The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
SPRING CHALLENGE 2012: FIRE
>
Spring Challenge Task Ideas
For Fire, read a nonfiction book about a "Hot" topic. I was thinking hot as controversial, but could include such hot topics as cooking or volcanoes or something about stolen "hot" objects.
Spring Cleaning: Read a book that was added to your Goodreads TBR last spring, or if you joined goodreads after that time, read a book added within the first two months of joining.
Katrina, I like the Spring Cleaning idea.Others along the same line:
Read the oldes book on your TBR (oldest available that is).
Read a book from page 1 of your TBR
Read a book listed on your TBR that someone has abandoned. (There is a listopia list for ABANDONED.)
Read a book from a previous Challenge that you did not get to (If new to SRC, use any previous challenge or a recommended book.)
Add fuel to the fire - read another book by an author whom you'd just discovered during the Winter Challenge.Money to burn - read about someone really rich, whose wealth is of significance in the narrative/book (real or fictional)
You're Fired! Read a book about someone who goes through a change of career and/or is looking for a new job.
All Fired Up
Read a book you're psyched to read.
Through the Fire and the Flames (the Dragonforce song)
Possible options:
A. 500+ pages (song is really long)
B. Lexile 1000+ (difficult song to play)
C. Epic fantasy (song is about going to save the world)
D. Main character is a musician
E. Main character overcomes major odds to succeed
Where There's Smoke...
Read a book that's been getting a lot of hype in the past year (won an award, featured on a talk show, upcoming film adaptation, etc.)
It's Tuesday!
In Japanese, the days of the week are all associated with elements. Kayoubi (fire-day) is actually Tuesday. Read a book either set in Japan or where the author's initials are sequential in "kayoubi" (ka, ay, yo...ik).
Fire Star
The planet Mars is associated with fire in many different cultures. Read a book that features Mars (or Martians!) prominently.
A Caveman's Best Friend
Read a book about or set during prehistoric times.
Spreading Like Wildfire
Read a book where all four letters in the word "Fire" appear in the title (ex. Icefire, Frankenstein, A Visit from the Goon Squad)
One Blaze of Glory
Read a book set during a single day OR read the last book by a now-deceased author.
And I know this last one isn't fire-related, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention it:
A Night to Remember
April 14/15 is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Read a book about the disaster.
Cassie wrote: "April ShowersRead a book with "rain" or "water" in the title; or a book about rain, weather, or being on a ship
... Bring May Flowers
Read a book with a spring color on the front (yellow, robin's..."
I'm going to second this one...it's the little kids poem I think of everytime someone mentions spring coming up. It's just so engrained in my mind, it has become part of "Spring"
Remember the ArmeniansArmenian Memorial Day is April 24th. Read a book about Armenians or read a book set in the 1910s.
April is the 100th anniversary since the Titanic went down - read a book involving an ocean journey, a shipwreak, a NF book about Titanic
March, April, and May are all commonly used for names. Read a book by an author who has one of these months as a name, a book with a main character named one of these, or with "March," "April," or "May" in the title.
Some fire ideas!1) The burn point of paper (and therefore books) as we all know from Ray Bradbury's famous book is 451 degrees Fahrenheit. Read a book with at least 451 pages.
2) Many song titles have the word "fire" in them. Some examples: Ring of Fire, Great Balls of Fire, Light my Fire, The Roof is on Fire, Fire in the Sky. Choose a song title that contains the word fire and then identify another key word from that title (cannot be common words like of, my, is, on, in, the, a, etc...) and read a book with that word in the title. For the example song titles above, you could choose ring, great, balls, light, roof, or sky.
3) A fire needs 3 things to burn: oxygen, fuel, and heat. Read a book with one of these three words in the title.
4) Fire names - Check out the links below for names that mean fire or are related to fire:
Boy names: http://www.thinkbabynames.com/search/...
Girl names: http://www.thinkbabynames.com/search/...
Read a book by an author with one of these names (first or last).
5) Read a book with a cover that is mostly fire colors (red, orange, yellow).
6) Wild fire - Read a 'wild' book! Either one that has the word wild in the title or author's name or one that features a 'wild' adventure (can be fiction or non-fiction) - think outdoor expedition like climbing a mountain or going on a safari or hiking a long trail or a long sailing or canoeing trip, etc.
everytime i go to the book store I see "now a major motion picture" For the Spring task, read a book (published anytime) that has been turned into a movie since January, 2011.option, if you've seen the movie as well, state which is better, and why
I know we had a 25 pointer based on it last year, but I liked the Tournament of Books task we had, and with the challenge starting March 7 - the list of books has been released, and could also include books that have participated in other years - http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/page...
I enjoyed using the GR Recommendations feature. That should be a fairly easy one to do.
Dee wrote: "I know we had a 25 pointer based on it last year, but I liked the Tournament of Books task we had, and with the challenge starting March 7 - the list of books has been released, and could also incl..."I really enjoyed this, too, and I have already checked out the announced books.
@ KAren, so have I - i've read 1 and have 3 or 4 on the pile to read
spring break! read a book that takes place near a beach or spring break destination location (i.e. Mexico or Florida) or give your mind a break and read something easy
Fire was considered one of the balancing forces in nature and medicine. Read a fiction or non-fiction book about medicine (Ancient or present), or physican as main character.
May is Older Americans Month. Read a book where a senior is the main character
I am getting so anxious for these tasks to come up already and we still have a week and a half! You all have come up with some fabulous tasks.
★Meghan★ wrote: "I am getting so anxious for these tasks to come up already and we still have a week and a half! You all have come up with some fabulous tasks."Me, too! Fitting the books to tasks is my favorite part haha. :)
St. David's Day is March 1st. St. David is the patron saint of Wales, and the day is traditionally celebrated by wearing/pinning a leek or daffodil onto one's shirt (both are national symbols). For this task, read a book with one of the following words in the title: Wales, Welsh, saint, day OR a book by an author named David (first or last name) OR a book by a Welsh author
★Meghan★ wrote: "I am getting so anxious for these tasks to come up already and we still have a week and a half! You all have come up with some fabulous tasks."I know - I love this time of the SRC...i'm on the downward slope for finishing books up 6 to go, all of which are in progress and then its task time...and its a long weekend, when they come out ;)
For this task, read a book with one of the following words in the title: Wales, Welsh, saint, day OR a book by an author named David (first or last name) OR a book by a Welsh author Or set in/about Wales
April wrote: "For this task, read a book with one of the following words in the title: Wales, Welsh, saint, day OR a book by an author named David (first or last name) OR a book by a Welsh author Or set in..."
Yes!!! :)
Read a book with a fire related word in the title: ash ember, cinder, flame, smoke, burn, etc.April 1st is April Fools Day. Read a book with the word fool, joke, or prank in the title or a book shelved as humor.
In honor of the death date of Shakespeare and Cervantes, April 23 is World Book Day/Night. Free books are being handed out all over UK, Ireland, and the US to promote the love of reading.Re-read a book the you love and have "handed out" (by word of mouth or actually).
OR
Read one someone "handed" to you (by word of mouth/actually/or goodreads recommendations).
April wrote: "In honor of the death date of Shakespeare and Cervantes, April 23 is World Book Day/Night. Free books are being handed out all over UK, Ireland, and the US to promote the love of reading.Re-rea..."
Or read one of the 30 World Book Night books (listed here http://www.us.worldbooknight.org/wbn2... )
Dee wrote: I know - I love this time of the SRC...i'm on the downward slope for finishing books up 6 to go, all of which are in progress and then its task time...and its a long weekend, when they come out ;)
i>
And here I thought I was the only one that did that! (read multiple books at a time!) My hubby thinks I am nuts!
Sheila wrote: "And here I thought I was the only one that did that! (read multiple books at a time!)"Oh, definitely not, Sheila! I've got 5 going right now... can't seem to help myself...
oh heck no!! I normally have anywhere from 5-8 in progress normally including 2 audiobooks (1 in the car on the ipod and 1 at work)...lol!Sheila wrote: "Dee wrote:
I know - I love this time of the SRC...i'm on the downward slope for finishing books up 6 to go, all of which are in progress and then its task time...and its a long weekend, when they..."
I usually need one book for my commute to and from work (not a hardcover), one book for my bedside (usually the kindle since the cover has a nightlight), one for general purposes (around the house) - so that's at least three.Randi - I love the World Book Night idea.
I usually have at least 3 going at once too...if not more. It all depends on my mood.
I've got three going right now. One on my iPod, one on the kindle and one from the library.
Reading these comments, I feel kind of weird that I'm the only one to say I only read one book at a time. Am I alone?
Katrina wrote: "Reading these comments, I feel kind of weird that I'm the only one to say I only read one book at a time. Am I alone?"You're not alone! :) I very rarely read more than one book at a time (aside from textbooks/books for class). I might set one book down if I happen to get a hold of one that I can't wait to read and then go back to it, but I can't keep all the storylines straight if I read multiple books at once!
Katrina wrote: "Reading these comments, I feel kind of weird that I'm the only one to say I only read one book at a time. Am I alone?"You're not, Katrina - I know plenty of serious (and non-serious) readers who do one at a time. It's probably a more sane approach than the rest of us are attempting. :)
Can I just say as an aside that waiting for the spring challenge tasks is KILLING ME? I find this hilarious, since I'd - literally - never heard of book challenges until about a week ago, and now I'm doing 3 and waiting on this fourth one and it's practically keeping me up at night. I'm so impressed with everyone's clever ideas, not to mention finally finding myself in the middle of several groups of people who are as obsessive about books as I am. Such total joy.
Since there's so many people who read more than one book at a time, what about a task that fits that? Like "Companion Books" or something, where the books feature some of the same characters or take place in the same "universe," but don't necessarily need to be read in order to be understood.Examples:
Perfect Chemistry and Rules of Attraction
Evermore and Radiance
The Giver and Gathering Blue or Messenger
There has to be a list out there of books like this that we could use to find possibilities. I know YA books best, but I'm sure there are also novels written primarily for adults that could work.
Lavinia wrote: "Can I just say as an aside that waiting for the spring challenge tasks is KILLING ME? I find this hilarious, since I'd - literally - never heard of book challenges until about a week ago, and now I..."I found this group last August and I was the SAME way! I only had two weeks or so before the summer challenge ended, so I decided to wait for the fall challenge and it seemed like such a long wait!! :)
Ms Anderson wrote: "Since there's so many people who read more than one book at a time, what about a task that fits that? Like "Companion Books" or something, where the books feature some of the same characters or tak..."That's a cool idea! I think Outlander and Lord John and the Private Matter are companion series (someone here told me not to worry about not reading all the Outlander books before I read Lord John). Also, Cassandra Clare's two series (YA urban fantasy) are that way as well: City of Bones & Clockwork Angel. Great idea, Ms Anderson!
I joined the group the night the tasks were posted for last summer, and I was immediately addicted - I had a 12 hour night shift and I spent the entire time going through and finding books that fit tasks - it was love at first sightRandi wrote: "Lavinia wrote: "Can I just say as an aside that waiting for the spring challenge tasks is KILLING ME? I find this hilarious, since I'd - literally - never heard of book challenges until about a wee..."
Task idea: my tongue's on fire... Read a book set somewhere where there's a spicy dish/cuisine (link to the dish/cuisine necessary). US dishes/books have to be state-specific.E.g. wot in Ethiopia (see here) - read a book set in Ethiopia!
ohhh that one could be interesting mstan ;)
Read a book set in a place where you would like to spend Spring Break in. Post setting
Honor your Mother for Mother's Day. Read a book by an author with your mother's initials.My Mother's Name was Eleanor Jarvis Molinarolo. I could read an author E J, M E, E M, J M, etc.
i know we had one a few seasons back which was an opposites in the title...what about one where you read 1 or 2 books where they have words that need each other...like lock and key or heart/soul etc
Dee wrote: "i know we had one a few seasons back which was an opposites in the title...what about one where you read 1 or 2 books where they have words that need each other...like lock and key or heart/soul etc"Dee, I love that!
Thought this might be a good 10- or 15-point challenge that would only fit this season:Fire Flower Power!
This Spring season (famous for flowers) theme is fire – so let’s celebrate Fire Flower Power from the Super Mario Brothers Nintendo game! For those not in the know, collecting (or running into) this little orange flower gives your Mario (or Luigi, or Yogi, etc.) character the ability to shoot flames at your enemies. Choose from the following options:
Option A: The first Super Mario Brothers game was released in 1985. Read a book published in 1985.
Option B: Read a book with a character who can shoot fire (dragons count).
Option C: The Fire Flower in game-speak is a Power Up – read a book with the words “Power” or “Up” in the title OR where a character gets a major power boost and acquires super powers.
The Seasonal Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution (other topics)Steve Jobs (other topics)
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (other topics)
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (other topics)
The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
John Derbyshire (other topics)Orson Scott Card (other topics)
Linda Lael Miller (other topics)
Louisa May Alcott (other topics)
Read 2 books
First Book your Choice with a title that contains a word that is commonly used to describe a time of day ie. noon, morning, dusk etc.
Example: The M..."
very interesting!