The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

30.9 - Peebee’s Task - Schoolhouse Rock
When thinking about winter mornings growing up, watching Saturday morning cartoons was a big part of that. And if you grew up when I did (70s and 80s), you can’t forget Schoolhouse Rock – the tunes are still embedded decades later, and come in handy on trivia night or when you forget something basic you think you should know.

These tasks are based on some of my favorite Schoolhouse Rock episodes. Pick any two options from the following list.

Required: Please state the options you selected when you post. If using cover options, please post link to the book’s cover. If your choices aren’t obvious, please explain the connection.

#1: Multiplication Rock: Three is a Magic Number (Video)
This is the pilot episode of the series.

Select a book which is the 3rd book in a series; or part of a completed trilogy (3-book series with no additional books contemplated, such as Hunger Games trilogy, Lord of the Rings trilogy, or Fifty Shades trilogy ; or with 3 or three in the title.

#2: Grammar Rock: Lolly, Lolly, Lolly Get Your Adverbs Here (Video)
I probably learned the most from this one, and it has a pretty catchy tune.

Select a book with an adverb in the title (To make things easy on the mods, only the ones contained on this List of Adverbs -- most, but not all, end in "ly").

#3: Grammar Rock: Conjunction Junction (Video)

Select a book with a conjunction ("and, but & or will get you pretty far") in the title; or with two coauthors (Author 1 and Author 2) only (not three or more or anthologies that are separately written, but a collaboration between the two).

#4: Science Rock: Interplanet Janet (Video)
Select a book with one of the planets named in the title or subtitle (Pluto counts, since it was then on Janet’s list!); or is on the Space Travel list; or is written by an author named Janet (no variations).

#5: America Rock: I’m Just a Bill (Video)
Am I the only one that remembers this every time I see a school bus at a railroad crossing?

Select a book that is set in a capital city (World Capitals) or is written by an author named Bill (William and its common variations like Billy, Will, Willie, etc. also work).

#6: America Rock: Preamble (Video)
This is such a catchy tune: I always have to sing the Preamble to remember it.

Select a book with a word exactly as contained in the Preamble in its title. (Use only words of 5 or more letters from this source: Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. You can use the American English spelling of "defense." No other variations, plurals or possessives allowed.)

Approved Books

1. Trilogies: Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson; Bauchelain and Korbal Broach: Three Short Novels of the Malazan Empire, Volume One

3. Two Authors: Cell 8 by Anders Roslund & Borge Hellstrom

5. Bill: Asulon by William R. McGrath

Books that are NOT approved

1. Trilogies His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (contains more than three books, with half steps)

reserved for books actually used (I'm going to try to track that here this time)

This thread is now open!

ohhh good task! I've been trying to find a place with the last book in a trilogy, i've been listening

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson (option 1) and Asulon - William R. McGrath (option 5)?

Fiona (Titch) wrote: "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson (option 1) and Asulon - William R. McGrath (option 5)?"

Both approved, Fiona.

Thanks x

Peebee, great task!

For option 1, any book of a series with half-step books won't work, right? I will be reading Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials books (which has two half-step books), and I wanted to make sure I can't fit the third book here before I find another task for it...

Chaitra, I'm going to say no, so that we can stick with the Magic Number 3.

Peebee wrote: "Chaitra, I'm going to say no, so that we can stick with the Magic Number 3."

Will do Peebee. I'll find another book for this. :)

i haven't thought about books yet, but i LOVE that you included the links to videos!!! i, too, grew up with school-house rock. fab task! :)

Would 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus work for #6?

America - Americas

Love, love, LOVE, this task!!!

April wrote: "Would 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus work for #6?

America - Americas"

Since no variations or plurals are allowed, I'm going to have to say no.

This is so funny! We were just talking about Schoolhouse Rock at work tday.

For option 6 would the word 'perfect' work? It is not capitalized so I thought I would check. I love the task btw, I grew up on Schoolhouse Rock:)

Keltie Lee....can I put this on hold for now? I'm thinking about changing the language of this task before everything's finalized. I thought using the capitalized words would make it easier, but it leaves out some important words and includes some less important ones. So let me check with the mods, think about how I want to word this and get back to you by the actual beginning of the challenge.

No problem. Just let me know:)

Does anyone know if The Expats is set primarily in Luxembourg?

would this work for number 1?

It's become a January tradition for me to read the newest release in the White House Chef mystery series, so I'll be reading Fonduing Fathers for #5.

And Only to Deceive -- I may have to flip a coin: conjunction or adverb? Decisions, decisions. . . ;-)

Midu wrote: "would this work for number 1?
"

approved.

thank you,Peebee!

For Option 1- The Hypnotist

and Option 6- And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic People

I just wanted to check this one for option 3. It is written by 2 authors Cell 8

Sam wrote: "I just wanted to check this one for option 3. It is written by 2 authors Cell 8"

approved

April wrote: "For Option 1- The Hypnotist

and Option 6- And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic People"

approved.

For #1, would a book with the word "third" in the title work?

For example, The Third Angel...

Peebee, I can read a book that says Three or had the number 3 in the title, it doesn't have to be a trilogy?

Fiona (Titch) wrote: "Peebee, I can read a book that says Three or had the number 3 in the title, it doesn't have to be a trilogy?"

Yes, Fiona, that's correct.

Dierdre, I hadn't included "third" in the task, but I will do so before the task language has to be finalized...so The Third Angel is approved.

Great, thanks! =)

The Three Gifts - Daris Howard - Can I read this option 1?

Fiona (Titch) wrote: "The Three Gifts - Daris Howard - Can I read this option 1?"

Definitely anything with "Three" in the title works!

I'm going to assume that The Expats is set in Luxembourg the city which is the capital of Luxembourg. Will this work?

KSMary wrote: "I'm going to assume that The Expats is set in Luxembourg the city which is the capital of Luxembourg. Will this work?"

Yes, that works, KSMary....

Thanks!

Peebee, a question about option 2. Is it ok if the adverb in the title is used as an adjective? I mean, next is an adverb as well as an adjective. Can I read, say, The Next Best Thing or something where next is used as an adjective?

Chaitra wrote: "Peebee, a question about option 2. Is it ok if the adverb in the title is used as an adjective? I mean, next is an adverb as well as an adjective. Can I read, say, The Next Best Thing or something ..."

So as not to drive the mods absolutely crazy or turn them into schoolchildren diagramming sentences at the blackboard (am I dating myself?), let's leave it that if a word is on the adverb list I linked to, then it's fair game, even if technically not used that way in a particular title.

Thank you! I was beginning to drive myself crazy trying to figure out adverbs on my TBR. This is perfect!

Darn! I had a book with Billy in the title and then I re-read the task and found out it was only the author's name:

The Collected Works Of Billy The Kid

Oh, well ---- back to the drawing board;)

Would Micro by Michael Crichton and Richard Preston work for option #3 (two co-authors)? In the blurb for the book it says that it was completed by Richard Preston after the death of Michael Crichton and both of their names appear on the cover.

Sandra wrote: "Would Micro by Michael Crichton and Richard Preston work for option #3 (two co-authors)? In the blurb for the book it says that it was completed by Richard Preston after the death of Michael Cricht..."

Yes, Sandra, that works. If you can't tell the dividing line between the two when you read the piece, then we'll consider them "conjoined" for the purposes of this task.

Keltie Lee wrote: "For option 6 would the word 'perfect' work? It is not capitalized so I thought I would check. I love the task btw, I grew up on Schoolhouse Rock:)"

Keltie Lee, "perfect" is now an approved word. I changed the task slightly to include all words with 5 or more letters in the Preamble, which worked better to sort out the significant words from the more common ones than using capitalization.

yay - I just realized what book I could use for the second one - whee!!

Hi Sandy! I have like a million questions :)

For Option 3 (coauthors) - Could I use books by Ilona Andrews? They are a popular couple who write together (see author image has them both: but use only one name.

Also for Option 3 (conjuction): Love & Loyalty...the ampersand counts right?

For option 1, I understand that I can use either any #3 in the series (even if the series has 19 books) OR any book in a trilogy.

D.G. ~Shameless Hussy~ wrote: "Hi Sandy! I have like a million questions :)

For Option 3 (coauthors) - Could I use books by Ilona Andrews? They are a popular couple who write together (see author image has them both: [authorima..."

D. G., this is Peebee's task and she will be answering your questions - I'm the mod who posted the tasks this time, and that's why my name is on the initial post.

For Option#4: EARTH as in Journey to the Center of the Earth

D.G. ~Shameless Hussy~ wrote: "Hi Sandy! I have like a million questions :)

For Option 3 (coauthors) - Could I use books by Ilona Andrews? They are a popular couple who write together (see author image has them both: [authorima..."

DG - Ilona Andrews is fine...just make a note that there are two co-authors involved when you post it.

An ampersand counts for option 3.

Your interpretation is correct for option 1: either the 3rd book in a series or any book from a trilogy.

And Earth counts as a planet.