College Students! discussion

All questions about specific tasks and also general discussion.

I decided to make a list of books either from my list or just others that I found to help people get some ideas and know what kinds of things fit for tasks. I hate when I can't think of a book to use for a challenge so hopefully this helps!

5.2 (Just Like Us) - Franny and Zooey, The Bell Jar, I Am Charlotte Simmons, The Big U, The Cheese Monkeys, The Secret History, On Beauty, Charmed Thirds, Lucky, Norwegian Wood,

5.4 Picture Perfect -

5.6 - Disney Days -

Good list for the books that the movies are based on -- http://chezsmiffy.blogspot.com/2007/0...

Inspired by Disney movies (modern retellings)--- Beastly, Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast, Enchantment, Snow White And Rose RedFairest, Briar Rose, The Looking Glass Wars, The Book of Lost Things, The Storyteller's Daughter: A Retelling of "The Arabian Nights", Before Midnight: A Retelling of "Cinderella", Snow: A Retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Midnight Pearls: A Retelling of "The Little Mermaid"

5.7 Hats Off To You- Here is a good list: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/37...

5.8 - Not so Valentine's Day - Love in the Time of Cholera, The Great Gatsby, Hard Love, Bridget Jones's Diary, The Lonely Hearts Club, An Abundance of Katherines, The End of the Affair Sputnik Sweetheart The Patron Saint of Unmarried Women,Dating Big Bird, Juliet, Naked ,Hens Dancing: A Novel, The Summer Fletcher Greel Loved Me: A Novel, The Good Soldier, Orlando, He's Just Not That Into You (The Newly Expanded Edition): The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys, The Jane Austen Book Club, A Widow for One Year,

10 Point Tasks

10.1 (Head Shoulders Knees and Toes)-

10.2 (Life Changes)- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Backseat Saints Eat, Pray, Love Lucky Love Is a Mix Tape AMY & ROGER'S EPIC DETOUR The Bean Trees The Poisonwood Bible A Widow for One Year

10.3 (Chain is Only As Strong As Its Weakest Link) See message number 31 for some tips for this one. Here are a few for some popular authors that I looked up:

Wally Lamb- Wishin' and Hopin'
Julia Glass - I See You Everywhere
Tracy Chevalier- Burning Bright
Jodi Picoult- Songs of the Humpback Whale
Emily Griffin - Love the One You're With
I'm using- Man Walks Into a Room by Nicole Krauss. Her newest book is technically the lowest rated but it isn't actually out until October.


Some other suggestions: The Power and the Glory, The Hummingbird's Daughter, All the Pretty Horses, The Lacuna, Stones for Ibarra, Esperanza Rising Bless Me Ultima (character is Mexican but doesn't live in Mexico),

Some Mexican authors:

Laura Esquivel
Carlos Fuentes
Octavio Paz
Juan Rulfo
Sandra Cisneros (Mexican-American--I'll take Mexican-Americans for the record)

10.7 (Stand up For Your Rights) The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk, The Help, The Hunger Games, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Uglies, The Heretic's Daughter, The Book Thief, Hoot, The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia, Four Ways to Forgiveness,The Day They Came to Arrest the Book, Memoirs of a Bookbat
The Sledding Hill

15 Point Tasks:

15.3 Dead Men Tell No Tales-- Here is a good list http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/60...

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/21...

Make sure you check the book out to see if it actually does fit as people often add things that shouldn't be on there!

15.4 (Order in the Court) - probably anything by John Grisham, To Kill a Mockingbird, Nineteen Minutes, The Reader, Snow Falling on Cedars, Alias Grace, In Cold Blood, Midwives, The Pact, The Stranger, Lucky, The Brothers Karamazov

15.5 (Ancient History)- The Red Tent, The Clan of the Cave Bear, Nefertiti, Pillar of the Sky: A Novel of Stonehenge, The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus, Alcestis, The Memoirs of Helen of Troy, The Golden Goblet (YA), Pompeii, Creation: A Novel, The Inheritors, Promise of the Wolves: A Novel, The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Song of Troy, Mistress of Rome, A Voice in the Wind, Escape by Sea (YA), Nobody's Princess (YA), Goddess of Yesterday (YA), Daughter of the Forest

15.6 (AIDS Awareness)-

Fiction-Character with HIV/AIDS

What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day, At Risk(Alice Hoffman), Chanda's Secrets (YA), The Hours, Three Junes, The Line of Beauty, Veronica, Push, The Night Listener: A Novel, It Happened to Nancy: By an Anonymous Teenager, A True Story from Her Diary (YA), Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope, Abela: The Girl Who Saw Lions

Nonfiction- And The Band Played On : Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, My Own Country: A Doctor's Story, Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa, Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir, There Is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Africa's Children, 28: Stories of AIDS in Africa,

15.7- Homeless task

Down and Out in Paris and London (George Orwell), Smack,Forgotten: Seventeen and Homeless, Same Kind of Different as Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together, Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, Runaway, Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir, Have You Found Her, Rachel and Her Children: Homeless Families in America, The Pursuit of Happyness, Lullabies for Little Criminals, Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream, Grand Central Winter, The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music

25 Point Tasks

25.3 (Back to School)

Ideas for "subjects"

Math- The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke, The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure, The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdös and the Search for Mathematical Truth, A Beautiful Mind, Rich Dad Poor Dad, The Millionaire Next Door,Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

Science -Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love, The World Without Us, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales, The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story, The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World, Einstein: His Life and Universe

History - This one is pretty easy. Anything about a historical event really or a biography about a historical person.

Health/Phys Ed: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, Skinny Bitch, Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia, Eating Animals, Sybil: The True and Extraordinary Story of a Woman Possessed By Sixteen Separate Personalities, Madness: A Bipolar Life, The Blind Side

Art- Girl with a Pearl Earring, Van Gogh's Women: Vincent's Love Affairs and Journey into Madness, Jane Morris: The Pre-Raphaelite Model of Beauty, The Birth of Venus, any book about a famous artist, The Lost Painting, Dancing On My Grave,

Music - any book about a musician or a band, This Is Your Brain on Music, The Soloist, Songbook. There are some really great lists on Goodreads about music! Check them out!

When I get some time, I will try to list 1001 books that would work for some of these too.

Nice! Thanks for doing that Tami!

Ooh thanks for pointing that out!! Going to fix that!!

I just want to make sure that you all know that for the College Students blog task that it can be a book that is reviewed at ANY point during the challenge (Sept. 7- Feb. 22)

Danielle-- I've read it and I will definitely take that for that task!

I live in Greensboro, NC, so I was wanting to do The Battle of Guilford Courthouse, which happened near me (which is why the school county I was in is GUILFORD county xD). But I found two books with flaws. The first one, Guilford Courthouse 1781: Lord Cornwallis's Ruinous Victory, is directly related to the battle, but is only 96 pages. The other one is Spring House, which is indirectly related to the battle (his house was destroyed in it). Which would be best for the challenge?

I'd say the second one is better. Reading the description it seems that there might be a decent amount to do with it. Hopefully lol. If it wasn't for a 25 point task I'd say go with the first.

I found this one:

Long, Obstinate, and Bloody: The Battle of Guilford Courthouse but it might be too long if you aren't really into it. I think it is 200 something pages.

Jamie wrote: "I'd say the second one is better. Reading the description it seems that there might be a decent amount to do with it. Hopefully lol. If it wasn't for a 25 point task I'd say go with the first.

I f..."

Ohhh I think I'll go with that one. Thanks!

Could I do The Epic of Gilgamesh for the Ancient History one? It's 128 pages long.

Yeah, that's fine! In the rules we have stated that we will allow one book to be smaller if it is almost at 150.

Okay good, cause that's the only one I could find that peaked my interest xD.

Anybody have any ideas for the Picture Perfect one? I have a few listed on here but I'd love to put more on that list for people having trouble finding one.

Nah. That one is the only one I'm stuck on.

Never Mind, I think I'm going to do Shiver for the Picture Perfect one. I think that fits the topic :D.

Edit: Would The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo count for the Order in the Court challenge?

Handle With Care- Jodi Picoult works for Picture Perfect.

I chose When I Forgot for Picture Perfect, as it's got snow on the cover.

Anyone have any suggestions for "Not So Valentine's Day"? I've already read most of those on the list that Jamie made and the rest do not really interest me.

I happen to live a matter of minutes down the road from Titusville, PA, which is the birthplace of the oil industry. Would this work for the backyard travels task? If so, any suggestions on books I could use?

Another question, this one about the spooky reads task. I don't really get scared by things. Sure, some things make me squirm or make me uncomfortable, but I don't scare easily. Would reading a collection of ghost stories be ok, or should I do something else?

I think that works! Hmm..so many places you could go with that. As for any fiction books, it might be hard to find something unless it does mention the birth of the oil industry. The ultimate goal is to learn something about where you live. I'll keep thinking about it to see if I can come up with any other options.

What I found:

Non-fiction specifically about Titusville:

Oil Boom Architecture:: Titusville, Pithole, and Petroleum Center
Petrolia: The Landscape of America's First Oil Boom

Non-fiction about the oil industry:

The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power (talks about the birth of it)
Crude: The Story of Oil



This one looks real interesting:

Taking on the Trust: The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller (her father moved them to Titusville to be part of the oil work. From reading some things about it on Amazon it looks like it talks alot about her life and is actually a good read! Sounds like she was pretty kickass calling out Rockefeller)

Western Pennsylvania's Oil Heritage

Caity wrote: "Another question, this one about the spooky reads task. I don't really get scared by things. Sure, some things make me squirm or make me uncomfortable, but I don't scare easily. Would reading a col..."

In that case, you could really just do anything in the horror genre. A collection of ghost stories is fine too! Nothing really scares me either so I'm just going to do something that is supposed to be scary!

As I was looking for books for 10.3 (The Chain is Only As Strong As the Weakest Link) I thought it might be helpful to note a few things:

- You don't have to count collections or collaborations or anything that isn't really a book. Sometimes authors have weird books with only like 4 or 5 ratings. You don't have to count those things. Also, things that aren't released yet would not count.
-if you are on the authors page and you click on "More books by so and so", you will be able to sort them by average rating which is way helpful!
- It might be easier to do a newer author with only a handful of books so you don't have to sort through alot of random stuff. I tried searching Margaret Atwood's and I keep finding all these random things and I don't know if they are really books or a collection or something lol
-Ratings do change sometimes from month to month. If that happens, no biggie, as long as when you picked it or started reading it when it was the lowest I'm cool with it.

Katerina wrote: "Anyone have any suggestions for "Not So Valentine's Day"? I've already read most of those on the list that Jamie made and the rest do not really interest me."

I was planning to read Orlando. From the description:
"Orlando has always been an outsider...His longing for passion, adventure and fulfillment takes him out of his own time. Chasing a dream through the centuries, he bounds from Elizabethan England and imperial Turkey to the modern world. Will he find happiness with the exotic Russian Princess Sasha? Or is the dashing explorer Shelmerdine the ideal man? And what form will Orlando take on the journey - a nobleman, traveler, writer? Man or...woman?" Sounds like atypical romance to me!

I would also say The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, A Doll's House, The Shining, Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life (if graphic novels count), and even Romeo and Juliet would all count. None are typical romance novels, but relationships are a big part of all. They're all really good too!

I could use some suggestions for a lot of the 15 point categories. Ancient History, World AIDS Awareness Day, and National Roof Over Your Head Day all leave me blank.

I'm using Clan of the Cave Bear for Ancient History, but I think anything about Ancient Rome/Greece/Egypt would work as well, right?
I also don't have a book for World AIDS awareness day and national roof over your head day.

I'm planning on using The Red Tent for the Ancient History Day. I'll be making lists soon for all the 15 point tasks!

I can't beleive all your will power to wait until Sept. 7th to read Mockingjay. Can't do it. :)

Haha I don't think I actually WILL be able to wait. I am pretending that I will be! lol

Or we could change the start day of the challenge to this Monday. :)

Haha I will be WAY to burnt out at that point and the challenge will get off to a bad start lol. I need that extra week! :)

I also think that My Name Is Memory could work for the Ancient History task but I'm not sure. I know some of it takes place in the time period but I'm not sure how much.

I just added a bunch of books to the list for the Ancient History task

Added some books for the AIDS/HIV task.

Jamie, for the Weakest Link one I'm doing Eternal Lover. Richelle Mead is one of the authors listed on it's page, so that'd count right? If not I can easily find another book.

Also can you go through the list I posted and make sure all of them are valid choices? I don't want to read them and find out then that they don't qualify hehe. I got paranoia from my mom, just in case you're wondering xD.

Richard-- That's works for me for that task. I'm not sure if I'll be able to find time to go through and look at your whole list but if there are specifically any questions you have and can explain what the book is about briefly here in the thread than it will be easier for me to just look real quick. Also, others on here are really good about helping too! And, you can ask others who have done multiple challenges, I'm not hard to please as long as you can give me a good logical argument as to why it fits. I mean, I do say no to things that don't fit but if it is close I just might take it. Bribes of cakes and cookies generally work too! :)

For the Homelessness task-- I have a few examples but it is harder than I originally thought it would be. I'm currently trying to think of something else I can add to the task to make it a little bit easier. Any ideas would be appreciated!

Jamie, I found a really interesting one for the Homeless task. Forgotten: Seventeen and Homeless by Melody Carlson.

Hahahaha.

There were two in particular I wasn't sure about:

Would The Giver work for the Stand Up for your Rights? I asked a friend for a book where someone stood up for his/her rights and she recommended it to me.

And for the Court Case one would The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo work, since they're solving a case throughout?

I have a couple of suggestions for Roof Over Your Head Day. If you prefer a non-fiction book about people then one book to consider is Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together, which is actually my first choice, but I don't own it. My back-up choice, and currently listed book, is from the animal side of the line: Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World.

I've read a lot of reviews and whatnot of Same Kind of Different as Me, plus one of the classes of incoming freshmen were required to read it AND Waco, TX, where I used to live, started a literacy initiative that was meant to be town-wide (I don't know if it's still going or not), and this was the first book they selected as a town-wide 'group read,' if you will. It sounds interesting, and I have wanted to read it for a couple of years. I was about a day late on picking up a free copy of it on-campus when it first was announced, so I've been trying to find it ever since. Here's to hoping I can get a copy in time to read it for this challenge.

Richard wrote: "Hahahaha.

There were two in particular I wasn't sure about:

Would The Giver work for the Stand Up for your Rights? I asked a friend for a book where someone stood up for his/her right..."

I haven't read The Giver in ages and I'm honestly just drawing a blank to most things about it. I read that damn book like 15 times as a child and now I can't remember it. Time for a re-read! What does everybody else think?

For the Court Case one, I want some that actually involves a trial. I mean, it doesn't have to always be taking place in a courtroom but should have an element of some sort of trial or case going on during the book. I can't remember if the trial happened in the book or if it was just them building the case and finding who did it. But you could use that book for the Dead Men Tell No Tales task as it was published after the author died. I have a list of books for this task to help people if you can't find anything.

Thanks for the homeless suggestions guys!

Something you could use to broaden it (homeless) is maybe add orphans/foster care or something along those lines. I have a couple of books I could add to my suggestions with that.

I think I'll do that! Thanks Caity! I think that maybe there will be more to choose from by adding that!

I changed my Court Case one to In Cold Blood.

Sounds good! I'll take it, Richard! Thanks Danielle!

Sweet. Thanks Jamie and Danielle :D. I've heard it's awesome. It seems that now the positive reviews outweigh the negative xD. It's been sitting on my family's book shelf and I've been eyeing it, wanting to read it. Now I have a reason to!

Awesome. I have a few more suggestions for books:

Going on the orphans/foster care idea, you could add Like Family: Growing Up in Other People's Houses, a Memoir, which is about sisters living in foster care. I might use this instead of Dewey if I can't get Same Kind of Different as Me.

The book I am hoping works for Life Changes is Blue Hole Back Home. The main theme of the novel IS change, so hopefully that works. If not I have Eat, Pray, Love, which may or may not end up being used for 5.1, lol.

For different socio-economic status, I think, and definitely HOPE, most of the people in this group would be able to use There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America, which is a rather depressing tale of brothers growing up in the Projects of Chicago during the 1980s. I may or may not do a re-read of it for that task, although A Thousand Splendid Suns might work. I dunno. A lot of my list could change when other challenge tasks are released for other groups so I can cover several challenges with a single book.

The one I am having trouble with is the MLK task, Stand Up For Your Rights, and the Backyard Travels is the one most likely to keep me from finishing the challenge, simply because as of right now I am too broke to afford any more books and I really just don't care to read about the oil industry and how it began.

Also, these are my current options for Ancient History:
Druids (least favorite option, as I'm trying to avoid rereads)
Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes
Greek Legends and Stories
The Song of Hannah: A Novel

I might have a few more on my shelves, too.

I know this post is really long, sorry about that. I needed to get some thoughts typed out, and I figured I might have legitimate suggestions (I'll let Jamie decide that), and people can feel free to suggest things for me, too.