The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

t's that time again! Let's brainstorm some fun ideas for the Spring 2025 Challenge.

The bonus theme is It's A Wonderful World: Long Distance Trails

As in past challenges some tasks may revolve around the seasonal theme of Spring. Others may reflect the bonus theme. Other tasks may have nothing to do with either of those themes, they’re just fun or unique ideas to stimulate your reading.

Feel free to post as many ideas as you can come up with. Don’t worry about repeating what someone else has might have already suggested. The more ideas, the better!

The moderators will draw from these ideas as well as their own to create the 5, 10 and 15 point tasks. This thread will be open for ideas until February 15 . Spring tasks will begin to be posted on February 16. We look forward to seeing what you come up with!

In the spirit of “Spring Cleaning” read the book that has been on your TBR list the longest

For long distance trails - A book involving a journey or quest. There is undoubtedly a GR list that would apply.

I found this "cover" list years ago and have always found it to be intriguing -- even though many of the covers don't strictly abide by the rules (no people, no cars, etc.)

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

In the US, a long distance trail is defined as one that is more than 30miles - list here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

- Read a book where the letters of each word in title can be found in a trail name
- Read a book(s) set in the states that feature one of these trails
- Read a non-fiction book about traveling along one of the trails (i.e. To the Gorge: Running, Grief, and Resilience & 460 Miles on the Pacific Crest Trail)

in trail running, the initials FKT stand for fastest known time
- read a book where the author share a name (first or last) with the holder of a long distance trail FKT (ie - https://fastestknowntime.com/route/ap...)

Read a book with a flower in the title or series

List of flowers
https://dengarden.com/gardening/list-...

Not a specific idea, but a plea to reconsider Tin Eye tasks. I feel like it takes hours to find a book cover that is 75% one color. Perhaps lower the percentage?

Kim wrote: "Not a specific idea, but a plea to reconsider Tin Eye tasks. I feel like it takes hours to find a book cover that is 75% one color. Perhaps lower the percentage?"

Yes! Half of the time it doesn't even identify the correct colors on the cover.

Kim wrote: "Not a specific idea, but a plea to reconsider Tin Eye tasks. I feel like it takes hours to find a book cover that is 75% one color. Perhaps lower the percentage?"

this is typically on the task creator - I know if (on the rare cases I do a tineye) - I try to validate my requirement with several books before the task goes live

Kim wrote: "Not a specific idea, but a plea to reconsider Tin Eye tasks. I feel like it takes hours to find a book cover that is 75% one color. Perhaps lower the percentage?"

Agree

Dee wrote: "In the US, a long distance trail is defined as one that is more than 30miles - list here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

- Read a book where the letters of each word in title can be found in a trail name ..."

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by this. Some suggestions?

-- Read a book where the first letters of each word in title (of three or more words) can be found in a trail name.

-- Read a book with a one or two word title where all the letters of the title words can be found in a single trail name.

P.S. -- I think the idea is a great one!

Nick wrote: "Dee wrote: "In the US, a long distance trail is defined as one that is more than 30miles - list here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

- Read a book ..."

Dee, again, thank you for a great idea. But I have read over my suggestions and I find I don'tlike the first one -- you could probably fit any book into it (not much of a "challenge").

But I like my second suggestion:

Book has a one or two word title, and all the letters can be found in a single trail name. (Maybe this is what you meant to begin with and I'm just a little dense.)

What is considered a long-distance trail?
Many trails are marked on maps. Typically, a long-distance route will be at least 50 km (30 mi) long,

Task:

RAB with 30 or 50 intact in the page count.
Examples: 150 pages, 301 pages

Nick wrote: "Dee wrote: "In the US, a long distance trail is defined as one that is more than 30miles - list here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

- Read a book ..."

yes - so like for example:
Pacific Crest Trail is one of the ones

You could have a task where a book with a title of at least three letters can be found in that

For a 2 book task you could read a book set in the endpoints of a long distance trail that has endpoints in two different states (I was going off of the US list Dee posted). For example The Appalachian Trail has endpoints in Georgia and Maine.
Or you can use the European trails and use the endpoints there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europea...

Read a book by an author who comes from a country that has a national border with your home country, maybe something like this 😂

March 15 is the Ides of March - a book with the author initials found in Et Tu Brute.

St. Patrick's Day - Set in Ireland or by an author names Patrick or Patricia.

Hans Christian Anderson was born April 2 - a book that is a fairy tale retelling.

Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4 - book about the US Civil Rights movement.

Joseph Pulitzer was born on April 10 - read a Pulitzer Prize winner or nominee.

May 4 - Star Wars Day - Book has a word in the title matching a word in the title of one of the Star Wars movies (excluding the word THE)

March 14 - Pi Day

Read a book with a page count found in this portion of Pi

3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375

Examples that work:
314
141
415
159

National DNA Day is a US holiday celebrated annually on April 25

DNA is made up of two strands that twist into a double helix.
The strands are held together by hydrogen bonds between base pairs. The base pairs are adenine (A) with thymine (T), and guanine (G) with cytosine (C).

RAB in which all the words in the title (ignore subtitles) begin with A T G or C. Letters may be repeated. At least 2 words in the title.

Examples:
The Third Gate
Tuesday's Gone
The Governess Affair
Camino Ghosts

May 17, 1875 - The first Kentucky Derby horse race took place at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

RAB set in Kentucky or with a horse on the cover.


May 21, 1881 - The American Red Cross was founded by Clara Barton.

RAB by an author named Clara, Barton or with initials CB

Pay the Taxman:
In the US, April 15th is the day taxes are due to the IRS (Internal Revenue Service). Read a book with a title word or author name containing the letters "IRS" consecutively.

Examples:
Title Words -
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
The First Ladies by Marie Benedict

Author Names -
Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller
The Hidden Book by Kirsty Manning

May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii:
May Day, a festival to celebrate the return of Spring and held at the halfway point to summer, is celebrated around the world. Different cultures mark the day with wreaths of flowers, dancing around a Maypole, or crowning a May Day queen.

In Hawaii, "May Day is Lei Day." May 1 is a day to celebrate the giving and receiving of the lei, a symbol of "aloha." In 1927, poet Don Landing thought there should be a day set aside to honor the Hawaiin heritage of the lei and fellow columnist Grace Tower Warren enthusiastically agreed and coined the phrase "May Day is Lei Day." The musician Red Hawk then composed a song to celebrate the day:

May Day is Lei Day in Hawai‘i
Words by Carol Colombe, music by Leonard “Red” Hawk

Land of the flowers, of flow’ry bowers,
In her gay dress she appears
A sweet happy maid, may her dress never fade
As she carries this day through the years
May Day is Lei Day in Hawai‘i
Garlands of flowers ev’ry where
All of the colors in the rainbow
Maidens with blossoms in their hair
Flowers that mean we should be happy
Throwing aside our load of care, Oh!
May Day is Lei Day in Hawai‘i
Lei Day is happy day out there.
Land of green mountains, gardens and fountains
Beaches of white shining sand
Where each one I see has a smile just for me
And has ready a welcoming hand
May Day is Lei Day in Hawai‘i
Garlands of flowers ev’ry where
All of the colors in the rainbow
Maidens with blossoms in their hair
Flowers that mean we should be happy
Throwing aside our load of care, Oh!
May Day is Lei Day in Hawai‘i
Lei Day is happy day out there.

Read a book whose title contains a word of at least 3 letters, excluding "the," found in the song lyrics. Words must match exactly. For the words, "flow'ry" and "ev'ry," the words "flowery" and "every" are acceptable.

Backpacker:
Step into the shoes of the backpacker and hike the trails. For this task, read a book whose author's first and last initial can be found in BACKPACKER.

Take a Hike:
Don't feel like braving the elements, then take a hike from the comfort of home and read a book found on the first 25 pages of the Hiking Shelf:
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

Kim wrote: "Not a specific idea, but a plea to reconsider Tin Eye tasks. I feel like it takes hours to find a book cover that is 75% one color. Perhaps lower the percentage?"

Definitely agree.

Jasmin wrote: "Read a book by an author who comes from a country that has a national border with your home country, maybe something like this 😂"

Nice idea, but I'm not sure how that work for a country with no national borders in that way, like Australia or New Zealand, or for me, the UK (unless you count England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland as seperate countries).

One of the favourites in the UK is Land's End to John O' Groats. People try it driving, cycling and even walking (which takes 3m!!). Maybe a task with an author in either Land's End or John O'Groats - or even one initial in each? Or a book which starts in one country and finishes in another (as it starts in England and ends in Scotland).

England and Wals have 16 designated National Trails, which are our equivalent of the Long-Distances onces, I think. Scotland's equivalent are Scotland's Great Trails. Lists are below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotlan...

Maybe a word in the title matching one of the Trails, or Author Initials in one of the trails?

As many long-distance trails involve either coastal paths, or hills and mountains, how about a book with the coast, cliffs, hills or mountains on the cover.

Kim wrote: "Not a specific idea, but a plea to reconsider Tin Eye tasks. I feel like it takes hours to find a book cover that is 75% one color. Perhaps lower the percentage?"

I so agree Tin eye is a very poor tool it shows white, black some browns as grey I really think we need to get away from this tool

flowers are an eternal representation of spring - name of a flower in title

March 21 is Down's syndrome day - read a book with 21 in page number or publication date to celebrate the 21st chromosne

Kim wrote: "Not a specific idea, but a plea to reconsider Tin Eye tasks. I feel like it takes hours to find a book cover that is 75% one color. Perhaps lower the percentage?"

I must say I agree!

I am also on the side to ditch Tin-eye. I think the idea can still be used, by just using sight to verify the color

I have had the same bad experiences with Tin-eye, and I don't mind if we get rid of it. BUT it's an objective measurement that is the same for everyone. MPG is also an arbitrary measurement that is sometimes just plain wrong, like marking a book Nonfiction when it's fiction. If the task creators have to decide how much of a color counts and if a color is white or gray, judgments could be very inconsistent.

Robin P wrote: "I have had the same bad experiences with Tin-eye, and I don't mind if we get rid of it. BUT it's an objective measurement that is the same for everyone. MPG is also an arbitrary measurement that is..."

This is a good point. Moderator A may think something is green, while moderator B would call it blue. This would lead to moderators having to answer a lot of "will you accept this as blue" type questions. Anything that removes questions for moderators is a good thing.

I would mostly like to get away from 75% -- it just takes so long to find.

Robin P wrote: "I have had the same bad experiences with Tin-eye, and I don't mind if we get rid of it. BUT it's an objective measurement that is the same for everyone. MPG is also an arbitrary measurement that is..."

I agree, Robin P and Susan A. I don't think task creators and moderators will want to go back to having to answer endless questions of is it "blue enough." In many cases Tin Eye works well, though I do find it frustrating that what I would say is black they call "brown" or a red they call "orange." I failed to find anything I wanted to read for one color-related task this season, but it's OK. This is a challenge and I appreciate the challenging tasks, more so than the easy-peasy ones. Yes, 75% is too much!

Appreciate the feedback, folks. As a few people have pointed out, TinEye is good as an objective colour marker (ish - there's been a few issues in the past) rather than relying on task creators to make the call, but yeah, I absolutely agree that there's issues surrounding just how much of a colour is needed. We'll definitely look at reducing the threshold % and possibly the number of TinEye tasks that come up.

What would be a fair maximum % for colours going forward? 50%? 60%?

Jayne wrote: "Appreciate the feedback, folks. As a few people have pointed out, TinEye is good as an objective colour marker (ish - there's been a few issues in the past) rather than relying on task creators to ..."

For a single-color requirement a higher percentage is not that hard, given color cover lists on Goodreads. The multi-color task I found more difficult at the 75% level. Either 60% or 50% would be easier.

I think finding any color, solid or combo at 75% is too time-consuming. 50% is fair. I've never looked for 60% so I can't say.

Personally, I liked the task this season that said the cover must have red and green, no percentages, much better (task 20.7). Another possibility is always having an alternate option (like 20.7 had) that doesn't rely on colors. (So, no single option tasks).

Jayne wrote: "Appreciate the feedback, folks. As a few people have pointed out, TinEye is good as an objective colour marker (ish - there's been a few issues in the past) rather than relying on task creators to ..."

I think that 50% or 60% is much more doable!

I'd vote for 50%!

If we have to keep it I think 50% is a maximum but I do like Kathy KS's suggestion that it should be one of a number of options rather than a single option for a task

Restricting it to multi-option tasks would mean that 5, 10 and 15 point tasks could never use TinEye. Is that something people would be happy with?

i think just dropping the percentage would be fair - i agree on the 75% being too high - but if we start down this road - then you can easily argue other tasks like page counts should be modified too (because the database is soo jacked up)

maybe if its something like a white cover (which seemed to be the killer one this season) - then maybe its like white/grey with a combo to reach (i know I discarded that sub option because all my white covers kept coming back majority grey)

for 5/10/15 maybe its color appears in a lower percentage in tineye - like 25-30% - to make them "easier"

Jayne wrote: "Restricting it to multi-option tasks would mean that 5, 10 and 15 point tasks could never use TinEye. Is that something people would be happy with?"

I would happily get rid of it in the lower point tasks, but if not lets just keep it to 50% or less. I don't think we should complicate things too much