30.1- pjreads's Task As Suggested by Jen B: It's In The Cards

[Dlmrose, Moderator Emeritus]

30.1- pjreads's task as suggested by Jen B: IT'S IN THE CARDS
Go to: Card Generator
And use the random card generator to narrow down your TWO books for this task. (You may make up to 4 draws, but you only need to read two books.)

If your card is a(n):
ODD NUMBER (3, 5, 7, 9): Your book must have been published in a year ending in an ODD number (1999, 2001, 2003, etc)
EVEN NUMBER (2, 4, 6, 8, 10): Your book must have been published in a year ending in an EVEN number (2000, 2002, 2004, etc)
ACE: Your book must be the first in a series
JACK: Your book must be written by a man
QUEEN: Your book must be written by a woman
KING: Your book must be set in/about/by an author from a country that is ruled by a king or a queen (ie: Britain, Spain, Sweden, etc.) Here's a helpful list: Countries Required: Tell us the country when you post.

If your card is a:
SPADE: Your book must be a classic (published in 1960 or earlier)
DIAMOND: Your book must have at some point been on a bestseller list Required: Tell us what list when you post- providing a link is helpful.
CLUB: Your book must be by a Goodreads Author
HEART: Your book must have been published since Jan 1, 2000.

Examples:
* If I drew the Queen of Hearts, I’d have to read a book written by a woman that has been published since Jan 1, 2000.
* The Two of Diamonds would be a book published in an even numbered year that has been on a bestseller list
* The Jack of Spades is a classic written by a man
Required: Tell us what cards you drew


If you need suggestions OR have suggestions for books to read for this task, please post them here.

[Jen B]

Helpful Links

Bestseller Lists (if you draw a Diamond)
New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/be...
http://www.hawes.com/pastlist.htm
Barnes& Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/books...
Indiebound Bestsellers: http://www.bookreporter.com/bestselle...

Monarchies (if you draw a King)
Japan: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/32...
Australia: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/30...
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/39...
Sweden & Norway: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/13...

[Sheila]

My question is that I drew a 7 of Hearts and would like to read Courting Trouble by Lisa Scottoline but the description is a bit confusing as far as publishing date. It says:

June 1st 2003 by HarperTorch (first published 1975) Will this work as being published after 2000?

Courting Trouble

Thanks

[Dee]

if I can weight in on that...Lisa Scottoline's website lists it at 2002 (I think the 1975 is referring to Harpertorch publishing since 1975)

[Jen B]

Sheila wrote: "My question is that I drew a 7 of Hearts and would like to read Courting Trouble by Lisa Scottoline but the description is a bit confusing as far as publishing date. It says:

June 1st 2003 by H..."

Amazon lists the original first edition date as 2003, so yes, that one works. Maybe the date on the Goodreads page is an error?

[Sheila]

Thanks for the quick response. I'll use it!

[Ashley FL]

OK, just to make sure I understand: I set up the card generator to draw four cards from one deck. Then I pick TWO of those four cards drawn, and read one book that corresponds to each card?

So the site might give me 4 cards, and I use two of those? and then discard the other two?

[Jen B]

Ashley FL wrote: "OK, just to make sure I understand: I set up the card generator to draw four cards from one deck. Then I pick TWO of those four cards drawn, and read one book that corresponds to each card?

So t..."

Yep, Ashley, that's right -- you can draw four cards total and use any two of them

[Ashley FL]

I drew three kings! That is too funny :) This is totally fun -- what a great idea!

[★Meghan★]

Does the Bestseller have to be a bestseller as of right now/recently or could it have once been a bestseller?

[Nicki]

This link might be useful - NY Times bestseller lists from the 1950s onwards

http://www.hawes.com/pastlist.htm

[Jen B]

Meghan wrote: "Does the Bestseller have to be a bestseller as of right now/recently or could it have once been a bestseller?"

Meghan, as long at it was at one time a bestseller that's fine. Just provide the name of the list it was on and/or a link.

Nicki, thanks for the link -- I added it at the top, too.

[Wendy UK]

Spade: your book must be a classic(published in 1960 or earlier)

Is any book published in 1960 or earlier allowed?

I was considering The Parasites by Daphne du Maurier which was first published in 1949 I think.

[Kim]

For the book set in a country with a monarch that must also be on a bestseller list I would love to read The Legacy by Katherine Webb.

Today it is no.25 on the Amazon uk Bestseller list- is this list acceptable?

If not I'll have to try and find a list it is on- or look for an alternative.

[Charity]

If you draw a club (which I did), do you still get a GR Author ticket? I've been assuming yes, since it seems it would be unfair that other card drawings would allow the flexibility to select a GR Author and get a ticket, but I thought I would find out for sure. :)

[Jen B]

Sorry I missed your posts Wendy and Kim!

Wendy, since I didn't provide a list of classics from which to choose, I'll say that yes, as long as it was published in 1960 or prior it's okay.

Kim, Amazon UK's Bestseller list is fine, just provide a link to it if you can when you post.

Charity, I'll have to leave that one up to the mods to answer. I would guess that you would still get a ticket (it seems unfair to me, too, if you don't). I drew a club as well, so I'm interested to know.

[Usako]

I drew a club for both card pulls.

[Ashley FL]

Can anyone recommend how to find out if a book has been on a bestseller list? This is really stumping me!!

Also, which bestseller lists count? NYT, Amazon, what about Independent bookstores bestseller list? Any others?

Thanks!

[Christine US]

Actually Jen B...as the task creator, I think you have the final rights to make decisions for your task.

And I do agree -- it's not fair to not allow GR autor tickets simply b/c a GR author requirement was part of the task. Seems like that would be an incentive to find ever MORE authors to read.

[Dee]

I think that allowing GR author tickets for this is a good idea, because then everyone who finishes it gets entered into the draw...so it might encourage more people to finish it as they might get a chance to design a task next time!

[scherzo♫]

Of course, you get a GR author ticket if you read a book by a GR author (even if the task requires it).

[Ashley FL]

I'm still having trouble finding actual bestseller lists. I have a book slotted for this task, The House at Riverton, for the King of Diamonds. I have found several references to it being on the Sunday Times bestseller list for August 2007, but can't find a link to the actual list. Is a link referencing it being on the list good enough?

[Charity]

Of course, you get a GR author ticket if you read a book by a GR author (even if the task requires it).

Awesome! Thanks!

[Dee]

Ashley - have you tried to link that is in Beth NC's list...that brings up the NYT best sellers list for the last few years...you might be able to find it that way!

Charity wrote: "Of course, you get a GR author ticket if you read a book by a GR author (even if the task requires it).

Awesome! Thanks!"

[Jen B]

Ashley FL wrote: "I'm still having trouble finding actual bestseller lists. I have a book slotted for this task, The House at Riverton, for the King of Diamonds. I have found several references to i..."

Ashley, check out message #2 at the top of this thread - there are a few links to Bestseller lists. I also love the link in Beth NC's task because the list is actually searchable so you can look for a specific book/author. Any bestseller list counts as long as you can provide the name of the list and/or a link.

As for The House at Riverton, I'm fine with a link to a reference of it being on the list (I found several references to it being on the Sunday Times list, too). I found the actual list, but it looks as though maybe you have to have an online subscription to be able to search it and/or access past lists.

[scherzo♫]

pjreads wrote: "Of course, you get a GR author ticket if you read a book by a GR author (even if the task requires it)."

NOTE: You will still need to explicitly claim a Goodreads Author ticket in your post in the Completed Tasks thread in order to get a ticket.

[Vanessa]

If I am looking for books by Goodread authors, is there anywhere in particular I could look? Thanks.

[Kristina Simon]

Vanessa wrote: "If I am looking for books by Goodread authors, is there anywhere in particular I could look? Thanks."

Goodreads authors are indicated on your Goodreads shelves with a star (asterisks) beside their name. So, on your To Read shelf, for example, Janet Fitch and Rebecca Wells are Goodread authors. To find more, here's a list of Goodreads Authors.

[Nancy]

What year do we use for the Pub date if a novel was originally published in another language, but in a later year was published in English? A Novel Bookstore came out this year (translated) but was originally published in French in 2009. I'm hoping to use 2010.

[Jen B]

Nancy wrote: "What year do we use for the Pub date if a novel was originally published in another language, but in a later year was published in English? A Novel Bookstore came out this year (tran..."

Nancy, I'm sorry I missed your post! Either publication date would work, just specify which one it is when you post your points.

[chucklesthescot]

My question is similar...I'm in the UK and my copy of the book I want to use was publishing date of 2008 over here, but was first published in the US in 2007. Can I use the 2008 date?

[Jen B]

chucklesthescot wrote: "My question is similar...I'm in the UK and my copy of the book I want to use was publishing date of 2008 over here, but was first published in the US in 2007. Can I use the 2008 date?"

Yep, that's fine - just specify that it was published in 2008 in the UK when you post your points.

[chucklesthescot]

Thanks very much for your swift response....off I go to grab that book! Great task by the way!