Stina’s Comments (group member since Dec 11, 2016)

Stina’s comments from the Challenges from Exploding Steamboats group.

Yeah, not a whole lot of wiggle room on this one, sorry. The original prompt was a two-parter, to read a fairy tale and its retelling. Well, I read the retelling (The Beast of Beswick) but not the original. I'm going with the original French, La Belle et la Bête, but the spirit of the prompt does not demand that you read in a language you are not comfortable with, so translations are fine.

I hope your family is more cooperative than mine. It took for-freaking-ever, but I finally got my husband pinned down on this, so I will be reading The Family Trade.

I'm taking this to mean finish a completed series rather than catch up on a series that is still ongoing, so I can't read, say, Network Effect and call it good. I'd better read Fire Watch quick, before Willis officially announces another book in the series. But if you want to interpret this one as getting caught up to what's been published so far in a series, I'm not going to fault you.

I'll be reading RiftWorlds Online: Book 1 - Space Opera Insertion: a LitRPG Sci-Fi Adventure, which is unquestionably LitRPG. I'll leave it up to you, though, if you want to stretch this to include GameLit like Ready Player One. More on that distinction here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LitRPG

Here is the Wikipedia entry on Southeast Asia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southea.... It's up to you how picky you want to be about what makes an author a South East Asian. I plan to read The Bone Witch.

Does Gods of Jade and Shadow count for this? It feels like a stretch. But everything else I can find sounds really boring.

Even in years that my birthday falls on a Tuesday (which seems to be the preferred day of the week for publishers to release books), nobody seems to be interested in releasing a book in my honor. I'm quite insulted. So I am still stuck with whatserface and The Silkworm. At least I didn't buy it retail.

I'm finding Bridget Jones's Diary more than a little tedious, so maybe I will go with The Diaries of Hannah Cullwick, Victorian Maidservant or The Sandmann's Journal: Vol. 1. Both of those are actual journals, not fiction, but I would certainly count fictional works for this prompt.

Mine is still Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals. To find yours, go to your My Books page, pull up whatever shelf you consider your TBR list, and sort by Date Added.

Oh, yeah, digital ARCs count, too. So if you have Amazon Prime, check out their monthly First Reads program, and if you review books, consider joining NetGalley or a similar book review service.

An ARC is an advance reader copy, an uncorrected proof provided by the publisher, usually for review purposes. My oldest is still Right as Rain from 2001. Let me know if you don't have any ARCs and don't have a good source for them. I could probably send you one.

These are weirdly hard to come by. I guess most true crime readers are interested in violence? But I have started The Art of the Con: The Most Notorious Fakes, Frauds, and Forgeries in the Art World and am finding it interesting.

As much as I like mysteries, you'd think I'd like true crime more than I do. I don't actively avoid it. It just doesn't hold quite the same appeal as fiction. But I do have several titles that fit this prompt, so I really should be able to get to it this year.

Curses upon Goodreads for putting this in one of their summer challenges. I guess you could always read a geography textbook. The only fiction work I know of that does this is Space Opera, so that's what's on my TBR.

Wait wait wait wait, hold up! Does 17776: What football will look like in the future do this? Hmmm....maybe I can take this off the list!

Anybody else tackling Monte Cristo this year? I'm also hoping to get to Gemina and The Quincunx this year, and I think those are both long enough. And maybe I will actually succeed at a Tome Topple this year! (Here's the video announcement for a Tome Topple readathon last year, in case you're curious about what this is: https://youtu.be/6donApN5ErQ.)

I think this is 70 prompts in all, as I am adding in two specific books I didn't finish for challenges. I will allow myself to use one book to cover multiple prompts.

Penitent Prioritization

15. An #ownvoices book set in Mexico or Central America - Gods of Jade and Shadow

35. A book by a South East Asian - The Neil Gaiman at the End of the Universe

113. Longest-standing TBR book on Goodreads - Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals

121. A book of nonviolent true crime - The Feather Thief
123. A book set on every continent - Continents: What You Need to Know

137. (51, 121) A true crime book - The Stonewall Riots: The Fight for LGBT Rights

155. Finish a series you started at least a year ago - Fire Watch

- A book longer than 700 pages - The Quincunx - Le Comte de Monte-Cristo - House of Leaves - A Place of Hiding - Mao: The Unknown Story
- The oldest ARC you own - Right as Rain
(155) A book written as a journal - The Sandmann's Journal: Vol. 1 - The Diaries of Hannah Cullwick, Victorian Maidservant - These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901
- A book published on your birthday (any year) - The Silkworm
- A LitRPG book - RiftWorlds Online: Book 1 - Space Opera Insertion: a LitRPG Sci-Fi Adventure
- A family member's favorite book - The Family Trade


Lost Linz Levels

26. Read a book by John Creasey - Theft of Magna Carta
27. Free Space! Pick any book - Brownies and Broomsticks

39. Read the second book of a trilogy you started in 2020 - Take a Hint, Dani Brown

60. Read the third book of that same trilogy - Act Your Age, Eve Brown
61. Free Space! Pick any book - The Gauntlet

99. A book that is over 600 pages - The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century

Level 2
- The original "Beauty & the Beast" fairy tale - La Belle et la Bête
- Free Space! Pick any book.
Level 3
- A book published in 2000 - The St. Louis Veiled Prophet Celebration: Power on Parade, 1877-1995
- Free Space! Pick any book.


The Usual Fails

6. Read a contemporary - Hanging Falls
7. A book written by an author of a different race from yourself (3) - The Haunting of Tram Car 015
10. A book with an orange cover - Bannerless
11. Read a romance - Angel Falls: A Thrilling Romantic Suspense with a Touch of Paranormal
12. A book of poetry - Swing
13. Book over 450 pages - Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook
14. A book by a trans/intersex/nonbinary author - The Deep

18. A book that has a map - Sadie Sprocket Builds a Rocket
20. Book recommended by someone older than you - Ύπνος: Εννέα ζωγραφιές και ένα διήγημα
24. A book with "night" in the title - Midnight at the Barclay Hotel
28. New York Times #1 Bestseller - Antiracist Baby

29. Read an epic fantasy (15) - Beowulf: A New Verse Translation
30. Choose a book with a summer cover, a sun on the cover, or "summer" or "sun" in the title - Y is for Y'all: A Book of Southern ABCs
37. Read one of the biggest books you have on your TBR - Slice of Cherry
44. A graphic novel - Pretty Deadly, Vol. 1: The Shrike

51. Goodreads winner in 2019 - The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper
52. (24) A haunted house book - The Canterville Ghost

65. From the 50 States reading list - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
69. A woman-authored book about food - Avocado Asks: What Am I?
72. A re-telling - The Mere Wife

76. A host recommendation for the #Summerween readathon on BookTube - Mexican Gothic
77. A book with a fish in the title - Ruby Red Herring
78. Creature with a beak on the cover - The Empress of Salt and Fortune
80. A book with a purple cover or title - Here Comes the Body
82. A book with the word "river" in the title - River of Darkness

87. A book by or about a refugee - Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy's Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard
91. A book by an Indigenous author - This Accident of Being Lost: Songs and Stories

119. Published in the 1920s - The Maltese Falcon

125. Read a book set in winter - The Overcoat
134. Read a manga - The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today, Vol. 1

154. A book with an animal on the cover that makes you think of summer - This Is How You Lose the Time War

- A book that was published in 1995 - The Lions of Al-Rassan
- A food book about a cuisine you've never tried before - The Island Kitchen: Recipes from Mauritius and the Indian Ocean
(10)- A book about climate change - Our House Is on Fire: Greta Thunberg's Call to Save the Planet
- An edition of a literary magazine - The Missouri Review
- Borrowed from a friend - The Outsiders - Scandalous Women: The Lives and Loves of History's Most Notorious Women
- A book set on the opposite side of the planet - L'Arche des Kerguelen: Voyage aux îles de la Désolation
(78) A book that could be described as silkpunk or by a silkpunk author - Jade City - The Bone Witch
- A winner of the Stella Prize or the Women's Prize for Fiction - The Tiger's Wife - Piranesi
- A book from the 2019 Reading Women Award shortlists and honorable mentions - The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays
- A book by Isabel Allende - The House of the Spirits - Zorro
- Read a Victorian (1837-1901) diary or collection of letters - The Diaries of Hannah Cullwick, Victorian Maidservant
- Geek Love
- Shirley

Unprompted Inspiration

2. A book in which a character uses an alias - Killer Chardonnay
3. A book shorter than 100 pages - Honor Yourself
122. Something originally published in the 19th century (52) - An Enemy of the People

Here is the entire list of prompts. You may copy any or all of them into your own post on this thread, and then you can update your post as you make progress throughout the year.

Penitent Prioritization

- A book longer than 700 pages
- A book set on every continent
- A true crime book
- A book of nonviolent true crime
- The oldest ARC you own
- Longest-standing TBR book on Goodreads
- A book written as a journal
- A book published on your birthday (any year)
- An #ownvoices book set in Mexico or Central America
- A book by a South East Asian
- A LitRPG book
- Finish a series you started at least a year ago
- A family member's favorite book


Lost Linz Levels

Level 2
- The original "Beauty & the Beast" fairy tale
- Free Space! Pick any book.
Level 3
- A book published in 2000
- A book that is over 600 pages
- Free Space! Pick any book.
Level 4
- Read the second book of a trilogy you started in 2020
- Read the third book of that same trilogy
- Free Space! Pick any book.
Level 5
- Read a book by John Creasey
- Free Space! Pick any book.


The Usual Fails

- Creature with a beak on the cover
- A book with a purple cover or title
- A book with "night" in the title
- A book that has a map
- A re-telling
- Choose a book with a summer cover, a sun on the cover, or "summer" or "sun" in the title
- A book of poetry
- A book with an animal on the cover that makes you think of summer
- A graphic novel
- A haunted house book
- A host recommendation for the #Summerween readathon on BookTube
- Read a romance
- Read one of the biggest books you have on your TBR
- Read a book set in winter
- Read a manga
- Read an epic fantasy
- Book recommended by someone older than you
- A book written by an author of a different race from yourself
- Read a contemporary
- Book over 450 pages
- A book that was published in 1995
- A book with an orange cover
- A book by an Indigenous author
- A food book about a cuisine you've never tried before
- A book about climate change
- A book by or about a refugee
- An edition of a literary magazine
- Goodreads winner in 2019
- Published in the 1920s
- New York Times #1 Bestseller
- From the 50 States reading list
- Borrowed from a friend
- A book set on the opposite side of the planet
- A book by a trans/intersex/nonbinary author
- A book with a fish in the title
- A book that could be described as silkpunk or by a silkpunk author
- A winner of the Stella Prize or the Women's Prize for Fiction
- A woman-authored book about food
- A book from the 2019 Reading Women Award shortlists and honorable mentions
- A book by Isabel Allende
- A book with the word "river" in the title
- Read a Victorian diary or collection of letters

Unprompted Inspiration

- A book shorter than 100 pages
- A book in which a character uses an alias
- Something originally published in the 19th century

Most of these prompts reflect uncompleted prompts from various challenges I foolishly took on. Like last year, I am separating it into four sections.

The first section contains prompts I've failed at in both 2019 and 2020. In past years, I forced myself to complete them first, but we've just come through 2020, and ain't nobody got the energy for that kind of BS. I will, however, make an effort to prioritize them as I prepare my monthly TBRs.

- A book longer than 700 pages
- A book set on every continent
- A true crime book
- A book of nonviolent true crime
- The oldest ARC you own
- Longest-standing TBR book on Goodreads
- A book written as a journal
- A book published on your birthday (any year)
- An #ownvoices book set in Mexico or Central America
- A book by a South East Asian
- A LitRPG book
- Finish a series you started at least a year ago
- A family member's favorite book


The second section contains prompts I failed from Linz the Bookworm's challenge. It was set up in levels and I was not allowing myself to count the "free" read until I had completed that level. Treat that however you like.

Level 2
- The original "Beauty & the Beast" fairy tale
- Free Space! Pick any book.
Level 3
- A book published in 2000
- A book that is over 600 pages
- Free Space! Pick any book.
Level 4
- Read the second book of a trilogy you started in 2020
- Read the third book of that same trilogy
- Free Space! Pick any book.
Level 5
- Read a book by John Creasey
- Free Space! Pick any book.


The third section contains my normal prompt fails. Some were from seasonal challenges, but I'm not restricting myself to a season for this challenge.

- Creature with a beak on the cover
- A book with a purple cover or title
- A book with "night" in the title
- A book that has a map
- A re-telling
- Choose a book with a summer cover, a sun on the cover, or "summer" or "sun" in the title
- A book of poetry
- A book with an animal on the cover that makes you think of summer
- A graphic novel
- A book longer than 700 pages
- A haunted house book
- A host recommendation for the #Summerween readathon on BookTube
- Read a romance
- Read one of the biggest books you have on your TBR
- Read a book set in winter
- Read a manga
- Read an epic fantasy
- Book recommended by someone older than you
- A book written by an author of a different race from yourself
- Read a contemporary
- Book over 450 pages
- A book that was published in 1995
- A book with an orange cover
- A book by an Indigenous author
- A food book about a cuisine you've never tried before
- A book about climate change
- A book by or about a refugee
- An edition of a literary magazine
- Goodreads winner in 2019
- Published in the 1920s
- New York Times #1 Bestseller
- From the 50 States reading list
- Borrowed from a friend
- A book set on the opposite side of the planet
- A book by a trans/intersex/nonbinary author
- A book with a fish in the title
- A book that could be described as silkpunk or by a silkpunk author
- A winner of the Stella Prize or the Women's Prize for Fiction
- A woman-authored book about food
- A book from the 2019 Reading Women Award shortlists and honorable mentions
- A book by Isabel Allende
- A book with the word "river" in the title
- Read a Victorian diary or collection of letters

And the final section contains prompts inspired by books I read that didn't fit any of my challenge prompts.

- A book shorter than 100 pages
- A book in which a character uses an alias
- Something originally published in the 19th century


As usual, approach this however you like. I'm not the challenge police, there are no points or prizes, this is just a fun way to tackle and/or build your TBR.

I will be posting discussion threads for all of the prompts, so check those out to suggest books, find recommendations, and discuss your reads with our reading community. There will also be a place to post your reading list, and if you'd like to track your challenge progress here, you are welcome to use the stina-challenge-2021 shelf tag.

Mary wrote: "Well, I read everything that was asked of me at school, and everything that was suggested. So, for this one I chose a book my sister had to read in school, but I didn't. It is "Mrs. Frisby and the ..."

Oh, I loved that one when the teacher read it to us in grade school! I re-read it this spring for a book club. I still liked it and can understand why it was a childhood favorite, but dang, there's some weird stuff in there! We also watched the movie, and I kinda hated it. It lost me with the magic amulet crap.

I read Seafire for this one. Overall I enjoyed it, but I also found it problematic in a lot of ways.