The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

25.1 Delicious Dee's task: Anchor’s Aweigh

It has been an interesting few months for me and at one stage I wasn’t actually sure if I was going to participate in last season’s SRC because I decided after 7 years to get out of the Navy. But here I am, so I thought I would base my task on some of my experiences in the Navy. For this task, you will read TWO books from DIFFERENT OPTIONS

Option 1 - read a non-fiction book (including biographies/autobiographies) about the U.S. Navy i.e. Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy, a U.S. Navy historical figure i.e.The Quiet Warrior: A Biography of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance or a mission/battle/operation involving the US Navy i.e. The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour
Required: Please explain the connection if it is not clear in the book description

Option 2 - I received my commission through the NROTC program at Virginia Tech. Read a book where the letters NROTC can be found in the TITLE (subtitles may also be used) . The letters do not have to be sequential, but all must be in the title – i.e. Turn Coat N, R and T in Turn, C, O in Coat; Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers N in Human, R, O, C in Curious, T in Stiff.
Required: State where the letters are found

Option 3 - I was commissioned on May 13, 2005 and discharged on Jan 31, 2013. Read a book that was published between those two dates
Required: State the publishing date in your post

Option 4 - The Navy gave me many opportunities to see parts of the world that I had never dreamed of. Over my time, I was deployed to and spent time in/visited Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Jordan, Seychelles, Iraq, Kuwait, Italy, Spain, Scotland. Read a book set in one of these countries OR by an author from one of those counties.
Required if not obvious from the title, description – state in your post

Option 5 - the Navy loves their acronyms and abbreviations – pretty much every command you are at will have a shortened name (makes it so much easier for talking on the radio). For me, these were DDG-58; LSD-41; CPR-4; JCCS-1; NCIS. Read a book where the initials of all authors or contributors are found within one of the abbreviations. i.e. Diana Gabaldon in DDG, Colin Cotterill in JCCS, Italo Calvino in NCIS, Philip R. Craig in CPR. (Craig's collaborations with William G. Tapply such as Second Sight (Brady Coyne, #22) would not work- initials PRCWGT)
Required – state the abbreviation you used in your post

Option 6 - read a book with a boat/ship (water-bound) on the cover (i.e. ). This list Ships on the Cover might help (but as with any task, verify if you have questions). Required - show the cover in your post

REQUIRED State the options when you post

Approved

Option 2
The Unhandsome Prince


Option 6

Not Approved

Option 2
I Walk in Dread: The Diary of Deliverance Trembley, Witness to the Salem Witch Trials, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1691 - children's rule

This help thread is open!

Here's a good one . It's about the Navy too.

Judy wrote: "For Option 2, can the letters NROTC appear more than once in title, as long as they are all there at least once? Ex.- could there be 2 O's or 2 T's, etc. Thanks!"

yep - you just need to be able to show that it can be spelled at least once

for Option 1 - the following link may give you some ideas - DDG's in the Navy are named after either famous Navy or Marine people - http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_dis... - if you have any questions make sure to check (I can tell you that Winston Churchill won't work even though he is on the list)

For option 2 would be okay?

unfortunately, Jayme with the new Children's rule and the fact that it is only 200 pages, I have to say no - sorry

How about for Option 2, it's 272 pages

Sweet! I have a place for The Zygote Chronicles: A Novel (option 2) and The Uncommon Reader (option 3)!

I got the first on a whim at the library today, hoping I'd find a place for it, and the second my gramma loaned to me, hoping I'd enjoy it. Thanks!

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "How about for Option 2, it's 272 pages"

that works

this is not a question at all. Firstly, I never congratulated you on your Winter finish, so congrats, Dee!!

2nd. This task will kill me. Man, Dee, I work for the navy too, and I like to forget about it all the time. ha!

okay, I guess I do have a question - would spaceships work for option 6? Or is it limited to ocean-bound vessels only?

i'm going to say ocean-bound vessels only

that's no fun :(

Would No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden work for option 1 or maybe option 4?

Valorie wrote: "Would No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden work for option 1?"

as much as I want to say no because I have severe ethical issues with this whole scenario - yes, it works - it was a navy mission, and the book is non-fiction and while not a battle, it was an operation/mission

ok thanks

hi! For option 2, may I use the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. It has the letters NROTC in the title. Its also listed as a young adult book - at this time, its doesn't have "children's" listed as its genre, and I doubt if this would happen. However, just in case, I'd like to have this book pre-approved if I may. I'd hate to get down the road and have it disqualified because of the new rule.

thank!

Bekka - you'll be fine - children's doesn't even show up on the first extended list page but I'll list it as ok

Hi Dee, Congratulations on your recent "retirement" and may I say Thank you for your service! I imagine it must be very strange to be a civilian after so long.


I was hoping to read by James Patterson for option 6. People do sail around the world in sailboats don't they? Or are you looking for ocean liners and naval ships?

Nope that works Sheila - just needs to be a boat of some sort -

Cool beans! Thanks Dee.

Time to dust off those pompoms. Lots of people with around 1000 points!

Dee wrote: "Bekka - you'll be fine - children's doesn't even show up on the first extended list page but I'll list it as ok"

yeah, I doubt it would be a problem. However, one thing that's really hit me in doing the Challenge is how much those pages can change over the course of three months!

Thanks so much!

Sorry for the big images, Dee but both of these books have ships but they are very tiny! (Both in the distance.) I don't know if they count, LOL!

For what it's worth, I know at least the first one will be on a ship, as they are about pirates. :)

yep they both work - just make sure to point out the ships if you use the covers - FWIW, I liked Unsung Hero it is the first in one of my fav series (although now ended)

Awesome, Dee. I'll include your approval in my post.

I've been wanting to start the Brockmann series. Hopefully this task will help me get started!

D.G. ~Shameless Hussy~ wrote: "Awesome, Dee. I'll include your approval in my post.

I've been wanting to start the Brockmann series. Hopefully this task will help me get started!"

the first couple are def the weakest - she hits her stride around book 4/5 - and that's all i'm going to say ;)

That's what I've heard!

Hi Dee, I was wondering about hypenated names for option 5

I would like to read Out of the Deep I Cry by Julia Spencer-Fleming for option 5 - JCCS-1 Would I also need an F for the hyphentated name or would this fit? My library files it under S.

i'm going to say no, because even thought it is hypenated, they are still 2 names and the F doesn't fit - sorry

a- whaaa!

note my cry was hypenated!

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

That's why I'm going with Easy Option #3.

i think i'm doing 1 and 4 - i have a review non-fiction on the Navy and the civil war to listen to and then hit up one of my countries left on my around the world challenge

Now if Dee had just stayed in the Navy another 5 days I could use Touch & Go that was published Feb. 5th! :). Since this one is so new I never expected to get it from the library so fast. Now I am trying to fit it somewhere and shuffle some other things.

Now if Sandy OK's it for the hug a tree task then I can move my hug a tree book to Dee's option 3 DDG-58 since the author is Dorothy Garlock. I love this stuff!

Lol sorry Sheila - I requested Feb - the navy said January

well thanks for trying Dee.

I'm going to read...

Option 2: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

Option 3: The Angel's Assassin by Samantha Holt - published 2012.

Look good Claire

For Option 4, a book set in Scotland, does it have to be the mainland, or can it be a Scottish island? On my TBR I have one set in St Kilda and one in Orkney.

Wendy - i'll say yes because I was able to verify - just make sure you point that out in your post

Thanks Dee.

I want to make sure that the following book works for Option 2:

Curse of the Bane

~ * mariya * ~ wrote: "I want to make sure that the following book works for Option 2:

Curse of the Bane"

it does because it has more than 300 pages, even with it being shelved as children's - hope you enjoy it

Thank you Dee!

Here are a couple romance books with ships on the cover:)

Yep - they all look good :)

I'm thing for option 6 of listening to . Would you consider that enough of a ship in the background? I assume you will, but I just want to double-check.

Stacie wrote: "I'm thing for option 6 of listening to . Would you consider that enough of a ship in the background? I assume you will, but I just want to double-check."

Scratch that. I just noticed that the Mass Market edition does not have over 300 pages, so it won't work. Shoot!