The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
FALL CHALLENGE 2009
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FALL CHALLENGE 2009 QUESTIONS
For Cindy's task, will one/two/three word titles qualify even if they have subtitles? Or will they be rejected if they have a lengthier subtitle?
SuzieR wrote: "A questions for BJ Rose ...Does the President/Prime Minister need to have died whilst still in office? (that doesn't sound like good grammar! lol :))" Sounds fine to me!
"Following The 'Curse Of Tippecanoe' Theme" applies to dying in office, so that was the intent, but if that becomes too difficult, let me know. I've been searching, and have already found over a dozen elected leaders of countries other than USA who died in office, which I'll be posting in the HELP section. I'll continue the search and will add to the list if I find more.
Sam wrote: "Is Team of Rivals (Lincoln) okay for this challenge? ."YES and it's an excellent book IMO - I've been seriously thinking of re-reading it for this task myself, but I should read something new, shouldn't I?!
And yes, Sam, it's long, and I have to be honest and say it starts a little slow, but I felt it was worth the read. When I first read it, tho, it wasn't part of a big challenge!
BJ Rose wrote: "Cynthia, sorry to add to your workload - hope this is a simple one:
I know that Robert Ludlum is dead, but the authors who write the Covert-One books are working from his notes & ideas, so would a..."I'll take the first 4 books in that series
Thanks, Cynthia!
Kate wrote: "So, then I can't use All the President's Men, since Nixon isn't in your list? That's correct.
10.7 Heroes task -
The Art of Racing in the RainWould this be okay for the heroes task? The story is narrated by a dog, Enzo, who is described as a hero in the book description, "...Enzo comes through heroically to preserve the Swift family." Thanks!
would The Eyre Affair work for the travels back in time task? I have been meaning to read it!
Nicole wrote: "would The Eyre Affair work for the travels back in time task? I have been meaning to read it!"Time Travel is listed as a keyword in NoveList for The Eyre Affair and all of its sequels.
Janice wrote: "Bonnie wrote: "Hey, Janice, just want to double check. I want to read The Alchemyst for your task. It involves a prophecy about a set of twins who are destined to save the world from ..."Excellent, thanks!
Amy wrote: ""Morgan wrote: "I have a question about 5.5, the going back to school task. I'm only in 10th grade, so do you want me to re-read a book I read last year, or can I use a required reading b..."Morg..."
Thanks Amy!
for the Stan Berenstain task (10.3) does the word bear have to be the animal in the title or can it be any meaning of its meanings so long as it is the word bear or bears?
For Cindy's Task: do the words "A Novel" count? I hope not, since they tend to tag that on to about 80% of the books out there!Thanks!!! great idea btw!
What should I do if in the math section my full name subtracted by age is zero? Is there something I can do or no?
Sarah wrote: "What should I do if in the math section my full name subtracted by age is zero? Is there something I can do or no?"I haven't read it but if one of the main characters has an addiction yes you maySarah wrote: "What should I do if in the math section my full name subtracted by age is zero? Is there something I can do or no?"You would just need to select one of the other options
Nicole wrote: "for the Stan Berenstain task (10.3) does the word bear have to be the animal in the title or can it be any meaning of its meanings so long as it is the word bear or bears?"The word bear or bears does not have to refer to an animal - it can be of any meaning as long as it's one of those words
Nicole wrote: "would The Eyre Affair work for the travels back in time task? I have been meaning to read it!"Yes I'll take it
Lisa wrote: "10.7 Heroes task -
The Art of Racing in the RainWould this be okay for the heroes task? The story is narrated by a dog, Enzo, who..."I would prefer if the hero was human
For Task 15.5 (Read 2 Books That Were Originally Published In The Same Foreign Language, One You Don't Speak Fluently), can the 2 books be by the same author or do the authors have to be different?
I meant to allow A, An and The to count, thinking that the one word titles would be the hardest to find. I would leave off "a Novel". Let's see what Cynthia says. I was hoping to give folks a home for that must read book that doesn't fit anywhere else!
Cindy wrote: "I meant to allow A, An and The to count, thinking that the one word titles would be the hardest to find. I would leave off "a Novel". Let's see what Cynthia says. I was hoping to give folks a home ..."I love the task, Cindy! And it does give "a home for that must read book that doesn't fit anywhere else". I'm a bit confused, though. So, A/An/The does count toward the word title total? Almost all my two word book ideas include "the" (The Gathering, The Reader, The Historian, etc.).
Also, someone brought this up earlier: do subtitles count towards the word total? (ie. Japanland: A Year In Search of the Wa). I'll probably use a different one-world title book, but I want to know what my options are.
Cynthia, I wanted to double check that lullaby is acceptable for the music/cd task. I have lullaby renditions of The Beatles, Radiohead, and Coldplay on cd as well as the perfect book to go with it if it is.Thanks so much for all of your hard work and time!
Oh, and for 5.8 (multiple authors), does Clamp work? It is four authors/artists who work together under a single name. I read in a different thread that different authors under a single name have been approved, but also want to check that more than two authors works (the task info seems to suggest this is okay). Oh, and I agree with whoever said this must be like a second job for you! Thanks for doing it!
Kate wrote: "Donna Jo wrote: "I know Cynthia has the deciding vote on the Juvenile/children's books, but reading between her lines, I'd say she is defining Juvenile as chapter books (harder books for about thir..."I took the easy way out LOL Just going to read berenstain bear books until I get to 100 pages lol
For Cindy's task (25.7), are we allowed to count the words "the, a, an, and, (etc..)" as a part of the two or three word titles?
I meant to allow words like a, an, the and, etc, but NOT subtitles and make an exception for "the novel"For example, "The Good Earth" would be a three word title. "The Road" would be two words.
Subtitles are a little trickier. I would not consider "A Novel" to be part of the title, but in the case of titles like Bonnie's example, I guess it would depend on how the book is commonly known and how the cover appears. I'll try to find an example.
Oh, Cynthia, where are you?!
OK, unless overriden by Cynthia.Subtitles count toward the word count if the title on Goodreads includes the words of the subtitle, EXCEPT for the specific words ":A Novel" or ":The Novel".
Examples, on Goodreads Julie and Julia is listed as Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously so it is an 8 word title. Skunk: A Love Story is a 4 word title
Cindy wrote: "OK, unless overriden by Cynthia.Subtitles count toward the word count if the title on Goodreads includes the words of the subtitle, EXCEPT for the specific words ":A Novel" or ":The Novel".
..."It's your task so yes that's fine by me
Bonnie wrote: "Oh, and for 5.8 (multiple authors), does Clamp work? It is four authors/artists who work together under a single name. I read in a different thread that different authors under a sing..."That's fine
Cait wrote: "Cynthia, I wanted to double check that lullaby is acceptable for the music/cd task. I have lullaby renditions of The Beatles, Radiohead, and Coldplay on cd as well as the perfect book to go with i..."I'll take that
Petra wrote: "For Task 15.5 (Read 2 Books That Were Originally Published In The Same Foreign Language, One You Don't Speak Fluently), can the 2 books be by the same author or do the authors have to be different?"They can be the same or different
Hey Cynthia, I have a weird question (and I know I'm reaching here, but I thought I'd try). For task 5.2 (apple), is it okay to read a book by the book publishing company Apple? They always have a little apple on the cover of their books, so I thought I'd ask... :) If its not okay that's fine, I just wanted to make sure!
Is it okay to use the same author (NOT the same book) for multiple tasks?Is it okay to use books of poetry? Specifically The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein for task 5.2 (apple on the cover)?
Katie wrote: "Is it okay to use the same author (NOT the same book) for multiple tasks?Is it okay to use books of poetry? Specifically The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein for task 5.2 (apple on t..."
Same author for different tasks are fine, but like you know, you can not use the same book.
As long as the books have minimum of 100 pages, you can use it (unless stated otherwise - sometimes it says if YA/juvenile/kids books are not allowed).
Katie wrote: "Is it okay to use books of poetry? Specifically The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein for task 5.2 (apple on the cover)?"Definitely on books of poetry. I'm using Crank by Ellen Hopkins, which is written entirely in poetry, for task 10.2 (addiction).
As for short books, the rules say, "6. Short books (100 pages or less) should be used sparingly and only count for the 5 point tasks (unless otherwise stated)."
I'd say yes, especially since I read The Giving Tree for a 5-point task during the Spring Challenge (a book about sacrifice)! Just make sure the majority of your other 5-point tasks are longer.
For Task 10.3 (Bear) would A Bear Called Paddington be acceptable? I'm not sure whether it fits the "no juvenile or YA" requirement. Thanks, Cynthia!
Petra wrote: "For Task 10.3 (Bear) would A Bear Called Paddington be acceptable? I'm not sure whether it fits the "no juvenile or YA" requirement. Thanks, Cynthia!"
Paddington Bear? I would DEFINITELY classify that as a children's book.
Task 5.1 = Read a book with son, daughter, etc. in the title. What if the book is part of a trilogy with one of those words in the trilogy name? Specifically, I want to read The Lion of Senet , which is part of the Second Sons Trilogy. Would this count for task 5.1?
Petra wrote: "For Task 10.3 (Bear) would A Bear Called Paddington be acceptable? I'm not sure whether it fits the "no juvenile or YA" requirement. Thanks, Cynthia!"
Even if it was classified as a YA or juvenile, it has the word "bear" in it which also lets it qualify! And according to Gooodreads its over 100 pages so you should be golden :)
I have a couple questions about books, where can I put them?
I have just a general question about any task...I like Stephen King's novellas, like the ones in "Four Past Midnight" and most of them are over 100 pages each (that one in particular has a novella of 234 pages, one of 148, one of 198 and one of 151). To qualify for any task would I have to read the whole collection, or would one novella suffice? Also, if one novella suffices can I use two novellas in the same anthology for two different tasks?
Another quick one...for the Civil War task, would Kindred by Octavia Butler work? Or should I find another one and use that one for the time travel since I read Time Traveler's Wife last week not knowing it would be on here?
Thank you so much, and thanks specifically for making these, they're GREAT fun!
Sarah wrote: "I have a couple questions about books, where can I put them?"Which questions do you have, Sarah?
Bridgit wrote: "Patricia wrote: "For task 15.5 (Geography Lessons - Read Two Books That Take Place Countries That Correspond To Your Initials), is there a country which starts with a W?"maybe Wales could count..."
Wales or Western Sahara
Cait, for a proper name in the title...can it be a first or last name? I was thinking of The Boleyn Inheritance (Boleyn being a last name).
25.8 But while they would not work for a book with a place in the title, wouldn't "School, Country, City" work for the third book, with a thing/object in the title? As you listed "house" as a viable term.
Bonnie wrote: "Cait, for a proper name in the title...can it be a first or last name? I was thinking of The Boleyn Inheritance (Boleyn being a last name)." Yep, first name, last name, or both - it all counts.
Cait - fictional places ok? I'm guessing yes, since fictional people work, but wanted to double check. The example that came immediately to my mind is Anne of Avonlea, with Avonlea being a fictional town (leaving out the fact that Anne would work for the person part of the task).
William wrote: "25.8 But while they would not work for a book with a place in the title, wouldn't "School, Country, City" work for the third book, with a thing/object in the title? As you listed "house" as a via..."
You know, I've been going back and forth on this... when I used house as an example, I was thinking of it as an object (a building). But it could be considered a place (as would city and country, etc.) and for this part of the task I was really looking for things like car, boat, cloud, apple, clock, shoe, eye, book, etc.
So basically, for the third book of the task, you can use any thing/object that can't be considered a person or a place. That should make it a little more clear cut I think.
Cynthia, can you update my task on the board and take out the word "house" for an example for the third book? Thank you!
Leslie wrote: "Cait - fictional places ok? I'm guessing yes, since fictional people work, but wanted to double check. The example that came immediately to my mind is Anne of Avonlea, with Avonlea being a fictiona..."Fictional places are ok too.
Cait, can I use the word "moon" for the third book? I was thinking of it as an object, but I guess it is a place, too (even if we can't go there).
Excellent, thanks Cait! And I like your task idea.
Danielle wrote: "I have just a general question about any task...I like Stephen King's novellas, like the ones in "Four Past Midnight" and most of them are over 100 pages each (that one in particular has a novell..."If the novellas are contained in one book you would need to read the entire book to count - they can't be separated out unless you find them published separately. And Kindred takes place before the war not during so no
Sarah wrote: "I have a couple questions about books, where can I put them?"Put them here or in the help section
Deirdre wrote: "Task 5.1 = Read a book with son, daughter, etc. in the title.
What if the book is part of a trilogy with one of those words in the trilogy name? Specifically, I want to read The Lion of Sen..."</i><b>No it should be part of the title itself</b>
<i>Petra wrote: "For Task 10.3 (Bear) would [book:A Bear Called Paddington be acceptable? I'm not sure whether it fits the "no juvenile or YA" requirement.
Thanks, Cynthia!"The no juv/ya requirement actually is only for the second option in the task so yes you may use it
Leslie wrote: "Cynthia, would you accept Stiff The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers for the science task?"Yes
Katie wrote: "Is it okay to use the same author (NOT the same book) for multiple tasks?
Is it okay to use books of poetry? Specifically The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein for task 5.2 (apple on t..."Yes & Yes
Candace wrote: "Hey Cynthia, I have a weird question (and I know I'm reaching here, but I thought I'd try). For task 5.2 (apple), is it okay to read a book by the book publishing company Apple? They always have ..."If it has the apple ok
Cait - would a book that has a place like "Redemption Falls" or "Lake Wobegon" count as a proper name for a place?
The Seasonal Reading Challenge
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I've created a topic in the HELP section of The Seasonal Reading Challenge for Q&A about my task, and am copying the questions & responses here that apply. Will also be putting some additional info there as I find something that may be helpful.