Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

This is the thread where we ask questions, discuss, and make suggestions for the challenge.

Special thanks to the members who regularly stop by at the Suggestions Thread and share their input. It definitely helped me a lot when I put together the monthly categories. Thanks, guys.

1. September: Read a book which title starts with “S”.

2. Birthday: Read a book from a September B-day celebrant. (http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...)

3. Geography: Read a book whose author, setting or character is from Massachusetts.

4.Pirate Day: Marauders of the Sea: Read a book that involves Pirates or other sea-faring characters, like Vikings, Ship Captains, etc..

5. Labor Day: Blue Collar Workers: Read a book where one of the major character is a blue-collar worker.

6. National Hispanic Heritage Month Read a Hispanic romance, or a book written by one, or has a Hispanic character.

7. Library Card Sign-up Month Read a book borrowed from the library. (In extreme cases that you don’t have access to a library, read a book that you borrow from someone else.)

8. Romance Genre: Read a classic romance.

9. Of Lists and Shelves: Read a book from the first five pages of either of the following shelves:

Women Friendship Month
Murder Mystery Books in honor of Agatha Christie

10. Reader's Choice

Challenge Duration: September 1 – September 30, 2010

Yz - can you clarify Classic romance a bit more...are we talking like Austen type romance or bodice ripper from the 80's type romance?

Delicious Dee the book slut wrote: "Yz - can you clarify Classic romance a bit more...are we talking like Austen type romance or bodice ripper from the 80's type romance?"

Good question. I'm thinking of books, that are romances or has strong romance elements, that had stood the test of time, like Pride and Prejudice, Gone With the Wind, Love Story, etc.

that's what I thought...but figured i'd ask...I could haev gone either way...

I need some help with both 3 & 6.

I know Boston is in Mass., had a look at Wikipedia for authors - nothing looked very interesting there, ideas anyone?

Hispanic characters or authors - any ideas for this one?

Man! And I just read 'Emma' this month!

Sandra - You have several books in your TBR that I think could qualify for the Hispanic:

Latin Moon
Midnight Craving by Lolita Lopez (the author's name sounds definitely hispanic)

For books set in Mass. check out Kiss of Midnight by Lara Adrian. Books 1 & 2 in the series are described as being set in Boston so it follows that book 6 is set there too but you can verify. :)

D.G. Thanks very much for looking. I appreciate it, & good picking!!!!

The Lara Adrian is a library bk so I'll look into it.

Thanks again.

For the Pirate Day: Marauders of the Sea category, would a fisherman do? Like in Catch Of The Day by Kristan Higgins? If not, what about Going Dutch by Katie Fforde?

Sandra wrote: "I need some help with both 3 & 6.

I know Boston is in Mass., had a look at Wikipedia for authors - nothing looked very interesting there, ideas anyone?

Hispanic characters or authors - any ideas..."

Truly, Madly by Heather Webber set in Mass.

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles is YA if you read it, and has won a bunch of awards- Hispanic main character

Thenia wrote: "For the Pirate Day: Marauders of the Sea category, would a fisherman do? Like in Catch Of The Day by Kristan Higgins? If not, what about Going Dutch by [..."

I'll give it a go.

Thanks Yz! ;)

"Catch of the Day" it is!

For the September birthday celebrant, does that mean any book from any person on that list? Read, TBR, etc. are all ok? I assume it should be a *romance* book, right?

Ashley - Yes, you can pick any person from the September birthday's list. And as long as the book is on any of that person's shelves, I consider it good regardless of genre. You'll find that a lot of us read other things beside romance. :)

What I usually do is click on a person's profile and click 'compare books.' That will show some books from my TBR that are in the other person's list and I choose what I feel like reading from the bunch.

Would Lisa Kleypas be OK as an author for the Massachusetts category? I know she doesn't live there now, but she did graduate from Wellesley college and was Miss Massachusetts.

Julie (Mom2lnb) wrote: "Would Lisa Kleypas be OK as an author for the Massachusetts category? I know she doesn't live there now, but she did graduate from Wellesley college and was Miss Massachusetts."

That'll work.

Fran wrote:Sandra wrote: "I need some help with both 3 & 6.


Thanks Fran :)

Thanks for the tip, Julie! I'll use LK for the Mass author!

Thanks, Yz!

You're welcome, D.G. Glad to help.:-)

Pirate books - I read Salty last year and it would qualify.

The Scarlet Letter is set in MA I believe.

The In Death series will make the mystery category easy.

Victoria Dahl's Start Me Up, the main character is an auto mechanic. That's pretty blue collar. Same thing goes with the Mercy Thompson books for those of you who like your PNR.

But I'll have to think about the classic category. All I have to say is NO WAY AM I READING JANE AUSTIN. Perhaps I can come up with an appropriate 'classic substitute'.

Any more books suggestions for the Hispanic Heritage month category...I am kind of stuck there...

True about Mercy, Jim!

Here are some options for classic romance that it's not Jane Austen or something similar (that's why I'm not mentioning the Brontes, Gaskell, Heyer, etc.)

Romeo and Juliet
Pygmalion
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Gone With the Wind
The Phantom of the Opera

Hina - I noticed you like historical fiction...do you have any book with Catherine of Aragon as one of the main characters (she was the first wife of Henry VIII). She was Spanish. Here's one I haven't read:The Queen's Lady

Here are other fiction choices I've read and enjoyed:
In the Time of the Butterflies
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Zorro
The Shadow of the Wind (I'm planning to read this one)

Hey D.G,

Thanks for the Rec, I wouldn't have even thought about looking at it, even though I have quite a few titles around Henry VIII. I will add the Queen's lady to my list.

Thanks a lot!!

Also the Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson series, there's a Hispanic cop and mother and kids in the book.

Thanks DG. Romeo & Juliet is a possibility. "Do you bite you thumb at me sir?" "No sir but I do bite my thumb."

I was thinking more along the lines of 'an instant classic'. Something so good that it gets copied again and again by others. You know what I'm talking about? Maybe some Spock/Kirk slash-fiction.

I guess you could do that too, Jim...I was going with Yz definition of 'romance that has stood the test of time.' :)

You don't think Spock and Kirk have stood the test of time? They've been going at it for four decades! Theirs is a love that cannot be denied!

Amen Photojim!

Ooooh- I want to read some Spock/Kirk fiction too!

Photojim wrote: "You don't think Spock and Kirk have stood the test of time? They've been going at it for four decades! Theirs is a love that cannot be denied!"

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!

Just to give people and idea of what Blue Collar means

Blue-collar work may be skilled or unskilled, and may involve manufacturing, mining, building and construction trades, mechanical work, maintenance, repair and operations maintenance or technical installations.
Business Dictionary: Employee performing a type of work that often requires a work uniform, which may be blue in color, hence blue-collar. Blue-collar workers range from unskilled to skilled employees. They are not exempt from hour and wage laws and therefore must be paid overtime for working more than 40 hours per week.


Below is a list I found of the Top 10 Blue Collar jobs:

Construction and building inspectors
Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters
Structual iron and steel workers
Electricians
Elevator installers
Police officers this one surprised me I never thought of law enforcement as blue collar but I guess if you read the definition it applies.
Subway or streetcar operators
Commercial and industrial equipment electrical and electronics repairers
Aircraft and avionics mechanics
Plastic machine setters

Wouldn't a waitress be consider blue collar? Because if that's the case, then the Sookie Stackhouse series could be read for the 'labor day' category.

Maybe a waitress would be a laborer? I'm not for sure. I thought blue collar was just below office worker.

I chose Natural Law by Joey Hll for this task because they are Police Officers and I have had that book on my tbr for too long. I asked my Mom if Police were considered blue collar workers- why do I still think Mom knows everything? Thanks for confirming her answer!

ohhh, I need to read Natural Law...was going to be either that or the next Mercy Thompson book

Carolyn F. wrote: "Maybe a waitress would be a laborer? I'm not for sure. I thought blue collar was just below office worker."

According to Wikipidia: A blue-collar worker is a member of the working class who typically performs manual labor and earns an hourly wage.

A waitress fits all three categories...that's why I thoght it would fit.

I hate the categorization anyway, it's a holdover from the 1950s/1960s. Blue collar usually meant they had some sort of uniform.

Photojim wrote: "You don't think Spock and Kirk have stood the test of time? They've been going at it for four decades! Theirs is a love that cannot be denied!"

I'll never look at Star Trek in the same way again!! That's almost as bad as claiming Han Solo and Luke Skywalker were at it.

Luke would definately be Han's bitch.

They were awfully close Charlotte, now you got me thinking. . . . .

see i've always heard Blue Collar referred to as someone who provides services...my dad is a blue collar worker (builds farm equipment), but he doesn't wear a uniform

Carolyn F. wrote: "I hate the categorization anyway, it's a holdover from the 1950s/1960s. Blue collar usually meant they had some sort of uniform."

White collar were people who wore white shirts to the office. Blue collar I thought were uniforms.

Delicious Dee the book slut wrote: "ohhh, I need to read Natural Law...was going to be either that or the next Mercy Thompson book"

Read Natural Law with me! It looks so good- love Joey Hill!

me too....I read Rough Canvas a couple of months ago and really liked it!

Fran wrote: "Delicious Dee the book slut wrote: "ohhh, I need to read Natural Law...was going to be either that or the next Mercy Thompson book"

Read Natural Law with me! It looks so good- love Joey Hill!"

maybe..I heard blue collar, I think clothes that are sturdy and don't get ruined easily with the work that don't show the sweat as much (well some of the time)...

Carolyn F. wrote: "White collar were people who wore white shirts to the office. Blue collar I thought were uniforms."

Blue collar is basically working class--someone who works with their hands, uses physical skill, manual labor, works with the tools etc. The term "blue collar" is just in relation to "white collar", white collar workers are suits who work in an office/sit at a desk/make a salary, blue collar are workers who work in the field/use tools/operate machinery/get paid hourly/make overtime/etc. They don't have to wear a uniform to be considered blue collar. Most don't. Maybe "blue collar" came from denim work shirts. :)

According to wikipedia, there are 3 classes: blue collar, white collar & service. Waitresses would be service class, accordingly, and I would also think cops would be considered service over blue collar.

A blue-collar worker is a member of the working class who typically performs manual labor and earns an hourly wage. Blue-collar workers are distinguished from those in the service sector and from white-collar workers, whose jobs are not considered manual labor.

Blue-collar work may be skilled or unskilled, and may involve manufacturing, mining, building and construction trades, mechanical work, maintenance, repair and operations maintenance or technical installations. The white-collar worker, by contrast, performs non-manual labor often in an office; and the service industry worker performs labor involving customer interaction, entertainment, retail and outside sales, and the like.

Thanks Laura Lulu!

Charlotte (Buried in Books) wrote: "Photojim wrote: "You don't think Spock and Kirk have stood the test of time? They've been going at it for four decades! Theirs is a love that cannot be denied!"

I'll never look at Star Trek in..."


lol I have to concur. :) Luke is almost as whiny as Aniken Skywalker 1 was but at least Aniken turned bad A in the end. Luke just whined and hid in his little jedi training planet Yavin 4.

Suzanne Brockmann's All Through the Night: A Troubleshooter Christmas is set in Boston. Another option for the MA category.

Also, Ann Aguirre might be good for the Hispanic authors. Aguirre is definitely a Hispanic last name, however she is married, so I'm not sure if she is or not. If it's allowed some of her books are: Grimspace, Wanderlust and Doubleblind.

, and

Another choice for Hispanic author is Diana Gabaldon. According to Wikipidia, she has Mexican ancestry on her father's side. :)