The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

30.6 - Ty's task: Reading Your 123s
Mathematics is fun! So is reading! So, let's have some good ol' fashioned fun with reading and 'rithmetic.

Read 2 books from any ONE option below. Required: post the option you chose.

1. Fibonacci Sequence - the sequence of numbers that begin with 0 and 1 where each subsequent number is the sum of the previous 2 numbers (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5...). Using the last digit of your birth year, read 2 books whose numeral placement in any series adds up to the last digit of your birth year. Books must be identified as a series on GRs (Series name, #). Each book may be from the same or different series. If you were born on year 0 (1970, 1980, etc) or year 1 (1971, 1981), use 10 as your total.
For example, for those born in 1984, you can read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter #1) and Mockingjay (Hunger Games #3). 1 + 3 = 4, the last digit of 1984.

Required: State the last digit of your birth year.

2. Prime Number - Book 1: Read a book whose page number is made up of digits that are only prime numbers. Specifically: 2, 3, 5, or 7.
Book 2: Read a book whose page number is made up of digits that are non-prime. Specifically: 0, 1, 4, 6, 8, 9)
Numbers can be repeated in a page number sequence (e.g. 225, 199, 400).

Readers of alternative formats (ebooks, audiobooks, and large print books) must link to the mass market paperback or other edition used to establish number of pages. ebooks without print versions cannot be used for this option. See Book Formats and Page Numbers Explained in Rules of the Challenge.

Required: State the number of pages of each book in your post.

3. Imaginary Number - any number that is expressed by multiplying a real number and the imaginary unit i - generally used to denote a zero or negative square (which doesn't exist in real mathematics, but that's neither here nor there). Read 2 books, the first by an author under a REAL name and the 2nd under his or her IMAGINARY name, aka nom de plume or pseudonym.

Required: If the pseudonym is not widely recognized (this is arbitrary, I know) or mentioned via either GR author profile, provide an external link as evidence.

Approved:


Option 3:
Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb
Susan Holloway Scott/Isabella Bradford
Dean Koontz/Leigh Nichols
Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick
Jayne Ann Krentz/Jayne Castle

Not:

Option 3:
Theodore Sturgeon/Ellery Queen

This thread is now open!

hmmm - option 1 or Option 3...Option 1 would have me starting 2 new series...since I was born in a year ending with 2...but I always like pseudonym books

I love math...

Sara ♥ wrote: "I love math..."

If you mean this literally, then YAY!

If you mean the opposite, believe me, I chortled when thinking of this task. Math - it's a love or hate thang. XD

No, I really do. I have a BS in Civil Engineering with a Minor in Math. Love the stuff!

Mech E here!

Awesome!

Would Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb work for #3? Her real name is Eleanor Robertson, though I doubt she's heard that name for years... ;-)

Yep, and I consider that pairing pretty well known for genre readers (like me!).

Ty wrote: "Yep, and I consider that pairing pretty well known for genre readers (like me!)."

Me, too! Just wanted to check. ;-)

Just had to drop in and say that I love math too!

I like the idea of math, but it doesn't particuliarly like me. I do like this task, though.

I'm thinking of doing the following for Option 3:

Read a collection of short stories by Theodore Sturgeon (he's a 50s-60s science fiction writer -- He's the one who created the phrase "live long and prosper" for Star Trek; he wrote the episode describing the Vulcan mating ritual http://www.centipedepress.com/authors... ). He also wrote The Player on the Other Side under the name of "Ellery Queen" which was nominated for an Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1964


http://www.physics.emory.edu/~weeks/m...
click on
Complete list of books and stories
Which will bring you to
http://www.physics.emory.edu/~weeks/m...
look down at
1963
And see:
1963 *The Player on the Other Side (as Ellery Queen)

As far as I can see, this was the only book Sturgeon published under the name of "Ellery Queen".

Would this combination (Sturgeon short story collection plus The Player on the Other Side) satisfy this task?

Thanks!

I see that The Player on the Other Side has been widely credited as being ghost-written by Theodore Sturgeon. However, Ellery Queen is the acknowledged pen-name of two other individuals. In the spirit of the task, the IMAGINARY author name must be aligned with the REAL author. In this case, it is not. Sorry!

I'm going to read, for Option 1, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (#2 in series) & Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James (#3 in series).

My birth year is 1985.

Sounds good!

Option 3/Imaginary Numbers: historical fiction author,Susan Holloway Scott, also writes historical romances as Isabella Bradford

I like math but completely suck at it...I can explain to you how different physics principles work...ask me to do the math and i'm screwed

Jenifer - that works!

Dee - haha - I actually thought of basing the task around those darn first and second laws but the math thing came to me first. :D

lol - my guys on the ship used to hate it when I did Navigator math (aka, use my fingers to figure out how long it was going to take us to get somewhere)...because they would do it properly, and I would normally have the estimate to within about 5 minutes of their window

For option 3, I was thinking of using Dean Koontz and one of his many aliases. I picked a book based on the GR Database information, but then realized it has been re-issued with Dean Koontz's name on the book itself. Will you accept this?

by by Leigh Nichols

Kate S wrote: "For option 3, I was thinking of using Dean Koontz and one of his many aliases. I picked a book based on the GR Database information, but then realized it has been re-issued with Dean Koontz's name..."

This was a bit tough...
But, as the task is not a COVER task (or a reissue task), I would say that yes, this combo would be allowed since the book was first published under the pseudonym and the pseudonym is linked to the real author. I would suggest, however, linking back to the help thread to avoid confusing the mods. :D

Thanks, Ty.

I was born in 1975. So that means I have to read books 1 and 5 of a series to a total of 6?

The Girls He Adored (book 1) and The Boys from Santa Cruz (book 5) - Jonathan Nasaw?

No, you would read anything that adds up to 5, the last digit of your birth year. In your case, you can only read the combos #1 and #4 or #2 and #3 of that same series if you choose - but you can read books from different series also.

Ty wrote: "No, you would read anything that adds up to 5, the last digit of your birth year. In your case, you can only read the combos #1 and #4 or #2 and #3 of that same series if you choose - but you can ..."

TY, that's fine, as I've not started the series yet lol. But I can find some stuff.

If I pick option 1, can I read from two different series written by the same author?

Yep.

JAK is her real name. :D but yep, she's well known enough to me! That specific combo works - JAK and Amanda Quick or JAK and Jayne Castle but not Jayne Castle and Amanda Quick.

For option 1, does it matter how many books are in the series, as long as they're identified as a series on GR? I'm planning to read books 1 and 2 of a series that, as of now, consists of only 2 books.

Sandy wrote: "For option 1, does it matter how many books are in the series, as long as they're identified as a series on GR? I'm planning to read books 1 and 2 of a series that, as of now, consists of only 2 b..."

That's fine, Sandy. It can be an on-going or concluded series, doesn't matter.

Just want to verify that I can read Divergent and Insurgent (books 1 and 2 of a planned trilogy - birth year 1983) for this task. Maybe the same series Sandy is thinking of?

Deana wrote: "Just want to verify that I can read Divergent and Insurgent (books 1 and 2 of a planned trilogy - birth year 1983) for this task. Maybe the same series Sandy is thinking of?"

actually, I was reading the Will Robie series by Baldacci - I'm a sucker for his books!

Deana wrote: "Just want to verify that I can read Divergent and Insurgent (books 1 and 2 of a planned trilogy - birth year 1983) for this task. Maybe the same series Sandy is thinking of?"

yep that works for your year.