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27. A book with a character who can be found in a deck of cards
Tarot decks will vary but the traditional major arcana is:The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, Strength, The Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, Justice, The Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, Judgement, The World, and The Fool.
I plan to use the divination interpretation of tarot cards and connect a book character with a specific card. For example, the Star card is interpreted as "hope, faith, purpose, renewal, spirituality." This card describes the characters in The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman. I found several card-book connections and haven't completely decided yet what I will use for this prompt.
I like the artwork on tarot so I have a few decks hanging around, one of them is designed for use with D&D so it has a lot of variation in the characters. I don't actually use them for anything, but it might be fun to pick a card at random for this prompt.I also have character cards from the Pandemic board game (don't ask, I got it just before it became a reality), so I could also pick from them for something more STEM related.
I'm not being particularly creative with this prompt: I'm using The Mirror & the Light and finally finishing Hilary Mantel's trilogy about Thomas Cromwell in which King Henry VIII and a collection of Queens feature.If someone is looking for a book that combines tarot/cartomancy AND royalty, I did like (although not love) The Stockholm Octavo which I completely forgot I read until reading this prompt!
It might be time to break out my game of munchkin and see what I can come up with from those cards! Otherwise I'll likely go with Tarot deck - I've heard that some of the books from the Malazan book of the fallen series by Steven Erikson have elements inspired by tarot. I think Gardens of the Moon might have a knight of swords or something similar?? and it definitely has an empress.
I decided to have my husband pull a card from my tarot deck and go with that. He picked the Queen of Swords so Queen it is! I'm leaving it wide open but may go with Queen Margot, or Marguerite de Valois, The Winter Queen, The Queen of Spades and Other Stories, or Mary Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley.
I used a book related to a tarot card for the suggestion that didn’t win in this year’s challenge, so I’m just going to use the traditional deck of cards and read A King Ensnared: A Historical Novel of Scotland, which has been on my kindle for a couple years.*edit: I’m also considering going the number route for this. I have Orphan Number Eight on my owned TBR, which would fit for a traditional deck.
I would have gone with the traditional deck but found I don't really have many options for it - I have a couple of books about royalty but they seem to be more on the princess/prince level with queens/kings as more minor characters.So I think I will go with the tarot deck. The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit would fit nicely so I may go with that.
In The Death of Mrs. Westerbury by Ruth Ware, the main character is a tarot reader and while none of the characters are actually characters from the cards, they are quite often compared to them in personality or life circumstances. Don't know if that will be too much of a stretch for some people, but it was a good, suspenseful read.
Stacey wrote: "It might be time to break out my game of munchkin and see what I can come up with from those cards! "You should know better than to pick up a duck in a dungeon. ;-)
This is a really creative idea, with so many possibilities!
I've just seen a post on Insta from @weneeddiversebooks about a 2021 release that seems perfect for this prompt!Ace of Spades
(The main characters are trying to unmask an anonymous texter known as 'Aces')
Aimee wrote: "I've just seen a post on Insta from @weneeddiversebooks about a 2021 release that seems perfect for this prompt!..."Ooh I have this on my wishlist but I wasn't sure if it was just the title that was card connected, will add it to my list of options.
Ellie wrote: "Aimee wrote: "I've just seen a post on Insta from @weneeddiversebooks about a 2021 release that seems perfect for this prompt!..."Ooh I have this on my wishlist but I wasn't sure if it was just t..."
Yeah that's why I edited my post to add the last bit, it's not immediately obvious from the title.
I needed an excuse to read The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo, so I'm planning to go with that for the "Joker" card. Also, apparently the Joker character from Batman was loosely based on this guy? Interesting...
I'm going to go with The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 1: The Apocalypse Suite as the characters are named #1, #2,...#7. While their "mom" gave them other names, there is also a character that is still named #5.I'm also doing a side Tarot card challenge, so excited to see what others choose for that
Ellie wrote: "Tarot decks will vary but the traditional major arcana is:The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, Strength, The Hermit, Wheel of Fortun..."
hm - Temperance - the Kathy Reich series with Temperance Brannon (spelling?!) would than count :-)
1. What are you reading for this category?Tangerine by Christine Mangan
2. How does it fit this prompt?
The main character's husband goes missing, and his name is John. Jack is a version/diminutive of John!
3. What would you recommend to other people for this category?
Scabby Queen is fantastic. The Joy Luck Club and The Rotters' Club are good shouts too.
I plan to read Jack by Marilynne Robinson. I've been looking forward to this for a long time. It's in her Gilead series. This book would also fit many other categories, including #46 Goodreads Choice nominee, #31 Author with a 21+ year career, and #24 race (biracial relationship)I loved her book Gilead, which earned the author a Pulitzer and many other awards. I will also re-read Home and maybe Lila. The books might fit a beginning... end category, though they're not published in order.
I will go with Druid Vices and a Vodka by Annette Marie. From the tarot deck, The magician, the lovers and the devil will work. It's a fantasy novel so there is a lot of magic, Tori (MC) is currently trying to save her boyfriend from something dangerous so that is The lovers and as for the Devil, (view spoiler)Also, Tori has an artefact which is a Queen of Spades card, only magical. And although it is not a character, it is sometimes referred to as "she" by Tori.
Mod
Pandemic is a great boardgame! If a little too on the nose just now.
I was originally only thinking of playing cards, but board game cards (I have many board games) and tarot give me lots more options.
I chose The Hierophant/The Pope from the tarot for this prompt. The title did not lie. This is a history of the papacy. But given its two millennium history, the book is a broad overview. It is almost like someone was reading out a timeline with a few anecdotes thrown in. Still, it is worth a read. Just be forewarned that it is a long book.
I know it says "character" not "characters," but does anyone think Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid would fit this prompt?
I read The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory. I really enjoyed seeing a different perspective of The Cousins' War, having previously read The White Queen & watched the TV series.
Kristin wrote: "I know it says "character" not "characters," but does anyone think Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid would fit this prompt?"I probably wouldn't, unless I couldn't find anything else I wanted to read the fit the prompt more strictly. Totally up to you how strict you want to be though!
I read Archenemies for this prompt. I think there are enough references to Ace Anarchy to count him here! (For those who've read it (view spoiler).) Recommendations:
Twelve Days of Faery (King)
The Princess Companion: A Retelling of The Princess and the Pea (King and Queen)
Masque (King)
Pendragon's Heir (King and Queen)
The Ordinary Princess (King and Queen)
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern ⭐⭐
I really was not sure what I would read for this prompt. Then my children chose this book for our family book club.
This book was written expressly for this prompt. It has almost every character from Tarot in it. It even has a Tarot reader as a character.
I had originally picked When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt for the Egypt prompt, but I am reading a book set in Egypt with my youngest daughter. I realized this book would work for this prompt as well. It was a very interesting book. I enjoyed it thoroughly. The author very obviously has researched the subject and knows about what she writes. Women rules of Egypt have been largely left out of history, and when they are included their stories are very slanted. It was great to get a different perspective.
1. I read House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City by Tahir Shah, a quirky story of a trek through the rainforest complete with pot noodles... I really enjoyed it.2. Relation to prompt obvious, I think.
3. So many books about Kings and Queens and cards in general. I would recommend Wolf Hall and the other books in Mantel's trilogy.
1. What are you reading for this category?The Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin (book 2 in the Mistress of the Art of Death series)
2. How does it fit this prompt?
Queen Eleanor and King Henry II are involved
3. What would you recommend to other people for this category?
I love any and all of Terry Pratchett's books in which Death is a character. If you're sticking to a regular deck of cards, Philippa Gregory's books are OK (some are better than others, The White Queen is probably my favorite so far). Mistress of the Art of Death, Dissolution, and The Locksmith's Daughter are all great historical mysteries involving royalty (Henry II, Henry VIII, and Elizabeth, respectively) - though they are not integral characters to the stories.
1. What are you reading for this category? The Friends We Keep2. How does it fit this prompt? There is a character named Jack (not a major character but I didn't know that prior to reading).
3. What would you recommend to other people for this category?
Queenie
The famous story of Alice in Wonderland has the King and Queen and Jack .
The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaarder
1. What are you reading for this category? The Queen's Weapons
2. How does it fit this prompt?
"The Queen" is referring to a character in the book.
3. What would you recommend to other people for this category?
Might I recommend a book with an Ace (asexual) character?
Every Heart a Doorway
Let's Talk About Love
How to Be a Normal Person
1. What are you reading for this category?King Leopold's Ghost by Adam
Hochschild
2. How does it fit this prompt?
The book is about a king.
3. What would you recommend to other people for this category?
The Hate U Give
How big do you think the character has to be in the book to count? I think the Queen is going to appear somewhere in this book but I'm not sure. I'm hoping to use it in this category but if not I can use it for a comfort read. I'm reading The Royal Secret and not sure if it will fit here or not. I'm 40% through and only a prince has appeared so far.
Mod
Well, this group is flexible. In poker, there is a "royal flush" including the face cards, and I think other games refer to those as "royals".
1. What are you reading for this category?I read The Folk of the Air Series 3 Books Collection Set By Holly Black (YA Fantasy series about fairies)
2. How does it fit this prompt?
The second and third titles are The Wicked King and The Queen of Nothing
3. What would you recommend to other people for this category?
If you are using the Major Arcana from a tarot deck, Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro was fantastic.
Robin P wrote: "Joan wrote: "How big do you think the character has to be in the book to count? I think the Queen is going to appear somewhere in this book but I'm not sure. I'm hoping to use it in this category b..."That's an interesting way of looking at it. I may do that. A King or a Queen hasn't shown up in the book yet.
I will be reading 'Chasing the King of Hearts'It fits the prompt really well with the title.
I can recommend The Nine Day Queen by Ella Chase.
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Transcendent Kingdom (other topics)The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street (other topics)
Mary Queen of Scots (other topics)
Queen Bees and Wannabes (other topics)
I Am the Messenger (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Rosalind Wiseman (other topics)Antonia Fraser (other topics)
Yaa Gyasi (other topics)
Susan Jane Gilman (other topics)
C.E. Morgan (other topics)
More...
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Suggestions:
Listopias Tagged "Royalty"
YA Books About Kings, Queens, and Royalty
8 Asexual Books (Ace)
I'll need some help in the thread about tarot cards haha!
ATY Group Listopia
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Optional Questions:
1. What are you reading for this category?
2. How does it fit this prompt?
3. What would you recommend to other people for this category?