The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

15.4 - Learn Your Numbers
Numerology is any of many systems, traditions or beliefs in a mystical or esoteric relationship between numbers and physical objects or living things. For this task we will need to go to this website Numerology and enter your First and Last name to find your magic number. Once you know your number you will need to read...
A. A book written by an author who has the same number as you. (EXAMPLE: My number is 6 and so is Joanna Trollope)
AND
B. A novel where a character demonstrates one or more of the characteristics of your number (EXAMPLE: 6's characteristics are...Responsibility, protection, nurturing, community, balance, sympathy...so I could read a book about a police officer or soldier because their duty is to protect.) Include a short explanation of how the character matches the characteristics in your post. A sentence or two would be sufficient.

If you need suggestions OR have suggestions for books to read for this task post them here.

Ok I found my magic number but how do i find out authors magic numbers besides typing all of them in?

Rhiannon wrote: "Ok I found my magic number but how do i find out authors magic numbers besides typing all of them in?"

I didn't see any way to figure it otherwise. I have a stack of books that I'd like to read, so I started typing in author names from the stack until I got lucky!

Sandy wrote: "Rhiannon wrote: "Ok I found my magic number but how do i find out authors magic numbers besides typing all of them in?"

I didn't see any way to figure it otherwise. I have a stack of books that..."

ok thanks will do that when i get more time.

Just to let any one know who gets and 11 Stephen King is also and 11

Yikes I just did mine and got an 8. The description for 8 was exactly like me. Freaked me out. Now to find an author who is an 8.

...Yep Joe Hill. I'm very excited.

Any suggestions for characters that have a great head for business, like to work alone and would love to spend the rest of their lives reading and learning? I can't think of anything. :(

I don;t know it maybe devil wears prada

I am an 8 also and I came up with Arthur Golden Memoir's of a Geisha. I think I will plug that in for now. It has been on my TBR forever.

Thanks for the 8's. I've been wanting to read Memoirs of a Geisha for quite some time!

The calculator fine print says that your complete birth certificate name is the most accurate- should we use that or our first/last names (my 24 year married name)?

Dlmrose wrote: "The calculator fine print says that your complete birth certificate name is the most accurate- should we use that or our first/last names (my 24 year married name)?"

I used my first and last and then my first, middle, and last. I got two different numbers. I'm going with the first and last, since that one sounds more like me (in an honest way, not in an idealistic way).

I used my maiden name, as suggested, and was surprised at how accurate I thought the description was.
For the Author part of the task, I went through my TBR list and typed in the names of author's who's books I have at home. It turns out that only a few authors (with the above criteria) are the same number as myself but, since I have one (or more) of their books already, that's actually a help, not a hardship, in deciding a book for this task.

For those who are a 7, these authors may interest you, too:

Authors who are 7: Hans Fallada, Abraham Verghese and Sarah Waters

Stephanie, Felina, other 8's, or anyone. Do you have ideas for the B part? Our characteristics are: Practical endeavors, status oriented, power-seeking, high-material goals. This looks like some chick-lit, which I don't read, so heading me in another direction would be most helpful.

I also got an 8. :) I'm reading something by Margaret Atwood and hope to find non-chick-lit books for the second part of the task.

I have a weird name situation since my biological dad was never in my life. I went with my maiden name and the name I had most of my life, which is my real dad's name (because to me, he is my real dad- the man who raised me and made me who I am) and it was 100 TIMES more accurate!

I got a 9, btw

And thankfully, Charlaine Harris is a 9! Way to fit more Sookie books into this challenge!

PS- I did my married name too and I still come up as a 9!!! This is too cool!!!!

I'm a 9 and found some authors - hope this helps other 9's...

John Shors
Barbara Gowdy
Peter Behrens
Nancy Turner
John Irving

I just looked up a bunch of authors on my TBR list and thought i would share them:

1: Pat Conroy, Nora Roberts

3: Agatha Christie, Rick Riordan

4: Orson Scott Card, Lisa Kleypas, Suzanne Collins

5: Arthur Conan Doyle, Scott Westerfeld, Amanda Quick

6:Rosalind Miles, Robin McKinley, Anne Rice

7: Lisa See, Alexandre Dumas, George Orwell, William Shakespeare, Christopher Moore, David Sedaris, Dodie Smith

8: Alexander McCall Smith, Arthur Golden, P.C. Cast

9:C.S. Lewis, Andrew Davidson, Libba Bray

11: Jeffrey Eugenides, Haruki Murakami, Tessa Dare, Julia Quinn

It's weird that I didn't get any 2, 10, or 12 (if there is a 12...). I wonder what that says about my reading taste....

You can use either first/middle/last or first/last for this task.

I'm looking up all the authors on the Time 100 best novel list until I get 5 choices for 6.

1- Bernard Malamud, William Styron, John Fowles, Marilynne Robinson
3- Christopher Isherwood, James Agee, Elizabeth Bowen, Margaret Mitchell, Graham Greene
4- Willa Cather
5- Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, Judy Blume, Henry Roth, Jonathan Franzen, John Cheever, James Baldwin, Carson McCullers
6- Theodore Dreiser, Thornton Wilder, James Dickey, Doris Lessing, Robert Graves
7- George Orwell, Joseph Heller, Robert Stone, V.S. Naipaul
8- Robert Penn Warren, Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood, Evelyn Waugh, Anthony Burgess, Nathanael West, Evelyn Waugh
9- John O'Hara, Cormac McCarthy, J.D. Salinger, Thomas Pynchon, Anthony Powell, John Steinbeck
11- Flann O'Brien, Ian McEwan, Raymond Chandler, F. Scott Fitzgerald

I didn't get a 2 or 10 either.

Hell yes! I can read Bite Me by Christopher Moore, and I've got Sarah Waters and David Sedaris as backups. :o)

Analysis and knowledge are two of my characteristics, so I'm assuming I can read on of the many science/medical related non-fiction books from my shelves? (Yes, the numbers are eerily accurate.)

I found a book that I think will satisfy the #8 characteristics. The Ten-Year Nap. Passing it along for other 8's that might be interested.

I'm a 3 (I went with the name on my birth certificate). Author 3s on my tbr list:

Hilary Mantel
and
Erica James

For 11's characteristics, I have dreamer is it okay to read Fade by Lisa McMann as the book is about a girl who can go into other peoples dreams.

Elizabeth wrote: "Stephanie, Felina, other 8's, or anyone. Do you have ideas for the B part? Our characteristics are: Practical endeavors, status oriented, power-seeking, high-material goals. This looks like some ch..."

I'm going to read either The Blade Itself. Which features a character that is very clever and seeks a higher office but if born of a lower class so he basically has to murder and blackmail his way. Its a fantasy book.

OR The First Man in Rome which is rife with roman's fighting for office.

For 9's characteristics it says "Creative expression"

I was thinking Loving Frank (since architecture is very much creative expression)

or The Children's Book (since it's about a children's author)

Anyone know of any other good books that feature a character who is involved in creative expression (particularly writers or poets since I love both)?

Of this list, I've only read Last Night in Twisted River, which I gave 5 stars.

The House at Riverton
Last Night in Twisted River
The Basketball Diaries
Timbuktu
A Free Life: A Novel
The Praise Singer
An Imaginary Life
Wintering: A Novel of Sylvia Plath
Apprentice to the Flower Poet Z.: A Novel
The Bird of Night
The Dust Diaries

Here's a list of fictional authors too:
http://www.librarything.com/subject/A...

Nicole wrote: "For 9's characteristics it says "Creative expression"

I was thinking Loving Frank (since architecture is very much creative expression)

As long as you just focus on that characteristic and not the others listed (I got a 9 also, so am looking at this as well). The main characters in Loving Frank definitely did not display selflessness or any thought of their obligations! (on the other hand, there were other characters in the book who did).

more authors (mostly SF) ...

1 - Patricia A. McKillip, William Gibson

2 - Amy Tan

3 - Mary Doria Russell, Nancy Kress, Janet Kagan, Julie E. Czerneda, Larry Niven

4 - Dan Simmons

5 - Sheri S. Tepper, Vernor Vinge, Stephen R. Donaldson, Neal Stephenson

6 - Vonda N. McIntyre, Suzette Haden Elgin, Gregory Benford, Samuel R. Delany, Patrick Neate

7 - Joan Slonczewski

8 - C. J. Cherryh

9 - Ursula K. Le Guin, Greg Bear, Louise Cooper

11 - Joan D. Vinge, David Brin, Robert A. Heinlein, Sena Jeter Naslund, Isabel Allende

Sandy wrote: "Nicole wrote: "For 9's characteristics it says "Creative expression"

I was thinking Loving Frank (since architecture is very much creative expression)

As long as you just focus ..."

It says in the task just one characteristic. It would be hard to guess if it actually fits the characteristic without reading it.

Cait wrote: "Of this list, I've only read Last Night in Twisted River, which I gave 5 stars.

The House at Riverton
Last Night in Twisted River
The Basketball Diaries..."

This is why I love you! I have been meaning to get around to Wintering for forever and didn't even think of it!!!!! That definitely fits creative expression.

Do you agree Cynthia?

Nicole wrote: "For 9's characteristics it says "Creative expression"

I was thinking Loving Frank (since architecture is very much creative expression)

or The Children's Book (since ..."

A Northern Light is about a girl who likes to write
My Name Is Asher Lev is a good one about an artist.

Would Drums of Autumn work for a character who is a humanitarian or has a giving nature? The main character, Claire, is a nurse/healer.

Elizabeth wrote: "Stephanie, Felina, other 8's, or anyone. Do you have ideas for the B part? Our characteristics are: Practical endeavors, status oriented, power-seeking, high-material goals. This looks like some ch..."

Well, for status oriented, there should be a fair number of novels/book where society views play an important role -- think Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest or Vainty Fair or something by Edith Wharton....

Nicole wrote: "For 9's characteristics it says "Creative expression"

I was thinking Loving Frank (since architecture is very much creative expression)

or The Children's Book (since ..."

What I Loved
The Unconsoled
Pale Fire

Liz wrote: "Would Drums of Autumn work for a character who is a humanitarian or has a giving nature? The main character, Claire, is a nurse/healer."
yes (my favorite series hands down by the way)

Nicole wrote: "Cait wrote: "Of this list, I've only read Last Night in Twisted River, which I gave 5 stars.

The House at Riverton
Last Night in Twisted River
The Basketball Di..."</i>
sure

<i>Pollyanna wrote: "For 11's characteristics, I have dreamer is it okay to read [book:Fade by Lisa McMann as the book is about a girl who can go into other peoples dreams."
ok

Here are some more authors:

1: James Lee Burke, David Rosenfelt

3: David Baldacci, Jeff Lindsay, Dave Eggers

5: Stieg Larsson

6: John Galsworthy

8: Lorrie Moore

For 11s who like romance and women's fiction, I found Christina Dodd and Kristin Hannah fit.

Have you read Ann Patchett's The Patron Saint of Liars? Service would be a theme.

Elizabeth wrote: "Have you read Ann Patchett's The Patron Saint of Liars? Service would be a theme."

I would say anything military themed would work.

Amanda, I'm a 4 too, and I had a heckuva time finding a 4 author! I've got a big list of authors I will post after work tonight, but only a couple of 4s out of about 30 names.

I thought struggle against limits is pretty broad and will work for lots of books. Strong "mama" characters should work, because they are the foundation of the family.

Amanda wrote: "Help! I'm a four, and the characteristics are: A foundation, order, service, struggle against limits, steady growth...."

Amanda, from your TBR list there's:
My Antonia (she's struggles against limits both personal & weather-related)
Cat's Eye - she's a strong woman coming to terms with her childhood. (steady growth)
Any of the plague, science or theology books may work for "steady growth" and "struggle against limits".

Any suggestions for a 1?

Rachel--I found these 1s:
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee 1 The Yarn Harlot
Sarah Vowell 1 The Word Shipmates non-fiction
Jane Stevenson 1 The winter Queen
Elizabeth Moon 1 Science Fiction
Georgette Heyer 1 Regency romances + 1920s mysteries
Nora Roberts 1

Most of them have more books than the one list for them.

Other authors from my list:
Susan Elizabeth Phillips 2 Romances
Cathy Maxwell 3
Andre Norton 3 Science Fiction and Fantasy
Hilary Mantel 3 Wolf Hall
Mercedes Lackey 3 The Enchantment Emporium et al
Jane Feather 3 A Wicked Gentleman et al
Julia Glass 3
Frances Mayes 3 Under the Tuscan Sun
Diane Setterfield 3 The Thirteenth Tale
Michael Chabon 4 The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Emily Arsenault 4 The Broken Teaglass
Susan Wittig Albert 4 The China Bayles mysteries
Neil Shubin 5 Your Inner Fish Non-Fiction
Barbara Hambly 5 The witches of Wenshar et al
John Mortimer 5 The Rumpole of the Bailey books
Sara Gruen 5 Water for Elephants
Leo Tolstoy 5
John Cheever 5
Fern Micahels 5 lots of romance and mysteries
Jules Verne 5
Ann Patchett 5 Bel Canto et al
Anita Shreve 5

Sixes and sevens from my list:
James Owen 6 The Search for the Red Dragon
Catherine Coulter 6 Wizard's Daughter et al
Kay Hooper 6 The Wizard of Seattle et al
Richard Preston 6 The Wild Trees Non-fiction
Anne McCaffrey 6
Jasper Fforde 6
Tracy Chevalier 6 Girl with a pearl earring
Naomi Novik 6 Victory of Eagles et al
Kage Baker 7 The Women of Nell Gwynne's
Tamora Pierce 7 The Will of the Empress et al
Gregory Maguire 7 Wicked: The Life and Times of the…. Et al
Stephanie Laurens 7 The Cynsters series
Sabrina Jeffries 7 steamy historical romances
Nicole Helget 7 The Turtle Catcher

The end of my list. (actually, just the first few pages of my list, but all I've looked up.)
Terry Pratchett 8
Lindsey Davis 8 mystery series set in Ancient Rome
Audrey Niffenegger 8 The Time Traveler's Wife
Greg Mortenson 8 Three Cups of Tea
Cornelia Funke 8 The Thief Lord
Rebecca Wells 9 The Ya-Yas in Bloom et al
Wilkie Collins 9 The Moonstone; The Woman in White
Nancy Picard 9 mysteries
Alan Bennett 9 The Uncommon Reader
Douglas Adams 9 Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Per Petterson 9 To Siberia et al
Lisa Scottoline 11
Julia Quinn 11 Romances
Mark Twain 11

I have a few authors I can share, as a result of trying to figure out a writer to match my number.

1 - Tiffany Baker
Miriam Toews
Nick Hornby (used Nicholas)

2 - didn't get anyone

3 - Graham Greene
Emily Brontë
Lori Lansens
A.S. Byatt (Antonia Susan Duffy)

4 - Fyodor Dostoevsky
Barbara Kingsolver
Willa Cather

5 - Elizabeth Hay
Michael Crummey
Simon Winchester
Leo Tolstoy (Leonid)
Charlotte Brontë
Gabriel García Márquez
Zora Neale Hurston
Carson McCullers

6 - Elizabeth McCracken
Stewart O'Nan
Vladimir Nabokov
Ernest Hemingway
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Paul Quarrington
Claire Holden Rothman

7 - Virginia Woolf
Anne Enright
José Saramago
Lisa See

8 - Peter Carey
Maggie O'Farrell (Margaret)
Evelyn Waugh
Camilla Gibb

9 - Donna Morrissey
David Foster Wallace
Anne Bronte
John Steinbeck
Per Petterson
Richard Russo

10 - again, nada

11 - Frances Itani
Jane Austen
Ann Packer
Stephen King

12 - sorry, can't help here either.

I found a 2 - do I get a prize? lol... Amy Tan is a 2.

Whoo-hoo! Isaac Asimov is a "4" .... just like me!

2s and 4s UNITE!!!! We are the few, the proud. I'm stilltrying to get my list posted. i didn't get any 2s either.