Monthly Challenges discussion

March 2023 Tasks

One Point Tasks

1.1 ST. PATRICK'S DAY
ENJOY a hot Cup of Irish Coffee and a Good Book (any book).
BONUS POINT: Getting Hungry?
Try a Hot Bowl of Potato Soup with a slice of Irish Soda Bread (yummy), your favorite hot beverage and another Good Book (your choice).

1.2 MARCH BIRTHDAYS
This month Lois Lowry (3/20) and Louis L'Amour (3/22) celebrate their birthdays.
☘️ Read a book whose Author's FIRST name begins with either L•O•U•I•S and LAST name begins with either L•A•M•O•W•U•R•Y.

1.3 BUZZWORD
March's Buzzword is SECRET
☘️ Read a book with the word "SECRET(S)" in the Title.

1.4 MIDDLE GRADE MARCH
If you are a fan of BookTube, here's a chance to participate in MGM. ☘️ Read a book with the Main Page Genre:Middle Grade.
e.g. Golden Girl, Closer to Nowhere, Sofía Acosta Makes a Scene

1.5 (Amber's Task) MC HOUSE of SWEETS
Our "Special" of the month is JELLYBEANS

It has been claimed that jelly beans were first mentioned during 1861, when Boston confectioner William Schrafft urged people to send his jelly beans to soldiers during the American Civil War. It wasn't until the 1930s that jelly beans became associated with Easter, most likely due to their egg-like shape.

CHOOSE ONE:
A. Read a book set during the American Civil War.

B. Read a book set during Easter.
BONUS POINT: if the words "Jelly Beans" are in the text. Give us the page #/location and a portion of the sentence

C. Read a book with the author's first initial in Jelly and their second initial in Beans.

1.6 DR. SEUSS DAY
I ♥️ Dr. Seuss! When I was little, one of my favorite books was One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish I read that book over and over 🤓
☘️ Read a book that is 1st/2nd in a series (name the series) -OR- read a book with a RED/BLUE cover (50%+, show cover).
BONUS POINT: Read 2 Dr. Seuss's books (that should take care of the 100+ pg requirement)

1.7 (Tessa's Task) NATIONAL PI DAY MARCH 14
March 14 (also known as National Pi Day.
While pi is an infinite number I'll use 10 decimal places for this task.
☘️ Read a book whose total page number is made entirely of numbers found in 3.1415926535. Digits may be used only so often as they appear in the target number. 235 or 559 both work. 299 does NOT.

1.8 HAVE ARMCHAIR WILL TRAVEL
Traveling through Europe......🛵🚂⛵🛩️
This month, ☘️ read a book where the majority of it is set in IRELAND.
BONUS POINT: If the entire book is set in IRELAND.

1.9 (Marilyn's Task) READING JAR WINNER #1 CELEBRATE MARCH 20, FIRST DAY of SPRING

☘️ Read a book that has a cover depicting anything associated with Spring: flowers, lamb, kites, etc .... Be sure to show the cover.

1.10 (Amber's Task) READING JAR WINNER #2: CROCHET WEEK (Second Week of the month)
My MawMaw taught me how to crochet and I wish I had time to do it more often. This is just one of many hobbies that I claim.

☘️ Read a book where a character shares your hobby. Tell us what hobby you enjoy

Two Points Tasks

2.1 Read 2 Books

Go to THE LOTTERY for details. This is a time-limited task.

2.2 YAHTZEE: THREE
Read 2 Books
☘️ Read 2 Books with an Author that has 3 names.
e.g. Joyce Carol Oates - Sara Nisha Adams - Alexander McCall Smith (no initials)

2.3 (Linda C's Task) FAVORITE WOMEN AUTHORS
Read 2 books

☘️ Read 2 books by 2 favorite female authors - 1 book from each author
Consider this a recommendation to the group, so we all can gather some new great authors to read

(If you want to go more in depth about why you like her or how this book stacks up against her other works, feel free, but not required)

2.4 (Tessa's Task) MARCH MADNESS

I went to Marquette University during the years that Al Maguire was coaching the men's basketball team. I am STILL a fan of basketball 🏀 And while I do watch the Milwaukee Bucks on occasion, my love is college ball. So this task is inspired by " March Madness" (otherwise known as the NCAA Tournament).

1. Read a book by an author whose FIRST and LAST initials are in "MARCH MADNESS" (middle initials, if used, can be ignored).
2. Read a book whose title begins with a letter in "NCAA TOURNAMENT" (Ignore leading articles: A, An, The).

2.5 (Mickslibrarian's Task) BRING ON THE BLARNEY!

Pick 2 options and read one book for each:

a. Blarney (1926) - A silent film about a NYC prizefighter directed by Marcel De Sano, and starring Ralph Graves, Paulette Duval, and Renée Adorée. The film is based on the short story "In Praise of John Carabine", by Brian Oswald Donn-Byrne. ☘️ Read a book set in New York City (75%+) OR with author's first name Marcel, Ralph, Paulette, Renee, John, or Brian OR with author's last name hyphenated.

b. 2320 Blarney - A named minor planet, its provisional designation was 1979 QJ. ☘️ Read a book that has 3 of the four numbers 2-3-2-0 as its page length (any order) OR was first published in 1979 OR has an author with the initials QJ.

c. Code Name BLARNEY - BLARNEY, a communications surveillance program of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), was started in 1978 and operated under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. ☘️ Read a book whose cover has at least one word of the title in ALL CAPS (show cover) OR has MPG Spy Thriller OR is set entirely (100%) outside of the United States (including any U.S. territories, like Puerto Rico or Guam).

d. Blarney, Ireland - Known as an Bhlarna in Irish Gaelic, meaning "the little field", Blarney is a major tourist attraction; people come to see the castle, kiss the stone, and to shop at the Blarney Woollen Mills. The town also fields a soccer team and a camogie team. ☘️ Read a book whose cover shows a field of some sort (show cover) OR has two words in the title with a double letter (eg. The Beekeeper's Apprentice) OR where an organized sport is a major part of the plot (specify how).

e. Blarney Castle - Blarney Castle is a medieval stronghold in Blarney, Ireland, which was built by the MacCarthy of Muskerry in 1446. The grounds include a poison garden with numerous poisonous plants. ☘️ Read a book set (75%) between 1400 and 1499 OR with author's first or last name beginning with MAC OR where the title or subtitle contains the word POISON (may be contained within a longer word).

f. Blarney Stone - The Blarney Stone is a block of acrboniferous limestone built into the battlements of Blarney Castle, Ireland. According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of the gab. There are several other legends about the stone as well, including that the goddess Cliodhna directed the builder of the castle to it, and that at one point it traveled to Scotland and back again. ☘️ Read a book with MPG Romance OR MPG Mythology OR MPG Travel.

g. Plain old blarney - Toponym: named after a legendary magical stone in Blarney Castle, Ireland that gives the gift of eloquence. Definitions include persuasive flattery and mindless chatter. ☘️ Read a book with a word that is a toponym in the title (check out this list (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Catego...) of possibilities - all words of phrases must be in title if used) OR with a title at least 10 words long (no subtitles) OR with author's first and last initials in blarney (no repeated letters).

*BONUS POINT: Picking two books from seven different options shouldn't be too difficult; however, if you want something more challenging, like leaning backwards over a sheer drop to kiss a piece of rock, then try this one on. Instead of picking ONE of the sub-options from TWO different options, pick TWO sub-options from ONE option (like I pick option f and read a romance book and a mythology book.) For your trouble, add on an extra point for this task! :)

Three Point Task

3.1 (Linda C's) WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
Read 3 books

1. Read a biography or memoir of any woman

2. Read a book that is a fictionalized story of a real woman's life eg. Whisper of the Moon Moth (Merle Oberon), The Other Einstein (Mitza Maric, Einstein's 1st wife), or Circling the Sun (Beryl Markham )

3. Read a book of fiction where a real woman is a character (doesn't have to be the MC; can be side character or bit part) eg. An Expert in Murder (Josephine Tey), The Tale of Hill Top Farm (Beatrix Potter), or Coming Up Roses (Annie Oakley)

Five Point Task

5.1 IRISH PUB
Read 5 Books

☘️ one book per word

Find the word in the text, give the sentence page or LOC#

☘️ use ALL-CAPPED words only

1. BEER/ALE
2. FISH/CHIPS
3. ....when Irish EYES are smiling
4. FATHER O'Malley
5. pot of GOLD

Bonus Point: If you find Fish & Chips in a sentence.

MARCH WINNERS

🍀 Most Points
3.1 Linda C
2.4 Tessa
2.5 Mickslibrarian

🍀Most Pages
2.3 Linda C
1.7 Tessa

🍺 1.5 MC House of Sweets: JELLYBEANS (Amber)

🍺Reading Jar Winner #1: Marilyn
🍺 Reading Jar Winner #2: Amber
(Needed: one point task (your choice) - give your task a name)

Please leave your tasks below. They will be added to the list above later.
Thank you 🤓

👏Many Thanks to Linda C your tasks are now up. 🌹
👏Many Thanks to Amber your tasks are now up. 🌹
👏Many Thanks to Mickslibrarian your task is now up.🌹
👏Many Thanks to Marilyn your task is now up.🌹
👏Many Thanks to Tessa your tasks are now up.🌹