2025 Reading Challenge discussion
ARCHIVE 2016
>
Create a Third Quarter Challenge
date
newest »
newest »
My idea is called Hogwarts Professors. Harry Potter is a global phenomenon and 2016 sees the release of a play and the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie. So, as you read books in Quarter 3, find authors who would make a good teacher of the following subjects:
- Transfiguration
- Defence Against the Dark Arts
- Charms
- Potions
- History of Magic
- Divination
- Care of Magical Creatures
- Herbology
- Astronomy
- Ancient Runes
Example:
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking as Astronomy Professor
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell as Care of Magical Creatures Professor
I hope this makes sense. I thought it would be different to have an author based challenge and it might encourage readers to try new authors. If you need any more information, I'd be happy to clarify :)
I would have held on to my I seriously need to finish this series challenge had I known about this. Off to the drawing board I go
Men or Women in Uniform challengeThe goal is to read as many novels that feature men or women in uniform as you’d like. It can be a policeman, firefighter, paramedic, doctor, veterinarian, mechanic, Army, Navy, Marine Corp., etc.
Books can be any genre (contemporary romance, fiction, non-fiction, etc.).
Novellas that are at least 100 pages in length, as well as full-length novels, will count for this reading challenge.
Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.
I love my romance novels and thrillers so this is just an excuse to read more romance and murders for me!
Alliterative Appellatives Books can be any genre, fiction or nonfiction, but the titles need to be alliterations, not including articles, conjunctions, or two letter prepositions, but no more than 2 worlds that aren't in the alliteration, For example Pride and Prejudice, or Love's Labor Lost. The title must have no more than two Books should be at least 100 pages.
Bonus points for people who find a title for every letter of the alphabet, and if the alliteration is for Q, X or Z, you may have a book under 100 pages.
Re-reads and crossovers from other challenges are allowed.
I like the idea of reading books of the same colour. I'm always attracted to blue. for example. all the light We Can see. swimming home. also. people that are in water. that's sweet good one else too.
Within the spirit of the celebration of the 10k members, the goal would be to read any 10 books (any genre, minimum of 100 pages, fiction only):1. Within a series that has 10 or more books
2. By an author who has written more than 10 books
Gabriella wrote: "Within the spirit of the celebration of the 10k members, the goal would be to read any 10 books (any genre, minimum of 100 pages, fiction only):1. Within a series that has 10 or more books
2. By ..."
I like that idea Gabriella.
Following on Gabriella's idea, how about a challenge that requires us to read 10,000 pages in one quarter, from 10 different genres. It could be 1,000 pages per genre, or people could read more or less in each genre.Another idea, since we're celebrating a milestone, read books that include celebrations of some victory or achievement.
One final idea, since this is about making a certain "number", read books that either have numbers in them, are about numbers, or are in a series (#1 to whatever). At least 10 different items since we are celebrating reaching a goal of 10k.
I like, but I don't think it should have to be fiction, I like biographies
TKC (ten k challenge) I think read a book who's author or title begins with a letter from the words TEN THOUSAND
My idea for a quarterly challenge is a game of Snakes and Ladders to clear some books from our TBR.You use 2 dice to roll, and then move along the game board tackling the task you land on. There would be 60 squares. Climb up the ladders and slide down the snakes. We all start at square 1. You have 3 months to reach the end (Square 60).
You would use the square you land on to read a book that matches.
For example, if you land on square 12 you could read:
- the 12th book on your TBR (sorted by date added)
- a book with the number 12 in the title
- a book with 12 characters in the author's surname
- a book that is 12th in a series
- a book with a "12" in the number of pages
I would also have some other tasks on special squares which would offer an additional task to choose from, like:
- Sort your TBR by author's last name and read the 10th book listed
- Compare books with a Goodreads friend and pick a book from your TBR that your friend has read and rated 3 or more stars
The only strict rule is that the books must come from your TBR.
I will put together a board :)
Since we are celebrating a milestone, my idea involves books that have or will hit milestones in 2016.Examples-
Interview with the Vampire is celebrating 40 years since its original publication date this year.
The Other Boleyn Girl was first published 15 years ago
Given time I can come up with more examples but those are just two off the top of my head.
Milestones could also include authors who are celebrating milestone birthdays and/or anniversaries in 2016.
Beverly Cleary turned 100 earlier this year.
Margaret wrote: "My idea for a quarterly challenge is a game of Snakes and Ladders to clear some books from our TBR.You use 2 dice to roll, and then move along the game board tackling the task you land on. There ..."
So. Beyond. Productive!!!!
My jaw is on the floor. It sounds extremely exciting. It would be so fun to print the print out, or follow some kind of easy guideline.
Like, ok say there's a board/sheet with 60 squares, if you (mods) gave us the list and a print out, then we'd incorporate the dice on our own free will. I dunno, that probably didn't make sense but I'm trying to figure something out that would be a lot smoother in how the readers would want to follow the game, with their set goal within the Quarter, and how (even myself) would be committed and follow it through since in the past (from what I have seen) a lot of the challenges are lists we fill in.
I have discovered some wonderful books by looking at the "Readers Also Enjoyed" suggestions on the right of a book's Goodreads page. As a challenge, discover more books that you love by reading a new-to-you book that is a Goodreads suggestion based on books you have rated with 4 or 5 stars. For example, I gave 4 stars to Cinder, and I see that Goodreads has 18 different books to recommend based on that. It turns out I have already read 2 of them, and I liked those, too, so I have a lot of confidence that I'll find another good one in their remaining 16 recommendations. If we do this as part of a challenge, goals could be to read suggestions based on any books you gave 4 or 5 stars, or read suggestions only within a certain genre, or allow yourself only 1 suggestion per author or per genre -- whatever you decide would be a good challenge for you.
These are all awesome challenge ideas! Thank you for submitting them.
I have SO many ideas! Here are my favorites that might be good for a Quarterly or Monthly Challenge:THE NAME GAME -- Title of the book contains a person's name. It can be first or last, real or fictional. Of course, a kabillion biographies and memoirs will work here, but look at your shelf and you'll spot plenty of fiction titles too: A Man Called Ove, Finding Jake, Sarah's Key, Miller's Valley, The Last Painting of Sara de Vos, My Name is Lucy Barton, Anne of Green Gables...
PERFECT PAIRS -- Read two books about the same subject by different authors, preferably a fiction and a non-fiction. This is easier than it initially seems. How hard would it be to find two books about Chicago, or horses, or Anne Boleyn, or autism...?
ARMCHAIR TRAVELS -- Read books set in different countries, or different regions/states of your own country.
GETTING TO KNOW YOU -- Read books about characters who have a different race, or religion, or political affiliation, or career... than you do.
WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE -- Read books that prominently feature a body of water: sea, lake, river, etc.
HE, SHE, ME -- Book titles include any pronoun.
I also love Karin's Alliterative Appellatives suggestion.
Hey Kristal! Thanks for all of the ideas. We will definitely consider suggestions from this topic for other monthly or quarterly challenges, even if they don't win the poll.For the poll, though, can you pick your favorite/best idea for us to vote on?
Cassandra wrote: "Hey Kristal! Thanks for all of the ideas. We will definitely consider suggestions from this topic for other monthly or quarterly challenges, even if they don't win the poll.For the poll, though, ..."
I've only been a member of this group for a month or two, so don't know if you've done any in the past that were similar to my suggestions. I guess my fave is THE NAME GAME, if it's not too common?
A couple of them are similar to yearly challenges we're currently running, but The Name Game one pairs pretty well with one of them (A-Z Character Edition).
Margaret's idea sounds super fun, but is a bit too long for a quarterly challenge. It won't be going in the poll, but we have plans for it for next year.Keep the ideas rolling! :)
I am only new here too - so not sure if this is a challenge you've done before.I suggest the "Ten" challenge (since we are celebrating 10k members). This involves putting a dent in our to-be-read lists.
The challenge categories:
On your My Books page, go to your To-Read shelf and scroll to the bottom of the page where you'll see "sort" with a drop down box next to it; do the following...
in ascending order:
1. Sort by Title and read the 10th book down on your list.
2. Sort by Author and read the 10th book down on your list.
3. Sort by Number of pages and read the 10th book down on your list.
4. Sort by Date Added and read the 10th book down on your list.
5. Sort by Random and read the 10th book down on your list.
In descending order:
6. Sort by Title and read the 10th book down on your list
7. Sort by Author and read the 10th book down on your list.
8. Sort by Average rating and read the 10th book down on your list.
9. Sort by Date Added and read the 10th book down on your list.
10. Sort by Random and read the 10th book down on your list.
Chloe wrote: "I suggest the "Ten" challenge (since we are celebrating 10k members). This involves putting a dent in our to-be-read..."Love this idea Chloe!! I need all the help I can get to clear my TBR.
Chloe, your ten challenge has my vote. It's great!
Another idea I had for a challenge was using the shelves of members to meet particular goals.There are 10 goals to meet, and you need to find a book on a member's shelf that has been read and rated 3 stars or more that meets that goal and read it.
Example of the goals could be:
1. New to you author
2. A book by an author you have read
3. A book from a member's shelf who has the same first initial as you.
4. A book from your favourite genre
5. A book read in 2014
etc.
A good way for all us 10K members to connect :)
The only issue is that to participate the members have to have their shelves "public" and I am not sure if everyone is/would be happy to do this? So this challenge may not work. Or we could limit it to the mods shelves?
Chloe wrote: "I am only new here too - so not sure if this is a challenge you've done before.I suggest the "Ten" challenge (since we are celebrating 10k members). This involves putting a dent in our to-be-read..."
Great idea, Chloe!
How about reading four trilogies because it's the third (3) quarter (4).
If you did colors (someone suggested that, I think) you should do red, brown, orange, and yellow since those are fall colors.
Chloe, I love your idea!Margaret, another fantastic idea!
You all are so creative!
Chloe wrote: "I am only new here too - so not sure if this is a challenge you've done before.I suggest the "Ten" challenge (since we are celebrating 10k members). This involves putting a dent in our to-be-read..."
whooooooa that's amazing! You blew my mind a little, lol! I never though of that. I love it!
10,000 Challenge1. 10,000 Maniacs are a United States-based multi-platinum alternative rock band, formed in 1981,that continue to perform and release music. Read a book that is alternative – or not your usual or traditional – reading style. Horror, poetry, non-fiction …
2. 10,000 dollar bill Although they are still technically legal tender in the United States, high-denomination bills were last printed on December 27, 1945, and officially discontinued on July 14, 1969, supposedly due to 'lack of use'. Read a book you haven’t read in a while or a book you should have read a long time ago. Bonus if the book is over 100 years old!
3. 10,000 steps a day has long been thought of as a good fitness goal – 10,000 steps is supposed to equal close to 5 miles (depends on your stride length). Read a book from your To Be Read list or from one of your goals (challenges) for the year.
4. 10,000 waves is a Spa/hot springs resort in New Mexico. Read a book that is your guilty pleasure or considered a fun/relaxing read.
5. 10,000 reasons is an album by worship artist Matt Redman. Read a book where character/characters are influenced by their religious beliefs.
6. 10,000 B.C. is a 2008 movie a sweeping odyssey into a mythical age of prophesies and gods, when spirits rule the land and mighty mammoths shake the earth. Read a book with any of these themes: prophesies, gods, spirits ruling the land, mighty mammoths or read a book about the earth shaking/has an earthquake.
7. 10,000 – Ten Thousand Villages creates opportunities for artisans in developing countries to earn income by bringing their products and stories to markets through long-term, fair trading relationships. Read a book set in a country other than where you live.
8. 10,000 lakes – Minnesota is known as the land of 10,000 lakes. Read a book that takes place near or on a lake. Bonus if it takes place in Minnesota!
9. 10,000 Women is a Goldman Sachs initiative to provide a business and management education to underserved female entrepreneurs in developing countries. Read a book that has a women as a CEO or position of power.
Chloe wrote: "I am only new here too - so not sure if this is a challenge you've done before.I suggest the "Ten" challenge (since we are celebrating 10k members). This involves putting a dent in our to-be-read..."
I am super in love with this idea! I decided to play with it and see what books I'd end up with if we did this challenge! There's good stuff on my TBR list I forgot about!
My suggestion: Gender Bender - Match every book by a male author with one by a female author (and vice versa). If you can pick two in the same genre, it gets even more interesting. I recommend at least 3 picks. So that gives you 6 books to read and a good number to draw opinions from. I did this as a personal challenge last year (50:50) and it was fun!
Happy reading :)
A simple one would be to create a bingo sheet. Then you either roll two dice or find an app that will randomly select one of the letters and a number. Or the group leader could pre-choose the order. So for example, if you want to read three books you read the books that correlate to B4, O1, G2 and if you want to read five books you read those three plus the next two that were selected G3, I4 (for example). You also don't have to use the word bingo, you could choose something more festive.
The sheet would be premade by a group member and you just choice how many you want to read.
An example of a board could be:
B1: Banned book
B2: Canadian Author
B3: Translated Book
I1:Historical Fiction
I2: Fantasy
I3: Based in Europe
N1:Sci-Fi
N2: Purple cover
N3: Bottom of TBR
Sorry it isn't actually in table format, apparently I am not as tech savvy as I used to be.
The sheet would be premade by a group member and you just choice how many you want to read.
An example of a board could be:
B1: Banned book
B2: Canadian Author
B3: Translated Book
I1:Historical Fiction
I2: Fantasy
I3: Based in Europe
N1:Sci-Fi
N2: Purple cover
N3: Bottom of TBR
Sorry it isn't actually in table format, apparently I am not as tech savvy as I used to be.
Word Play Challenge I am sure you all have played a version of this game at one point. One person starts by choosing a word & the next person changes one letter to make a different word! Well I propose to do the same thing with book titles. To make things a little easier you
may;
* Add or subtract - You may add or delete a word as long as only one of the other words changes.
* ChangeForm - You may use different forms of a word as if they were equal. (Example: Elephant Run to Caught Running)
*SwitchOrder - You may switch the order of the words when selecting the next. (Example: almost moon to New Moon)
*Repeat - You may repeat the word you exchange in the next row.
Expanded - You may use the author name of a book read in addition to the titles. Word order may be suspended surrounding author entries. (Example: Black Beauty to Shayla Black to Claiming Shayla)
I was thinking since 3rd quarter is summer (at least for me) that we could do a summer themed challenge where you spell out a summer word with book titles for example you could spell out BEACH or ICE CREAM or whatever summer-related word.
I really like the challenges already suggested, even more than the one I'll propose now. But I still like my idea enough to share it!The Book Cipher Challenge
As most of you will know, book ciphers were used to send secret messages. The Arnold Cipher used numbers to mark out the page, line and word in a specific book.
My challenge would work like this:
1. You pick your favourite book of all time (it must have at least 200 pages).
2. In that book, you seek out the words given by the cipher (cipher info to follow).
3. You find book titles with the words the cipher gave you, and read those books (you can choose if you take any word, even "the" or "a", or be stricter ;)
Cipher:
I have two different ways to get a cipher:
1. I'm giving you a cipher for 12 words here, the numbers are taken from one of Arnold's coded messages (from July 12, 1780):
120, 9, 7
105, 9, 5
175, 9, 7
103, 8, 11
172, 8, 7
56, 9, 8
149, 8, 7
84, 8, ,9
23, 8, 10
111, 9, 13
44, 8, 9
87, 8, 7
The first number is the page, the second the line, the third the word.
Benedict Arnold is considered a traitor by many, and I mainly took his cipher, because it takes pages, lines and WORDS, instead of letters, or other.
2. You can also make up your own codes, by picking a number in between specific numbers (e.g. with a random number generator).
E.g. you are reading a book with 600 pages, you might pick a number between 1 and 600, then mostly numbers between 1-30 for lines, and 1-15 for words (depending on font size).
This can be extended to a challenge with a friend, if you either both know the book you are using as a "key", and your friend can choose specific words to challenge you, packaging the challenge in a cipher.
Or, both of you do not know the book used as key by the other one, and just give each other random numbers, or you use the same numbers but for different books.
2025 Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Cinder (other topics)Interview with the Vampire (other topics)
The Other Boleyn Girl (other topics)
A Brief History of Time (other topics)
My Family and Other Animals (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Beverly Cleary (other topics)Stephen Hawking (other topics)
Gerald Durrell (other topics)
Duration: May 1 - May 31, 2016
While we always take your ideas into account when we pick or create challenges, this is your opportunity to create a challenge for the 2016 Reading Challenge members to do next quarter. Challenge creators choose a theme and create the challenge around that theme. You can choose any theme that inspires you. Quarterly challenges often have 10-12 options for members to select from or work through, or can be more open-ended.
Here are some past quarterly challenges to give you some ideas:
Sharon's Spring Challenge - the winner from the create-a-challenge activity
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
The Hunger Games
The challenge winner will be selected by group members by voting on a challenge poll. All third quarter challenge entries must be posted by May 31. The poll will take place during the first two weeks of June.
We look forward to seeing all of your creative ideas. Good luck!