The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
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SPRING CHALLENGE 2026
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Spring Task Ideas
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over 70% of the earth's surface is covered with water (majority of oceans) - read a book where 70% of the cover is a body of waterin 1997, one of the loudest sounds every recorded occurred, it was identified to be an Icequake and is referred to as The Bloop - read a book with all the letters of THE BLOOP in title/subtitle
over 95% of the ocean remains unexplored - read a book from one of the following lists: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
https://thegreatestbooks.org/the-grea...
Salt Coverage: If all the salt in the ocean were spread evenly over the Earth's land surface, it would create a layer more than 500 feet thick - read a book with more than 500 pages
The Challenger Deep, part of the Mariana Trench, has been visited by 27 people in total - read a book with less than 100 ratings on GR
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on Earth. - read a book with a title of at least 4 words where each letter can be found in The Great Barrier Reef
The Sargasso Sea is a unique ocean area defined by surrounding currents, not land. - The Wide Sargrasso Sea is also a prequel to Jane Eyre from the perspective of the mad woman in the attic - read a book that is a prequel to a series or a retelling
Dolphins sleep with one eye open. - Sleep with one eye open is also a line from the song Enter the Sandman by Metallica - read a book that shares another 4+ letter word with a song - https://genius.com/Metallica-enter-sa...
Mod - you will want to change Winter to Spring in Msg 1 and adjust the dates.
While there is technically only one global ocean, it is geographically divided into five distinct oceans: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Southern (Antarctic) OceansRAB that is #5 in a series
RAB with Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, or Southern in the title
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Ocean life, or marine life, encompasses the diverse organisms—from microscopic bacteria to the massive blue whale—that inhabit salt water, including oceans, coastal wetlands, and reefs. More than 242,000 documented species, including fish, marine mammals, reptiles, and invertebrates, are classified by their lifestyle as plankton (drifters), nekton (swimmers), or benthos (bottom-dwellers).
RAB with a creature that lives in the ocean on the cover
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RAB with MPG Maritime or Nautical
RAB with MPG Ocean, Oceanography
(note: maybe tagged 5x instead? )
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RAB with an ocean associated word in the title.
Ocean, tide, wave, current, sea, bay, gulf, coast, shore, tsunami, surf, beach, sand.
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St. Patrick's Day, celebrated annually on March 17th (Tuesday in 2026), honors the patron saint of Ireland with parades, wearing green, and festivals celebrating Irish culture
RAB set in Ireland or by an Irish author
RAB with green font on the cover.
RAB published on the 17th of any month.
RAB with an alcohol on the cover.
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April showers bring May flowers
1. Read a book with rain, lightning, storm clouds on the cover
2. Read a book with flowers on the cover
March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb
1. RAB with a carnivorous animal on the cover.
2. RAB with an herbivorous animal on the cover
Explore the animals of the ocean. Read a book with a title word that matches a word from this list of oceanic animals. Required: State the animal.https://oceaninfo.com/animals/
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Read a book with a title word of 3 or more letters that match a word from the song, "Under the Sea."
The full title word for abbreviated lyric words may be used.
Examples:
Darling Girls - Lyric word: darlin'
Cutting for Stone - Lyric word: cuttin'
Under the Sea
Song by Samuel E. Wright
Ariel, listen to me
The human world, it's a mess
Life under the sea is better than anything they got up there
The seaweed is always greener
In somebody else's lake
You dream about going up there
But that is a big mistake
Just look at the world around you
Right here on the ocean floor
Such wonderful things surround you
What more is you looking for?
Under the sea
Under the sea
Darlin' it's better
Down where it's wetter
Take it from me
Up on the shore, they work all day
Out in the sun, they slave away
While we devotin'
Full time to floatin'
Under the sea
Down here all the fish is happy
As off through the waves they roll
The fish on the land ain't happy
They're sad 'cause they're in the bowl
But fish in the bowl is lucky
They in for a worser fate
One day when the boss gets hungry
Guess who's gon' be on the plate (Oh no!)
Under the sea
Under the sea
Nobody beat us
Fry us and eat us
In fricassee
We what the land folks loves to cook
Under the sea, we off the hook
We got no troubles
Life is the bubbles
Under the sea (under the sea)
Under the sea (under the sea)
Since life is sweet here
We got the beat here naturally (naturally)
Even the sturgeon an' the ray
They get the urge an' start to play
We got the spirit
You got to hear it
Under the sea
The newt play the flute
The carp play the harp
The plaice play the bass
And they're soundin' sharp
The bass play the brass
The chub play the tub
The fluke is the duke of soul (yeah)
The ray, he can play
The ling on the strings
The trout rockin' out
The blackfish, she sings
The smelt and the sprat
They know where it's at
An' oh that blowfish blow!
Yeah, under the sea (under the sea)
Under the sea (under the sea)
When the sardine
Begin the beguine
It's music to me
What do they got? A lot of sand
We got a hot crustacean band
Each little clam here
Know how to jam here
Under the sea
Each little slug here
Cuttin' a rug here
Under the sea
Each little snail here
Know how to wail here
That's why it's hotter
Under the water
Yeah, we in luck here
Down in the muck here
Under the sea
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The Mariana Trench is the deepest point in all the oceans on our planet. The depth is 36,201 feet. Read a book whose first published date contains all the numbers of depth of the Mariana Trench. Numerals may be substituted for the publishing month, 1 for January, 2 for February, etc..
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The Bermuda Triangle is a legendary triangular area in the North Atlantic Ocean between Florida, Bermuda and Puerto Rico. Mysterious disappearances of ships and aircraft around this region have been the source of this urban legend.
Read a book set at least 50% in Florida, Bermuda, and/or Puerto Rico.
Read a book from the Urban Legend Shelf
Read a book from the first 20 pages of the Love Triangles Shelf
Mod
Sorry, I was hurrying to post it before I left for work. I will get that fixed.
PB&J Day - April 2nd is peanut butter and jelly day. Grab a sandwich then take a bite into a book whose title begins with the letter "P, B, or J."******
Twisted! - National pretzel day is celebrated on April 26th. Celebrate by reading a book on the first 25 pages of the Twisted Endings Shelf
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Read Across America Day - On March 2nd, Dr. Seuss's birthday, we celebrate the legacy of this beloved children's author and promote reading among children.
Read a book with a title word of 3 or more letters (except "the" and "and") which matches a title word from the complete list of Dr. Seuss titles:
And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street (1937)
The 500 Hats Of Bartholomew Cubbins (1938)
The King’s Stilts (1939)
Horton Hatches the Egg (1940)
McElligot’s Pool (1947)
Thidwick The Big-Hearted Moose (1948)
Bartholomew And The Oobleck (1949)
If I Ran the Zoo (1950)
Scrambled Eggs Super! (1953)
Horton Hears A Who! (1954)
On Beyond Zebra (1955)
If I Ran The Circus (1956)
The Cat in the Hat (1957)
How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1957)
Yertle The Turtle And Other Stories (1958)
The Cat In The Hat Comes Back! (1958)
Happy Birthday To You! (1959)
Green Eggs And Ham (1960)
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish (1960)
The Sneetches And Other Stories (1961)
Dr Seuss’s Sleep Book (1962)
Dr Seuss’s ABC (1963)
Hop on Pop (1963)
Fox In Socks (1965)
I Had Trouble In Getting To Solla Sollew (1965)
The Cat in the Hat Song Book (1967)
The Foot Book (1968)
I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! And Other Stories (1969)
My Book About Me (1969)
I Can Draw It Myself (1970)
Mr Brown Can Moo! Can You? (1970)
The Lorax (1971)
Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! (1972)
Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? (1973)
The Shape Of Me And Other Stuff (1973)
Great Day For Up (1974)
There’s a Wocket in my Pocket! (1974)
Oh, The Thinks You Can Think! (1975)
I Can Read With My Eyes Shut! (1978)
Oh, Say Can You Say? (1979)
Hunches In Bunches (1982)
The Butter Battle Book (1984)
You’re Only Old Once! (1986)
I am Not Going to Get Up Today (1987)
Oh, The Places You’ll Go! (1990)
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No Socks Day - On May 8th, "No Socks Day," as the temps warm up, head outside with a book, kick up your bare feet and relax.
Your book must have at least one person on the cover, and that person must not be wearing socks. They can be wearing flip flops, sandals or other shoes as long as there are no visible socks. If more than one person is on the cover, then they also must meet no socks requirement. A full body is not necessary, just legs and feet are acceptable.
I’m fond of Ireland and St Patrick’s Day is one of my fave holidays. Here are some tasks ideas in honor of IrelandErin go bragh
In honor of St Patrick’s Day and Ireland’s Patron saint
Opt 1- read a book whose author is Patrick or a variation of Patrick;
Pat, Padriac, Paddy, Patrice, Patty, Patsy, Patricia, Tricia, Trish
Can be first or last name
Opt 2 Read a book set 100% in Ireland
Opt 3 Read a book that has a cover 50% green
Opt 4 read a book written by an author who shares a first or last name with one of the counties in the Republic of Ireland on in Northern Ireland, UK
* Antrim
* Armagh
* Carlow
* Cavan
* Clare
* Cork
* Derry
* Donegal
* Down
* Dublin
* Fermanagh
* Galway
* Kerry
* Kildare
* Kilkenny
* Laois
* Leitrim
* Limerick
* Longford
* Louth
* Mayo
* Meath
* Monaghan
* Offaly
* Roscommon
* Sligo
* Tipperary
* Tyrone
* Waterford
* Westmeath
* Wexford
* Wicklow
This list includes all 32 counties, with 26 in the Republic of Ireland and 6 in Northern Ireland
Opt 5 for 40 shades of green read a book with one of these shades of green in title
1. Acid
2. Apple
3. Army
4. Crocodile
5. Avocado
6. Bright
7. Brilliant
8. Dark
9. Emerald
10. Faded
11. Forest
12. Grass
13. Hunter
14. Icy
15. Irish
16. Jade
17. Jungle
18. Kelly
19. Leaf
20. Lettuce
21. Light
22. Medium
23. Metallic
24. Mint
25. Moss
26. Myrtle
27. Neon
28. Olive
29. Parrot
30. Pastel
31. Pea
32. Pine
33. Pistachio
34. Lime
35. Sage
36. Sea
37. Shamrock
38. Spring
39. Teal
40. Turquoise
There's an artist called Robert Wyland (he signs his work just WYLAND) who's spent a lot of time working for maritime conservation, especially whales. He and his studio do various undersea paintings, as well as sculptures of marine creatures in lucite, but he's probably most famous for his Whaling Wall murals and his pictures of whale tails.Maybe a task where the author initials can be found in WYLAND? Or all the letters of WYLAND can be found in the title.
A book with a whale or whale tail on the cover.
A book where a major character (not necessarily the main character) is an artist or scupltor.
Seperately, the RMS Titanic, lying on the seabed 4,000m down, has become an artifical reef with a thriving ecosystem, including bacteria and fungi in the "rusticles" (formations of rust similar to an icicle or stalactite which occur in deep water when iron-eating bacteria attack and oxidize wrought iron and steel). One of these bacteria has been called Halomonas titanicae, and is “eating” the wreckage.
How about a book where all the title initials can be found in Halomonas titanicae? Or a book with a reef on the cover?
What about something based on "rusticles"?
Or, the Titanic was built in Belfast (tying in with St. Paddy's Day) and sank on 15 April 1912. Read a book with page numbers made up from 15041912.
Read a book set in a country that borders the Indian Ocean.Read a book set in a country that borders the Persian Gulf.
Read a book with an aquatic animal on the cover.
Read a book with a significant theme of recovery (after an illness, addiction, grief, etc)
Read a book whose main character’s job is somehow connected to the ocean- lighthouse keeper, marine biologist, pearl diver, sailor, etc)
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The Seasonal Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Darling Girls (other topics)Cutting for Stone (other topics)
The bonus theme is Biomes- Ocean
As in past challenges some tasks may revolve around the seasonal theme of Spring . Others may reflect the bonus theme. Other tasks may have nothing to do with either of those themes, they’re just fun or unique ideas to stimulate your reading.
Feel free to post as many ideas as you can come up with. Don’t worry about repeating what someone else has might have already suggested. The more ideas, the better!
The moderators will draw from these ideas as well as their own to create the 5, 10 and 15 point tasks. This thread will be open for ideas until February 21st . Spring tasks will begin to be posted the week of February 17th. We look forward to seeing what you come up with!