Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

Welcome to the RRRC May Monthly Challenge! Here is where we post our suggestions or questions about what qualifies and what doesn't! Remember to have fun folks.

When Yz said I could come up with the 10 categories for the month I thought, "At last! I will have a month where I will only read those books I really want to read." But where's the fun in that? If I had a whole month to read nothing but the books I've already decided I want to read then I wouldn't have the chance to find a new author or even a new genre. So the theme for this month is to keep an open mind and try something new.

To that end, I have created three adventure levels for many of the categories to see exactly how far you want to broaden your reading horizons. Level 1 is the easiest and most comfortable for everyone. Level 3 is a true challenge. To complete a category, you only need to do one of the three options. Nobody will win anything for going for the hard challenge levels. Nobody will think anything less for going for all of the easiest levels. It's all about a little reading fun.

1. M is for May: 1. Read a book that starts with the letter M or the author's last name starts with an M. 2. Read a book with a cover that makes you say, "Mmmmm!" and you have to post a link to that drool worthy cover so we all know what makes you drool. 3. Read a m/m romance where the one of the lead character's names start with M.

2. Birthday: 1. Read a book from a May B-day celebrant’s GR bookshelf. 2. Read a book from a May B-day celebrant’s GR bookshelf whose “day” falls on the same “day” as yours. If no one has the exact same day, then go for the closest date. 3. Read a book rated four or five stars with which you are completely unfamiliar from a May B-day celebrant’s GR bookshelf whose “day” falls on the same “day” as yours. If no one has the exact same day, then go for the closest date.
(http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...)

3. Geography: 1. Read a book whose author, setting or character is from India (I know it's a hard one, but remember I didn't pick it). 2. Read a book whose author, setting, AND characters are from India. 3. Read a book whose author, setting, and characters are from India in Hindi some other native Indian dialect.

4. Cinco de Mayo: 1. Read a book that takes place in Mexico. 2. Read a book that is the fifth in a series or has five words in the title. 3. Read a book that has a recipe that calls for mayo.

5. Mother May I: 1. Read a book where the heroine is a mother. 2. Read a book where the hero or heroine spends the book searching for or trying to get to their mother. 3. Read a BDSM book. (After all, isn't BDSM all about one person following the commands of another person and trusting that they will get you where they want to go? So it's really like a full contact adult version of Mother May I.)

6. "Mayday mayday mayday! We're going down!": 1. Read a book with a rescue worker of some type (coast guard, fireman, EMT areexamples) 2. Read a book where the h/h are marooned or otherwise stranded and in need of rescuing. 3. Read a book where the h/h are involved in a plane crash or a shipwreck (bonus points if they actually use the term "Mayday mayday mayday!")

7. April showers bring May flowers (and what do Mayflowers bring? Pilgrims!): 1. Read a book with a picture of a flower on the front cover. 2. Read a book about a religious colony. 3. Read a book about a religious colony with a picture of flowers on the front cover.

8. Maybe if things had been different... Maybe things will change in the future.... The world is full of maybes, might bes, and might have beens: 1. We're talking alternate realities here. Read a contemporary book where something is different in the world than what reality reflects. Maybe vampires do exist. Maybe magic is real. This might just be the easiest category ever. 2. Alternate futures are only slightly more challenging. That is a time filled with maybes. Read a book set in the future. 3. Past alternative realities might be the toughest. What if something was different in the past? Steampunk? What if the Axis won WWII? Read a historical with an alternative reality.

9. Friday the 13th!: 1. Since Friday the 13th is said to be a day of misfortune and bad luck, read a book with luck or fortune or something along those lines in the title. 2. Since the date has become associated with a certain mass murdering psychopath, read a book that would be considered HORROR or at least a scary book. 3. Read a horror book with a 'luck' title.

10. Reader's Choice: I'll let you pick your own three levels. Just remember to have an open mind and pick a good one.

Challenge Duration: May 1 – May 31, 2011

Question: I have a book where the main character is gay/bisexual but falls in love with a woman. Will it count for the first category, level 3?

A few suggestions on books set in India or by Indian authors

Romance:

1. Not Quite a Husband by Sherry Thomas (part of the book is set in India)
2. The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran

Authors (Not Romance):

1. Jhumpa Lahiri
2. Chitra Divakaruni
3. Shobhan Bantwal -> will satisfy Level 2 - authors and settings in India
4. Chetan Bhagat -> Will satisfy Level 2. Recommend this: 2 states: the story of my marriage. It's real funny and realistic.
5. R. K. Narayan -> Malgudi Days is a classic.
6. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
7. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster

Apologies that most I listed are non-romance.

Ritu wrote: "Question: I have a book where the main character is gay/bisexual but falls in love with a woman. Will it count for the first category, level 3?"

I don't know. I had pictured a pure M/M book, not really a triangle of anything. But since I've never read an M/M romance, I guess I should leave that for someone who knows if this is usual in m/m books.

Off the top of my head, the heroine of is Indian. So is the heroine in .

I'm pretty sure I'll be doing for my India book.

And for the record, you can blame me for everything except the India category.

Another suggestion for India, which has at least a romantic subplot: The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. I'll be starting it soon (I need to finish it before April ends) so I can tell you later if it was any good.

For non romances there's always Salman Rushdie

My favorite book that is at least partially (and significantly) in India is Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. A good laugh all the way around.

Damn you Jim!

I was thinking of sitting out this month and cleaning up a bulging list of challenges that are starting to weigh me down. And you had to make this very interesting challenge.

Damn, oh right I already said that. Will have to consider what to do now.

Sandra, I figure this is the easiest challenge ever. Surely I've given you enough leeway to overlap a few other challenges as well. Besides, I'll feel bad if participation drops this month because of my categories. So you can't not play this month. Besides, you've already Damned me. At least make it worthwhile for me.

And that's why I damnned you, you hussy, cause I can't not play now!

Though I'm only gonna go for as many categories as books I've already got to read that I can squish in, unlike the usual 10.

I must not have gotten to the indian part yet...they are in kabul right now which is afghanistan

Photojim wrote: "My favorite book that is at least partially (and significantly) in India is Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. A good laugh all the way around."

I've been looking for an excuse to read this since I first heard of it several months ago - thanks for the nudge!

Photojim wrote: "My favorite book that is at least partially (and significantly) in India is Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. A good laugh all the way around."

Photojim wrote: "I'm pretty sure I'll be doing for my India book."

I read that book...it was funny and very sad at the same time.

Delicious Dee Challenge Addict wrote: "I must not have gotten to the indian part yet...they are in kabul right now which is afghanistan

Photojim wrote: "My favorite book that is at least partially (and significantly) in India is [boo..."

I'm trying to remember. When he teaches the elephant to do yoga, isn't that in India? Maybe I should hold off on recommending this as an India book until you confirm they end up there.

i'm not that far yet...give me a few more days...lol! its hilarious soo far!

for 3...just to clarify...for 3.2 - author or setting AND characters for india right? and would you accept an author who is british but spends half his time in india and half in the UK?

Yes, that would work just fine.

Yes, they go to India in Lamb. Remember when they meet the untouchables?

I thought so, but I then had doubts. I seem to be afflicted with CRS on a regular basis. And even though I've read the book a couple of times, I've read maybe 600 books since the last time I read it.

Hey Jim...for the flowers category...can I use flowers in the title?

I know there are a ton of BDSM books out there, but I'd like to suggest Love My Way for anyone who's interested. I thought the author did a great job of explaining and exploring the topic to novices like myself.

for BDSM - i would also suggest Cherise Sinclair for an author to try...either her Shadowlands series - starts with Club Shadowlands or The Dom's Dungeon

Photojim wrote: "Ritu wrote: "Question: I have a book where the main character is gay/bisexual but falls in love with a woman. Will it count for the first category, level 3?"

I don't know. I had pictured a pure M..."

i would say that wouldn't count. m/m implies two men in a relationship, not a gay/bisexual character with a woman, and bisexual characters ending up with women doesn't happen in m/m romances. it doesn't sound as if there's a triangle either...just a regular m/f with a bisexual man. if the category description is stretched, it should at least be an m/m/f (not m/f/m) menage. does this help?

D.G. ~Black Magic Woman~ wrote: "Hey Jim...for the flowers category...can I use flowers in the title?"

absolutely. It does have "Flowers" on the front cover.

LethalLovely~Promise Not to Stop When I Say When wrote: "Off the top of my head, the heroine of is Indian. So is the heroine in ."

Thanks LL- I am going to use - looks good!

Ok, I have a question. Would a police officer/sheriff count as a rescue worker, or is that too much of a stretch since that's generally only a small part of their job?

I would try to stick with someone who's primary job is the rescue end of things.

That's kind of what I was thinking, but figured I'd give it a shot! :)

What about the Kama Sutra? There are tons of adaptations. I'm thinking this one... The Kama Sutra Year: 52 Sensational Positions for Erotic Pleasure

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I'm still a newby. Can you define m/m and BDSM?

m/m is a male/ male romance

BDSM stands for bondage and discipline, sadism and masochism.

For Mother May I, does looking into her mother's death count?

For the Friday the 13th, does "thirteen" in the title count?

FYI, a fun story that will fit for Friday the 13th,

Some ideas for Mayday mayday mayday! We're going down!

Plane crashes:


shipwreck:


stranded/marooned:

Hey Jim will this work for 3.2?


The author splits his time living in both Delhi and London. Characters and setting is in India also.

More books with plane crashes:

just a quick edit...

BDSM actually stands for
bondage/discipline; dominance/submission; Sadism/Masochism - there is the middle third element that most people don't know or leave out when giving definitions

Amy wrote: "m/m is a male/ male romance

BDSM stands for bondage and discipline, sadism and masochism."

hey Val - Jim ok'd this author for me above...i'm planning on reading book 1 in the series

Valorie wrote: "Hey Jim will this work for 3.2?


The author splits his time living in both Delhi a..."

Sorry for the absence, I'm travelling visiting family. Finding time to get to the internet is not as easy as one might first surmise.

Courtney, which category did you want to use the Kama Sutra for? for the things that make you go 'mmmm' category? sure.

DG, I loved Nerd in Shining Armor. What a fun book.

I think she wanted to use Kama Sutra for India...

Yup, india. Although it did make my husband go mmmmmm.

haha! well...no one says you can't apply what you learnt from reading ;)

Delicious Dee Challenge Addict wrote: "hey Val - Jim ok'd this author for me above...i'm planning on reading book 1 in the series

Valorie wrote: "Hey Jim will this work for 3.2?
[bookcover:The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing: From ..."

Great thanks Dee! I thought the first book was fun read. Hope you like it.

RE: Lamb and India - I just got done with this part of the audiobook, it only takes up less than 2 hours of the 16 hour audiobook...so its up to you guys if someone wants to claim it or not (they spent more time in China and Afganistan than they did in India)

Delicious Dee Challenge Addict wrote: "haha! well...no one says you can't apply what you learnt from reading ;)"

LOL, I just meant he said "mmmm" to me reading it. I'm thinking that it is an Indian text written by an Indian author and was translated into English, so that should count as a .3, right?

works for me...but i still like my idea ;)

LOL! I was on Dee's track as well...

Does anyone know if author Alisha Rai is from India? I might use of hers b/c it has an Indian character, but she's got a short freebie on her website and I wondered if anyone knew about the author herself. Can't seem to find anything on her.

According to her website, she lived with her aunt in India for a while during her teens.

I am clearly bored at the moment.

Thanks Penney! I checked her website but obviously not thoroughly enough. Do you think that's good enough to count for the India catergory? Actually, if she lived with her aunt in India, I am assuming she is Indian too. She's got a bunch of books that look really good.