Duration: 1st October – 31st October 2021
Number of books: 10
Hosted by: Crazy Challenge Connection

OCTOBER 2021 Scavenger – Fun Facts About…POPCORN!
Everything you wanted to know about popcorn (but were too busy eating it to ask).
Timeframe: 10/1/21 to 10/31/21

1. Popcorn is a whole grain maize product and originates from a wild grass. The kernel is the seed of the grass and is made up of three main components: endosperm, germ and pericarp (also known as the hull). The endosperm is always white or yellow in color. This is why, even if the hull is red or black, the popped kernel will always be yellow or white.
🍿 Read a book with a predominantly white or yellow cover (show us the cover) – or – a book by an author who has written books in more than one genre (tell us the genres the author has written, and the genre of the book you read). – Up the Duff by Kaz Cooke

2. The majority of popcorn sold worldwide is grown in the Corn Belt states of the U.S. It resembles corn-on-the-cob in appearance and cultivation. There are four basic types of corn (field, flint, popcorn, and sweet corn), and they all have distinguishing traits and uses. You can’t pop sweet corn and you wouldn’t want to eat boiled field corn. The average person may not be able to tell the difference between the various types of corn by looking at them growing in the field, but a grower certainly can.
🍿 Read a Series #4 book (tell us the series) – or – a book set in the Corn Belt of the United States (Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, or Kansas; tell us where).

3. Flint corn, also known as Indian corn, has a hard outer shell and is distinguished by a wide range of colors. It is mostly used for decoration. Popcorn is a type of flint corn, with a hard exterior shell and a soft starchy center. When heated, the natural moisture
inside the kernel turns to steam and builds up enough pressure that it eventually explodes. Other types of dried corn may burst open slightly when heated, but not like popcorn.
🍿 Read a book that has multiple colors on the cover (at least 4 distinct colors; show us the cover) – or – a book in which an explosion occurs (briefly tell us what). – The Summer Garden by Sherryl Woods

4. If you made a trail of popcorn from New York City to Los Angeles, you’d need more than 352,028,160 popped kernels. Americans consume 15 billion quarts of popcorn annually, which equals 47 quarts per person.
🍿 Read a book with 3 of these numbers in the total number of pages (0,1,2,3,5,6,8; tell us how many) – or – a book set in New York or California. – Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales (350 pp.)

5. Popcorn is a whole grain that is 100-percent unprocessed, with no artificial additives or preservatives, and is sugar-free. It provides energy-producing complex carbohydrates. Popcorn is naturally low in fat and calories. Air-popped popcorn has only 30 calories per cup, while oil-popped popcorn has only 35 calories per cup. It contains a number of essential vitamins, as well as fiber, providing roughage the body needs in the daily diet.
🍿 Read a book that is “light” (between 150 and 200 pages, tell us how many) – or – a book with the letters A-I-R or O-I-L somewhere in the title, in that order but not necessarily in the same word. – When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

6. In the popcorn industry, a popped kernel of corn is known as a flake. Two shapes of flakes are commercially important. Butterfly flakes are irregular, with protruding wings. Mushroom flakes are ball-shaped, with few wings. Butterfly flakes are considered to have better mouthfeel, with greater tenderness and less noticeable hulls. Mushroom flakes are less fragile and are therefore often used for packaged popcorn or confectionery, such as caramel corn.
🍿 Read a book whose title starts with a letter in FLAKE (disregard A, An, The) – or – a book with some sort of sweet food item on the cover (show us the cover). – Engagement and Espionage by Penny Reid

7. Popcorn smell has an unusually attractive quality for human beings. This is largely because it contains high levels of the chemicals 6-acetyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydropyridine and 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, very powerful aroma compounds that are often used by food and other industries to make products that smell like popcorn, bread, or other foods containing the compound.
🍿 Read a book with a 7-letter word in the title – or – a book with a “6” in the original publication YEAR (tell us the year).

CHALLENGE RULES:
♦ Please sign up by posting at least a partial list of the challenge requirements. This gives us a post to link you to, which you can use to update your books as the challenge progresses.

♦ Unless otherwise noted, books must be at least 150 pages long. (See the link here for rules regarding graphic novels.) Books may only be used for one task in this challenge, but cross-challenge posting is encouraged 🙂 Re-reads are allowed, as long as you read the entire book and not simply skim through it.

♦ For each book you read, please post a link to the title, and indicate the author and the date you finished reading it.
* If you don’t know how to post a link to the book title, cover or author, see the instructions here:
Add a link to the book title, book cover and/or author

♦ When you complete the challenge, please post your entire list as a new message to make it easier for everyone to see what you’ve read 🙂 If you don’t repost your list, your name will not be added to the list of those who have completed the challenge.