mission (tell us who and who or what they're rescuing) -or- read a book with a lighthouse on its cover (post the cover).

7. Richard Etheridge became America's first black lifesaving station keeper with his appointment to the Pea Island post in 1880. He served as keeper until his death in 1900. He was a former soldier and surfman.
🌊Read a book in which the main character is a veteran (any branch any country any period, just not active duty during the time the book is set; tell us where and when they served) -or- read a book written by an African American author.

8. In 1902, Reginald Fessenden made the first application of a successful, commercially adaptable technique of radio communications in North America and perhaps the entire world. His experiments and invention of the wireless telegraph and telephone were made between a station located on Roanoke Island and a section station in Buxton. After leaving North Carolina, Fessenden went on to establish the first commercial Trans-Atlantic two-way radio-telegraph service in 1905, two years before the world renowned Marconi.
🌊Read a book in which a telegraph machine is used -or- read a book set in a location that begins with a letter in BUXTON (tell us the location).

9. Opened on January 1, 1902, the U.S. Weather Bureau Station Hatteras played a key role in the nation’s developing meteorological network, until decommissioned in 1946. Hatteras is the only known wireless station in the United States to have received the first distress call from the Titanic.
🌊Read a book in which a major adverse weather event occurs (tell us what) -or- read a book published or set between the years of 1902-1946, inclusive (tell us when your book was published or set).

10. On December 17, 1903, two brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright, made the first successful flights in motor-driven, heavier-than-air machines, thus ushering in the age of human flight. These historical flights took place on the sloping sands of what is now known as Big Kill Devil Hill, located just south of Kitty Hawk.
🌊Read a book with siblings as main characters -or- read a book whose cover shows an airplane.


11. The Cape Hatteras National Seashore, encompassing more than 28,000 acres along the Outer Banks, was the first to be established by our government. The purpose was to preserve this beautiful shoreline for the enjoyment of future generations. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, which stands at 208-feet, is the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States.
🌊Read a book that is set in a location by the beach (tell us the location and the sea/ocean it borders) -or- read a book in which a key scene is set in a national park or preserve (tell us where).

12. Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, which covers 237 square miles, is home to a program to reintroduce the endangered Red Wolf into the wild. It’s also the northernmost habitat for the American Alligator. The highest concentration of Black Bears in the country and the largest of that species are also in the refuge.
🌊Read a book whose cover shows a wolf, an alligator or a bear (post the cover) -or- read a book in which the main character encounters an uncaged wild animal (tell us what they see).

13. There are 5 different species of sea turtles who visit and/or nest on the Outer Banks. They include the Loggerhead, Green, Leatherback, Kemp’s Ridley, and Hawksbill sea turtles. The Network for Endangered Sea Turtles (NEST) is a volunteer nonprofit organization that helps protect sea turtle habitat and migration. They do so by looking for turtle nests from May through September, sitting with the nest on the beach waiting for hatchlings if one is found, and protecting the hatchlings once the nest hatches until they make their way into the ocean.
🌊Read a book whose cover shows something cute and adorable (your interpretation; post the cover) -or- read a nonfiction book about a topic you are interested in.


14. OBX has been memorialized in books, television and other popular culture; like Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks or Netflix's popular show Outer Banks.
🌊Read a book set in the Outer Banks -or- read a book that is set in a touristy part of the state you live in (for our readers outside the US, use the equivalent of the US state; tell us where the book is set).


CHALLENGE RULES - PLEASE READ!
See this thread for more detailed rules for CCC challenges.

❖ If you want to participate in a challenge, sign up by posting at least a partial list of the challenge requirements. This gives us a post to link you to, which you can use to update your books as the challenge progresses.

❖ Books must be at least 150 pages long (unless they are graphic novels, see below) and may only be used for one task in this challenge, but cross-challenge posting is encouraged.

❖ Graphic novels must be at least 300 pages long, but two books can be combined to make up the page count as long as they both meet the same criteria.

❖ For each book you read, please post a link to the title and mention the author and the date you finished reading it. If a challenge task gives several options, make it clear which option you’ve chosen. If the task calls for an item/color on the cover, include a link to the book cover.* If it’s not obvious from the book title or cover, be sure to explain how your book fits the task. If you don’t, you won’t get credit for completing that task.

❖ If you want the challenge moderator to verify those books as you post them, please copy/paste your update into a new message. If you do this while you still have the Edit window open, it will copy all of your formatting, etc. too. It will make it easier on the moderators if we won't have to scroll back through the entire thread looking for "message #15," or to follow links back to an original post.

❖ When you complete the challenge, please post your entire list as a new message to make it easier for everyone to see what you’ve read :) If you don’t repost your list, your name will not be added to the list of those who have completed the challenge.

❖ Rereads are allowed, as long as you read the entire book and not just skim the best portions! :)

* If you don’t know how to post a link to the book title, cover or author, see the instructions HERE.

I do everything so I'm just going to use this post as a placeholder for sign up and post the actual movies as I finish them.

Wish

Characters

Asha
King (M)agnifico
Valentino
Queen (A)maya
Sabino
Sakina
Dahlia
Gabo
Hal
Simon
Bazeema
Safi
Dario

Songs

Welcome to Rosas
At All Costs
This Wish
I'm a Star
This is the Thanks I Get?
Knowing What I Now Know
A Wish Worth Making

Winnie the Pooh

Characters

(W)innie the Pooh
Tigger
Piglet
Eeyore
Backson
(C)hristopher Robin
Rabbit
Kanga
Roo
Owl

Songs

Winnie the Pooh
The Tummy Song
A Very Important Thing to Do
The Backson Song
It's Gonna be Great
Everything is Honey
So Long

Strange Magic

Characters

(B)og King
Marianne
(S)ugar Plum Fairy
Griselda
(F)airy King
Sunny
Dawn
Roland
Stuff
Thang
Brutus
Pare
Imp
Angry (G)us

Songs

Can't Help Falling in Love
I'll Never Fall in Love Again
Three Little Birds
I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)
C'mon Marianne/Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)
Trouble
Love is Strange
Say Hey
Mistreated
I Can't Help Myself
Straight On
Strange Magic
Tell Him/Wild Thing

Soul

Characters

(J)oe Gardner
22 (T)
Moonwind
Terry
Jerry
(L)ibba Gardner
Dez
Lamont "(C)urley" Barker
(D)orothea Williams

Songs

Born to Play
Rappin Ced
Parting Ways
Space Maker
Cristo Redentor
It's All Right

Snow White

Characters

(S)now White
(E)vil Queen
Jonathan
Doc
Grumpy
Happy
Bashful
Sleepy
Sneezy
Dopey
Magic Mirror

Songs

Good Things Grow
Waiting on a Wish
Heigh-Ho
All is Fair
Whistle While You Work
Princess Problems
The Silly Song
A Hand Meets a Hand
Snow White Returns

Ralph Breaks the Internet

Characters

(W)reck-It Ralph
(V)anellope von Schweetz
Shank
Yesss
Fix-It Felix
Sergeant (C)alhoun
KnowsMore
Double Dan
Mr. (L)itwak
Disney (P)rincesses

Songs

Zero
A Place Called Slaughter Race
In This Place
A Big Strong Man in Need of Rescuing

Pinocchio

Characters

Geppetto
Pinocchio
(J)iminy Cricket
(H)onest John
Sofia
The (B)lue Fairy
The (C)oachman
Stromboli
Fabiana
Sabina
Signore (R)izzi
Signora (V)itelli
Lampwick

Songs

When You Wish Upon a Star
When He Was Here with Me
Pinocchio, Pinocchio
Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life for Me)
I've Got No Strings
I Will Always Dance
The Coachman to Pleasure Island