The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

50.1 - Pamela Su's task: Variety is the Spice of Life

Clue (or Cluedo to me) is one of those classic games that still endures to this day and it has always been one of my favorite board games. A big part of its appeal is the colorful cast of characters who come from vastly different backgrounds.

Read 1 book from each of 3 different characters.

1. Miss Scarlet
Miss Scarlet always goes first. So, we'll go with my favorite genre: romance.

The Femme Fatale character is often seen as a mysterious, seductive woman. Mata Hari, an infamous spy, is the quintessential femme fatale.

Option A: Read a book with the genre "romance" on the main book page where the main character or subject is a spy or assassin (defined by Merriam-Webster as "a person who kills someone, such as a famous or important person, usually for political reasons or for money.")

Required: Explain how your book fits the task if is not clear in the book's GR description.

Option B: Read a book where "Erotic Romance" or "Erotica" is listed as a genre on the book's main page.

2. Colonel Mustard
The character of Colonel Mustard has gone through many changes throughout the game's history. In one of the game's versions, he's portrayed as an expert martial artist. I can't help but wonder what a sci-fi version of Colonel Mustard would be.

Read a book where "Military Science Fiction" is listed as a genre on the book's main page.
Note: "Military" AND "Science Fiction" appearing separately are acceptable as long as both genres appear on the book's main page.

3. Mrs. White
Mrs. White is usually portrayed as a servant. She's been a cook, a maid and a housekeeper.

Read a book where the lead character or subject is a household servant who typically serves others similar to the roles held by Mrs. White, i.e. one involved in the cleaning and maintenance of the interior of a residence or involved in food preparation for the household.

Required: Explain the how your book fits the task if it is not clear in the book's GR description.

4. Reverend or Mr. Green
This character is known as Reverend Green in the UK version of this game, while in the US version, he's known as Mr. Green.

Option A: Read a book with "Religion" or "Spirituality" listed as a genre on the book's main page.

Option B: Read a book where the cover is mostly (at least half) green OR red, if you think he's the killer!

Required: If using a cover option, include the cover in your post.

5. Mrs. Peacock
Mrs. Peacock strikes me as an intelligent, experienced socialite who has seen the world.

Read a book where the main character or subject takes a trip or vacation (defined by Merriam-Webster as "a period of time that a person spends away from home, school, or business usually in order to relax or travel.)

Required: Explain how the book fits the task if it is not clear in the GR description.

6. Professor Plum
I have always seen Professor Plum as a sort of geeky, absent-minded professor. I love stories about smart people!

Read a book featuring a geek, nerd or a genius. That type of character should be a major character or be significant in the storyline.

Required: Explain how the book fits the task if it is not clear in the GR description.

Required: Identify the three options you have picked.

Approved Books
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*** IMPORTANT NOTE *** Task may be approved, but please get approval for length if there are no paperback/hardcover versions available

Option 1A: Miss Scarlet - Assassins/Spies
✓ The Garden Intrigue
✓ Dark Triumph
✓ United We Spy
✓ Exit Strategy
✓ The Deception of the Emerald Ring (Condition for acceptance: Only if one of the lead characters is a spy or assassin. [Not immediately apparent from book description.])
✓ The Forbidden Rose
✓ The Pirate's Wish
✓ Isabelle Webb: Legend of the Jewel
✓ Falling Kingdoms (Condition for acceptance: Only if one of the characters is an assassin. Not apparent from book description)
✓ Throne of Glass

Option 1B: Miss Scarlet - Erotica
✓ Dark Lover
✓ Bared to You
✓ This Fire (Condition for acceptance: Only if it's been approved for length)
✓ Sweet Persuasion
✓ Bared to You
✓ Bedding The Billionaire

Option 2: Colonel Mustard
✓ Turbulence
✓ Bone Rider
✓ Shards of Honour
✓ Starship Troopers
✓ Into the Darkness
✓ Phule's Company
✓ Control Point

Option 3: Mrs. White
✓ The Help
✓ The Remains of the Day
✓ Shakespeare's Landlord
✓ Maid for Murder
✓ The Kitchen House
✓ The Invention of Wings
✓ Situation Maid: From Cotton Picker to Presidential Cook, the True Story of Lillie Nelson

Option 4A: Reverend Green - Religion/Spirituality
✓ Growing Up Amish: A Memoir
✓ The Prophet: Amos

Option 4B: Mr. Green - Green/Red Cover
✓
✓
✓
✓

Option 5: Mrs. Peacock.
✓ 172 Hours on the Moon
✓ Around the World on a Bicycle
✓ Farthing
✓ On the Road
✓ G'Day to Die
✓ The Boy on the Bridge
✓ An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude
✓ Whistling Past the Graveyard
✓ Evil Under the Sun
✓ Till Death Do Us Bark
✓ Just One Year
✓ The Endangered Species Road Trip: A Summer's Worth of Dingy Motels, Poison Oak, Ravenous Insects, and the Rarest Species in North America
✓ The Leisure Seeker
✓ The Edge of Never
✓ Finding It
✓ Death on the Nile

Option 6: Professor Plum
✓ An Abundance of Katherines
✓ Lessons in Love
✓ The Girl With All The Gifts
✓ The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
✓ Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks
✓ The Magicians
✓ The Rosie Project
✓ Flowers for Algernon
✓ Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!
✓ The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
✓ The Theory of Attraction
✓ Steve Jobs
✓ The Echo
✓ Inferno
✓ The Last Guardian
✓ Smart Girls Get What They Want (Condition for acceptance: Dependent on book's actual content. Not apparent from book description)
✓ Rex Stout series
✓ Backward Compatible: A Geek Love Story
✓ Ready Player One

Not Quite
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Option 2: Colonel Mustard
✗ Redshirts

Option 3: Mrs. White
* Note: Nanny/Governess is not accepted for this task.
✗ The Handmaid's Tale (Rejected based on GR description. Condition for acceptance: If the book itself shows that the character performs household duties, please explain when posting the task.)

Option 4B: Mr. Green
✗
✗

Option 5: Mrs. Peacock
✗ The Road
✗ The Winter Sea
✗ Fish & Chips
✗ Space Rocks!
✗ Safe Haven
✗ The Painted Veil
✗ Funerals for Horses

Option 6: Professor Plum
✗ Apple Polisher (ruling based on book description alone)
✗ The Second Opinion
✗ Farthing
✗ The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared


Q&A Section
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q: Are non-fiction books allowed for these tasks?
A: With the exception of the Miss Scarlet and Colonel Mustard tasks, appropriate non-fiction books can be used for any of the other tasks.

This help thread is open!

Pammy! This is a great task, I'm going to have so much fun finding books for this. =)

For option 6- is this a Geek book?
An Abundance of Katherines

thanks so much!

Kathy G. wrote: "For option 6- is this a Geek book?
An Abundance of Katherines

thanks so much!"

Hi Kathy!

Yes, this qualifies as a Geek book. Also, it works as genius too. :)

Thank you!

Love this task!

Are these okay?

1. Col Mustard Turbulence
genres listed: science fiction and war>military

Is the embedded genre okay?


2. Professor Plum Apple Polisher
Is this list proof enough?
Best Gay Romance with Bookish/Nerdy/Geeky Characters

or Lessons in Love
from GR polt descriprion: "Orlando is a brilliant, introverted mathematician"

my third choice will be Miss Scarlet.

Would Bone Rider count for option 2? It has Science fiction and War -> Military as genres.

And for option 4B, is this green enough?

Susan A wrote: "Love this task!

Are these okay?

1. Col Mustard Turbulence
genres listed: science fiction and war>military
Is the embedded genre okay?

Yes, Turbulence works. Embedded genre is okay!


2. Professor Plum Apple Polisher
Is this list proof enough?

No. Based on the book description alone and the list, I wouldn't consider the character to be geeky or nerdy. The list includes a third "Bookish" trait which fits that character more but is not part of the task's requirement.

Lessons in Love is acceptable based on "...brilliant, introverted mathematician with very little experience of life outside the college walls. "

For everyone's reference, I am using the following definitions for the Professor Plum task:

Definition edited
Merriam-Webster's Definition of Geek:
- a person who is socially awkward and unpopular
- a usually intelligent person who does not fit in with other people
- a person who is very interested in and knows a lot about a particular field or activity*

Merriam-Webster's Definition of Nerd:
- a person who behaves awkwardly around other people and usually has unstylish clothes, hair, etc.
- a person who is very interested in technical subjects, computers, etc.*

*Pam note: I would interpret this as borderline obssessive to fit the Geek/Nerd trait.

For Turbulence, don't forget to add the e-book verification link for the book when posting the task. :)

Eepa (Eija) wrote: "Would Bone Rider count for option 2? It has Science fiction and War -> Military as genres."

Yes. The book will work for option 2.

Pamela Su wrote: "For Turbulence, don't forget to add the e-book verification link for the book when posting the task. :)"

Thanks!

Can I get confirmation for these books?

1. Colonel Mustard Fortress Frontier Mit Science Fiction und War > Military

2. Reverend Green Is the cover green enough?

3. Professor Plum The Girl With All The Gifts The girl is descriped as little genius.

Green enough?

Fandury wrote: "Can I get confirmation for these books?

1. Colonel Mustard Fortress Frontier Mit Science Fiction und War > Military

Confirmed!

2. Reverend Green Is the cover green enough?"

Yes, it's green enough.

I'll get back to you on the third question later.

❀Tea❀ wrote: "Green enough?
"

Yes, both are green enough.

Thanks ☺

Eepa (Eija) wrote: "And for option 4B, is this green enough? "

Yes, this works.

for 4B - ?

can I also get Shards of Honour - science fiction (677) and war>military (27)

Hi Pamela Su,

Would 172 Hours on the Moon work for Option 5? They take a trip, it just happens to be to the moon :)

Fandury wrote: "3. Professor Plum The Girl With All The Gifts The girl is descriped as little genius."

Yes, this works.

Dee wrote: "for 4B - ?"

Yes, it's definitely green enough!

Dee wrote: "can I also get Shards of Honour - science fiction (677) and war>military (27)"

Yes, this fits Colonel Mustard's task.

thx - my friend has been bugging me for ages to try Lois McMasters Bujold and i've never really been able to fit into a challenge

Jayme VA wrote: "Hi Pamela Su,

Would 172 Hours on the Moon work for Option 5? They take a trip, it just happens to be to the moon :)"

LOL. Well, it's definitely a trip. I'll bite. Okay for Option 5!

Dee wrote: "thx - my friend has been bugging me for ages to try Lois McMasters Bujold and i've never really been able to fit into a challenge"

It's been on my TBR for a year now. I've been waffling between going by publication order or internal chronology. Haven't decided yet. :)

i'm going by pub - that is what she recommeded IIRC...

Would Around the World on a Bicycle by Thomas Stevens work for #5?

Congratulations Pamela Su - great and tough task. I had a bit of difficulty picking books that I think will fit OK but just want to make sure they all work. Here is what I plan to read. Do these all fit?

1. Miss Scarlet - Option B: Erotica
Dark Lover by J.R. Ward

4. Reverend or Mr. Green - Option B: Green Cover
Dreaming Of The Bones by Deborah Crombie

6. Professor Plum
The Second Opinion by Michael Palmer

Pamela Su wrote: "Jayme VA wrote: "Hi Pamela Su,

Would 172 Hours on the Moon work for Option 5? They take a trip, it just happens to be to the moon :)"

LOL. Well, it's definitely a trip. I'll bite..."

Thank you! It's been on my list for a while!

I have another green cover to check. ☺
?
(I like to have few options. Never know what I'll be in mood to read :D)

Is this enough green for half?

Great task Pamela Su!

Will you please approve the following choices?

1B. Bared to You

3. The Help

4B.

I'd like to check for two of my books:

Option #5: Mrs Peacock
Farthing by Jo Walton takes place over a weekend retreat.

Option #6: Professor Plum
Annihilation: A Novel by Jeff VanderMeer
The main character is a biologist, and the other characters include an anthropologist, a surveyor and a psychologist.

4. Reverend or Mr. Green

Is this red enough?

OR red, if you think he's the killer!

Will this work for Professor Plum?

The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared

Less about the books and more about their lives. Both are book nerds and father is school librarian.

Congratulations Pamela Su.
This one is an intriguing task with some nice books in store to be read. For the same, I need your confirmation on the following books for the respective Options as mentioned below. Kindly confirm / reject the same.
Thank you once again for an interesting task.

Option # 2 : Colonel Mustard
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein

Option # 3 : Mrs. White
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Option # 5 : Mrs. Peacock
1. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
2. The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Option # 6 : Professor Plum
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

For Option 1 (Miss Scarlet), is the main character who's a spy/assassin required to be female? I'm considering a book (The Garden Intrigue) where the woman is not a spy, but her male love interest is, based on the description.

I'm also curious if we can choose non-fiction for Option 6 (Professor Plum) - I'm thinking of using Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks, but the wording makes me think that real people, however nerdy, might not work.

For 1A - Dark Triumph - it mentions assassin in the description and has been shelved as romance?

For Mr. Green- does this work?



I LOVE this task by the way!

Laurie wrote: "Would Around the World on a Bicycle by Thomas Stevens work for #5?"

Yes, it works just fine!

Sheila wrote: "Congratulations Pamela Su - great and tough task. I had a bit of difficulty picking books that I think will fit OK but just want to make sure they all work..."

Thank you! :)

1. Miss Scarlet - Option B: Erotica
Dark Lover by J.R. Ward

Yes, this works!

4. Reverend or Mr. Green - Option B: Green Cover
Dreaming Of The Bones by Deborah Crombie

It's green enough. Enjoy.

6. Professor Plum
The Second Opinion by Michael Palmer

No. Based on the description, none of the characters involved appear to be geeky, nerdy or geniuses. A brilliant physician does not necessarily mean that the person is a genius. Just highly skilled and knowledgeable.

❀Tea❀ wrote: "I have another green cover to check. ☺
?
(I like to have few options. Never know what I'll be in mood to read :D)"

This cover looks less than 50% green, so I'll say no. It's mostly black.

Karen GHHS wrote: "Is this enough green for half?

"

Yes, it's green enough.

Julie wrote: "Great task Pamela Su!

Will you please approve the following choices?

1B. Bared to You

Yes, this works for Option 1B.

3. The Help

Fits the task!

4B. "

It looks just green enough. It works.

Lulu wrote: "I'd like to check for two of my books:

Option #5: Mrs Peacock
Farthing by Jo Walton takes place over a weekend retreat.

Yes, this qualifies as a vacation.

Option #6: Professor Plum
Annihilation: A Novel..."

No. None of the characters seem to be nerds, geeks or geniuses. Being skilled/knowledgeable in a scientific field does not automatically qualify a person as a geek, nerd or genius.

I clarify the definition of geek and nerd in message 11, if you'd like more information.

Deborah wrote: "4. Reverend or Mr. Green

Is this red enough?

OR red, if you think he's the killer!"

No, there's not enough red. It's more orange in the middle as well.