You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

"Rusalka found another randomiser" really should be the name of this topic. But this a weird one. What I would like you to do is to click this link:

https://www.behindthename.com/random/...

This will bring you up a random name generated out of this name database. But what is different, is it gives you a "demographic" snapshot of this fictional person. Why? Who knows. But you betcha we can read a book about them!!

So what does it look like and how will this work? You'll end up with a snapshot like this:



I need to read a book that ties into fictional Beáta here.

I could read a book by an author called Beáta. Or Erzsébet. Or the main character maybe.
I could read a YA book.
I could read a book by a Slovakian author, or set in Slovakia, or translated from Slovakian.
Something published in 1992.
Something with a protagonist of 27. Or 87.
Something that has a theme of respiratory disease.

As long as you can explain the link and it is reasonably coherent so that my isolated addled brain can work it out, you're golden.

General Rules:
1. The book may be in any format - paperback, ebook, audiobook.
2. The book may be in any genre.
3. The book may NOT be combined with the Year Long Challenge.
4. The book must be read between July 1 – July 31, 2020 (based on your local time zone).
5. The challenge is for one book. You may read more books if you chose.
6. Books must be at least 175 pages long.
➽ In the case of ebooks & audiobooks, use the hardcover or paperback edition to determine page length. From the book page, select “all editions”, then select the first paper edition as your guide. If reading an ebook and there is no paper edition, ask for a ruling. If reading an audiobook and there is no paper edition, your book must be a minimum of 6 hours long.

Scoring:

How many ties between your book and your fictional person?
5 pts – 5
4 pts - 4
3 pts - 3
2 pts – 2
1 pt - 1

How many pages? (following the rules above) :
5 pts – 501+
4 pts - 401-500
3 pts - 301-400
2 pts – 201-300
1 pt - 200 or less

Random July Points! - 2 pts each
• The protagonist is a Person of Colour
• There is a plague in your book
• Your protagonist has a pet dog (mad or not)
• Your cover is over 75% red (check http://labs.tineye.com/color/ if unsure)
• There is a shark in your book
• A character in your book is in the military
• There is a boat on the cover of your book
• Characters in your book go on a holiday or vacation
• People in your book believe they have seen a UFO
• There are stars on the cover of your book
• Your author was born in Belgium, Romania, Tunisia, the Bahamas, Peru, or Thailand
• The cover of your book has a bonfire on it
• Lexx's random points - Something that bugs you about your house also occurs in your book. Eg. the light switch is installed backwards. Or the front step is wobbly. Just random examples that may have nothing to do with our flat... Please tell us what that annoyance is.

Coolio!

well... this will require gophering...


edit: Fumnanya means "love me" in Igbo

Looks fun!

That is what I got:

Fernanda Rosalyn
Basics
Gender: Feminine
Type: Adolescent
Nationality: American
Location: Commerce, California, United States
Language: Italian
Life & Times
Age: 16
Birth date: August 12, 2003 (8:49 AM)
Physical
Height: 161 cm / 5 ft 3 in
Weight: 53 kg / 117 lbs
Handedness: Right
Blood type: A+
Future Outlook
Death date: May 28, 2072 (1:06 PM)
Lifespan: 68
Cause of death: Cancer


(I don't want to loose this info while I try to remember how to post pictures)

You always find such great randomizer challenges! I got Síomha Ivona and there are lots of possibilities to distract me from finishing my final book for the toppler.

Sandra wrote: "(I don't want to loose this info while I try to remember how to post pictures)."

Fair call ;)

Esther wrote: "well... this will require gophering...
"

There are some brilliant Nigerian authors around! Also... 37kg is very worrying...

Ooh, this is fun!

Janice wrote: "You always find such great randomizer challenges! I got Síomha Ivona and there are lots of possibilities to distract me from finishing my final book for the toppler."

May have been my secret plan!
And not at all that I realised at 11pm on a Friday night that the month was over in 5 days as I have gotten distracted by Topplers

Oh wow! This should be interesting. I will go down that gopher hole as soon as the toppler is finished. :)

I love the random generator challenges. I'm with you on the why question though... what is this for??


Frige Geena

Basics
Gender: Feminine
Type: Adult
Nationality: Bengali
Location: Bangladesh

Life & Times
Age: 34
Birth date: February 22, 1986 (10:59 AM)

Physical
Height: 157 cm / 5 ft 2 in
Weight: 45 kg / 100 lbs
Handedness: Right
Blood type: O+

Future Outlook
Death date: March 22, 2060 (8:42 AM)
Lifespan: 74
Cause of death: Cancer


Hmm.. not sure if I have any books set in or from Bangladesh. I need to get gophering!

Cool, I love a randomiser!

Roy Ognen
Basics
Gender: Masculine
Type: Adolescent
Nationality: British
Location: Glasgow, Glasgow City, Scotland, United Kingdom
Language: English
Life & Times
Age: 15
Birth date: October 19, 2004 (6:07 PM)
Physical
Height: 177 cm / 5 ft 10 in
Weight: 68 kg / 149 lbs
Handedness: Right
Blood type: O-
Future Outlook
Death date: December 3, 2082 (3:55 PM)
Lifespan: 78
Cause of death: Cancer

Janice wrote: "You always find such great randomizer challenges! I got Síomha Ivona and there are lots of possibilities to distract me from finishing my final book for the toppler."

Nooooooo, get that book read Janice :D

I might read The Sky Unwashed which centers around the Chernobyl disaster which took place in 1986 (same year that Frige Geena was born). I'm also looking for authors who are 34 or 74, or who were 34 or 74 when they published the book.

Oh, you got an easy one Margo!

https://www.behindthename.com/name/gi...

Peggy wrote: "Oh, you got an easy one Margo!"

Yes, got a couple of Scottish options!

Well,this may take me a minute:

Vasilios Efigenia
Elderly Greek male (66)
Lives in Greece
Speaks Greek
5’11”
230 lbs.
Right handed
A+ blood type
DOB: 7/12/1953
DOD: 2/4/2043 89 years old from cancer

Sharon, if you're into historical fiction, you could try something by Victoria Hislop. She has several books set in Greece. Or something by Madeline Miller if you like mythology.

Thanks, Peggy! That is someplace to start!

I love it - but I am not pushing the button yet. I have one more book to finish for the toppler!

Just an interesting aside to this challenge, our irl book club is reading The Girls with No Names. I rather like the coincidence. Maybe I can fit it in to the challenge.

Janice wrote: "Just an interesting aside to this challenge, our irl book club is reading The Girls with No Names. I rather like the coincidence. Maybe I can fit it in to the challenge."

My library hold for that book just came it too! Funny. I was thinking the same thing. lol

Edit - The only connection I currently have is that my person is a female and the author and MC are females. I may go with a different book / connection, but I'll have to wait until after the toppler to gopher properly.

The name I drew was Síomha Ivona. Síomha is Irish and means "peace" and "good".

I've decided to go with The Only Good Indians because it has the word "good" in the title. It's a new release scheduled for July 14th.

Kristie wrote: "My library hold for that book just came it too! Funny. I was thinking the same thing. lol

Edit - The only connection I currently have is that my person is a female and the author and MC are females. "

That's about the only connection. Add to that the author's first name and the first name of the name I drew both start with "S". However, once I plugged The Only Good Indians into my list of possibilities, I really didn't need to look any further.

I've been so wrapped up in the Toppler I just realized that the July challenge was probably posted. Here is my guy. Off to gopher!

Felip Jitendra
Adult -Male - Age 59
Spanish
Valencia, Spain
Catalan
Birth date: Sptember 8, 1960 (11:00 PM)
Height: 177 cm / 5 ft 10 in
Weight: 73 kg / 161 lbs
Handedness: Left
Blood type: A+
Death date: April 13, 2048 (3:04 AM)
Lifespan: 87
Cause of death: Unspecified Illnes

I got Brigit Kaan.

Gender: Female
Type: Adult
Nationality: Irish
Language: English
Age: 39
Birth date: May 30, 1981 (8:15 PM)
Height: 169 cm / 5 ft 7 in
Weight: 64 kgs / 142 lbs
Handedness: Right
Blood type: B+
Death date: April 4, 2062 (6:00 AM)
Cause of death: Heart Disease

I own a few Irish authors/set in Ireland books. But I'll do some further gophering to see what other options I come up with.

I'm going to read a book
❤in Latvian language
❤set in Latvia
❤written by Latvian author

My options are:
The Ruin (author is Irish and set in Ireland)
Broken Harbour (author is Irish and set in Ireland)
Tricked (MC born in Ireland. Also Brigid is a goddess from Irish Mythology as a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann and one of her fellow members appear in this book)
The Good People (set in Ireland)

Ok, I got:


First thoughts -
Female author / MC (preferably young)
Young Adult genre
Greek / Greece - author / setting
pub date in May or 2001
Set in the future - 2050
Mythology genre
Nectar and ambrosia - food / drink on cover or as a theme

Hebe - Hebe was the goddess of youth, daughter of Zeus and Hera. She served nectar and ambrosia to the Olympians and later married Heracles, with whom she had two children, Alexiares and Anicetus. Her name comes from the Greek word for youth, and it was believed that she had the ability to restore youth.

(Too bad I just read The Picture of Dorian Gray. It would be a perfect fit here!)

You're giving me an idea Kristie. I looked for books with the exact publication date as my person's date of birth/death, but I can of course make it a bit easier on myself and just stick to published in february or march.

Yes, I thought of it as an exact publishing date and realized that it would be way too difficult for me to search for. Breaking it down makes it a lot easier.

Irinushka Alojzij
Basics
Gender: Feminine
Type: Adolescent
Nationality: Russian
Location: Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia
Language: Russian
Life & Times
Age: 18
Birth date: September 26, 2001 (8:33 AM)
Physical
Height: 166 cm / 5 ft 5 in
Weight: 56 kg / 124 lbs
Handedness: Right
Blood type: O+
Future Outlook
Death date: July 1, 2081 (2:19 AM)
Lifespan: 79
Cause of death: Heart Disease

Here I am:

Casper Jonathan


Gender: Masculine
Type: Adult
Nationality: Swedish
Location: Sweden
Language: Swedish

Age: 64
Birth date: July 23, 1955 (10:08 PM)

Height: 183 cm / 6 ft
Weight: 73 kg / 161 lbs
Handedness: Left
Blood type: A+

Death date: June 24, 2052 (7:50 AM)
Lifespan: 96
Cause of death: Heart Disease

I'm enjoying reading what everyone got.

Roz wrote: "Here I am:

Casper Jonathan "

You have lots of options here, Roz, but my first thought went right to ghost stories because of "Casper". lol

Kristie wrote: "Roz wrote: "Here I am:

Casper Jonathan "

You have lots of options here, Roz, but my first thought went right to ghost stories because of "Casper". lol"

Ha, I didn't even think of that. I went to the Swedish authors I have on my TBR. But now I'm going to look at ghost stories too.
A Swedish ghost?

Kristie wrote: "Roz wrote: "Here I am:

Casper Jonathan "

You have lots of options here, Roz, but my first thought went right to ghost stories because of "Casper". lol"

Ha! Me too. :)

Marija Zümra is the name that came up for me.


Gender: Feminine
Type: Young Adult
Nationality: Slovene
Location: Slovenia
Language: Slovene
Age: 24
Birth date: December 23, 1995 (12:25 PM)
Height: 160 cm / 5 ft 3 in
Weight: 67 kg / 147 lbs
Handedness: Right
Blood type: O+
Death date: January 5, 2082 (6:08 PM)
Lifespan: 86
Cause of death: Unspecified Illness

I'm thinking that YA and a female MC is where my book choices will take me. The Graceling Realm might be calling to me for this challenge. I put Bitterblue on hold at my library the other day. Does Monsea sound like it could be in Slovenia?

Janice wrote: "Kristie wrote: "Roz wrote: "Here I am:

Casper Jonathan "

You have lots of options here, Roz, but my first thought went right to ghost stories because of "Casper". lol"

Ha! Me too. :)"

I've had The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo sitting on my Kindle for years. I think it may be time to read it. Swedish author, setting, originally written in Swedish language, author died of a heart attack. I'm sure I can find something else in the story.
Is there a ghost in it?

I think that's a great match without the ghosts, Roz. :)

Here's the person I got:

Melpomeni Theodoros

Gender: Feminine
Type: Child
Nationality: Greek
Location: Greece
Language: Greek

Age: 12
Birth date: September 8, 2007 (1:25 AM)

Height: 4 ft 10 in
Weight: 103 lbs
Handedness: Right
Blood type: A+

Death date: September 10, 2073 (4:24 AM)
Lifespan: 66
Cause of death: Respiratory Disease

It seems like I remember a book where the main character's name is Melpomene. I'm going to have to think about it for a while.

Here's mine:

Taufik Alice
Gender: Masculine
Type: Adult
Nationality: Indonesian
Location: Java, Indonesia
Language: Sundanese

Age: 51
Birth date: November 16, 1968 (8:58 PM)

Height: 174 cm / 5 ft 8 in
Weight: 48 kg / 107 lbs
Handedness: Right
Blood type: AB-

Death date: October 11, 2046 (9:03 PM)
Lifespan: 77
Cause of death: Heart Disease

Alice should be an easy one for author or character, so I might start there, but I'm also curious about books set in Indonesia, so off to gopher.....

Anne ✨ wrote: "Here's mine:

Taufik Alice
Gender: Masculine
Type: Adult
Nationality: Indonesian
Location: Java, Indonesia
Language: Sundanese

Age: 51
Birth date: November 16, 1968 (8:58 PM)

Height: 174 cm / 5 f..."

I'm curious too if there're Indonesian books translated into English. But maybe there are a couple of books set in there. The only one I can think right now is Max Havelaar, or the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company. Sets in West Java, so people there speak in Sundanese.

Beauty Is a Wound is a book that was really popular here in Aus a couple of years ago, Anne. I am not sure if you can get your hands on it. I have been trying to for a while (but always forget when I am in the book shop).

Cherie wrote: " Does Monsea sound like it could be in Slovenia?"

Hah. Let me know if you find it on a map.

Lanelle wrote: "It seems like I remember a book where the main character's name is Melpomene"

Oh wow. Hat's off if you find one!!

Kristie wrote: "Yes, I thought of it as an exact publishing date and realized that it would be way too difficult for me to search for. Breaking it down makes it a lot easier."

Mods always finding ways to make it easier lol ;)

Anna wrote: ""

That is really eerie that you got that "randomly"!! It's like the internet knows you or something...

Peggy wrote: "I love the random generator challenges. I'm with you on the why question though... what is this for??"

Only thing we could come up with is that it might be useful for character generation for somethings?

I have A Golden Age on my shelf for Bangladesh. Haven't read it yet, but if you are looking for options.