The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
FALL CHALLENGE 2020
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50 Point Task Idea Submissions
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TraceyL50.1 - What Am I Missing?
When it comes to reading challenges, tasks usually list a specific thing (genre, setting, word) and players have to seek out a book that includes that specific thing. This time, I'd like to turn it around and have players seek out books that are missing something.
This is a 3 book task. The page count of all books added together must be 750 pages or more. No books with the genres children or kids on the main book page may be used. Books whose main page lists any of these genres: Sequential Art, Comics, Comic Book, or Manga may not be used.
Book 1: Wikipedia has a list of the 100 most used words in the English language which can be found here. Read a book that does NOT include any word on that list in the title. Subtitles should be ignored. Plurals and possessives also cannot be used.
Book 2: Read a book by an author who has NOT written any other books according to Goodreads. If different editions or languages of the same book are listed separately, they are allowed.
Examples:
Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed
A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio (2 editions of the same book)
Book 3: Read a book with NO people or animals on the cover. No body parts, silhouettes, footprints or anything else that would suggest the presence of a person or an animal. Clothing that is not being worn is allowed.
50.1 I Dissent I think we can all agree that 2020 has kicked some butt. It feels like every time we get our balance back, we get kicked again. On September 18, 2020, we lost a trailblazer for gender equality and women's rights, someone I consider a personal hero, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Justice Ginsburg was known for for inspiring a variety of awesome memes, for her Supreme Court opinions and her even more influential dissents, she also led an incredible life. Born in 1933 in Brooklyn, RBG graduated first of her class at Cornell University in 1954, the same year she married the love of her life, Martin "Marty" Ginsburg. With a toddler at home, RBG joined Marty at Harvard Law School as one of only eight women in her class. When Marty contracted cancer in 1956, RBG juggled law school, a child, and a sick spouse whose classes she attended as well as hers, in order to take notes for him. Justice Ginsburg transferred to Columbia when Marty got a job in New York, and she graduated first in her class in 1959. Over the next twenty years, RBG taught at Rutgers and Columbia and served as the director of the Women's Rights Project of the ACLU, arguing six landmark cases on gender equality in front of the United States Supreme Court. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Justice Ginsburg to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed her as the second female Justice (after Sandra Day O'Connor) to the Supreme Court of the United States of America, where she wrote a series of landmark decisions and even more well-known dissents.
Justice Ginsburg was a giant among the other justices, despite her 5'1" frame, and despite recurring bouts of cancer, she worked until just a few days before her death on September 18, 2020. She was 87 years old.
In her honor, pick one book from option "Life", one book from option "Law," and one book from option "Legacy."
This is a 3 book task. The page count of all books added together must be 750 pages or more. No books with the genres children or kids on the main book page may be used. Books whose main page lists any of these genres: Sequential Art, Comics, Comic Book, or Manga may not be used.
Life:
Option 1 - Love: “In every good marriage,” she counseled, “it helps sometimes to be a little deaf.” In honor of RBG's 56-year marriage, read a book with the MPG romance. Genre may be standalone or embedded.
Option 2 - Friendship: Over her time in the Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg developed an incredible friendship with Justice Antonin Scalia, who was her complete opposite in terms of constitutional interpretation. Their relationship even inspired an opera (a passion they both shared), "Scalia/Ginsburg."
Read a book with the MPG "music" (standalone or embedded) or in which the main character is a musician, dancer or singer. Profession must be evident in the summary, or you must explain how your book fits the task.
i.e. It's a Long Story: My Life (author is musician), Just for Kicks (heroine is a dancer/showgirl).
Law
"People ask me sometimes, when—when do you think it will it be enough? When will there be enough women on the court? And my answer is when there are nine."
Option 1: In honor of Justice Ginsburg's sixty year legal career, read any book with the MPG "law." Fiction or non-fiction. Genre may be standalone or embedded. This list may help get you started Book shelved as "law"
i.e. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
Option 2: Justice Ginsberg served twenty-seven years on the Supreme Court, working up until her death. Read a biography or autobiography of a Supreme Court justice or famous lawyer.
i.e. Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World, My Own Words, Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America (main character is legal giant Thurgood Marshall).
Legacy:
"Women belong in all places where decisions are being made."
Option 1: In honor of Justice Ginsburg's relentless pursuit for gender equality, please read a book with the MPG "women's rights," "women's studies," *feminism," or "gender studies." The genre can be standalone or embedded.
i.e. The Testaments (MPG "feminism"), Everyday Sexism (MPG Gender > Gender Studies)
Option 2:
Justice Ginsburg became known for her dissents, especially her dissent in the 2000 case Bush v. Gore. Read a book on a topic you feel strongly about. Identify the topic when you post and how your book relates to it.
i.e. Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth - I feel strongly about politics, especially in the aftermath of Justice Ginsburg's death and the upcoming election
i.e. The Poisonwood Bible - I'm passionate about the situation in the Congo and this is set in 1960s Congo and the coup that led to Mobutu's three-decade dictatorship.
MEGSCL50.1: Scattegories
This task is based on the game Scattergories, where you have to come up with a word for each of a set of categories that all start with the same letter.
To play, first you choose a letter (or pick one at random for an extra challenge). Then choose any three of the categories below. Find a book with a word starting with your letter that fits the category in its title or subtitle. Plurals and possessive variations allowed. The word can be anywhere in the title or subtitle and can be of any length.
CATEGORIES:
A first name
A place (city, state, country)
An animal
Food or drink
A job/occupation
A colour
A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES
LETTER A
A first name - Anna and the French Kiss
A job/occupation - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
An animal - Ape House
LETTER C
A place (city, state, country) - China Rich Girlfriend
Food or drink - Like Water for Chocolate
A colour - The House in the Cerulean Sea
JEN B50.1: Virtual Olympics
The 2020 Olympics were supposed to be held in Tokyo, Japan. Unfortunately, they were postponed when the pandemic got in the way. In honor of this biannual celebration that brings the world together, let's participate in a virtual Olympics. This is a 3 book task. Your three books must total at least 750 pages.
Book 1: The Olympic Rings
The five Olympic rings are meant to represent the 5 areas of the world that participate in the games (Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania, and the Americas). The five colors of these rings are, in order, Blue, Yellow, Black, Green, and Red.
Spin the Picker Wheel to find the area you'll represent at the virtual Olympics.
Then, spin again to find your Olympic Color.
Read a book set at least 50% in that area of the world, with a cover that is mostly that color.
Example: If I spun Africa and Green, I could read Hum If You Don’t Know the Words (Set in South Africa, Green cover)
Book 2: The Olympic Sports - Between the summer and winter games, athletes compete in over 60 different sports categories. Choose one of these sports and then compete by reading a book whose title contains a word that can be made from the letters of that sport.
Examples: The Human Stain (sport: Gymnastics, word: stain)
The Line of Beauty (sport: Trampoline, word: line)
Choke (sport: Ice Hockey, word: choke)
Book 3: The Host Countries - Though over 200 countries usually participate in each Olympic Games, only 19 countries have hosted the modern games.
Read a book that is set at least 50% in a country that has hosted the Olympics, AND that was first published in an Olympic year (2020 included). The book does not have to be published in the same year the games were held in the host country you chose.
Examples: The Book of Lost Names (set in France, published 2020)
Kafka on the Shore(set in Japan, published in 2002)
The Cellist of Sarajevo (set in former Yugoslavia, published in 2008)
The Seasonal Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
The Cellist of Sarajevo (other topics)Hum If You Don't Know the Words (other topics)
The Human Stain (other topics)
The Line of Beauty (other topics)
Choke (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Jennie Melamed (other topics)Colin Jost (other topics)
M.L. Rio (other topics)
The 50 point task will require:
1. Only 3 options.
2. One book per option.
3. Three books totaling at least 750 pages. Your task idea may require a higher page threshold but this must be disclosed in your entry.
4. No books with the genres children or kids on the main book page may be used.
5. Books whose main page lists any of these genres: Sequential Art, Comics, Comic Book, or Manga may not be used.
6. No “free choice” options will be allowed. This is a challenge, so tasks that have no element of challenge do not fit the purpose.
7. A task must be accessible to the majority of players, i.e. not limited to a specific format, edition, publisher, etc. and reviewable by the moderators.
Anyone eligible* to design a task may submit an idea for a task that follows the general guidelines above. Your idea should be a sketch that may be developed with the moderators.
* To be eligible to create a task, the player’s profile must be set up to accept Goodreads messages, and he/she must not have a task in the current challenge. Only one task per person per challenge.
The group will vote to determine the 50 point task. All ideas that fit the general guidelines will be included in a poll. The poll winner will develop their idea with the moderators to refine their task. The final task may differ from the original idea submission. The task will be posted as close to the midpoint as reasonably possible. The task creator will monitor and answer questions in the help thread.
Please include your Readerboard name and a title for your task. The entries will be listed by Readerboard name and task title in the poll. Please include only one task idea entry per post.
PLEASE DO NOT comment on people's entries in this thread - this is for submissions only - you will be able to comment when voting begins. Comments will be deleted.