Chaos Reading discussion

I'm just checking if anyone is working on creating a challenge for 2018, since the "2016" challenge ended mid-2017.

Is there interest in another challenge? We can certainly do one! Anyone have any ideas for things they'd like to see?

Even when I don’t read as many of the books as I’d like to, I love going through the categories each time and discovering new books I never would have tried before.

Since 2018 is the New Orleans tricentennial, something related to that would be great!

I'm sure all of you saw the exciting announcement about the 2018 CR reading challenge sent out by Marc, if not, check you inboxes! Inspired by Erica, all of the categories are related to aniverseries taking place in 2018, challenge starts March 1st.

Details here: https://www.goodreads.com/challenges/...

I don’t see the info at the link. Maybe something funny because I’m on the mobile app?

Erica wrote: "I don’t see the info at the link. Maybe something funny because I’m on the mobile app?"

I also don’t find a place or way to subscribe. It looks like a great challenge

Ahh... the good 'ol GR phone app (which I also use). Sure enough, not only does the link NOT take you there as Erica pointed out already, but if you click on the group name and go to the home page, you can't see the info there either (you CAN see it if you're using a web browser on phone or laptop, although your phone may try and launch the GR app automatically from the browser).

So, here's a little virtual duct-tape work-around... Same info on home page posted below (in my next post). And Claire, we'll all be able to subscribe/sign up for the Challenge starting March 1st. Whitney or I will also start a separate thread for posting updates during the challenge.

CHALLENGE INFO THE GR PHONE APP IS NOT SHOWING

TREASURE HUNT 2018

The Chaos Treasure Hunt is back in 2018! We're taking a cue from all the anniversaries, centennials, and historical markers that lie ahead. Plus, we've streamlined things a bit to make scoring easier and your reading more chaotic than ever!!!

RULES
*Books completed between 1 March (2018) and 30 June (2018).
*Each category counts as 1 pt.
*Each book will only count in one category, which must be chosen at the time of finishing it.
*You will need to keep track of your own score, but it would be nice if you could update the score thread as you go.
*Winner gets to choose our next group read!

+10 pts. if you finish all 16 categories.

Happy Hunting!!!

CATEGORIES
New Orleans Tricentennial:
A book about New Orleans, or by a writer living in New Orleans.

Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the European Single Market, January 1, 1993:
A book involving trade.

One Hundred Fiftieth Anniversary of the Meiji Restoration, January 3, 1868:
A book about conflict between the old and the new in Japan.

Centennial of Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points Speech, January 8, 1918:
A book with exactly 14 chapters, or an anthology with exactly 14 stories.

Fiftieth Anniversary of the Tet Offensive, January 30, 1968:
A book by someone from Vietnam.

Centennial of the Spanish Influenza Outbreak, March 11, 1918:
A book involving an epidemic or pandemic.

Fiftieth Anniversaries of the Assassinations of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Senator Robert F. Kennedy:
A book involving an assassination.

Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, April 19, 1943:
A book involving fighting back against a greater power.

Centennial of Poland declaring independence from Russia, and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia:
A book from the former Eastern Block

Twenty-fifth anniversary of President Clinton nominating Janet Reno to be the first female U.S. Attorney General:
A book about a female in power or coming to power

Quincentennial of King Charles V of Spain authorizing the slave trade from Africa to the New World:
A book by a West African

January 1 was the bicentennial of the publication of Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley:
A book involving challenging or playing God

December 10 marks the two hundred fiftieth anniversary of the publication of the first edition of the Enclyopædia Brittanica:
A reference book.

Twenty-fifth anniversary of the signing of the Chemical Weapons Convention:
A book containing chemical weapons

Fiftieth anniversary of Apollo 8 becoming the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon:
A book with a moon (or moons) on the cover or in the title

Twenty-fifth anniversary of the release of Jurassic Park:
Any ancient (pre-13th century) book

Start Date: March 01, 2018
End Date: June 30, 2018
This challenge will begin March 01, 2018

Thank you, Mark. I was looking for a shelf to add, but difn’t get it started 1 march.

I love the categories! This is going to be a fun challenge. 😁

Thanks for theme-inspiration, Erica. Whitney deserves the lion's share of credit for those categories. Should be a hoot!

I've got books in mind for most every category! This should be fun.

14 chapters or 14 short stories is the one I'm having a bit of a struggle finding. A visit to the book store looks in order!

Do you have your choice for reference book, yet?

Pure kismet, I just listened to an interview with Gwendolyn Kiste, who I've had on my TBR. Went to get her book And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe and BOOM, 14 stories!

Going to attempt this challenge - interesting choice subjects!

Have any of you found good lists or sources for books on this?

One Hundred Fiftieth Anniversary of the Meiji Restoration, January 3, 1868:
A book about conflict between the old and the new in Japan.

Any suggestions other than looking up the Meiji Restoration itself?

I have been using a non-sophisticated system of asking myself either:
1) Are there books by Japanese writers I want to read that might fit (e.g., Haruki Murakami)?; or,
2) Hey does that book about Japan have anything to do with old vs. new? (Just came across the The Makioka Sisters today and it's currently the front runner)

Have had some luck using GR lists (used it to look up Vietnamese writers, but would probably lead to some finds if you looked up Japanese lit or writers).

Also, we're somewhat accepting when it comes to fitting the categories...
For example, something about Godzilla would probably fit since it's modern Japan confronting nuclear war. So the "conflict" could be mental, emotional, social...

I have no idea how to search for books with 14 chapters or 14 stories... Suggestions welcome!

Marc, just google for it:-)

Example :Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King
The Best American Series: 14 Short Stories & Essays

Erica wrote: "Have any of you found good lists or sources for books on this?

One Hundred Fiftieth Anniversary of the Meiji Restoration, January 3, 1868:
A book about conflict between the old and the new in Ja..."

Societal change is a common theme in Japanese literature, I'm thinking the Meiji period, the post war period, the upheavals of the 60's (Murakami's Norwegian Wood would fit handily there), or future conflict in science fiction. I'm choosing The Master of Go, which has been on my bookshelf for over 30 years :-) Some authors who have books that fit the bill include Soseki, Mishima, Ibuse, Yoshimoto.

Some of the categories were chosen to be a bit of a challenge to find, but it's fun coming up with creative ways to search that might yield a hit.

Ha! Thank you, Claire. I was being too literal in my Google searches and looking up "books with 14 chapters", which gives you tons of bible links but little else. Searching for either "14" in the title or "14 stories" is the key. I think we might even have an ebook version of Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales. Much obliged!
:D

Building on Claire's idea, I searched Google for the phrase "the 14 stories in this", which yields lots of reviews for books with 14 stories, including Prague Noir, The Life to Come and Other Stories, Incredible Pirate Tales: Fourteen Classic Stories of the Outlaws of the High Seas,Last Evenings on Earth et. al.

A similar hunt using variations on "fourteen chapters" was less useful. It mostly came up with academic works and a sparse selection of others, Wise Blood, A Walk Along The Ganges, The English Gentleman. Maybe someone can come up with a better algorithm for this.

That would be awesome, Whitney! Thanks for volunteering. :p

But seriously, if I could see which of my TBR books had 14 chapters...

On a somewhat related note, if you're ever looking to search by date published on your own GR shelves--say, for instance, you were part of a treasure hunt with a category for a pre-13th-century book--you can click "Settings" just above the shelf view and add the date published, which you can then click on to sort.

Shockingly, I don't seem to have that much pre 13th century literature in my list..

Right now, I'm thinking either The Golden Ass or Aesop's Fables. The Final decision may depend on how much time remains.

I think I've got three pre-13th century options in my possession with The Epic of Gilgamesh in the lead...

Surprisingly, I'm sort of excited about the reference book options: a guide to insects, Dictionary of Gods, and The Anarchist Cookbook.

I love the ideas coming out of this thread! So many interesting-looking books to check out.
I’m definitely going to look for The Makioka Sisters by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

Erica wrote: "I love the ideas coming out of this thread! So many interesting-looking books to check out.
I’m definitely going to look for The Makioka Sisters by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
https://www.goodreads.com/boo..."

I'd say that one definitely fits the bill!

Marc wrote: "Surprisingly, I'm sort of excited about the reference book options: a guide to insects, Dictionary of Gods, and The Anarchist Cookbook ..."

For some reason, this made me remember this one I had as a kid, The Alien World: The Complete Illustrated Guide, as well as Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials.
Now I need to go on a quest for fictional reference books.

Somehow I glossed over the 30 years unread part, Whitney!!! I think I've got one or two unread around 20 yr mark... Do you know how to play go? Seems like that would make this one a lot more enjoyable. I've tried to teach myself, but there's some key pts I still don't get.

Fictional reference books are awesome! I think Borges has one about imaginary beasts...

Erica, thanks again for kicking off the challenge and this thread. I found two non-short-story books with 14 chapters and one more short story book with 14 tales. Once I come across a few more, I'll share the titles.

Marc wrote: "I think Borges has one about imaginary beasts......"
.... I found two non-short-story books with 14 chapters and one more short story book with 14 tales. Once I come across a few more, I'll share the titles.

Ooo, yeah, The Book of Imaginary Beings, I even have a copy. I think I may use the category as an excuse to re-read The Devil's Dictionary.

How did you find the books with 14 chapters? The old fashioned way of thumbing through books, or did you come with a clever way to search?

Old-fashioned way. :(

The Devil's Dictionary looks like a lot of fun!

So pleased to see the Challenge again. I don't have the time to take part but I always enjoy the banter and so good to see Chaos Reading active (if only for the Challenge)

Can I suggest Catalogue Of Extraordinary Objects for a fictional reference book. I had to go and find it in my bookshelves - good result!

Susan wrote: "Can I suggest Catalogue Of Extraordinary Objects for a fictional reference book. I had to go and find it in my bookshelves - good result! ..."

Sure, taunt me with an out of print book! (Although I am enjoying some of the images that are available on Google Images.)

You should certainly still take part in the challenge, even if you only read one or two books that qualify. Or just commenting on other people's books is good, too.

Found a few 14 chapter/14 stories books amidst my stacks...
- VALIS by Philip K Dick (fiction)
- Dancing Girls and Other Stories by Margaret Atwood (short stories)
- Flow: The Cultural Story of Menstruation (nonfiction)
- Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King (short stories; previously mentioned by Claire, who also gave great advice to Google "14 stories"--you'll definitely get more short story book options)

So, what do you all think about a 13 chapters plus epilogue? Could that count as 14 chapters in all?

Erica wrote: "So, what do you all think about a 13 chapters plus epilogue? Could that count as 14 chapters in all?"

Seems reasonable to me.

Care to share your 14-chapter selection with us, Erica? I'm simply curious.

It’s one I originally picked up for the epidemic topic: Beating Back the Devil, by Maryn McKenna

Check out Beating Back the Devil: On the Front Lines with the Disease Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service by Maryn McKenna
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

Erica wrote: "Check out Beating Back the Devil: On the Front Lines with the Disease Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service by Maryn McKenna
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5..."

That looks great, good find!

Looks like a fascinating read (and job)! Kinda awesome that it has 14 chapters.

I feel like whomever has the lowest score at the end of the challenge should have to read The Way Of The Shadow Wolves by Steven Seagal. If only Above the Law hadn't been a decent movie, maybe everything afterward wouldn't seem like a downward spiral...

Marc wrote: "I feel like whomever has the lowest score at the end of the challenge should have to read The Way Of The Shadow Wolves by Steven Seagal. If only Above the Law hadn't..."

Christ, Marc, why not just kill the loser? It's more merciful.

Mercy is for the weak!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PQ6335puOc

Crom, I haver never prayed to you before, but grant me victory in this challenge!

:D

May Crom shower you with blessings.

2nd place blessings.

I'll take second if it means I don't have to read the Seagal book. Or, more accurately, the book with his name on it.

Countdown to the CR challenge, T minus 5 days! I've got most my categories mapped out.

One rule clarification, before it comes up. Points must be scored in all categories before a second point can be earned in any category. Same deal for a 3rd point, etc.

I’m just hoping to finish one of each!

I've got no ideas yet for the chemical weapons category or the female coming to power one... Any suggestions?

Finishing one in each category within that timespan would be impressive!