The Challenge Factory discussion

'LOST IN SPACE Reading Challenge'


Challenge Begins: January 1, 2020
Challenge Ends: when you finish your journey

✪ After signing up, you will receive your own thread.
✪ In that thread, there will be a list of the planets in our Solar System and our Sun.
✪ Each planet and the Sun will have a set of tasks.
✪ In your thread you will request the tasks for a specific planet or the Sun. The planets and the Sun can be requested in any order.
✪You will chose one task to read for that planet or the Sun and then report on the reporting thread when you have completed the assignment.
✪ In your report you will request the next planet or the Sun.
✪ You continue until you have read a task for each of the planets and the Sun.

Please follow this format for your Completion Posts.
Completion Report:
Planet or the Sun:
Task:
Book:
Author:
Date Read:
How My Book Fit the Task:
Next Planet or the Sun:

Rules:
Books must be 140 pages.
Re-reads and audio books are okay.
Page count for audio books will be determined by the hardcover issue. If there is no hardcover, then paperback issue. Where there is more than one edition, the one with the highest number of ratings will be used.

List of Planets and the Sun

Pluto
Neptune
Uranus
Saturn
Jupiter
Mars
Earth
Mercury
Venus
the Sun

Okay, since my spacecraft is the Red Dwarf, I think I'd like to start with the Sun.

...still sticking with this pick even though my spacecraft has morphed to be the Apollo 13!

the Sun:
1. Read a science fiction book.
2. The Sun is gradually becoming hotter. Read a book with a person on the cover that you consider hot.
3. The Sun is a G-type main-sequence star. Read a book whose title begins with a 'G' (ignoring 'a', 'an' and 'the').
4. The Sun does not have a definite boundary. Read a book where the main character travels to a different country.
5. The Sun has been regarded by some cultures as a deity. Read a book that has been shelved as 'Mythology'.

For the Sun, planning to read The Eyre Affair , which is labeled science fiction on its main page.

Don't forget that the challenge doesn't start until January 1st :)

I know! Just making my lists - trying to figure out how to wipe out a bunch of old challenges and eyeing plans for the new ones... It's a pre-New Year obsession, lol.

Completion Report
Planet or the Sun: the Sun
Task: Read a science fiction book.
Book: The Eyre Affair
Author: Jasper Fforde
Date Read: 1/14/20
How My Book Fit the Task: The book is science fiction of the most delightful kind!
Next Planet or the Sun: Pluto

Pluto:
1. Read a science fiction book.
2. Pluto is also a Disney character. Read a book that was made into a movie.
3. Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. Read a book with a author's name starts with 'C' or 'T'.
4. The New Horizons spacecraft performed a flyby of Pluto on July 14, 2015. Read a book first published in 2015.
5. Pluto was the 9th planet from the Sun. Read the 9th book in a series.

Completion Report:
Planet or the Sun: Pluto
Task: Read a book that was made into a movie.
Book: A Wizard of Earthsea
Author: Ursula K. LeGuin
Date Read: 1/17/20
How My Book Fit the Task: This book and the rest of the series was made in to an animated fantasy movie Tales from Earthsea in 2006.
Next Planet or the Sun: Mars

Mars:
1. Read a science fiction book.
2. Mars is called the "Red Planet". Read a book with a red cover.
3. The fashionable idea that Mars was populated by intelligent Martians exploded in the late 19th century. Read a historical book.
4. Mars is scarred by a number of impact craters: a total of 43,000 craters have been found. Read a book with a scarred main character.
5. Mars is the 4th planet from the Sun. Read the 4th book in a series.

Completion Report:
Planet or the Sun: Mars
Task: Read a historical book.
Book: Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill
Author: Candice Millard
Date Read: 1/28/20
How My Book Fit the Task: This book recounts Winston Churchill's role in the second Boer War and gives a good overview of that war and the makings of the nation of South Africa.
Next Planet or the Sun: Neptune

Neptune:
1. Read a science fiction book.
2. Neptune is also the Roman god of the sea. Read a book with water on the cover.
3. There was a heated nationalistic rivalry between the French and the British over who deserved credit for the discovery. Read a book set in France or Great Britain.
4. Shortly after its discovery, Neptune was referred to simply as "the planet exterior to Uranus". Read a book that has been published under a different name.
5. Neptune is the 8th planet from the Sun. Read the 8th book in a series.

Completion Report:
Planet or the Sun: Neptune
Task: Read a science fiction book.
Book: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Date Read: 1/31/20
How My Book Fit the Task: This book is marked as science fiction on its home page.
Next Planet or the Sun: Mercury

Mercury:
1. Read a science fiction book.
2. Mercury is the smallest and innermost planet in the Solar System. Read a book that has 150 - 199 pages.
3. The planet has no known natural satellites. Read a standalone book.
4. The first spacecraft to visit Mercury was NASA's Mariner 10 (1974–1975). Read a book first published in 2010.
5. Mercury is the planet closest to the Sun. Read the 1st book in a series.

Completion Report:
Planet or the Sun: Mercury
Task: Read a standalone book.
Book: I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death
Author: Maggie O'Farrell
Date Read: 2/3/20
How My Book Fit the Task: This book is the author's memoir, not part of any series.
Next Planet or the Sun: Saturn

Saturn:
1. Read a science fiction book.
2. Saturn is known as the "Ringed Planet". Read a book where the main character is married.
3. The Cassini–Huygens space probe entered orbit around Saturn on 1 July 2004. Read a book that was published in July.
4. The continued exploration of Saturn is still considered to be a viable option for NASA as part of their ongoing New Frontiers program of missions. Read a book by an author that is new to you.
5. Saturn is the 6th planet from the Sun. Read the 6th book in a series.

Completion Report:
Planet or the Sun: Saturn
Task: Read a book by an author that is new to you.
Book: The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock
Author: Imogen Hermes Gomar
Date Read: 2/7/20
How My Book Fit the Task: This book is the author's first novel. I had not heard of her before
Next Planet or the Sun: Venus

Venus:
1. Read a science fiction book.
2. Venus is shrouded by an opaque layer of highly reflective clouds. Read a book with clouds on the cover.
3. Venus was the first planet visited by a spacecraft. Plans have been proposed for rovers or more complex missions, but they are hindered by Venus's hostile surface conditions. Read a book set during a battle or war.
4. Venus is similar to Earth in size and mass, and is often described as Earth's "sister" or "twin". Read a book about sisters or twins.
5. Venus is the 2nd planet from the Sun. Read the 2nd book in a series.

Completion Report:
Planet or the Sun: Venus
Task: Read the second book in a series.
Book: The Tombs of Atuan
Author: Ursula K. LeGuin
Date Read: 2/13/20
How My Book Fit the Task: This book is the second one in the Earthsea Cycle.
Next Planet or the Sun: Uranus

Uranus:
1. Read a science fiction book.
2. Uranus is called the "ice giant". Read a book set during the wintertime.
3. In 1986, images from Voyager 2 showed Uranus as an almost featureless planet. Read a book without a person on the cover.
4. The Uranian system has a unique configuration because its axis of rotation is tilted sideways. Its north and south poles, therefore, lie where most other planets have their equators. Read a book set in a different hemisphere than you.
5. Uranus is the 7th planet from the Sun. Read the 7th book in a series.

Completion Report:
Planet or the Sun: Uranus
Task: Read a book without a person on the cover.
Book: A Great Reckoning
Author: Louise Penny
Date Read: 2/16/20
How My Book Fit the Task: This book has trees, the moon and a night time sky on the cover.

Earth:
1. Read a science fiction book set on Earth.
2. Earth is the only astronomical object known to harbor life. Read a book where a baby is born.
3. The Moon is an astronomical body that orbits Earth as its only natural satellite. Read a spin-off book.
4. As of April 2018, there are 1,886 operational, human-made satellites orbiting Earth. Read a book that has more than 1,886 ratings.
5. Earth the is 3rd planet from the Sun. Read the 3rd book in a series.

Completion Report:
Planet or the Sun: Earth
Task: Read a book that has more than 1,886 ratings.
Book: Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins
Date Read: 3/9/20
How My Book Fit the Task: This book has 2,331,986 ratings.
Next Planet or the Sun: Jupiter

Jupiter:
1. Read a science fiction book.
2. Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. Read a book with 400+ pages.
3. The best known feature of Jupiter is the Great Red Spot, a persistent storm. It rotates counterclockwise, with a period of about six days. Read a book from start to finish within 6 days.
4. In 1955, bursts of radio signals were detected coming from Jupiter. Listen to an audio book.
5. Jupiter is the 5th planet from the Sun. Read the 5th book in a series.

Completion Report:
Planet or the Sun: Jupiter
Task: Read a science fiction book.
Book: Lost in a Good Book
Author: Jasper Fforde
Date Read: 4/30/20
How My Book Fit the Task: This book is marked as science fiction on its home page.