42 – The Challenge (W11)
(You know? Life, the universe and everything??)

10 Point Tasks:

1. Hometown Shout-Out: for this task you have the opportunity to acknowledge your place of origin. Select one book that is either: written by an author from your hometown; set in your hometown or about your hometown. If you are from somewhere small, you have the option of selecting the town that, while you may not have been born there, is home in your heart. Let us know your town.

2. Birth Year: for this task let’s go back to the year of your birth. Select one book published in that year or set in that year and read it.

3. From Russia with Love: select and read one book either written by a Russian, set in Russia or about Russia.

4. The Best of 2010: Select any “best of 2010” list and read one book that holds the most appeal to you. Please provide the list link when claiming your points.

5. The Winner Takes It All: Find one award–winning book that has won more than one award, and read it. Please provide the awards won when claiming your points.


20 Point Tasks:

6. It’s Beyond Your Control: for this task you must select two Bookish acquaintances and read whichever books (one recommendation from each person) they suggest. Please tell us who you chose to make your recommendations.

7. Science Fact vs. Science Fiction: select two books that relate to one another through their subject matter. One book must be a science nonfiction tome and the other, a sci-fi novel.

8. Royal Reading: select and read one book dealing with a monarchy. It could be about a specific royal, a reign, a royal family, etc…

9. Myths & Modern Myths: select and read one book related to ancient mythology and one book connected to a modern myth.

10. Lesser-Known Prizes: Here is a master list of literary awards. From the list, select a lesser-known literary prize and read one book from their list of past winners/contenders.


30 Point Tasks:

11. Reading on the Tangent: select one book of your choice. While reading it, pay attention to the things that pique your interest. Using these tangential interests, find a book related to one of the ideas you have become curious about and read it too.

12. Tree-book or E-book?: Select one author and two of his or her different books. Read one in tree-book format and one in e-book format (any electronic format works). Preference? Why?

13. What do you do? What do you want to do/Wish you had done? Select two books; one related to what you currently work at, and one related to what you would love to be doing (and getting paid for it).

14. Old & New: For this task, select a beloved author and read one of their books. As well, select a book by an author you have never previously read and dig into that too.

15. From here to there: select and read one book that details a geographic journey then, read a second book that is related to the final destination of the first book you read.


40 Point Tasks:

16. Get Creative: within the arts are many different fields of creativity. For this task, we will focus on: visual arts, dramatic arts and music/dance. Select and read three books- one book for each of these three fields of creative presentation.

17. Genre-bending: For this task, two books are required. To determine the genre of your first book, start with your age. I will use my age as the example: I am 43, so I can read either Horror or SciFi as my first genre (4 or 3). To find your second genre add the two digits of your age together. For me, I would get 7 – Fantasy. (If you get a double-digit number when you add your age number together, add those two number together to get a single-digit number.) Here are the genres:

0. Poetry
1. Spy
2. Western
3. Science Fiction
4. Horror
5. Romance
6. Superhero
7. Fantasy
8. Thriller
9. Short Stories

18. The Birds & The Bees: for this task you can get a little naughty…if you must. Select and read one nonfiction book that deals with sex, love or relationships in some way plus one book of fiction that could be defined as a “love story”.

19. Southern Style: since we, in the northern hemisphere, are enjoying the winter season, let’s visit the southern hemisphere for, at least, a mental weather break. Select one book written by an author born in any country in the southern hemisphere as well as choosing one book set in or about any country in the southern hemisphere.

20. Who Reads What?: Select two Bookish members (these members must be different that those you chose for Task #6: It’s Beyond Your Control) and peruse their bookshelves. Choose one book from each member to read. One book must have a five-star rating and the other must have a one-star rating. Please tell us which members you selected your titles from when claiming your points.


50 Point Task:

21. Winter Reading: So this is a mix and match: three books are required - one book for each genre of reading, coupled with an author who was born in or died in each of the given months:
* January * February * March

a) Read any book of your choice that is nonfiction
b) Read any book of your choice that is literary fiction
c) Read any book of your choice that is genre fiction

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