Eclectic Readers discussion
Mad Lib Challenge
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Mad Lib Reading Challenge 2017
Mod
We're giving you until the end of the Readathon to finish the challenge and submit the Google form in order to be entered into the drawing for the prize. (And a reminder if you don't finish in time you can always turn your form in later to get your final Mad Lib, you just won't be eligible for the prize.)
We're really excited and hope you'll mark your calendar and participate in the Readathon! :)
Mod
Meredith - YAY! I have 4 books to go too!
On that note, I hit a block. =( With a couple of illnesses and video games happening the last few weeks, I just didn't have it in me to read. I think I'm coming back though so hopefully I'll finish something soon.
Meredith wrote: "I've finished 2 more books for the challenge!Adjective: Vicious by V.E. Schwab
Body Part: Beastly Bones by William Ritter
I really enjoyed both of them, but Beastly Bones is the 2nd book in the J..."
Love the Jackaby series! The books are lots of fun.
And we're both at the same point in the challenge! I've just got four left to go, too. I just finished reading Un Lun Dun by China Miéville for my second "Place Name" book.
Reading my "Creature" book now, Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor. I tried to read this one back in 2013, but the first chapter was a huge turnoff for me. Decided to go a different route and jump in with the audio book to muscle through that opening chapter. Mixed results on that. The dramatic reading kind of emphasized how melodramatic the stuff in that chapter is, but it did keep the chapter moving without pauses for me to groan (things get so much better after the first chapter, though (Laini Taylor is a damn good writer)). Having never done an audio book before now, I'm surprised how much I'm enjoying that version of the book. Been listening to it in my car and reading it in print between driving places.
Sue wrote: "Bill - Overturned sounds interesting!Meredith - YAY! I have 4 books to go too!
On that note, I hit a block. =( With a couple of illnesses and video games happening the last few weeks, I just did..."
Sue, that sucks about being sick. :0( Glad you're at least doing better now, though. Seems a lot of us are at the four mark.
And yeah, Overturned was a fun read. Been getting a lot of buzz, too. Got mentioned in an NYT article on YA tackling crime and consequences just a few days ago.
Mod
Can somebody tell me when the deadline is to have finished reading all the books for this challenge? Is it the beginning or the end of June?
Mod
Hey Shawn! You'll need to have the challenge completed by the end of our Readathon, so June 24th at 8:00pm EST is the deadline to submit the Google Form (link in the first post on this thread).
Mod
Meredith wrote: "We've got a little over a month to go; how's everyone doing? I just finished Neverwhere, which I'm using for the Noun/Place and have three more categories to go, but I'm think I'm going to use a co..." I am pleasantly surprised with my progress. I just have one book left & it is a noun. This has been great fun. Thanks for checking in on us.
Mod
You're welcome! :)
Mod
That's awesome!! So glad to hear this has been a fun experience for you! :)
I'm reading my last book for this challenge, which is White Teeth for a body part! :)
Fun seeing everyone's selections as we get closer to the deadline.
Meredith wrote: "We've got a little over a month to go; how's everyone doing? I just finished Neverwhere, which I'm using for the Noun/Place and have three more categories to go, but I'm think I'm going to use a co..."I've got two-and-a-half books left. I'm halfway through Hex which is my choice for #5 Singular Nown.
After Hex, I've still got Thrawn for #4 Person's Name and Dreadnought for #9 Noun/Thing. I'm thinking of "cheating" and substituting Mort e (which I read in April and loved) for Thrawn.
My big obstacle to reading right now--which is actually a good problem--is that a manuscript I submitted to a "best unpublished novel" contest has made it to the second round of the competition. First round only required the first 50 pages. I have to turn in the full manuscript by Friday, so I'm in edit mode until it's polished enough to turn in or time runs out.
Mod
Nice! I'll be interested to hear what you think- it's been on my TBR for a while.
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I agree! :)
Mod
That's awesome!! Good luck! :-D
I have been enjoying picking out titles that match the challenge tasks. My problem is that I am a notorious bailer so I have tried and abandoned multiple titles for many of these. On the off chance that folks might still be looking for last-minute books, I'll include my bails in brackets after what I hope will be my final choices for each:1. Place Name: O Caledonia (Bailed on Leaving the Atocha Station, The View from Castle Rock, The Handsworth Times, Ancient Oceans of Central Kentucky)
2. Exclamation: Absalom, Absalom! - in progress, will likely finish (bailed on This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance!)
3. Creature: Cockroaches (bailed on Frog Music, Monkey Beach)
4. Person's Name: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (bailed on Zorba the Greek, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day)
5. Singular Noun: Breath (bailed on The Last Magician, Infinite Jest, The Dark Circle, War and Turpentine, The Smell of Other People's Houses, Speedboat, The Woman Next Door, Killers of the Flower Moon, The Inevitable Gift Shop, Dancing the Death Drill, Woman No. 17, The Power)
6. Weapon: Lives Like Loaded Guns: Emily Dickinson and Her Family's Feuds -in progress (bailed on: The Association of Small Bombs, The Sword in the Stone)
7. Adjective: Harmless Like You (bailed on All the Ugly and Wonderful Things)
8. Verb: Loving - in progress and expect to finish (bailed on Seeing Red, Then We Came to the End, Belka, Why Don't You Bark?, Call Me by Your Name, The Hate U Give, Ways to Disappear, Come and Tell Me Some Lies)
9. Noun/Thing: The Door
10. Verb: Startle and Illuminate: Carol Shields on Writing
11. Place Name: Amsterdam
12. Body Part: Their Eyes Were Watching God (bailed on Salvage the Bones, Solar Bones, The Man Who Shot Out My Eye Is Dead: Stories, The Skin)
Whew! Of course, many of the ones I abandoned were great books—just not for me. A few of them, though, were simply stinkers. :).
Anyway, hope this crazy list might give a few others some last-minute books to try!
Shawn
Completed this yesterday and filled out the google doc:1. Place Name Another Brooklyn
2. Exclamation Attack Your Day!: Before It Attacks You
3. Creature Giant Days, Vol. 1
4. Person's Name The Rosie Effect
5. Singular Noun Wonder Woman (2016-) Vol. 1: The Lies
6. Weapon Scythe
7. Adjective Sleeping Giants
8. Verb On the Move: A Life
9. Noun/Thing Sula
10. Verb March: Book One
11. Place Name Survivors' Club: The Complete Series
12. Body Part Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History
Mod
I'm glad you're enjoying the challenge, Shawn! You've got some great choices, and lots of options if anyone else is stuck, thanks for that. :)
Mod
1. Place Name Another Brooklyn
2. Exclamation Attack Your Day!: Before It Attacks You
3. Creature [book:Gian..."
Woohoo! Awesome job, Andrea! :-D
Mod
I love seeing all your choices! I've heard on Reading Envy's podcast about you being a notorious bailer =D I wish I could be more like that, but then again I don't read nearly as many books as you do. ^.^
Mod
1. Place Name Another Brooklyn
2. Exclamation Attack Your Day!: Before It Attacks You
3. Creature [book:Gian..."
Congratulations, Andrea! That's awesome!
Mod
Thank you Meredith and Sue! Can't wait to see the finished mad libs ❤️📚
So, I rather quietly finished the reading challenge last week. Been really grateful for this challenge. Made me prioritize reading in a way I haven't in a very long time (it's tough to get much read when finding time to write is just as hard to prioritize and necessary).1. Place Name: Replaced Incarceron by Catherine Fisher with The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig
2. Exclamation: The Regional Office Is Under Attack! by Manuel Gonzales
3. Creature: Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor
4. Person's Name: Replaced Thrawn by Timothy Zahn with Mort e by Robert Repino
5. Singular Noun: Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
6. Weapon: Scythe by Neal Shusterman
7. Adjective: Lightless by C.A. Higgins
8. Verb: Hounded by Kevin Hearne
9. Noun/Thing: Replaced Dreadnought by Cherie Priest with Asylum by Madeleine Roux
10. Verb: Overturned by Lamar Giles
11. Place Name: Un Lun Dun by China Mieville
12. Body Part: Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan
This challenge led me to some authors I'd never read before and fell in love with: C.A. Higgins is probably the top among those. No idea how long her book might have lingered on my TBR list if not for this reading challenge. Robert Repino, Heidi Heilig, and Manuel Gonzales were in this group, too. I've already bought more books by Robert (and met the author at a book signing here in Richmond!) and Heidi, so I've locked in my next dates with those authors.
Also learned that audio books might not be for me. Borrowed the audio book of Dreams of Gods & Monsters and Asylum from the library. The former was well read, but it only emphasized how melodramatic the story had become, and the latter wasn't well read, making the novel that much worse. One big advantage I learned to audio books, though, is that you can keep reading while rolling your eyes, making a bad book easier to finish.
Really hope you do this "Mad Libs" type of reading challenge again next year. Was a lot of fun! Hope everyone else is doing well on getting this finished, too!
Mod
Congrats on finishing the challenge!! I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed the challenge and it helped you find new authors and get some books off of your TBR! I hope we do it again next year, too :)
Mod
Congratulations! I'm glad you have enjoyed the challenge! Thinking of books to read for a specific category gets tricky, so I'm glad to hear you were able to discover new authors!
Sidebar about audiobooks. Narration definitely can make or break a book. Try audiobooks that have a cast that reads a book. It's one of my favorite ways to listen to an audiobook. A couple good ones, His Dark Materials and The Ender series.
Sue wrote: "Sidebar about audiobooks. Narration definitely can make or break a book. Try audiobooks that have a cast that reads a book..."Sue, thanks for this suggestion, because I'd prefer not to give up on audiobooks too quickly. Having an actual cast reading makes a lot more sense. Could see that solving some of the problems.
Congrats to those who have finished this challenge already and good luck to those in the home stretch! 🙃
Meredith wrote: "Also, we have a date set for the Readathon! It'll start at 8:00 pm EST on Friday, June 23rd and run until 8:00 pm EST on the 24th. We're giving you until the end of the Readathon to finish the ch..."
I'm planning to participate in the Readathon! It sounds like a lot of fun. :)
Mod
We're giving you until the end of the Readathon..."
Yay!! We think it'll be a lot of fun, too :)
Mod
Sue, thanks for this suggestion, because I'd prefer not t..."
Cast recordings can be really fun! I've only been listening to audiobooks for a year or so, but I find that I really enjoy listening to non-fiction (especially memoirs read by the author) that way. For me, listening to fiction can be tricky, unless there's lots of dialogue (like in Agatha Christie's books— audio is the only way I've "read" them so far), or a work of fiction I've read before (I did a "reread" of The Night Circus via audio and loved it, but probably would have had a hard time following along if it had been my first time reading the book). Jim Dale's a fantastic audiobook narrator, too, so if you see he's the one narrating I'd say there's a good chance you'd enjoy it :)
Mod
I'm so glad this has been such a great experience for you, Bill!
I'm getting a bit nervous because we're a only a couple of weeks away and I just can't get into my "Body Part" book. And I still have my creature book to do after that. These things happen though!
Jeannette wrote: ".I'm getting a bit nervous because we're a only a couple of weeks away and I just can't get into my "Body Part" book..."Thanks, Jeannette!
So, I'm being totally nosy here, but I noticed you have River of Teeth in your TBR. Heard good things about it, and best of all, given the limited time, it's a novella.
Welp, I don't think I will finish all of my books in time but I have done fairly well.1. Place Name - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
4. Person's Name - Mother of Pearl
5. Singular Noun - The Queen of the Night
7. Adjective - The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks
Jen wrote: "Welp, I don't think I will finish all of my books in time but I have done fairly well.1. Place Name - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
2. Exclamation -O Pioneers!
3. Creature - ..."
It's the journey not the destination that counts! :)
Mod
Jen, your list reads like my TBR pile 😂 love it!! 💚
thanks for the encouragement, y'all! I am still going and really enjoying it. The mad libs challenge is such a great idea. I am looking forward to doing the mad libs for my book titles regardless of when I finish. I should probably say - I am almost done with A Tree Grows... Have started The Drunken Botanist and still need to read The Queen.... and Mother of Pearl.
I have never done reading challenges before and now I see that 5 may have been a bit too ambitious. I am also doing the Tournament of Books Summer Reading Challenge and joined an Infinite Jest buddy read. One thing about reading challenges that I had not considered - I made lists of books to read but there are still new books I want to read coming out so sticking just to my lists is basically impossible for me.
Jen wrote: "thanks for the encouragement, y'all! I am still going and really enjoying it. The mad libs challenge is such a great idea. I am looking forward to doing the mad libs for my book titles regardless o..."I couldn't keep up with the Infinite Jest buddy read. It took too much time and effort just to keep track of what I was reading in that book alone. Maybe I'll come back and tackle that one another time.
Rebekah wrote: "Jen wrote: "thanks for the encouragement, y'all! I am still going and really enjoying it. The mad libs challenge is such a great idea. I am looking forward to doing the mad libs for my book titles ..."Jen & Rebekah, I couldn't do the Infinite Jest buddy read either. I've tried reading it twice in the past three years. We just don't get along.
Dude, Infinite Jest is a beast! I'm impressed by anyone that just picks it up!!
I am stalled at about the half way point in IJ. I liked it but between it and tracking politics, I didn't have time to read anything else. I think some people did finish it. I so admire them.
Mod
The summary of Infinite Jest sounds interesting but it just seems way too intimidating for me to read.
Sue wrote: "Jen - Wow 5 challenges! That's awesome! I get having a hard time sticking to your list. That's why I usually don't make one and I make sure I can use one book for multiple challenges. I made a list..."I don't know that I could have finished the Mad Libs reading challenge in time if not for changing out three of the titles. Sue, learning you only kept about four of your original list makes me feel better about the substitutions I made.
And I'm just curious. Am I correct that the Infinite Jest buddy read thing refers to the David Foster Wallace novel? Because that novel sounds like a monster. Noticed GR has Infinite Jest at more than a thousand pages. Yikes!
Bill wrote: "Sue wrote: "Jen - Wow 5 challenges! That's awesome! I get having a hard time sticking to your list. That's why I usually don't make one and I make sure I can use one book for multiple challenges. I..."Yep, Bill. It is the DFW book and yep, it is over 1k pages...with footnotes in addition to those 1k pages...and sometimes the footnotes have footnotes.
I am going to look at some other books I have read to see if I can substitute for this challenge - probably not, though
Mod
Eclectic Readers
Books mentioned in this topic
Wallbanger (other topics)Infinite Jest (other topics)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (other topics)
O Pioneers! (other topics)
You Can't Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
China Miéville (other topics)Laini Taylor (other topics)
Victoria Aveyard (other topics)
Adjective: Vicious by V.E. Schwab
Body Part: Beastly Bones by William Ritter
I really enjoyed both of them, but Beastly Bones is the 2nd book in the Jackaby series, so you'd want to read the first book (Jackaby) if you're looking for a body part book, but they're really fun, fast reads, and Jackaby could count for a Person's Name, too :)
I've only got 4 more books to go, yay!