The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

SMALL SCREEN STORIES - Read A Book Inspired By, OR Was The Inspiration For, OR Is In Some Way Related To Your Favorite Television Show (Past Or Present).
Ex. If Your Favorite Show Is Dexter You Could Read A Book From Jeff Lindsay's Dexter Series Or Another Book About A Serial Killer(s).

If you need suggestions for books to read for this task post a request here.

How specific does the TV show/connection have to be? I'm not a TV watcher, but when I do watch it's either the news or a kids' show with my son. So could I read something like Two Years, No Rain about a TV weatherman-turned kids' TV performer?

Jen B wrote: "How specific does the TV show/connection have to be? I'm not a TV watcher, but when I do watch it's either the news or a kids' show with my son. So could I read something like [book:Two Years, No R..."That's fine.

Amanda wrote: "Can it be a miniseries? I don't watch TV, but I rented the John Adams miniseries and loved, loved, loved that, so I was going to read the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Does that work?"That's fine

my favorite tv show (basically the only one i watch!) is The Office... any ideas on books that could somehow be related to it?

Bunny wrote: "my favorite tv show (basically the only one i watch!) is The Office... any ideas on books that could somehow be related to it?"

Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris

It's not one I really enjoyed, but lots of people loved it.

Is Prime Times Writers on Their Favorite TV Shows okay for this task (I don't watch TV)?

A number of TV shows are addrssed:
Pt 1. At the moment ; The west wing / Nick Hornby ; America, America, this is you / Elizabeth McCracken ; Days of our lives / Susan Perabo ; The tribe has spoken / Phyllis Rose ; pt. 2. Role models ; Father knows best / Susan Cheever ; The great ones / Barry Hannah ; The Andy Griffith show / Jill McCorkle ; Beam me up, Scotty: Star Trek / James Alan McPherson ; Bring back Big Valley / Jayne Anne Phillips ; The wound and the bow: Howard Cosell and Monday night football -- pt. 3. Thanks for being there ; Rob and Laura and the Little garage / Richard Bausch ; Like Robinson Crusoe / Lan Samantha Chang ; The Mary Tyler Moor show / Nora Ephron ; Infomercials / Stephen McCauley ; You are not alone: MST3K, Lost in space, and reality of science fiction / Douglas Rushkoff -- pt. 4. Great Escapes ; A life of danger / April Bernard ; Masterpiece Theatre / Michael Gorra ; Dreamhouse / Virginia Heffernan ; Hawaii 5-0 / Mark Leyner ; The Twilight Zone / Alan Lightman -- pt. 5. In the beginning ; The world in black and white / Sven Birkerts ; Amos 'n Andy and civil rights on TV / Henry Louis Gates, Jr. ; Gracie and me / Lloyd Schwartz.

Would by Richard Castlework? I love the show Castle and this is the book that the main character "wrote" last season. I'd love to have a "reason" to read it.

I plan on reading Déjà Dead by Kathy Reichs for this one. It's the Temperance Brennan novels which were inspiration for really the only show I watch- Bones.

Bunny wrote: "my favorite tv show (basically the only one i watch!) is The Office... any ideas on books that could somehow be related to it?"

Hi Bunny you could read any book set in an office really. Or there's Flanimals by Ricky Gervais but not sure if that'll count as it's more of a picture book!

I'm excited... I'm going to read A Secret Life by Laura Peyton Roberts... It's an Alias novel... ;)

pjreads wrote: "Is Prime Times Writers on Their Favorite TV Shows okay for this task (I don't watch TV)?

A number of TV shows are addrssed:
Pt 1. At the moment ; The west wing / Nick Hornby ; Am..."

Okay, I really want to know what Nick Hornby has to say about The West Wing!!! The rest, not so much. I might have to find that book just to read the first essay!

Teresa wrote: "Would by Richard Castlework? I love the show Castle and this is the book that the main character "wrote" last season. I'd love to have a "reason" to re..."Yes - I love that show too!

pjreads wrote: "Is Prime Times Writers on Their Favorite TV Shows okay for this task (I don't watch TV)?

A number of TV shows are addrssed:
Pt 1. At the moment ; The west wing / Nick Hornby ; Am..."Remember it doesn't have to be a favorite from now - it can be a favorite show from childhood even - and that book would work if you watched and enjoyed one or more of the shows included in it

i'm hoping i can find a copy of Growing Up Brady I Was a Teenage Greg. i STILL love this show! :)

Ooooh a TV miniseries is permitted! That means I could read Band of Brothers E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest!

For the person that liked the Office, you could also possibly go with Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream by Barbara Ehrenreich or possibly Devil Wears Prada since that takes place in an office.

Personally, I went back to the 80's for my show.

My favorite show is Lost, would Lord of the Flies work since they're "plane-wrecked on a deserted island"?

Sally wrote: "My favorite show is Lost, would Lord of the Flies work since they're "plane-wrecked on a deserted island"?"
Sure

True Stories of Law & Order SVU or True Stories of Law & Order The Real Crimes Behind the Best Episodes of the Hit TV Show -- For the Cop Show lovers out there

I'm into Big Love on HBO so was thinking of reading the following:

Escape
or
Stolen Innocence My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs

Patricia wrote: "I'm into Big Love on HBO so was thinking of reading the following:

Escape
or
Stolen Innocence My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Br..."</i>

[book:The 19th Wife A Novel would work for you too for Big Love.

Sara☺ wrote: "Patricia wrote: "I'm into Big Love on HBO so was thinking of reading the following:

Escape
or
[book:Stolen Innocence My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage ..."

Thanks. I actually won The 19th Wife as a First-Reads and liked it a lot!

Patricia wrote: "Sara☺ wrote: "Patricia wrote: "I'm into Big Love on HBO so was thinking of reading the following:

Escape
or
[book:Stolen Innocence My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, B..."

One of my friends won it too, and we all shared it...great book!

Patricia wrote: "I'm into Big Love on HBO so was thinking of reading the following:

Escape
or
Stolen Innocence My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Br..."</i>

Hi Patricia,
Another great book on this subject is [book:Daughter of the Saints Growing Up in Polygamy by Dorothy Allred Solomon. I was hooked from the first line and read it in two days even though I'm usually not a fast reader.

If you want to read a non-fiction book about mormonism and extreme mormonism - Under the Banner of Heaven A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer is enlightening.

The people in Big Love are NOT, NOT, NOT Mormon. Period. (Nor are the people in that book, though, so the book would work.) But the term "Fundamentalist Mormon" is incorrect, as anyone who is found to be practicing polygamy is excommunicated from the Mormon church (or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).

I actually read both Daughter of the Saints Growing Up in Polygamy and Under the Banner of Heaven both which I thought were very interesting reads. Polygamy just baffles me.

Can anyone recommend anything that would be related to the X-Files? I think the most fun would be a book that could inspire an episode. Thanks!!

Sara ♥ wrote: "But the term "Fundamentalist Mormon" is incorrect, as anyone who is found to be practicing polygamy is excommunicated from the Mormon church (or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)...."

Sara, that's really interesting. I thought they belonged to a branch of Mormonism. Thanks for this info.

Petra wrote: "Sara, that's really interesting. I thought they belonged to a branch of Mormonism. Thanks for this info. "

That's exactly the problem! A LOT of people think that, and it's just not true! There is only ONE branch of Mormonism. Or perhaps it's just a trunk with no branches? (Gee... that's a pretty-sounding tree, eh?)

Sara ♥ wrote: "The people in Big Love are NOT, NOT, NOT Mormon. Period. (Nor are the people in that book, though, so the book would work.) But the term "Fundamentalist Mormon" is incorrect, as anyone who is foun..."

I have purposely NOT watched Big Love or read any of those books because I know I will just cringe at the wrong ideas it gives people about our religion since people don't understand they aren't Mormons!

Me neither! I've heard HORROR STORIES about Big Love.... things that give me the sickest feeling in the pit of my stomach that I've ever had in my life.... *sad sigh*

I have watched it, but knew that it was separate. It is quite interesting, but definitely not a life style I would want anything to do with. My neighbors are Mormon, so we have had long discussions about all the differences. The show actually at some point each season does discuss how it is truly separate from the Mormon church. They are very up front about it and make a point to show how secretive they have to be.

My favorite TV Show is The Biggest Loser. Can I read Guide to Optimum Health by Andrew Weil?

I really did not want to make this comment because this is not the place for a religious debate, but since it continues as a topic of discussion - any religion that believes or claim that they use the book of Mormon or teachings of Joseph Smith as the basis of their faith can reasonably be called Mormons. This includes many polygamous sects. While Big Love and other polygamous groups are clearly not Church of Latter Day Saints, they can be referred to as Mormon.

Most religious labels are based upon the book or prophet, not the specific practices in use. Anyone who uses the Torah/Old Testament alone is Jewish, anyone who uses the new testament is Christian, anyone who uses the Quran is Muslim, and anyone who uses the book of Mormon, is Mormon. All of these religious groups have extreme groups they would like to not be associated with, but thats just life.

As a Mormon, I beg to differ. While it MAY (possibly) be true that "most religious labels are based upon the book or prophet, not the specific practices in use," Mormons are not part of that "most." Mormonism is a very specific kind of Christianity that IS defined by its specific practices.

In order to be called a "Mormon," you have to BE a Mormon, or in other words, you have to be baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and not have been excommunicated. You can't just read the Book of Mormon, live by its teachings, come to Church every Sunday, or a combination of those three. If you haven't been baptized, you're not a Mormon. (Of course, I could argue that baptized members who haven't been actively participating in the Church in quite some time can't REALLY call themselves "Mormon," because they aren't taking part in the "specific practices" we adhere to, but I won't get into that...) A looser definition would be that you need to be following the CORRECT prophet and be actually USING the Book of Mormon (oh, and be baptized, or even that doesn't count). I'll elaborate for clarity:

Joseph Smith is not the ONLY prophet we've had since the Apostasy (when all of Jesus Christ's original apostles/leaders of Christ's Church were killed, thus removing the priesthood authority from the earth) and Restoration (when Joseph Smith restored Christ's Church and the priesthood to the earth in 1829-1830). We're actually on prophet #16, Thomas S. Monson (Joseph Smith was #1). Mormons believe in modern-day revelation (it happens every day) and thus we follow the CURRENT Prophet of the Lord—the one that's alive right now. If these fundamentalist groups had been TRULY following their current Prophet, Wilford Woodruff (prophet #4), in 1889/1890 when he announced a revelation from the Lord concerning the end of the practice of polygamy, they wouldn't STILL be around practicing polygamy today claiming to be "Mormon".

Plus, if they truly believed and followed the teachings of the Book of Mormon, they would have read THIS (Jacob 2:27-30):

27 Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none;
28 For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts.
29 Wherefore, this people shall keep my commandments, saith the Lord of Hosts, or cursed be the land for their sakes.
30 For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things. (emphasis added)

The Lord DID command Joseph Smith to institute the practice of polygamy "to raise up seed" unto Him (which was REALLY REALLY difficult, and Joseph Smith really didn't want to do it, nor did any of the righteous men of the Church), but then that need ceased, the practice ceased, and the fundamentalist groups are now NOT following the teachings of Jacob, a prophet who lived in the Americas circa 544 B.C.

Splinter groups, like The Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or RLDS Church), and these "Fundamentalist" groups who refused to obey their own modern-day prophet and the revelation he received, and thus split off, are NOT Mormon. And if they truly believed in the Book of Mormon... oye, if that isn't a pretense, I don't know what is... Of COURSE we don't want to be associated with them, because we have NOTHING to do with them, belief-wise, anymore. We still love them—we love all men, but our beliefs and their beliefs do not coincide of the most basic levels.

That argument is like when fundamental Christian with a specific, literal interpretation of the bible claim Methodists/catholics/all other people who use the new testament are not true Christians because they don't do/believe X.

The claim does not change the fact that for common usage of the word, they all are Christians.

Google Mormon Sects. There are books written on it, there are tons of references all showing that the word Mormon applies to a lot more groups than the Latter Day Saints.

I will not post on this again, because I do not want to create anymore tension on the board than I already felt necessary for the sake of clarity, so if you want the last word, feel free.



Can anyone recommend a good book related to the X-Files for me?

I'd just like to give an example to compare/contrast, which I think will help clarify better (since my last attempt to explain didn't work as well as I'd hoped).

According to my knowledge (which is admittedly limited), there are a lot of denominations of Judaism with different degrees of devoutness: from very very liberal to extremely orthodox. No two congregations are the same. Perhaps the orthodox Jews don't think that the liberal Jews are really Jewish (I don't know, I'm not one), but they all reject Jesus Christ as the Messiah, believe in the Law of Moses (whether they follow it or not), and study the Torah (probably interpreting it a bit differently). The requirement to be called "Jewish" is simply to have a Jewish mother.

There aren't different denominations of Mormonism. If you go to church in South Korea one week and Texas the next (which I've done), it's going to be the same. Same organization, same doctrine, same interpretation of the scriptures, same meeting format, same everything, just in a different language. It's the same everywhere, across the globe.

A few years ago I was talking to a Baptist friend of mine. We had both just gone to college and she told me about how she was still "trying out" ministers in town to see which Baptist church she wanted to go to. That's not how the Mormon Church work. When you move (or are on vacation), you go to www.mormon.org, find the "Meetinghouse Locator," type in your address, and BAM! Your new church location and meeting time pops up. You go on Sunday, and the only thing that's different from the last place you lived is the people who you attend church with. Our Church is a single, unified, worldwide church, where we all have the same organization, same beliefs, same doctrines taught, same church manuals, same scriptures (King James Bible, Book of Mormon, etc.), same everything.

So when I say that if you aren't a baptized member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you aren't a Mormon, that's why it's not just me being judgmental. If you aren't part of the single, unified, world-wide Mormon Church, you're not a Mormon. That's just the way it is.

I'm not sure if it sounded like I had bad feelings toward the polygamist groups, but to clarify THAT, this is my feeling on the subject: One of the basic tenets of Mormonism states: "We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may." But another is: "We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law." If I have a beef with the polygamist groups, it's not because of their beliefs, but because polygamy is illegal in the United States, and they're opening breaking that law. I'd really like to NOT pay taxes, but I do, because I'm a law-abiding citizen. I think ALL US citizens should be held to the same standards.

Katie wrote: "My favorite TV Show is The Biggest Loser. Can I read Guide to Optimum Health by Andrew Weil?"

Sure

Sara - I have a clarifying question. Per my understanding of the Mormon religion and the way it works isn't it true that the Book of Mormon has been changed serveral times based on the visions of the living prophet? It was my understanding that the Fundamentalist Mormons believe and practice The Book of Mormon as it was read & interpreted by Joseph Smith from the tablets given to him by Moroni. I know Joseph Smith himself has serveral wives and was a big supporter of Polygamy. Was Jospeh Smith considered the first prophet?

Felina wrote: "Sara - I have a clarifying question..."

(Not in the order you asked, but here goes:) Joseph Smith is considered the first prophet since the time of Christ and His Apostles. And we believe that he translated/interpreted words on gold plates, given to him by Moroni (more-OH-nigh, fyi), by the power of God. The Book of Mormon itself has had a few "revisions." The first time was strictly to fix grammar/punctuation/spelling mistakes. One time they reformatted it to be in verse format like the Bible (it was originally in paragraph format). One time they added chapter summaries before each chapter, and an extensive footnote system, which links words/verses to other verses in the Book of Mormon/Bible/etc. They added an introduction. But the text of the Book of Mormon has NOT changed from what Joseph Smith originally translated.

We also have another book of scripture called the Doctrine & Covenants (D&C), which contains revelations given to Joseph Smith from God during his time as prophet (until his martyrdom). THAT book is sometimes added to, but the existing contents are never changed. There are 138 sections, and the first 134 and 137 (they're not in chronological order for some reason) are from Joseph Smith. 135, 136, and 138 are from subsequent prophets. A couple of "Official Declarations" have been added as well. I don't know if the Fundamentalist groups use the D&C or not.

As for Joseph's feelings on polygamy... God told to Joseph Smith to institute the practice of polygamy. It's my understanding that he resisted for a while before actually telling the Church. He participated in it, and supported it because it was God's will, but I wouldn't say he was an enthusiastic proponent or anything.

Sara ♥ wrote: "Felina wrote: "Sara - I have a clarifying question..."

(Not in the order you asked, but here goes:) Joseph Smith is considered the first prophet since the time of Christ and His Apostles. And we..."

These posts are REALLY off the subject of this help topic. Perhaps you can move them to a more appropriate thread, or continue in personal email?

My favourite TV show is Criminal Minds. Does anyone have any ideas as to a book that relates to it?

Ohh, nevermind. WouldThe Cases That Haunt Us work? John E. Douglas was one of the first FBI profilers which is what Criminal Minds is centered on...

My favourite show is Supernatural, so I'm thinking Grave Sight. It has supernatural themes and the main character can find dead people. She travels from town to town with her brother helping out, similar to what the guys from Supernatural do. Is this alright?

Does anyone have any ideas for The Golden Girls?

Manday wrote: "Can anyone recommend anything that would be related to the X-Files? I think the most fun would be a book that could inspire an episode. Thanks!! "

I just read a book called Fragment. It reminded me of that show! You can read the summary on GR, but it is a book that is a pretty fast read.

Sarah wrote: "Does anyone have any ideas for The Golden Girls?"

I don't know how close a fit it has to be, but the Southern Sisters cozy mystery series by Anne George might work. These books feature two senior citizen southern sisters (from Birmingham, AL)who solve mysteries together. One of the sisters is rich, outgoing, has been married many times and is always looking for a man. The other sister is the practical one. They don't live together, but the do get into and out of lots of scrapes together. It's a cute little series.

Murder on a Girl's Night Out is one of the titles. They kind of remind me of the Golden Girls.

Stephanie wrote: "Manday wrote: "Can anyone recommend anything that would be related to the X-Files? I think the most fun would be a book that could inspire an episode. Thanks!! "

I just read a book called [bookc..."

Coming in a little late here- but Stephen King wrote an X-Files episode. Would one of his books count?