Challenge Task Suggestions - ONGOING

[April]

Butterflycager wrote: "Read a microhistory of something, a book like Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky."

I agree. This is a great challenge idea

[Butterflycager]

April wrote: "Butterflycager wrote: "Read a microhistory of something, a book like Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky."

I agree. This is a great challenge idea"

Thanks! I enjoy books like this, and there are lots of good ones to choose from.

[Butterflycager]

Read a book where an object (like a book or a statue or piece of priceless jewelry) plays a significant role.

Read a book with the name of an animal, bird, or insect in the title.

Read a book with a map on the cover or at least one map in the book, or one in which maps play an important role in the plot.

[Rachel]

Read a book written by an author who shares your significant other's (or mother, father, best friend, etc) name.

Read a book that features heraldry.

[Gayle]

Read a book that has the same title as a song. (example: Song - Yellow Rose of Texas written by Charles H. Brown; Book - Yellow Rose of Texas: The Myth of Emily Morgan by Douglas Brode)

[JC]

Gayle wrote: "Read a book that has the same title as a song. (example: Song - Yellow Rose of Texas written by Charles H. Brown; Book - Yellow Rose of Texas: The Myth of Emily Morgan by Douglas Brode)"

like!

[Rachel]

Read a HF with a character who has an enhanced sense. (For example: The Bells - main character has super good hearing. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - super smeller.)

[Jackie]

I like that one Rachel!

[JC]

read a nominee for this year's GR choice awards, HF shelf.

[JC]

Rachel wrote: "Read a HF with a character who has an enhanced sense. (For example: The Bells - main character has super good hearing. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - super smeller.)"

My BIL has been raving about Perfume since I met him 15+years ago, might finally be time to read it!

[Rachel]

Read a book you'd be proud to tell your High School English Teacher (or parent, pastor, etc) you're reading.

[Melissa]

Luckngrace wrote: "I don't mean to hog the thread, but I keep having these ideas. It's okay if they don't all click.

I've noticed a few books whose ratings seem to be all 1 stars and 5 stars. Read one of these boo..."

I say keep posting your ideas, Luckngrace. I liked a couple of them, like reading an author's first book and reading a book where the main character is an author. Besides, the whole point of this thread is to share your ideas.

[Melissa]

JenC. wrote: "I would like to clear out my TBR shelf before adding more, so a task where we have to look at our TBR shelf and pick randomly, like the first 5 prime numbers and choose one of those, or pick one fr..."

I like that idea, too, JenC! I have 100+ books on my to be read list on here and maybe twice that on a similar list I have on the library's website, so I'd like to read some of the books I already have on my lists before I add more.

[JC]

read a HF book that has a real historical figure as a character or takes place around a historical event.

[Sarah Louise]

Are we going to have a challenge #9. I think this is something i'd really like to participate in.

[Melissa]

Sarah (Loudog) Louise wrote: "Are we going to have a challenge #9. I think this is something i'd really like to participate in."

I think the next Challange is scheduled for next month. Everyone seemed to want to take December off, because we're all busy with the holiday season.

[Jackie]

Melissa is right. We'll be posting the new one sometime soon so everyone can prepare their booklists.

[Holly]

Jackie wrote: "Melissa is right. We'll be posting the new one sometime soon so everyone can prepare their booklists."
Good. I'd like to participate. Jackie and other moderators, you do a fabulous job with these challenges.

[Jackie]

Awww, thanks Holly!

[Rachel]

Read a book where the main character is untidy, forgetful or unorganized. (Near & dear to my heart!!)

Read a HF about war told from the point of view of a non-combatant.

Read a memoir written by a famous actor/star.

Read a book about bugs.

[Luckngrace]

The election's coming up. Read a book from the right, the left or a fiction about politics past, present, or future.

Reveal a gift you received for Christmas or Hanukkah, then read a book that relates to that gift in title, cover or content. Example: I got a wrist BP monitor. I could read something medical or something with a bracelet on the cover or some kind of monitor in the story. Like it?

Read a book with a character named the same as one of your old boyfriends/girlfriends in honor of Valentine's Day.

Read a book by or about a US President or Presidential candidate or a fictional or futuristic president.

[Margaret]

Read a book by an author that has the same first name as you do.

[Melissa]

A book where the title has more than 5 words (not including a beginning 'The')

[Alana]

Margaret wrote: "Read a book by an author that has the same first name as you do."

That's interesting. I'll have to search and see if there are any others named Alana....

[Rachel]

Luckngrace wrote: "The election's coming up. Read a book from the right, the left or a fiction about politics past, present, or future.

Reveal a gift you received for Christmas or Hanukkah, then read a book that r..."

I really like the gift challenge idea. :)

[Margaret]

What about reading a book that was published in the year of your birth. And for those like me it might even be HF, lol.

[Melissa]

Margaret wrote: "What about reading a book that was published in the year of your birth. And for those like me it might even be HF, lol."

I was just thinking about typing that when I clicked on this thread, but you had beaten me to it.

[Luckngrace]

Read a book with a man's name in the title that matches a man you have known and say a sentence about the one you know.

[April]

Pick a task from another site's challenge you didn't get to.

List taks and group you got challenge from

[Luckngrace]

The fad now in cover art seems to be "eyes only". Read a book featuring the eyes or one eye or black & white except for color of eyes on cover.

[April]

Pick a task from another site you also participate and use that challenge task.

List task and group

[April]

Pick a task from a past challenge you DID collect points for and find a new book to fit the challenge

List task and previous book along with new one

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

This is my first year in participating in any challenges with this group, but I've been having a lot of fun finding books for the tasks.
I also like looking at what others have read. One request is that when people report points, can they also give the star rating they gave the book.

Task ideas:
Read a book set in each of the continents (or maybe X out of 7)
Read a book where the author is from the same country as one of your great-grandparents
Read a book which features chef or where food features as a central theme
In honor of Dickens, read a Dickens novel.

[Holly P]

250 Years ago Catherine the Great seized the throne of Russia from Tsar Peter III. Read a book set in Russia.

April 15th marked the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Read a book about the Titanic (got this one from a friend on the PBS historical fiction forum).

Blurb it forward: Read a book by an author who provided a blurb for a book you just finished reading (i.e the endorsements by other authors found on the front/back cover of a book or in the "praise for" section pages at the beginning of a book).

Read a book featuring a person on the cover w/the same hair color as you.

Read a book that has a country or city in the title (i.e Pearl of China, Helen of Troy, Daughters of Rome).

[Rachel]

Planes, trains & automobiles. Read a HF with a form of transportation in the title (or on the cover).

[April]

Read a retelling of a fairy tale (i.e. Spindle's End or The Fairy Godmother)

Read a retelling of bible stories (i.e. The Red Tent or Sarah)

Read a new angle on an old story (i.e. Wicked : The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West)


A 100 point option: Read a trilogy (i.e. The Josephine Bonaparte Collection: The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B., Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe, and the Last Great Dance on Earth) or 3 books within a series (i.e. the Pink series by Lauren Willig)

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

I like the new TBR challenge for April because it helps me to read for some of my other 2012 goals. I also belong to Shelfari (Amazon affiliated book site). One of the groups there is doing a "Subdue the Shelf" game. Essentially, you create a numbered list of 100 books. Then you use a randomizer to simulate a dice roll and work your way through your list. There are some additional rules, but it is essentially a race to see who gets to the end of there list first (vs tabulating points like here).
Just an idea in case you are looking for other ideas besides the task challenges.

[Jackie]

JoLene wrote: "I like the new TBR challenge for April because it helps me to read for some of my other 2012 goals. I also belong to Shelfari (Amazon affiliated book site). One of the groups there is doing a "Su..."


That sounds like fun. :)

[Marilyn]

Read a book about an ancestor related to you. I wrote one.

[April]

Pick books used to create musicals, Like The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Wicked : The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, or Ragtime

Or Pick a musical and read a non-fiction book about the subject of the musical? RENT and And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic or TITANIC and Lost Voices from the Titanic: The Definitive Oral History

[JoLene, Mistress of the Challenge]

Another idea for a mini-challenge (month-long)...the Amazing Race or Around the World in 30 Days. The idea is that you read books set in different countries (or locales within a country). You could also do it with authors from different countries. The rules would be that you have to visit at least 4-5 continents (maybe bonuses if you hit more). You could have some other rules like one setting/author must be from an island, one book must involve travel or have a mode of transportation in the title. You could even have to plan it out so that you start and end in your own country (but not the same city) or that you have to travel in the same direction (like an around the world plane ticket).

[Maude]

JoLene, I think that is a great idea because it looks like a lot of fun. It is like the Amazing Race but we would have books!

[Jackie]

We actually have this planned for a later challenge in August.

[April]

Organize you TBR list by avg rating. Read the lowest avg rating that has been published for one year (giving it time to be rated).

[Kathy]

Have a Holiday Challenge. Read books with any type of holiday in the title or in the story.

[Heather]

In honor of the election, read a book by or about a US president. Maybe extra points for reading something by one of the current candidates just to encourage people to educate themselves before voting.

[Butterflycager]

Read a book that takes place between WWI and WWII.

Read a book about a royal mistress.

Read either a novel or a non-fiction work about the Salem witch trials.

Read a family saga that spans at least fifty years.

[Maggie]

all of these sound excellent.

[Janet]

How about books with a variety of religious themes. For example; New England - Puritans, The Queens Vow - Catholicism/Spanish Inquisition, Petals From The Sky - a Buddhist Nun, etc. Maybe 7 to represent all 7 major religions or something like that?

[Ashley]

Here is an idea that I got from playing word ladder games on Sporcle. What if the challenge was to read a string of HF novels, each novel having one word in the title in common with the book you read previously. For example, you could read "The Dark Queen," then "The Forever Queen," then "Forever Amber," etc.