2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

THE MNEMONIC CHALLENGE
Duration: March 1 - 31, 2014

"Spring forward, fall back" is a mnemonic device to help you remember which way to change your clocks during daylight savings time. A mnemonic is a memory aid. Let's explore other mnemonics in this challenge.

1. My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos is used to remember the order of the planets. Read a book that takes place in space.

2. My Enormous Penguin Bounces Pretty High is to remember the series of alkanes in chemistry. Read a book that features an animal that is not typically kept as a pet (like a penguin).

3. Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November. Read a book that has a page number count that includes the digits 3 and 0 (in any order).

4. Wives of Henry VIII: divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. Read a book in which a character is part of an unhappy marriage.

5. Mrs. Baker is used to remember the eight common law felonies (murder, rape, sodomy, burglary, arson, kidnapping, escape, robbery). Read a book in a which one of these felonies takes place.

6. Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally (PEMDAS) is to remember the order of operations in math (parenthesis, exponents, multiplication & division, addition & subtraction). Read a book that has a Goodreads description that includes parentheses.

7. Every good boy does fine is the mnemonic for the notes on the five lines of the treble clef. Read a book that involves music in some way.

8. I before E, except after C read a book that has a title containing a word following the mnemonic (e.g., it could contain the word "friend" or "receive").

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Jaclyn will be our leader for this challenge. Thank you, Jaclyn!

Haha, in my school for the planets it was: My Very Eager Mother Just Served Up Nine Pizza's

This sounds fun. I will go for 3

That's the one we used too! Funny how it had to be changed because of Pluto. Poor Pluto.

I know yes. Poor little lonely planet =[

We also had Never Eat Shredded Wheat and Naughty Elephants Sqirt Water for the compass

I'm in for three. This is quite interesting for me to see because my school is primarily Welsh so I know the Welsh equivalents for a few of these but have never heard of the English versions. Thanks for educating me!

I learned those as Never Eat Shredded Wheat and My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas. It took me a while to get used to nachos.

My plan for March is Anne of Green Gables and The Fault in Our Stars. I don't think either of those fit into this so I will skip this month.

I've been underestimating my reading lately, so I'm going to go all in this time. I'm going to try for all 8!

COMPLETED: March 26th

(8/8)


1. My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos is used to remember the order of the planets. Read a book that takes place in space.


2. My Enormous Penguin Bounces Pretty High is to remember the series of alkanes in chemistry. Read a book that features an animal that is not typically kept as a pet (like a penguin).


3. Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November. Read a book that has a page number count that includes the digits 3 and 0 (in any order).


4. Wives of Henry VIII: divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. Read a book in which a character is part of an unhappy marriage.


5. Mrs. Baker is used to remember the eight common law felonies (murder, rape, sodomy, burglary, arson, kidnapping, escape, robbery). Read a book in a which one of these felonies takes place.


6. Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally (PEMDAS) is to remember the order of operations in math (parenthesis, exponents, multiplication & division, addition & subtraction). Read a book that has a Goodreads description that includes parentheses.


7. Every good boy does fine is the mnemonic for the notes on the five lines of the treble clef. Read a book that involves music in some way.


8. I before E, except after C read a book that has a title containing a word following the mnemonic (e.g., it could contain the word "friend" or "receive").

I'll sign up for 5 for now and I'll see how the month goes. I may add a 6th if I have time :)

I'll do four.

I've never lead before, but I can try if you need someone.

I will sign up for 3

Jaclyn, that would be great! We'd love to have you.

THE MNEMONIC CHALLENGE
Duration: March 1 - 31, 2014
COMPLETED 8/8


"Spring forward, fall back" is a mnemonic device to help you remember which way to change your clocks during daylight savings time. A mnemonic is a memory aid. Let's explore other mnemonics in this challenge.

1. My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos is used to remember the order of the planets. Read a book that takes place in space. The Day We Found the Universe by Marcia Bartusiak


2. My Enormous Penguin Bounces Pretty High is to remember the series of alkanes in chemistry. Read a book that features an animal that is not typically kept as a pet (like a penguin). Rescuing the Spectacled Bear by Stephen Fry


3. Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November. Read a book that has a page number count that includes the digits 3 and 0 (in any order). DNA USA: A Genetic Biography of America by Bryan Sykes


4. Wives of Henry VIII: divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. Read a book in which a character is part of an unhappy marriage. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson


5. Mrs. Baker is used to remember the eight common law felonies (murder, rape, sodomy, burglary, arson, kidnapping, escape, robbery). Read a book in a which one of these felonies takes place. Letters to a Young Contrarian by Christopher Hitchens


6. Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally (PEMDAS) is to remember the order of operations in math (parenthesis, exponents, multiplication & division, addition & subtraction). Read a book that has a Goodreads description that includes parentheses. Doctor Ox by Jules Verne


7. Every good boy does fine is the mnemonic for the notes on the five lines of the treble clef. Read a book that involves music in some way. The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code by Sam Kean


8. I before E, except after C read a book that has a title containing a word following the mnemonic (e.g., it could contain the word "friend" or "receive"). A Brief History of Witchcraft by Lois Martin

I'll update this post with everyone's progress. Good luck everyone! I'm excited to lead my first challenge! :)

THE MNEMONIC CHALLENGE PARTICIPANTS:

Audrey: 0/3
Bernadette: 4/4 COMPLETED!!
Bobbie: 1/4
Brian: 1/4
Brianna: 0/4
Cassandra: 4/4 COMPLETED!!
✿Claire✿: 4/3 COMPLETED+1!!
Daphne: 8/8 COMPLETED CHALLENGE!!
Elsbeth: 8/8 COMPLETED CHALLENGE!!
Erika: 4/4 COMPLETED!!
Heather: 2/2 COMPLETED!!
Jaclyn: 7/7 COMPLETED!!
Janet: 3/3 COMPLETED!!
Jessica: 0/3
Jill: 0/3
Kaitlin: 0/8
Kelsi: 6/4 COMPLETED+2!!
Lilac: 0/3
✿Lilac✿: 3/8
Lisa: 4/5
Lorelei: 0/2
Mave: 3/3 COMPLETED!!
Megan: 6/3 COMPLETED + 3!!
Meimei: 5/5 COMPLETED!!
Nancy: 5/4 COMPLETED + 1!!
Nicole: 3/2 COMPLETED + 1!!
Rose: 0/8
Sarah Lou: 3/3 COMPLETED!!
ScarlettMi: 8/8 COMPLETED CHALLENGE!!
Sharon: 4/4 COMPLETED!!
Sherry: 2/6
Sybil: 4/4 COMPLETED!!
Thomas: 0/4

I will try for 4 to begin with.

I'll start with 4

I'll sign up for three!

1. Space - The Martian by Andy Weir - completed

2. Odd pets - The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - completed

3. Numbers 3 and 0 - Stealing Fire by Jo Graham - completed

4. Unhappy Marriage - Ravenwood by Nathan Lowell - completed

5. Felonies - The Witness by Nora Roberts - completed

8. I before E - Boundaries in Dating by Henry Cloud - completed

6/3 - challenge completed!

Oh Jacyln, I know there is another Sarah in this group and she tends to go just by that, so please can you change mine to Sarah Lou =] just to make sure there is no confusion. Thank'in yoo

Updated to here. Welcome to the challenge everybody!

Sarah, thanks for the heads up! :)

I will do 4 please!

Welcome Erika!

I wanna try 6.

I will try to get 3 for now.

Updated to here. Welcome Elsbeth and Audrey!

What a fun challenge! I'll go in for four.

I'm in! Shooting for all eight, but may fall short.

And back in my day ;-) the mnemonic for planets was Men Very Early Making Jars Serving Useful Needs Period. Doesn't quite make sense, but has a good rhythm.

Welcome Cassandra & Kaitlin! :)

I'm going to make this my first challenge. I'll start with four...with the possibility of completing more if time permits.

Good luck with your first challenge Thomas! :)

I will sign up for 4 and depending on how the month goes, may add more.

Welcome to your first challenge, Thomas! And welcome Nancy! I'm glad you decided to join :)

I will try and go for 4. Thanks, Jaclyn!

Yay Brian! Welcome!

I'm going to try for 2, I'm also reading for another quarterly challenge with 8 books! So we'll see how well I can keep up hehe.

2/2

1.
2. The Zookeeper's Wife
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945
8.

Welcome Heather! Good luck on both challenges!

Thanks Jaclyn!

THE MNEMONIC CHALLENGE
Duration: March 1 - 31, 2014
Completed: 0/8

I'm in for all 8!

1. My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos is used to remember the order of the planets. Read a book that takes place in space.

2. My Enormous Penguin Bounces Pretty High is to remember the series of alkanes in chemistry. Read a book that features an animal that is not typically kept as a pet (like a penguin).

3. Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November. Read a book that has a page number count that includes the digits 3 and 0 (in any order).

4. Wives of Henry VIII: divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. Read a book in which a character is part of an unhappy marriage.

5. Mrs. Baker is used to remember the eight common law felonies (murder, rape, sodomy, burglary, arson, kidnapping, escape, robbery). Read a book in a which one of these felonies takes place.

6. Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally (PEMDAS) is to remember the order of operations in math (parenthesis, exponents, multiplication & division, addition & subtraction). Read a book that has a Goodreads description that includes parentheses.

7. Every good boy does fine is the mnemonic for the notes on the five lines of the treble clef. Read a book that involves music in some way.

8. I before E, except after C read a book that has a title containing a word following the mnemonic (e.g., it could contain the word "friend" or "receive").

Welcome to the challenge, Rose!

3/14-3/14

4/4

1. Onyx 3-13-14
3. Book of a 1000 Days 3-3-14
6. Winter of Red Snow 3-14-14
7. Witch Song 3-17-14

Added you, Lisa, welcome!

Sign me up for 3 please

Welcome, Jessica!

I will try for 6 not sure if I can do tasks #6 & #8 as they seem kind of hard. So sign me up for 6!

Added you Sherry! I love these challenges because we can pick which ones we want to do. This time around I was able to find books in my to-read list that fit all except the first one about space. :)

Welcome Brianna!

The challenge begins tomorrow, so good luck everyone and have fun reading! :)

I'm in for 3!

I just finished reading 2 books. Does it count when you read most of the book in february?
If it does, then I want to add for number 5: - in which takes place a robbery.
And today I read also a very short book: . It is a very short children's story, but to make it more difficult, I read it in Scottish! Which was not so difficult as I imagined, because there were a lot of pictures and a list with words in the back.
I want to use this one for number 2, because it has puggies (=monkeys) in it.

❖ I'm in for 5! Good luck to everyone :) ❖

THE MNEMONIC CHALLENGE
Duration: March 1 - 31, 2014
Completed: 5/5
DOOOOOOONE!


1. My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos is used to remember the order of the planets. Read a book that takes place in space.

2. My Enormous Penguin Bounces Pretty High is to remember the series of alkanes in chemistry. Read a book that features an animal that is not typically kept as a pet (like a penguin).
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - elephant, lions... - 03/21 - *****

3. Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November. Read a book that has a page number count that includes the digits 3 and 0 (in any order).

4. Wives of Henry VIII: divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. Read a book in which a character is part of an unhappy marriage. - The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick - 03/26 - *****

5. Mrs. Baker is used to remember the eight common law felonies (murder, rape, sodomy, burglary, arson, kidnapping, escape, robbery). Read a book in a which one of these felonies takes place.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie - murder - 03/08 - ****/*

6. Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally (PEMDAS) is to remember the order of operations in math (parenthesis, exponents, multiplication & division, addition & subtraction). Read a book that has a Goodreads description that includes parentheses. - The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer - 03/23 - ***/**

7. Every good boy does fine is the mnemonic for the notes on the five lines of the treble clef. Read a book that involves music in some way.
The Pianist by Władysław Szpilman - 03/18 - *****

8. I before E, except after C read a book that has a title containing a word following the mnemonic (e.g., it could contain the word "friend" or "receive").

I'm in for 3.

1. Dune by Frank Herbert

3. Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall

5. The Longings of Wayward Girls by Karen Brown