The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

50.1 - Ms Anderson's task: Five Crowns
My students recently taught me an awesome card game called “Five Crowns.” Basically, there are five different suits of cards (hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades, and stars), and each player has to collect a specific set of cards--either a certain number of the same card or a certain number of the same suit in order. The first round is played with three cards, and a card is added for every round you play until, for the final round, you need thirteen cards.

For this task, you’ll be playing Five Crowns with books! Flip one coin one time using the coin flipper on Random.org. Then, read three books that fit the same rule for whichever you flipped.

Heads: The authors of all three books must share either the same first OR last name. The name must be an exact match as it is listed on Goodreads (i.e., spelling must match and pseudonyms won't work). Middle names and initials do not count. You can use the same author more than once.
Ex. Alexander McCall Smith, Roland Smith, and Cynthia Leitich Smith; or Stephen King, Stephen Chbosky, and Stephen Fry

Tails: All three books must be in consecutive order in a series. The books may be from the same series or different series, as long as the books are in consecutive placement within their respective series. The book must be identified as part of a series (series name, #) on Goodreads. Whole numbers only; in between numbers (1.5, 3.1, etc) should be ignored.
Ex. Pawn of Prophecy (Book 1), Speaker for the Dead (Book 2), The Eternity Code (Book 3); Mars, Volume 04, Mars, Volume 05, Mars, Volume 06

Wild Card Rule
In Five Crowns, each round there is a wild card. In this task, our wild card is 3. Therefore, you may use a wild card up to 3 times to substitute the third book of ANY SERIES for the option you flip. The book must be identified as book 3 of a series (series name, #3) on Goodreads.
Ex. I flip heads. I can read Ranma 1/2, Vol. 3 (book 3), Long Live the Queen (book 3), and Chosen (book 3), and they would all still count as completing the task. Alternately, I could read two Stephen King books and Chosen (book 3), and the third book would work. If I flipped tails, I could read Temptation Ridge (book 6), 74 Seaside Avenue (book 7), and Dime Store Magic (book 3 = wild card).

Finally, as always, my tasks are Children’s and Graphic-Novel friendly! As long as they suit other SRC rules, you may read those.

Required: State whether you flipped heads or tails and specify whether you are using the Wild Card Option or not.

Claimed!

This one, too!

This thread is now open!

Love it!!

Ok, just so I understand if I flip and get Tails, I could read The Walking Dead vol. 2, 3, and 4 (I've already read vol. 1) ?

Dee wrote: "Love it!!"

Yay!

~~~~~

Delmy =^.^= wrote: "Ok, just so I understand if I flip and get Tails, I could read The Walking Dead vol. 2, 3, and 4 (I've already read vol. 1) ?"

Exactly right! Actually, it would work for heads, too, since the author is the same for each :D

Great! Thanks!!
:)

Five Crowns is my family's FAVORITE card game. Love the task!

Awesome task Ms Anderson. Kudos ! I need to play Five Crowns now before I read the books ;)

Would like approval for these books for Tails

1. Things Fall Apart
2. No Longer at Ease
3. Arrow of God

Author (of all three) - Chinua Achebe
Series - The African Trilogy

Apoorv wrote: "Awesome task Ms Anderson. Kudos ! I need to play Five Crowns now before I read the books ;)

Would like approval for these books for Tails

1. Things Fall Apart
2. [book:No Longer at E..."

Those will work. Enjoy!

Would these work for TAILS?

1. The Bat
2. Miss Tonks Turns to Crime
3. A Purple Place for Dying

Different series, books in series order.

Did I do it right?

Bea wrote: "Would these work for TAILS?

1. The Bat
2. Miss Tonks Turns to Crime
3. A Purple Place for Dying

Different series, books in series order.

Did I do it r..."

Yes you did--they all work! Enjoy!

I'm trying to make sure I understand the Wild Card: it works for either heads or tails as long as the wild card book(s) is the 3rd in a series, correct? Nothing else needs to "match"?

Mrs.soule wrote: "I'm trying to make sure I understand the Wild Card: it works for either heads or tails as long as the wild card book(s) is the 3rd in a series, correct? Nothing else needs to "match"?"

Exactly.

Ms Anderson wrote: "Mrs.soule wrote: "I'm trying to make sure I understand the Wild Card: it works for either heads or tails as long as the wild card book(s) is the 3rd in a series, correct? Nothing else needs to "ma..."

Thank you!

I got heads so I was thinking of using the following books: Grave Descend by John Langepseudonym of Michael Crichton
Watching You by Michael Robotham
Double Exposure by Michael Lister which is coauthored by Michael Connelly.
The two stumbling blocks are 1 will you accept Grave Descend which is written under Crichton's pseudonym and 2 Double Exposure which has two authors though they are both named Michael. What is your verdict? I can find other Crichton books, I just happen to have this one on my shelf.

Andy wrote: "I got heads so I was thinking of using the following books: Grave Descend by John Langepseudonym of Michael Crichton
Watching You by [author:Michael Ro..."

I will accept Double Exposure for the two Michaels, but to make things easier for the mods, I believe we're only using the name listed on GR (even if it's his pseudonym). I'll poke Kristi, though, and see what she says.

I flipped TAILS .... approval for

Different series, but in order ...

(Roderick Allyn # 1)
(Joe Picket # 2)
(Harry Bosch # 3)

Book Concierge wrote: "I flipped TAILS .... approval for

Different series, but in order ...

(Roderick Allyn # 1)
(Joe Picket # 2)
[bookcover:The Conc..."

Sounds good. Enjoy!

Ms Anderson wrote: "Andy wrote: "I got heads so I was thinking of using the following books: Grave Descend by John Langepseudonym of Michael Crichton
Watching You by [auth..."

Andy, I checked with Kristi, and only the name attached to the book on GR will work, even if it's a pseudonym. I hope you can find another place for the book, though!

I rolled heads.

Am I allowed to delete a task I already completed and use that book?

Ms Anderson wrote: "Ms Anderson wrote: "Andy wrote: "I got heads so I was thinking of using the following books: Grave Descend by John Langepseudonym of Michael Crichton
Watching Yo..."</i>

<i>Ms Anderson wrote: "Book Concierge wrote: "I flipped TAILS .... approval for

Different series, but in order ...

[bookcover:A Man Lay Dead (Roderick Allyn # 1)
(Joe Picket #..."

That's fine I want to play by the rules. It turns out the Michael Connelly has only written the introduction to Double Exposure, so Michael Lister is really the only author for that one.

Susan A wrote: "I rolled heads.

Am I allowed to delete a task I already completed and use that book?"

Yeah. You'll just need to let them know when you're posting that you want to switch a book from one task to this one.

Andy wrote: "Ms Anderson wrote: "Ms Anderson wrote: "Andy wrote: "I got heads so I was thinking of using the following books: Grave Descend by John Langepseudonym of Michael Crichto..."

This is in reference to post # 23 above ...

I'm confused .... I didn't request approval for Double Exposure at all. I rolled TAILS and am using 3 books in series order. The third book I'm using is a Michael Connelly novel, Book # 3 in the Harry Bosch series.

Book Concierge wrote: "Andy wrote: "Ms Anderson wrote: "Ms Anderson wrote: "Andy wrote: "I got heads so I was thinking of using the following books: Grave Descend by John Langepseudonym of Mi..."

Yeah, you're fine, Book Concierge (see message 20 above). All of your books will work for my task.

I got heads and Im planning to read
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Blessings by Anna Quindlen
The Trader's Wife by Anna Jacobs
Are they ok?

Aleksandra wrote: "I got heads and Im planning to read
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Blessings by Anna Quindlen
The Trader's Wife by [author:Anna Jac..."

Those will work. Enjoy!

Allison wrote: "Does this work as tails with wild card? (Not sure if I'm understanding this right)
My Life as a White Trash Zombie (Book 1)
City of Glass (Book 3)
[book:Blackout|11806..."

You have it right. All the books will work!

I rolled heads and would like to use:
The Titan's Curse
The Battle of the Labyrinth
The Last Olympian

All by Rick Riordan and all over 300 pages since they have Children's on their genre page.

KSMary wrote: "I rolled heads and would like to use:
The Titan's Curse
The Battle of the Labyrinth
The Last Olympian

All by Rick Riordan and all over 300 pages since t..."

Those will all work! Enjoy! (I just finished the Kane Chronicles and loved them--if you like Riordan and haven't read those, I highly recommend them, too.)

I haven't read those yet. I'll add them to my list!

Sorry to bother you with this - -I don't have much experience with children's books and I have some difficulty with understanding which ones are acceptable. Thanks for your help.

Are these 2 children's books eligible for this task?

Feeding Frenzy and Out for Blood

Book 1 in this series was already accepted for task 25.6

The approval is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...


These are scholatic books. The back states appeals to 5th -7th graders, reading grade level 4. They are chapter books witht no pictures in the body of the book. There is an illustration of the creature after the last page of each book.

None of these are over 300 pages, but is that covered by your exclusion? Or do they still need to exceed 300 pages?

Susan A wrote: "Sorry to bother you with this - -I don't have much experience with children's books and I have some difficulty with understanding which ones are acceptable. Thanks for your help.

Are these 2 chi..."

Those will both work. You just need to find one more book, since this is a three-book task.

Also, my tasks allow for children's books under 300 pages, so no worries there. You don't NEED to read children's books if you'd rather read something else!

I hope you enjoy them!

Ms Anderson wrote: "Susan A wrote: "Sorry to bother you with this - -I don't have much experience with children's books and I have some difficulty with understanding which ones are acceptable. Thanks for your help.
..."

Thanks! My son talked me into to reading book 1. I was honestly surprised that I enjoyed it. Now he wants me to read books 2 and 3 so we can talk about who the bad guy is.

For my 3rd selection for this task, I am going to use a wild card, just haven't decided yet what book 3 of the many open series I have to read.

I just finished Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith.
Will this author work for 3 authors with the last name Smith?

It's to go with Sherwood Smith and Bryan Smith

Sunshine wrote: "I just finished Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith.
Will this author work for 3 authors with the last name Smith?

It's to go with [author:Sherwood..."

Just checking back in on my question. Don't know if it got lost. :)

Sunshine wrote: "Sunshine wrote: "I just finished Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith.
Will this author work for 3 authors with the last name Smith?

It's to go with..."

I'm sorry! Life got in the way for the past few days (pesky having to work!). I'm going to toss this one to the mods, though, since I'm not sure how they generally deal with hyphenated names for tasks. I'll get back to you as soon as I find out. I'm sorry again for the delay!

Sunshine wrote: "Sunshine wrote: "I just finished Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith.
Will this author work for 3 authors with the last name Smith?

It's to go with..."

Okay, so I spoke with the mods and they said that they consider hyphenated names to be one word. Since the name has to be exact, "Grahame-Smith" won't work for just "Smith."

QUESTION .... since this task is announced at the half-way point in the game .... do the books have to be read AFTER the task is announced? (April 17 start date)

Or can we use any books read during the SPRING challenge timeframe (March 01 - May 31, 2014)?

Book Concierge wrote: "QUESTION .... since this task is announced at the half-way point in the game .... do the books have to be read AFTER the task is announced? (April 17 start date)

Or can we use any books read duri..."

Any time during the spring challenge is good :D