August 2015 Challenge - This or That

[Peggy]

Janice, I'm a bit confused about the scoring. I thought all words actually need to make an appearance in the book as an actual thing, not just mentioned, is that correct?

Not sure if my question is clear, so some examples: Mary and Jane going to a party on a boat where they have a good time and the event is described would be okay, but John telling his friend that his father owns a boat would not.

Or someone saying 'I've never seen the ocean' would not count, while Emma going for a swim in the ocean does.

Is that how it works, or can we count all mentions?

[Sarah]

That was my understanding Peggy - not just mentions of but actually appearing in the book. That is why I mentioned the metaphorical references in a previous post as not counting. And also why we can't rely on the Amazon search facility 100%

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

Peggy, if you're referring to my finish post for The Tudors: The Complete Story of England's Most Notorious Dynasty, I relied on the direction, "It may be a location, or it and the location may share the first letter (eg Apple may be paired with Atlanta." I quoted "In 1494 the Treaty of Tordesillas drew a north-south line down the length of the Atlantic Ocean..." as an instance where ocean was used to identify a location in this work of non-fiction.

That quote was part of a passage discussing King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, the voyages of Columbus, which they'd financed, and the departure of their daughter, Catalina, who was about to journey to England to become Catherine, Princess of Wales. Besides the quote specifically including "ocean" as a location, this should help to support the "appearance" of the ocean in that passage, "When the ship bearing Catherine arrived in England in 1501 at the end of a grueling four-month voyage through heavy seas, Henry VII insisted on violating Spanish protocol and having an immediate look at her face."

Another quote using ocean as a location in that book would be, "By the time the future Henry VIII was born, Roman Christianity extended from the islands beyond Scotland to the islands of the eastern Mediterranean, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the western border of Russia."

Janice, when you have a chance, can you comment on this? Thanks!

[Peggy]

Haha, yes, it was your post that confused me a bit ;) So I thought I'd just ask here and check to be sure what exactly I can count (and what not) when I start my book.

(it wasn't the ocean by the way that triggered my question, but the hawk. Isn't it used as a verb in your book, while it's a noun in the list? - Wouldn't matter for your scoring though if it is, you still have the H of Hawk for King Henry).

Great score you have by the way, your book ticked almost all the boxes!

[Janice, Moderator]

Peggy wrote: "Janice, I'm a bit confused about the scoring. I thought all words actually need to make an appearance in the book as an actual thing, not just mentioned, is that correct?

Not sure if my question i..."

I don't want to make the challenge too difficult. Something to consider is if the word Hawk can be satisfied with the H matching King Henry, is it reasonable to expect an item to make an appearance?

In answer to that, the item doesn't need to make an appearance, but there should be more than just a passing reference to the item.

[Janice, Moderator]

Sarah wrote: "That was my understanding Peggy - not just mentions of but actually appearing in the book. That is why I mentioned the metaphorical references in a previous post as not counting. And also why we ca..."

I didn't respond to your original post because I'm in agreement about using Amazon as a tool for searching out your book.

[Tammy]

I finished reading Roam: A Novel with Music and reported on the reporting thread. For those of you who like dog stories this is one not to miss. The way Alan Lazar is able to relate the workings of a dogs mind is great. Yes, I do realize no one can actually know those workings, but what I see in my dog, I can imagine so much of what Lazar describes. Be prepared to be needing some tissues as there are sad times this pups life. (view spoiler)[ But, love prevails and the trials are worth it in the end. (hide spoiler)] I gave it 4 stars.

[Janice, Moderator]

Theresa~OctoberLace wrote: "Janice, when you have a chance, can you comment on this? Thanks!
..."

I'm going to reply to this in the report thread.

[Peggy]

That's clear Janice. If I'm in doubt after finishing my book you'll find me back here :)

[Janice, Moderator]

Peggy wrote: "That's clear Janice. If I'm in doubt after finishing my book you'll find me back here :)"

Do we have a date then? LOL!

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

Message #6 in the reporting thread has been edited to match the first letter "H" in Hawk to the first letter in Henry in The Tudors: The Complete Story of England's Most Notorious Dynasty. There are several Henrys discussed in depth in this book, including Henry Tudor, Henry VII, Henry VIII, and more.

I apologize for my mistake in matching hawk to the verb indicating the sport of working with hawks. That was discussed several times, but I did not find that a hawk (the bird itself) was written even once within the pages of this book.

Great challenge!

[Janice, Moderator]

Thanks Theresa. I'm glad it all worked out.

[KimeyDiann]

I don't recall having seen this question so I apologize if it has already been asked and answered.

One of my words is ocean, in the book I have chosen there is a memory of going to the sea. Would this be acceptable? In my mind the sea and ocean are the same thing, but I know it is up to our queen meanie. :)

[Janice, Moderator]

I accepted ship for boat and cinnamon for spice, so why not sea for ocean?

[KimeyDiann]

Yay! Thanks Janice!

So, I decided not to read any of the books I had gophered for last week. I needed an audiobook and none of the ones on my list that were audio tickled my fancy. I spur-of-the-moment decided to start Run by Blake Crouch. I knew Crouch would fit the C in Chocolate, there is bound to be mention of the moon (and there have been several), Dee is a character name to match Dog... so that just left ocean and rose and I was hoping to get lucky with them.
There has been a rose bush in the book and since Janice has approved "sea" for "ocean" I have matched all of my words! I doubt I'll get many if any bonus points, but that is okay because I'm quite enjoying the book so far!

[jaxnsmom]

Janice, I have a question. One of the qualifiers is "It may be an item in the book". There is no actual dog in my book (I should have chosen cats, there are several), but a dog is referred to, as in "whimpering like a dog", "fearing a spider as big as a dog". Would this meet dog as an item?

[Janice, Moderator]

I've noticed that there are some problems in interpreting how to use your words.

The only time you can use the first letter is for a character's name or location name.

[Janice, Moderator]

jaxnsmom wrote: "Janice, I have a question. One of the qualifiers is "It may be an item in the book". There is no actual dog in my book (I should have chosen cats, there are several), but a dog is referred to, as..."

Those are examples of similes and as such, not significant enough. Is there a character or location that starts with the letter D?

[Beth]

Sugar or Spice - - sugar
Plane or Boat - - Boat
Beer or Wine - - wine
Sun or Moon - - moon
Cat or Dog - - dog

[jaxnsmom]

Janice wrote: "Those are examples of similes and as such, not significant enough. Is there a character or location that starts with the letter D?"

I was afraid of that :( Of course, I could go for the gluestick, but it seems really wrong for me to use a book without a dog. More gophering now.

[Camilla]

Question: does the infant have to be a character in the book, I mean one that hangs around for more than a brief description?

[Janice, Moderator]

The infant needs to make an appearance in the book, not just a mention of the infant. The babe doesn't need to hang around though.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I think the following is the only mention of an actual dog in my book. (The other "dogs" are dog-eared, dog tired, or worked like a dog, etc.) Could you please tell me if you think it qualifies?

"The cruelest joke was on the fellows that everyone called “lucky” because they got to come back at all: back to the kids spruced up for the welcome home, to the dog with a ribbon tied to his collar so he could join in the fun. The dog was usually the first to spot that something was up."

[Janice, Moderator]

Yes, that will work, Kristie.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I'm going to read Ready Player One as I need something fun to get me reading again. There seems to be a character that fits every letter of mine too (O, J, S, W, D), going off the goodreads page.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Thanks, Janice!

[Cherie]

I hope you like it Rusalka! I will be watching for your status updates. :0).

I need to get back to Ellie and the kids in the Tomorrow series, but I have a couple of levels to finish before I can start the 4th book. Wow, I couldn't believe how they got out of that prison place, but at what a cost!

[Ariane]

I began Persuasion and all my words match so far. I probably won't have many bonus points but I have to read this book by the end of the year so that will do.
I like it, not love it. I am not a Jane Austen fan I guess, we'll see...

[Cherie]

Kelly - your book sounds kind of like the Robert Heinline book called The Illustrated Man. I wasn't planning at looking at Valente's Orphan books, but I might now. I am reading her Fairyland books.

[Tejas Janet]

@ Rusalka - Yay, enjoy Ready Player One!

A very fun sci-fi book. Almost dystopic but not quite.

[Sarah]

Don't forget to check out the buddy read thread for Ready Player One Rusalka!

I've read one book for this challenge. I've not scored it yet. my current book also fits the bill so I will see which one has the highest score.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Thanks all. I do think it's exactly what I need to read at the moment. Nice when the world aligns like that.

I forgot it was a buddy read, Sarah. I'll check out the thread!

[jaxnsmom]

Rusalka - I don't know if you've read Ready Player One yet, but if not, try and listen to it. Wil Wheaton does a great job narrating, you feel like you're participating in the race.

[Stephanie]

Ready Player One is such a great book!! Hope you love it, Rusalka :)

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

And if you like Ready Player One, Ernest Cline's new book, Armada, is also read by Wil Wheaton. I got that one though my library on Overdrive the day it came out.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Reading it at the moment. Not listening to Wil Wheaton. I appreciate his work but he annoys the crap out of me.

As a board gamer, I always try and watch Table Top but after 5 mins every time I have to turn it off as I'm yelling at him.

[Tejas Janet]

Loved Ready Player One! Didn't listen to the audio version tho so can't comment on that ;)

I have completed and LOVED Tiger Lily. I have Suspect checked out and also The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal, and still hoping to read both or at least give them a try out before month's end.

Tiger Lily looking like 16 points:
8 pts (for 4 words - boat, lily, beer, leather)
2 pts (200-299 pages long)
3 pts (infant under the age of 1 - "Baby")
3 pts (character quotes poetry - Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass)

[Tasha]

I'm finally getting to my monthly challenge read, The Drowning Tree. It's been on my real shelf for years so I'm looking forward to moving it off.

[Janice, Moderator]

Tejas Janet wrote: "Loved Ready Player One! Didn't listen to the audio version tho so can't comment on that ;)

I have completed and LOVED Tiger Lily. I have Suspect checked out and also..."

Did you report your read in the reporting thread?

[Tejas Janet]

Janice wrote: "Tejas... Did you report your read in the reporting thread?"

Not yet, Janice. Waiting in case I have a higher score to report if I finish one or both of my other books. Thanks :)

[Janice, Moderator]

Okey dokey. :)

[Tasha]

Janice, I have a question about the appearance of an infant under 1yo. The MC in my story is discussing an event that happened years previous and her daughter (who is now 15yo in the present story) was 8months old at the time of the event. Does this count for a bonus point? Thanks!

The daughter at 8 months old was an active part of the story and the event.

There is also telling of a myth and one of the women was breastfeeding a baby in the story/myth. Will this count as well?

I'm just asking bc the infant references are not actually part of the main story.

[Janice, Moderator]

Yes, I'll accept them.

[Tasha]

great, thanks! :)

[Tejas Janet]

Completed a second book that fits this challenge - Suspect. Looks the same point-wise as Tiger Lily. Both really good books I thought. One more to go :)

[Cherie]

Janice, how much poetry has to be indicated to count? Is this enough to count for the bonus points?
From the book:
The sun sits low in the western sky in front of them, a red fireball on the horizon.
"Another scorcher tomorrow." He motions to the sun. "Red sky at night."
"Sailor's delight," Maris finishes.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I wouldn't say that's poetry. That's an old wives tale or a mnemonic.

[Mariab]

I got entangled with the 2nd. part (!) of my book for this challenge (because of that I couldn't read the Rome theme yet...). I'll report when I finish it.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I was just about to give a rousing call to arms for the end of the month, and for everyone to keep on reading! Yay!

But then I realised that meant I had to think up next month's challenge... slow down August!!!

[Sandra, Moderator]

I'm sure you'll come with a great challenge as always. :)