June 2018 Challenge - June Jitter Bug

[Janice, Moderator]

June 2018 Challenge – June Jitter Bug


I thought of some words that are associated with the month of June. Now you get to play association with the words below.

Solstice
Wedding
Summer
Father (Day)

1. Pick one or more of the words above.
2. Write down all the words that you associate with it. For example, “solstice” may make you think of pagan, fairies, England, etc.
3. Once you are satisfied that you have all the words, type them into the fruit machine and let it pick one final word.
4. Find a book that you associate with that word. Maybe “England” was the result. You could read a book set in England, had “England” in the title, the author is from England, or something else entirely.

NOTE: You must be able to explain your process and the reason for your book choice.

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 Challenge.
4. The book must be read between June 1 – June 30, 2018 (based on your local time zone).
5. The challenge is for one book. You may read more books if you chose.
6. The book must be 175 pages or more determined by the issue you read. If reading an audiobook or ebook, page numbers will be determined by the hardcover issue. If there is no hardcover, then paperback issue. Where there are more than one editions, the one with the highest number of ratings will be used.

Scoring:

Title: - sub-titles are not included
5 pts – Contains the word (or number) “Six” in it. (for the 6th month of the year)
4 pts – Is exactly six words (includes a, the, an)
3 pts – Has the name of a country or city in it.
2 pts – Has a word that begins with the letter J, U, N, or E in it (only count once).
1 pts – Has a sub-title or series title.

Cover: (based on the edition you read)
5 pts – Has someone with flowers in her hair.
4 pts – Has a bouquet of flowers on it.
3 pts – Has one dog or cat on it.
2 pts – Has a seal depicting a prize nominee or winner (ie Newberry Prize).
1 pts – Has the title across the bottom.

Author:
5 pts – The author’s last name begins with the letter J, U, N, E. In the case of the author having two last names, go with the first listed. In the case of more than one author it applies to either author. Does not apply to a book with more than two authors.
4 pts – Was born in or resides in South America
3 pts – Writes LGBT fiction/non-fiction (in honour of Gay Pride month)
2 pts – First published in the 1900’s (1900 – 1999)
1 pts – Is/was an Indy Author (self published)

Genre: - must be listed on the book’s main page
5 pts – Non-Fiction
4 pts – Dystopia
3 pts – Fantasy
2 pts – Paranormal
1 pts – Romance

Bonus Points:
Father’s Day: Did someone become a father in the story? Take 3 points

Audiobook Appreciation Month: If you listened to the audiobook, take 3 points

Dairy Month (shout out to Travis): If there are cows or goats mentioned in the story, take 3 points.

Clark Kent’s Birthday (Superman): If someone celebrates a birthday, take 3 points.

A reporting thread will be set up to report the book you’ve read, and the score you obtained. Happy reading.

[Janice, Moderator]

I'm posting June's challenge early because I leave early Wednesday morning and will be away for a week. This way, you'll have a couple of days to ask questions. I'll be back on the 30th.

[Peggy]

Nice challenge Janice! I'm sitting outside in the sun while reading this, and it's a very summery day, so I'm going to focus on summer as my word.

[Almeta]

Love this idea.

I've compiled my associated words for Solstice. Anxious to get my word and go Gophering!

[Sarah]

Sounds fun. I'll have to sit down and brainstorm to see what I can come up with. June is a busy month for me but I should be able to fit something in. Maybe.

[Almeta]

Fruit Machine sorted "midwinter" to the top.

I think I'm in trouble! Off to gopher.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Oh, I like this. Thinking of words.

[Lanelle]

June is the hottest month here in Arizona, so I went with 'summer'.

And the Fruit Machine sorted 'monsoon'. Like Almeta, I think I'm in trouble. (Is the Fruit Machine rigged to choose the hardest word?) I'm off to look through my books.

[Peggy]

I also came up with some words I hoped I wouldn't get, but the fruit machine gave me 'sun', which should be doable.

For midwinter, I think of books set during winter, or with snow on the cover. For monsoon, rain on the cover.

[Janice, Moderator]

Almeta wrote: "Fruit Machine sorted "midwinter" to the top.

I think I'm in trouble! Off to gopher."

You have Midwinter of the Spirit on your wishlist. That's another series I need to get back to.

[Lanelle]

Peggy wrote: " For monsoon, rain on the cover."

Or in the title. Thanks, Peggy.

Edited to add: I found a library ebook that I think will fit quite well. It is The Scent of Rain and Lightning. I love the smell of the desert after a summer storm.

[Janice, Moderator]

You don't need to restrict yourself to one word. I did say "one or more" of the words. You could approach it several ways - pick one, two, three, or four of the words and do several runs through the fruit machine (one time per word), or you could put in ALL the associated words into the fruit machine at one go.

I chose to make a list for each word, then ran each separate list through the fruit machine. This is what I have to work with:

Solstice - RITUAL
Wedding - RINGS
Summer - FLOWERS
Father - CHARLES

I could put those 4 into the fruit machine and let it decide, or I could gopher for all 4 for the best option. I think I'm going to gopher for all 4.

Have fun with it. Play.

[Janice, Moderator]

Hmmmm - Charles is my father's name. He was named for his uncle who was killed in action during WWI. I could read a book about WWI.

That's an example of how you can associate your words to a book.

[Peggy]

Thanks for the clarification Janice. It was clear to me that I could come up with associations for more than one of the 4 words (but summer was so easy and I had 10 associations in less than a minute, so I figured I would be fine with that), but I thought you had to put them in the fruit machine all at once and work with that one word.

I like the way you go about it, with a word to gopher with for each of the 4 June-words. Maybe I'll try the other 3 words as well.

[Heather]

I choose summer. I put in all my words for my summer time activities and the Fruit Machine gave me 'lake'. Just had a thought -- I love corn-on-the-cob in the summer time --- what if the machine had chosen corn on the cob --- lol

[Lisa]

Cool challenge, Janice!

[Margo]

Ooh, this is great! I love making lists 😀

[Almeta]

Janice wrote: "...You have Midwinter of the Spirit on your wishlist. That's another series I need to get back to. ..."

Me too. Very fond of Merrily.

Debra loved this series and is disappointed in me for not plunging through the list! (13 more to go.)

Fear of commitment, maybe?

[Margo]

Okay, I did some word assosiation , plugged the answers into the fruit machine and the word that came back was STONES.

I will have a rummage in my tbr and see what emerges 😉

[siriusedward]

Thanks Janice.Awesome challenge.

So, I got these after Fruit machine..

Solstice - Ireland
Summer - Sea
Father - Travel
Wedding - Pearl.

[siriusedward]

Margo wrote: "Ooh, this is great! I love making lists 😀"

Me too!
Love list making..☺

[Katrisa]

I ended up with summer, party and freedom (I didn't do father because I'm not sure I want to do a word association with that one, lol!)
a-gophering I go!

[Claire]

My result was sunglasses, party and sea after I put a lot of associations together in the wheel. Now off to find books.

[Pragya]

Wedding - Marriage

Possible choices
2 States: The Story of My Marriage
Do you Know Any Good Boys?: A Woman's Guide to the Arranged Marriage
Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen: How One Girl Risked Her Marriage, Her Job, and Her Sanity to Master the Art of Living

[siriusedward]

I read 2 states..it was okay...

[Cherie]

I engaged the help of a co-worker to be my fruit machine.
Solstice = Druids
Wedding = Dancing
Summer = Raspberries
Father = Grandma

Of these four words, the first word picked was Raspberries and the second was Dancing.

I need to go back to last years yearly thread discussions. I know there were a lot of book titles and covers discussed for raspberries as a favorite fruit.
I definitely have a title on my TBR for dancing. Dancing on Broken Glass

edited back after gophering for raspberries books. Thanks to Sam, Tammy, Marcus and Joan and the book suggestions for the 2017 challenge I have Astrid and Veronika to read.

[Saar The Book owl]

I've gone for 'Solstice' and did a bit of search. I've got:
- illumination
- cult
- buddhist (never thought of that)
- pagan
- England
- holly
- winter
- summer
- symbolism
- ritual

I've put it in the Fruit Machine and got 'England'.

[Saar The Book owl]

Can I change the word that I've chosen? I've found nothing...

[Peggy]

I don't know if you can change Saar, but no English authors or books set in England for example?

[Kristie, Moderator]

My understanding is you could choose words for wedding, summer, or father. You just can’t spin for solstice again.

[Almeta]

Saar wrote: "Can I change the word that I've chosen? I've found nothing..."

I'm fairly certain that you can make associations for all four words.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Peggy wrote: "I don't know if you can change Saar, but no English authors or books set in England for example?"

This is the route I would go.

[[deleted user]]

Two of my friends recently got engaged and so I went with "wedding" and the fruit machine picked out "family". I am hoping that one of the books I reads in June will have a strong family theme.

[Vicki]

I picked Summer because I am just so happy it's summer now. My word is Thunderstorms. We just did storms but it's way better than some of the other possible words I was putting in!
I've tentatively picked a book I own with a stormy cover

[Pragya]

siriusedward wrote: "I read 2 states..it was okay..."

Hmm it has been on my TBR for a while now. I either need to read it or drop it. Thanks for letting me know how you felt, it helps.

[Saar The Book owl]

Peggy wrote: "I don't know if you can change Saar, but no English authors or books set in England for example?"

Yes, a couple, but I was looking for books that could get more points.
No worries, I'll gopher further and stick with 'solstice'.

[Saar The Book owl]

Almeta wrote: "Saar wrote: "Can I change the word that I've chosen? I've found nothing..."

I'm fairly certain that you can make associations for all four words."

I've found a lot of associations, it's just finding the right books for the points.

[Janice, Moderator]

Saar wrote: "Can I change the word that I've chosen? I've found nothing..."

You can do word associations on all 4 words. You can put 4 sets of words into the randomizer and get 4 selections. Or you can combine all word associations for the 4 words into the fruit machine at once and get one word. Once the fruit machine has spoken, you are committed. I would recommend that you do 4 sets of words which will give you more to play with.

[Beth]

Fun challenge. Will have to sit down later and associate. I'm getting far enough along in the yearly challenge that I'm starting to want to read books I can't put anywhere. Monthly challenges like this one are bound to help!!

[Kristie, Moderator]

I haven't even gotten my words to associate yet! I've been so focused on the toppler and some books that I need to review and I want to make some movement on my yearly challenge too. I've been looking at what audiobooks I can listen to while on an upcoming road trip that might fit the zodiac. This is next though! I was happy to complete this month's flower challenge just on time and I'm sure I'll be able to do the same with this one. :) June is feeling a bit crazy and it hasn't even started yet!

[Janice, Moderator]

Kristie wrote: "June is feeling a bit crazy and it hasn't even started yet! ."

I can relate to that so much. I don't have my June work schedule done yet. Nor do I have my June reading plan, June Challenge, or toppler gophering done yet. I'm undecided about the group read. I thought I'd have the weekend to sort it all out, and then realized the toppler starts on Saturday. Help!

[Sarah]

I've got my associated words but I haven't let the fruit machine choose yet let alone choose a book. I wrote in my reading plan thread that I wasn't going to set myself any books to read in June, just go with the flow and read what I fancy. So I think I'll skip the challenge this month. I'm with you Kristie - June is feeling a bit crazy.

[Cherie]

I requested my book from my library. I will be reading for my word "raspberies".

[Margo]

I just got a message from the library that my choice for this challenge is in - Stonehenge

[Jannene]

I picked Summer and one of the words I associated was rose which was picked by the fruit machine. So, I am gophering for a rose. :)

[Peggy]

I decided to stick with my one word/association. I picked summer and the word picked by the fruit machine was 'sun'.

I'll read , which to me looks like the cover depicts a sunset (or possibly sunrise). I haven't read anything by this author in a while and I don't have this book for the yearly challenge, so perfect for the monthly challenge. I do wonder though why I always seem to pick 400+ page challenge books when there are no points for number of pages ;-)

[Janice, Moderator]

Peggy wrote: "I decided to stick with my one word/association. I picked summer and the word picked by the fruit machine was 'sun'.

I'll read , which to me looks like the..."

I'll include page numbers next time, Peggy. The way it works out, you'll probably end up with a short book.

I keep wanting to read one of her books and yet they always elude me for some reason.

[Peggy]

No worries Janice, I didn't mean it like that. It's nice that the criteria always change a bit. I rarely read 400+ page books for the monthly challenge, but I remembered last time I did there were also no page points.

I will get the points for flowers in hair, which is pretty cool!

[Janice, Moderator]

Peggy wrote: "No worries Janice, I didn't mean it like that. It's nice that the criteria always change a bit. I rarely read 400+ page books for the monthly challenge, but I remembered last time I did there were ..."

LOL! No worries. I understood what you meant. It's rather a "Murphy's Law" situation.

We give and we take away. :)

[Robin]

I'm doing it. I jotted down words for summer and wedding this morning before we left for church. This afternoon I had 3 words, 2 for wedding because my niece wanted to hit the fruit machine thingy, haha. My words were: sun (for summer), bride, and church (for wedding). I'm pretty sure I'm going for "sun". I'm currently downloading audio book called "The Sun is Also a Star".