Chaos Reading discussion

As some people may have noticed, I have set a (none-too-serious) challenge for the second part of 2013. It's a Treasure Hunt! Yaaay!

Full details are here: Treasure Hunt
You can also access the details from the group's main page.

I've set this thread up for people to post their progress reports and score updates, ask questions and just generally chat as we go.
Looking forward to hearing what books people are going to use to fulfil some of those categories....

I should also mention, I have no idea how the "challenge" function works on GR, (and they're not too forthcoming with tech support), so we're wingin' it.

This sounds fun! I'm totally in. Some of the "categories" you came up with are awesome.

This is so cool. I've been meaning to reread The Chronicles of Amber, that would be double scoring for The Courts of Chaos!

P.S. For those considering their votes in the 'isolation' read, Satantango is worth at least 6 points. Just saying.

Whitney wrote: "This is so cool. I've been meaning to reread The Chronicles of Amber, that would be double scoring for The Courts of Chaos!

P.S. For those considering their votes in the 'isolation' read, Satantan..."

Wait, no fair. I just finished a book by Ken Kalfus and got Blacksad from the library. That's some major premature pointage!

Whitney wrote: "This is so cool. I've been meaning to reread The Chronicles of Amber, that would be double scoring for The Courts of Chaos!

P.S. For those considering their votes in the 'isolation' read, Satantan..."

Sadly, there can be no double scoring...
"*Each book will only count in one category, which must be chosen at the time of finishing it."
Just out of interest though, how did you figure 6 pts for Satantango? I can only find 5. I'm stumped now....

Whitney wrote: "Wait, no fair. I just finished a book by Ken Kalfus and got Blacksad from the library. That's some major premature pointage! ..."

I hate it when you finish prematurely. :)

There's still a couple of weeks before we start too, so if there's a really exceptionally good category you'd like to suggest, go ahead!

Ruby wrote: "Sadly, there can be no double scoring...
"*Each book will only count in one category, which must be chosen at the time of finishing it."..."

Oh, darn. I didn't read carefully enough. I guess I'll wait on ordering that graphic novel about the kazakhstani ceramic engineer.

Just out of interest though, how did you figure 6 pts for Satantango? I can only find 5. I'm stumped now....

There's a cat or two in it.

I hate it when you finish prematurely. :)

I'll try and pace my reading more appropriately. Maybe stopping in the middle of chapters to think about baseball or something.

Well played, Whitney. Well played.

I love this challenge. I am determined to get at least one book in each category. I already put Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World on hold at the library. Why this one? Is it because it fits the 'shade of purple' category? Or because it fits the 'title has at least 7 words in it' category? No, this book is awesome because it has the Dewey Decimal Classification 666.257.

I look forward to updating everyone on the fascinating minutia that no doubt surrounds the color mauve.

P.S. I think my 'purple' book will be And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street :-)

I'd like to join this- sounds awesome, and so much fun! :D

Whitney wrote: "I love this challenge. I am determined to get at least one book in each category. I already put Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World on hold at the library. Why this one? Is i..."

Bahaha! Again, well played!!

I'm reading Parasite, and thinking it could well fit the theme of "things that could be shouted at a stranger & constitute verbal abuse". Will have to make sure I don't finish it before 1 July..

I suppose this means that most people participating in the group read will get a "gimme" 3 points too - there are 7 words in We Have Always Lived in the Castle. As long as it's completed on or after 1 July. I love it when a plan comes together... :)

Whitney wrote: "This is so cool. I've been meaning to reread The Chronicles of Amber, that would be double scoring for The Courts of Chaos!"

Haha! I was thinking of doing that reread, too. I still have to finish my Witch World reread, though - I bogged down 20-or-so books in.

No prizes for winning, it says. Bragging rights!

I've just knocked up a document you can use if you want to help keep track of your score. I suspect the "challenges" GR feature isn't going to cope with our points system somehow! You don't have to use it or anything, it's just there if it helps.
Link here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6GXg...

Transferring the doc across to Google Drive meant losing a bit of my table formatting, but you can always edit it to suit yourself after downloading. I had added an extra return on every line, just to leave plenty of space. Let me know if you have any issues accessing it.

Derek wrote: "No prizes for winning, it says. Bragging rights!"

This is going to get ugly, isn't it? ;)

I don't know - I have a good shot, as I'm just reading a ton of books this year (having a lot of free time) - but Whitney seems to have a PLAN!

I have no pretensions about even being in contention!

Whitney wrote: "I love this challenge. I am determined to get at least one book in each category. I already put Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World on hold at the library. Why this one? Is i..."

I was trying to choose between Mauve or Glass: A World History. They're the only two I could find at my library (we use Library of Congress classification, so I had to figure what the Dewey category would translate to, which was not as easy as I wanted it to be. I'm such a nerd...)

Theo wrote: "Whitney wrote: "I love this challenge. I am determined to get at least one book in each category. I already put Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World on hold at the library. Wh..."

I was up at 3am trawling through my local library's online catalogue for possible point scorers. I join you in your nerdliness :)

Can I just say that this is EXTREMELY cool and exactly the kind of challenge I need at the moment! love an excuse to go trawling through my shelves :)

Time to start combing through my to-read shelf and planning these tasks out, cause that's the kind of person I am!

I have to say, I am dying to know what books have "weaponized animals" in them. What about an animal that just bites a lot of people?

I wish there wasn't a maximum for the "title could be shouted at a stranger & constitute verbal abuse" -- I seem to have a lot of possibilities for that one.

Riona wrote: "Time to start combing through my to-read shelf and planning these tasks out, cause that's the kind of person I am!

I have to say, I am dying to know what books have "weaponized animals" in them. W..."

I actually had two books on my TBR list with what are unquestionably weaponized animals (I cant tell you, where's the fun in that?) But there are definitely some other books out there with grey areas. How about novels where animals use weapons, but they are not integrated into their physiology?

Whitney wrote: "I actually had two books on my TBR list with what are unquestionably weaponized animals (I cant tell you, where's the fun in that?) But there are definitely some other books out there with grey areas. How about novels where animals use weapons, but they are not integrated into their physiology?"

Now I have to go comb YOUR tbr list to try and guess them! But I'm sure I'll find some of my own too. Just have to think about it a bit more!

Riona wrote: "Now I have to go comb YOUR tbr list to try and guess them! But I'm sure I'll find some of my own too. Just have to think about it a bit more!..."

Only one of them is one my GR list, the other one is on the mental list only :-) I want to peruse your bookshelves for all the verbal abuse!

Whitney wrote: "But there are definitely some other books out there with grey areas. How about novels where animals use weapons, but they are not integrated into their physiology? ..."

I'm not really the right person to answer that question, given the book that just arrived in my mailbox yesterday. I would like to say as long as the animal is using a weapon AS a weapon, that counts. But I have a definite conflict of interest going on..

Has anyone finished anything yet? Huh? Huh?

I have 8% of my book left and am unreasonably excited..

Ruby wrote: "I'm reading Parasite, and thinking it could well fit the theme of "things that could be shouted at a stranger & constitute verbal abuse". Will have to make sure I don't finish it before 1 July.."

Already struggling with which category I'll be putting this one under. "Verbal abuse" scores 5 points, but there are lots of those on my shelf. I would only score 2pts under "invertebrates", but how many other invertebrate books am I likely to run across in the next 6 months?

Also, genetically altered tapeworms could arguably constitute a weaponised animal, and there aren't that many of those around..... hmmm.

I got yer weaponized animals here!

Heehee!

I'm gonna go with "animals that can use weapons". Okay with y'all?

Ruby wrote: "Heehee!

I'm gonna go with "animals that can use weapons". Okay with y'all?"

FIne with me. Aren't you the ultimate arbiter of all things treasure hunt anyway?

Whitney wrote: "Ruby wrote: "Heehee!

I'm gonna go with "animals that can use weapons". Okay with y'all?"

FIne with me. Aren't you the ultimate arbiter of all things treasure hunt anyway?"

Meh. I think this group tends to be pretty self-regulating! I'll arbitrate if needed, but since I'm competing too, I'll go along with the consensus. As I say, I have a book I'm hoping to use for that category.....

Here's my weaponized animal book: We3. I read it today. It's a fairly short graphic novel about a dog, cat and rabbit that have been fitted out with advanced weaponry and limited ability to talk. It is incredibly sad. I should have known that, what the hell was I thinking? The fact that my own dog has been in the hospital for the last two days did not help (he's much better now, btw). Points to the writer for resisting the temptation to make the weaponized former pets cool, and making them entirely tragic instead. The worst part? The different sections of the book all lead off with the 'missing pet' posters for the different animals. Missing pet posters make me sad in normal circumstances.

AND I just checked the GR link, and I see that Ruby had already written a review of this book. And I read the review and was about to recommend it and then saw it was Ruby's. So, yeah, read Ruby's review. It pretty much says it all. Now I want to read the deluxe edition. Here I thought I was being all original.

On a lighter note, as threatened, my 'purple' book is And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street. It seems like cheating to read a Dr. Seuss, but I thought it was a pretty inspired choice :-)

I promise not to read any more children's books for this challenge. At least not until it approaches the end and I'm desperate to quickly fill in a couple categories. Oh, review of 'Mulberry Street': "a mind-boggling journey inside the mind of a child who experiences vivid hallucinations that he is forced to hide from his family due to their disapproval and inability to understand his altered mental status.'

SO glad you read We3! It's gut-wrenching, isn't it? I laughed, I cried. Literally.

I'm glad to hear your dog is feeling better.

Nice find with the purple book too. I was up half the night looking for something interesting in that category. The search continues..

....aaaaand I've got my first score up on the board. Just finished Parasite, which I think I'll score under "The title could be shouted at a stranger & constitute verbal abuse" for 5pts.

Just finished Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World for 5 pts.

"*The title has at least 7 words in it – 3pt plus one point per additional word"

6 pts!
- 3 for Survival, Evasion and Recovery (fits the theme of, “Things you might do on a dare”)
- 3 for Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill (The book was not originally written in English)

Ben wrote: "Just finished Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World for 5 pts.

"*The title has at least 7 words in it – 3pt plus one point per additional word""

Surely that's more like 8, maybe 9?

I am in :D

Ruby, I marked it as 9 words, right? 3 pts for first 7 words plus 2 additional pts for 9 total words.

Ben wrote: "Ruby, I marked it as 9 words, right? 3 pts for first 7 words plus 2 additional pts for 9 total words."

8 I think. Hyphenated words are counted as one :-)

Just finished a reread of 1Q84. It fits numerous categories as well, but I think I'll jump on the 'more than 600 pages' category for 3 points.

I toyed with the idea of giving bonus points for 1,000+ page books. Perhaps I should have!

Ruby wrote: "I toyed with the idea of giving bonus points for 1,000+ page books. Perhaps I should have!"

The hardback is only 924 pages, (although on the ereader it comes in at 1040). I'd have felt bad taking bonus points anyway, I just happened to be in the middle of a reread when you announced the treasure hunt.

Starting off with 2pts for French Milk, a diary kept by the author/illustrator of her month in Paris, France (a country that starts with a consonant). There were some great cat references as well. Including a reference to the painting below (look higher--there's a cat by his face), but that would have only given me 1 pt, so I'm going for the higher point value.

Just finished the audiobook of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Amazing book, even more amazing as read by Alexie. One of those young adult books that gets it exactly right. 4 points for lengthy title (although it feels a bit sacrilegious to use this one for the treasure hunt).

Just finished A Plague of Dreams. Some quite good stories, especially when considering it's a first book (I'll bet writers hate it when people say that). I was going to claim points under 'short story anthology', but then started thinking it's actually a 'collection'. Is an anthology by definition something containing works by different writers? Or, in special cases, a selection of writings by well-known writers selected by an editor? Or is any collection of stories by one writer also considered an anthology?