The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
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30.1 - Ms Anderson's Task - Birthdays and Birthmonths
Ms Anderson wrote: "There are plenty of historical fiction and romance novels that take place in the "Old West" that could work for western--it doesn't just have to be revolvers and hangings."I'm a Friday baby as well. I'm either going to read a Lorraine Heath western romance (I really liked her Texas series) or one of Deeanne Gist's Christian romances, most of which are westerns (1850s Cali, Texas, etc.). Westerns aren't so bad when they focus on a love story... ;)
Thanks for all the suggestions! I'll be able to find something now :)
Wikipedia lists John Steinbeck as a writer of western fiction (on this list). I've never read anything by him, although I've been meaning to for quite some while, so I was wondering if anybody could tell me which of his books classify as westerns since Wikipedia didn't provide any information in that direction.
The link in Dlmrose's post lists the following:The New West—the American West after 1920:
John Steinbeck -- Cannery Row; Sweet Thursday; The Pearl; Tortilla Flat
Mod
So, does this mean that the book we read for this has to be set in the "Old West"? And, if so, what's the cutoff date? And, does it have to be in what we think of as the west now, or what was the west at the time (since in the early days of the westward expansion, even places like Tennessee and Kentucky were thought of as "the west.")
Liz wrote: "The link in Dlmrose's post lists the following:The New West—the American West after 1920:
John Steinbeck -- Cannery Row; Sweet Thursday; The Pearl; Tortilla Flat"
Thank you very much. :)
I can't believe I looked through that list and didn't see Steinbeck.
I posted this in the wrong place.Would Astrology count for the occult?
For you December babies, I am reading Alphabet Juice: The Energies, Gists, and Spirits of Letters, Words, and Combinations Thereof; Their Roots, Bones, Innards, Piths, Pips, and Secret Parts, ... With Examples of Their Usage Foul and Savory by Roy Blount Jr. and I think this would be an amusing one to read. It is really more of a bathroom book (not a straight forward, read it all in one sitting), but it is pretty entertaining as well as educational.
For 5.1 task- my birthday is August. And I need to read a non-fiction about the occult. Would an astrology book work for this? Thanks.
Sandy wrote: "Sara ♥ wrote: "Ms Anderson wrote: "There are plenty of historical fiction and romance novels that take place in the "Old West" that could work for western--it doesn't just have to be revolvers and ..."I say "Old West" because that's what I think of when I envision westerns (well, either that or ranchers' daughters and burly hired hands). Wikipedia says, "Western fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier (usually anywhere west of the Mississippi River) and typically set during the late nineteenth century." For the sake of argument, novels such as All the Pretty Horses or the aforementioned writings of Steinbeck will work, and I may allow certain other "modern-day" westerns if the themes/settings/tropes of the genre are there (ie. The Gunslinger).
When I chose this genre, I got it from this site: http://www.cuebon.com/ewriters/Wsubge... (the link will take you specifically to the "western" subgenres). Finally, there is a children's series of diary-style novels that could be considered "westerns": The Great Railroad Race: the Diary of Libby West, Utah Territory, 1868, Seeds of Hope: The Gold Rush Diary of Susanna Fairchild, California Territory, 1849, West to a Land of Plenty: The Diary of Teresa Angelino Viscardi, New York to Idaho Territory, 1883, A Line in the Sand: The Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence, Gonzales, Texas, 1836, My Face to the Wind: The Diary of Sarah Jane Price, a Prairie Teacher, Broken Bow, Nebraska, 1881,, andMy Name Is America: The Journal Of Joshua Loper, A Black Cowboy, to name a few.
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Kathy wrote: "For 5.1 task- my birthday is August. And I need to read a non-fiction about the occult. Would an astrology book work for this? Thanks."
Sorry, just got back. Yes, astrology will work. Funnily enough, that was the original topic before I broadened it to include all things occult.
Thank you so much.I'm new and so excited to do my first challenge.
I'm slipping in spring ones before it ends!
Mod
That was an interesting list - who would have thought of "cowpunk"!
Kathy wrote: "Found this site for best Western Writers.http://www.westernwriters.org/best_we..."
Thank you for the list :3 I hope you enjoy the challenge when it starts!
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Sandy wrote: "Ms Anderson wrote: "When I chose this genre, I got it from this site: http://www.cuebon.com/ewriters/Wsubgenre... (the link will take you specifically to the "western" subgenres
That was an inte..."
I really, REALLY want a list of cowpunk books so I can read one. That was the genre that caught my eye when I was looking at the list originally.
Mod
Found this:
http://www.hclib.org/pub/bookspace/my...
Cowpunk reminds me of the time our library did a program on cowboy poets. The Library staff got inspired and wrote a number of cattle inspired Cowhide Q. (Cow Haiku, for those of you not familiar with the genre)Some of it was pretty hilarious.
Hi Ms Anderson, would you accept By the Beautiful Sea for May's theme, "amusement parks"? I found it on this Amusement Park Book List. I have to admit I don't know what Atlantic City has to do with amusement parks, not knowing much about it (one of the reasons I'd figure I'd read it if I could!).What about The American Roller Coaster?
Either of those will work, Paige. Atlantic City has a pier that is an entire amusement park, even though I've never gotten to go down to that part of the boardwalk (silly shore with its enticing sand and sparkling water!) *grin*
Either of those will work, Paige. Atlantic City has a pier that is an entire amusement park, even though I've never gotten to go down to that part of the boardwalk (silly shore with its enticing sand and sparkling water!) *grin*Oh cool, I had no idea! Great, thank you!!
October babies..help?! I have no idea what to read. I wish I was born in another month..this one is too specific for me. Love the task though!
Great task again, Ms Anderson! I has been so thrilled until I found out what I must read for my birth month. :PHowever, would you consider feng-shui as occultism? Not that I have any specific book in mind, but it's sound more interesting than most occult books mentioned.
For anyone who must read novel in verse, I'll recommend The Golden Gate. I'm reading it for the 50-point task, and love it so much. It's fun and very witty.
Potjy wrote: "Great task again, Ms Anderson! I has been so thrilled until I found out what I must read for my birth month. :PHowever, would you consider feng-shui as occultism? Not that I have any specific boo..."
Yes, that will work ^_^
Jamie wrote: "October babies..help?! I have no idea what to read. I wish I was born in another month..this one is too specific for me.
Love the task though!"
You could read a book about the Black Plague, which interrupted the fighting more than a few times, or any person involved with the war, such as Joan of Arc or one of the kings. You could also read a book about a few of the cities involved (a history of Calais, for example) or about medieval weapons (cannons and guns were actually used by the English during this period). My suggestion is to go to the wikipedia page and scan through it and see if anything mentioned captures your interest. As a topic it is kind of narrow (probably the narrowest on the list, to be honest), but there are still several directions you can go with it. Good luck!
Just wanted to announce that this task is now worth 30 points!
Ms Anderson wrote: "Potjy wrote: "Great task again, Ms Anderson! I has been so thrilled until I found out what I must read for my birth month. :PHowever, would you consider feng-shui as occultism? Not that I have an..."
Ooh thanks for giving me some ideas. I might go the direction of Joan of Arc or the Black Plague. Thanks for your help!
Jamie wrote: "October babies..help?! I have no idea what to read. I wish I was born in another month..this one is too specific for me. Love the task though!"
I got freaked by the topic too. But I have a short list and hopefully it will help. Still not sure what I am going to find at the library, but at least this helped getting some ideas for subjects within or titles to look for. (Or the basic area to check in the library.) Most likely I will hit a bio of Joan of Arc. But I like your idea of Black Plague.
*Joan of Arc and the Hundred Years War (Greenwood Guides to Historic Events of the Medieval World) by Deborah A. Fraioli
*War of the Roses
*Royal Blood: Richard III and the Mystery of the Princes by Bertram Fields
Felina wrote: "I was born in December on a Sunday. Umm...help! I don't know what Noir Mystery means and I don't really know where to start for History of Language. What all would that include? I'm getting visions..."Little late to this. But I did a quick search and came up with a few titles that sounded interesting. (and yes, you have to be careful with the dusty titles listed)
*The Story of Yiddish: How a Mish-Mosh of Languages Saved the Jews by Neal Karlen
*The Stories of English by David Crystal (though it might get a little dry in spots)
*The Fight for English: How Language Pundits Ate, Shot, and Left also by David Crystal
*The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson (I like his books quite a bit.) He may have a couple other books on the subject.
Hi Ms. Anderson! I have January, Architecture. Will you accept The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard?
Carma wrote: "Felina wrote: "I was born in December on a Sunday. Umm...help! I don't know what Noir Mystery means and I don't really know where to start for History of Language. What all would that include? I'm ..."Thanks Carma - I decided to go with Brysons book. Got it through goodreads swap to so it worked out well! I've been a fan of Bryson for years.
Angie wrote: "Hi Ms. Anderson! I have January, Architecture. Will you accept The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard?"I'll take this.
Thank you! Thank you! At first I thought "boring... architecture," but I'm excited about this one!
Wouldn't Agatha Christie also count as Noir Mystery?
Not really. Christie's mysteries are a little too prim and proper and lack the necessary pessimism about the human condition. Here's an example people may be familiar with: Sin City, Vol. 1: The Hard Goodbye. And, honestly, if you're not sure what to read, every place I've looked has said The Maltese Falcon is the iconic noir mystery--and because it was written a long time ago, it isn't as graphic or bloody as if it were written in the past ten years or so.
So, Can we real Sin City for the noir mystery??
Yeah, it's a noir mystery ^_^ I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner when I was giving my examples.
There's a couple of Law & Order books, too. And Young Indiana Jones and the Plantation Treasure books.
Sara wrote: "So I'm not sure what constitutes a novel in verse. What about the novel Light Boxes? It has a really unusual format. It opens with:Thaddeus
We sat on the hill,
We watched the flames
inside t..."
A novel in verse is a story told through poetry, rather than prose. The Eddas (Viking sagas), Beowulf, and The Canterbury Tales are all examples of classic novels-in-verse, while Ellen Hopkins' books, Sharon Creech's Love That Dog, and Lisa Schroeder's books are modern examples of the genre.
As for Light Boxes specifically, I'm going to actually need to see the book to give you an answer. From everything I could find about it, people kept mentioning his "prose," but that could just be because there's no other way to describe it. I'm going to be at the bookstore this weekend; I'll get back to you as soon as I can with an answer.
Edit: When I say "Beowulf," I mean something like Beowulf: A New Verse Translation, not a novelization of the story.
Does anyone know of some good sports fiction books? I don't really want to read Playing For Pizza: A Novel. Thanks!
A few suggestions: I loved Farm Team and Dan Gutman's sports novels (Babe & Me and The Million Dollar Kick, for example).
Mike Lupica is a well-known children's and young adult author in this genre, and lots of people enjoy his books, which combine sports with relationships (family, friends, romantic, etc.)--Heat is one of his best-known books.
Both Playing the Field and There's a Girl in My Hammerlock are very funny books with female protagonists that deal with girls breaking into "boy" sports (baseball and wrestling, respectively).
Tangerine is a sports book with a science-fiction twist.
Finally, in The One Where the Kid Nearly Jumps to His Death and Lands in California and Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, taking up a sport has a positive impact on the lives (and sanity) of the protagonists.
I hope one of these catches your interest! They're all relatively quick reads, if you're interested in just getting them done with.
*does a happy dance* I didn't realize The Girl with the dragon tattoo would work for this one!!!
Don't know if anyone posted but you can look up what day of the week you are born on:http://www.brainbashers.com/dayofweek...
Could I read "The Pocket Guide to Musicals" by Maureen Hughes. The Pocket Guide to Musicals is compulsory reading for anyone studying musical theater and its size makes it a perfect gift for anyone. (Goodreads)
Thank you
For the noir mystery, I think the Easy Rawlins mysteries by Walter Mosley would be interesting for those who love the subtext or context in novels. They're perfect noir for me, but Ms Anderson will have the final word. :)
Potjy wrote: "For the noir mystery, I think the Easy Rawlins mysteries by Walter Mosley would be interesting for those who love the subtext or context in novels. They're perfect noir for me, but M..."Sounds good--nice and pessimistic and gritty *_~
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Tryphena wrote: "Could I read "The Pocket Guide to Musicals" by Maureen Hughes.
The Pocket Guide to Musicals is compulsory reading for anyone studying musical theater and its size makes it a perfect gift for an..."
It'll work.
Mod
I was born on a Wed so I need to read a fanfic and I know you want to limit it to movies/tv.Does Frankly My Dear, I'm Dead work for this? It looks like it's Fanfic for Gone With The WInd.
For this task, the fanfic may not be based on a book, so no, that will not work.
The Seasonal Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
The Smart Girl's Guide to Tarot (other topics)Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life: How to Use Feng Shui to Get Love, Money, Respect, and Happiness (other topics)
The Smart Girl's Guide to Tarot (other topics)
Vanilla, Chocolate, & Strawberry: The Story of Your Favorite Flavors (other topics)
The Book Of Latina Women: 150 Vidas of Passion, Strength, and Success (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Karl Gröning (other topics)Richard Castle (other topics)
Walter Mosley (other topics)
Walter Mosley (other topics)
Mike Lupica (other topics)
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I decided that, since I normally don't read westerns, I'm going for a classic like Shane or a Zane Grey. But when I was researching, on a list of westerns I found The Cold Dish. A modern mystery/detective sort of book, looks like, but set in the west with what looks to be horses and rifles and such. Would something like that work?