Reading with Style discussion
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Summer 2025
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Completed Tasks
15.29 Spring 2024 How Does Your Garden Grow?For this challenge, each book plants one or more flowers, veggies or herbs from a specific list, without repeats. Flowers: all letters of the flower in the book title. Veggies: setting (city, state, country, planet) starts with the same letter as the veggie. Herbs: page count contains the number of letters in that herb.
Planted so far, including this post: rue, dill, potato, fennel, leek, endive, lily, marigold, aster, onion, horseradish, parsley, lemon verbena, peppermint
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
Planting herbs lemon verbena (12=2) and peppermint (10=0)
+15 Task (120 pages)
Post total: 15
Season total: 470
15.31 SU 21 Sub-Challenge Summer Task Overview20.1-20.10 Riding the Metro
Read 10 books set at least 75% in 10 different real cities
Jailed by Robert P. French
+15 task - Vancouver
Task total: 15
Grand total: 770
15.32 SU 21 Sub-Challenge Summer Task Overview20.1-20.10 Riding the Metro
Read 10 books set at least 75% in 10 different real cities
The Waiting by Michael Connelly
+15 task - Los Angeles
Task total: 15
Grand total: 785
Of 15.42FA 17 Reading Globally Overview
Read 10 books set (at least 51%) in 10 different countries, in which each country begins with a different letter
Zachte heelmeesters Nicolet Steemers
1. France
2. The Netherlands
15 points
Total: 915 points
15.24 SU 18 Listopia TagsThe Blank:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/5...
Tag - title
Book - #126
The Husbands by Chandler Baker
+15 Task
Task total: 15
Grand total: 375
15.7 SU 18 Listopia TagRead 10 books found on 10 different Listopia lists using different list 'tags' for selection.
Accidental Presidents: Eight Men Who Changed America by Jared Cohen
List: "The {.........}Who" Titles
Tag: title-challenge
+15
+5 big
Task total: 20
Season total: 160
15.40 SP20 BlackjackTo make a "hand" combine two to five cards so that the sum for any book totals 17, 18, 19, 20, or 21. Careful! You can use a card only once.
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney
5 of hearts: set at least 75% in a U.S. state: NEW YORK 100%
6 of hearts: “x” in the title: “boXfish”
J of clubs: “j” or “k” in title: “taKes” =
21 point hand
+15 Task
Task total: 15
+150 Third finish bonus
Season total: 930
15.41 SU19 Ratings GameRead 10 books by 10 different authors based on the number of ratings on GoodReads. Your books will be chosen using the following breakdown of ratings:
250,000 or more ratings
100,000 - 249,999
75,000 - 99,999
25,000 - 74,999
15,000 - 24,999
10,000 - 14,999
5,000 - 9,999
250 - 999
fewer than 250 ratings
People Change by Vivek Shraya, 1,647 ratings
+15 Task
Task total: 15
Season total: 945
15.42 SU19 Ratings GameRead 10 books by 10 different authors based on the number of ratings on GoodReads. Your books will be chosen using the following breakdown of ratings:
250,000 or more ratings
100,000 - 249,999
75,000 - 99,999
25,000 - 74,999
15,000 - 24,999
10,000 - 14,999
5,000 - 9,999
250 - 999
fewer than 250 ratings
A Town with Half the Lights On by Page Getz, 653 ratings
+15 Task
Task total: 15
Season total: 960
15.14 Olympic Scavenger SU24Tennis, Option B (find exact word in sentence)
Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan
+15 Task "His head swivelled back and forth between them as if he were a spectator at a tennis match." (Ch. 23)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 275+15=290
15.28 Eyes on the Prize Redux from Fall 22Prince or Princess of Asturias Award for Literature (2009, Lifetime Award)
The Succesor: A Novel by Ismail Kadare
15 task
_____
15
Running total: 705
15.19 FA 2015 Travel the United StatesRead 10 books with each set in a different state.
Evergreen by Rebecca Rasmussen
Set in MN.
Task total: 15
Season total: 445
15.30 SP11 "Spring Cleaning"Dissolution by Nicholas Binge
Genre: Science Fiction
+15 Task
+100 points for your second subchallenge completion
Post total: 115
Season total: 645
15.21 SP 24 How Does Your Garden GrowI am not going to be able to complete another subchallenge, but I am starting this one to help out with the Countries of the World game. My book takes place in the Marshall Islands, turning it Brown. I read:
Radiation Sounds: Marshallese Music and Nuclear Silences by Jessica A. Schwartz, The overwhelming interest in the Marshall Islands is that they contain the Bikini Atoll where the U.S. did neclear testing, devestating the population of these tiny islands. This is a musicological text showing how the music of the people of this area reflects the ongoing trauma of the U.S. experiments.
For the subchallenge, with this title I can plant the flowers
IRIS
RadIation Sounds: Marshallese MuSIc and Nuclear Silences
CROCUS
Radiation SOUnds: MaRSrshallese MusiC and Nuclear SilenCes
DANDELION
RADadiatION SouNDs: Marshallese Music and Nuclear SiLEnces
Task = +15
Season Total = 520
15.30 WI23/24 Ticket to Ride, Duluth => Sault St Marie => Toronto => Pittsburgh => Nashville => Little Rock => Oklahoma City => Kansas City => Omaha => ChicagoThe Favor by Adele Griffin
+15 Task, chicAGo
Task total: 15
+150 Fourth Finish Bonus
Season total: 1125
Task 15.13 Fall 2012 Know Your ABC’s 3rd book: Letter M
Lost (2001) by Gregory Maguire (Hardback 352 pages)
+15 Task
Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 250 + 15 = 265
15.19 Celebration of StylesRead 10 books by 10 different authors where each would qualify for one of the below RwS styles.
Lost in Translation - 2, Non Western - 1, 1001, Canon, Not a Novel - 3, Aged - 1, Young-2
Stories of the Sahara by Sanmao
+15 Task (Not a Novel; the "stories" are really a memoir)
+ 5 Before 2000 (1976)
Task total = 20
Season total = 375
Note: This takes place in Western Sahara.
15.25 SU 2023 FavoritesRead 10 books that fit your favorite 20-point tasks from prior seasons.
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
SP 2024 20.4 The Fighting Temeraire
Read a book on the list of books about boats.
+15 task
+ 5 oldie (pub 1719)
Task total: 20
Season total: 465
15.43 SU19 Ratings GameRead 10 books by 10 different authors based on the number of ratings on GoodReads. Your books will be chosen using the following breakdown of ratings:
250,000 or more ratings
100,000 - 249,999
75,000 - 99,999
25,000 - 74,999
15,000 - 24,999
10,000 - 14,999
1,000 - 4,999
250 - 999
fewer than 250 ratings
Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy, 8,959 ratings
+15 Task
Task total: 15
Season total: 1140
15.44 SU19 Ratings GameRead 10 books by 10 different authors based on the number of ratings on GoodReads. Your books will be chosen using the following breakdown of ratings:
250,000 or more ratings
100,000 - 249,999
25,000 - 74,999
15,000 - 24,999
10,000 - 14,999
1,000 - 4,999
250 - 999
fewer than 250 ratings
As You Like It by William Shakespeare, 87,530
+15 Task
+5 Old
Task total: 20
Season total: 1160
15.43FA 17 Reading Globally Overview
Read 10 books set (at least 51%) in 10 different countries, in which each country begins with a different letter
Door het vuur
M.J. Arlidge
1. France
2. The Netherlands
3. UK
15 points
Total: 930 points
15.20 Celebration of StylesRead 10 books by 10 different authors where each would qualify for one of the below RwS styles.
Lost in Translation - 2, Non Western - 1, 1001, Canon, Not a Novel - 4, Aged - 1, Young-2
Last of the Pirates: The Search for Bob Denard by Samantha Weinberg
+15 Task (Non fiction)
+ 5 Before 2000 (1994)
Task total = 20
2nd challenge finish = 100
Post total = 120
Season total = 495
Note this takes place in Comoros.
15.35 SU 23 Sub-Challenge SummerSpring 2024: 20.3 The Madonna of the Cat
Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick by David Wong
15 task
_____
15
Running total: 720
15.31 FA13 "Pick 'n' Mix"Run, Rose, Run by Dolly Parton & James Patterson
A1 - (100% set in) North America
+15 Task
Post total: 15
Season total: 660
15.15 Olympic Scavenger SU24Hockey, Option B (find exact word in sentence)
Detective Aunty by Uzma Jalaluddin
+15 Task "An intimate friend of both her sons despite being a few years older, he had grown up playing street hockey in front of their house and joining intense, neighborhood-wide games of hide-and-seek." (Ch. 4)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 290+15=305
Post 474 Claire wrote: "15.40WI 10-11 How to Play "Backpacking through Europe"
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Air traveler
De gelijkenis "
The MPE for this book is The Likeness with 466 pages, so it doesn't qualify for Big points.
-5 pts
Post 481 Jayme(theghostreader) wrote: "15.14 summer 21Page count
By Any Other Nameby Jodi Picoult
525 pp
Task +15
Grand total: 60"
+5 Big
Post 488 Joanne wrote: "List # 215-13 SU 19 Ratings Game
75,000 - 99,999 Ratings
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
93, 408 Ratings
+15 Task
+5 (Old)
Task total 20
Season Total 270"
Joanne, the last post we have for you before this was post 315
The total there was 180 + 20 here = 200
15.33 SU 21 Sub-Challenge Summer Task Overview20.1-20.10 Riding the Metro
Read 10 books set at least 75% in 10 different real cities
Déjà Dead by Susan Kiernan-Lewis
+15 task - Paris
Task total: 15
Grand total: 800
15.34 SU 21 Sub-Challenge Summer Task Overview20.1-20.10 Riding the Metro
Read 10 books set at least 75% in 10 different real cities
Scars of the Past by Jacqueline New>
+15 task - Edinburgh
Task total: 15
Grand total: 815
15.35 SU 21 Sub-Challenge Summer Task Overview20.1-20.10 Riding the Metro
Read 10 books set at least 75% in 10 different real cities
Impurity by Ray Clark
+15 task - Leeds
Task total: 15
Grand total: 830
15.26 FA 19 Pick 'n Mix 2The goal is to read 10 books that fit in 10 different sub-categories. No letter can be used more than twice and no number can be used more than twice.
C6. Multiple Point of View Narrators
The White Cottage Mystery by Margery Allingham
+15 Task
+ 5 Old (1927)
Task total = 20
Season total = 690
15.33 SU 23 FavoritesRead 10 books that fit your favorite 20-point tasks from prior seasons. State the season and the task (number and brief description).
SP 23 20.10 Uncommon Letter
Read any book where the name of a major character - main or supporting - has a Q, X, or Z.
A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
(character Ruth Zardo)
+15 Task
Task total = 15
Season total = 705
15.34 SU 23 FavoritesRead 10 books that fit your favorite 20-point tasks from prior seasons. State the season and the task (number and brief description).
WI 22-23 20.7 Ratings
Read an extremely underrated book with fewer than 1000 ratings on GoodReads, or a popular book with over 75,000 ratings.
Babel by R.F. Kuang
Over 75K ratings
+15 Task
+ 5 Big (544 pages)
Task total = 20
Season total = 725
Rosemary wrote: "Post 488 Joanne wrote: "List # 215-13 SU 19 Ratings Game
75,000 - 99,999 Ratings
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
93, 408 Ratings
+15 Task
+5 (Old)
Task tot..."
I was doing multiply catch up and probably was on the wrong sheet-no worries 200 is correct
15.32 FA13 "Pick 'n' Mix"The Restaurant of Lost Recipes by Hisashi Kashiwai
D5 - author born 1952 & book pub 2014 (62yo at publication)
+15 Task
Post total: 15
Season total: 675
Sub Challenge #4Growing Genres from SP 23 by Kate
Pick your favorite genre and spend some time seeing how it has grown over the years.
Read 10 books by 10 different authors. All 10 books should be from the same genre. Books must be published no fewer than 5 years apart and must cover an overall spread of at least 50 years.
I selected Mystery:
The Scarred Woman by Jussi Adler-Olsen 2017
Shadow Prey by John Sandford 1990
Julia Spencer-Fleming
15.38 - 2005
To Darkness and to Death by Julia Spencer-Fleming
+15 Task
Task Total:15
Season Total: 710
Sub Challenge #3Celebration of Styles from Fall 2023 by Elizabeth
Read 10 books by 10 different authors where each would qualify for one of the below RwS styles.
Styles for this sub-challenge:
Lost in Translation
Non Western
1001
Canon
Not a Novel
Aged / 70 or older
Young / 50 or younger
15.27 - Young - Born: 1980 (age 45 years), Hamakua, Laupahoehoe, HI from Google Overview
Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
+15 Task
Task Total: 15
Season Total: 725
15.21 Summer 2023: FAVORITESRead 10 books that fit your favorite 20-point tasks from prior seasons. You must state the season and the task (number and brief description) when posting your book claim.
Fall 2022:
20.9 ABCs (Kate S's Task)
Read a book in which the author's initials appear in alphabetical order. Double letters do not count. Authors who work: Dean Koontz, José Saramago, Anne Rivers Siddons.
Black Shack Alley by Joseph Zobel
+15 Task
+ 5 Before 2000 (1950)
Task total = 20
Season total = 515
Note: This is set in Martinique
15.17 Fall 2016 How to Play Half and Half
Author first name and surname initials must be in the same half of the alphabet, first name initial appearing earlier than surname initial
Circus Alistair MacLean
15 points + 5 points old
Total: 950 points
15.36 SU 21 Sub-Challenge Summer Task Overview20.1-20.10 Riding the Metro
Read 10 books set at least 75% in 10 different real cities
Grave Situation by Alex MacLean
+15 task - Halifax
Task total: 15
Grand total: 845
Post 541 Claire wrote: "15.17 Fall 2016 How to Play Half and Half
Author first name and surname initials must be in the same half of the alphabet, first name initial appearing earlier than surname initial
[book:Circus..."
Claire, the author for this task and all of the rest of the tasks for this challenge to 15.20 need to come from the second half of the alphabet, sorry!
"Authors with initials A-M are in one half of the challenge and authors with initials N-Z are in the other half of the challenge ...
Tasks 15.1 thru 15.5 are for the first half of the alphabet (A-M).
Tasks 15.6 thru 15.10 are for the second half of the alphabet (N-Z)."
Rosemary wrote: "Post 541 Claire wrote: "15.17 Fall 2016 How to Play Half and Half
Author first name and surname initials must be in the same half of the alphabet, first name initial appearing earlier than surna..."
I am so sorry, I seem unable to remember this part:-(
Replacement post 54115.17
Fall 2016 How to Play Half and Half
Author first name and surname initials must be in the same half of the alphabet, first name initial appearing earlier than surname initial
Alleen Tim Voors
15 points +
Total: 945 points
15.29: WI 13/14 Travel the Pacific RimRead 10 books, from 10 different countries according to the list in post 2.
The New Animals by Pip Adam
New Zealand
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 1020
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8; 15.9; 15.10
15.11; 15.12; 15.13; 15.14; 15.15; 15.16; 15.17; 15.18; 15.19; 15.20
15.21; 15.22; 15.23; 15.24; 15,25; 15.26; 15.27; 15.28; 15.29
15.31; 15.32; 15.33; 15.34; 15.35; 15.36; 15.37; 15.38; 15.39; 15.40
15.41; 15.42; 15.43; 15.44; 15.45; 14.46;
15.30: WI 13/14 Travel the Pacific RimRead 10 books, from 10 different countries according to the list in post 2.
A Carnival of Atrocities by Natalia García Freire
Ecuador
Task Total = 15
4th Finisher Bonus: 150
Post Total: 165
Season Total: 1185
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8; 15.9; 15.10
15.11; 15.12; 15.13; 15.14; 15.15; 15.16; 15.17; 15.18; 15.19; 15.20
15.21; 15.22; 15.23; 15.24; 15,25; 15.26; 15.27; 15.28; 15.29; 15.30
15.31; 15.32; 15.33; 15.34; 15.35; 15.36; 15.37; 15.38; 15.39; 15.40
15.41; 15.42; 15.43; 15.44; 15.45; 14.46;
15.47: FA23 Celebration of Styles (2)The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir by Griffin Dunne
Not a Novel
LiT, 2
Aged, 2
NaN, 3
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 1200
15.1; 15.2; 15.3; 15.4; 15.5; 15.6; 15.7; 15.8; 15.9; 15.10
15.11; 15.12; 15.13; 15.14; 15.15; 15.16; 15.17; 15.18; 15.19; 15.20
15.21; 15.22; 15.23; 15.24; 15,25; 15.26; 15.27; 15.28; 15.29; 15.30
15.31; 15.32; 15.33; 15.34; 15.35; 15.36; 15.37; 15.38; 15.39; 15.40
15.41; 15.42; 15.43; 15.44; 15.45; 15.46; 15.47
15.20 FA 2015 Travel the United StatesRead 10 books, each set in a different US state.
They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell
Set in IL.
+15 task
+ 5 oldie (pub 1937)
Task total: 20
Second finisher bonus: 100
Season total: 585
Task 15.25 Fall 2021 How to Play Counting on AuthorsAuthor name has 13 letters
JENNI
FERCL
OSE
Marrying the Ketchups (2022) by Jennifer Close (Goodreads Author) (Hardback 310 pages)
+15 Task
Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 265 + 15 = 280
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Reading with Style
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For this challenge, each book plants one or more flowers, veggies or herbs from a specific list, without repeats. Flowers: all letters of the flower in the book title. Veggies: setting (city, state, country, planet) starts with the same letter as the veggie. Herbs: page count contains the number of letters in that herb.
Planted so far, including this post: rue, dill, potato, fennel, leek, endive, lily, marigold, aster, onion, horseradish, parsley
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
Planting herbs horseradish (11=1) and parsley (7)
+15 Task (317 pages)
Post total: 15
Season total: 455