The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

Robin P’s Task: Casablanca!

The film Casablanca was released in 1942. It features an American expatriate, Rick (played by Humphrey Bogart) and his lost love Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), with the backdrop of the German occupation of France. It won the Best Picture Oscar and has consistently ranked among the best films of all time.

Read two books, from two different options.
Required: state the options

Option 1: The film is known for many iconic quotes, including “Round up the usual suspects” and “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Perhaps the most famous – “Play it again, Sam” – is never actually said in the movie. Two other famous quotes are “We’ll always have Paris” and “Here’s looking at you, kid”. The latter was apparently added after Bogart said it to Bergman during a poker game in his trailer.

Read a book with a word of 4 or more letters in the title found in "WELLALWAYSHAVE PARIS" or "HERESLOOKINGATYOUKID" (Ignore the apostrophes and comma in the originals.) Subtitles excluded.

Required: State the phrase used and the word

Option 2: Casablanca is in Morocco in Northern Africa, although we may not immediately think of it as African. Africa contains 55 countries, per this Wikipedia list:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

Read a book set at least 75% in any African country from the list. If the setting isn’t obvious from the GR main page , please provide verification.

Required: State the country

Option 3: Rick is considered an antihero. More than once he says, “I stick my neck out for nobody.” But it turns out he has moral principles and is even willing to sacrifice his personal romance, since “The problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.” Read a book from the first 25 pages of this list of antiheroes

A beautiful friendship - these are approved

Option 1 - Looking for Alaska
Option 2 - A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story - Sudan
Option 2 - Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood - Rhodesia/Zimbabwe

The usual suspects - these are not approved

Option 2:
countries on list in alphabetical order: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Reunion, Rwanda, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Seeking approval for :

Option #1-Looking for Alaska

Option #2- South Sudan is country.
A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story

Wanda wrote: "Seeking approval for :

Option #1-Looking for Alaska

Option #2- South Sudan is country.
A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story"

Yes, both approved

Robin P wrote: "Wanda wrote: "Seeking approval for :

Option #1-Looking for Alaska

Option #2- South Sudan is country.
A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story"

Yes, both approved"

Thank you!

Nice one. Casablanca is such a good movie.

I want to give a shout out to all the other people who suggested this as a '40's-related idea. I had started thinking about it weeks ago just in case I got a chance to do a task and I hoped nobody else who finished before me would take it!

Will From Paris With Love This Christmas work for PARIS?

Fiona (Titch) wrote: "Will From Paris With Love This Christmas work for PARIS?"

Yes, that's fine.

For option 1 are we spelling a word using letters from the phrases or using one of the words exactly?

Cathy wrote: "For option 1 are we spelling a word using letters from the phrases or using one of the words exactly?"

You can spell words with the letters in any order, for instance -
WELLALWAYSHAVEPARIS - hill, pair, wave, shape, spare, etc. Of course you can use a whole word like Paris as well.

HERESLOOKINGATYOUKID =
there, like, your, heat, sheer, lake, nasty, etc.

There are online sites that let you find all the words in a particular combination if you need ideas. - for instance https://wordfinder.yourdictionary.com

Great! Thanks!

Can I get Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood checked for option 2

Emily wrote: "Can I get Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood checked for option 2"

Yes, it's definitely set in Africa (Rhodesia/Zimbabwe).

Hi, I just want to confirm for option 1 whether we can only use letters as often as they appear or if that doesn't matter. I have a book with the word 'RIVER' in the title, but there are 2 R's. There is only 1 R in WELLALWAYSHAVEPARIS. So, I'm just checking whether that would or would not work. Sorry if I missed this being clarified somewhere already!