Jennifer's Books

Four points away from meeting my point goal for the year, and six doors away from meeting my goal of at least one task completed for each door!

 

Also, I truly hope I've remembered to report everything.

 

 

Door 1: Día de Los Muertos (Task 1) - Compose a limerick or short poem in honor of a favorite book character.

Door 1: Día de Los Muertos (Task 2) - If you like Mexican food, treat yourself to a favorite dish – and / or make yourself a margarita – and share a photo.

Door 1: Día de Los Muertos (Task 3) - Write an epitaph for the book you most disliked this year.

Door 1: Día de Los Muertos (Book) - Reread a favorite book by a deceased author or from a finished series, or read a book set in Mexico or a book that either has a primarily black and white cover or all the colors (ROYGBIV) on the cover, or a book featuring zombies.

 

Door 2: Japanese Culture Day (Task 3) - Try your hand at folding a paper crane. Instructions: https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-Paper-Crane-1/

(+ 1 Bonus point for successfully completing the crane)

Door 2: Japanese Culture Day (Book) - Read a graphic novel or a book set in a school or academic setting

 

Door 3: Melbourne Cup Day (Task 1) - Pick your ponies.

Door 3: Melbourne Cup Day (Task 2) - Roses are the official flower of Flemington Race Track; write your own “Roses are Red, Violets are Blue” poem for one of your favorite or most hated books of all time.

Door 3: Melbourne Cup Day (Task 3) - Aussies shorten everything, so Melbourne Cup Day is just called “Cup Day” – post a picture of your favorite cup or mug for your daily fix of coffee, tea or chocolate.

Door 3: Melbourne Cup Day (Task 4) - Prepare your favorite dessert – in a cup! Post a photo of it for us to enjoy vicariously.

 

Door 4: Guy Fawkes Night (Task 1) - Make a list of the top 3 treasonous crimes against books that an author can commit.

Door 4: Guy Fawkes Night (Task 2) - Start a revolution: What one thing would you change about the book reading world? (Be it publishing, distribution, editing, cover art, bookstores – anything having to do with books.)

Door 4: Guy Fawkes Night (Task 4) - How do you order the books on your shelves?

Door 4: Guy Fawkes Night (Book) - Read a book set in the UK, a political thriller, a book involving any monarchy or revolution, a book about arson or related to fires and burning, a book whose plot involves costumes / fancy dress, or that has masks on the cover, or that is self-published.

 

Door 5: Bon Om Touk (Task 1) - List / tell us about your favorite rainy day reads.

Door 5: Bon Om Touk (Task 3) - Dragons and dragon-like serpents (imugi) are important to Korean mythology (as they are to that of other Asian peoples). So – which are your favorite literary dragons (fictional, mythological, whatever)?

Door 5: Bon Om Touk (Task 4) - The South Korean flag features images of ying / yang (the blue and red circle in the center) and four sets of three black lines each representing heaven, sun, moon and earth and, in turn, the virtues humanity, justice, intelligence and courtesy. Compile a list or stack – 4 books minimum – composed of books that either have opposing words in their titles (e.g., war / peace; asleep / awake – not necessarily both words in the same title), or that feature the words “heaven,” “sun,” “moon,” “earth,” “humanity,” “justice,” intelligence,” and / or “courtesy.

Door 5: Bon Om Touk (Book) - Read a book by a Korean author or set in Korea, that takes place at sea or on a river, where the plot involves a festival, where the moon or rain plays a pivotal role in the plot, or with rain, water or the moon on the cover.

 

Door 6: Veterans/Armistice Day (Book) - Read a book involving a war, battle, or where characters are active military or veterans, or with poppies on the cover, or honor the ‘unknown soldier’ of your TBR and read the book that’s been there the longest.

 

Door 7: International Day for Tolerance (Task 1) - Find a redeeming quality in a book you read this year and didn’t like.

Door 7: International Day for Tolerance (Task 2) - Share a story about yourself, or a story about your family that’s survived the generations, or share a particular tradition your family has passed on from generation to generation and if there’s a story behind why, tell us about it.

Door 7: International Day for Tolerance (Task 3) - The French expression for tolerance towards others is “laisser faire, laisser aller” (roughly: “let them do as they want, let it go”). Have you ever “let go” a book (e.g., given it away or decided not to yield to the temptation to buy it) and later regretted that choice?

Door 7: International Day for Tolerance (Task 4) - If you were offered an all-expenses-paid trip to one (one only!) of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites, which one would you pick (and why)?

 

Door 8: International Children's Day (Task 1) - What was your favorite children’s book growing up? Your favorite middle grade book?

Door 8: International Children's Day (Task 3) - Make some art – draw a picture, or color one in and share the results with us. Free printable bookmarks can be found on Google images.

Door 8: International Children's Day (Book) - Read a children’s or YA book or a book where children or teenagers play a significant role, or written by an author who was under the age of 18 at the time of publication.

 

Door 9: World Philosophy Day (Task 1) - Share your reading philosophy with us – do you DNF? If so, do you have a page minimum to read before you declare it a DNF?

Door 9: World Philosophy Day (Task 2) - Share your reviewing philosophy with us – how do you rate a book? Do you have a mental template for reviewing? Rules you try to follow, or rules you try to break?

Door 9: World Philosophy Day (Task 3) - How do you stay zen / sane over the holidays or in other stressful periods?

Door 9: World Philosophy Day (Task 4) - Did you love or hate the books you had to read for school? Looking back, which ones (good or bad) stand out to you the most?

 

Door 10: Russian Mother's Day (Task 3) - Until WWII, the most famous part of the Catherine Palace at Tsarskoye Selo near St. Petersburg was the so-called amber room. It was looted, lock stock and barrel, by the Nazis, and has since vanished from the face of the earth, with its fate a complete mystery to the present day. Let your imagination run wild: What do you think may have happened to it? (Kidnapped by aliens? Spirited away by dwarves and hidden in a secret cavern deep below the face of the earth? Sold, piece by piece, to finance … what? The Nazi war effort? The restoration of the Romanovs to the throne of Russia? Stalin’s pogroms? What else?) Don’t hold back, we’d love to know!

 

Door 11: Thanksgiving (Task 1) - If you have kids or pets, tell us about something “bad” they did that was so funny you couldn’t help but forgive (“pardon”) them. If you have neither kids nor pets, was there such an event in your own childhood – or with kids or pets in your family or circle of friends?

Door 11: Thanksgiving (Task 2) - Tell us: Of the books that you read this year, which are you most thankful for, OR was there one that turned out to be full of “stuffing”? Alternatively, which (one) book that you read anytime at all changed your life for the better?”

Door 11: Thanksgiving (Task 3) - Share your favorite turkey or pie recipe.

 

Door 12: St. Andrew's Day (Task 1) - Tell us: Who is your favorite Scottish (or Scots-born / -descendant) writer?

Door 12: St. Andrew's Day (Task 3) - St. Andrew was a fisherman by trade: Which book(s) from your TBR that you read this year turned out to be the year’s greatest “catch”?

 

Door 13: Advent (Book) - Read a pastiche, a book authorized by a deceased author’s estate, the 4th book in a series, a book with the word “four” in the title, a book featuring four siblings, or a book with a wreath, pines or fir trees on the cover.

 

Door 14: St. Nicolas' Day (Task 1) - Write a book wish list to St. Nick / Santa Claus for books that you’ve been eyeing but can’t justify the expense of purchasing. (E.g., art books? Collector’s editions? Boxed sets?)

Door 14: St. Nicolas' Day (Task 3) - St. Nicholas is a man of many names in English alone – Santa Claus, Saint Nick, Father Christmas … although in the English speaking world he only comes once (at Christmas, not also on December 6 – whereas in Germany and the Netherlands he makes his visits under different names on both occasions). Which of your favorite books were published under different titles in the same language, e.g., in North America vs. Britain? Have you ever bought a book under a title unfamiliar to you, only to discover belatedly that it was one you already own / had already read under a different title?

Door 14: St. Nicolas' Day (Task 4) - A Czech Republic tradition for St Nick's Day is groups of three "people" – St Nick, Angel, and Devil – to roam the streets the night before St Nick's Day and stop children to ask them if they have been good during the year or not. Most kids say yes, sing a song or recite a poem. The three "strangers" then decide if the children are telling the truth. The good kids get candy / treats from the Angel, bad kids get potatoes or coal from the Devil. So: Post a song or poem (your own or someone else’s) that involves candy, potatoes, or coal.

 

Door 16: St. Lucia's Day (Task 4) - The historic (3d century AD) St. Lucia was Italian; yet, like those of many other saints (including, e.g., St. Andrew and St. Nicholas), the most important celebrations of her holiday don’t occur in her place of origin but somewhere else in the world. List or create a stack of favorite books (minimum: three) featuring a character’s move or transition from one part of the world to another one (or from one end of a large country, e.g., U.S. Canada, Russia, China or Australia, to the other end. Alternatively, tell us: Which book that you acquired this year had to travel the farthest to get to you (regardless whether by plane, sea, or whichever other way, and regardless whether it was a purchase of your own or a gift from someone else)?

 

Door 18: Hanukkah (Task 1) - Spin the dreidel to determine which book is going to be the first one you’ll be reading in the new year. Find a virtual dreidel here:
https://www.activityvillage.co.uk/make-a-dreidel
http://www.jewfaq.org/dreidel/play.htm
http://www.torahtots.com/holidays/chanuka/dreidel.htm

Door 18: Hanukkah (Task 3) - Read a book by candle light (or flashlight).

Door 18: Hanukkah (Book) - Read a book about light, miracles, featuring Jewish characters, set in Israel, that is the second book in a series, with the word “two” in the title, or with a light on the cover.

 

Door 20: Christmas (Book) - Read a Christmas book.

 

Door 24: Twelfth Night/Epiphany (Task 3) - George and Martha Washington were married on Twelfth Night in 1759. She wore purple silk slippers (https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/martha-washington/george-marthas-courtship/ ). In honor of the first FLOTUS, wear purple socks or slippers and share a picture of them with us.

Door 24: Twelfth Night/Epiphany (Task 4) - In Ireland, Epiphany is also sometimes called “Nollaig na mBean” or Women's Christmas. Traditionally the women get the day off and men do the housework and cooking! It is becoming more popular and many Irish women now get together on the Sunday nearest Epiphany and have tea and cakes. (https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/epiphany.shtml ) Take a picture of your book for this square (Epiphany) or of the book you are currently reading with a mug of tea and snack or enjoy a cream tea.

 

 

Total points: 48