The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
SUMMER CHALLENGE 2010
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Task Ideas
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Emily
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May 05, 2010 10:53AM
The Teens' Top Ten nominations are out! Read a book from the list and/or a previous winner: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yal...
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Elizabeth wrote: "Get in touch with your inner child: Summer is the time for play, the season of vacations and lazy days doing nothing. Remember days gone by and read 5 of your favorite books from childhood."I love this idea!
Jennifer wrote: "Emily wrote: "Canada Day (June 30th): read a book by a Canadian author or that takes place in Canada..."Hey Emily (and everyone!).
There are a lot of great ideas being posted. I love this partic..."
oops! what day did i say? sorry! i probably just copied it down wrong! or my calendar lied to me! canada and its authors are awesome! my humble apologies.
The World's a Stage - Read a book that has been made into a musical for the stage.Summertime - Read a book whose author's initials are in summertime i.e. s u, u m, m m, m e, e r like the SPRING task.
Who Dunnit - Read a detective book that has been made into a programme or series for the television ie. Murder She Wrote, Midsomer Murders, Poirot etc.
The election aftermath - May 6th is/was election day in the UK. Read a book that has either a character or an author with the same name of the prime minister who is voted in ie. most probably Gordon (Brown), David (Cameron) or Nick (Clegg) (if hung parliament then it would be Gordon as the current prime minister would keep the seat with a shared parliament).
World Disasters - Spring seemed to be a time for disasters this year - the oil slick in america, the icelandic volcano, earthquakes. Read a book that has a natural or manmade disaster that has an effect on a wide area ie. a country or the world over.
Star signs - If you're born in June, July or August then you will be one of the following star signs: taurus, gemini, cancer, leo or virgo. Read a book that has one of the following on the front cover or in the title: Bull, Twins, Crab, Lion or Virgin.
June 21st is the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. Read a book that is over 650 pages long.
June 5th is national popular delusions day!! read a book by an author that 'in your delusions' you are! (ie. an author which has written the book you wish you'd written first!).
Not sure if you are still taking ideas but June is the most popular wedding month - so you could read a book based on marriage or something to that degree.
Opposites attract: While the northern hemisphere has summer, the southern has the opposite, winter. Read 2 books with opposites in the titles. Get creative (ie: yellow and violet are an example of opposites on the colour wheel).
I don't think one should be wishing ones life away, but I wish it was mid-month and we could see which of these interesting ideas will appear in the Summer Challenge.
Influences -- There are a couple ways to do this, but it's all about learning a little bit more about our favorite authors and how they tick!1) Using one of your favorite authors listed on your Goodreads page (or in your head), look up who their influences have been and read a book of that particular author that you have never read before. Tell us if you see any similarities between the two.
Example: Nick Hornby is one of my favorites, and he lists Anne Tyler, Lorrie Moore, Tobias Wolffe, and Philip Roth (among others) as "his literary heroes and models." I could choose The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler or Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth, as they are both books I have never read.
2)Using one of your favorite authors listed on your Goodreads page (or in your head), look up who they list as their favorite author and read a book of that author's that you have never read before.
Example -- I love Maeve Binchy, and her favorite authors to read are Anne Tyler, Alice Munro, and Fay Weldon.
3) Using one of your favorite authors listed on your Goodreads page (or in your head), find an article or review that compares their writing (either generally or in a specific book) to another author's writing (or specific book). Read a book from each of these writers and tell us if you agree with the comparison.
Example: Jon Krakauer is a fave non-fiction writer of mine, and his book Into Thin Air was compared to The Great Gatsby in a Washington Post review. I could read both books and write a message about whether or not I agree with the comparison.
Hello!I have a couple of ideas I would like to share. I have read all of the posted task suggestions, but it is hard to keep it all straight! LOL!
a) August 24th is Sam Spade Day. Spade is a fictional character created by Dashiell Hammett for the book The Maltese Falcon. The novel, first published as a serial in the pulp magazine Black Mask, is the only one that Spade appears in, yet the character is widely cited as the crystallizing figure in the development of the hard-boiled private detective genre – Raymond Chandler's character Philip Marlowe, for instance, was strongly influenced by Hammett's Spade.
To honour Hammet and Spade, read a book of the "hard-boiled detective genre".
b) During the TheSummer of Love, as many as 100,000 young people from around the world flocked to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district, as well as to nearby Berkeley and to other San Francisco Bay Area cities, to join in a popularized version of the hippie experience. Free food, free drugs and free love were available in Golden Gate Park, a Free Clinic (whose work continues today) was established for medical treatment, and a Free Store gave away basic necessities to anyone who needed them.
Read a novel that came out in 1967, is set during the summer of 1967 or was written by an author born in 1967.
c) (A tweak on the Zodiac signs)
(i) Each zodiac sign has an element associated with it:
Gemini = Air
Cancer = Water
Leo = Fire
Virgo = Earth
Read a book (fiction or nonfiction) dealing with one of these four elements or having one of these four words in its title.
(ii) Each zodiac sign has an associated 'theme':
Gemini = a messenger / delivering news / explorer
Cancer = an enigma / contradictions / moody
Leo = radiant energy / charisma / positive thinking
Virgo = the virgin / creative / sensitive
Read a book (fiction or nonfiction) that shares one of these themes.
To determine a person's sign for this task, the alphabet could be split into four groups and then based on last name, that is your summer sign. Unless you were born under one of the summer signs. Then you can use your actual sign.
d) June 8th is Best Friends Day. To recognize this day, ask your best friend for a book recommendation (fiction or nonfiction) and then read the recommendation. (For a higher point task, it could be read one of each, a fiction and nonfiction recommendation.)
e) There are 91 days in the summer challenge. Find a book that is a multiple of 91 (182, 273, 364...etc) and read it.
I hope you find some of these interesting. I am really looking forward to the summer challenge.
:D
I want to put in a serious request for the "see what a stranger is reading" idea. I was just away with my husband at the beach for a few days and I had more fun looking at what people were reading! I recognized many books from discussions here!
I love the Summer of Love and Best Friends ideas! Jennifer wrote: "Hello!
I have a couple of ideas I would like to share. I have read all of the posted task suggestions, but it is hard to keep it all straight! LOL!
a) August 24th is Sam Spade Day. Spade is a fic..."
Mod
Sandy wrote: "Sisters Day is the first Sunday in August. Read a book about sisters."I like that idea... I have three younger sisters and I don't know what I would do without them!
Potjy wrote: "Wow! Jay, I love your idea about Will Smith. It's very creative. (I don't know when I came to like the actor. At first I thought he's crazy in a silly way. :P)* The FIFA World Cup will take plac..."
I was born in South Africa and I lived in the Ivory Coast for 5 years... I don't know that I would want to read a book from their, but this is a cool task!
Elizabeth wrote: "I don't think one should be wishing ones life away, but I wish it was mid-month and we could see which of these interesting ideas will appear in the Summer Challenge."I agree!! i like to try to find books for the challenges (even though I never get to them all) because then they usually end up on my TBR list!
Tracey wrote: "I agree!! i like to try to find books for the challenges (even though I never get to them all) because then they usually end up on my TBR list!..."I agree....with so many book suggestions and queries being made, my TBR list grows exponentially right after the list of tasks is posted.
How about a task which deals with the listopia lists? I know we use 'em for reference material but what about picking a book from that list?Here's a bunch for summer or summer 2010:
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/39...
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/35...
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/50...
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/48...
Or use a wacky, unusual list to get us to read outside the box!
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/10...
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/14...
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/53...
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/37...
Or this type of list. I kinda like it:
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/47...
And this one could tie into summer - GO BAREFOOT :)
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/35...
Tanja wrote: "How about a task which deals with the listopia lists? I know we use 'em for reference material but what about picking a book from that list?Here's a bunch for summer or summer 2010:
http://www..."
Tanja, I like The Most Unappreciated Books and your "Go Barefoot" idea. The Listopia lists have put a lot of books on my TBR list.
Genius! I particularly love the history of just one thing, women in white (after Memorial Day, of course), and unappreciated books!Tanja wrote: "How about a task which deals with the listopia lists? I know we use 'em for reference material but what about picking a book from that list?
Here's a bunch for summer or summer 2010:
http://www..."
Read a book related in some way to a Google logo.http://www.google.com/logos/
This could be limited to logos from years ending in 6, 7, 8 or to logos from the summer months.
Read a book from your TBR shelf/pile (physical, GR, mental), then read another book that has one of the same title words.Read a book from your TBR shelf/pile (physical, GR, mental), then read another book that has a similar cover in some way (color, object, etc.).
Read a book from your TBR shelf/pile (physical, GR, mental), then read another book by the same author.
Read a book from your TBR shelf/pile (physical, GR, mental), then read a book by an author whose name starts with a letter that's alphabetically +/- 6, 7, or 8 letters distant from the first author's name.
Or as one book tasks:
Read a book that has one of the same title words as a book you've read for another task in this challenge.
Read a book where the cover has some similarity to a book you've read for another task in this challenge.
Read a book by the same author as a book you've read for another task in this challenge.
Read a book by an author whose name is alphabetically +/- 6, 7, or 8 letters distant from the author's name of a book you've read for another task in this challenge.
Major league baseball all-star game on July 13 - read a book whose title includes a word from the wiki lists of baseball jargon.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_baseball_jargon
Food and Fun Outdoors - Read a book that has something in the title that you would eat or drink at a barbeque, picnic, etc.
The baseball jargon idea is awesome!Great Minds Think Alike. Pick a favorite book that you have read. Find someone else who gave the book 5 stars, go to their bookshelves and read another book that they have given 5 stars. Also pick a book you didn't care for. Find someone who gave the book 1 star, go to their bookshelves and read a book that they gave 5 stars. No rereads for this one.
Love the baseball jargon!pjreads wrote: "Major league baseball all-star game on July 13 - read a book whose title includes a word from the wiki lists of baseball jargon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...
Food and Fu..."
I love the farmer's market idea! You could take that in a lot of ways. Fruits and vegetables is a great one -- you could even narrow it down to a fruit or vegetable that's local to the area you live in. Or you could have an option to read a book that includes a farm or a farmer or a market.Also, August is the month when the Newport Jazz Festival (now the CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival) takes place. How about reading a book about jazz, a jazz musician, or the jazz era? Or maybe a book that takes place in a traditional jazz city, like New Orleans or Kansas City?
August is a busy month (it also includes my birthday :D ) I looked up my birthday and noticed a lot has gone on.. so here are some suggestions for the Summer challenge! 1807 – Robert Fulton's first American steamboat leaves New York City for Albany, New York on the Hudson River, inaugurating the first commercial steamboat service in the world.
-- Read about Rivers, Lakes, or Steamboats.
1908 – Fantasmagorie, the first animated cartoon, realized by Émile Cohl, is shown in Paris. - Read a book about cartoons (or a cartoon book), or a film history (or something like it) regarding animated films.
1918 – Bolshevik revolutionary leader Moisei Uritsky is assassinated. Read about an assassination attempt, a revolution, or Russian history
1943 – World War II: First Québec Conference of Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and William Lyon Mackenzie King begins. Read about a world leader.
1945 – Indonesian Declaration of Independence. - Read abotu Indonesia, or a book dealing with a country achieving independence
1953 – Addiction: First meeting of Narcotics Anonymous in Southern California. - Read about an addiction or difficult habit
1959 – Quake Lake: Quake Lake is formed by the magnitude 7.5 1959 Yellowstone earthquake near Hebgen Lake in Montana. & 1969 – Category 5 Hurricane Camille hits the Mississippi coast, killing 248 people and causing $1.5 billion in damage.
-- Read about a natural disaster that occurred in the summertime.
1988 – Pakistani President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and U.S. Ambassador Arnold Raphel are killed in a plane crash. Read about a crash (boat, plane, etc)
2005 – The first forced evacuation of settlers, as part of the Israel unilateral disengagement plan, starts. Read about a forced evacuation, Israel, or the conflict mentioned
Births
1473 – Richard, Duke of York Read something about the War of the Roses
1786 – Davy Crockett, American frontiersman and soldier (d. 1836) Read something regarding the early American frontier (any of the Americas) or Davy Crockett
1913 – W. Mark Felt, American Watergate informant (d. 2008) Read something about the Watergate Scandal, CIA, FBI, or political intrigue in Washington circles.
1304 – Emperor Go-Fukakusa of Japan (b. 1243) - Read a book regarding Japan
Read something about the environment.
Has anyone mentioned Picnics yet? Very summery picnics..
-Midsummer's Night Dream: Read a book based however loosely on Shakespeare's play. Can be plot based, character names, theme, fairies, the Thisbe play, whatever.
Donna Jo wrote: "-Midsummer's Night Dream: Read a book based however loosely on Shakespeare's play. Can be plot based, character names, theme, fairies, the Thisbe play, whatever."Love this idea!
Donna Jo wrote: "-Midsummer's Night Dream: Read a book based however loosely on Shakespeare's play. Can be plot based, character names, theme, fairies, the Thisbe play, whatever."This task and the sandwich one mentioned a few pages ago are my favorite suggestions so far. I love how people come up with original interesting tasks that involve more than finding a book with a certain word in the title or a certain theme.
I think the Watergate idea is really cool!Kiri wrote: "August is a busy month (it also includes my birthday :D ) I looked up my birthday and noticed a lot has gone on.. so here are some suggestions for the Summer challenge!
1807 – Robert Fulton's f..."
With Eclipse hitting the theaters in June - it would be fun to read from the list of Stephenie Meyer's favorite books. I found a list on Amazon, and the variety provides something for everyone! (now whether or not she actually made that list....I don't know!) http://www.amazon.com/Stephenie-Meyer...1. Pride & Prejudice
2. Speaker for the Dead
3. Rebecca
4. Anne of Green Gables
5. The Glass Lake
6. Romeo and Juliet
7. Death on the Nile
8. A Company of Swans
9. Dragonflight
10. To Kill a Mockingbird
11. The Chronicles of Narnia
12. Jane Eyre
13. The Princess Bride
14. One For the Money
I know everyone is not a Twilight junky like me, but I have to say that reading the Twilight series seriously got me back into reading again! I used to read all the time before I had kids, then I took about a 6 year hiatus! Someone talked me into reading Twilight about a year and a half ago, and I don't think a day has passed since then that I haven't read! The series ignited my love for reading again!
I am loving the hurricane idea as well as the highschool reading list idea! I did NOT read the books I should have read in highschool! Maybe I was defiant and didn't like to be told what to read in my spare time! ;) In hindsight - I wish I would have read them!
I have never read any of the Twilight books, could that also be an option on this one?Karen wrote: "With Eclipse hitting the theaters in June - it would be fun to read from the list of Stephenie Meyer's favorite books. I found a list on Amazon, and the variety provid..."
"I have never read any of the Twilight books, could that also be an option on this one?"I think that would be a great idea! I would actually like to re-read Eclipse before seeing it. Maybe it could be a two book challenge? Stephenie Meyer also mentions lots of other books within her books. Maybe those could be part of the challenge if someone doesn't want to re-read one of the Twilight books. I read online recently that "Wuthering Heights" is on the best seller list again and possibly due to S. Meyer mentioning it in "Eclipse." I know some people are anti-Twilight and say it's for teens....but it has made a huge impact on the literary world! Here are the books mentioned in the Twilight series:
-Twilight: Pride and Prejudice
-New Moon: Romeo and Juliet
-Eclipse: Wuthering Heights
-Breaking Dawn: The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummers Night Dream
Maybe the Challenge could be something like:
A: Read any book from the Twilight Series (including Midnight Sun) or any book MENTIONED by the characters in the Twilight Series
AND
B: Read any book off Stephenie Meyers list of favorite books
(I know some of Stephenie's books on the list are actually "sets" or a "series." I think just one from those should be plenty! Not the whole set!)
Ok - this is just an idea! I don't really know how this works or who chooses the challenges....but I'm thankful for it! I have read (and enjoyed) many books since joining this group that I might not have discovered on my own!
Karen wrote: "With Eclipse hitting the theaters in June - it would be fun to read from the list of Stephenie Meyer's favorite books. I found a list on Amazon, and the variety provid..."I like this idea. Whether or not each of us are Twilight series fans (I'm not, though I've read the first two for the sake of my students and pop culture understanding), it would be hard to deny it's impact on young (and young at heart) readers and the film release is definitely one of the biggest book->film releases of the year. The list of her favorite book choices also offers a nice selection of choices. I would like to read several of those!
Karen wrote: ... "Maybe the Challenge could be something like:A: Read any book from the Twilight Series (including Midnight Sun) or any book MENTIONED by the characters in the Twilight Series "
Is there a list of those somewhere? I think that would be rather handy.
I like the idea about reading a book from a famous person's top ten list. I'd rather go with Oprah than Meyer though.More lists-
The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books
Who Reads What? Celebrity Name Index
100 Favorite Books of Our Presidents
Laura wrote: "I like the idea about reading a book from a famous person's top ten list. I'd rather go with Oprah than Meyer though.More lists-
The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books
Who Reads What? Cel..."
Thank you so much for the first link!
Emily wrote: "Karen wrote: "With Eclipse hitting the theaters in June - it would be fun to read from the list of Stephenie Meyer's favorite books. I found a list on Amazon, and the ..."I don't like the idea because I think there are too few options. I've already read half of the first list, everything from the second list and have no intention of reading Twilight (influential or not, I've tried to read it once and didn't like it). I think a lot of people will be in the same position because most of the books on those lists are things you read in high school for your English Lit class or just super-well-known among young people (like the Narnia books, The Princess Bride and Speaker for the Dead).
I do think it would be an interesting task to read a book by a certain author and then a book that's on his/her top 10 list, but I want to be able to have more choices. Part of the reason why I want to do the challenge is so I'll discover new authors and books.
If there was a task where we had to read a twilight book i certainly won't be completing that challenge! It is very specific as you can't choose a book from a variety of authors or topics. You may as well just write a list of books that we have to read and i think that's besides the point of this challenge!
Andreea wrote: I do think it would be an interesting task to read a book by a certain author and then a book that's on his/her top 10 list, but I want to be able to have more choices. Part of the reason why I want to do the challenge is so I'll discover new authors and books.I do think this is a great option! Much better than Twilight. I just read twilight series and have no intention of rereading the series anytime soon.
Top Card - Pick the first card from a well-shuffled deck or from http://www.random.org/playing-cards/. Then read a book that is related is some way to a meaning for the suit:- if the card is a heart, read a book related to love (romance, family, best friends, human-animal, etc.)
- if the card is a club, read a book related to violence (war, mystery, etc.) or a formal group (book club, sorority, etc.) or prehistoric people
- if the card is a diamond, read a book related to money or a quest or mines
- if the card is a spade, read a book related to agriculture or gardening
- if the card is a joker, read any book you want
Sorry, Karen ... but I hated Twilight even more than I hated The Historian. I've read the other books. I've re-read and re-read so many books so many times, that I love this challenge for prompting me to expand my horizons.Apologies for being negative during brain-storming, but I dread the idea of that limited a task being chosen.
I would have to say I am also in the anti-Twilight camp. I wouldn't participate in that specific task. Sorry.PJ - the shuffled card task is quite cool.
Yay for baseball jargon! That's a great twist!
I'd read author recommendations BUUUT I wouldn't read anything in the Twilight series. I'm just not that interested. I'll do Sookie :PI lovelovelove Midsummer's Night Dream!!!
The Seasonal Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster (other topics)A Christmas Blizzard (other topics)
Storm of the Century (other topics)
The Jane Austen Book Club (other topics)
The Last Dickens (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Stephen King (other topics)Anita Shreve (other topics)
Francis Ray (other topics)
Susan Richards Shreve (other topics)
Dick Francis (other topics)
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