The Next Best Book Club discussion

Okay, summer, you're on... 😎

I'm taking this challenge quite casually, so I'll probably not complete it, and there's a few tasks I'm planning to skip altogether (marking those with a 🚫)

Summer Reading Challenge
Expert Level

The goal is to accomplish the tasks within the months they are featured: Edit: Decided not to stick to that idea for various reasons.

June Reads:

Take Pride – Read a book written by an LGBTQIA author or that features an LGBTQIA character - Completed! Two Boys Kissing

Into the Great Wide Open – Read a book that takes place out in the great wide open - Completed! The Call of the Wild

It’s the End of the World – Read a book about the end of the world as we know it - Completed! Station Eleven

School’s Out for Summer - Reread a book you were forced to read in school
Options: The Merchant of Venice

🚫Sick Day – Read a book you were supposed to read in school but didn’t [I honestly don't remember any]

Hook ‘Em – Read a book that features fishing or fishermen
Options: The Pearl

Sports-a-holic – Read a book that features a popular summer sport
Options: Finding Gobi: The true story of a little dog and an incredible journey (abt running), Eat Sweat Play: How Sport Can Change Our Lives

Dear Penpal – Read a book that features letters or journal entries - Completed! The Orenda

Father Knows Best – Read a book that features a father - Completed! The Haunting of Henry Twist

Campfire Story – Read a book that scares the bejesus out of you - Completed! Into the Drowning Deep

Ocean Blue – Read a book that takes place out on the water
Options: The Odyssey, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Blue Planet II, Red Seas Under Red Skies


July Reads:

Get Your Grill On– Read a book that features summer recipes or outdoor summer activities
Options: not sure yet

Backyard BBQ – Read a book that features a family reuniting or hanging out for the summer
Options: Far from the Tree

Forefathers– Read a book about your country’s independence
Options: not sure - potentially The Eagle of the Ninth Chronicles? [Scotland doesn't have much of a big independence story aside from William Wallace, and I don't have any books on that.]

The Colors of Summer – Read a book that features a yellow, green, or sandy cover - Completed! Their Eyes Were Watching God

Red, White, and Blue – Read a book that has the words Red, White, or Blue in the title - Completed! Bluebeard's Egg

Funny Bone – Read a humorous book
Options: The Broons Annual 2018, Frogkisser!, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Embrace Your Inner Geek – Read a book about geek culture
Options: Wiffle Lever To Full!: Daleks, Death Stars And Dreamy Eyed Nostalgia At The Strangest Sci Fi Conventions, Deep Secret, The Woman Reader

Sun, Moon, and Stars – Read a book that takes place in outer space - Completed! The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

🚫I Feel a Breeze – Read a book that takes place at a nudist colony or features nudists

Beach Bum - Read a book that could be considered a “beach read”
Options: not sure, honestly I'm slightly confused as to what constitutes a beach read

Sand Between My Toes - Read a book that takes place in or around a beach/ocean - Completed! The Song of Achilles

August Reads:

Let’s Get It On – read a book that features falling in or out of love - Completed! Bingo Love

It’s 12 O’clock Somewhere – Read a book that takes place in a bar or heavily features drinks/people drinking - Completed! How Not To Be a Boy

Stranded – Read a book that takes place on an island or in which the characters find themselves stranded - Completed! The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

One and Done – Read a book that you can finish in one day - Completed! Wonderstruck

Lucky to Have You – Read a book that you picked up at a library sale or thrift store
Options: lots - https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...✓

Girl Power – Read a book about feminism or written by a feminist - Completed! Herland and The Yellow Wallpaper

Life is a Highway – Read a book that features a road trip
Options: not sure

Time of Our Lives – Read a book in which the characters go on an adventure - Completed! The Last Unicorn

Memories – Read a book that you bought while on vacation - Completed! Fingersmith


Tasks to read during any month that are designed to stretch your reading comfort zones:

Won’t Be Long – Read a collection of short stories or essays - Completed! Tales from Outer Suburbia

Poet at Heart – Read a book of poetry - Completed! Come Close

You Have a Funny Accent – Read a book that was translated from another language - Completed! The Vegetarian

Read the World -Read a book that takes place in a country, or focuses on a culture, other than your own - Completed! The Freedom Papers

Diversify Yourself – Read a book by an author of color - Completed! The Black Tides of Heaven

My What Big Teeth You Have – Read a book that puts a spin on a well-known fairy tale – Completed! The One Hundred Nights of Hero

High Noon – Read a classic or contemporary Western
Options: probably Days Without End

The Future is Bright – Read a book that takes place in the future - Completed! Record of a Spaceborn Few

The Book is Always Better - Read a book that is becoming a movie this year – Completed! The Little Stranger

TBRing It – Read a book from the bottom of your TBR pile
Options:

🚫Unshelve it – Read a book that’s been sitting on your Goodreads Shelves for a while [I only just joined GR, so I don't have any books that've been there longer than a few months...]

🚫Childhood Reboot – Read a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure novel
Options:

Listen to Me – Listen to an Audiobook - Completed! Carniepunk: Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea

I've decided to modify this a bit, since I found another readathon I want to participate in that shares some of the same challenges - I'm going to try to do the Expert-level prompts, but not stick to the months.

Good luck!

Thank you! 🙂📚

Finally completed a prompt for this! Lagging a little...
"Sand Between My Toes" (a book that takes place around a beach/ocean) - The Song of Achilles
The coast of Phthia (Achilles' birthplace) and Troy feature very prominently.

Completed "Into the Great Wide Open" with The Call of the Wild.

Completed "The Colours of Summer" with Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Completed "Take Pride" with Two Boys Kissing.

I totally agree with you about reading a book you skipped reading in school. How many books could this be? And it’s on so many challenges!

I’m subbing in reading a book that many people seem to have read in school but I haven’t - Americans often seem to have read The Scarlet Letter but we didn’t in my Canadian school. So I figure it’s time to get to that. I’ve googled before looking for common school reads in other countries and some fun options pop up.

Completed "Father Knows Best" with The Haunting of Henry Twist.

I'm just starting A Royal Pain. Rhys Bowen is an author I'm enjoying right now. Her Royal Spyness series is fun. This is #2 in the 1930s escapades of Lady Georgianna, a young, penniless member of the royal family, trying to go it on her own in London while avoiding being married or sent off to play lady-in-waiting and managing to accommodate the Queen's 'little' favors. Oh, and solving the odd murder with hunky Irish and equally penniless lord. Good time!

Completed "Campfire Story" with Into the Drowning Deep.

Completed "Memories" with Fingersmith.

Completed "It's the End of the World" with Station Eleven.

Completed "Dear Penpal" with The Orenda. It's told from 3 different POVs and one is supposed to be a priest writing in a journal, though later in the book I think it just becomes his inner monologue.

Completed "Red White and Blue" with Bluebeard's Egg.

Completed "One and Done" with Wonderstruck.

Completed "Diversify Yourself" with The Black Tides of Heaven.

Completed "The Book is Always Better" with The Little Stranger

Completed "It's 12 O'clock Somewhere" with How Not To Be a Boy. Discusses drinking culture/pub culture/alcohol problems quite a bit.

Completed "Won't Be Long" with Tales from Outer Suburbia.

Completed "Girl Power" with Herland and The Yellow Wallpaper.

Completed "Let's Get It On" with Bingo Love.

Completed "You Have A Funny Accent" with The Vegetarian.

Completed "Stranded" with The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Completed "Listen to Me" with Carniepunk: Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea.

Completed "My What Big Teeth You Have" with The One Hundred Nights of Hero.

Completed "Time of our Lives" with The Last Unicorn.

Completed "Poet at Heart" with Come Close.

Completed "Sun, Moon and Stars" with The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.

Completed "The Future is Bright" with Record of a Spaceborn Few.

Just under the wire, completed "Read the World" with The Freedom Papers. It's an essay anthology with many pieces talking about all different countries and cultures.