The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

30.1 Cindy AL's task: SuperHero Summer

I have a confession, I really, really like good summer blockbuster movies. This summer the blockbuster theme is superheroes. The Avengers has already opened, and Batman and Spiderman are still to come. Let’s meet the superheroes.

Roll two dice, and read two books corresponding to the options below:

1) Iron Man - Tony Stark is a millionaire playboy, arms merchant, engineering genius who through a series of misfortunes ends up with electromagnet keeping him alive and powering a super suit, whew.

In honor of Iron Man, read a book with science fiction as a genre or a non-fiction book about science.

2) Thor - Thor is, well, Thor, and doesn’t he have great hair?! My daughter would point out that it is all because he is Australian, nothing to do with the Norse god.

Read a book in the genre "mythology" or a "mythology" genre variation- "mythology > fantasy" . This may help http://www.goodreads.com/genres/mytho...

3) The Hulk - Hulk is the alter ego, literally, of a quiet withdrawn physicist, David Banner, who turns into a raging green monster when his emotions get the better of him. And boy, does he go through a lot of clothes!

Read a book from the Goodreads list Most Emotional Books or a book with an article of clothing in the title or subtitle. The Goodreads list Inside Your Wardrobe may help get you started with the names of articles of clothing. As always, use caution with lists

4) Captain America - Meet Steve Rogers, a frail young man brought to “the peak of human perfection” (thanks wiki) by an experimental serum. His story starts during WWII and he fights the Nazis, ending up buried in ice for 70 years ( actually a great movie).

Read a book set between 1900 and 1950 or a non-fiction book connected to World War II.

5) Batman - As you may know, the first four heroes are the more famous members of The Avengers. Hollywood can never leave well enough alone, so they had to slip in two of their biggest superhero franchises (Anybody remember those years when we had competing volcano movies and competing asteroid-hitting-Earth movies?).

Read a book with a flying creature on the cover - bird, bug, bat, dragon, Superman - any living thing, real or imaginary, that can fly. And, I forgot, Batman is Bruce Wayne, millionaire playboy, yadda, yadda.

6) Spiderman - Peter Parker, frail teenage son of lost scientists, gets bitten by a spider on a school field trip...detect a theme here?

To complete our list of heroes, read a book with a word in the title or subtitle of at least three letters, that can be anagrammed from SPIDERMAN. “and” is an acceptable word for this option.
Required: Please state the anagrammed word when you post

All genre options should have the genre listed on the their main Goodreads page.

Required: Please identify the numbers you rolled when you post

Reserved for approved books

Reserved for books not approved

This thread is open!

Cindy, I am considering a book for option 2 (mythology). I am a bit confused by the "mythology > fantasy" bit in your task. Does this mean that a book with a genre of fantasy would be acceptable?

(I rolled a 2)

On Goodreads, some mythology books are listed as "Mythology" while others are "Fantasy > mythology", depending on how readers have classified the book. To be acceptable, a book should have mythology as one of the genres or subgenres - if it just says "fantasy" it wouldn't count.

Go look at the genres on the page for American Gods as an example of what I mean. Gods and goddesses are characters in the book, and it fits the task, but notice it has "fantasy" as a genre, but it also has "fantasy > mythology" too.

Thanks, Cindy. I think The Return of Merlin should work, right?

Hi, one of my dice rolled is a 6. Can my anagram (from Spiderman) be a proper noun? I would like to use The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women and a Forty-Year Friendship. All the letters from Ames are in Spiderman.

Oh, duh, if Ames isn't okay, 'and' is in the subtitle and should be okay.

Thanks,
Suzanne

Yes, The Return of Merlin works.

Suzanne, very clever! I have no objection to proper nouns, but I'm not sure if there is any Seasonal Challenge rule about that?! Dlmrose or another mod may weigh in. I think page count is one of the few universal rules.

Cindy AL wrote: "Yes, The Return of Merlin works.
Dlmrose or another mod may weigh i..."

If it is OK with Cindy AL, proper nouns can be anagrammed

Thanks Dlmrose - proper nouns are acceptable.

Great, thanks!

Hi, for option 3, I am considering "Tutu Deadly", by Natalie Robertson. Will "tutu" work as an article of clothing in the title? There are tutus on the cover also.

Cute, creative, very acceptable.

I think I was successful in my task, very few questions!

i feel the same Cindy...lol!

I rolled 2 six's for yours...so i figure yours will be a good challenge to fill with random books for other challenges ;)

Thanks! These challenges are fun! I am spending more time right now figuring out what to read instead of actually reading!

Marie-Anne wrote: "Thanks! These challenges are fun! I am spending more time right now figuring out what to read instead of actually reading!"

I was doing that too!!

2.

5. Does this one work?

Hi Cindy, I drew 1 and 3. I'm ok with 1, but have a question for 3. Do accessories count? Like shoes/hats/belts? Thanks for the help!

For option 1, science fiction... A lot of books that I PERSONALLY would consider dystopian have been shelved as science fiction a TON... Is that okay? Specifically Incarceron or Sapphique? Or Matched or Crossed?

For option 5, flying creatures... does the thing have to be able to fly unassisted? I was thinking of reading , in which the guy invents a flying machine like the one on the cover, based loosely on a birds' wings. Part 5 IS about Batman, who doesn't actually have any powers... so if he were to fly, it would have to be by similar means... ;) Haha! Just pleading my case. No pressure!

Sorry, guys I'm on my vacation and it is hard to answer your questions, bear with me.
Ariel, yes those work.
Chiltra, the hulk has no accessories, so yes accessories work.
Sara, if sci-fi is a listed genre on the main page, then it counts regardless of what genre you or I think that it is, what counts is other peoples' opinions. For option 5 I do want living creatures, so if the flying creature is actually a machine, that would not work.

What about the genre "science fiction fantasy"?

Bea,that is fine if it says science fiction

Cindy AL wrote: "Bea,that is fine if it says science fiction"

Thanks, Cindy. I was thinking of The Silver Crown by Joel Rosenberg for option 1. But, I have changed my mind and am going with The Rowan by Anne McCaffrey.

I rolled a 5 and think Peter in the background of this cover would work for flying creature correct?

I rolled a 4 and was wondering about A Good American by Alex George. While the book is a family saga that continues to the present day, the bulk of the story takes place between 1900 and 1950, starting in 1904.

Michael and Peebee, I will be back to reliable Internet service on Tuesday, please hang on until then.

I rolled a 1 and 4.

I would like to read Break and Enter for 1, listed as sci-fi on main page and Memories Of Anne Frank: Reflections Of A Girlhood Friend for WW II non-fiction. Just making sure they both work :)

Hi, I'm back, sorry this has taken so long!

Michael, yes Peter is flying in the background, accepted.

Peebee, i'm afraid I will have to say no, unless someone else has read this book and can help me. In one of the reviews it says that the book covers a century of American history, and it talks about the Kennedy assassination, etc. That brings it too far from the 40s, which was the focus of this task. A grandchild telling the story of grandparents experiences in the Holocaust, for example, would work.

Fran those books work for those options.

Thanks Cindy AL :)

Cindy, it's OK, I can use this book for several other tasks.

Even though I really liked the book, one valid criticism of it is that it spends far too much time on the older generations of the family (1904-late 40s) and much less on the later generations of the family who lived in the 60s and beyond. The meat-and-potatoes of the book is really the first half of the century, and it feels like the coverage of the century's second half is just to wrap things up so that you know what happened to all the characters who were still alive. I read it at the beginning of the month and had already forgotten the mention of the Kennedy assassination.

But it's easy enough to find a book that actually begins and ends during that time period so that I will be able to find something else.

I just wanted to double check that a book is okay for option 3, the Hulk and clothing since my Blahniks one did not work (that's okay, it worked for a couple of other challenges). The one I am thinking of is Ties That Bind by Carolyn Arnold. The ties are actual neckties that are used as murder weapons.

Clever, Deanna, clever, it doesn't say it specifically, but I will allow plurals like "ties".

Rolled a 3 and was thinking of Superman's Cape if cape is considered clothing?
Thanks

Yes, Jecca, a cape would count as clothing

Would Gloriana be okay for option 1?

Yes Laurie, Gloriana would work. I honestly wouldn't put it into sci-fi myself, but other readers did and it is a genre listed on the book's page, so it is OK.

Cindy AL wrote: "Yes Laurie, Gloriana would work. I honestly wouldn't put it into sci-fi myself, but other readers did and it is a genre listed on the book's page, so it is OK."

I'm not sure I would either but it did win a Sci-Fi award back in 1979, so who am I to argue. Thanks!!

Does the dragon have to be flying on the cover or can it be a picture of a dragon? Examples...



You may have to view the larger picture to see the dragons.
Thanks!

Option 2 -The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Option 6 - Along Came a Spider by James Patterson

For Option 5 (Batman) will this cover work:



You may have to view the larger picutre to see that there are birds in the background behind the girl walking and there are fireflies in the foreground.

Sorry, guys that it has taken so long to reply, I've had some family issues the past 2 weeks, and I've not been keeping up.

Valorie, yes the flying creature does not have to be flying in the actual picture.

Rebecca, that cover works.

Claire, Along Came a Spider works, clever.
But, The Iron King does not have mythology mentioned as a genre now. Was that listed when you chose the book? "Fantasy" alone does not work, "mythology" also has to be mentioned. Sorry.

Thanks Cindy. I was trying to get my last round of books from the library and wanted to make sure it was going to work.

Would a flying squirrel count as a flying creature for the Batman option?

Yes a flying squirrel will count, just be sure that the picture demonstrates that this a flying squirrel, not a regular squirrel

Cindy AL wrote: "Sorry, guys that it has taken so long to reply, I've had some family issues the past 2 weeks, and I've not been keeping up.

Valorie, yes the flying creature does not have to be flying in the actua..."

OK I'll use Everneath - Brodi Ashton instead x

Everneath works perfectly, Claire.

would work for Flying Creature, right?

Yes that works Michael