The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

30.6 Katrisa's Task Fall Zodiac

Let’s wrap up our journey through the Zodiac.
This is a 2 book task. Please pick one option and read a book 1 and a book 2 for your chosen option. Total page count must be at least 500 pages. One children’s/middle grade book may be used.
Required State the options

Option 1 - Virgo August 23-September 22
Book 1 - The symbol for Virgo is a young maiden with a sheaf of wheat. Read a book with a main character who is an unmarried woman aged 15 - 29 inclusive.
Required If the age/marital status of the MC isn’t clear from the main page, please provide a reference. If the main page mentions that the MC is a teenager that is acceptable even if the exact age isn’t mentioned.

Book 2 - The tarot card associated with Virgo is The Hermit. This card depicts an old man on top of a mountain holding a lantern. This card is part of the album art for Led Zeppelin IV. Read a book with a title word of at least 4 letters from the lyrics of Stairway to Heaven. Word must match exactly - no exceptions.
https://genius.com/Led-zeppelin-stair...
Required state the word.

Option 2 - Libra September 23-October 22
Book 1 - The symbol for libra is a woman with a set of scales. Read a book with MPG Social Justice
Book 2 - The tarot card associated with Libra is Justice. This is the card of fairness, truth, cause and effect, law and also of Unfairness, lack of accountability, dishonesty if the card is reversed. Read a legal thriller from the first 20 pages of this list:
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
Required: state the page

Option 3 - Scorpius October 23-November 21
Book 1 - The symbol for Scorpio is a scorpion. The deadliest scorpion in the world is the Deathstalker scorpion. Read a book where the author’s first and last initials (you may ignore middle initials) can be found in DEATHSTALKER . Letters may be used as many times as they appear.

Book 2 - The tarot card associated with Scorpio is Death, the card of transformation. Read a book featuring a shapeshifter of some kind.
Required: If not evident from the main page, provide a reference

The Stars Align (approved)
Option 1
Book1
Book 2

Option 2
Book 1
Book 2

Option 3
Book 1
Book 2

Star-Crossed (these do not work)
Option 1
Book 1
Book 2

Option 2
Book 1
Book 2

Option 3
Book 1
Book 2

I love Stairway to Heaven. Such a great track and on one of my favourite albums.

For "Read a book with a main character who is an unmarried woman aged 15 - 29 inclusive," do either of these work?
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot - Lenni is a 17 year old girl, Margot, an 83 year old woman.
The Paris Library - Lily is a lonely teenager, Odile is an elderly woman.
In each case, one of the main characters is the correct age.

Also, for book 2 - is the word title missing from the description? "book with a word" - a title word, correct?

Kim wrote: "Also, for book 2 - is the word title missing from the description? "book with a word" - a title word, correct?"

Shhhh, we totally didn't miss something that obvious during task review...!

Fixed now ;)

Kim wrote: "For "Read a book with a main character who is an unmarried woman aged 15 - 29 inclusive," do either of these work?
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot - Lenni is a 17 year old..."

Yes both of those books work (unless Lily turns out to be married then that one wouldn't work). But I have read Lenni and Margot and that one for sure works.

Trish wrote: "I love Stairway to Heaven. Such a great track and on one of my favourite albums."

Agreed! Great track and great album.

Would The One work for an unmarried woman between the ages of 15-29. I just finished Book #2 in the series, where the MC tells the king that she is 17 years old. The only reference to that I can find is here: https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/t... and here https://www.pluggedin.com/book-review...

KSMary wrote: "Would The One work for an unmarried woman between the ages of 15-29. I just finished Book #2 in the series, where the MC tells the king that she is 17 years old. The only reference ..."

It looks to me that that reference works. So as long as she remains unmarried it would work, but without reading the book I can't say for 100%.

So, the character has to remain unmarried throughout the entire book? I think they get married at the end of this one but I'm not sure.

The other one I'm looking at is The Inheritance Games where she is a high school junior https://thenerddaily.com/the-inherita...

KSMary wrote: "So, the character has to remain unmarried throughout the entire book? I think they get married at the end of this one but I'm not sure.

The other one I'm looking at is [book:The Inheritance Games|..."

Yes the character should remain unmarried. You should be good with Inheritance games as the wiki page lists her age as 17
https://the-inheritance-games.fandom....
Again as long as she stays unmarried. But thanks for bringing that book to my attention for this task! I have a hold on it at the library which should be in by the time the next challenge starts, so I will probably choose this one myself :)

Katrisa wrote: "KSMary wrote: "So, the character has to remain unmarried throughout the entire book? I think they get married at the end of this one but I'm not sure.

The other one I'm looking at is The Inh..."</i>

Thanks! I also found [book:A Good Girl's Guide to Murder which features a girl who is a HS Senior so I think I'll have two good options.

Trish wrote: "I love Stairway to Heaven. Such a great track and on one of my favourite albums."

Despite my being of the correct age, this is the first time I ever realized what all the words are!

Hi! Could I pin this book for the MPG Social Justice?
De honderdjarige oorlog tegen Palestina: een geschiedenis van kolonialisme en verzet

Hannah wrote: "Hi! Could I pin this book for the MPG Social Justice?
De honderdjarige oorlog tegen Palestina: een geschiedenis van kolonialisme en verzet"

genre noted. That is a really good book!

Could you tell me if The Weaver and the Witch Queen would work for Option 3, Book 2? While there isn't a reference to shape-shifting in the book description, the third paragraph of this review does mention one of the characters taking the form of a sparrow: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Thanks!

Christine wrote: "Could you tell me if The Weaver and the Witch Queen would work for Option 3, Book 2? While there isn't a reference to shape-shifting in the book description, the third paragraph of ..."

If she indeed can shapeshift into a sparrow then it will work

Will this work for Option 1, Book 1 for MC, female 15-29? It doesn't specify in exact age in book, but I attached a link to a reference the author made in regard to the character of Emma.



https://www.thebigthrill.org/2022/08/...

"Asked how she developed the character, Glass says, “Emma is loosely based on an actual spy I met when I worked for the government. She was in her twenties but seemed much older than that. She remains one of the most confident and cool people I’ve ever met. She appeared fearless. I knew this person really existed, so I thought if I could build a character loosely based on her, then it would be only inches from reality."

Lisa wrote: "Will this work for Option 1, Book 1 for MC, female 15-29? It doesn't specify in exact age in book, but I attached a link to a reference the author made in regard to the character of Emma.

[bookcov..."

I can't say based on that. It says the character is based on a spy who was in her 20s, but that could mean a lot things. You would have to find something more concrete about her age. I did find out that you can join MI6 as soon as you're 18 so if the book mentions that she went right from high school (or the British equivalent - is it secondary school?) to MI6 training or something like that you could use that to verify that she is in the age range as the training is roughly 3 years. But without reading the book myself it is hard to say definitely.

Hi Katrisa, quick question - for option 3.2, would you consider werewolves to be shapeshifters, albeit unwilling ones? Or do they have to be in complete control of their shifting abilities?

I count werewolves as shapeshifters.

Katrisa wrote: "I count werewolves as shapeshifters."

Wonderful, that makes picking a book far easier! Thanks very much.

Im struggling to find a reference that verifies Maame is a young unmarried woman. I've finished the book, and it works, but I'm not sure how to prove it. Can i provide a quote from the book?
P72 sums it up perfectly:
"I'm twenty-five, mum"
"Yes of course. " she raises her eyebrows. "It's because you're not married, so my brain thinks you must be younger."

Meg wrote: "Im struggling to find a reference that verifies Maame is a young unmarried woman. I've finished the book, and it works, but I'm not sure how to prove it. Can i provide a quote from ..."

I've read that book and the main character is definitely a young woman who remains unmarried throughout the entire book.

Meg that quote works perfectly!

Katrisa wrote: "Meg that quote works perfectly!"

Great - thankyou!

I'm having trouble finding anything substantial to prove the age of the character of Doris Standing/Dorothy Smith in The Evil That Men Do. She is the character that this book entirely centers around; she's a celebrity who's had a 3-week blackout and is trying to hide out at the hotel.
She's called a young woman once or twice, but they most often call her a "girl." But here's the best I found:
At page 57 of 142 on my ereader, she is telling about her family's history. "There turned out to be so much oil on the Texas property that I guess by the time I was born in 1940, Dad couldn't even guess how rich he was."
The book was first published in 1966 and appears to be set in that time period. So, 1966-1940 should make her 26. Is that enough to make this one fit option 1?

Kathy I'll accept that as proof of age

Katrisa wrote: "Kathy I'll accept that as proof of age"

Thanks.

Please verify That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America for Social Justice. I see that now it is the last MPG, and in danger of falling off.

Kim wrote: "Please verify That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America for Social Justice. I see that now it is the last MPG, and in danger of falling off."

Genre is noted, just in case.

thanks! I've only had my phone and even when I tried to look through the web browser I couldn't click on "more" so I couldn't see the genre.