Duration: 21st March – 20th June 2019
Number of books: 6
Hosted by:Crazy Challenge Connection
I was brought up in a place that used to be first a Portuguese and then a British colony, and we have a lot of holdover traditions from both. For Easter, I remember the 40 days of Lent preceding it, and mass said in Church on the day of. I’m not sure there was ever an egg hunt, that I learned after coming to the US. I’ve even participated in a few after my son was born. This challenge is basically a cross between an egg hunt and trivia about how Easter is celebrated around the world. (Very differently, apparently). Enjoy, and happy spring!
Read a book that fits one of the options for each item. But there’s a catch! You can’t reach the chocolate egg without having finished all five tasks that precede it, but you can read the five tasks within the set in any order. So this will be how you’d do the challenge:
Complete tasks 1-5 in any order.
Complete 6.
Complete 7-11 in any order.
Complete 12.
Complete 13-17 in any order.
Complete 18.
The Challenge
Begin. Choose a genre! You’ll be reading from this genre until you get to the first chocolate egg, so make sure to choose one broad enough.
Genre: Mythology
1. In Florence, locals celebrate a 350-year-old Easter tradition known as Scoppio del Carro, or “explosion of the cart.” An ornate cart packed with fireworks is led through the streets of the city by people in colorful 15th century costumes before stopping outside the Duomo. The Archbishop of Florence then lights a fuse during Easter mass that leads outside to the cart and sparks a lively fireworks display. The meaning behind the custom dates back to the First Crusade, and is meant to ensure a good harvest.
🥚 Read a book with any kind of vehicle on the cover (post the cover) -or- a book that contains the word “FIRE” in the title (compound words and variations are fine).
2. Children in Sweden dress up like witches and go begging for chocolate eggs in the streets with made-up faces and scarves around their heads, carrying bunches of willow twigs decorated with feathers. In some parts of Western Finland, people burn bonfires on Easter Sunday, a Nordic tradition stemming from the belief that the flames ward off witches who fly around on brooms between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
🥚 Read a book with witches in it -or- read a book in which characters fight something evil. – Circe by Madeline Miller
3. Don’t forget a fork if you’re in the southern French town of Haux on Easter Monday. Each year a giant omelet is served up in the town’s main square. The omelet uses more than 4,500 eggs and feeds up to 1,000 people. The story goes, when Napoleon and his army were traveling through the south of France, they stopped in a small town and ate omelets. Napoleon liked his so much that he ordered the townspeople to gather their eggs and make a giant omelet for his army the next day.
🥚 Read a book with food of any sort on the cover (post the cover) -or- read a book in which a character is a veteran (any branch of the armed forces, any era). – Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan (T.J., Magnus, etc.)
4. On the morning of Holy Saturday, traditional “pot throwing” takes place on the Greek island of Corfu. People throw pots, pans and other earthenware out of their windows, smashing them on the street. Some say the custom derives from the Venetians, who on New Year’s Day used to throw out all of their old items. Others believe the throwing of the pots welcomes spring, symbolizing the new crops that will be gathered in the new pots.
🥚 Read a book with something broken on the cover (post the cover) -or- read a book that ends a series (tell us the series). – Percy Jackson: The Ultimate Guide by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson & the Olympians)
5. Easter is such a popular time for Norwegians to read crime novels that publishers actually come out with special “Easter thrillers” known as Paaskekrimmen. The tradition is said to have started in 1923 when a book publisher promoted its new crime novel on the front pages of newspapers. The ads resembled news so much that people didn’t know it was a publicity stunt.
🥚 Read a book in which a murder occurs -or- read a book whose author’s initials (middle counts if used) are in the word “PAASKEKRIMMEN”. – Hotel Valhalla by Rick Riordan (SOOOOOOO many murders)
You’ve reached a Chocolate Egg!
6. Reward yourself with a short book of your choice (150-250p, any genre).
Don’t forget to choose a different genre for the next set!
7. On Good Friday the Pope commemorates the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) at the Colosseum. A huge cross with burning torches illuminates the sky as the 14 Stations of the Cross are described in several languages. Mass is celebrated on the evening of Holy Saturday, and on Easter Sunday, thousands of visitors congregate in St. Peter’s Square to await the Pope’s blessing from the church’s balcony, known as Urbi et Orbi (To the City and to the World).
🥚 Read a book with the words CITY or WORLD in its title/subtitle (compound words are fine) -or- read a book whose main characters are not from your country (I mean, you could read a book set in your country, but with immigrant main characters, for example. Tell us how your book fits).
8. Pouring water on one another is a Polish Easter tradition called Śmigus-dyngus. On Easter Monday, boys try to drench other people with buckets of water, squirt guns or anything they can get their hands on. Legend says girls who get soaked will marry within the year. The refreshing tradition has its origins in the baptism of Polish Prince Mieszko on Easter Monday in 966 AD.
🥚 Read a book with water on the cover (post the cover) -or- read a book in which a marriage takes place.
9. In Bulgaria, people don’t hide their eggs – they have egg fights – and whoever comes out of the game with an unbroken egg is the winner and assumed to be the most successful member of the family in the coming year. In another tradition, the oldest woman in the family rubs the faces of the children with the first red egg she has colored, symbolizing her wish that they have rosy cheeks, health and strength.
🥚 Read a book with a mostly red cover (post the cover) -or- read a book which is a winner of a Goodreads Choice award (tell us the year and category).
10. In Jerusalem, Christians celebrate Good Friday by walking the same path Jesus did on the day he was nailed to the cross. Taking note of his pain that fateful day, some of those who participate carry a cross with them in remembrance. On Easter Sunday, many pilgrims attend a church service at Garden Tomb, the area Jesus was believed to have been buried.
🥚 Read a book in which a main character suffers a great deal of pain -or- read a book with an X somewhere in the title or the author’s name.
11. In Prizzi, Sicily, the Abballu del diavolo, a representation of devils from locals wearing terrifying masks of zinc and dressed in red robes, is celebrated on Easter morning. Those dressed in costume pester as many “souls” as they can (which really means making them pay for drinks) before the afternoon when the Virgin Mary and the risen Christ save the day by sending the devils away with angels.
🥚 Read a book which has something that terrifies you -or- read a book that is practically everywhere pestering you to read it (you’ve seen this book on blogs, discussed by friends, on bestseller lists etc.)
You’ve reached a Chocolate Egg!
12. Reward yourself with a guilty pleasure book of any genre.
Don’t forget to choose a different genre for the next set!
13. In 1991, Rabbit-Free Australia launched a campaign to replace the Easter bunny with the Easter bilby, or rabbit-eared bandicoot. In Australia, rabbits are widely considered pests for destroying crops and land. Companies now make chocolate bilbies for Easter, with proceeds benefiting the endangered animals.
🥚 Read a book with an animal on the cover (any animal, bonus for the ones Australia considers pests, post the cover) -or- read a book set on an island.
14. Christianity in Indonesia was brought here by Portuguese missionaries, and statues from this time are carried through the streets. Young men consider it an honor to be chosen to play Jesus and be tied to the cross in various locations.
🥚 Read a book set in Asia (tell us where) -or- read a book in which a main character is entrusted with a noble task (tell us how the book fits).
15. In Haiti, Holy Week is marked by colorful parades and traditional “rara” music played on bamboo trumpets, maracas, drums, and even coffee cans. The holiday is a mixture of Catholic and Voodoo traditions. Voodoo believers make an annual pilgrimage to the village of Souvenance and make animal offerings to the spirits.
🥚 Read a book in which music plays a role -or- read a book whose cover is multi-colored (post the cover).
16. Bermudians celebrate Good Friday by flying home-made kites, and eating codfish cakes and hot cross buns. The tradition is said to have begun when a local teacher from the British Army had difficulty explaining Christ’s ascension to Heaven to his Sunday school class. He made a kite, traditionally shaped like a cross, to illustrate the Ascension.
🥚 Read a book with a large expanse of sky on the cover (post the cover) -or- read a book whose title starts with a letter in “BERMUDA” (ignore a, an, and the).
17. In Brazil, residents make an effigy (or multiple effigies) of Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, and burn it in a central location. Sometimes, people make the effigy explode with fireworks. And many times politicians involved in scandals become Judas.
🥚 Read a book in which a betrayal occurs -or- read a book that makes you want to punch something (since we certainly don’t want to burn books. tell us why the book made you angry!)
You’ve finished! A chocolate bonanza greets you!
18. Read a new book (released this year) that you’ve been eagerly anticipating (tell us why!).
Earth and Skye 