The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

30.2 - Sheila's task: INS & OUTS
It’s Fall which around here means working on the house in preparation for a long winter. For this task you will need to read 2 books.

Book A. needs to have something on the EXTERIOR of a house in the title. Examples. Shutter Island, The Broken Window, Thirteen Steps Down, The Tin Roof Blowdown: A Dave Robicheaux Novel

Book B. needs to have a room on the INTERIOR of a house in the title. Examples:Back to the Bedroom, Secrets in the Attic, The Body in the Basement, Wolf Hall


If you need suggestions OR have suggestions for books to read for this task, please post them here.

Approved parts of a house:


Exterior: foundation, glass, door, wood, stone, overlook, gables, doors, stairs, roof, porch, stoop, tower, wall, doornail, crawlspace, pillars, brick, lock, shutter, window frame

Interior: room, hall, hallway, closet, chamber, breakfast, great, living, nursery, library, study, laundry, kitchen, crawlspace, whirlpool, Jacuzzi, hot tub, sauna, sun, powder, day, tower, spare room, dark room, box room, game(s) room, day room,

Books that have been approved for my task:

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
The Boy Next Door by G.A. Hauser
The Kitchen Witch (Accidental Witch Trilogy, #1) by Annette Blair
A Room With a View by E.M. Forster
The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
The Overlook by Michael Connelly by
Breakfast at Tiffany's
The Ladies' Lending Library
Ghosts from the Nursery: Tracing the Roots of Violence
A Million Open Doors
The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise: A Novel by Julia Stuart
Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis
A Wallflower ChristmasLisa Kleypas
Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
She Stoops To Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith

Words not approved for this task: garden, grass, passage, house, floor, fencing, fence, doormat, side, bed, wine, mahogony

Books that have been denied for my task

The Fencing Master by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

Hi Sheila, For Book A, does the something on the exterior have to be physically attached to the house, or would something like "garden" or "grass" also work? Thanks.

I prefer something actually on the house for the exterior. Sorry

Would a foundation count as the exterior of a house?

Would "glass" work for exterior? The Glass Castle

Glass works for me Tanja

Jayme, foundation would be great - good idea

Will "door" work for exterior, or would you prefer things that only work for interior or exterior?

Door works for me Ms. Anderson.

Would "chamber" work for interior?

Yes Caity I will accept chamber. That must be a really old house!

Sheila, did you want to add approved words underneath the Yes books?

Good idea Tanja

A. The Boy Next Door (Door)
B. The Kitchen Witch (Accidental Witch Trilogy, #1) (Kitchen)

excellent choices Dee

Would the generic "room" work for part B
as in A Room With a View ?

room is OK Liz

Ok, Sheila, I'm anticipating reading A Passage to India very soon. Will "passage" be approved?

I don't think passage works Elizabeth. Sorry. I'm looking more for hall or hallway here

Got it. I thought it would probably need to be passageWAY, but heck, might as well give it a shot.

Can we read a book with the word 'house' in the title for part A?

no Patricia. I'm looking for parts of a house. Sorry

Sheila wrote: "no Patricia. I'm looking parts of a house. Sorry"

No problem, figured it was worth asking. Thanks.

Does Floor work for inside?

I don't think floor would count as a room Rachel. Sorry

I saw you approved foundation, but is it for exterior only, or could we use it for the interior choice?

No Missy I think the foundation should be part of the exterior only. Sorry

Does wood or stone work for exterior?

yes wood is fine Leigh Ann

Sorry, I edited while you were answering. Is stone ok?

stone is fine Leigh Ann

Do either of these books work for the exterior portion?

The Overlook by Michael Connelly.

The Fencing Master by Arturo Pérez-Reverte.

I wanted to make sure The House of the Seven Gables would work for exterior. I'm hoping to read that and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Great task!

Hi Diane I will accept The Overlook for the exterior as I imagine that could be like a widow's walk on the top of a house but The Fencing Master would not work. Sorry

Thanks Cait. Those are both great choices.

Does "Breakfast at Tiffany's" work for the interior? We have a "breakfast room" in our house :)

OK Kelly, I think at our house we call that a kitchen but sure go ahead and use Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Great thanks! It really is a room separate from the kitchen, I promise! I actually like Cait's idea of
"The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" so I might use that instead.

Sheila wrote: "OK Kelly, I think at our house we call that a kitchen but sure go ahead and use Breakfast at Tiffany's."

Yay! That's a book I've been meaning to read for years.

Actually there were several different books by that same title which I wasn't aware of. I always picture the classic Audrey Hepburn movie with George Peppard and the cat with Moon River playing in the background. Enjoy

Here's another Kitchen book! Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

Hey everyone,

There are the "great rooms" (living/dining room) in the houses too! So "Great" should work too. Right, Sheila?

I guess so Meghan since I allowed "Breakfast" but it is kind of getting away from the whole premise of the task. I'll allow it though.

I'm thinking of the following options:

A. Stone - Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

B. Room - Man Walks Into a Room by Nicole Krauss -or- The Girls of Room 28: Friendship, Hope, and Survival in Theresienstadt by Hannelore Brenner -or- A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

They all sound good to me Patricia. Good reading.

"Living" for living room? (I was thinking of something like Living Dead Girl.)

yes Sara, Living is ok.

For people who like historical fiction about the Romanovs, The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander is a good choice for part B.