Renee’s Comments (group member since Feb 03, 2014)

Renee’s comments from the The Reading Challenge Group group.

Eileen wrote: "Also, I just finished Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China for the second time at the end of last month and listened to it this time. There are two narrators, but I highly recommend the..."

I loved this book! I learned so much!

I just finished The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah.

Huzzah! I actually read the right genre in the right month this time. :)
I read The Word for World Is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin.

The villain was a bit over the top but it was a decent look at what happens when humans make assumptions rather than pay attention to details. I can definitely see it’s concepts spilling into Speaker for the Dead and the Avatar movie, but I’m looking now at the Fuzzy series and seeing a whole web of connection. I might need to go down the Fuzzy rabbit hole soon. It looks like an interesting Series.

So true!

Looks like Vicky and Rosemarie are knocking this challenge out of the park!!

Wow! You’re doing great! Only six books to go!

I read The Good Earth as a teen. It was one of my mom’s favorites. I wonder how it has held up over time. I might join you if I can squeeze it in.

Decade Challenge
(Original publication date)

1790-1799: The Italian 1796
1800-1809:
1810-1819:
1820-1829:
1830-1839:
1840-1849:
1850-1859: Tom Brown's Schooldays 1857
1860-1869:
1870-1879: The Princess and the Goblin 1872
1880-1889:
1890-1899:

1900-1909: The Old Wives' Tale 1908
1910-1919:
1920-1929:
1930-1939:
1940-1949:
1950-1959:
1960-1969:
1970-1979:
1980-1989:
1990-1999: The God of Small Things 1997

2000-2009:
2010-2019: Heirs of the Body 2013
2020-2023:

I’ll start with this one for 2023 and see how it goes. :)

Rainbow Challenge Template 🌈

Red:
Orange:
Yellow:
Green:
Blue/Indigo:
Purple/Violet:

Pink:
Gray:
White:
Black:
Brown:
Color/Colour:

🌈 This will run all year. The template has 12 color categories.

🌈 You can make this more or less challenging by either finding books with a predominate color as part of the cover (easier) or by trying to find books that actually have a color word in the title (harder).

🌈 Use your judgement on colors. Blue could be aquamarine or Navy. Red could be scarlet or carnelian. Etc.

🌈 For Color/Colour, you can do anything that makes sense to you. Examples might be...
1) your favorite color
2) the word “color” in the title
3) a rainbow on the cover
4) something color-related, like "palette" or "clarity"

P. S. If you want to show your rainbow, you can link the covers by clicking “add book/author” from above the comment box, then choosing “cover” rather than “link” at the bottom of the pop-up menu. For example:

Decade Challenge
(Original publication date)

1800-1809:
1810-1819:
1820-1829:
1830-1839:
1840-1849:
1850-1859:
1860-1869:
1870-1879:
1880-1889:
1890-1899:

1900-1909:
1910-1919:
1920-1929:
1930-1939:
1940-1949:
1950-1959:
1960-1969:
1970-1979:
1980-1989:
1990-1999:

2000-2009:
2010-2019:
2020-2023:

Dusting this off again… The Decade Challenge

This will run all year.
The idea is to try to read and record ONE book originally published in each decade listed. Your end result should be a list of the 22 decades posted here, with one book you've read beside each decade. (Feel free to cut and paste the template below to get started.)

Some members will have posted a mockup of this challenge in their personal goal threads, for ease of organization. This is the official thread for posting lists and sharing ideas about how to complete this challenge.

Also, GR does a "Best Books of ____" by decade, which is really helpful. You can access through LISTOPIA or Google "Best Books of (decade/year)" to get to them.

Personally, I really love the way this challenge forces me to read beyond my comfort zone.

I just watched “The Fantasy Makers,” about Lewis, Tolkien, and their connection to/inspiration from George MacDonald. It was very well done and worth tracking down on YouTube or one of the streaming channels.

There’s a cute graphic of a board somewhere. I’ll post it here if I find it again.

Winter Bingo Template

B1: Award Winner
B2: Graphic Novel
B3: Silver Lettering
B4: Mystery or Thriller
B5: Current Event Related

I1: Start a Series
I2: Middle Grade
I3: Blue Cover
I4: > 400 pages
I5: Personal Improvement

N1: Classic
N2: Made into a Movie
N3: FREE
N4: Science Fiction
N5: Humor

G1: Magical Realism
G2: LGBTQ+
G3: White Cover
G4: Published In Your Birth Year
G5: Biographical

O1: Published Last Year
O2: Epistolary
O3: Gold Lettering
O4: Based on Mythology
O5: Math/Science

Mission: Claim at least one "Bingo!" before March 20 (the first day of spring)!

RULES & GUIDELINES
Not too many of these as it is supposed to be fun after all :)

* As with traditional Bingo, you can go for a horizontal, vertical, diagonal, "X" or "around the world" (perimeter). Or aim big and go for a black out (all squares)!

* A book can only be used once on the sheet.

* Interpret the categories as broadly as you like.

*You can use books that you’ve read for other challenges as long as they were read within the time constraints of this one. (January 2023-March 2023)

This one didn’t get a lot of play last year, but I love it so!

This year-long challenge is based on the game of Clue. Each character from the game represents the career of the MAIN CHARACTER (male or female) of the book you read.
For example, for Miss Scarlet/career in law you might go with The Firm. For Reverend Green you might choose The Name of the Rose.


Miss Scarlet: career in law
Colonel Mustard: career in the military
Nurse White: career in medicine
Reverend Green: career in religion
Professor Plum: career in education
Mrs. Peacock: career in business
Sergeant Gray: career in law enforcement
Mr. Brown: career as a con artist or spy

Extra-Credit..
Mr. Black/Mr. Boddy: is dead or dies in the story

Some interesting history on the game...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_...

ABC Template

A-
B-
C-
D-
E-
F-
G-
H-
I-
J-
K-
L-
M-
N-
O-
P-
Q-
R-
S-
T-
U-
V-
W-
X-
Y-
Z-

A member favorite! This will run all year.
26 Books in one year, each beginning with a different letter of the alphabet. (Not counting articles like "a," "an" or "the") to create your own special Alphabet Soup.

For example:
A- And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic
B- Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
C- The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper
Etc.

You may use books that are from other challenges.
You may want to create a post with just the alphabet, then fill in books as you read them. Or create a "master list" of what you plan to read, then check them off as you finish each.

This thread is also the place to come for ideas on titles for letters that are trickier to find.

The letter X is always a special challenge. Here are some suggestions for dealing with this exasperating letter:
1) A book title that starts with X
Example: Xingu
2) A title in which X plays a prominent part
Example: The Autobiography of Malcolm X
3) A "number" title
Example: 1984

This year long challenge is a twist on the Alphabet Soup challenge; however, for this one you are looking for books titles that are MISSING a particular letter.

Mission: 26 books, each missing one letter of the alphabet

No A-
No B-
No C-
No D-
No E-
No F-
No G-
No H-
No I-
No J-
No K-
No L-
No M-
No N-
No O-
No P-
No Q-
No R-
No S-
No T-
No U-
No V-
No W-
No X-
No Y-
No Z-