General info and brainstorming about group reading challenges

[A.L.]

We want to make it easy to participate in our challenges, whether you’re looking for an excuse to buy a new book or prefer to stick with what you can find through your local library, Amazon Prime, or Kindle Unlimited. With that in mind, most challenges won’t require anyone to read a specific book or a specific author. We’ll have theme-based challenges instead.

For now, we'll try one reading challenge per season. Look for our first challenge summer 2016!

If you have a question, comment, or suggestion about reading challenges, write it here!

[A.L.]

I think it's time to post some information about our upcoming group reading challenges. I'll start new threads as they get closer, but here's some basic information:

Summer 2016 Reading Challenge: Try Three New LDS Authors

Pick three LDS authors that you've never tried before, and read one of their books. If you want to do more than three, awesome! And if you can only do one or two, we'd still love to have you participate.
(*Just to clarify, "new author" means new to you, regardless of when the author's first book was published.)

Fall 2016 Reading Challenge: Around the World in 80 Days

For this challenge, we're dividing the world into six zones:
-North America
-South America
-Europe
-Africa
-Asia
-Australia, Antartica, and the Pacific Islands

To complete the challenge, read books (by LDS authors) set in at least four of those zones. For a book to count, it needs to have at least one scene that takes place in that area.

[Cindy]

Hi! I'm a new convert who loves to read. Can you recommend some LDS authors? THANKS!

[A.L.]

Hello, Cindy! Glad to have you here! What genres are your favorites?

A great place to start is the Whitney Awards Website. The Whitneys are an awards program for novels by LDS authors, so the books listed there include ones given high ratings by a panel of judges and an academy of readers and writers.
Here's a link: http://whitneyawards.com/

All of the books on the group bookshelf are written by LDS authors (there might be a few mistakes, and I doubt I've added even half of the books written by Mormons, but it's another place to get ideas).
https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

You can also browse through the genre discussion topics, where group members have mentioned some of their favorites.

[Charissa]

Yea! I just saw these, Amanda. I'm excited for the summer challenge. Should we just post here as we do books that relate, or wait until we're completely finished to post?

[A.L.]

Both! I'll open up a new topic a week or two before the challenge starts, so each challenge will have its own thread. When that happens, I say post when you start reading one, post while you read, post when you finish, post if you need ideas.

[Lee]

I propose we add an "outer space" zone for stories that take place off-planet.

[A.L.]

Lee wrote: "I propose we add an "outer space" zone for stories that take place off-planet."

I think that can be arranged! (And finding stories set in space might be easier than finding stories set in S. America or Africa.)

[Lucinda]

A.L. wrote: "Hello, Cindy! Glad to have you here! What genres are your favorites?

A great place to start is the Whitney Awards Website. The Whitneys are an awards program for novels by LDS authors, so the boo..."

Can you add my book to that list? It's an LDS story set in Portugal so it fits the Fall challenge. Thanks!

[A.L.]

Your book is on the group bookshelf. (Is that what you were wondering?)

When we get closer to the fall challenge, I'll open up a new discussion topic. It should be fun brainstorming books that fit the different geographic locations!

[A.L.]

I think we'll take a break from challenges for a few months, but please let us know what fiction you're reading by LDS authors. You can post on the genre threads or here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Here are some plans for 2017 reading challenges:

February, March, and April: Read three Whitney finalists
Books can can be from any of the years, including the 2016 finalists that won't be announced until February 2017 (so academy members can count any reading they do as judges for the group challenge too).

Summer 2017: Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue
Something old: first published at least 10 years ago
Something new: first published in 2016 or 2017
Something borrowed: from a library, a friend, Amazon Prime, or Kindle Unlimited
Something blue: blue cover

[A.L.]

Does anyone have a good idea for some end-of-2017 group challenges?

One idea is to do another "try a new author" challenge. We can try two who are new to us, during October and November, and then finish off with a Christmas theme challenge in December.

Or we could try a cover color theme. Autumn colors for October and November, and Christmas colors for December.

And long term, does anyone have any interest in an alphabet-theme read for 2018? For it to work, it would probably last all year. One book for each letter of the alphabet, with either a word in the title or the author's name counting toward that letter. (Example: A, something by Traci Hunter Abramson; B, something by Stephanie Black; C, a title with Courting or Coming, etc.)

[Kristen]

I have done alphabet challenges several times. The hardest letters are always Q and X. That would be my worry are there lds authors with Q and X last names?

[A.L.]

Titles would count too. So we'd just have to read books with queen or quiet in the title. But the only X I'm finding is Xenocide by Orson Scott Card, and it's better to have more than one option (especially since that one's in a series, and not the first book).

We could throw out the alphabet challenge. Or we could make it easier by cutting it down--do 20 letters instead of 26. Or let everyone throw in a few wild cards. Or make exceptions for hard letters and let a character name or any letter in the title count for the more challenging letters.

[Charissa]

That sounds fun to me.

[Kristen]

I like that idea too. Alphabet challenges are one of my favorites actually. And a couple of wild cards could make it do able in this situation. At least three for q, x, and z. And maybe the top five people who finish first and don't used all of their wild cards could pick a requirement for your next challenge.

[A.L.]

I like the idea of an incentive for being one of the first to finish the alphabet challenge. I'll donate an Amazon gift card as a prize. And I bet we can get a few authors to offer some books as prizes so that we can have several winners. (And hopefully it will be a lot of fun, even if you aren't one of the first to complete the challenge, with or without wildcards.)

In the mean time, anyone is welcome to suggest ideas for other challenges. Any interest in another challenge or two to finish out 2017?

[Charissa]

Incentives sound fun. I'm in. I can't think of anything for the end of the year since it gets busy, so I think we should just plan for January to kick off the alphabet challenge to last the whole year. Would you do other challenges (smaller ones) at the same time, and how would they work? Could you use the same books for both if they fit?

[A.L.]

Charissa wrote: "Incentives sound fun. I'm in. I can't think of anything for the end of the year since it gets busy, so I think we should just plan for January to kick off the alphabet challenge to last the whole y..."

A few smaller challenges might be fun, and perhaps less intimidating. I say if we do overlapping challenges, we let the book count toward both goals.

[A.L.]

Would anyone be interested in some mini-challenges? For example,

in February, read a novel or novella by an LDS author with a red or pink cover (in honor of Valentine's Day).

in March, read a novel or novella by an LDS author with a green cover (in honor of St. Patrick's Day).

Any books read could count toward the alphabet challenge too. Anyone want to participate?

[Mara]

Sounds like fun.

[Laura]

I'll try it.

[A.L.]

Great, Mara and Laura!

Here's a link to the challenge discussion: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[A.L.]

2019 is getting closer, and I'd love some suggestions on reading challenges. Here are a few ideas--please share your thoughts!

Read the rainbow challenge, where we read books based on the color of the cover:
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Black, White

Read through time challenge, where we read books set in certain time periods or speculative fiction genres, like:
1) Ancient history (anything prior to about 500 ad) OR horror/paranormal
2) Medieval (500 to 1500) OR epic fantasy
3) Age of Exploration (1500-1800) OR a fairy tale retelling
4) 1800s OR steampunk
5) 1900s OR sci-fi
6) contemporary OR dystopian

Reading scavenger hunt, where I pick some words and we read books with titles that include those words.

We could limit it to books written by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or do a point system again where anything counts, but you get more points for novels by LDS authors. Any preferences?

[Connie]

Any of these three sound great! I’m pretty much up for anything as I just love to read! 😉

[Mara]

Sounds like fun.

[Katrina]

I think any of these challenges sound good. I would suggest doing a point system again where you get more points for novels by LDS authors.

[Cindy]

One of my goals is to read more in 2019. So I am game for anything but I am currently reading Gerald Lund Work & Wonder but the holidays have side tracked me. Looking forward to 2019.

[A.L.]

Here's the challenge for the first six months of 2019: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...