2016 Reading Challenge - Discussion Thread

[Kirsty, Jedi Master]

If you aren't doing the Marvel Vs DC Challenge (or even if you are) this challenge could be useful for targeting your reading.

2016 Reading Challenge - Master Thread

Use this space for discussion :)

Here are the categories again:
[ ] A book based on a fairy tale
[ ] A National Book Award winner
[ ] A YA Bestseller
[ ] A book you haven't read since high school
[ ] A book set in your home state/county
[ ] A book translated into English
[ ] A romance set in the future
[ ] A book set in Europe
[ ] A book thats under 150 pages
[ ] A New York Times bestseller
[ ] A book recommended by someone you just met
[ ] A self-improvement book
[ ] A book you can finish in a day
[ ] A written by a celebrity
[ ] A political memoir
[ ] A book at least 100 years older than you
[ ] A book thats more than 600 pages
[ ] A book from Oprah's Book Club
[ ] A Science-Fiction novel
[ ] A book recommended by a family member
[ ] A graphic novel
[ ] A book that is published in 2016
[ ] A book with a protagonist who has your occupation
[ ] A book that takes place during summer
[ ] A book and its prequel
[ ] A murder mystery
[ ] A book written by a comedian
[ ] A dystopian novel
[ ] A book with a blue cover
[ ] A book of poetry
[ ] The first book you see in a bookstore
[ ] A classic from the 20th Century
[ ] A book from the library
[ ] An autobiography
[ ] A book about a road trip
[ ] A book about a culture you're unfamiliar with
[ ] A satyrical book
[ ] A book that takes place on an island
[ ] A book that's guaranteed to bring you joy

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

Thanks for setting up. Two down already without even trying ;-)

[Kirsty, Jedi Master]

Paul wrote: "Thanks for setting up. Two down already without even trying ;-)"

Good work :D haha

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

ewww....poetry :)

[Kirsty, Jedi Master]

Ha!

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

It can be a very short book Roger. Think I have a kids book to read the little fella that will do.

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

Hopefully a lot of these match what I own since I'm trying to resist the library and bookstores right now.

[Kimonawhim]

Lancer wrote (in the other topic): "I would try but after looking it over I know it would be fruitless as I know I wouldn't get the majority of them"

I feel the same way xD So now, I'm looking for some challenges I know I can do ;D

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

I'm also doing a 7 continent challenge Kimberley ,basically aiming to read an SFF book set in or written by someone from each of the 7 continents.

[Kimonawhim]

Nice! Sounds like fun :) I decided to give it a try anyway, let's see how far I can get ;P

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

Good for you :-)

[Susie]

This is the sort of thing I want to try as sort of a guide for "what should I pick up next?". And it'll also help me diversify my reading some this year! I was interested in DC/Marvel, but I don't think I read enough to participate strongly in that one.

Though I'm not sure it's possible for me to complete this, there are some odd ones!

A book with a protagonist who has your occupation
- I'm a Product Developer, that would be one boring book! & I can only read so much non-fiction. Perhaps I'll just read something with a scientist of some sort and call it a day. :)

[Kirsty, Jedi Master]

Hi susie!

Yeah; there are some strange ones, if you need to make it more tenuous or broad then do so! :)

[Sarah]

Kirsty wrote: "Hi susie!

Yeah; there are some strange ones, if you need to make it more tenuous or broad then do so! :)"

Good to know that we have some "room for interpretation" for these.

[Susie]

Oh good, I'm glad I'm not the only one. Perhaps creative interpretation is part of the challenge? ;-)

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

Susie wrote: "This is the sort of thing I want to try as sort of a guide for "what should I pick up next?". And it'll also help me diversify my reading some this year! I was interested in DC/Marvel, but I don't ..."

I was just thinking about the occupation one. I am mostly a stay-at-home mom, but I also teach band and make wedding cakes. I worked for newspapers in college, and then I worked with dentists, so maybe I'll have to fudge that.

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

I was thinking of making this year a year to knock of quite a few books on our groups Ultimate Booklist. One down already!

[Vinca]

Hi guys,

Does anyone have any recommendations for the romance set in the future? I'm struggling to figure out what might fit in that category :-\

Trying to decide what might count as a road trip is another one where I'm unsure. Would people count this as any novel where a journey is a central part of the story? Even if there are no 'roads' as such?

V

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

I'd see road trip as any journey, the term has moved beyond the road in many ways. , For me Romance in the future could cover a lot , Morning Star might be what I put in.
Another out there choice might be Scalzis Ghost Brigades if you havent read it yet

[Susie]

Vinca wrote: "Does anyone have any recommendations for the romance set in the future? I'm struggling to figure out what might fit in that category :-\
Trying to decide what might count as a road trip ..."

I thought I was going to have trouble with the romance set in the future too. I caught myself while reading Ilona Andrews, and realized that what I always thought of purely as urban fantasy is really a dystopian world - a possible future! I don't know if you're familiar with the Kate Daniels novels, but I highly recommend them, the first is Magic Bites.

I also can't decide if I'm going to try to do a very literal road trip, or just a journey! I've been meaning to read The Road, so maybe this will be the year.

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

Vinca wrote: "Hi guys,

Does anyone have any recommendations for the romance set in the future? I'm struggling to figure out what might fit in that category :-\

Trying to decide what might count as a road trip ..."

I marked Allegiant and The Kill Order as romances in the future. I asked earlier about road trips, and we all agreed a journey (like in The Hobbit) would count.

[Melanie]

Vinca wrote: "Hi guys,

Does anyone have any recommendations for the romance set in the future? I'm struggling to figure out what might fit in that category :-\

Trying to decide what might count as a road trip ..."

Try ththe s series for romance set in the future:

[Wayland, Ernest Scribbler]

Vinca wrote: "Hi guys,

Does anyone have any recommendations for the romance set in the future? I'm struggling to figure out what might fit in that category :-\

Trying to decide what might count as a road trip ..."

JD Robb's "In Death" series. It's in the near future, and has elements of sci fi, romance, action, and mystery. It's a great series. First one is Naked in Death.

[Margo]

Anyone come up with a good idea for a political memoir? That has me stumped.

[Vinca]

Not sure if it's a good idea but I've gone for Back from the Brink by Alistair Darling. Covers an interesting time in UK politics and has the big advantage of not being a massive book. The size put me off a lot of books in this category...

[Margo]

It's the subject that puts me off LOL

[Margo]

I found The Men Who Stare at Goats listed under policial memoires in the library. I wonder if that's acceptable?

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

What about I am Malala as a political memoir.

[Margo]

Yes' that sounds good

[Wayland, Ernest Scribbler]

My American Journey was a good read, and Colin Powell did rise high in political circles.

[Sarah]

Paul wrote: "What about I am Malala as a political memoir."

I'd say it counts.

Wayland wrote: "My American Journey was a good read, and Colin Powell did rise high in political circles."

That does sound like it would be an interesting one.

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

Margo wrote: "Anyone come up with a good idea for a political memoir? That has me stumped."

Go way back -- like a George Washington or Henry VIII biography.

The Dewey Decimal system shelves political books in the 300s, I think.

[Margo]

Now that's an interesting idea Audrey :-)

[Melanie]

Politics annoy me, so I plan on reading Stephen Colbert's I Am America. That way it will also be a little funny too.

[Dawn]

I've not read it but I've been told that "The Man Who Was Screaming Lord Sutch" is very good.

[Wayland, Ernest Scribbler]

Audrey wrote: "Margo wrote: "Anyone come up with a good idea for a political memoir? That has me stumped."

Go way back -- like a George Washington or Henry VIII biography.

The Dewey Decimal system shelves polit..."

At the risk of being a pedant, biographies are not memoirs.

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

Wayland wrote: "Audrey wrote: "Margo wrote: "Anyone come up with a good idea for a political memoir? That has me stumped."

Go way back -- like a George Washington or Henry VIII biography.

The Dewey Decimal syste..."

Hmm. We may need an official judgment, then.

[Niles]

"Strangers on a Bridge: The Case of Colonel Abel" by James Donovan is a book I have been wanting to read for quite some time. It is an account of the cold war spy exchange between the US and Russia written by one of the men involved. I would consider this both political and a memoir. On the other hand, I have never really been good at catagorizing. Seems I often march to the beat of a different drummer.

[Margo]

ALL the best people do Niles ;-)

[Margo]

Anyone got a recommendation for a national award winner? Scanned the list and nothing is jumping out al me.

[Vinca]

One of the very first winners was The Circus of Dr Lao. They released it in the fantasy masterworks series this year so it's easy to get hold of and I thought it was pretty entertaining, as well as being not too long :-)

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

I'd recommend The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett which famously pipped JK Rowling to The Carnegie Medal , A British national award

[Vinca]

Oh I didn't realise we could us British awards. I thought it was just the American list linked to in the master thread. Never mind, I read something I might not have otherwise discovered. Amazing Maurice is a great book btw.

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

Margo wrote: "Anyone got a recommendation for a national award winner? Scanned the list and nothing is jumping out al me."

I'm doing In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex. It was the only one that looked mildly interesting to me.

[Melanie]

I read Inside Out & Back Again. It's a poetry narrative of a child immigrating to the US from Thailand. It was a quick read and culturally interesting.

[Margo]

Thanks guys, some food for thought there. I didn't realize it was any national book award either. That widens the field quiet a bit :-)

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

It might have initially meant the US award but creative interpretation helps sometimes ;-)

[Vinca]

I've just crossed off my 25th book for this challenge and wondered how everyone else is doing? No way I'll finish all of them by the end of the year, but I'm hoping to get to 30 if I can...

[Margo]

I've just finished no 31. Of the remaining catagories i'm going to struggle with a romance set in the future and a book written by a celebrety.

[Vinca]

I have ideas for most of the remaining categories, just running out of time at the end of a busy year :-) A book that takes place during summer is the one that I'm struggling most to find.

How about something like The Boy Who Kicked Pigs for a book written by a celebrity (Tom Baker aka the 4th Doctor)? Short and fun, if slightly dark!