Motif Reading Monthly Challenge

[[deleted user]]

Now I understand that it is already February. So I figured we can start there. :)

JANUARY – Diversify Your Reading
Kick the reading year off right and shake things up. Read a book with a character (or written by an author) of a race, religion, or sexual orientation other than your own.

FEBRUARY – Undercover Thriller
Read a book involving spies, detectives, private investigators, or a character in disguise.

MARCH – Time Traveler
Read a book set in a different dimension, a book in which time travel is involved or a dystopian or science fiction book where reality looks very different than what we’re used to.

APRIL – Award Winners
Read a book that has won a literary award or a book written by an author who has been recognized in the bookish community.

MAY – Book to Movie or Audio
Read a book that has a movie based off of it. For an extra challenge, see the movie or listen to the audio book as well.

JUNE – Destination Unknown
Read a book in which the character(s) take a trip, travel somewhere, go on a quest, or find themselves on a journey toward something.

JULY – Believe the Unbelievable
This month it’s all about fantasy. Epic fantasy, urban fantasy, fairytales, magic, etc.

AUGUST – Seasons, Elements, & Weather
Read a book in which the season, the elements, or the weather plays a role in the story.

SEPTEMBER – Creepy, Chilling, & Frightful
Cozy mystery ghost stories, paranormal hauntings, murder mysteries, weird and scary creatures- it’s up to you!

OCTOBER– Games, Challenges, & Contests
Read a book that involves a game of some sort. Video games, war games, psychological mess-with-your-mind games, characters who participate in a contest, or a story in which the character takes on a challenge.

NOVEMBER – Last Chance
Read a book you’ve been meaning to get to all year but haven’t yet or read the last book in a series you started.

DECEMBER – Picking Favorites
Read a book by one of your favorite authors or read a book that Booktastic Bookaholic has recommended this year.

Now what I want to know is what book everyone is reading. Anyone reading the same books? Thoughts? Ratings?

[R.J.]

I plan to read this

[Christina]

I happened to read a book in January that fit the theme for that month. It was Children of Eden. The main character had a different sexual orientation than me. The idea behind the book was really interesting (the earth has pretty much been destroyed and the remaining survivors are living on limited resources, so a limit of one child per family has been demanded. This is the story of a hidden second child.) The writing however, just did not really do it for me. It seemed like the author wanted less to write a story and more to repeatedly (and I mean repeatedly) point out their views about different topics. Including controversial subjects in books is great. Books are a fantastic way to approach these subjects. And I'm not holding issues with any of the opinions he expressed. But it just seemed super forced and it's like he tried to cover ALL of them, as much as possible, anywhere that he could squeeze it. So it stopped the flow of the story and just ended up feeling like I was watching an interesting movie with a person sitting next to me giving me their opinion every 30 seconds. Four stars for idea. Like, two stars for execution.

[[deleted user]]

That type of book would have frustrated me if it was more of his views on things and not really on the story itself. Lol. But that's just me.

[Christina]

Leela wrote: "That type of book would have frustrated me if it was more of his views on things and not really on the story itself. Lol. But that's just me."

Trust me it did. By the end of the book I can give you the author's opinion on guns, fossil fuels, eating meat, the glbt issue, recycling and pollution, religion, the government, police, etc etc etc.

[Christina]

The closest I came to the February challenge was Magic Bites. The book is about a merc who deals with magical "issues". She discovers her guardian has been murdered and begins and investigation to find his killer. She is not undercover so I'm not 100% sure this counts. The book was pretty good. I feel like I was kind of thrown into a world where I don't understand all the rules (like whether magic or technology is in charge at any given time and what does and does not work in each instance) but that was my only real issue with the book and I could get past it well enough. I liked the characters and the story and will probably continue the series though it is not the highest on my list. I give it three, and it would have been four if not for the rules issue.

[Jessie]

For Feb, I read a manga called Sherlock Bones. Your probably know what Sherlock is all about so I won't explain.

[Christina]

For March I read Cruel Beauty, which I can't give too much detail on without ruining the story for those who may be interested. But it involves time travel, has a multiple dimension/inception kind of thing going on and looks completely different from our world though only this one place is going through a dystopian, life changing event, not the whole world. The book was good but I think the author left some ends loose and she didn't use all plot points to their full potential.

[Wendy]

So I guess I could use our BOTM Legend for March it is a Dystopian novel. Loved the characters and thought it was a very good book. Day was such and unselfish person and loved how he protected everyone that he cared about even it it could hurt or kill him.

[Christina]

Wendy wrote: "So I guess I could use our BOTM Legend for March it is a Dystopian novel. Loved the characters and thought it was a very good book. Day was such and unselfish person and loved how he..."
I really enjoyed that one as well.

[Christina]

Behind on posting here. For April I read The Giver: Library Edition, May was Room and I watched the movie as well, and for June I just finished The Hobbit. I greatly enjoyed all of these books.