2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

Spelling Bee
Duration: 1 May - 31 May, 2021

For this challenge, we are going to spell flora related words using the letters in the title of a book. If a title is short on letters, you may choose to use more than one title to spell your word.

For example:
With the letters of the title Murder Can Confuse Your Chihuahua, you can spell the word "conifer"

Titles that include flora related words, like Darling Rose Gold are allowed, but may not make it much of a challenge.

This challenge was created by Theresa who will also be our Leader. Thank you!

🐝🐝🐝 Welcome to our spelling bee and happy reading! 🐝🐝🐝

Post here if you'd like to join the challenge.

To have your challenge updated on the participants list, please post an update comment. Be sure to include both your original message number and progress:

Example: Updated message #10: 2/5

If you decide to drop out of the challenge, please don’t delete your original sign-up post. Just update and let me know. Thank you!
---------------------------------------------------------------------

🔤Joined The Challenge
🐝Started Spelling
🪴Completed Challenge/Goal Reached

Participants:
🪴#27 Amy: 10/5
🪴#5 Amy (Other Amy):6/5
🪴(32)#8 Audrey: 20/20
🪴#4 Carmen: 68/20 words 32/25 books
🔤#31 Deanie: 0/20?
🪴#7 Debra Diggs: 4/4
🔤#6 D.L.: 0/3
🪴#22 Janine: 8/5
🪴#15 Jennifer: 9/9
🔤#19 Kylie: 0/5
🔤#16 Lynn: 0/3
🪴#33 Nicole: 19/10
🪴#14 Raimondo: 9/9
🪴#24 Rebecca: 13/10
🐝#9 Regina: 5/6
🪴#11 Sarah: 2/2
🐝#23 Shari: 8/10
🪴#38 Sue: 4/4
🐝#30 Suzanne: 1/2+
🪴#17 TerryJane: 58/45 words 17/15 books
🪴#3 Theresa: 5/5

Updated to message 93

I am signing up for 5 books/5 words Progress: 5/5


✔1. It All Comes Back to You (05/09/2021)
My word, using letters from this title, is: lilacs
✔2. When No One is Watching (05/20/2021)
My word, using letters from this title, is: wheat
✔3. The Crepes of Wrath (5/31/2021)
My word, using letters from this title, is: heather
✔4. The World of the Hummingbird (05/15/2021)
My word, using letters from this title, is: blooming
✔5. The Chance (05/31/2021)
My word, using letters from this title, is: achene

Hola Theresa!
Count me in, please 😉

PROGRESS:
WORDS: 68/20 🐝
BOOKS: 32/25📚

❎Palmyras, herbs
The Amber Spyglass✔

❎Bogbean
Gone Bamboo✔

❎Monstera, oleander, alfalfa, hazel
La flor del azafrán amarillo✔ & Tether's End✔

❎Angelica, indigo, wheat, nut
Dancing on the Wind✔ & Night at the Vulcan✔

❎Apple tree, beefwood, pekoe
The Beekeeper of Aleppo✔ & Unbowed✔

❎Corianders, moonseeds
Crimson Shore✔ & Thunder & Roses✔

❎Dicotyledonous, patchoulis, cilantros, hazelnuts, alameda, ferns
A Clue for the Puzzle Lady✔, La Isla de los Jacintos Cortados✔ & Men in the Sun✔

❎Evergreen, heartwood, wisteria
Weekend Warriors✔ & The Vegetarian✔

❎Gardenia, allseeds
El Guardián de las Flores✔

❎Hibiscus, horsetail, dogstail, aroid
Las Historias Prohibidas del Pulgarcito✔

❎Phanerogam, integument, houseplant, bromeliad, rauwolfia, filament, breadnut, histogen, mangrove, jacinth, nemesia, mahwa, daisy, iris, bay
Si Me Permiten Hablar. Testimonio de Domitila, Una Mujer de Las Minas de Bolivia✔ & Singing Away the Hunger: The Autobiography of an African Woman✔

❎Euphorbia, perigynous, cibols
Purple Hibiscus✔ & Catering to Nobody✔

❎Cereals, lianas
Miss Marple's Final Cases✔

❎Cacao, lentil, pea
Magpie Lane✔ & Chocolat✔

❎Helianthus, bergenia, leadworts
The Botanist's Daughter✔ & All Dressed in White✔

❎Artichoke, stephanotis
Petals in the Storm ✔& Pachinko✔

❎Flowerages, hognut, leaf
The Language of Flowers✔

❎Branchlet, claytonias, gynoecia, teasel
The Jane Austen Society✔ & Gabriela, clavo y canela✔

❎Beechnut, oat
The Dead Cat Bounce✔

In for five words.

6/5

Resin: Serpentine (5/1)
Iris: First Person Singular: Stories (5/1)
Petunia: The Empress of Salt and Fortune (5/3; used an i left over from First Person Singular)
Toadstool: Solutions and Other Problems (5/7)
Geranium: When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain (5/20)
Leek: Like Life (5/25; I cannot believe I did not have a single Y to use anywhere!)

Please put me down for 3 books! :)

Spelling Bee
0/3 - Flora of the Philippines

Abaca: A Real Basket Case
Balete: Bachelorette #1
Mundu: I've Got You Under My Skin

I am in. Please put me down four 4 books.

4/4

✔ Aster - The House in the Cerulean Sea
✔ Parsnip - Paris Cravings: A Paris & Pastry Novel
✔ Lily - Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley
✔ Violet Don't Believe It by Charlie Donlea

I’d like to join please. Do I have to choose my words in advance?

7/6

✅1. Persimmon The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
✅2. Violet--The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
✅3. Brassica--Black Narcissus
✅4. Anemone When the Emperor Was Divine
✅5. Sedum Missing, Presumed
✅6. Petunia The Upstairs Wife: An Intimate History of Pakistan
✅7. Maple The Expendable Man

Audrey wrote: "I’d like to join please. Do I have to choose my words in advance?"

I would recommend finding the flora related word(s) in the title(s) of books you are considering for the challenge so you don't find yourself without a word from the title after you have finished reading it.

I hope this helps.

Sign me up for 2 books

2/2-COMPLETED

✅Blossom-The Blossom Sisters(27/5/21)
✅Rose-Robinson Crusoe(29/5/21)

I have a question. Are we limited to the names of flora specifically, or may we use related words, such as forest, garden, greenery, etc.?

Regina wrote: "I have a question. Are we limited to the names of flora specifically, or may we use related words, such as forest, garden, greenery, etc.?"

garden, forest, etc. makes sense to me. I think that works well.

Spelling Bee

COMPLETED

Progress: 9 / 9 Books

I would like to sign up for 9. Thanks!!!

Spelling Bee
Duration: 1 May - 31 May, 2021

For this challenge, we are going to spell flora related words using the letters in the title of a book. If a title is short on letters, you may choose to use more than one title to spell your word.

For example:
With the letters of the title Murder Can Confuse Your Chihuahua, you can spell the word "conifer"

Titles that include flora related words, like Darling Rose Gold are allowed, but may not make it much of a challenge.

3/3 as of May 6
I'll keep adding...
10 as of May 26

❌1. Ender's Game (Ender's Saga #1) by Orson Scott Card
GREEN
May 2 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

❌2. Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara
JUNIPER
May 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

❌3. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (adaptation by Devra Newberger Speregen, illustrated by Richard Lauter)
GARDEN
May 6 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

❌4. Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
INSIDE/OUTSIDE--flora can be in either location!
May 9 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

❌5) The Handsome Man's Deluxe Café (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #15) by Alexander McCall Smith
FLAX
May 10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

❌6) Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin
SHASTA as in Shasta Daisy
May 13 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

❌7) Whose Body? (Lord Peter Wimsey #1) by Dorothy L. Sayers
YEW, YEWS, WOOD, WOODY
May 16 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

❌8) Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha (Mrs. Pollifax #7) by Dorothy Gilman
PHLOX, FLAX
May 22 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

❌9) Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
SHASTA (as in daisy), HOSTA
May 23 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

❌10) The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
GARDEN, GARDENS, DESERT
May 26 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

SPELLING BEE - Monthly Challenge
Duration: May 1 - May 31, 2021
Progress: 17/15 Books | 58/45 Flora Words -- COMPLETE

Message 17

For this challenge, we are going to spell flora related words using the letters in the title of a book.

🐝 A More Perfect Union: What We the People Can Do to Reclaim Our Constitutional Liberties
Whortleberries, Watermelon, Amaranth, Coconut, Poppies, Cotton, Nettle & Aloe

🐝 My Journey to Heaven: What I Saw and How It Changed My Life
Amaranth, Jewelweed, Agave, Candytuft & Onions

🐝 Aunty Lee's Deadly Specials
Yuca, Dates & Daisy

🐝 If I Had Your Face
Cedar & Hoya

🐝 Blackout: How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation
Blackberries, Acanthus, Leatherleaf, Cottonwood, Impatiens, Cacao & Catnep

🐝 The White Mirror
Miterwort

🐝 The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession
Orchid, Anise, Oat, Hosta, Seed, Soy, Berry, Henbit

🐝 Silver Sparrow
Sorrel & Paris

🐝 Secrets of a Charmed Life
Alstroemeria

🐝 Hello, Summer
Roselle & Mum

🐝 Ordinary Grace
Gerardia & Corn

🐝 The Ten Thousand Doors of January
Thuja & Ratan

🐝 Black Rednecks and White Liberals
Acidanthera & Slinkweed

🐝 From The Foster House To The White House
Toothwort & Rose

🐝 Bubble in the Sun: The Florida Boom of the 1920s and How It Brought on the Great Depression
Heliotrope, Rhododendron, Goosegrass, Bluebonnets, Henbit & Heath

🐝 Magpie Murders
Grape & Sedum

🐝 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos
Cauliflower, Forest & Danthonias

TerryJane wrote: "Theresa, I'm an avid Scrabble player, and I'm absolutely nuts about this challenge you created. I'd like to join with 15 books which contain 45 flora-related words. Thanks!

SPELLING BEE - Monthly ..."

You inspired me TerryJane! Now I'm going nuts looking for more words 😂

Great idea! I'll sign up for five words.

Carmen wrote: "You inspired me TerryJane! Now I'm going nuts looking for more words 😂"

Some jumped right out at me, Carmen, but this anagram tool helped me find more obscure words. I just plugged in the entire title and searched, then deleted the letters of each chosen word as I went along, and searched again and again until I ran out of options. I couldn't have found whortleberries, etc. without a little help. 😉

Anagram Solver

TerryJane wrote: "Some jumped right out at me, Carmen, but this anagram tool helped me find more obscure words. I just plugged in the entire title and searched, then deleted the letters of each chosen word as I went along, and searched again and again until I ran out of options. I couldn't have found whortleberries, etc. without a little help. 😉

Anagram Solver"
Terrific tool, TerryJane. 👍
Actually, I did the same, more or less, but with scrabble word finder
Great minds...! 😉

Sign me up for five, please.

I would like to sign up for 10 please.

Progress: 9/10 Sorry, I read more books, but couldn't come up with any flower names for them.

1. Lilac Shelter in Place
2. Primula Stardust on My Pillow: Stories to Sleep On
3. Tea Rose Secrets of Ruth: Fresh Perspectives on Biblical Wisdom for Women
4. Nolana The Underground Railroad
5. Kalanchoe A McKaslin Homecoming
6. Heather The Preacher's Daughter
7. Rhodora The Ten Thousand Doors of January
8. Knotweed The Kennedy Women: The Saga of an American Family
9. Hosta A Mother's Secret
10.

I would like to sign up for 10 please, and I'll pick books and words as I go. This one sounds really fun!

Progress: 13/10

1. How to Steal a Dog--aloeswood
2. A Good Old-Fashioned Cowboy--fiddle wood
3. On Writers and Writing--rodgersia
4. Still Life--lilies
5. The Lightest Object in the Universe--lichen
6. A Lucky Man--yuca
7. Aunt Dimity's Death--dittanies
8. In the Country--citron
9. The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo--hebona
10. A Living Alternative: Anabaptist Christianity in a Post-Christendom World--lantana
11. Well Played--weed
12. Neanderthal Seeks Human--heartseeds
13. The Downstairs Girl--thistledowns

Good luck to everyone!

Update to message 4

PROGRESS:
WORDS: 2/20 🐝
BOOKS: 1/25📚

Five please!

10/5-- Challenge Complete!

1. Roses: 142 Ostriches
2. Mesquite, Trees: Times Square
3. Florists, Moss, Violets, Elm: Miss Frost Solves A Cold Case
4. Liana, Lupin, Kale, Weed: Wake Up, Wanda Wiley
5. Aster, Briar, Heather, Herbs: Their Last Breath
6. Rue: Murder 101
7. Bean, Leek: Jingle Bell Bark
8. Loofah, Lichi. Lilacs, Lilies: Sophia of Silicon Valley
9. Elm: Muzzled
Aloe, Basil, Cactus, Cattail, Chives, Clover, Dill, Lilac, Lobelia, Mint, Oregano, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, Violet: A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy

Is there a minimum page count to the books we read?

Audrey wrote: "Is there a minimum page count to the books we read?"

No, there's not.

Have you decided on your goal for this challenge? Number of books?

2021 Reading Challenge
May - Spelling Bee
Duration: 1 May - 31 May, 2021

Progress: 1 out of 2+

For this challenge, we are going to spell flora related words using the letters in the title of a book. If a title is short on letters, you may choose to use more than one title to spell your word.

For example:
With the letters of the title Murder Can Confuse Your Chihuahua, you can spell the word "conifer"

Titles that include flora related words, like Darling Rose Gold are allowed, but may not make it much of a challenge.

1. Rose: Broken (In the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson - ***** - 5/1/2021 - 288 Pages
2.
3.

Spelling Bee
Duration: 1 May - 31 May, 2021
Goal: /20?

1. Coniferous - Justice for Oswin by Julia Bright - 5/1/2021
2. Figwort - Justice for Gwen by KaLyn Cooper - 5/1/2021
3. Daphne - Justice for Danielle (Police and Fire: Operation Alpha) by Aubree Valentine - 5/1/2021

My goal is 20 words. 20 books.

Interesting challenge! I'll try for 10 Books!

Bleach (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 12: Includes vols. 34, 35 36 & Bleach (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 13: Includes vols. 37, 38 39= Beech
If You Ask Me: Kousa
Attack on Titan, Vol. 26: Oak
Attack on Titan, Vol. 25 & Attack on Titan, Vol. 27: Tacca
A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder: Sorrel
Robin & Jujutsu Kaisen, Vol. 1: Rose
Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family: Nettle
Little Book of Jewish Sweets: Leek
Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship: Pine
Jujutsu Kaisen 0: Blinding Darkness: Keek
Big Mushy Happy Lump: Ash
Instant Calm: 2-Minute Meditations to Create a Lifetime of Happy: Lily
Herding Cats & The CBD Oil Solution: Treat Chronic Pain, Anxiety, Insomnia, and More-without the High: Golden Wattle
Attack on Titan, Vol. 28 & Retrain Your Brain: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in 7 Weeks: A Workbook for Managing Depression and Anxiety: Aloe Vera

Books: 19/10 ; Words: 14

Updated to here

Updated message #7: 3/4

Message 9 update. 1/4 completed.

1. Little Bear
Tree
2. The Little Engine That Could
Land
3. Manners at a Friend’s Home
Roses
4. My Mom Loves Me!
Elm
5. The Institute
Sun

Progress: 5/20

Sign me up for 4 please :)

4/4

1. Allegiant - Nigella (Common name is Love-In-The-Mist)
2. The Stranger Times - Aster
3. Small Gods - Moss
4 Popcorn and Poltergeists - Poppies

Update to Message #23

I've updated from 7 to 10 and I have my first word! Yay!

Update to Message 17.
Progress: 8/15 Books | 36/45 Flora Words

Update to message #8:
6. My Mom Is Magical!
Mimosa
6/20

Updated message #7: 4/4
Completed

Updated message 27-- 1/5
Roses: 142 Ostriches

Update message #24

Progress: 3/10

Progress: 3/10

1. How to Steal a Dog--aloeswood
2. A Good Old-Fashioned Cowboy--fiddle wood
3. On Writers and Writing--rodgersia

Update to message #9: 3/4 completed.

Congratulations, Debra, on reaching your goal!

Updated message 27-- 2/5

Mesquite-- Times Square

So far I have Roses and Mesquite. This challenge is fun!

Theresa wrote: "Congratulations, Debra, on reaching your goal!"

Thanks, Theresa. It was a fun challenge. Thanks for leading it : )

Update to message #8:
The Maze of Bones - beans
7/20

Update to message 22: 2/5 books

1. A ​Court of Silver Flames = violet
2. Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating = nightshade