Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

Here's a sadistic suggestion, lol. Read a book with over 600 pages! I got the idea while starring at my bookshelves and James Clavell's Shogun was starring back at me. I've tried when I was much younger to read it, twice, but never got more than halfway through it. Then again, can you blame me when it has 1210 pages! It's a 2 inch thick paperback. lol (You might want to make it count as 2 books out of the 10 for the month though, or most of us will not get to all ten books. lol) James Clavell's Noble House has 1370 pages (also a 2 inch thick paperback).

I know many here like Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series and they seem to start at 600 pages and just keep getting thicker as the series goes on. Several Harry Potter books are over 600 pages as well.

That's evil Briansgirl! :O)

Oh, and I thought of another: read a book that features a reality or other tv show, newsanchor, or radio personality.

Melody wrote: "That's evil Briansgirl! :O)"

I said it was sadistic. lol

:O)

Idea: read a book featuring a stalker, a creepy ex, or a gal in hiding from someone/something.

Oh, I like creepy, I like evil! To me it all seems like great ideas...

Love the box set idea. I've already got one in mind :)

(Ok, I know, I'm addicted to this thread!) :O)

So, Yz and I were talking about the missing book amongst the titles we've read this year: the stand-alone romance novel...Ergo, my latest idea:

Read a stand-alone title, part of no series current or future! Tie-in, recommend a stand-alone title to you Pick-It-For-Me partner.

Some authors write more stand alone novels than others. Interesting idea.

Briansgirl wrote: "Some authors write more stand alone novels than others. Interesting idea."

Yeah, I think it would be much more difficult to find a paranormal stand-alone than a more general romance.

You may have to look farther back to something like Bram Stoker's Dracula. lol

I've been prowling around for something and think I might have found 1 or 2 paranormals to fit the bill...have to double check they're not series. :O)


Idea for May: Read a title featuring a May/December romance.

Melody wrote: "Idea for May: Read a title featuring a May/December romance. ..."

I don't know if I can find it, but I've only seen one seriel harlequin with a blurb that told me it fit this category on the back. I'm sure I have other books that would fit, historicals probably, but I wouldn't know it until I read it to know their age difference. Just a thought.

Hmm. I think a lot of historicals would work. Or, howabout a vampire or some other critter of old?

True, vampires are pretty old. lol I just don't read paranormal books so hadn't thought of that. In alot of historicals the men are 30 something and the girls are 18. Heck, even Pride and Prejudice I think counts. lol

I'd have to think about that one. Wasn't Elizabeth like 27? Or do I have the wrong Lizzy?

Ok, another idea for May: A Moratorium on Beginning Any New Series! (Instead, let us try to complete a couple...I think I've begun 4 this month...ack)

On the flip side: Read a Trilogy!

:O)

I thought all 5 girls were under 19 with Elizabeth the second oldest, and I don't remember Mr Darcy's age being mentioned specifically yet, I thought he was early 30s.

I've got a few series I need to finish! lol

Oh Melody, so many ideas!!! How do you come up with all this stuff??

Amazing.

I'm curious what the minimum age span needs to be to be considered a May/December romance. I have a M/M book where one guy is 18 and the other guy is in his early 30's.

Did some googling and came up with this from the Urban dictionary:

A May-December Romance is an instance of the romantic involvement of two parties between whom there is a considerable age difference, often because one individual has an ulterior motive, such as money, status, etc.

The reasoning behind this designation is that while one person is young and in the "Spring" of his or her life (thus, "May"), the other is in "Winter" (ergo, "December").

However, there are many instances, as in the case of my own clandestine affair with the most wonderful woman in the world, where the age difference is either inconsequential or isn't even a considerable enough gap to constitute a May-December Romance.

Anna Nicole Smith and the late oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II - There hasn't been this much gold-digging since 1849.

Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore - This would be the "etc." I suppose... Something just isn't right....

and this from About.com's marriage pages...

Definition: Generally considered to be an unconventional choice, a May-December marriage is one in which one spouse is significantly older than the other spouse. Significantly older is usually considered 11 years or more age difference.

"May" refers to the younger spouse in the spring of life, while "December" refers to the older spouse who is in the winter of life.

May-December Relationships -- Age Difference

•Tony Randall and Heather Harlan. Tony, +50.

Hope that helps.

I like the trilogy (or consecutive books in a series) idea.

We did a trilogy in last month's challenge...some of you newbies might not have been here. It was a great way to start a series as I love reading them back to back whenever possible.

idea 1: read 5 books with different class (mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, arthropods) of animals in the title, story, cover etc.

idea 2: read a book with a royal as hero or heroine

Ok, here's another crazy idea... :O)

Armchair travelers unite! June 21 - Sept 21 (first & last days of summer)
This summer let's travel together (group discounts, wheee!)...

Option #1:
Around the World in 80 Days:
Read a book set somewhere on each continent (Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia).

Option #2:
Tour the Continent: (Europe excluding the UK, Ireland, and Iceland)
Read books set in 7 countries scattered around Europe.

Add-ons:
For the seasoned traveler:
Read a 2nd book for each continent (or country), non-fiction (or based on a true story/person).

(That's 7-14 books over 3 months...how's that sound?) :O)

Hey, love the Traveler's Unite. I got books to fit most of it. lol I've got a book set in Antartica even, although it's non-fiction. (Could be the add-on). I could reread Ice Station Zebra by Alistair MacLean for Antartica. Asia, South America and Africa are the ones I'll have to do a bit of looking to fill. (Am NOT going to read James Clavell's Shogun just because it fits. lol) Wait, my Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull book takes place 90% in South America. That just leaves Asia and Africa.

As for 7 countries scattered across Europe I have the perfect set of books... I got 10 books out of a 14 book series Harlequin did back in the 80s called Postcards from Europe. Each is set in a different country and I've only read one. If you do option 2, you should list the country the books set in so we can see where you're going to visit.

Hate to wait til June 21st. lol Perhaps we could do it the 3 months kids in North America are out of school for the summer and most go on vacation?

Melody,

Your Travel Packages ideas sounds pretty good. It will fit quite well as a quarterly challenge, sort of overlapping the Men We Love challenge.

I love the travel idea enough I've already got one set up. lol If we don't do it as a group, I'll add it to the boxed sets challenge or something (and I get longer to do it in then!!)

Love it!!!

Actually I went ahead and put it up in the separate thread already. LOL. To me it's perfect they way it is. Melody! Any complaints and or concerns? If yes you know where to find me.

Kasia wrote: "Melody! Any complaints and or concerns? If yes you know where to find me. "

:O) Nope! It's all good from here!

(not sure if I should post this here or in May's Read the Month)

Here's a quick idea for future Read the Month challenges: as the months get longer could we open it up to include Character Names? Might make it easier to read across challenges...

One of my problems has been challenges like Men We Love that want you to find characters with certain professions. Not all the blurbs on the back of books will give you this information, especially Harlequins. So I won't know what their job is until I've read the book. Now the thicker books, I've had better luck finding occupations. But if I'm trying to read alot of books for several challenges, shorter 200 page Harlequins help. lol And I've got to crosslist to a certain degree or I won't get them all done. lol But then again, I sign up for all of them.

I was just looking at filling September and (eep 9 books!) it's a true challenge all by itself. Geez, I have 18 books on my list this month, and May is only 3 letters...Not that I've actually checked to see if the character name bit will help, but how could it hurt? :O)

And character names are almost always on the blurb, or if not, in someone's review. (the professions were a bit difficult. the more I think about it, the less I am inthralled with my professor pick...)

For a professor, I'm reading an Indiana Jones book. lol Dr. Jones is a college professor. With August and September I got lucky as 80% of the books to read the month I was able to use also for the quarterly armchair traveller's challenge. It also overlaps some with Men We Love but not a single profession is listed on the blurbs for any of the books and they are old enough (from 80s) that there are no reviews or blurbs on GRs for them although they are listed at least.

Briansgirl wrote: "they are old enough (from 80s) that there are no reviews or blurbs on GRs for them although they are listed at least..."

Hmm...sounds like a project... :O)

Not bored enough yet. lol

I came up with a couple of suggestions for June:

-Since June is the most popular month for weddings, how about a book with a wedding in it, or "wedding" in the title.
-A book with friends to lovers theme for Best Friends Day (June 8)

Mmm, good ones Julie! :O)

Like those ideas, Julie. *taking notes*

Few ideas...
1) Emblem, banner or flag on the cover
2) Small town romance
3) Dance theme in plot/character/cover/etc
4) Musically talented character
5) Treasure (hunt/jewlery/artifacts/etc) theme
6) 2X4: Four elements & Four seasons: read four books with title, plot or characters substantially connected to one of elements and four books set during each season.
7) Read a book with great event of yours country history in it's plot
8) Hero and/or Heroine on vacation
9) What you see is what you get: read a book which cover you love (or hate).
10. Read a book set in place you would like to visit.
11. Read a book set in place named like food or drink (i.e. drink - Manhattan, food - French fries)
12. Read a book which title is also a name of a song

Oooooh, I like all of those Annvelwis, especially the: Read a book set in place you would like to visit.

:D

Kasia wrote: "Oooooh, I like all of those Annvelwis, especially the: Read a book set in place you would like to visit.
:D"

Yeah, that one is really inventive, heh... ;)) Because romance novels are all set in unfriendly and unattractive places, hah.

Read a book with one of main characters name in the title. There's quite a lot of books fulfulling that condition, I think.

True.

Mentioned before but read a book that was turned into a movie. There are so many that fit this category.

On another note, how about reading a non-fiction book of any kind.

Keep the suggestions coming..I'm paying attention...I do scatter them around though...

Thanks everyone for the help.

Briansgirl wrote: "On another note, how about reading a non-fiction book of any kind."

Great idea! I'm somewhat tired of fiction right now and I would really like to read something else without guilt that I neglect my challenges, heh...

ok, a few more potential categories:


A book that won some award (list the awads it won)
A book written by woman
next in series
A southern book
A books about some other culture (name that culture)
A book about kids / A YA book

A few of suggestions for July (or whenever):

*Embrace Your Geekness Day (July 13) - Read a book with a geeky main character.
*Go West Day (also July 13) - Read a book in a western setting.
*Read a Beatrix Potter book to celebrate her birthday (July 28)
*Mutt's Day (July 31) - Read a book with a dog character.
*July is Culinary Arts Month - Read a book with a chef character, a food in a title or on the cover, or a book about food.

I'd have trouble finding a geek book unless Mythbusters count. lol BUt I love the culinary month and beatrix potter book ideas.

Like the idea of Mutt's day & Go West but not sure about the Geeky main character book - that one may take some thought.