Spring Reading Challenge: April Prompts Discussion

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

Use this thread to talk about what you’re reading for March prompts or ask for recommendations.

For more information about the challenge see this thread: Spring Reading Challenge: Introduction & Tasks

APRIL

April Fool's Day
Although April Fools’ Day, also called All Fools’ Day, has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures, its exact origins remain a mystery. Some historians speculate that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes. These pranks included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as “poisson d’avril” (April fish), said to symbolize a young, easily caught fish and a gullible person.

1. Read a humorous book.
2. Read a book with a fish on the cover.
3. Read a book whose author's initials are found in APRIL FOOLS DAY.

Spring Sports: Baseball
In September 1845, a group of New York City men founded the New York Knickerbocker Baseball Club. One of them—volunteer firefighter and bank clerk Alexander Joy Cartwright—would codify a new set of rules that would form the basis for modern baseball, calling for a diamond-shaped infield, foul lines and the three-strike rule. He also abolished the dangerous practice of tagging runners by throwing balls at them.

1. Read a book written in OR set in the 1800s.
2. Read a book with a 3 in the page number.
3. Read a book off of one of these lists that feature sports:
⚾️ 30 Best Sports Books
⚾️ 25 Best Baseball Books
⚾️ Best Nonfiction Books about Sports

Earth Day
Earth Day is an annual event celebrated around the world on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First celebrated in 1970, it now includes events coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network in more than 193 countries. The day is observed worldwide with rallies, conferences, outdoor activities and service projects.

1. Read a book with a green cover OR with a plant on the cover.
2. Read a book in which the character travels through more than one country.
3. Read a cli-fi book.

April Birthdays: Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou was born as Marguerite Johnson on April 4th, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri and raised in St. Louis and Stamps, Arkansas. Maya Angelou became one of the most renowned and influential voices of our time. With over 50 honorary doctorate degrees Dr. Maya Angelou became a celebrated poet, memoirist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist.

1. Read a banned book.
2. Read a book by an author who has more than 30 published works.
3. Read a book featuring the Civil Rights movement.

[Bunny]

Does anyone have any suggestions for Cli-Fi books?

[Bunny]

I could also use some help with books with a fish on the cover. My library is closed until at least the end of April and usually I just browse until I find something.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Bunny wrote: "Does anyone have any suggestions for Cli-Fi books?"

Parable of the Sower
The Dispossessed
I think you could count the classic Dune

[Kathy]

Bunny wrote: "Does anyone have any suggestions for Cli-Fi books?"

Here's a Goodreads list.
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
I've read:
Life As We Knew It, an excellent YA book, as is Orleans by Sherri L. Smith.
Also read:
The Overstory, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2019. Rated 5 stars by me.
On my TBR: Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

[Bunny]

Thanks Robin and Kathy for the suggestions.

[Marie]

Bunny wrote: "I could also use some help with books with a fish on the cover. My library is closed until at least the end of April and usually I just browse until I find something."

My Read shelf is surprisingly lacking in fish covers, I only have these:



and this



though starfish might be a bit of a stretch?

[Roxana]

Bunny wrote: "I could also use some help with books with a fish on the cover. My library is closed until at least the end of April and usually I just browse until I find something."

https://blog.kristenburns.com/book-co... or https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3... might have some ideas you can use.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Jules Verne) - depends on the edition, but many with a cover illustration will probably have some fish floating around.

, , , and are also some options (I'm going to use Untamed Shore, since I ended up with a copy from the library I can't return for the foreseeable future!).

[Shelley]

For the prompt with fish I have two close but nos (a lobster and a dolphin)and then I have one with the statue of the Singaporean merlion. If I get around to this prompt that's probably what I'll use. It may imaginary but at least it is biologically a fish.