Hooked on Books discussion
3RC Reading Challenge
>
Ridiculously Random Reading Challenge: Bernadette
Mod
Just to shake things up a bit more and keep them really random, I'm throwing caution...and my OCD...to the wind for this challenge. Your prompts will be given to you in random orders, with everyone following a different path. I'll be tracking your prompts on a separate spreadsheet to make sure we don't miss one.
If you would like to pick your starting place, tell me your favorite number between 1 and 72 before March 31st.
I'll start with 15 since this is starting in April and 4/15 is the tax due date (I'm a tax accountant🤣)I love that you are a using separate SS to track everyone - who doesn't love a good SS!
Mod
Mod
Unsurprisingly, Chess Boxing involves both the classic game of chess and the popular sport of boxing.
The competitors alternate between 5 rounds of boxing and 6 rounds of chess for a total of 11 rounds, each lasting 3-minutes. The game was inspired by a French comic and invented by Dutch artist Lepe Rubingh.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🥊 1. Read a book where a character plays chess or another board game.
🥊 2. Read a book that has a French or a Dutch translation.
🥊 3. Read a book with an MPG of HUMOR or COMEDY.
🥊 4. Read a book with the word boxing {can also be box, boxes, boxed, etc.} found in the text.
Prompt # / Name: #15: Chess BoxingBook: Isn't It Bromantic?/Lyssa Kay Adams
Date Read: 4/1/25
Task: 4. Read a book with the word boxing {can also be box, boxes, boxed, etc.} found in the text
How it Fits: pg 15 - Empty, broken flower boxes hung beneath windows
Mod
Chocolate is (kinda) a fruit.
In more great chocolate news, the cocoa powder that goes into our fave best dark chocolate bars comes from the "beans" — or fruit of the cacao tree.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
❓1. Read a book with a brown cover. {Your discretion.}
❓2. Read a book with all the letters of CACAO found in the title.
❓3. Read a book with the word BEANS found in the text.
❓4. Read a book where a character gets great news.
Prompt # / Name: #59: A Fruit?Book: The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder/David Grann
Date Read: 4/4/25
Task: 3. Read a book with the word BEANS found in the text
How it Fits: CH 2 - they repeatedly referred to him as Beans
Mod
Zorbing is considered a recreational sport that involves rolling down a hill in a transparent plastic orb – essentially a “hamster ball."
It is generally used on hills, but can also be used on water, as well as flat surfaces. Orbs with no harnesses can carry up to three people, whereas a harnessed orb can only carry 1 or 2.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🐹 1. Read a book with a Z in the title.
🐹 2. Read a book with something made of plastic on the cover.
🐹 3. Read a book with the word TRANSPARENT found in the text.
🐹 4. Read a book where the author's last name ENDS with a letter in HAMSTER.
Prompt # / Name: #72: ZorbingBook: Melt/Kayla Parent
Date Read: 4/13/25
Task: 4. Read a book where the author's last name ENDS with a letter in HAMSTER
How it Fits: author last name ends with a T
Mod
The longest wedding veil was longer than 63 football fields.
If you thought Meghan Markle's wedding veil was long, get this: there's a woman in Cyprus who set the Guinness World Record for the longest wedding veil. How long was it, you ask? Nearly 23,000 feet, which is the same length as about 63.5 football fields.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
👰🏻♀️ 1. Read a book with something related to a bride on the cover.
👰🏻♀️ 2. Read a book where someone gets married.
👰🏻♀️ 3. Read a book that is long - more than 400 pages.
👰🏻♀️ 4. Read a book with a 6 and a 3 in the total number of reviews.
Prompt # / Name: #5: Wedding VeilBook: The Matchmaker's Gift/Lynda Cohen Loigman
Date Read: 4/19/25
Task: 2. Read a book where someone gets married.
How it Fits: Sara's sister Hindel marries Aaron
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.
Prompt # / Name: #64: Moon Time ZonesBook: Again and Again/Jonathan Evison
Date Read: 4/22/25
Task: 4. Read a book where the title starts with a letter in LUNATIONS
How it Fits: title starts with "A"
Mod
Worm Charming is a competitive sport with the aim of attracting earthworms out of the ground.
The competitor that charms the most worms within a set period of time and a set zone on the ground wins. In 2009, Sophie Smith of England (aged 10) set the world record with 567 worms.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🪱 1. Read a book where the title contains an -ing word.
🪱 2. Read a book with an author who has the same first and last initials.
🪱 3. Read a book published before 2009.
🪱 4. Read a book where the MC's first initial is NOT found in WORM.
Prompt # / Name: #69: Worm CharmingBook: A Very Merry Bromance/Lyssa Kay Adams
Date Read: 4/26/25
Task: 4. Read a book where the MC's first initial is NOT found in WORM
How it Fits: Author first initial is "L"
🪱🪱🪱🪱
Mod
Only one NFL team has a plant for a logo.
The New Orleans Saints' fleur-de-lis is actually a stylized lily historically associated with the French monarchy. It's also the state symbol of Louisiana and appears on the Quebec flag.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
⚜️ 1. Read a book where a character plays or watches football.
⚜️ 2. Read a book set in Louisiana, France, or Canada.
⚜️ 3. Read a book with a logo or a flag on the cover.
⚜️ 4. Read a book with all the letters of MONARCHY in the title.
Prompt # / Name: Ridiculously Random Prompt #37: Fleur-de-LisBook: Isla and the Happily Ever After/Stephanie Perkins
Date Read: 4/30/25
Task: 2. Read a book set in Louisiana, France, or Canada
How it Fits: set in Paris, France
Mod
Moon flowers actually bloom in response to the moon.
Sunflowers will follow the sun as it moves across the sky, but their lunar counterparts only open after nightfall or on cloudy days.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🌺 1. Read a book with flowers on the cover.
🌺 2. Read a book with double vowels in the title.
🌺 3. Read a book where the author's FIRST initial is found in LUNAR.
🌺 4. Read a book where you can share a scene that happens after nightfall with me.
Prompt # / Name: Ridiculously Random Prompt #55: Moon FlowersBook: Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping On a Dead Man /Jesse Q. Sutanto
Date Read: 5/7/25
Task: 2. Read a book with double vowels in the title.
How it Fits: Vera Wong's Guide to SnOOping On a Dead Man
Mod
A team of six women programmed the first digital computer.
While historians have only recently recognized their achievements (or female discoveries credited to men), the female mathematicians participated in a World War II program coding instructions into the revolutionary Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC).
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
⌨️ 1. Read a book with a strong female lead.
⌨️ 2. Read a book with all the letters of ENIAC found in the title.
⌨️ 3. Read a book set during World War II.
⌨️ 4. Read a book where a character uses a computer.
Prompt # / Name: Ridiculously Random Prompt #65: ENIACBook: Siege and Storm/Leigh Bardugo
Date Read: 5/20/25
Task: 1. Read a book with a strong female lead
How it Fits: MC Alina Starkov is the Sun Summoner, one of the most powerful Grisha who had ever lived and the only one capable of destroying the volcra and the Shadow Fold.
Mod
The hashtag symbol is technically called an octothorpe.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the "octo-" prefix refers to the eight points on the popular symbol, but the "thorpe" remains a mystery. One theory claims that it comes from the Old English word for "village," based on the idea that the symbol looks like a village surrounded by eight fields!
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
#️⃣ 1. Read a book with an MPG of MYSTERY.
#️⃣ 2. Read a book with an 8 in the page count.
#️⃣ 3. Read a book with all the letters of THORPE in the title.
#️⃣ 4. Read a book with the word VILLAGE found in the text.
Prompt # / Name: Ridiculously Random Prompt #1: OctothorpeBook: Paradise Under Glass: An Amateur Creates a Conservatory Garden/Ruth Kassinger
Date Read: 5/24/25
Task: 2. Read a book with an 8 in the page count.
How it Fits: page count 368
Now I know what it is really called! #️⃣🤣#️⃣
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.
Mod
Prompt # / Name: Ridiculously Random Prompt #21: Extreme IroningBook: The Family Remains/Lisa Jewell
Date Read: 5/29/25
Task: 2. Read a book where the title starts with a letter in EXTREME
How it Fits: starts with "T"
Mod
Snail Racing is essentially a race between ordinary garden snails, with snail racing events taking place around the world.
The snails tend to race on a 13 - 14 inch circular track and start in the center with the winning snail being the first to reach the perimeter. Racing numbers or stickers are often put on the shells in order to distinguish each competitor.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🐌 1. Read a book with the word CRAWL in the text.
🐌 2. Read a book where the MC's first initial is found in SNAIL.
🐌 3. Read a book where the author's last initial is found in GARDEN.
🐌 4. Read a book where the publisher's name starts with a letter in SHELL.
Prompt # / Name: Ridiculously Random Prompt #45: Snail RacingBook: The Reformatory/Tananarive Due
Date Read: 5/31/25
Task: 3. Read a book where the author's last initial is found in GARDEN
How it Fits: ALN starts with "D"
Must be slow races 🐌🤣🐌
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.
Prompt # / Name: Ridiculously Random Prompt #62: OreosBook: Tilt/Ellen Hopkins
Date Read: 6/1/25
Task: 4. Read a book with either of these words found in the text: BITE, DUNK, or TWIST
How it Fits: pg 322 - grab a bite to eat
I bite my Oreos🥛😊
Mod
Ridiculously Random Prompt #63: Wife Carrying
Originally invented in Finland, Wife Carrying is a sport that involves a male competitor racing through 2 dry obstacles and 1 water obstacle approximately 1 meter deep all while carrying a female teammate.
The female must weigh at least 108 lb (49 kg) or additional weight will be added to her. Teams who complete the course in the shortest time win with additional prizes for best costume, etc.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
💍 1. Read a book with a married MC.
💍 2. Read a book set at least partially in Finland.
💍 3. Read a book where a character feels weighted down in some way.
💍 4. Read a book where a character carries something or someone.
Prompt # / Name: Ridiculously Random Prompt #63: Wife Carrying Book: The Dream Hotel/Laila Lalami
Date Read: 6/4/25
Task: 1. Read a book with a married MC
How it Fits: Sara is married to Elias
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Mod
If you drive south from Detroit, you'll hit Canada.
Head north from Windsor, Ontario, crossing the Detroit River, and you'll reach the good ol' US of A.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🇨🇦 1. Read a book set in Michigan.
🇨🇦 2. Read a book with a cityscape on the cover.
🇨🇦 3. Read a book with a directional word in the title.
🇨🇦 4. Read a book where the MC's first initial is NOT found in WINDSOR.
Prompt # / Name: Ridiculously Random Prompt #25: DetroitBook: The Seven Sisters/Lucinda Riley
Date Read: 6/7/25
Task: 4. Read a book where the MC's first initial is NOT found in WINDSOR
How it Fits: "L" is NOT found in WINDSOR
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.
Prompt # / Name: Ridiculously Random Prompt #18: CycleballBook: Great Big Beautiful Life/Emily Henry
Date Read: 6/9/25
Task: 1. Read a book with two main/major characters
How it Fits: Alice and Hayden are the 2 main characters; writers are both trying to win over a legendary woman to write her biography.
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.
Prompt # / Name: Ridiculously Random Prompt #27: Greasy Pole ClimbingBook: Tender Is the Flesh/Agustina Bazterrica
Date Read: 6/10/25
Task: 2. Read a book where the title does NOT start with a letter in GREASY POLE
How it Fits: title starts with "T" which is not in GREASY POLE
Mod
The voices of Mickey and Minnie Mouse got married in real life.
Wayne Allwine and Russi Taylor were married for 18 years until Allwine's death in 2009.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🐭 1. Read a book where someone dies.
🐭 2. Read a book published in 2009.
🐭 3. Read a book with a 1 and an 8 in the page count.
🐭 4. Read a book with some type of animal on the cover.
Prompt # / Name: Ridiculously Random Prompt #13: Mickey & MinnieBook: Miller's Valley/Anna Quindlen
Date Read: 6/14/25
Task: 1. Read a book where someone dies.
How it Fits: Bud Miller dies after his second stroke
Mod
The Mud-Pit Belly Flop is one of the biggest events that takes place during the ‘Redneck Games.'
The event, of course, takes place in a giant mud pit and the crowd gathered to watch chooses the winner by judging who can make the biggest, muddiest splash. The winner receives a trophy – always featuring a smashed beer can.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
👀 1. Read a book where the MC drinks a beer.
👀 2. Read a book with a crowd, more than 4 people, on the cover.
👀 3. Read a book where someone wins a trophy.
👀 4. Read a book where the title ENDS with a letter in REDNECK.
Prompt # / Name: Ridiculously Random Prompt #30: Mud-Pit Belly FlopBook: The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World
Date Read: 6/14/25
Task: 4. Read a book where the title ENDS with a letter in REDNECK
How it Fits: title ends in "D" which is in REDNECK
Mod
The 100 folds in a chef's hat represent 100 ways to cook an egg.
Yes, that tall, pleated white hat that chefs wear — technically called a toque — has 100 folds for a reason! According to Reluctant Gourmet, the pleats used to signify a chef's level of experience, like the number of ways he or she knew how to prepare eggs.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
👩🏼🍳 1. Read a book with a mostly white cover. {Your discretion.}
👩🏼🍳 2. Read a book where the MC is described as being tall.
👩🏼🍳 3. Read a book with a 1 and 2 0s found in the publication date.
👩🏼🍳 4. Read a book where the author's first AND last initials are found in RELUCTANT GOURMET.
Prompt # / Name: Ridiculously Random Prompt #2: Chef's HatBook: Swimming in the Monsoon Sea/Shyam Selvadurai
Date Read: 6/16/25
Task: 3. Read a book with a 1 and 2 0s found in the publication date
How it Fits: published September 13, 2005
I did not know that about the chef hat 👩🏼🍳🍳
Mod
Elvis only won 3 Grammys.
The King of Rock and Roll had 18 #1 hits in his career, but struck out on 11 of his 14 nominations. The record for the most Grammy wins actually belongs to George Solti, the longtime leader of Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with 31 awards to his name.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
🎙 1. Read a book where a famous person is mentioned.
🎙 2. Read a book with an 11, 14, or 18 intact in the page count.
🎙 3. Read a book where NO letters of KING are found in the title.
🎙 4. Read a book with the word AWARD(S) found in the text.
Prompt # / Name: Ridiculously Random Prompt #31: ElvisBook: Colonel Roosevelt/Edmund Morris
Date Read: 6/20/25
Task: 1. Read a book where a famous person is mentioned
How it Fits: the book is about a famous person - Theodore Roosevelt
Mod
A $1 bill doesn't live as long as you'd think.
According to the Federal Reserve, each buck lasts about 6.6 years, and there's about $1.79 trillion of U.S. currency in circulation right now.
Complete ONE of the following tasks:
💵 1. Read a book with money on the cover.
💵 2. Read a book you got for no money.
💵 3. Read a book with a title that starts with a letter in MONEY.
💵 4. Read a book where the MC's first initial is NOT found in MONEY.
Prompt # / Name: Ridiculously Random Prompt #47: $1 BillBook: Summer Sons/Lee Mandelo
Date Read: 6/22/25
Task: 2. Read a book you got for no money.
How it Fits: borrowed from library - FREE!
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.
Hooked on Books
Books mentioned in this topic
The Spy Coast (other topics)Sandwich (other topics)
South of the Buttonwood Tree (other topics)
Secrets Between Friends (other topics)
25 Alive (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Tess Gerritsen (other topics)Catherine Newman (other topics)
Heather Webber (other topics)
Tracy Buchanan (other topics)
James Patterson (other topics)
More...
Ridiculously Random Reading Challenge
Individual, Open-Ended
April 1, 2025 - March 31, 2027
You know how most reading challenges you join have some type of theme or main idea, kind of like the books themselves? Well, this one...not so much! We'll look at Crown Jewels, Greasy Pole Climbing, Model Ts, Zorbing, and anything and everything in between. So buckle up for the ride and enjoy!
Each time you satisfy a task, make a post here IN YOUR OWN THREAD. Please use the following example for your Completion Post.
Prompt # / Name: {For example: #1: Octothorpe}
Book:
Author:
Date Read:
Pages:
Task:
How it Fits:
If you have any questions about this challenge, please post them in the Ridiculously Random Q&A Thread.
Challenge Rules:
📘 Standard Rules Apply
📘 I will create an individual thread for you prior to the start date.
📘 Your first prompt will be posted on April 1, 2025.
📘 Books must be completed after the task has been posted. For example, if your task is posted on 4-15, you can't use a book you completed on 4-14.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If a set of tasks is too difficult or just out of your comfort zone, you have 4 SKIPS to use in this challenge. In order to use a SKIP, read any book that meets the Standard Book Qualifications for Hooked on Books. The link is in the Challenge Rules above. Simply list SKIP on the Task line.