Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

Current challenges.
Mostly May Idioms: May Expresses Itself
September-November: Paint your house with books
Books to Movies Challenge.

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Monthly/Seasonal Challenges > Mostly May Idioms: May Expresses Itself.
Duration: May 1 – July 31 2017 (using 2 extension cards.)

Read: 5/25



Levels:
Easy Breezy = Read 3 to 4 books.
Moderate Winds = Read 5 to 7 books.
Dust Devil = Read 8-12 books.
Heavy Gusts = 13-24 books.
Gale Force Winds = Read 25-35 books.

Tasks:

• “April showers bring May flowers.” - Read a book with flowers or rain on the cover.

• “Be that as it may.” - Read a book with a title that starts with the letter “B”. Or has an author whose name (first or last) that begins with “B”. Or with a series names that begins with “B”. Or a character’s name (first or last) begins with “B”.

• “Cinco de Mayo.” - Read a book that is fifth in a series, or has five words or letters in the title.

• “Come what may!” - Read a book with a futuristic setting.

• “Devil-may-care attitude.” - Read a book where the protagonist has this attitude. (i.e. Heedless of caution; reckless. Jovial and rakish in manner.)

• “He who fights and runs away may live to fight another day.” - Read a book where someone gets bullied. Or where the protagonist is a professional fighter or gets in a fight. Or a story about survival.
Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family - Amy Ellis Nutt - 5/1/2017
How it fits: MC is a transgender girl who is bullied by a boy at school for using the female toilets.

• “How may I help you?” - Read a book where the protagonist helps someone out.

• “If I may be so bold...” - Reader’s Choice.

• “It may account for...” - Read a book with an accountant protagonist, or someone who deals with numbers. Or is an account based on a true historical event.
Territory - Judy Nunn - 5/2/2017
How it fits: MC Henrietta book-keeps for the station.

• “I may be crazy, but...” - Read a book where the protagonist gets “Gaslighted”... or a little crazy, paranoid, spooked, or rattled.

• “Let the chips fall where they may.” - Read a book that has the words from this expression found in the title, series name, or author’s, or character’s name [i.e. “let,” “chip(s),” “fall,” “where,” “they,” or “may”].

• Mae West. - Read a book with a black & white cover. Or is set in Hollywood. Or where the protagonist is a vamp.

• “May the better man win!” - Read a book where a competition takes place.

• “May Day!” - Read a book that is first in a series. Or where the protagonist attends a fair.

• “May-December Relationship.” - Read a book with quite a gap in years between protagonists’ ages. This does NOT have to be a Romance book.
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden - 5/8/2017
How it fits: MC and The Chairman differ in age by quite a few years (around 25-30 years.)

• “May the force be with you.” - Read a book with stars on the cover. Or is set in outer space.

• “May he rest in peace.” - Read a book with ghosts. Or where someone dies. Or has a graveyard or tombstone on the cover.

• “May I be excused?” - Read a book that is written in the first person POV. (Point of View.)

• “May I count on you?” - Read a book with a number in the title. (Examples found on listopia’s Nothing But Numbers.)

• “May I take a message?” - Read an inspirational book.

• “May I take your order?” - Read a book where the protagonist is a waitress, or short-order cook, or takes orders of some kind. (Just a few examples on listopia’s Waitress Heroine in Romance.)

• “May Pole” (AKA May Poll) - Read a book on a listopia list. Or is set in Poland. Or written by a Polish writer. Or won one of our BOM polls (past or current). (Examples found on listopia’s Best Polish Books.)

• “May the road rise to meet you...” - Read a book with a road on the cover. Or someone takes a road trip.
20 Times a Lady - Karyn Bosnak - 5/13/2017
How it fits: MC Delilah goes on a road trip tracking down old boyfriends to see if one of them is 'the one.'

• “May you live in interesting times...” - Read a book where someone is cursed. Or one with lots of danger, uncertainty, and chaos.

• “Maybe, maybe not.” - Read a book that you’ve been pondering for awhile.

• “Mayday! Mayday!” - Read a book where the protagonist works as some type of emergency personnel: fireman, policeman, paramedic. Or someone makes or receives a distress call. Or where someone uses a radio. Also, in The Handmaid's Tale, they used “Mayday” as a code to identify themselves as part of the resistance - so, we’ll take a protagonist that is part of one, or any plot involving some hidden code.

• “The merry month of May.” - Read a book that is humorous.

• “Objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are.” - Read a book with a mirror or car on the cover. Or one where the protagonist is an illusionist, magician, or interacts with mirrors in some way.

• “Seven Days in May.” - Read a book that is seventh in a series. Or has the word “day(s)” in the title, series, author, or character name. We will take the alternate spelling of “Daye,” as in the series October Daye.

• “Sticks and stones may break my bones.” - Read a book with a word in the title that rhymes with “may” -- or where the title rhymes alone. (Examples: Double Play (“play” rhymes with “may” -- or Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, where title is a rhyme itself.)

• “Terms & conditions may apply.” - Read a book that fits another challenge.

• “Things may look good on the surface...” - Read a book with an attractive cover.

• “To whom it may concern.” - Read a book with a stand-alone “letter” in the title. Or by an author with a stand-alone “letter” in their name. Or read a book of memoirs. Or one that has a letter or envelope on the cover. (Examples: C, by Tom McCarthy; author J.R. Ward; All Creatures Great and Small; or maybe something like these found on this listopia .)

• “Try as I may.” - Read a book that was published any day in May, of any year.

• “Warning: May be hazardous to your health.” - Read a book where someone finds themselves in a precarious situation. Or where a character gets an illness. Or is a cigarette smoker.
Claiming Noah - Amanda Ortlepp - 5/12/2017
How it fits: After the birth of her baby, MC Catriona develops severe postnatal depression and is hospitalised for puerperal psychosis.

• “You may well ask!” - Read a book with a question mark -- or an exclamation mark -- in the title.

September-November: Paint your house with books.
Duration: May - July 2017

How to:
» Chose the size of your house - Condominium.
» Chose your theme - New to me - read books you have not read before.
» Read books to create painted staircases, walls and fences

Size of your house:
♦ Shanty- four walls and one fence
♦ Cottage - one staircase, four walls and two fences
♦ Homestead- one staircase, six walls and three fences
♦ Mansion- two staircases, eight walls and four fences
♦ Condominium - two or more staircases, ten or more walls and four or more fences

Walls - Read books where you would like to paint the cover to your walls. Each wall is one book.

Portraits/profiles of people.
1. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden - 5/8/2017
2. Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family - Amy Ellis Nutt - 5/1/2017
3. Claiming Noah - Amanda Ortlepp - 5/12/2017
4. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
5. From Sand and Ash by Amy Harmon



Colourful covers.
6. A House for Happy Mothers by Amulya Malladi
7. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
8. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
9. The Midnight Watch: A Novel of the Titanic and the Californian by David Dyer
10. The Lightkeeper's Wife by Karen Viggers


Staircases - Read books that you would like to paint the cover spines to your staircase (see this article for an example of a painted staircase. Each staircase must have a minimum of four steps (books)

Staircase 1 – orange/brown/sunset style spines.
1. Territory - Judy Nunn - 5/2/2017
2. Sandstorm – James Rollins.
3. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
4. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón



Staircase 2 – Dark spines.
1. The Book of You – Claire Kendal.
2. Before I let you in – Jenny Blackhurst.
3. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
4. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn


Fences - Pick a colour for your fence and read books that are predominantly that colour. Each fence is one book.

Grey/ White picket fences.
1. My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family's Nazi Past by Jennifer Teege
2. 20 Times a Lady - Karyn Bosnak - 5/13/2017
3. The Mistake by Wendy James
4. At Risk by Alice Hoffman



Themes:
♦ Old favourites - read books you have read before
♦ Genre - read books all from one genre
♦ Author - read books all from the same author
♦ New to me - read books you have not read before
♦ Series - read books that are part of a series
♦ Everything old is new again - read books that have been on your TBR for more than a year
♦ Hit list - read books that have Goodreads ratings of 4.5 or higher
♦ Freestyle - a mixture of the above

NBRC Books to Movies Challenge.
Duration: 6 May 2017 – 6 May 2018 (1 year from start date.)

Levels:
John Hughes: 1 - 5 books
Oliver Stone: 6 - 11 Books
Martin Scorsese: 12 - 17 Books
Ron Howard: 18 - 24 Books
Steven Spielberg: 25 Books or More


1. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden - 5/8/2017
2. What's Your Number? – Karyn Bosnak - 5/13/2017
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