You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
Challenges: Monthly
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June 2017 - Pearls of Wisdom REPORT
Janice, could you please clarify what you mean by "if you recognize the significance of the countries selected"? I'm not quite sure what you're looking for.
Kristie wrote: "Janice, could you please clarify what you mean by "if you recognize the significance of the countries selected"? I'm not quite sure what you're looking for."There was a specific reason I selected those countries for scoring points. If you can figure it out, put it a spoiler for extra points.
Oh! Ok, thanks. :) I was confused. I thought it meant something about the specific country your author was from.
Well, it is in a way. The category is authors. I specified countries that the author was either born in or resides in. For example, Richard Adams was born in the UK, so I would score 4 points for him.
But, there was a reason I selected the 5 different countries. So why those, and not a French or Norwegian author?
I understand. I just read it wrong the first time. I have my answer. :)
Kristie wrote: "I understand. I just read it wrong the first time. I have my answer. :)"I thought you might figure it out.
For this challenge I read Rotten to the Core.
Scoring:
Genre:
1 point - mystery
Author:
2 points - USA
Cover:
4 points - has one or more trees on the cover
Title:
0 points
Bonus:
0 points
Bonus points:
3 points - quote of "pearl of wisdom"
One of the characters quoted John Donne "Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind."
I thought this was very appropriate for the times we live in and wish more people would take this pearl to heart, maybe there would be less violence.
Total points: 10
7 points. The author's name is more in the middle of the book than at the top of the book. We want it to look more like this:
or
.No pearls of wisdom (quote) from your book to boost your score?
Well, that's what I thought you'd say. I forgot to look for a quote while reading, I'll have to see if I can find something.
Janice I edited my message for 7 points for now. Still trying to find a pearl of wisdom, but not much luck and kind of want to get back to my toppler reading, lol. Wish I would have remembered to look for a quote while I was reading it but oh well. Still have a couple days left on my library loan so may still come up with something.
Lori Z wrote: "Janice I edited my message for 7 points for now. Still trying to find a pearl of wisdom, but not much luck and kind of want to get back to my toppler reading, lol. Wish I would have remembered to l..."Have you checked out the quote section for the book here on Goodreads?
Janice wrote: "Lori Z wrote: "Janice I edited my message for 7 points for now. Still trying to find a pearl of wisdom, but not much luck and kind of want to get back to my toppler reading, lol. Wish I would have ..."Well, I didn't find one there, but I didn't stop looking and found a quote, of a quote, that I used for the bonus points. So I edited my message #8, to show the quote and the correct points
Thanks for cheering me on, Janice!
Awesome pearl of wisdom Lori!
R - Rose is the flower for June. Read a book with the word "rose" in the title, or where one or more roses are on the cover.I read:
- Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth GaskellGenre: (must be shelved by others with a significant number on the book page)
5 points - Historical Fiction
Author: (either born in the country/region, or if not born there currently living there)
4 points - UK
Pages:
5 points - 501+
Bonus Points:
3 points - Audio Book Appreciation Month: Listen to your choice on Audiobook.
3 points - Quote a "pearl of wisdom" from your book. "Many a good woman gets married with only a cross instead of her name; it's rather a diluting of mother-wit, to my fancy, but, however, we must yield to the prejudices of society, Miss Eyre, and so you may teach the child to read." - written in 1865
Total points: 20
For the June Pearls of Wisdom challenge, I read (listened to) Black Roses (rose in title, rose on cover). Genre:
5 points - Historical Fiction
Author:
4 points - UK (author was born in Venezuela, currently lives in London, England)
Cover: (based on the edition you read)
1 point - if the author's name is across the top
Title:
3 points - is strictly two words only. We will count "a", "an", or "the" as words.
Pages:
3 points - 301-400 (exactly 400 pages. Oh well, the toppler had a different page split, so I got an extra 5 points there).
Bonus Points:
3 points - Audio Book Appreciation Month: Listen to your choice on Audiobook.
3 points - Quote a "pearl of wisdom".
Ch 27: "When you're trying to see the big picture, you need to look at the details."
Ch 50: "There is an old Jewish saying, 'All things grow with time, except grief'. "
Total points: 22
(Edited to delete 3 pts for incorrect guess re significance of countries)
Sam F wrote: "R - Rose is the flower for June. Read a book with the word "rose" in the title, or where one or more roses are on the cover."The cover has a profile which is not the back of the head. I was thinking more along the lines of
. Sorry, but minus 5 points. :(
R - Rose is the flower for June. Read a book with the word "rose" in the title, or where one or more roses are on the cover.I chose to read Arabella . There are roses on the hat on the cover.
Here's my scoring:
Genre: Historical Fiction - 5 points
Author: UK - 4 points
Cover: has one or more trees on it - 4 points
if the author's name is across the top - 1 point
Title: is strictly one word - 4 points
contains the name of a person - 1 point
Pages:
301 - 400 pages: 3 points (312 pages)
Bonus Points:
3 points - Celibacy Awareness Month: One of the characters is a priest. (The main character's father is a priest. He is present in the story.)
3 points - Quote a "pearl of wisdom" from your book. "...when a man has a quiverful of children he need to be [sharp]..." p. 37 I think the idea should apply to all parents :)
Total: 28 points
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Pearls on the Cover
Author:
2 points - USA
Pages: 422
4 points - 401-500
3 points - Audio Book Appreciation Month: Listen to your choice on Audiobook.
3 points - Quote a "pearl of wisdom" from your book.
(Not much wisdom in this book. It's a frantic search for happiness that is filled with mostly what not to do.)
“January, the Monday of months....”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned
Total 12
It looks more centralized to me, so no points for the cover. Sorry, Lori.
Janice wrote: "It looks more centralized to me, so no points for the cover. Sorry, Lori."I thought it was too low to count. Thanks!!
I read Esperanza Rising
for this challenge. There are two roses on the cover. The story is about a young girl and her mother and family servants immigrating to central California in the 1920s after the father is killed by bandits and their home is burned down.Genre: 0 points
Author: 2 points - USA
3 bonus points - (view spoiler)
Cover:
1 point - if the author's name is across the top
Title:
3 points - is strictly two words only
1 point - contains the name of a person
Pages:
2 points - 262
Bonus Points:
3 points - Quote a "pearl of wisdom" from your book.
"Do not ever be afraid to start over."
Total Points = 15
Cherie, considering I already submitted my guess for significance of countries, I looked at your spoiler. Of course you are right! Good one, Janice.
You can't pull anything past you, Cherie. I'm glad you got the bonus points. :)
TrudyAn wrote: "Cherie, considering I already submitted my guess for significance of countries, I looked at your spoiler. Of course you are right! Good one, Janice."Yikes! Somehow I completely missed your report. Sorry.
That was a pretty interesting try for the bonus, Trudy. Unfortunately, that wasn't the answer. You will need to deduct the 3 points. :(
Janice wrote: "That was a pretty interesting try for the bonus, Trudy. Unfortunately, that wasn't the answer. You will need to deduct the 3 points. :( "Corrected.
I read
for L LGBT character. About a butch lesbian growing up in the Azor islands in the late 50's and 60's.5 pts-historical fiction
2pts-277pages
2pts-american author
Total points-9pts
Delitealex - you get an additional 2 points for the author being American, so that makes 9 points total.
Janice wrote: "Delitealex - you get an additional 2 points for the author being American, so that makes 9 points total."Thanks I overlooked that one :)
June 2017 Challenge - Pearls of WisdomA - Global Beatles Day. The Beatles founded the record label, Apple Records. Read a book with the word "apple" in the title, or there are one or more apples on the cover.
I read The Apple Orchard
by Susan Wiggs.Points:
Genre:
Romance = 3
Author:
USA = 2
Cover: 0
Title: 0
Pages: (512)
501+ = 5
Bonus Points:
Dominic Rossi is a single father = 3
Father Tom makes several appearances = 3
Annelise and Mangus are in their 80's = 3
Total Points = 19
I read Watership Down for this challenge under the "experimental genre".Author - 4 pts, born in the UK
Author Bonus - I know, but I won't score
Title - 3 points, is two words
Pages - 4 points, 478 pgs
Bonus - 3 points, listened to audiobook
Bonus - 3 points Pearl of Wisdom, "“We do not take moonlight for granted. It is like snow, or like the dew on a July morning. It does not reveal but changes what it covers.” "
Overall total - 17 points
I read Ida B. . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World This is for letter A - there's an apple on the cover.
Points
Author is from the USA:
2 points - USA
for 3 bonus points (view spoiler)
Cover:
4 points - has one or more trees on it
Title:
1 point - contains the name of a person
(I thought it was a 2 word title from looking at the cover, but GR seems to include what I thought was a subtitle... seeing as you're being strict, I suppose I'll have to forgo points for the number of words... )
272 pages: 2 points - 201 - 300
Bonus Points:
3 points - A "pearl of wisdom" from Ida B. It's one of many, but I especially liked this one...
“There’s more than one way to tell each other things, and there’s more than one way to listen, too. And if you’ve never heard a tree telling you something, then I’d say you don’t really know how to listen just yet. But I’d be happy to give you a few pointers sometime.”
TOTAL: 12 points ( plus 3 if I get the bonus question right.)
I really enjoyed the read, so 12 / 15 is ok with me
I read The Wedding Pearls
. The title contains pearls plus the cover has pearls and a rose on it.Scoring:
Genre: Romance = 3 points
Author: USA = 2 points
Cover: N/A = 0 points
Title: N/A = 0 points
Pages: 337 = 3 points
Bonus: Audio = 3 points
Quote = 3 points
TOTAL: 14 points
QUOTE: "Sometimes family don't share a bloodline"
I did not like this book at all. The premise and the story had lots of potential that was not realized. The author used every southern US stereotype there was and it so dominated the book that the characters just came across as ridiculous instead of endearing. I stuck with it to finish the challenge, but I think I would have otherwise abandoned it. I remember why I rarely read romance books.
Annerlee wrote: "I read Ida B. . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World This is for letter A - there's an apple on the cover."Yes, you got the trick question, so 3 extra points. Re: the title. We don't count subtitles and that looks like a subtitle to me, so another 3 points. You've jumped from 12 to 18.
Amanda (Mandy) wrote: "I read The Wedding Pearls. The title contains pearls plus the cover has pearls and a rose on it:..."I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy your book more, Mandy. I really like that quote. It's so true.
E - National Dare Day. I dare you to read a book that is shelved as "experimental".I read Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.
Title:
4 points - is strictly one word only. We will count "a", "an", or "the" as words.
Pages:
2 points - 201 - 300
Bonus Points:
3 points - Audio Book Appreciation Month: Listen to your choice on Audiobook.
3 points - Quote a "pearl of wisdom" from your book.
“I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself.”
That quote resumed the book and can apply to so many steps of life for me.
Total: 12 points
Ariane wrote: "E - National Dare Day. I dare you to read a book that is shelved as "experimental"..."Good thing for the bonus points. They doubled your score.
So, I've just finished
One Bad Apple for an amazing 9 points1 - Mystery genre
2 - Author born in USA
4 - Has a tree on the cover
2 - 262 pages
= 9 points
Jenn wrote: "So, I've just finished One Bad Apple for an amazing 9 points"No bonus points? Not even a "pearl of wisdom" from the story?
I read The Rose Garden for R. It has rose in the title and roses on the cover.Genre: (must be shelved by others with a significant number on the book page)
5 points - Historical Fiction
3 points - Romance
Author: (either born in the country/region, or if not born there currently living there)
1 point - Canada
3 bonus points - if you recognize the significance of the countries selected. You must put your answer in a spoiler. (view spoiler)
Cover: (based on the edition you read)
-
Title:
-
Pages:
4 points - 401-500
Bonus Points:
3 points - Quote a "pearl of wisdom" from your book.
"Whatever time you have with somebody who loves you should be time enough"
“Life is always uncertain. We cannot let the fear of what might happen stop us living as we choose.”
“Knowing that the battle will not end the way he wishes does not make it any less worthwhile the fight.”
Total: 19 points
I read LaRose
Rose is the flower for June. The book title contains the word rose and there are roses on the cover.Scoring:
Author: 2 points - USA
Cover: 1 point - Author's name is across the top
Title:
4 points - Is strictly one word LaRose
1 point - The title is the name of a person
Pages: 3 points - 372 pages
Bonus:
3 points - The 3 main male characters are all fathers
3 points - Father Travis Wozinak is a significant character
3 points - Quote - "When a person speaks calmly and exudes peace, even a wolf may listen" Father Travis
TOTAL: 20 points
This was a compelling story about how grief can twist and destroy if not allowed to live. Highly Recommend.
Peggy, you nailed the authors' country bonus.Jayme, I have LaRose on my wishlist. It looks really interesting.
Jayme - I think you need to collect the point for a person's name in the title too. In the story summary, the little boy of the man who killed the neighbors son was named LaRose.
Cherie wrote: "Jayme - I think you need to collect the point for a person's name in the title too. In the story summary, the little boy of the man who killed the neighbors son was named LaRose."Cherie, you are so right. I don't know how I overlooked that. I think I was focused on having the "flower" rose in the title. Thanks :)
I've updated the tracker spreadsheet to include your amended total Jayme.
I read
.Scoring:
1 point for mystery
2 points for author born in US
4 points for tree on cover
3 points for length. Book is 306 pages.
Total: 10 points
Janice wrote: "Annerlee wrote: "I read Ida B. . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World . "Yes, you got the trick question, so 3 extra points. Re: the title. We don't count subtitles and that looks like a subtitle to me, so another 3 points. You've jumped from 12 to 18.
Yay. Thanks Janice!
I read Three Junes
for LGBT character theme.Genre:
0 pts
Author:
2 points - USA (currently lives in Massachusetts)
3 bonus points - (view spoiler)
Cover:
5 points - has the back of a head on it (woman in lower right bottom corner)
Title:
5 points - contains the word "June"
3 points - is strictly two words only.
0 points - contains the name of a person (Although June could be the name of a person - no one in the story was named "June". The June in the title depicts three different summers in the month of June.
Pages:
3 points - 301-400 (353 pages)
Bonus Points:
3 points - Father's Day: The main character is a father. (The MC in the first June story)
3 points - Baby Boomers Recognition Day: Main Character is over 50 years old. (In the first story and the last story).
3 points - Quote a "pearl of wisdom" from your book.
"Never talk yourself out of knowing you're in love," he says, "or into thinking that you are."
Total: 30 points
I definitely gained from reading this book!
Do you want me to remove my entry from message 23, Janice?
Note: I may have only convinced myself that the woman has her back turned away so that it is the back of her head. I am willing to take your call on this one, Janice. I have stared at the picture until I am almost blind. What say you?
I thought it was the back of her head when I first looked at it, too. I was going to listen to the book ( I can borrow the audio book from my library) but I'm reading Tinkers at the moment. Did you like it? I could still read it and beat you by 3 heh, heh.
You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
Books mentioned in this topic
Slaughterhouse-Five (other topics)Haunted (other topics)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass (other topics)
Ida B. . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World (other topics)
Three Junes (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Chuck Palahniuk (other topics)F. Scott Fitzgerald (other topics)
Franz Kafka (other topics)
Richard Adams (other topics)
Mary Balogh (other topics)
More...
As a reminder, the scoring criteria:
Genre: (must be shelved by others with a significant number on the book page)
5 points - Historical Fiction
4 points - Steam Punk
3 points - Romance
2 points - Horror
1 point - Mystery
Author: (either born in the country/region, or if not born there currently living there)
5 points - Australia
4 points - UK
3 points - The Netherlands
2 points - USA
1 point - Canada
3 bonus points - if you recognize the significance of the countries selected. You must put your answer in a spoiler.
Cover: (based on the edition you read)
5 points - has the back of a head on it
4 points - has one or more trees on it
3 points - has graphic lines as a predominant feature
2 points - is risqué
1 point - if the author's name is across the top
Title:
5 points - contains the word "June"
4 points - is strictly one word only. We will count "a", "an", or "the" as words.
3 points - is strictly two words only. We will count "a", "an", or "the" as words.
2 points - contains the name of a city, town, or country (i.e. Werewolf in London)
1 point - contains the name of a person (i.e. A Man Called Ove)
Pages:
5 points - 501+
4 points - 401-500
3 points - 301-400
2 points - 201 - 300
1 point - 175-200
Bonus Points:
3 points - Audio Book Appreciation Month: Listen to your choice on Audiobook.
3 points - Father's Day: The main character is a father.
3 points - Celibacy Awareness Month: One of the characters is a priest. Can't just be a mention, as in "I talked to the priest".
3 points - Baby Boomers Recognition Day: Main Character is over 50 years old.
3 points - Quote a "pearl of wisdom" from your book.