Challenge and Monthly Themed Read Suggestions

[Snoozie Suzie]

Snuffle snuffle looking for a truffle

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Lexx keeps on trying to train our duck to find truffles. It's not working very well.

[Janice, Moderator]

LOL! I'm not sure if I should feel sorry for Lexx, the duck, or you.

[Snoozie Suzie]

Someone I know had a duck. Called Crispy.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I am all for puns and such made on animals by their owners. And that one is kinda cute as well!

I am honestly a little sensitive I must admit to people telling me I named my animals wrong as they are not called Peaking, or A L'Orange, or Roast. The chickens, interestingly, people don't do as much. It's my ducks they pick on (disclosure, I LOVE duck meat). I do tell people they should name their dog Banquet or Feast as for example people from Tongan decent view dogs as banquet food. People get completely thrown off guard when you say that and get really, weirdly squeamish. You act like that though, you shouldn't eat any meat.

Mind you, I did also have a crazy at my old work tell me he was after an Easter duck for his traditions and would steal and kill one of my pets for this as it would be cheaper. So baggage.

Point is, it is funny. And I know your intentions are pure :D. Really. And I agree if everyone is on board (including the duck, who probably still doesn't understand us. Mine's 9 years old now and doesn't know the difference if I call it's name, curse it or whatever. His thought process is "Can I eat it? Or Hump it?").

On the other hand, if I hear one more D animal called deffer I may kill someone.

[[deleted user]]

Snoozie Suzie wrote: "Someone I know had a duck. Called Crispy."

That sounds like my Dad. used to name the christmas Turkey. In sucessive years we had Pluck the turkey, Stuff the turkey, Baste the turkey - you get the idea... One year I said it should have a Turkish name and it became Ahmed the Turkey.

Rusalka, what is the duck called, if you don't mind me asking? Me too on the loving duck, but I'm not sure I could eat one I'd met that had a name. (so you're safe there)

[Nancy from NJ]

Samantha wrote: "I would love a doorstop-a-thon.. Give me a reason to read , and countless Stephen King books."

I Know This Much is true is one of my all time favorite books.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Helen wrote: "Snoozie Suzie wrote: "Someone I know had a duck. Called Crispy."

That sounds like my Dad. used to name the christmas Turkey. In sucessive years we had Pluck the turkey, Stuff the turkey, Baste the..."

That is pretty funny, bet the Turkeys didn't care either as long as you fed them. I've debating getting Turkeys but their faces are just a bit alien for me... I'm the same. I love chicken and duck, but you don't eat people you know.

Please don't read that I having a go at anyone about the names, like I said they are incredibly amusing. It's just funny we do it for poultry but you suggest people do it for their dogs or cats and they freak out. Very odd.

My "badly" named duck is Madesco which is Latin for 'I get wet'. His brother who unfortunately had a run in with a fox a few years ago was Kade which was Gaelic for 'From the Wetlands'.

Chickens are Anya which is Sanskrit for "Inexhaustible" and Aiode who is the Greek Muse of Song as she didn't stop singing as a chick, and is now completely tone deaf as a hen.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I have also realised it is nearly the end of August and I have no idea what to do for a challenge... *scrolls up the thread sneakily*

[Snoozie Suzie]

Pigs, Rusalka! :-D

[[deleted user]]

But some pigs are more equal than others. Are we talking highbrow pigs, or plebeian pigs?

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Every time you yell Pigs, Suzie, I get Tim Minchin's "Peace Anthem for Palestine" in my head http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6qA-4...

I have been toying for a few months on a challenge that could satisfy your pig needs. But I am not sure I can pull the thoughts together for next week... I'll let you know.

[Peggy]

Haha, thanks for giving me a laugh Rusalka. I only knew his Pope Song. Instead of working I'm now watching Tim Minchin youtube videos..

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Oh I will be joining you in a glass or two, I know!

My personal favourites are "If I Didn't Have You", "Storm", "Not Perfect" and "Sam's Mum". Honourable mentions go to "Lullaby" which I link to all my breeding friends, "White Wine in the Sun" as it made me cry after my Dad died for the next two years every time I heard it, and "Prejudice" as is is about my people.

[Sarah]

I love Tim Minchin! I saw him at a music festival in the UK.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Ooo jealous. We tried to book tickets last night to go see him in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. But funnily enough, they were long, long gone.

[Sarah]

I like "If I Didn't Have You" and "Prejudice". I also like "Dark Side". What am I saying! I like most of them! Shame you couldn't get tickets Rusalka.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Haha agree! And it was an afterthought, not too surprised. Benefit is, as he is Aussie, I know he will be back again! Another time!

[Cherie]

I got this from my library a couple of days ago. I was on my iPod and could not figure out how to copy the link. Today I am on my PC. :O)
I thought it was an interesting subject for a future challenge maybe. If not, at least it is interesting for USA "bookies".

http://www.businessinsider.com/most-f...

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I saw that the other day too Cherie. Pretty interesting list.

[Janice, Moderator]

That is an interesting list with some great books!

[Gaeta1]

And some absolutely terrible ones . Twilight for Washington? What about Snow Falling on Cedars? One could quibble over many of the selections, of course, but as a former Bainbridge Islander, that choice really stood out. I guess I should be glad that Fifty Shades was not the selection.

Still a very interesting list.

[Peggy]

I suppose 'most famous' does not necessarily equal 'best'.

Thanks for posting this, might give me some information for my 51-states-challenge :)

[Marnie]

Gaeta1 wrote: "And some absolutely terrible ones . Twilight for Washington? What about Snow Falling on Cedars? One could quibble over many of the selections, of course, but as a former Bainbridge Islander, that c..."

Hello (ex) neighbor- I live on Bainbridge now....I agree Snow Falling On Cedars / East Of The Mountains would have been a better WA choice.

[Janice, Moderator]

Gaeta1 wrote: "And some absolutely terrible ones . Twilight for Washington? What about Snow Falling on Cedars? One could quibble over many of the selections, of course, but as a former Bainbridge Islander, that c..."

LOL! I did think that Twilight stuck out like a sore thumb.

[Gaeta1]

Marnie wrote: "Gaeta1 wrote: "And some absolutely terrible ones . Twilight for Washington? What about Snow Falling on Cedars? One could quibble over many of the selections, of course, but as a former Bainbridge I..."

Hi, there, Marnie! I'm on the other side of the continent now, but my brother and family live on the island, and my parents are in Port Orchard.

[Debra]

Since Novemeber has Thanksgiving in the USA, perhaps we could have a theme about Native American Indians, or something along those lines.

[Emily]

Here's some ideas for a longer challenge/toppler:
-Read a series
-Read books with titles or authors that are continuous. You could make it more challenging for the author by allowing no repeats.

Continuous Title Example (ignoring subtitles)
Book 1 - Pride and Prejudice ends in an 'E'
Book 2 - The Eyre Affair ends in a 'R'
Book 3 - Romeo and Juliet...

Continuous Author Example
Book 1 - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen ends in an 'N'
Book 2 - The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne ends in an 'E'
Book 3 - Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin...

[Janice, Moderator]

Ooooh - I like those ideas, Emily.

[Peggy]

Me too! Especially the continuous titles/authors :)

[Sarah]

Yesterday I was sat reading at work and on the wall is a nice picture of Claude Monet's Waterlillies painting and it gave me an idea for a challenge.

We could all pick our favourite painting by an artist and read a book based on that piece of art. So in the above example, read a book with waterlilies on the front. Then extra points for if the main character or the author of the book is Claude or Monet, if the book is set in the same country/town as where Claude Monet was born or lived, if the book is set in the year/decade/century that Monet was born or died, if the main character is an artist, main character died/suffered with same illness as the artist, if the artist or the painting chosen is also mentioned in the book, etc.

[Janice, Moderator]

Great idea, Sarah! That could be applied to other things as well - songs, books....

Oh, books could be morphed into something interesting. For example - favourite book is Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. You could read another book hat has Rebecca n the title like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, or it could be written by a Rebecca - Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.

My brain is zinging with thoughts about your suggestion!

[Emily]

We could also do a word ladder one where the next book has to have a word that is only one letter off of the prior word.

Let's say I pick my first word as 'WALL'
Book 1 - WALL The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Book 2 - WELL The Well of Ascension
Book 3 - TELL The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings etc.

[Sarah]

Janice wrote: "Great idea, Sarah! That could be applied to other things as well - songs, books....

Oh, books could be morphed into something interesting. For example - favourite book is Rebecca by..."

Yes I suppose it could be applied to any of our favourites! I like the song idea too.

[Janice, Moderator]

Emily wrote: "We could also do a word ladder one where the next book has to have a word that is only one letter off of the prior word.

Let's say I pick my first word as 'WALL'
Book 1 - WALL [book:The Perks of B..."

I like this idea too! So many great ideas!

[[deleted user]]

I like the way a lot of these don;t require the stepwise level of commitment that the alphabet does.

So a rolling challenge, you just read as many as will fit, whereas the alphabet you read 26, or the next increment is 52. that's a bit step. A challenge that has stepwise levels of commitment could do with having smaller increments than 26.

just my thoughts on having finished the first alphabet relatively easily and now feeling under pressure (self inflicted) to complete a second.

[Kirila]

I have a suggestion for January/February when the Oscar nominations/awards take place. We could read a book that was made into a movie and get extra points if that movie was nominated for or won Oscars, or if the movie was made 5, 10 or 50 years after the book was published, or if the movie came this year, etc...

[Peggy]

I like that idea!

[Janice, Moderator]

Kirila wrote: "I have a suggestion for January/February when the Oscar nominations/awards take place. We could read a book that was made into a movie and get extra points if that movie was nominated for or won Os..."

We've done a similar challenge in the past. But who knows - it could reappear with a twist or a turn.

[Peggy]

For a monthly challenge, I thought of reading a book set in either your previous or your next holiday destination.

[Janice, Moderator]

That would be a fun challenge - arm chair travelling at its best.

[Snoozie Suzie]

Ailments. If I remember I might nominate this for the March Group Read theme but if I don't it's here for future use.

[Janice, Moderator]

Snoozie Suzie wrote: "Ailments. If I remember I might nominate this for the March Group Read theme but if I don't it's here for future use."

It is flu season. Hehehe!

[Snoozie Suzie]

Oh Janice! ;-)

[Janice, Moderator]

ROFL! I'm sorry! You've been sick with it, haven't you?!?! I had completely forgot that you were one of the sickies. That's what I get for being glib!

[Peggy]

Another idea for a challenge: let a randomizer draw three (or five or any other number) numbers that correspond to books on your to-read shelve, and read one of those.

[Janice, Moderator]

We did that one last year and had a lot of fun with it. Maybe we'll do it again sometime - with a twist.

[Wendy]

I imagine this may have already been done at some point, but one thought that comes to mind for a March theme comes from the old idiom "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb." Perhaps titles including animals or more specifically, titles with either (what are perceived to be) fierce or mild-mannered animals?

[Jess :)]

good one Wendy!

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I'm a bit slow, and upside down (you know antipodes and all). But never heard that before. What on earth is that suppose to mean???

I'm not discounting anything here, it's an interesting theme. I have just read it out loud for a good 5 mins and have *no * idea what that means!!