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

Chaitra’s comments from the Crazy Challenge Connection group.

NEW CHALLENGE ALERT!!!

This month we're touring a forested country in the northern part of South America. Please come and join us in Suriname

Countries of the World #9: Suriname

Duration: Apr 01, 2025 - Apr 30, 2025
Completed: 10/6+


✔ Country: Suriname
🚩Read a book whose title starts with a letter in SURINAME (ignore A, An and The or equivalent if not English).
Shadow of a Bull | Maia Wojciechowska ★★★★ (04/03/25)

Stats

✔ Capital: Paramaribo
🚩Read a book whose author's first and last initials are in the word PARAMARIBO (letters can only be used as many times as they appear in the word).
A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains | Max Solomon Bennett ★★★★ (04/04/25)

✔ Population: 632,638 (2022 estimate)
🚩Read a book whose total number of pages contain at least 2 of the numbers in the population (tell us the page count).
Real Tigers | Mick Herron ★★★★ (04/02/25)
343 pages.

✔ Area: 63,250 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).
Come Hell or Highball | Maia Chance ★ (04/03/25)
Pub. 2015.

Trivia

✔ 1. Central Suriname Nature Reserve
🚩Read a book with at least one important scene set in a wilderness (tell us where the book is set).
Birnam Wood | Eleanor Catton ★★ (04/07/25)
Korowai, New Zealand.

✔ 2. Sranan Tongo
🚩Read a book that reads like the author has raided the dictionary.
Solaris | Stanisław Lem ★★ (04/17/25)

✔ 3. Dutch Colony
🚩Read a book set in the Netherlands.
Untrue till Death | Graham Brack ★★★ (04/27/25)

✔ 4. Keti Koti
🚩Read a book in which a holiday is celebrated (bonus for a country’s independence or emancipation day; tell us which holiday).
Tourist Season | Carl Hiaasen ★★ (04/01/25)
Christmas.

✔ 5. Suriname Toad
🚩Read a book in which a speaking character is pregnant or has just given birth (tell us who).
Cat Got Your Killer | Sofie Ryan ★★★★ (04/08/25)
Emily.

✔ 6. Maroon Market
🚩Read a book in which someone escapes from captivity (tell us who).
The English Breakfast Murder | Laura Childs ★★★ (04/10/25)
Theodosia.

*** Completed (04/27/25) ***

Reserved for Participants

🔸🔸Finishers🔸🔸

Meg 🚩(04/06/25)
Lali & Michelle 🚩(04/09/25)
Richard 🚩(04/16/25)
Olivermagnus 🚩(04/17/25)
Patrizia 🚩(04/19/25)
Frankie 🚩(04/22/25)
Robin 🚩(04/25/25)
Chaitra 🚩(04/27/25)
Joann 🚩(04/28/25)
Jimena 🚩(04/30/25)
Barbara 🚩(04/30/25)
Mary! 🚩(05/18/25)
Amanda K 🚩(10/25/25)

🔸🔸🔸🔸

Claire
Jonquil
Marie-Anne
Ruth
Sallie

Countries of the World #9: Suriname
Duration: Apr 01, 2025 - Apr 30, 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!

(If you're wondering about the random, haphazard order of the countries, it's because my son is the one choosing the order).

SURINAME
A country in northern South America, sometimes considered part of the Caribbean and the West Indies.
🚩Read a book whose title starts with a letter in SURINAME (ignore A, An and The or equivalent if not English).

Stats

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

- Population: 632,638 (2022 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: 63,250 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. The Central Suriname Nature Reserve is a conservation site that covers about 1.6 million hectares (around the size of Northern Ireland) of Suriname. It preserves an area of the Amazon rainforest. It is known for its rapids and bird species, including the Guiana Cock of the Rock. Over 5,000 different plants have been identified, and large mammals like the jaguar, giant armadillo, and eight species of primates.
🚩Read a book with at least one important scene set in a wilderness (tell us where the book is set) -or- read a book with a wild animal or bird prominently shown on the cover (post the cover).

2. Dutch is the official language of Suriname, but many people speak Sranan Tongo or Surinamese tongue, an English based creole language. Developed originally among enslaved Africans from Central and West Africa, its use as a common tongue expanded after the Dutch took over the colony in 1667. 85% of the vocabulary comes from Dutch and English. It is commonly but incorrectly cited as having a vocabulary of only 340 words – contemporary Sranan Tongo dictionaries have several thousand word entries.
🚩Read a book that has made up words for any reason (tell us how your book works) -or- read a book that reads like the author has raided the dictionary.

3. Suriname was a Dutch colony from 26 February 1667, when Dutch forces captured Francis Willoughby's English colony during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, until 15 December 1954, when Suriname became a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was also called Dutch Guiana when it was a Dutch colony. Sugar, cotton and indigo were the main goods imported to the Netherlands from the colony until the early 18th century, after which coffee became the most important export product.
🚩Read a book set in the Netherlands -or- read a book with a predominantly indigo cover (post the cover).

4. Keti Koti which is Sranan Tongo for the chain is cut, is an annual celebration on 1 July that marks Emancipation Day in Suriname. It is the day when slavery was abolished in 1863. However, enslaved people in Suriname would not truly be free until 1873, after a mandatory 10-year transition period during which time they were required to work in the plantations for minimal pay. This day is also celebrated in the Netherlands as a day of remembrance.
🚩Read a book in which a holiday is celebrated (bonus for a country’s independence or emancipation day; tell us which holiday) -or- read a book whose cover shows something bound (post the cover).

5. Suriname Toad or star-fingered toad is a fully aquatic species of frog. The females of this species are well-known for incubating their eggs on their backs, in honeycomb-like depressions directly within the skin. They release fully formed froglets after a period of 4-5 months.
🚩Read a book in which a speaking character is pregnant or has just given birth (tell us who) -or- read a book that you added to your TBR 4-5 months prior to reading (tell us when you added the book to your TBR).

6. Maroon Market or Witch’s Market in Paramaribo sells dried herbs, plants and natural goods from Suriname’s dense rainforest. Bones, shells, powders, seeds, nuts and various concoctions (including those “for the bedroom”) are also available. Maroon market is so named because most of the vendors are Maroon women, who are descended from the handful of West African slaves who escaped captivity into the dense, interior rainforests.
🚩Read a book whose cover shows a witch’s workshop, an apothecary or a chemist’s lab (post the cover) -or- read a book in which someone escapes from captivity (tell us who).

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.

Chimichurri

Duration: Apr 01, 2025 - May 31, 2025
Completed: 17/17

✔ 1. Read a book with a double vowel in the title (as in fOOd or in grEEn).
Death Bee Comes Her | Nancy CoCo ★ (04/08/25)

✔ 2. Read a vast book (more than 450 pages; tell us how many pages).
The Fortress of Solitude | Jonathan Lethem ★★ (04/11/25)
528 pages.

✔ 3. Read a book with a red or a green cover (post the cover).
Appointment with Death | Agatha Christie ★★ (04/09/25)


✔ 4. Read a book with a cluttered cover (post the cover).
Deadly Assessments | Drew Hayes ★★★★★ (04/05/25)


✔ 5. Read a book whose title starts with a letter in CHIMICHURRI (ignore A, An, and The).
Come Hell or Highball | Maia Chance ★ (04/03/25)

✔ 6. Read a book with a character who is not what they seem; please explain, and use spoilers tags if needed.
Solaris | Stanisław Lem ★★ (04/17/25)
Harey on Solaris - (view spoiler)[she’s a replica of the real Harey projected into the station by the sentient ocean on the planet (hide spoiler)].

Spell

✔ C - Birnam Wood | Eleanor Catton ★★ (04/07/25)
✔ H - Tourist Season | Carl Hiaasen ★★ (04/01/25)
✔ I - I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine | Daniel J. Levitin ★★★★ (04/15/25)
✔ M - Shadow of a Bull | Maia Wojciechowska ★★★★ (04/03/25)
✔ I - A Lethal Lesson | Iona Whishaw ★★★★ (05/16/25)
✔ C - The English Breakfast Murder | Laura Childs ★★★ (04/10/25)
✔ H - The Hanging Hill | Chris Grabenstein ★★★ (04/12/25)
✔ U - Untrue till Death | Graham Brack ★★★ (04/27/25)
✔ R - Real Tigers | Mick Herron ★★★★ (04/02/25)
✔ R - Cat Got Your Killer | Sofie Ryan ★★★★ (04/08/25)
✔ I - Suite Française | Irène Némirovsky ★★★ (05/22/25)

*** Completed (05/22/25) ***

Table Settings

Duration: Apr 01, 2025 - Jun 30, 2025
Completed: 17/17

Tasks

✔ 1. Oyster Fork: Read a book with something metal on the cover in the *righthand half* of the cover, if you were to divide it vertically down the middle. Post the cover. It can't be in the middle and partly on the right side - it must be fully on the right side.
The Last American Road Trip: A Memoir | Sarah Kendzior ★★★ (04/25/25)


✔ 2. Bread Plate: Read a book where someone is sloppy (tell us who and how).
Tourist Season | Carl Hiaasen ★★ (04/01/25)
The cuban revolutionary – he wants to change the world by his revolutionary methods, but they don’t work for one reason or other – for example, his propaganda game is good but not his navigation, so the propaganda falls on completely different lands.

✔ 3. Wine glasses: Read a book with a character you think of as being fragile (tell us who).
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald | Therese Anne Fowler ★ (04/30/25)
Zelda.

✔ 4. Sherry glass: Read a book where the author's first and last initials can be found in the phrase "sherry glass".
Cat Got Your Killer | Sofie Ryan ★★★★ (04/08/25)

✔ 5. Salad fork: Read a book where every letter in either "salad" or "fork" can be found in the title.
Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind | Ann B. Ross ★★★ (04/17/25)
miSs juLiA speAks her minD

✔ 6. Place card: Read a book with something made of paper on the cover (post the cover).
Deadly Assessments | Drew Hayes ★★★★★ (04/05/25)


✔ 7. Napkin: Read a book with something made of fabric on the cover (post the cover).
Shadow of a Bull | Maia Wojciechowska ★★★★ (04/03/25)

Cape, clothes.

✔ 8. Fish knife and fish fork: Read a book where a character eats seafood (tell us who and what).
The English Breakfast Murder | Laura Childs ★★★ (04/10/25)
Drayton, shrimp.


Spell

✔ C - Come Hell or Highball | Maia Chance ★ (04/03/25)
✔ H - Real Tigers | Mick Herron ★★★★ (04/02/25)
✔ A - Appointment with Death | Agatha Christie ★★ (04/09/25)
✔ M - A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains | Max Solomon Bennett ★★★★ (04/04/25)
✔ P - The Third Rule of Time Travel | Philip Fracassi ★ (04/12/25)
✔ A - The Sayers Swindle | Victoria Abbott ★★★ (05/04/25)
✔ G - The Hanging Hill | Chris Grabenstein ★★★ (04/12/25)
✔ N - Shadow Of Doubt | Nancy Cole Silverman ★★ (04/06/25)
✔ E - Birnam Wood | Eleanor Catton ★★ (04/07/25)

*** Completed (05/04/25) ***

April 2-4-6 TBR Masher

Duration: Apr 01, 2025 - May 31, 2025
Completed: 2/2

2 -- Genres are Cozy Mystery and Beach Reads (MPG is preferred but I'll trust your judgement for books that aren't widely tagged).

4 -- Letters are I, P, C and H.

6 -- The "Six" are publication months - January, February, July, August, October and November, any year, can be original pub date or the edition you read, post the date.

- Cozy Mystery | Author Last Initial C | Published Aug 05, 2003. The English Breakfast Murder | Laura Childs ★★★ (04/10/25)
- Cozy Mystery | Author Last Initial C | Published Aug 06, 2024. No Paw to Stand On | Laurie Cass ★★★★ (04/28/25)

grand

Sheer lunacy for me, why not.

So, I'll post finished posts instead of clogging up this post reserving however many posts. I'll leave this one so you can link me. :)

Car Models, Old and New

Duration: Apr 01, 2025 - ?
Completed: 0/?

April 2025 Scavenger Challenge

Duration: Apr 01, 2025 - Apr 30, 2025
Completed: 10/7+

✔ 1. Ancient Egypt
🎁 Read a book in which a major royal is a character.
The Hidden Kingdom | Tui T. Sutherland ★★★ (04/24/25)
Magnificent is a dragon queen.

✔ 2. Ancient Greeks
🎁Read a book with candles or a moon on the cover (post the cover).
The Hanging Hill | Chris Grabenstein ★★★ (04/12/25)


✔ 3. Pagan Rituals
🎁Read a book first published in the same month as your birthday (tell us the month).
Birnam Wood | Eleanor Catton ★★ (04/07/25)
Pub. Mar 02, 2023.

✔ 4. Saint’s Day
🎁Read a book where a birthday is celebrated, (tell us whose).
The Third Rule of Time Travel | Philip Fracassi ★ (04/12/25)
Beth’s. Incidentally it’s the same day as my birthday.

✔ 5. Rome
🎁Read a fiction book in which a real-life celebrity makes an appearance (tell us who).
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald | Therese Anne Fowler ★ (04/30/25)
Zelda, F. Scott, Hemingway, Gertrude Stein and a bunch of Hollywood types.

✔ 6. Kinderfeste
🎁Read a book marked "Children's" or "Middle Grade" on the main GR page.
Shadow of a Bull | Maia Wojciechowska ★★★★ (04/03/25)

✔ 7. China
🎁Read the first book in a Series (tell us the Series name).
Come Hell or Highball | Maia Chance ★ (04/03/25)
Discreet Retrieval Agency #1.

✔ 8. Coming of Age Day
🎁Read a book with an intact 20 in the page number, (tell us the number of pages).
Death Bee Comes Her | Nancy CoCo ★ (04/08/25)
320 pages.

✔ 9. Mitzvah
🎁Read a book with a title starting with a letter in MITZVAH (ignore A, An, and The).
Tourist Season | Carl Hiaasen ★★ (04/01/25)

✔ 10. Quinceañera
🎁Read a book with a female main character.
Shadow Of Doubt | Nancy Cole Silverman ★★ (04/06/25)
Carol.

*** Completed (04/30/25) ***

This Very Day

Duration: Apr 01, 2025 - Sep 30, 2025
Completed: 22/22

✔ 1. 1807 - British Parliament abolished the slave trade in the West Indies
Read a book set in a place/time that still had slavery (tell us when/where).
James | Percival Everett ★★★★ (04/26/25)
Missouri, just before the Civil War.

✔ 2. 1911 - The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire happened in NYC killed 146 people, most of them young women
Read a book set in New York City.
Come Hell or Highball | Maia Chance ★ (04/03/25)

✔ 3. 1306 - Robert the Bruce was crowned king of Scotland
Read a book set in the United Kingdom (tell us where).
Real Tigers | Mick Herron ★★★★ (04/02/25)
London

✔ 4. 2021 - Children's author Beverly Cleary died at the age of 104
Read a YA or children's book -and- a book where a female character is a writer (tell us who).
The Hanging Hill | Chris Grabenstein ★★★ (04/12/25)
Incidentally, Zack’s stepmom Judy is a children’s author.

✔ 5. 1942 - Aretha Franklin was born
Read a book where every letter in R E S P E C T can be found in the title.
Perfect Storm | Paige Shelton ★★ (04/16/25)
PERfECT Storm.

✔ 6. 2002 - A 6.1 magnitude earthquake rocked Afghanistan
Read a book with both the numbers "2" and "0" in the page count, (post the count).
Death Bee Comes Her | Nancy CoCo ★ (04/08/25)
320 pages.

✔ 7. 1975 - King Faisal (Saudi Arabia) was murdered by his nephew
Read a book that has a murder as part of the plot line.
Tourist Season | Carl Hiaasen ★★ (04/01/25)

✔ 8. 1947 - Sir Elton John was born
Read an LGBTQ book (MPG).
A Drop of Corruption | Robert Jackson Bennett ★★★★★ (05/14/25)

✔ 9. 1934 - Feminist icon Gloria Steinem was born
Read a book with a senior citizen female as a main character (tell us who).
Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind | Ann B. Ross ★★★ (04/17/25)
Miss Julia

✔ 10. 1655 - Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, was discovered
Read a book with an MPG of Science Fiction.
The Third Rule of Time Travel | Philip Fracassi ★ (04/12/25)

✔ 11. 451 - Traditional founding date of the city of Venice
Read a book set in a place with a pretty wet climate (tell us where).
The Return of Ellie Black | Emiko Jean ★ (04/28/25)
Pacific Northwest.

✔ 12. 1918 - French composer Claude Debussy died at 55
Read a book where music plays a role (tell us how your book fits).
The Fortress of Solitude | Jonathan Lethem ★★ (04/11/25)
A major character is a singer in a soul group. The main character is a music writer and radio DJ.

✔ 13. 1965 - Martin Luther King Jr., and other civil rights activists made it to Montgomery from Selma (Alabama)
Read a book set in the American South (tell us where).
The English Breakfast Murder | Laura Childs ★★★ (04/10/25)
Charleston, South Carolina.

✔ 14. 1954 - RCA manufactured the first color television set
Read a book with a colorful cover (post the cover).
Cat Got Your Killer | Sofie Ryan ★★★★ (04/08/25)


✔ 15. 1939 - Billboard started the "hillbilly" (country) music chart
Read a book set in a rural environment (tell us where).
Birnam Wood | Eleanor Catton ★★ (04/07/25)
Korowai.

✔ 16. 1961 - Elvis Presley takes the stage again in Pearl Harbor
Read a book set in a place with a lot of name recognition (Pearl Harbor, Gettysburg, Paris, the Moon, Burger King, etc., tell us where).
Appointment with Death | Agatha Christie ★★ (04/09/25)
Petra.

✔ 17. 1954 - "From Here to Eternity" wins best picture at the Oscars, and William Holden/Audrey Hepburn take home best actor/actress.
Read a book with a character who is an actor/actress (tell us who).
Shadow Of Doubt | Nancy Cole Silverman ★★ (04/06/25)
Amber, Clarissa

✔ 18. 1993 - Wendy's founder Dave Thomas gets his GED at age 60
Read a book with a main character you think of as successful (tell us why).
Deadly Assessments | Drew Hayes ★★★★★ (04/05/25)
Fred, he’s a successful accountant, has a really powerful clan and gets things done.

✔ 19. 1941 - Yugoslavia joins the Axis powers
Read a book where any word in the title starts with the letter "Y."
Yeast of Eden | Sarah Fox ★★ (04/24/25)

✔ 20. 1958 - Sugar Ray Robinson wins the middleweight title
Read a book featuring a sporting event (tell us what).
Shadow of a Bull | Maia Wojciechowska ★★★★ (04/03/25)
Bullfighting

✔ 21. 1957 - Allen Ginsburg's book, "Howl," is seized by U.S. Customs officials amid allegations it was obscene
Read a book with a one-word title.
Solaris | Stanisław Lem ★★ (04/17/25)

✔ 22. 2184 - Purported birthday of Pavel Chekhov, beloved Star Trek character.
Read any book you like.
A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains | Max Solomon Bennett ★★★★ (04/04/25)

*** Completed (05/14/25) ***

Congrats, all finishers!

Congrats, Mary!

Congrats, Angel!

Great job, everyone!

Congrats, Taleisin!

Congrats, Carolyn!

Andrea wrote: "Suspect: Businessman (M, S)
Cause: Stabbing (fence spikes)
Location: The Secret Garden (T, A)
Books:
Target Acquired by Lynette Eason 3/20/25
[book:Tim Burton's The Nightmare Befor..."

The murder is not at the Secret Garden.

Meg wrote: "Custodian ==> Alexander McCall Smith - Espresso Tales 03/23

Beheading (swords) ==> Booty Bones, Carolyn Haines 03/23

Monsters Univer..."

The murder was not by beheading.

Mabeelle wrote: "Guess #7

Suspect: Landscaper (AC) + Location: Monsters University (TR)
The Ruining by Anna Collomore - 03/19/2025

Cause of Death: Stabbing (knife)
[book:The Revolution of Ivy|3288..."

The murder was not at Monsters University