Dec 2019 Challenge - Archive Revive

[Janice, Moderator]

There are so many great books on our YLTO bookshelf that we decided it would be fun to do a site wide theme for the month of December. This month, the challenge will be done with partners (list is below).

In the preparation, you and your partner each selected a book from the YLTO Bookshelf.

It doesn't stop there, however. You and your partner are going to swap books. During the preparation, I selected The True Story of Hansel and Gretel and it now becomes my partner's book to work with. Your challenge is to take the title your partner selected and find a different book based on one of the criteria below:

Your book could be:
- Same title, but written by a different author.
- Same author, but a different title from his/her catalogue.
- Same word in the title found in another title. The word must be at least 4 letters long and must be an exact match (no plurals). Sub-titles are exempt and may not be used as criteria for this option.
- Same first or last name of author found in another author's name.
- Same feature on the cover. It could be the same colour if both are more than 75%. There could be similar elements like a tree, person, house, etc. The element must be clearly identifiable and easily visible.

If going for a feature on the cover, your partner's selection for you will be based on the most popular edition when doing a search. The book you chose to read for the challenge will be based on the edition you read.

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 December 1 – December 31, 2019 (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 (based on the edition you read)

Because this is a buddy effort, you and your buddy's scores will be added together. You and your partner may score separately in the report thread. The totals will be combined for you.

Cover

5 pts - Has a book(s) on it.
4 pts - Has a hat on it.
3 pts - Has snow on it.
2 pts - The title and author's name are in different coloured text.
1 pts - Has a Christmas tree on it.

Title

5 pts - Begins with the letter "D" for December.
4 pts - Has the word "Winter" or "Summer" on it. Nod out to the different hemispheres.
3 pts - Has a proper name of a person.
2 pts - Is one word. It must be exact and not preceded by an article like a, an, the, etc.
1 pts - Is positioned across the bottom of the cover.

Genre (must show on the main book page)

5 pts - Science Fiction
4 pts - Romance
3 pts - Historical Fiction
2 pts - Middle Grade
1 pt - Mystery

Pages:
5 pts - 500 +
4 pts - 400 - 499
3 pts - 300 - 399
2 pts - 200 - 299
1 pts - 175-199

Bonus points - 2 pts each

- If you have previously read the book selected for you by your buddy.
- If there is a hand(s) on the cover. (National Hand Washing Awareness Week).
- If there is a number (word or numeral) in the title. (Twelve Days of Christmas)
- If someone takes a bath. It must be a bath and not a shower. (Bathtub Party Day)
- If someone prays to a saint in the story. (St. Nicholas Day)

[Janice, Moderator]

Teams:

1.
Dawn: 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl
Katrisa: The Hunger Games

2.
Fiona: Pompeii
Rusalka: On Chesil Beach

3.
Dominique: Rebecca
Marie (Mazza 57): The Hate U Give

4.
Peggy: Mudbound
Beth: Something Wicked This Way Comes

5.
Janice: The True Story of Hansel and Gretel
Kristie: News of the World

6.
Lucy: Cloud Atlas
Saar : The Travelling Cat Chronicles

7.
Anna: Frankenstein
Almeta: Salt to the Sea

8.
Cherie: Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
Laura (Lclwags): Something Wicked This Way Comes

9.
TrudyAn: The Maid
Kaystone: The Shadow of the Wind

10.
Sarah: The Snow Child
Sandra: The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse

11.
Lisa: The Miniaturist
Lanelle: Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters

12.
Tasha: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Jannene: Empire of the Summer Moon

13.
Anne: The Bees
Margo: Bird Box

14:
Vicki: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
Carrie: A Study in Charlotte

15:
Jayme: My Cousin Rachel
Amanda (Lily): The Night Sister

16:
Annerlee: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Jenn: The Girl in Red

[Peggy]

Fun!!

Hi Beth! I hope you can find something related to the book I picked.

I gophered for a bit and had a hard time coming up with something related to the author name or words in the title, at least within the books I own. I'm also not interested in reading something else by this author. I did find several books with mostly black covers, so I might go with one of those. I have to check if they are 75% black though.

Can anyone tell me what the main feature on the cover of Something Wicked This Way Comes is? Is it a horse?

My options so far:
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
In the Time of the Butterflies
The Rook

[Janice, Moderator]

Yes, it's a horse, Peggy.

[Janice, Moderator]

I've got Kristie as a partner! I almost picked News of the World as my choice. It would have been funny if we'd both had that book to gopher for.

I did a bit of gophering and I think I'll go with Alice Hoffman's new book, The World That We Knew, matching the word "world" in the title.

[Jayme, Moderator]

What a great challenge to wrap up the year, Janice!

Hi Amanda! I hope you like the book I picked. Yours is great The Night Sister and I already have a few ideas:

Same author different title/book: The Winter People
Same word in title (sister): Scarlet Sister Mary
Same name as author (Jennifer): Heat & Light or Manhattan Beach

[Canadian Dragon]

Jannene I get you as a partner. I did some gophering and found a book I recently just bought at the library. I am connecting your book with a male on the cover to Clockwork Angel. It also has a black and white background

[Janice, Moderator]

Tasha☺ wrote: "Jannene I get you as a partner. I did some gophering and found a book I recently just bought at the library. I am connecting your book with a male on the cover to [book:Clockwork Angel; Clockwork P..."

Are you reading the entire omnibus for the trilogy? Ambitious if you are! I read the first book and have the other two.

[Peggy]

Janice wrote: "Yes, it's a horse, Peggy."

Thanks!

Grmbl.. I just realized that although the cover looks very black, it's only about 65% black according to tineye. So back to gophering!

[Canadian Dragon]

Janice wrote: "Tasha☺ wrote: "Jannene I get you as a partner. I did some gophering and found a book I recently just bought at the library. I am connecting your book with a male on the cover to [book:Clockwork Ang..."

nope lol just the first book

[Canadian Dragon]

Janice wrote: "Tasha☺ wrote: "Jannene I get you as a partner. I did some gophering and found a book I recently just bought at the library. I am connecting your book with a male on the cover to [book:Clockwork Ang..."

DId you enjoy the first book?

[Lucy]

Hi Saar, looking forward to partnering up! I have a family reunion this weekend for my Grandfather's 80th birthday, so I will probably have to wait to Sunday night or Monday to gopher for your book.

[Janice, Moderator]

Tasha☺ wrote: "Janice wrote: "Tasha☺ wrote: "Jannene I get you as a partner. I did some gophering and found a book I recently just bought at the library. I am connecting your book with a male on the cover to [boo..."

Yes, I did enjoy it. I'm going to have to read it again before I move on to the next two books to refresh my memory. I had planned on reading them for my movie mania challenge but time is running out for that one. Maybe I can fit them in to the 2020 challenge.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Funny, Janice! I almost chose the same book you did too because it’s on my list of BOMs I still want to read. Lol I’ll do some gophering and come back. :)

[Kristie, Moderator]

Janice, your author has a diverse bookshelf. She has written a cookbook, a gardening journal, and an adult coloring book.

[Vicki]

I'm partnered with Carrie, I have A Study in Charlotte to work with.

Gophered up:
The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor: The First Woman Settler of the Miramichi
The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
A Study in Silks

Leaning towards A Study in Silks but December is a long ways away yet.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Great challenge, Janice!

Hi, Sarah!

I haven't decided anything yet, but the first idea that comes to mind is that I wanted to read Pax to my kids, and it has a fox in the cover like The Snow Child (Sarah's pick). But we'll see, I still didn't check other books by this author or anything, so I must get carried away but something else. I'll do some gophering this afternoon.

ETA: Ok, I couldn't wait until later, so here are my options:

To The Bright Edge of the World -> by the same author, and in my TBR since it was published.

Boy, Snow, Bird -> same word in the title. I was planing to read it for the MM challenge, but if I decided I won't make it to the next badge I might just read it for this challenge.

Pax-> fox in the cover. I was planning to read it to my kids at some point this winter, so I might do it earlier than later.

I got a couple more that would fit, but my library doesn't hold them. A third one that was too short, and a fourth one I don't feel in the mood for right now. I like my three options, though.

[Dawn]

Hi Katrisa,
Hope you like your book.
So far, I am thinking either Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body or The Confessions of Frannie Langton

[Dominique]

I have Marie (Mazza 57) as my partner.
She chose The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, I read it and loved it.

I can read her lates book

On the Come Up

Books that have same word in title
Give Me Your Hand
I'll Give You the Sun
Give Me the Child

First or last same name
Little Monsters by Kara Thomas
Cursed by Thomas Wheeler

[Sarah]

Hi Sandra, my buddy!

Great choices you've found. I'll have a gopher later for my options.

[Peggy]

Dominique, I don't think you can read the book that was chosen for you. All your other options sound good though!

[Sarah]

Tricky, very tricky. I found 1 books with the same word in the title (The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse):
Little Star

There are candles on the cover but none of the books I own has. I have no authors names Louise or Erdrich in my TBR. I have many of the author's books in my wishlist but I don't own any. The cover is predominantly blue and that provides the following options:
Consider Phlebas
The Calculating Stars
Whispers Underground
Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs
Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine

[Anna]

Great challenge!

Almeta choose Salt to the Sea, and I'm going to read La Belle Sauvage as the covers are quite similar.



@ Almeta, I'm curious what will be your pick.

[Dominique]

Peggy wrote: "Dominique, I don't think you can read the book that was chosen for you. All your other options sound good though!"

Oops I misread the first rule. Thanks!

[Janice, Moderator]

Sarah wrote: "I have no aythors names Louisa or Erdrich in my TBR. "

Is that a typo? You're looking for Louise as an author, not Louisa.

[Janice, Moderator]

Kristie, that's interesting about Louise Murphy. It's also interesting that they list a colouring book in her work.

I keep finding other books that will fit the book you gave me and I may end up changing my selection.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I found a lot of books with "true" or "story" in the subtitle! Fortunately, my TBR is obnoxiously long so I have plenty in the main title too. :)

My options -

author name:
Still Life by Louise Penny - Louise
Dumplin' by Julie Murphy - Murphy

word:
(true)
My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories
The Things We Wish Were True
True Fiction
True Places
Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment
(story)
The Hypnotist's Love Story
The Story of Beautiful Girl
Someone Else's Love Story
My Story

I know I have access to most of these titles, but I'll check my library for the others before narrowing it down and making my final decision.

[Margo]

What a great challenge Janice!

I'm partnered with Anne hwo chose . It's a great book but, strangely I couldn't find any authors who share the either name with Laline Paull 😂

I have managed to find 4 books so far that fit the challenge;



Hope you are finding some good books Anne 😊

[Sarah]

Janice wrote: "Sarah wrote: "I have no aythors names Louisa or Erdrich in my TBR. "

Is that a typo? You're looking for Louise as an author, not Louisa."

It was a typo. I think I searched my tbr for Louise. Will check though.

[Trudy]

I’m partnered with Kaystone, who chose The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón.

My options so far:

Word
In the Shadow of the Banyan
In the Shadow of Wolves

Cover
(street lamp)
(street lamp)
(man wearing hat, from the back)
(man wearing hat, from the back)

[Sarah]

@TrudyAn - there is a listopia list of books with street lamps on the cover if you're interested. I stumbled across it earlier when i was checking out lists of books with candles on the cover.

[Trudy]

Sarah wrote: "@TrudyAn - there is a listopia list of books with street lamps on the cover if you're interested. I stumbled across it earlier when i was checking out lists of books with candles on the cover."

Thanks, Sarah! I’ll check it out.

[Katrisa]

Dawn wrote: "Hi Katrisa,
Hope you like your book.
So far, I am thinking either Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body or The Confessions of Frannie Langton"

Hi Dawn! I wish that I could just read the actual book! Bunny was one of my favorite books this year and I have wanted to read 13 ways.

[Almeta]

Anna wrote: "Great challenge!

...@ Almeta, I'm curious what will be your pick..."

**grin** I'm curious also!☺

These are my chosen possibilities for Frankenstein:

Dean Koontz's Frankenstein, Volume 1: Prodigal Son too short
naked man on the cover 🌴The Back Passage 199 pages
author's name Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Mathilda & Other Stories by Mary Shelley
Valperga by Mary Shelley
The Last Man by Mary Shelley
Lodore & Falkner; A Novel by Mary Shelley
Shelley: Poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley
The Cenci by Percy Bysshe Shelley
☊☊Findings by Mary Anna Evans 265 pages
☊A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell 430 pages
☊Doc by Mary Doria Russell 394 pages
The Swimming Pool by Mary Roberts Rinehart locked room
Just Desserts by Mary Daheim
☊The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart 527 pages

I'm going to speculate on possible points before I decide.

[Katrisa]

Dawn wrote: "Hi Katrisa,
Hope you like your book.
So far, I am thinking either Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body or The Confessions of Frannie Langton"

Also, I thought Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body was really good :)

[Jannene]

Tasha☺ wrote: "Jannene I get you as a partner. I did some gophering and found a book I recently just bought at the library. I am connecting your book with a male on the cover to Clockwork Angel. It..."

That was a good book!

[Jannene]

I was out all day doing Thanksgiving. I really wanted to leave to check this challenge out.

So, Tasha picked A Court of Thorns and Roses. I have a few outstanding books by that author but Dom and I have it on our list for next year.

I looked up the words “court”, “thorn/s” and “rose/s”. This has some possibilities.

A Dozen Deadly Roses (has been on my tbr since 2011)

Author sharing same first name “Sarah”.
A Matter of Blood by Sarah Pinborough

I tried finding another side view of a woman (the same as on this cover and was having a little difficulty).

I may finally read the 2011 book.

[Sandra, Moderator]

@Sarah, maybe "fire" on the cover might also work? would that be stretching the idea too much?

[Amanda]

Jayme wrote: "What a great challenge to wrap up the year, Janice!

Hi Amanda! I hope you like the book I picked. Yours is great The Night Sister and I already have a few ideas:

Same author diffe..."

Hi Jayme! I read Rebecca last year, and it would be interesting to read another book by Daphne du Maurier.

Jayme's book: My Cousin Rachel

Gophering:
- Same title, different author.
- Same author, but a different title. Jamaica Inn, The House on the Strand
- Same word in the title found in another title. The word must be at least 4 letters long and must be an exact match (no plurals). Reinventing Rachel, Dear Rachel Maddow, Rachel
- Same first or last name of author found in another author's name. Farmacology: What Innovative Family Farming Can Teach Us About Health and Healing, Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Story
- Same feature on the cover. Feature is a woman with an umbrella. The Typewriter Girl, Maisie Dobbs

[Dawn]

Katrisa wrote: "Dawn wrote: "Hi Katrisa,
Hope you like your book.
So far, I am thinking either Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body or The Confessions of Frannie Langton"

Hi Dawn! I wish..."

Bunny was so clever and fun! I listened to it as an audiobook, and I can't get them saying "Bunny!" out of my head. :D

[Sarah]

Sandra wrote: "@Sarah, maybe "fire" on the cover might also work? would that be stretching the idea too much?"

Fire doesn't really jump out for me on that cover. The blue cover will work though.

[Almeta]

Amanda wrote: "...- Same feature on the cover. Feature is a woman with an umbrella. ....."

Have you read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet?

[Sarah]

I've updated my post with all my options now. I've thrown a few non fiction books in thee but I think for the festive season, I'll probably go for one of the fiction books, probably It also is the better match, cover wise me thinks.

[Fiona]

Great challenge, Janice!


Hi Rusalka :)
I will read Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery. Finally found the perfect excuse to read a summer book in winter, plus: Points for Summer!!
I hope my book choice leads you to a nice book :D

[Peggy]

I was getting worried, even browsing through freebies to find something but nothing jumped out. And I much prefer to get something off my tbr!

Then I realized I could match the horse on the cover with The Rithmatist. I was waiting to read it until the series is almost finished, but who knows when that might happen... and I feel in the mood for some Sanderson!

[Jayme, Moderator]

Amanda wrote: "Jayme wrote: "What a great challenge to wrap up the year, Janice!

Hi Amanda! I hope you like the book I picked. Yours is great The Night Sister and I already have a few ideas:

Sam..."

Hey Amanda, if you haven't read Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier I read it last year and it is really good!!

I decided to go with The Winter People since it's available at my library and has the word "winter" in it. Happy gophering!!

[Jayme, Moderator]

Hey Janice - For the "has a Christmas tree on the cover" does it have to be a decorated tree or can it be a Pine tree pre-decorations- like still in the woods waiting to be chopped down! hahaha

[Janice, Moderator]

Peggy wrote: "I was getting worried, even browsing through freebies to find something but nothing jumped out. And I much prefer to get something off my tbr!

Then I realized I could match the horse on the cover ..."

I gave the Rithmatist 5 stars. I thought the magic system was unique.

[Janice, Moderator]

Jayme wrote: "Hey Janice - For the "has a Christmas tree on the cover" does it have to be a decorated tree or can it be a Pine tree pre-decorations- like still in the woods waiting to be chopped down! hahaha"

A tree may have the potential to be a Christmas tree, waiting in the forest to be claimed. But it doesn't become a Christmas tree until it's decorated.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Sarah wrote: "I've updated my post with all my options now. I've thrown a few non fiction books in thee but I think for the festive season, I'll probably go for one of the fiction books, probably [bookcover:The ..."

Glad you found something, Sarah. :)