2017 Reading Challenge discussion
2017 Reading Challenge
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2017 Reading Challenge - at last!
Sorry but this seems a bit complicated and really not a challenge at all. It's almost like asking you to read any book you want. Where's the challenge in that?I appreciate you have put time and effort in this but it needs to be more structured and tighter. i.e less to choose from. I have 60 books on my TBR shelf and each one would fit at least two of these categories.
I'm going to have to have a serious think about whether I will be doing it this year. Sorry. Just my opinion.
The only issue I see with an extremely large list like this is this, I joined this group so I could connect with others reading the same categories as myself. If people are reading whatever they want from this huge list, it will be harder to find connections with people. Thank you for compiling the list, I know it took you some time and for that I am very grateful. I'm thinking I will just stick to the list I recommended which is included in your categories. Many blessings and happiness always to everyone for 2017 ! Happy Reading!
Chris and Amanda - This is very similar to the rules or way we did it last year. It is about challenging yourself to read books within these categories as well as stepping outside of your normal comfort zone. The connections come when you can't find a book for a category then go to the individual category posts to find suggestions and discussions. Anne - AMAZING list!!! I was thinking about not doing 2017 challenge but these topics are going to really keep me going!! Thanks.
I've done the challenge the last two years and I'm familiar with how it works. I'm just saying it seems a bit broad and in the past we connected on the same challenge topics, we didn't just choose from 100+.
Mod
I appreciate you have put time and e..."
You're welcome to join a different challenge group. There are plenty out there and I'm sure there's another that would better suit your needs.
Part of the fun of this group is that it's low pressure. Over the last two years I noticed that there were particular frustrations about certain categories and people's inability to finish the challenge, which led to different levels and different approaches.
When I asked for volunteers to take over in August, only one person stepped up. It so happened that both she and I were very busy with personal things and unable to put in the hours of time it takes to organize the challenge.
Stephanie Uncensored wrote: "Chris and Amanda - This is very similar to the rules or way we did it last year. It is about challenging yourself to read books within these categories as well as stepping outside of your normal co..."If you mean this year (2016) when you say last year I also did, and am still doing, the challenge and I disagree, it is not similar. There are fewer categories this year and as stated it does not feel like a challenge when the categories are too many. I'm with Amanda on this one.
I am not slating Anne's or anybody else's efforts I am merely stating that it is not bringing me out of my comfort zone, which is what I want when doing a challenge such as this.
I like the challenge and its flexibility. I'm going to do the 25 from the Odds and Ends portion (A Book About Slavery is entered twice). Some of these overlap in other challenges so I think that I can complete this challenge easily. Thank you for getting the challenge together, Anne.
Anne wrote: "You're welcome to join a different challenge group. There are plenty out there and I'm sure there's another that would better suit your needs. "Thank you, Anne. I am aware of that, hence in my OP I stated that I was unsure of whether I was doing the challenge this year.
It isn't a personal dig. It is merely my opinion, which I thought was the whole point of these book clubs.
I love it thank you!! I read 140 books this year thanks to the encouragement and recommendations from this group. Looking forward to this year! Thanks to the admin that made this possible.
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Thank you, Anne. I am aware of that, h..."
Fair enough. :-)
It's been a crappy year. Especially the last couple of weeks. Not that other people haven't had a crappy year either... I'm just short on everything at the moment.
I appreciate your opinion, and I also believe that anybody can take the categories and make of them what they will. An easy challenge or a difficult challenge. Everybody approaches it a bit differently.
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Fixed it! The travails of copy&past (and so close together). Thanks!
I think the list is great and the time and effort is greatly appreciated. Anyone who feels this particular format doesn't fit their needs or is looking for something different can simply choose not to participate rather than post unappreciative or unnecessary "feedback". Having a lot of categories is an awesome way to force you to work outside of your comfort zone and find books to fit those categories, some that you might not have thought of. I had books last year that fit more than one category but as you start working through the topics you realize you need to move things around or what not. Then I had books that I wanted to read but couldn't find a category to fit it in, and it bothered me to use a wildcard because I felt like I was taking the easy way out. I made some great connections with people and wasn't even as active as I had liked to be, so I'm sure it won't be a problem this year for those who wish to be active in discussions and such. If I'm not mistaken, I think several people requested more of a variety of categories and many expressed their dislike of some of the categories so I think Anne & Natalia took this into consideration and did a very nice job. Thank you both again for your time and effort and I hope 2017 is a better year (I too had a horrible 2016 so you have my empathy....seems it was a bad year for way too many). :)
Cristine wrote: "...can simply choose not to participate rather than post unappreciative or unnecessary "feedback"Maybe you should re-read what I posted. I never said I didn't appreciate the time and effort put in. I very much do. People take time out from their busy schedules to organise and think about these things and it can be hard work. This is evident from the fact that no-one wanted to do it.
All I said was that I felt that the list was too long and complicated for some. As a member of this forum I may give any "feedback" I wish. What you may think is "unnecessary" others may think is both helpful and correct. I've noticed a lot of people have opted out of doing it this year so maybe my "feedback" was not so unnecessary after all. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. The world does not revolve around just one person. I have also had a crappy year but tend not to broadcast it to people I do not know.
Anyway, good luck with the challenge!
I'm new to the group and find it refreshing to have a huge list and no pressure. Reading is supposed to be fun, not a chore.
Good luck to everyone and happy reading.
Good luck to everyone and happy reading.
I will pull categories from this list, my favorites from last year's challenge, and from the Popsugar list. Once I have my parameters set I can chose the books that'll fit each category.Thanks for creating this list!
Great list, thank you! Im keen to get started....
What I did last year was compare this forum's list with the PopSugar list. I noticed that PopSugar kind of did a two level this year...like this forum did. I will most likely do the full PopSugar, and look at this one for some fun ones to help decrease my TBR pile. Thanks for the hard work, the suggestions, and the interesting categories. I am hoping it will be a fun year of reading!
The plan for 2017:I suggested a number of the categories but thought that perhaps they would just be considered. So with that said, I will go for at least 25 with my personal goal to be 36. I read 32 books even though I started late in 2016. I joined 3 (one on line) book clubs which helped but those selections did not necessarily fit the categories, so I never got my categories completed.
That said, it was fun just to try to find books in the categories.
It will be more fun to take all these categories and put some books in them though, of course, I am not going to try to find books for all the categories. Thank you for your hard work and organizing work in the future.
Anne, I love the list. I joined the 2016 challenge with the goal of finding new genres and meeting new people. It was great, although I found the list too confining. The 2017 list offers a much larger window of selections. Looking forward to reading in 2017 and perusing the comments for suggestions. It will be delightful to see what each person adds to each category. :-) Thank you.
Mod
I'm glad that so many of you are happy with the list. It's great to hear how each of you are tailoring the challenge to meet your own needs. I'm already thinking of books I have here at home that I'll be reading in the first days of 2017, and how they'll fit into the list.
Cheers!
OK I'm new tho this so I have a question that may seem obvious.....where do I find the link that lets me put in how many books I want to read for 2017?? Like the 2016 that is on the site.....
I think it'll be available in 2017 if I remember correctly.
This is confusing. On the 2016 we could pick from our list of books which one we wanted to read and put down the number of books we wanted to try to read for the year. I don't even know how I was able to find this site. I guess I went under widgets of my 2016 challenge. My question is why couldn't you keep the format the same, so if we just wanted to go by the books we are reading we could do the challenge that way. I don't know if I will do the challenge this year. I will probably just keep a spreadsheet of the books I read.
I'm just going to read the books from my extensive reading list. Hope that's okay! :)
That is something I would like to do too. How do we keep track of the books from our reading list t hat we have. I wonder how we add those books like we did in the challenge of 2016. Weant to read, read
hi all.This is my first challenge.will be choosing the odds and ends list.
Mod
Mod
Absolutely! I think a lot of us read what we want, then see where it fits in the list.
If you want to choose topics at random, you could number each one from 1 to 100 (or however many cateories there are) then ask a randomiser to choose a category number for you.There's a randomiser here.. just enter the lowest and highest number and click Enter.
Mod
There's a randomise..."
That's a great idea!
I love this format and am excited about this challenge! Thanks for putting this together.
Super list.If folks want to make it more challenging for themselves, they should maybe choose to:
- read only female authors
- read only persons-of color authors
- only authors from countries other than where they live
- read books in a language which is not your first language
Etc.
It's as challenging as you want it to be.
Mod
I look forward to seeing what everybody reads this year.
HAVE FUN!!!
I just want to say, thanks to the organizers for their hard work! I checked before Christmas, and not seeing any updates, I decided on my own to repeat the same challenge as 2016. I didn't complete last year's challenge for various reasons, but I loved the categories, so I decided to keep the same books on my list that I didn't read last year. I eliminated a few categories and added a few more wild card slots because I want to really dig into my collection of writing, productivity, and self-help books, and the wild card category helps with that.Happy reading, everyone!
Anne wrote: "Okay - there should now be a discussion thread started for each category! I look forward to seeing what everybody reads this year.
HAVE FUN!!!"
THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR HARD WORK!
Annerlee wrote: "If you want to choose topics at random, you could number each one from 1 to 100 (or however many cateories there are) then ask a randomiser to choose a category number for you.There's a randomise..."
You are a genius!!! Great idea!
Are we allowed to double dip? Because some books fit in more than one category.
Will there be folders for each category? Last year, I enjoyed going to the category folder and reading what others selected for the category. This offered a great opportunity to discover new books and authors.
Mod
Sure! It's up to you. :-)
Mod
Unfortunately, no. Goodreads only allows 100 folders, and no folders within folders. If you're curious what other people are reading, take a quick skim through the discussion thread for that category. People are already sharing their suggestions and the books that they've finished. I'm sure they'll fill up quick! It's not quite as handy as scanning the folder titles, but it's nice to see what people have to say about their choices for the different categories.
This looks like fun and will help me reach my goal of 100 books for the Goodreads Challenge. Can't wait to get started. :)
Thank you, Anne. These challenges are so much fun for me, and I appreciate your taking the time to work a new one up for us. This will be fun. Thanks and happy new year!
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have fun!
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Hi Cyndy! Thanks for asking about a 2018 challenge. I am not up for putting one together this year, but I encourage everyone else to go for it. I suppose I should make a proper post about it.
Thanks for asking and reminding me!
Anne wrote: "Hi Cyndy! Thanks for asking about a 2018 challenge. I am not up for putting one together this year, but I encourage everyone else to go for it...."I wish I had the energy. :-)
Mod
I hear ya!
Here's the Pop Sugar challenge:
https://www.popsugar.com/entertainmen...
No energy needed - haha!
I think I'm just going to set a number of books to read next year, and go with that rather than trying to read in categories. There are just so many things I want to read!
Challenge levels - 25, 50 and 50+ books, you choose which one is for you along with the categories you want from a list of over 100 categories. No wild cards.
I was thinking to limit the list to 100 categories, but there are have been so many great suggestions (and I'm sorry if I've missed yours, I will probably add a few more in the early days as I go back over the suggestions). I believe that that goal in these reading challenges is to read "outside the box" and that's different for all of us. For some of us, we're trying to read books about topics or in genres we wouldn't normally read. Others of us may be going for the number of books read, but still want to vary what we read. The following list should meet the needs of everyone, and still allow us to ignore the categories we really hate! Haha. My hope is that you all continue to have fun and find your personal success with the challenge.
Here then is a rather long list of categories. I can't promise that there aren't duplicates that I've missed, or that some categories might seem exactly like others. Let me know if you catch something egregious (or just pretend you didn't notice). There should be a bit of something for everyone here!
Read books either published during or that takes place in the following time periods:
Book from the 1500’s
Book from the 1600’s
Book from the 1700’s
Book from the 1800’s
Book from 1900-1909
Book from 1910-1919
Book from 1920’s
Book from 1930’s
Book from 1940’s
Book from 1950’s
Book from 1960’s
Book from 1970’s
Book from 1980’s
Book from 1990’s
Different kinds of people and the things they do
A book with a villain
A book with a hero
A book about a person that inspires you
A book by a comedian
A book with a character with a job similar to your own
A book about a family
A book about children
A book with an eccentric character
A book about an artist or art
A book about teachers or teaching
A book about pilots or flying
A book about dancers or dancing
A book about actors or the theatre
A book about athletes or sports
A book about fishing or fisherman
A book about ministry or ministers
A book about computers or computing people
A book about inventors
A book about farmers or farming
A book about lawyers or the law and application of the law
A book about writers or writing
A book about explorers or exploration
A book about policing or detection and related
A book about housekeeping or housekeepers
A book about politicians
A book about military people
A book about investigators
A book about collecting or collectors
A book about journalists or journalism
A book about environmentalists
A book about scientists
A book either by or about someone notorious
A book with a child narrator
Genres and Topics
A funny book
A crime novel
A mystery
A psychological thriller
A classic romance
A modern romance
A book about the outdoors
A holiday book
A horror or creepy book
A memoir/biography/autobiography
A religious book
A book of poems
African American literature
YA novel
A classic
A paranormal book (vampires, werewolves, ghosts, etc.)
A dystopian novel
A graphic novel
A play
A self-help book
A science fiction novel
Historical fiction
A book about health or medicine
A psychology book
A book based on a true story
A book of short stories
A gothic novel
A neo-fairy tale
A chick-lit book
A philosophical novel
A fantasy
A non-fiction book
A book about science
A book about war (or set during a war)
A book with/about animals
A book about slavery
A steampunk novel
A travel book
A book about a well-know bad event (ex: holocaust, salem witch trials, west baptist)
A book about books
A book involving a trial
A book with LGBT theme
A book about mental illness
A book about friendship
Odds & Ends
A book with a food in the title
A staff pick from a library or bookstore
The last book on your Goodreads TBR
A book cover that's your favorite color
A book you found in a thrift store
A book with a season in the title
A book with pictures
A book becoming a movie in 2017
A book by your favorite author
A book about a difficult topic
A NYT bestseller (any year)
A book that covers a character’s lifespan
A beach read
A book that’s under 150 pages
A book that’s over 500 pages
A book you never read from your childhood
A book with an interesting title
A book that was free
A book published this year (2017)
A book with a number in the title
A book with a color in the title
A book with a one-word title
A book with a three-word title
A book set in a different country
A debut novel
A book from an author you love that you haven’t read yet
A book recommended to you
A Pulitzer Prize-winning book
A Man Booker prize winner
An award winning book (any award!)
A book that scares you
A book with antonyms in the title
A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit
A book set in the future
A book with magic
A book by an author you’ve never read before
A book you own but have never read
A book that was originally written in a different language
A book written by an author with your same initials
A controversial book
A book for professional development (for you)
A book written by someone born the same year as you
A book with a month name in the title
A book set in your favorite season
A book everyone is reading aka cult novel
A book about a different culture
A book published the year you graduated high school
A book that you can’t stop thinking about afterwards
A book that you disliked but finished
A book that teaches something
An audio book