The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
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ABIGAIL'S TASK - ODD MAN OUT
Tanja wrote: "Now my choice is kicked to the wind by Michelle US' task - 7 word title *OR* 1 word title. Beauty without subtitle is 1 word. And then with the subtitle makes it longer than 7 words. *aaaaaaaaaaaaa..."I am sorry... I have almost given up. A lot of the ones I thought would work were on the list of 1001 or took place on an island nation or were disqualified for any other number of reasons.
To whoever was wanting to read that one titled B book (I can't remember it off the top of my tired head), it is on the list of 1001 books... so that is another option of a place you could put it.
I find the best way to approach this task is to:1) Sort your read shelf by author
2) Click on authors you're interested in reading their other works
3) ELIMINATE any 5 star reads from winners (best avoid popular books/authors)
4) ELIMINATE any books published between 2000-2009
5) ELIMINATE books made into movies
6) ELIMINATE any author that has won Nebula/Hugo Prize
7) ELIMINATE any alliteration titles (one word between)
8) ELIMINATE any 1 word titles or 7+ word titles
9) ELIMINATE island novels - that goes for ENGLAND!
10) ELIMINATE books w/maps or extras (may have to check bookstores/library for confirmation)
About then you have widdled your list to a smaller selection to post here for another look!
Gah. After searching through my 300+ books...most of my authors are eliminated. Down to Jon Krakauer and Judy Blume (maybe 2 others if I search harder)Krakauer
Judy Blume
Which ones aren't on the winner's lists? Excluding Fudge series.
Susan Richards Shreve
* Daughters of the New World
* The Train Home
Ann Patchett
* The Patron Saint of Liars
* The Magician's Assistant <- wasn't this on a 5 star list?
Kristina Marie wrote: "Would The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath work? I did not see any of the leaders list it as 5 stars. I checked the Chinese animal with mine and it is different. Thanks!"Hate to ruin this one Kristina, but I have The Bell Jar as a 5 star read!
Sorry!
It is REALLY good though - you should definitely try to read it.
tanja,just don't read Are You There God, It's Me Margaret? by Judy Blume. It fits the "LOST" task.
Krista wrote: "Amanda wrote: "I think I'm going to read East of Eden by John Steinbeck. It's not in this decade, not sci fi, no recent movies, I've read Steinbeck before, the author is male..it's not ..."Amanda, John Steinbeck is one of the Lost Generation authors (first part of Sam's task).
Does anyone know if The Glass-Blowers contains a map?....or if it's disqualified for this task for any other reason?From what I can find out there's never been a movie made of it and it hasn't won any awards. Du Maurier is born in the Year of the Sheep (not my sign), I've read a book by her before, this book is on no one's 5* list, it's not on the LOST list, published in '63 and set in France (not an island).
Petra - looks good IF it isn't on the Winners' 5-Star List. Haven't flipped through the book so not sure if it has an "extra".
Aarrgghh! I thought I was being so clever with the textbook I needed to read anyway...it has all sorts of extra material.
I am exhausted from looking. I think I'll wait until somebody finds one that fits all the criteria and as long as it's not a year of the horse author, I'll read it--even if it's vampires.
Sara☺ wrote: "Abigail wrote: "Sara☺ wrote: "Ok, let's try another one.How about Neverwhere A Novel by Neil Gaimen? I know he has won a nebula or hugo award, but it was not prior to 2000, we aren..."
Sorry I've been slow. Holiday chaos and all. (Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was good, though!)
Looks like you've already figured this out, but I'm saying it just in case someone looked for my answer specifically: Neverwhere is out since it's on a winner's 5* list.
(I'm trying to bold my answers from now on, too.)
Sara☺ wrote: "Ok, another try...I feel like the Little Engine that Could ;-)I was reading that the author can be new to us during the challenge and then we could read another book by that author as long as we ..."
Definitely it's fine if you read another book by that author FIRST, before completing this task. And I think both Yates books (A Good School and Disturbing the Peace) are good! Double-check on the movie aspect and your Dewey decimals, though.
Krista wrote: "I KNOW I won't have time to get all the tasks done for the Winter Challenge, so I'm just going to focus on the ones I'm really interested in."Me too. I'm so excited I finished the fall one, but I *know* it won't happen this winter. Still, I'll have fun in the process -- hope you do too! :)
Thanks Abigail! I checked and they are not part of my dewey and they are not on the new list of 1001 reads..yeah!! Thanks!
Jamie wrote: "Oh man! I'm an idiot. I forgot that it was a movie made in this decade. Amanda's post just reminded me of that. My Cousin Rachel still works then..because it definitely wasn't made in this decade. ..."I think you've seen that My Cousin Rachel doesn't work because of the new constraints (island nation -- Stephanie's task). Which is too bad because *I* want that one, too! :) But I looked at the Portable Beat Reader and it *might* work. The biggest questions I have right now are whether it has any "extra content" as specified in Bridgit's task, or if it would work for your Dewey decimals.
Amanda wrote: "OK, what about A Passage to India by E.M. Forster? He's an English writer, but the book actually takes place in India. I've read him before, my cover is yellow, it's not Russian or Can..."Looks good to me!
Edited 20 minutes later to add: I haven't checked the newest winners' 5* lists, so double-check that first. Sorry!
Liz wrote: "Does Sexing the Cherrywork? My copy has a pineapple on the cover, so its not red/white/blue. The only problem it may potentially have is that it takes place in a place 'like' 17th ce..."Unfortunately, it won't work. Either it takes place in England and is therefore ruled out by Stephanie's task, OR it takes place in a fictitious location and is therefore ruled out by 15.2b.
Cindy wrote: "Abigail, totally different direction. I have a textbook that I need to read for my job. I know it isn't on anyone's list (it is barely on my list!), unless one of the winners is a pathologist, too...."Seems fine to me, except for double-checking the Dewey decimal possibility Katie already mentioned.
Petra wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "Which means Yippee for you and for Buddenbrooks!! ..."Back to the drawing board.....Buddenbrooks fits a one-word title. Oh well, at least I can fit it in somewhere. :)
Oh, I'm so sorry, Petra. I know you were looking forward to filling up this space with that. But, hey, at least it still fits the challenge somewhere!
"
Jamie wrote: "It's really funny to me because normally I have books that I want to read that literally don't fit any challenge..and now when I need to find a book that doesn't fit..I can't! lol"I know!!! I was thinking it'd be a sort of fun challenge but, in the end, almost everyone would be happy to fit in that one mismatched book. Who knew?! ;)
Tara wrote: "How about ARC books that will not be published until 2010? Would they be considered not published in 2009 and be available for this task?"Hm. Good question. Since I'm all about making this easier, and since Bonnie's task specifically says 2000-2009, I'd say sure. BUT this loophole does *not* work for sci-fi, which says "the current century."
At least we can't argue that all the tasks in this challenge are too much alike!
Tanja wrote: "Gah. After searching through my 300+ books...most of my authors are eliminated. Down to Jon Krakauer and Judy Blume (maybe 2 others if I search harder)Susan Richards Shreve
* Daughters of the New World
* The Train Home
Ann Patchett
* The Patron Saint of Liars
* The Magician's Assistant <- wasn't this on a 5 star list?
I didn't review Judy Blume's list, but I know you can't do "Are You There God?..." because it's on the Lost list (Sam's task). The rest, double-check the winners and your local/initial-country GR lists first.
The Shreve and Patchett books both look okay to me. Magician's Assistant is not on a winner's 5-star list that I know of, BUT I haven't looked at the newest winners yet. And again, check the other GR lists you're supposed to.
Abigail wrote: "Jamie wrote: "Oh man! I'm an idiot. I forgot that it was a movie made in this decade. Amanda's post just reminded me of that. My Cousin Rachel still works then..because it definitely wasn't made in..."No extra content like that and it also doesn't seem to be in conflict with my Dewey numbers..but I'm going to double check!
Petra wrote: "Does anyone know if The Glass-Blowers contains a map?....or if it's disqualified for this task for any other reason?From what I can find out there's never been a movie made of it ..."
Let us know if you find out about extra material. So far as I know, it works -- but I'm still catching up on the new winners' 5* lists.
Donna Jo wrote: "I am exhausted from looking. I think I'll wait until somebody finds one that fits all the criteria and as long as it's not a year of the horse author, I'll read it--even if it's vampires."Me too! Who knew I came up with something so diabolical?!
Abigail wrote: "Liz wrote: "Does Sexing the Cherrywork? My copy has a pineapple on the cover, so its not red/white/blue. The only problem it may potentially have is that it takes place in a place 'l..."I think Sexing The Cherry is on the 1001 books list, too.
Abigail wrote: "Petra wrote: "Does anyone know if The Glass-Blowers contains a map?....or if it's disqualified for this task for any other reason?From what I can find out there's never been a movie..."
It's not a 5* on any Winner's lists (the exception perhaps being the ones that are private, which I think are fair to ignore if we don't have the access).
To Everyone From AbigailI'm going to wait until tomorrow to write any more -- just in case we get some more winners. Plus, I missed out on lots over the holiday, so I need to take some time to explore all the new tasks. Whee.
That said, if I'm super-organized (ha! definitely not something anyone ever says about me), once the dust settles and we know the full list of tasks, if we find ones that work, I might even try to update my first post to include some of those that should work for a wide variety of readers. So *please* let me know if you run across some good ideas -- or if I screw up and didn't realize a book qualifies for something else.
Thanks, everyone, for your patience with this! Seriously, I had no clue it would be *this* challenging!!!
It is indeed a BIG challenge but that's what makes it fun for me to find a book to fit.
So with Emily's task - graphic novels are out and anything that has a visually appealing cover is out too.
Cynthia wrote: "So with Emily's task - graphic novels are out and anything that has a visually appealing cover is out too."The visually appealing is subjective though ~ everyone's taste is different. I would imagine that if someone doesn't find a particular book visually stunning, then they can still read it for this task because there is no conflict with visual appeal. Right? For example, just because I might find the cover of The Children's Book gorgeous, doesn't mean you do, so my taste shouldn't exclude a book from your reading. Am I being as clear as mud?? Or am I making sense?? :P
Ooh pretty dragonfly, Jennifer. I like that cover. But I understand your point. It is very subjective to the individual. But I also base it on - I selected the book FOR its cover. That's why a lot of my TBR (despite having pretty covers) doesn't work b/c I selected those novels first for other reasons.
Jennifer wrote: "Cynthia wrote: "So with Emily's task - graphic novels are out and anything that has a visually appealing cover is out too."The visually appealing is subjective though ~ everyone's taste is differ..."
Yes your right.
Jennifer wrote: "Cynthia wrote: "So with Emily's task - graphic novels are out and anything that has a visually appealing cover is out too."The visually appealing is subjective though ~ everyone's taste is differ..."
Wow, that's a beautiful cover!
Okay, I think I found one which works for me.Setting Free the Bears by John Irving
I've read other John Irving novels, it does not have a red/white/blue cover. Doesn't take place in an island country, Canada nor Russia. John Irving is a male writer and not a "Sheep". He didn't win an award (Nebula/Hugo) for this. It was published in 1968 and was never made into a movie. It's not a cozy mystery, it involves a zoo not a circus theme, and none of the winners with open profiles have this as a 5* read. Also not on the 1001 Books list. Am I missing something?
OK, I'm going to try some "old authors". Books I read 30 years ago. Some of these authors will NOT be politically correct, some might be truly awful, but the chances of them appearing on people's 5 star shelves are slim at best:Eugenia Price
Thomas Costain (his best things are set in England, so that's out)
Frank Yerby
Kenneth Roberts (he is probably the best known of these)
Elswyth Thane
The "Gems from the Past" list might also have some half-forgotten books that will past muster.
Patricia wrote: "Okay, I think I found one which works for me.Setting Free the Bears by John Irving
I've read other John Irving novels, it does not have a red/white/blue cover. Doesn't take plac..."
I don't think so but I should warn you - it's AWFUL (at least in my opinion) - I hated it (and I rarely say that about books) - I'm really glad I had read The Cider House Rules before I read it because I never would have picked up an Irving book again if I had read this one first.
Oh and I thought books by female authors were OK, as long as they didn't come from a series with a female protagonist (which some of Eugenia Price's do)
That's what I thought too
Michelle wrote: "Wow, that's a beautiful cover!"
Hi Michelle! I know, right? That is the book I am planning to use for the first part of 25.10 (Emily's Task) so it was immediately in my mind. Even still, I'm sure not everyone will find it beautiful, or some people hate dragonflies. I love it though!
Tanja wrote: "But I also base it on - I selected the book FOR its cover. That's why a lot of my TBR (despite having pretty covers) doesn't work b/c I selected those novels first for other reasons..."
Hmmm...bit of a pickle for you Tanja! This is a tricky task, with all of the new tasks being added. I haven't even started to narrow down any books for this one yet...except maybe a John Steinbeck novel???
:)
I think I've found one - The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. It's not a 5-star on any of the winners' lists (of the winners we have so far), published in the 1980's, won an award but not in 2000-2009 (book of the year in Chile, 1982), made into a movie but not in 2000-2009, I've read her before, it's not on the "1001 Books" list, etc.It works now, but who knows after the tasks still to be added.
Not to be a pain, but I thought The House of the Spirits was on the 1001 Books list..? Maybe I have a different list?
Jamie wrote: "Not to be a pain, but I thought The House of the Spirits was on the 1001 Books list..? Maybe I have a different list?"I didn't see it when I checked the list, but just went back, and yes, it's #276 on the list.
Well, back to the drawing board.
Sorry! :(I got really excited because I wanted to read that book when I saw your post..so I was double checking the 1001 thing because I swore it was on there. I was really hoping to read it!
Pearl S. Buck is looking good - she has a ton of books and I didn't see them on the "1001 Books" list.The only ones that won't work are The Good Earth (5-star on PJREADS list) and others like Peony (1 word titles).
I'm think of using Dragon Seed. Keeping my fingers crossed this works!
Cindy wrote: "Oh and I thought books by female authors were OK, as long as they didn't come from a series with a female protagonist (which some of Eugenia Price's do)"I say I won't write, and here I am. Ah well. Anyhow:
YES, you can read books by female authors as long as they are not:
1) part of a series with a female protagonist
OR
2) a bio of a woman you admire
The Seasonal Reading Challenge
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Time to re-dig into my read pile on some authors.