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WINTER CHALLENGE 2025
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Winter Challenge 2025: Tasks
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Most tundra is found above the Arctic Circle.
Read a book set at least 50% in one of these locations that has Arctic Tundra: Canada, Russia, Greenland, Alaska, Norway, Finland, Sweden
Required: Provide a reference if the setting is not obvious from the Goodreads main page.
10.2 Cold Sports
Help Thread
Tundra means that there is a permanent frozen layer on the ground. A hockey rink has a permanently frozen floor of ice.
Read a book where hockey is essential to the story.
Required: Provide a reference if the setting is not obvious from the Goodreads main page.
10.3 Cold Days
Help Thread
Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year happens during this season in Northern Hemisphere.
Read a short book that is between 100 - 200 pages long.
10.4 Old New Year
Ahref="https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... Thread
Those who still follow the Julian calendar will be celebrating the New Year on January 14th.
Read a book where a single author's first and last initials can be found in OLD NEW YEAR.
10.5 Makar Sankrati
Help Thread
In January, Makar Sankrati is a Hindu festival that celebrates the sun transitioning from the Southern to the Northern hemisphere.
Read a book with a sun on the cover. It can be a photo or drawing, but there must be enough visible to be obvious that it is a sun.
Required: Post the cover
EX:
10.6 New Beginnings
Help Thread
The New Year brings many resolutions to get a fresh start for a new year. It can start with Organize Your Home Day in January.
Read a book with a word containing 4+ letters that can be spelled from ORGANIZE YOUR HOME.
Required: State the word.
10.7 Noel or A'phabet Day No "L" Day
Help Thread
Noel is another word for Christmas. Christians celebrate Christmas on December 25th. Also celebrated on this day is A'phabet Day or No "L" Day."
Read a book that has NO "L" in the title and author name. (Subtitles may be ignored.)
10.8 Ratification Day
Help Thread
Ratification Day, January 14 1784, celebrates ratifying the Treaty of Paris which formally ended the Revolutionary War and established the United States as a free and independent nation.
Read a book first published in January of any year.
10.9 Get Healthy
Help Thread
National Take the Stairs Day occurs every second Wednesday in January. It is a day to take the first steps to getting healthier by moving more and getting your heart rate up.
Read a book from the first 25 pages of this list:
Health Books
Required: State the page your book is found on
10.10 Holiday Season
Help Thread
This is the season with holidays where children are out of school for a significant amount of time.
Read a book with MPG Holiday. It may be stand alone or embedded.
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Help Thread
The main types of tundra are arctic tundra and Alpine Tundra. The Arctic Tundra is a desert with permafrost and is often referred to as the polar desert.
The Alpine Tundra is found at high elevations in mountains with harsh cold conditions.
This is a two book task,
Book 1: Read a book where all the letters of Polar Desert can be found in the title/subtitle/author name.
and
Book 2: Read a book that is set at least 50% in one of these mountain ranges that have alpine tundra or set in "snowy mountain location"
North American Cordillera mountains, Appalachian mountains, the Alps, Pyrenees mountains, the Himalaya Mountains, Karakoram mountain range, the Andes, the Eastern Rift mountains, the Snowy Mountains, and the Scandinavian Mountains.
Required: If the setting is not evident from the Goodreads main page, provide a reference.
15.2 Frostbitten Farewells & Snow-Dazed Starts
Help Thread
Finish the year with and old friend and start the year with a new relationship.
This is a two book task
Book 1: Read a book that has been nominated for the 2025 Goodreads Choice Awards.
Required: State the category.
and
Book 2: Read a book that has all the numbers of 2026 present somewhere in in the first published date. Month Day or Year, any combination.
15.3 Blizzard Mode Activated
Help Thread
Blizzards are actually wind storms blowing snow around and not by fresh falling snow. Blizzards can happen well after the snow has stopped falling. Blizzards can cause people to be "snowed in". Blizzard's high winds causing deep snowdrifts that block doorways and roads and create low visibility. Blizzards primarily occur in December -February but can happen in late autumn and early spring.
Choose an option
Required: State the option
Option 1: Two Book task
Book 1: Read a book set during a blizzard or being "snowed in" is plot of the story.
Required: If is not evident from the Goodreads book main page, provide a reference.
and
Book 2: Read a book first published in December, January, or February of any year
or
Option 2: One book option
Read a single book that satisfies both criteria for option 1
15.4 Frosty & Fizzy
Help Thread
The image of Santa in red and white was popularized by Coca-Cola ads in the 1930s.
Choose an option
Required: State the option
Option 1: Two Book task
Book 1: Read a book with a cover that is 50 percent red and/or white according to Tineye.
https://labs.tineye.com/color/
A guide to using Tineye can be found here.
Required: Post the cover.
AND
Book 2: Read a book with a single author's first and last initials can be found in Coca-Cola
Letters may be used as many times as they appear.
OR
Option 2: One Book Option
Read a single book that satisfies both criteria for option 1
15.5 Candle in the Polar Night
Help Thread
Saint Lucy's feast day is on December 13. It commemorates the 4th-century martyr and is celebrated in various countries, particularly Sweden and other Scandinavian nations, where it marks the start of the Christmas season and symbolizes light during the darkest time of the year.
Read a book with a single author's first name is Lucy or a variant of Lucy found here https://www.behindthename.com/name/lu... (use the tab related names)
Or a last name containing St. or Saint.
Required State the name if a variant is used.
15.6 Cut The Noodles
Help Thread
National Noodle Ring Day is celebrated on December 11. The day recognizes recipes where pasta is made into a delicious round casserole dish.
Read a book with a noodles in a serving dish, plate, or bowl on the cover.
Required Post the Cover
These work :
,
,
,
These do not work -
,
,
15.7 Ho Ho Holy Digits
Help Thread
Canada has an official address for Santa: “Santa Claus, North Pole, H0H 0H0, Canada.
Read a book with at least one Numeric digit in the title (subtitles excluded)
I.E. 0,1, 2, 3, 4. Not One, Two, Three Four. The number can be part of a word or stand alone.
1st to Die, 59 Minutes, The 4-Hour Workweek
15.8 Holiday Budget Who?
Help Thread
The Twelve Days of Christmas gifts would cost over $40,000 if they were all purchased today.
Read a book with exactly 4 words in the title. all words count. if there is an ampersand (&) it does count as the word and.
15.9 Merry Thanksgiving, I Guess
Help Thread
“Jingle Bells” was originally written for Thanksgiving, not Christmas.
Read a book with a word of at least 3 letters from the lyrics of jingle bells found in title. (subtitles excluded) (Excluding THE, AND)
Lyrics found here: https://genius.com/Christmas-songs-ji...
Required: State the word
15.10 Hushed Snow
Help Thread
Snow isn't just beautiful it's peaceful. Snow can absorb sound because it's porous, fluffy structure traps sound waves, preventing them from reflecting . This is why winter feels so quiet.
Read a book with the word QUIET intact in the title. (subtitles excluded)
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The Seasonal Reading Challenge
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Lost in the Sun (other topics)
The Sun Sister (other topics)
59 Minutes (other topics)
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Help Thread
There are three types of tundra: Alpine, Arctic, and Antarctic. The last two are self-explanatory. Alpine Tundra is found in all of the mountains of the world.
Read a book whose title (subtitles excluded) has a word of at least 3 letters that can be made from one of the three types ALPINE or ARCTIC or ANTARCTIC
Required State the Word
5.2 Climate Change
Help Thread
Climate change affects the Tundra of the world. Excess shrubs and the appearance of trees crowd out the ground and lakes are disappearing at an alarming rate.
Read a book with an MPG of Climate Change or Environment.
MPG may be stand alone or embedded
5.3 Tundra Animals
Help Thread
The climate changes are disrupting the tundra animals, affecting their food sources, habitats, and migration schedules.
Read a book with one of these affected native animals on the cover: fox (red or arctic) polar bear, caribou (reindeer), wolf, goose, ox, snowy owl, seal walrus, and narwhal
Required Post the cover.
5.4 Ice Cold
Help Thread
The tundra is the coldest of the biomes.
Read a book whose title (subtitles excluded) includes one of these words Snow, Ice, Icy, Cold, Cool, Chill, Freeze, Freezing, Frozen, Frigid, Arctic.
Word must be stand alone and an exact match.
5.5 Hurry Up, It's Freezing
Help Thread
The Arctic Tundra's growing season is only 6-10 weeks. During this time the top layer of permafrost thaws sending water providing a growing surface for the roots and vegetation
Read a book that is #6, #7, #8, #9 or #10 in a series.
Required Series title and number must be listed on book's main page
5.6 Snowbound Voices
Help Thread
The word "tundra" comes from the Finnish word tunturi, meaning "treeless plain" or "barren hill". It was borrowed into Russian (tundra) and then into English, The word's ultimate origin is the Kildin Sami language of the Kola Peninsula in Russia, where tūndâr also translates to "uplands" or "treeless mountain tract"
Read a book by an Indigenous author or has MPG Indigenous.
Books with multiple authors may be used but all authors must be Indigenous.
Required: If author's ethnicity is not obvious from author page, provide a reference.
5.7 Bah-Humbug
Help Thread
The classic book, A Christmas Carol is the story of an angry, crotchety man who has lost the meaning of Christmas. Read a book with a single author's first and last name initials can be found in Christmas Carol
5.8 Seeing is Beli-EVE-ing
Help Thread
Year's end has two holidays where the eve of the holiday is important; Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. Read a book where "eve" can be found intact in a title (subtitle excluded) word or author name.
5.9 Ten… Nine… Read!
Help Thread
Just like counting down from 3…2…1 at midnight...
Read a book with a 3+ word title (subtitles excluded), where the first letter of each word is in REVERSE alphabetical order. Examples: Throne of Glass, The Phoenix in Flight, Murder in Hospital...
5.10 Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal
Merry Christmas- Enjoy your SRC gift.
Read a Book of your choice that follows SRC rules