You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
Challenges: Monthly
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May 2014 - You and Me Baby Ain't Nothing but Mammals.
Great challenge Rusalka! I am off to gopher my shelves!
Love it! :D
Ha, that was an easy decision! I have many possible books on my tbr, way more than I had thought. But there's only one that I actually own, got it for my birthday a month ago and haven't gotten round to reading it yet: To Kill a Mockingbird it is! Thanks for giving me a reason to start it, Rusalka :D
Techinically a Spider is an arthropod like a centipede or a crab or a scorpion. I needed to simplify it a little for the challenge though. Beetles also have exoskeletons in a way, and most people mistake spiders for insects, so I went with that. However, under the Kingdom Animalia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal you'll find that the subgroups are vertebrates (includes birds, mammals, reptiles and fish); mollusks; arthropods ; annelids; sponges; and jellyfish.
Peggy wrote: "Ha, that was an easy decision! I have many possible books on my tbr, way more than I had thought. But there's only one that I actually own, got it for my birthday a month ago and haven't gotten rou..."Yay! Nice choice.
Thanks for the explanation :) After posting I figured it was probably for simplification.
Sounds fun! First thing that came to mind when I saw the title was the song by Bloodhound Gang so now I will be humming this for the rest of the weekend!Off to check out what I can read. I don't think I own any which would qualify so new book (maybe library) it is!
No worries. The science communicator in me had a battle over the simplification. It now feels better I could correct myself.If in doubt, feel free to ask for my arbitrary clarification.
I've already decided what mine is going to be - Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
- I've wanted to read it for ages so now is perfect timing.
Sarah wrote: "Sounds fun! First thing that came to mind when I saw the title was the song by Bloodhound Gang so now I will be humming this for the rest of the weekend!Off to check out what I can read. I don't ..."
Whole weekend? I'm planning on the whole month! To be fair, I had had a couple of glasses of wine last night and it came up on my 90s mix of you tube videos. I yelled (honestly) "That's my challenge name!!!". Lexx possibly thinks I've gone mental.
Judy wrote: "This is a great challenge since my personal challenge this year includes reading many books with animal species in the title. Excellent challenge, Rusalka!It looks like my best choice will be [bo..."
hah1 Brilliant! Glad it works for you Judy.
EstaAmeliaR wrote: "I've already decided what mine is going to be - Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - I've wanted to read it for ages so now is perfect timing."Ooo good pick! I've been wanting to read that for about 5 years, since my never-reads-fiction Dad recommended it to me.
Actually yeah the song might stay around for A LOT longer than a weekend - who am I kidding! That's my earworm!I've actually got three books that I own which would fit surprisingly - The Secret Life of Bees, A Street Cat Named Bob: How One Man and His Cat Found Hope on the Streets and The Cuckoo's Calling so really I should go for one of those. But, others on my wishlist include Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Water for Elephants and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Decisions, decisions!
I had Water for Elephants, The Secret Life of Bees, and Streetcat Named Bob as options too. I read One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest last month, and really liked it. Have you seen the movie?
No I've not seen the movie. I've heard good things about it though. I'm hopeless at making decisions!
Rusalka - when you saw it has animal print on do you mean the marking of an animal, say leopard print, or a paw print? or both?
I have 3 books picked out which would fit: Frog Music, Grasshopper Jungle and When God Was a Rabbit. Just got to narrow it down to one.....
Interesting challenge, Rusalka!I just watched the video of the song, and noticed that Peter Dinklage is in it! He is the one playing Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones :)
Question for you Rusalka- can the endorsement quotes from other authors be on the back cover?
Sarah wrote: "I've actually got three books that I own which would fit surprisingly - The Secret Life of Bees, A Street Cat Named Bob: How One Man and His Cat Found Hope on the Streets...! "
I've read A Street Cat Named Bob. It's really good.
What should I read? Wodehouse Love Among the Chickens
A Pelican at Blandings
Pigs Have Wings
The Gold Bat
Performing Flea
du Maurier The Scapegoat
The Birds: and Other Stories
The Flight of the Falcon
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH or The Beetle
Aw man, I have that stupid song stuck in my head now!
Sarah wrote: "No I've not seen the movie. I've heard good things about it though. I'm hopeless at making decisions!"
Not read the book but have seen the movie which is brilliant.
Okay, my dear, here are my possibilities: Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, or
The Queen of Whale Cay: The Eccentric Story of 'Joe' Carstairs, Fastest Woman on Water, or
The Goldfinch, or
The Death of Bees, or
The Good Lord Bird, or
The Bird of Night, or
The Heaven of Animals: Stories (but that's probably stretching the "animal" theme!)
Rusalka, I have a book I'd like to read, but I'm not sure it fits. My Beloved Brontosaurus: On the Road with Old Bones, New Science, and Our Favorite Dinosaurs by Brian Switek. What do you think? Would it qualify?
EstaAmeliaR wrote: "I've already decided what mine is going to be - Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - I've wanted to read it for ages so now is perfect timing."I read that last year and really enjoyed it. Hope you do, too!
Anna wrote: "What should I read? Wodehouse Love Among the Chickens
A Pelican at Blandings
Pigs Have Wings
The Gold Bat
Performing Flea
All of the Daphne du Maurier books sound good Anna. I bought The Scapegoat just the other day.
Frog Music it is for me. This will be my first book by Emma Donoghue and I was hoping to read it next month anyway so this challenge has worked out brilliantly.
I didn't think I had any books with animals in the titles on my TBR lists, but to my surprise, I found 13 of them. I think I had better stick to an audiobook since I have identified a few print format books to read in May.That narrows it down to three:
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
Across the Nightingale Floor
Tiger's Curse
Do mythical creatures, such as The Golden Unicorn fit the challenge?
I am ROFL! I think I have all of your titles on my TBR list. Not all, and I have read a few already, but so may. I am really drawn to Bob the Cat but the chickens on the PG Woodhouse cover calls to me. I think that is why I put it on my list because I have not really liked his writing in the past and wanted to give him another try. I need to open my book list on my laptop. I know I have something already on hand that will fit. The Rats of NYMM bring back so many memories. I can hear all of the voices from the Disney movie, just thinking about the title. We watched it so many times! We wore out the first copy of our book and had to buy another.
Oh, and I must check out You Tube. I don't know the song, I am sorry to admit.
Anna wrote: "I've read A Street Cat Named Bob. It's really good."That's good to hear Anna! Of all the ones I listed, this is the one which has been on my kindle for the longest and I had meant to read it for last years A-Z challenge.
There are some great book titles people have listed so far.
This is a great challenge. I really hadn't thought about how many famous books have animals in the title.
I get the song in my head everyone I see the title of the thread. Luckily it doesn't stay there ;-)
OKAY - I listened to the song and watched some of the videos. Enough of that, but I did like the one of the Skylander characters (I think that is who they were) dancing posted by EJXp3r7.I have nine books on hand that fit the challenge. Six of them have mammals in the title, two have serpents. I think it is a toss up for
Bee Season and
Emperor Mollusk versus The Sinister Brain for me.
I didn't realize how many "animal" books I have on my tbr shelf. All animal categories seem to be represented. Just have to narrow it down to the lucky critter.
Cherie: Let me know if you go with Emperor Mollusk. I already have it for Kindle, because my husband bought it a couple of years ago. (He also recommended That Darn Squid God. Cover has blue background and title in yellow.)
Sorry for the earworm everyone. I just got it in my head whenever I thought of this idea, so I passed it on.
Sarah wrote: "Rusalka - when you saw it has animal print on do you mean the marking of an animal, say leopard print, or a paw print? or both?"Oops sorry, animal markings eg. leopard print. Will clarify.
Kirila wrote: "Interesting challenge, Rusalka!I just watched the video of the song, and noticed that Peter Dinklage is in it! He is the one playing Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones :)"
I don't think it is... I'm sure the internet will solve that for us though.
Lisa wrote: "Question for you Rusalka- can the endorsement quotes from other authors be on the back cover?"Yup. Has to be on the outside cover though. No sneaky inside quotes.
Anna wrote: "What should I read? Wodehouse Love Among the Chickens
A Pelican at Blandings
Pigs Have Wings
The Gold Bat
[book:Performing Flea|2046386..."
So much Wodehouse!
Janice wrote: "I didn't think I had any books with animals in the titles on my TBR lists, but to my surprise, I found 13 of them. I think I had better stick to an audiobook since I have identified a few print fo..."mythical = no.
Casceil wrote: "Rusalka, I have a book I'd like to read, but I'm not sure it fits. My Beloved Brontosaurus: On the Road with Old Bones, New Science, and Our Favorite Dinosaurs by [author:Brian Swi..."Dammit, someone always throws me a curve ball.
If it was a dinosaur, I would say yes. That's a reptile.
But Brontosauruses never existed. They were made up by a nasty Victorian paleontologist to win a bet against another nasty Victorian paleontologist on who could discover the most dinosaurs. I believe... I'm checking my sources... that it was a head of an Iguanadon (google says Camarasaurus) whacked on the body of an Apatosaurus.
Source for me, dinosaur talk we used to perform at my old work. Internet source: http://www.npr.org/2012/12/09/1666657...
Do you have another option? Coz at the moment I am ruling that as mythical unfortunately. Especially unfortunate as I want to read that book.
Thing Two wrote: "The Heaven of Animals: Stories (but that's probably stretching the "animal" theme!) "All great options except that one. It breaks my animal category for scoring.
Casceil wrote: "Cherie: Let me know if you go with Emperor Mollusk. I already have it for Kindle, because my husband bought it a couple of years ago. (He also recommended That Darn Squid God. Co..."They both sound ridiculously fun.
Don't worry, Rusalka, I understand the problem about the Brontosaurus, and that is why I asked. I'm sure I can find something else.
Okay Casceil, Emperor Mollosk it will be and I added the other book to my TBR list. I will be listening to the audio version narrated by Scott Aiello.
You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
Books mentioned in this topic
Of Mice and Men (other topics)The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (other topics)
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (other topics)
To Kill a Mockingbird (other topics)
Birds Without Wings (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Steve Hockensmith (other topics)Edmund de Waal (other topics)
Brian Switek (other topics)
The name of the species of animal has to be in the title, not the name of the individual animal. Ie. Fido wouldn't count but The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time would. Breeds count too. So you could have Voyage of the Beagle or Silkie for example (but please explain to me like I am 5).
Sounds simple, but as you will see below, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others". Have fun!
General Rules:
1. The book may be in any format - paperback, ebook, audiobook.
2. The book may be in any genre.
3. The book may NOT be combined with the Year Long Chunkster Challenge.
4. The book must be read between May 1 to May 31, 2014 (based on your own time zone).
5. The challenge is for one book. You may read more books if you chose, but only the highest scoring book will apply.
6. The book must be 150 pages or more determined by the issue you read. If reading eBook or audiobook page numbers will be determined by the issue that comes up on a Goodreads search.
Scoring
Animal in your title is a...:
6 pts - Fish (including jellyfish, crustaceans, sponges and molluscs)
5 pts - Amphibian
4 pts - Reptile
3 pts - Insect (including earthworms, centipedes, spiders, scorpions and snails)
2 pts - Bird
1 pt - Mammal
Genre:
5 pts - Non-Fiction
4 pts - Chick Lit
3 pts - Classics
2 pts - Fantasy
1 pt - Crime
Cover: (based on the version you read)
5 pts – Has a blue background
4 pts - Has animal print on it (as in leopard print, zebra stripes, etc)
3 pts – Has a seal on it (the animal, unlike April's challenge)
2 pts – Has an endorsement quote from another author on it
1 pt – Title is in yellow
Setting:
5 pts - In a jungle
4 pts - On a tropical island
3 pts - In a desert
2 pts - In the mountains
1 pt - In a national park
Pages:
5 pts - 600 - 1000 pages
4 pts - 500 - 599 pages
3 pts - 400 - 499 pages
2 pts - 300 - 399 pages
1 pts - 200 - 299 pages
Bonus Points:
5 pts - Has a protest in it for May Day (1 May)
5 pts – Characters visit a bank in the book for International Day of Capitalism (18 May)
5 pts - Has a “musician” as a character for Eurovision.