Hooked on Books discussion
3RC Reading Challenge
>
Ridiculously Random Reading Challenge: Richard {COMPLETED}
date
newest »
newest »
Mod
Two-Buck Chuck once won a top wine award.
Trader Joe's 2002 Charles Shaw Shiraz beat out 2,300 other wines to win a prestigious double gold medal at the 28th Annual International Eastern Wine Competition, so don't feel bad stocking up on the bargain brand.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🤑 1. Read a book with rhyming words in the title.
🤑 2. Read a book published in 2002.
🤑 3. Read a book where a store of any type is mentioned.
🤑 4. Read a book with a 2 and an 8 in the publication date.
Book: Sicilian Splendors: Discovering the Secret Places That Speak to the HeartAuthor: John Keahey
Date Read: Jun 1st
Task: Published - 2 & 8
How it Fits: 2018
Mod
Dr. Seuss wrote "Green Eggs and Ham" on a bet.
Theodore Geisel's editor didn't believe the author could write a book in 50 words or less. The finished product contains 50 words on the dot.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🍳 1. Read a book where a character eats a meal.
🍳 2. Read a book with a 50 intact in the page count.
🍳 3. Read a book where a main/major character is a doctor.
🍳 4. Read a book where someone makes a bet of any kind.
Book: The Damage Done: Twelve Years of Hell in a Bangkok PrisonAuthor: Warren Fellows
Date Read: Jun 2nd
Task: Plot - char makes a bet of any kind
How it Fits: "I had been nearly expelled for running a betting scam from class." p.13
Mod
The moon has its own time zones.
An astronomer even designed a special watch that relies on "lunations," or the amount of time it takes for the moon to revolve and rotate around the Earth.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🌙 1. Read a book with a moon, watch, or clock on the cover.
🌙 2. Read a book with the word REVOLVE or ROTATE found in the text.
🌙 3. Read a book where the MC's first name ENDS with a letter in EARTH.
🌙 4. Read a book where the title starts with a letter in LUNATIONS.
Book: Flight Paths: How a Passionate and Quirky Group of Pioneering Scientists Solved the Mystery of Bird MigrationAuthor: Rebecca Heisman
Date Read: Jun 5th
Task: Cover - moon
How it Fits:
Mod
Coca-Cola consumers will pay more to drink less ounces.
Coca-Cola consumers prefer smaller packaging of their beverage and are willing to pay more per ounce. While soda consumption is declining in the U.S., Coca-Cola had a net revenue of $33 billion worldwide last year. Talk about vanity sizing!
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🥤 1. Read a book with a dashed word in the title.
🥤 2. Read a book where someone drinks a cola, soda, pop, whatever you call it where you're from.
🥤 3. Read a book with two 3s in the publication date.
🥤 4. Read a book you were willing to pay for.
Book: Full-Spectrum Thinking: How to Escape Boxes in a Post-Categorical FutureAuthor: Bob Johansen
Date Read: Jun 7th
Task: Title - dashed word
How it Fits: Full-Spectrum
Mod
Pumpkins, squash, and gourds are all technically the same species.
That's right, your zucchini and Jack o' lanterns are one and the same: Cucurbita pepo, a species that originated in Mexico more than 10,000 years ago. Farmers have since developed the many cultivars we know and use today.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
👩🏽🌾 1. Read a book with some type of vegetable on the cover.
👩🏽🌾 2. Read a book with at least 10,000 ratings.
👩🏽🌾 3. Read a book set in Mexico.
👩🏽🌾 4. Read a book where the author's first AND last initials are found in CUCURBITA PEPO.
Book: Ice Cream Social: The Struggle for the Soul of Ben & Jerry'sAuthor: Brad Edmondson
Date Read: Jun 7th
Task: Author - initials in CUCURBITA PEPO
How it Fits: BE
Mod
Quidditch was invented by J.K. Rowling in her Harry Potter series and involves 2 teams of 7 players mounted on broomsticks with 4 different balls and goals on either side of the pitch.
The game has since been adapted for the real world with the ultimate goal being to score more goals than the other team before the ‘snitch’ is caught.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🧹 1. Read a book where one character snitches on another.
🧹 2. Read a book that is part of a series.
🧹 3. Read a book where the author uses initials in their name.
🧹 4. Read a book with a storyline that could be adapted into a board game or a real-life game.
Book: Death by Living: Life Is Meant to Be SpentAuthor: N.D. Wilson
Date Read: Jun 8th
Task: Author - initials
How it Fits: N.D.
Mod
Cycleball is also known as “Radball” and is essentially a game of football (or ‘soccer’ depending on which country you’re from) played on bicycles.
Unlike traditional football, however, players use the bike to control, flick, and move the ball into the opposing team’s goal. The bikes used have fixed gears with no brakes and there tends to be 2 players on each team.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🚴♀️ 1. Read a book with two main/major characters.
🚴♀️ 2. Read a book that has also been known by another title.
🚴♀️ 3. Read a book with a bicycle on the cover.
🚴♀️ 4. Read a book where the author's first initial is NOT found in FIXED GEARS.
Book: Because We Are Bad: OCD and a Girl Lost in ThoughtAuthor: Lily Bailey
Date Read: Jun 9th
Task: Author - FN initial not in FIXED GEARS
How it Fits: L
Mod
The unicorn is the national animal of Scotland.
Yes, although it's a fabled creature, the national animal of Scotland is actually the mythical unicorn — chosen because of its association with dominance and chivalry as well as purity and innocence in Celtic mythology. BRB, moving to Scotland real quick.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🦄 1. Read a book set in Scotland.
🦄 2. Read a book with all the letters of UNICORN found in the title.
🦄 3. Read a book tagged MYTHOLOGY any number of times.
🦄 4. Read a book where the author's first initial is NOT found in CELTIC.
Book: Unchain Your Brain: 10 Steps to Breaking the Addictions That Steal Your LifeAuthor: Daniel G. Amen
Date Read: Jun 10th
Task: Title - all the letters of UNICORN
How it Fits: UNChaIN yOuR
Mod
You can ride a train through the "Tunnel of Love."
The Ukrainian rails actually service an industrial train, but couples can still hitch a ride (or take one of these affordable family train trips) and make a wish, according to a new tourist legend.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🛤 1. Read a book with a train on the cover.
🛤 2. Read a book with the word TUNNEL found in the text.
🛤 3. Read a book where a character makes or is granted a wish.
🛤 4. Read a book where the publisher's name starts with a letter in UKRAINIAN.
Book: MelaniaAuthor: Melania Trump
Date Read: Jun 12th
Task: Text - 'tunnel'
How it Fits: "through a tunnel during the raid" p.289
Mod
The Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling & Wake is an annual event that takes place each spring near Gloucester, England and involves a 9 pound round of cheese, which is rolled from the top of a hill.
Competitors race after the cheese and the first person to reach the finish line at the bottom wins the cheese.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🧀 1. Read a book where a character eats cheese, or does something foolish.
🧀 2. Read a book set at least partially in England.
🧀 3. Read a book with all the letters of SPRING in the title.
🧀 4. Read a book with a 9 in the page count or publication date.
Book: The Wheel is Spinning but the Hamster is Dead: A Journey Around the World in Idioms, Proverbs and General NonsenseAuthor: Adam Sharp
Date Read: Jun 12th
Task: Title - all the letters of SPRING
How it Fits: SPinnING hamsteR
Mod
In Outhouse Racing, an outhouse (outdoor toilet) is kitted with wheels, brakes, and a steering system, and is raced down hills with competitors sitting on the toilet seat inside.
Competitors decorate their outhouses with clever names like “Royal Flush” and the first outhouse to make it across the finish line wins.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🚽 1. Read a book where a character decorates something.
🚽 2. Read a book with all the letters of OUTHOUSE in the title and/or subtitle.
🚽 3. Read a book with something with a steering system on the cover.
🚽 4. Read a book where a character sits down.
Book: A History of Evil in Popular Culture: What Hannibal Lecter, Stephen King, and Vampires Reveal about America 2 volumes Author: Sharon Packer MD
Date Read: Jun 14th
Task: Title - all the letters of OUTHOUSE
How it Fits: HiStOry pOpular cUlTUrE
Mod
Neil Armstrong didn't say "That's one small step for man."
The astronaut insists he actually stated, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." "That's the only way the statement makes any sense," Armstrong told biographer James Hansen. And for the record, no real astronaut ever uttered "Houston, we have a problem." — Tom Hanks only said that in the movie Apollo 13.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
👩🚀 1. Read a book with something small on the cover.
👩🚀 2. Read a book with double letters in the title.
👩🚀 3. Read a book where you can share a favorite quote.
👩🚀 4. Read a book author's first AND last initials are found in NEIL ARMSTRONG.
Book: Science on a Mission: How Military Funding Shaped What We Do and Don’t Know about the OceanAuthor: Naomi Oreskes
Date Read: Jun 15th
Task: Title - double letters
How it Fits: miSSion
Mod
There's a word for animals with partial pigment loss.
Albinism is the congenital absence of any pigmentation or coloration, but leucism is a different rare condition where some pattern or color remains.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🦒 1. Read a book without much color on the cover. {Your discretion.}
🦒 2. Read a book where the author's LAST initial is found in LEUCISM.
🦒 3. Read a book where a character has a rare condition.
🦒 4. Read a book where all the letters of PIGMENT are found in the title.
Book: Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIIIAuthor: David Starkey
Date Read: Jun 16th
Task: Author - LN initial in LEUCISM
How it Fits: S
Mod
Extreme Ironing is considered a ‘danger sport’ in which people take ironing boards to various, often remote, locations to iron clothes and take a picture.
Some of the locations have included cliff tops, underwater, in the middle of a motorway, and also while skiing and parachuting.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🧺 1. Read a book where the MC has a dangerous career/hobby.
🧺 2. Read a book where the title starts with a letter in EXTREME.
🧺 3. Read a book set at least partially in a remote location.
🧺 4. Read a book where a character irons or does other household chores.
Book: Two Weeks in November: The Astonishing Untold Story of the Operation that Toppled MugabeAuthor: Douglas Rogers
Date Read: Jun 18th
Task: Title - starts with a letter in EXTREME
How it Fits: T
Mod
Frank Lloyd Wright's son invented Lincoln Logs.
The famous architect's design for the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo inspired John Lloyd Wright to produce the interlocking log beams on a much smaller scale for kids.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🪵 1. Read a book where the author goes by 3 names.
🪵 2. Read a book with at least 3 Ls in the title.
🪵 3. Read a book with a log/tree on the cover.
🪵 4. Read a book set in Japan.
Book: The Folly of Realism: How the West Deceived Itself About Russia and Betrayed UkraineAuthor: Alexander S. Vindman
Date Read: Jun 19th
Task: Title - 3+ Ls
How it Fits: foLLy reaLism
Mod
Surprisingly, the sporting event of climbing a greased-up slippery pole is quite common around the world.
These traditional events are essentially the same - there is a long pole covered in grease, lard, or some other lubricant, and participants attempt to climb or walk along the pole to get to the other end, where there may be a prize or flag to recover.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🎁 1. Read a book where a character climbs something.
🎁 2. Read a book where the title does NOT start with a letter in GREASY POLE.
🎁 3. Read a book where the MC wins a prize of any type.
🎁 4. Read a book with the word FLAG found in the text.
Book: Nonsense: The Power of Not KnowingAuthor: Jamie Holmes
Date Read: Jun 20th
Task: Title - 1st initial not in GREASY POLE
How it Fits: N
Mod
Like Arm Wrestling or Thumb Wrestling, Toe Wrestling involves two competitors who lock bare feet in an attempt to pin the other person’s foot to the ground for at least 3 seconds.
There tends to be 3 rounds played with the winner having the best 2 out of 3.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
👣 1. Read a book where a character does something you think is gross.
👣 2. Read a book where toes/feet are visible on the cover.
👣 3. Read a book you would rate between 2 and 3 stars.
👣 4. Read a book where the title starts with a letter in TOE and ends with a letter in WRESTLING.
Book: The Urban Naturalist: How to Make the City Your Scientific PlaygroundAuthor: Menno Schilthuizen
Date Read: Jun 22nd
Task: Title - starts with letter in TOE & ends with letter in WRESTLING
How it Fits: T...T
Mod
The way you eat Oreos says something about your personality.
Kraft Foods once surveyed hundreds of Oreo eaters and sussed it out: Biters are easy-going and self-confident, while dunkers displayed more energetic and adventurous qualities. Twisters, on the other hand, are sensitive and trendy.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🥛 1. Read a book with something sweet on the cover.
🥛 2. Read a book with a character you would consider trendy.
🥛 3. Read a book where the title starts with a letter in KRAFT FOODS.
🥛 4. Read a book with either of these words found in the text: BITE, DUNK, or TWIST.
Book: AbundanceAuthor: Ezra Klein
Date Read: Jun 23rd
Task: Title - starts with a letter in KRAFT FOODS
How it Fits: A
Mod
There's a world record for the most world record titles.
It belongs to Brooklyn, New York resident Ashrita Furman, who's held more than 700 Guinness World Records in his lifetime, ranging from heaviest shoes walked in (323 pounds) to most baseballs held in a baseball glove (26).
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🥇 1. Read a book with at least 323 pages.
🥇 2. Read a book with at least 26 chapters.
🥇 3. Read a book with at least 700 ratings.
🥇 4. Read a book of your choice.
Book: Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized WorldAuthor: David Epstein
Date Read: Jun 24th
Task: Pages - 323+
How it Fits: 339 pages
Mod
Giant Pumpkin Kayaking is quite simply the sport of kayaking inside of a giant, hollowed-out pumpkin.
The most famous race takes place on Lake Pesaquid in Nova Scotia at the annual Windsor Pumpkin Regatta. The course is a half-mile long and competitors often decorate their pumpkins with paint and flags.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🎃 1. Read a book set at least partially in Canada.
🎃 2.Read a book with all the letters of KAYAK in the title. {2 As, 2 Ks}
🎃 3. Read a book with something painted or flags on the cover.
🎃 4. Read a book with the word PUMPKIN found in the text.
Book: Growing Tomorrow: A Farm-to-Table Journey in Photos and Recipes—Behind the Scenes with 18 Extraordinary Sustainable Farmers Who Are Changing the Way We EatAuthor: Forrest Pritchard
Date Read: Jun 27th
Task: Text - 'pumpkin'
How it Fits: "I imagine pigs in a pumpkin patch" p.177
Mod
Unicycle Basketball is a variation of the traditional game but where all of the players are mounted on unicycles during play.
The same rules apply, such as dribbling the ball while riding, and trying to score in the other team’s net. The game is played on a regulation basketball court and players tend to use 24” unicycles.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🏀 1. Read a book that takes place within a 24-hour period of time.
🏀 2. Read a book where a sport is watched or played.
🏀 3. Read a book with the word COURT found in the text.
🏀 4. Read a book where the author's first AND last initials are NOT found in UNICYCLE.
Book: I Love BaseballAuthor: Wayne Stewart
Date Read: Jun 27th
Task: Plot - a sport is played
How it Fits: "in the sixth inning, he was inserted into the game as a pinch-hitter." p.77
Mod
Underwater Hockey, also known as ‘Octopush,' is essentially a game of hockey at the bottom of a swimming pool.
The aim of the game is to push the puck into the opposing team’s goal using a small pusher. The game involves 2 teams of up to 10 players with players using diving masks, fins, and snorkel gear.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🏊🏻♀️ 1. Read a book with a body of water on the cover.
🏊🏻♀️ 2. Read a book with between 2 and 20 MAJOR characters.
🏊🏻♀️ 3. Read a book with all the letters of HOCKEY found in the title.
🏊🏻♀️ 4. Read a book with the words SMALL and PUSH found in the text.
Book: The Ghost Lab: How Bigfoot Hunters, Mediums, and Alien Enthusiasts are Wrecking ScienceAuthor: Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling
Date Read: Jun 28th
Task: Text - 'small'
How it Fits: "a small nonprofit paranormal organization" p.14
Mod
A baby puffin is called a "puffling."
To feed its chick, a puffin parent will carry around 10 fish in its beak at one time, but the biggest recorded haul is a whopping 62 fish, according to Audubon Project Puffin.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🐠 1. Read a book with a bird on the cover.
🐠 2. Read a book where the MC is a parent.
🐠 3. Read a book with a 6 and a 2 in the page count.
🐠 4. Read a book with all the letters of PUFFIN found in the title/subtitle.
Book: Renaturing: Small Ways to Wild the WorldAuthor: James Canton
Date Read: Jul 4th
Task: Cover - bird
How it Fits:
Mod
CONGRATULATIONS!! You did it! You completed all 72 Ridiculously Random prompts in this challenge. I hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you again soon!
Thanks. Was fun. Next time I think I'd like to try all prompts.
Hooked on Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Renaturing: Small Ways to Wild the World (other topics)The Ghost Lab: How Bigfoot Hunters, Mediums, and Alien Enthusiasts are Wrecking Science (other topics)
I Love Baseball: Players, Managers, Sportswriters, and Fans Talk about Their Love for the Game (other topics)
Growing Tomorrow: A Farm-to-Table Journey in Photos and Recipes—Behind the Scenes with 18 Extraordinary Sustainable Farmers Who Are Changing the Way We Eat (other topics)
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
James Canton (other topics)Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling (other topics)
Wayne Stewart (other topics)
Forrest Pritchard (other topics)
David Epstein (other topics)
More...
Author: Martin M. Antony
Date Read: May 31st
Task: Author - LN initial is in GARDEN
How it Fits: A