The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

Thanks, Tanja! I like the sandwich one, too. I'm looking forward to seeing our Summer Tasks. I like so many of these tasks.
Manday, love the "what should I read next?" idea!

I also like any Task that lets us revisit the last Challenge and read a book we didn't get around to reading.

One more idea:

Roll the Summer Dice - June, July & August are the 6th, 7th and 8th months of the year.
On your Homepage, under your Profile, is your "Friends" tab. The listing of your friends seems to get shuffled from day to day. Click on your "Friends" tabs, once a day for 6 days.
(Cynthia, this could be changed to "click on your Friends tab 6 times" if the listing changes with each visit to the friends list. I'm not sure how often the list is randomized. All the steps below could be altered as well to fit the first criteria)

On the 6th day, visit the 7th friend on your list, starting from the top.

Go to their "Read" shelf and click on "Author". The "Read" list will be sorted alphabettically by Author's name.
Read one of the first 8 listed books, starting either at the end of the alphabet (Author's names starting at "Z") or at the beginning of the alphabet (author's name starting at "A").
Children's book are not allowed and can be ignored when counting the 8 books to be chosen from. For example, if in the first 8 listed books, there are 2 Children's books, add books 9 & 10 to the allowable list of books but only count the 8 YA and/or adult books for your choices.

(hope that's not too complicated)

Hey Petra,
I like the general idea of that final task but a couple of potential issues - the reason the order of your friends change is because by default it is listed by the order of "last online". This will change differently for different people, and for some people it will hardly change at all. Also, in a recent challenge you were required to use your friends list and some people had issues with it because they don't have friends on here, so I think not everyone will have a 7th friend.

Open Season - Use any suggestion in the Summer 2010 Task Ideas thread that was not selected as a task.

Wide Open Season - Use any suggestion or task from any SRC challenge.

Since June is "get married month" how about a book that is written by an author that as your maiden name (just the last name)? Or if that is really difficult because you have a really unusual name or you are a male, your mother's maiden name.

In the Swim: Choose a book with the name of a swimming stroke (butterfly, back, side, float,crawl, trudgen, either Dog or paddle) or the word swim (swims, swimming, swam, etc.) in the title. If you can find "trudgen" in the title--double points.

Reading by the numbers: A. Using the books on your TBR list, pick the one with the longest title (as in the most number of words--you can use any subtitles or not as you choose) to read.
B. Still using your TBR books, read the one by the authors with the least number of letters in his/her name.

Manday wrote: "Hey Petra,
I like the general idea of that final task but a couple of potential issues - the reason the order of your friends change is because by default it is listed by the order of "last online..."

Thanks, Manday, for explainging that. I couldn't figure out how/why the listing changed. You're right and that makes the task too difficult to impliment.

Susan wrote: "Since June is "get married month" how about a book that is written by an author that as your maiden name (just the last name)? Or if that is really difficult because you have a really unusual name..."

My married name would be impossible to matchup, as would my mother's maiden name. We'd have to go back to my great-grandmother's maiden name of Schmidt before I'd find an author who shares a last name with my family tree.
I like the idea of the task. Perhaps the task could be ammended to something like: read a book written by an author who's last name is the same as a last name in your maternal family tree? That may open up a few more options for everyone.

pjreads wrote: "Open Season - Use any suggestion in the Summer 2010 Task Ideas thread that was not selected as a task.

Wide Open Season - Use any suggestion or task from any SRC challenge."

I LOVE this idea!! I just joined the SRC this season, so it would be very cool to go back and find a fun task from a season I wasn't here for!

From the rest of this thread, I also like the "Identical Covers" and the "What Do I Read Next?" ideas!

Petra wrote: "Susan wrote: "Since June is "get married month" how about a book that is written by an author that as your maiden name (just the last name)? Or if that is really difficult because you have a reall..."


I would totally love that task. My maiden name is very common, but my married name is not, so I totally understand how it would be difficult. My husband does geneology, so that would be cool to turn it into a family tree type task.

Donna Jo:

I LOVE in the swim!

How about something with Heat, Hot, Burn, Sun in the title?

Just something I was thinking about as I was walking through a bookstore today :)

For a lot of people, summers always seem to fly by. Read a collection of short stories either by one author or various authors and write a summary of which one was your favorite and why.

I love a lot of the tasks. The hurricane, doppleganger, flag day, time of day, book blog, bloomsday, curiosity killed the cat, the _ who, and reading by numbers are my favorites.

Spy on a stranger reading a book, and then read the same book. They have to actually be reading it, not just holding it, and it doesn't count if they catch you spying on them. Visit a bookstore or library and spy on lots of people for lots of choices. Or read a nonfiction book about spies or espionage.

Check the recently reviewed book page (once!) and read a book on it.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/recen...

Read a book that another Goodreads group with more than 500 members is currently reading and finish it within their time period. For example, The Next Best Book Club is reading Gone with the Wind for May.

Read two books translated the same translator, but by different authors.

"something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" read 2 books with any of these (ex. a book you've wanted to read for along time, a book you borrowed from someone (or library), a new book or a new book on your TBR list....etc

Manday wrote: "Stubborn is as Stubborn Does - read a book that you THINK should have been allowed in a previous challenge tasks but did not quite fit the rules or was denied by the task creator.

What Should I..."

theres another website similar to this called bookseer.com that may also help if this task is chosen

Read a summer romance

Susan wrote: "Since June is "get married month" how about a book that is written by an author that as your maiden name (just the last name)? Or if that is really difficult because you have a really unusual name..."
Good idea ... but you need another alternative. Both my maiden name and my mother's maiden name are unusual ethnic names (Polish and Italian). How about as an alternative, if both names are unusual, a name of the same ethnicity? So for "my maiden name" (Polish) I could read All Things at Once by Mika Brzezinski.

Susan wrote: "Since June is "get married month" how about a book that is written by an author that as your maiden name (just the last name)? Or if that is really difficult because you have a really unusual name..."
Good idea ... but you need another alternative. Both my maiden name and my mother's maiden name are unusual ethnic names (Polish and Italian). How about as an alternative, if both names are unusual, a name of the same ethnicity? So for "my maiden name" (Polish) I could read All Things at Once by Mika Brzezinski...."

Deedee, this is a good solution to dealing with unusual ethnic names. I'd be in the same position as yourself for this task. I like this alternative.

1. Color My World: Find your birth color http://www.rexanne.com/bday-color.html and chose a book with that color in the title or author's name.

2. Mythological Beasts: Chose a book with a mythological or legendary beast in the title. If you can't think of one, use Wikipedia's list http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...
3. It's Hotter Than Billy Blue Blazes! Choose a book title that conveys the idea of heat--explain why you chose it; or conversely, choose a book title that makes you cooler, and explain why.

4. Family Ties: Count the number of brothers and sisters you have (not including you). Add three. Use that total for the total number of words in the title of the book for this task. Do not count subtitle words. Adult books only, unless you are under age 14.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream -- Read a book that features an ice cream flavor in the title. (i.e. Like Water for Chocolate, Vanilla Ride, Strawberry Shortcake Murder)

Summer TV is all about re-runs and reality shows. Re-read a book AND read a "reality" book such as a biography or a non-fiction book that tells a story (true crime, etc).

I like the idea of a task that is about going back to your roots - read a book (fiction/nonfiction) that has to do with an important moment in time from a country you are descended from.

I am Polish, Irish and Norwegian, so I could read a book about the potato famine in Ireland, WWII in Poland, Vikings, etc.

Bridgit wrote: "I like the idea of a task that is about going back to your roots - read a book (fiction/nonfiction) that has to do with an important moment in time from a country you are descended from.

I am P..."

I love this idea!

Liz wrote: "Bridgit wrote: "I like the idea of a task that is about going back to your roots

I love this idea!
"

Me too! I could read a novel set in the US. I am American.

Elizabeth wrote: "Liz wrote: "Bridgit wrote: "I like the idea of a task that is about going back to your roots

I love this idea!
"

Me too! I could read a novel set in the US. I am American."

Totally! But it should have something to do with an important event in US history, not just set in the US i think. But it could be anything - Amelia Earhart, the Alamo, Civil War, Jamestown, 9/11 - something that is part of what makes you being an American an American.

But, i also think that its about your roots as opposed to what your nationality is. So if you are only an American or only French, you could read about that, but otherwise, try to find something from your ancestry.

Anyway, thats how I was envisioning it.

Because it's a summertime challenge and I always think of the beach in summertime, how about a book whose main character is some type of marine life (no YA) or
a book that gives a use for water different from the norm, i.e., drinking, bathing, washing, etc. or
a book that features summertime heat or heatwaves as a focal point of the plot.
What about using the first letters of the month for the beginning letters of the title or
the names of the month must be the name of the author, example: august wilson.
Finally, what about a favorite activity during summer, something to do with drive-in movies, firefly catching (and releasing), running for the ice cream truck, heading to favorite waterhole, sleeping in the backyard at night, watching fireworks, etc. ?

Summer is a time of vacation & travel: Read a book with one of the four directions (North, South, East, West) in the title.

The maiden name task would be SO easy for me! All I'd have to do is read a book by Kevin Henkes. :-)

Another idea with vacations in mind: Read a book with the name of a Country you would like to visit one day in the title.

Whatta Want Do Now? Read an adult book (fiction or nonfiction) with an action verb (Run, build, swim, etc.) in the title.

Are We There Yet? Read a book with a locale at least 1,000 miles away from where you live now. No imaginary places.

Read a novel by an author you've never read.

Donna Jo wrote: "Are We There Yet? Read a book with a locale at least 1,000 miles away from where you live now. No imaginary places...."

Oooh, liking this one! Same idea as mine but more open to choosing books.

The Summer Challenge is going to be a lot of fun with all these great suggestions.

There would be no GR without the creator of the site, Otis Chandler. Get inspired by choosing a book off of his Read shelf (choose from pages 6, 7 or 8) that you have never read - no rereads for this task.


Just because school is out doesn't mean you can't learn something. Choose a book off of the Microhistories shelf that is a topic you know little or nothing about, but it looks interesting to you.

Donna Jo -- YEESSS! I was trying to think of a task for Are We There Yet and got stuck on read books featuring Route 66! AHAHAHAHA!

At Band Camp and the Great Outdoors -- Read a summer camp book AND a nonfiction book about camping or the great outdoors.

El wrote: "Just because school is out doesn't mean you can't learn something. Choose a book off of the Microhistories shelf that is a topic you know little or nothing about, but it looks interesting to you.

LOVE that idea El. I read Salt and it really got me fascinated on these types of insights.

El wrote: "There would be no GR without the creator of the site, Otis Chandler. Get inspired by choosing a book off of his Read shelf (choose from pages 6, 7 or 8) that you have never read - no rereads for this task.
Just because school is out doesn't mean you can't learn something. Choose a book off of the Microhistories shelf that is a topic you know little or nothing about, but it looks interesting to you. ..."


Super suggestions, El!

Do, Re, Me -- Summer is a great time to crash to your favorite musicals. Read a book that have Do (Doe), Re (Ray), Me (Me), Fa (Far), So (Sew), La OR Ti (Tea) in the title.

Summer Blockbusters -- Read an award-winning novel that debuted during the summer (June, July or August).

Let's All Go to the Lobby (version 1) -- Treat yourself to a snack! Read a favorite TBR that's been on your shelf for more than 3 months.

Let's All Go to the Lobby (version 2) -- Treat yourself to a snack! Read a book that has a movie treat in the title OR is featured on the cover.

The book I thought of for "Are We There Yet": On the Road by Jack Kerouac; also any of the numerous books with road trips involved.

Summer School - Read a book that was is on the High School Reading List http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/47...

Ask 5 friends/associates what their favorite book is and pick one to read

Read a play or book written as a play

A Study in Cover Design - Read a cover that has no artwork on it aside from the author and book names AND read a book that has an overly elaborate design. Post each book cover and say which was more appealing and why.

Read a book that has some sort of unusual punctuation in the title, such as !, $, ?, #, %, @. (commas, periods, hyphens, ampersands do not count)

Read a book that has a made up word in the title

Read a book that has a pun in the title

Read a book with an average rating of 4.0 or higher

The Prince and the Pauper - Read 2 books, one about royalty and one about someone from the bottom of the economic or social ladder.

Any idea when the list is coming out? I didn't participate this last challenge but isn't it over on April 30?

Felina wrote: "Any idea when the list is coming out? I didn't participate this last challenge but isn't it over on April 30?"
The challenge isn't over until May 31st - I'll post the list midmay.

The Spring challenge ends May 31. I believe the Summer challenge list comes out 2 weeks before it begins?

Bridgit - I love so many of your ideas! I especially love the summer school & the prince & the pauper ones!

Lots of people have Family Reunions during the Summer. What about a challenge that invovles reading a book about a family or where genealogy is key? or a book about the activities you participate in at the reunion (cruise, cook out, kickball, game tournament, family picture, potluck dinner)?

June is the most popular month for marriages. what about reading books that have happyily and disastrous weddings/marriages?

The WORLD CUP starts in July. Its in South Africa. Maybe we could read a book set in a country participating in the matches, or international sporting event?

Lots of people do volunteer work during the summer; especially families with kids who are out on summer break. What about a task themed around volunteering activites. Say you volunteer to build a habitat house, so you read a book with a house on the cover or where building/fixing a house is a theme; then you go out and volunteer at your local habitat and post about your experience. The same for gleaning fields, working in soup kitchen, candystripping, highway clean ups, and so forth.

Tanja wrote: "Donna Jo -- YEESSS! I was trying to think of a task for Are We There Yet and got stuck on read books featuring Route 66! AHAHAHAHA!

At Band Camp and the Great Outdoors -- Read a summer camp book..."

Tanja, I always figured I lived half an exciting life--I lived on US HWY 6, instead of 66.

Cynthia wrote: "Felina wrote: "Any idea when the list is coming out? I didn't participate this last challenge but isn't it over on April 30?"
The challenge isn't over until May 31st - I'll post the list midmay."

Aah I thought I might be off a bit. Thanks

I'm working on my task for Summer and I think I have an idea. I think my past tasks have been a little safe (maybe boring?) I think Cynthia does a great job of balancing different types of tasks and covering a broad range of interests with the 5-15's. But does anyone have any thoughts on what makes a good task? Do you like being pushed out of your comfort zone? Like to see people's interests reflected in their tasks? Like tasks with broad categories that let you work in books from your TBR pile? Should they stick to seasonal ideas? Or offshoots/corollaries of past tasks like the sins task- maybe the 7 virtues next in the title or character's name: Faith, Hope, Love/Charity, Temperence, Fortitude/Courage, Justice, Prudence.
Do you expect the higher point tasks to require more than 1 book?
I love the creativity in this thread- I'm just looking for opinions

Personally, I like the wider option tasks. I never do purely non-fiction history tasks. If I wanted to be bored to tears by reading I'd take a class and get credit for it :P. I like tasks that make me read new authors but not so much new genre's. I like the idea of new genre's but when I make my list the new genre books get pushed to the back burner if they get read at all.

Dlmrose wrote: "I'm working on my task for Summer and I think I have an idea. I think my past tasks have been a little safe (maybe boring?) I think Cynthia does a great job of balancing different types of tasks an..."

I don't like tasks that make you find a specific word, unless there are a ton of options. Roseann's task this season was way too hard, with only one word to choose from, there are limited options that someone would necessarily want to read.

I think the best tasks are the ones that are flexible as opposed to making you read something about a specific country/person/city/event - unless that 'something' is broad enough, like WWI. Its great to be able to fit your own preferences into a task.

I also think tasks that make you do something extra are hard.

No problem having multiple books for higher point tasks! (but i secretly love when we dont!)

That said, when there are too many loosey-goosey tasks, it sort of defeats the purpose of the challenge.

Lists are always great!

Also wanted to say DLMRose that I didnt think your task was boring at all! I like the theme!

Dlmrose wrote: "I'm working on my task for Summer and I think I have an idea. I think my past tasks have been a little safe (maybe boring?) I think Cynthia does a great job of balancing different types of tasks an..."

I had to go look your task up as I don't remember any boring ones. I thought your task was great! I still hope to get to it and found a couple of interesting books for it. If I run out of time, I hope to slip the books into the next Challenge.
As to your questions, it's hard to give specific answers without sounding wishy-washy but here goes....

I like a combination of tasks that allow me to read from my TBR list as well as find new-to-me books. For the latter, the tasks that have reflected the interest of the Task Maker have mostly worked out best for this purpose, as have books with specific words in the titles (as long as they are broad enough; too restrictive is not fun), certain number of words/letters in title/author'sname and cover colours.
I also enjoy the tasks that are broad and take some work to figure out (such as the Dewey Decimal task and the 6-Degrees task). They bring out some very interesting book selections.
I enjoy a non-fictional book once in awhile but would prefer to choose my own topic. The microhistory task suggested here is a broad enough task that I think allows for everyone to find a subject they enjoy, for example, as opposed to the tasks that ask you to read about a specific person(s) or narrow window of history.
I don't mind reading more than one book per task (but, like Bridgit, secretly love the one-bookers). I like the way the multiple books are tied together in a theme to accomplish the task.
I agree with Bridgit as well when she says that too many loosey-goosey tasks take away from the challenge.
I've only been a part of the Challenge for 3 rounds now and I've got to say that the balance between specific and broad tasks has always been good. Some tasks have been a bit tight in their requirements but that's okay, too. It made me look and find books that I might not have been lucky enough to find in another way.
I hope this sort of answers your questions, Dlmrose. I'm sure you'll come up with another good one.