24 Festive Tasks: Tracking Post
I am marking the ones that I have "completed" with a candle. Since this is my first festive tasks game, my goal is to get at least one point per day!
Door 1: Dia de Los Muertos - Closed
Task 1 Completed: Compose a limerick or short poem in honor of a favorite book character.
Task 3 Completed: Write an epitaph for the book you most disliked this year.
Task 4 Completed: Do you have any traditions or mementos of happy memories of a loved one that you feel like sharing?
Book Completed: 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. - Read Dark Chocolate Demise by Jenn McKinlay
Total Points = 4
Door 2: Japanese Culture Day - Closed
Task 4 Completed: If you like Japanese food, treat yourself to a favorite dish.
Book Completed: Read a graphic novel or a book set in a school or academic setting. Read: Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell
Total Points = 2
Door 3: Melbourne Cup Day - Closed
Task 1 Completed: Pick your ponies.*
Task 3 Completed: 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.
Total Points = 2
Door 4: Guy Fawkes Night - Closed
Task 1 Completed: Make a list of the top 3 treasonous crimes against books that an author can commit.
Task 2 Completed: 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.)
Task 4 Completed: How do you order the books on your shelves?
Book Completed: 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. Read: American Royals by Katharine McGee
Total Points = 4
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)?
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.
Total Points =
Door 6: Veterans / Armistice Day - Closed
Task 2 Completed: In keeping with the minute of silence, tell us about the authors who have passed this year that you will miss the most.
Total Points = 1
Door 7: International Day for Tolerance - Closed
Book Completed: Read a book about tolerance, or outside your comfort zone, or set in Paris (seat of UNESCO). A Street Cat Named Bob: How One Man and His Cat Found Hope on the Streets by James Bowen
Total Points = 1
Door 8: International Children’s Day - Closed
Task 1 Completed: What was your favorite children’s book growing up? Your favorite middle grade book?
Book Completed: 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. Read: I am Peace: A Book of Mindfulness, by Susan Verde, Peter H. Reynolds.
Total Points = 2
Door 9: World Philosophy Day
Book: Read a book about philosophy or a philosopher, or a how-to book about changing your life in a significant way or suggesting a particular lifestyle (Hygge, Marie Kobo, etc.).
Total Points =
Door 10: Russian Mothers' Day
Book: Read a book set in Russia, by a Russian author, featuring a story within a story (like a Russian “matryoshka” doll), or featuring a character who is a mother.
Total Points =
Door 11: Thanksgiving Day
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?
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?”
Task 3: Share your favorite turkey or pie recipe.
Task 4: Send a friend you’re thankful for having a postcard (in the mail!). Snap a picture of the postcard image (not the message) and share it with us.
Book: Read a book with an autumnal cover, set in New England, where a turkey shows up in the story, with a turkey or pumpkin on the cover, or with the theme of coming together to help a community or family in need.
Total Points =
Door 12: St. Andrew's Day
Task 1: Tell us: Who is your favorite Scottish (or Scots-born / -descendant) writer?
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"?
Task 4: If you could create your personal tartan, what would it look like? Or if you have a favorite existing tartan, which one is it?
Book: Read a book set in Scotland.
Total Points =
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.
Total Points =
Door 14: St. Nicholas’ 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?)
Book: Read a book with an orange or red cover, set in the Netherlands or Germany, by a Dutch or German author, or with nuts, chocolate, coins, canals or beer on the cover.
Total Points =
Door 15: International Human Rights Day
Book: Read a book featuring a strong female character (or characters), by an author from any minority group, a story about a minority overcoming their oppressors, or revolving around the rights of others either being defended or abused, a book set in New York City, or a book originally written in a language other than English and / or your mother tongue or by anyone not Anglo-Saxon.
Total Points =
Door 16: St. Lucia's Day
Book: Read a book set in Scandinavia / Northern Europe, by a Northern European / Nordic author, with a predominantly white cover (or white with red lettering), newly released in November or December of this year, or set in the candle-lit world (i.e., before the discovery of electricity – roughly, that is, before the late 19th century).
Total Points =
Door 17: Dec. 21 – Winter Solstice (Yule / Yaldā Night / Dongzhi / Soyal)
Task 2: Yaldā Night task (Persia / Iran): Stay up all night reading a good book (or at least stay up past your usual bedtime).
Book: Read a book that takes place in December, with ice or snow on the cover, where all events take place in a single day or night, that revolves around the solstice, set in Persia / Iran, China or the American Southwest or prominently featuring Persian / Iranian, Chinese or Native American characters, or a collection of poetry.
Total Points =
Door 18: Dec. 22 – 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
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.
Total Points =
Door 19: Dec. 23 – Festivus
Book: Read any comedy, parody, or satire.
Total Points =
Door 20: Dec. 25 – Christmas
Book: Read a Christmas book.
Total Points =
Door 21: Dec. 26 – Kwanzaa
Book: Read a book set in Africa or the Caribbean, by an African, Caribbean, or African-American author, with a green, red, or black cover, or with crops of the earth or a native African animal on the cover (Lion, giraffe, cheetah, etc.).
Total Points =
Door 22: Dec. 31 – New Year’s Eve / St. Sylvester’s Day
Task 1: Tell us: What are your reading goals for the coming year?
Book Completed: Read a book about an ending or a new start, where things go BOOM, with fireworks on the cover, set in medieval times, about the papacy, or where miracles of any sort are performed.Vanilla Beaned by Jenn McKinlay (finished 11-13-19)
Total Points =
Door 23: Dec. 32 – Hogswatch
Task 4: In Terry Pratchett's and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens, who do you root more for: Aziraphale or Crowley? Or another character? (And in each case: why?)
Book: Any- and everything Terry Pratchett.
Favorite re-read: Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Total Points =
Door 24: Jan. 6 – Twelfth Night / Epiphany
Book: Read a book featuring three main characters, about traveling on a journey to a faraway place, a book that’s part of a trilogy, with a star on the cover, with the word “twelve” or “night” in the title, or concerning kings or spices.
Book Completed: Caramel Crush by Jenn McKinlay.
Total Points =
Grand Total =
1