Group Project: Making the 2019 Challenge More/Less Restrictive

[Pam]

For the book you’ve owned for over a year, my personal BIO is limiting it to a gift or a GR or FB giveaway.

[Pam]

For the entire challenge: Link each book, in whatever manner you choose, to the next book that you read!

[Nadine in NY]

Pam wrote: "For the entire challenge: Link each book, in whatever manner you choose, to the next book that you read!"

I am so tempted to try this, I've been thinking about it for months, but it just seems too challenging for me when put on top of all the other reading challenges I do.

[Chinook]

For the National Book award list, limit yourself to only winners or to one category only that is a stretch for you.

[Pam]

Nadine wrote: "Pam wrote: "For the entire challenge: Link each book, in whatever manner you choose, to the next book that you read!"

I am so tempted to try this, I've been thinking about it for months, but it ju..."

Nadine - I'm in the same boat! I may try to do it and see how it pans out. I got the idea from another group that has a challenge of reading books from different countries. The more difficult level of the challenge is to read ones that have a common border or access by water, like you are physically travelling. What I may try to do is link 4 at a time then start with another 4, and have a theme for each 4.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

For NBA, you can BIO by limiting it to winners or nominees from before 1970s (or some other date that would challenge you)

[Liz]

Pam, that sounds like such a fun/challenging idea.

[Tracy]

I'm just hoping for next year I can stick to my overachievers plans and actually finish everything I plan on finishing lol, I don't need it to be any more challenging than that.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

A book featuring an historical figure
KIS: Any historical fiction
BIO: Fiction that has a well-known historical figure as a protagonist

[Kathy]

A book where the author’s name contains A, T, and Y
BIO: A,T,Y in the last name only

[Rachelnyc]

Another BIO for historical figure can be limiting it to memoirs or biographies and/or prominent historical figures like a world leader or someone who truly affected history in some way.

[dalex]

A book featuring an historical figure

KIS: a book featuring a very well known historical figure (ie you can tell by the synopsis and/or title)
KIS: a book that is based on an historical figure without actually being that person (as in it follows their life story almost exactly but the character has a different name and/or it's not necessarily completely accurate)
BIO: a book featuring a not-so-well-known historical figure (ie you probably have to research to discover that the story is about a real person and/or it's not someone most people would recognize as being a real person from history)

[°~Amy~°]

List updated Sept. 17, 2018

I added all your great ideas and also came up with a BIO for the 5 money making genres prompt:

Must be a book considered a first or very early depiction of the chosen genre (ie. The Castle of Otranto- "first" gothis novel, Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded - "first" modern romance, etc)

[°~Amy~°]

We are getting near to the end of the voting so I am starting to think about how this list will transition into 2019. Once the official list is posted by the mods, I will make the necessary changes to this list to put it in order.

I think once the conversations for each topic is opened up it would be helpful to people if we cut and paste our ideas from here into those conversations. Does everyone agree with that or do you think it would be too confusing? It might help to eliminate the KIS/BIO designations and just present them as different ways to look at each topic? Does that even make sense? I am just thinking that many people will go into those topics but very few will find their way over here to this list and this list is fabulous so it would be nice to see it used to it's full potential. Thoughts?

[°~Amy~°]

One more thought: If Zaz is reading this, could you delete comment #3? Maybe cut and paste it into a new comment so it's not gone, just moved? I might have to stretch the list into another comment and if I use comment #4 (mine) then everything will remain in order.

Thank you!

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I think that's a great idea, Amy! You might even have a mod include it in the opening comment that contains all of the lists and resources that they suggest.

[Avery]

A book told from multiple perspectives
KIS: May be two different characters' perspectives.
KIS: May be same character but different timelines.
BIO: Both perspectives must be in first-person perspective.

A book you have owned for at least a year, but have not read yet
KIS: A book you've been wanting to read for over a year.
KIS: A book that's been on your library hold list for over a year.

A book with a dual timeline
BIO: Both timelines told from the same character's point of view.

A book with a strong sense of place or where the author brings the location/setting to life
KIS: A book with a fictional setting/location.
KIS: A city or country you want to travel to.
BIO: The setting/location literally comes to life (i.e. the trees are able to talk).

A book with a criminal character
KIS: A book where a character commits a crime.

A book by Shakespeare or inspired by Shakespeare
KIS: A book where the characters talk about or read a Shakespeare book.

[Kathy]

°~Amy~° wrote: "List updated Sept. 17, 2018

I added all your great ideas and also came up with a BIO for the 5 money making genres prompt:

Must be a book considered a first or very early depiction of the chosen ..."

Good idea, Amy. I might do this. Instead of just reading any old mystery.

[°~Amy~°]

Avery wrote: "BIO: The setting/location literally comes to life (i.e. the trees are able to talk).
...."

Avery, these are all great ideas but this BIO for a setting that literally comes to life is exceptional. Maybe a reread of Alice in Wonderland or The Wizard of Oz is in order? :-)

[Avery]

Haha those are good ideas! Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter came to mind when thinking about settings that are literally alive. I’m sure there are tons of other fantasy/children’s classics where settings come alive.

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

Deleting comment 3 and copying here:

Zaz wrote:

Some ideas:

- A book published in 2019
BIO - A debut book published in 2019

- 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #1 Something Old
KIS - A classic children book or a fairytale
BIO - An old book featuring an old character (grandmother, etc)

- 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #2 Something New
BIO - A recent book featuring a baby

- 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #3 Something Borrowed
BIO - A book with borrowed characters (kidnapping, switched kids, adoption, etc)

(I think this stuff gives some entertaining prompts, maybe we need longer categories as suggestions)

[°~Amy~°]

Thank you Laura :)

[Sarah]

BIO for author with two books on your TBR could be that the books have to be from two different genres

Or from an author you've never read before

I'm not sure if this makes it easier or harder but TV show could be it has to be on TV currently (i.e. no to True Blood but Poldark would work)

Or from a show you've never watched

[Avery]

Author with 2+ Books on TBR
KIS: A book by an author you've already read.
KIS: A book that has a sequel or is a continuation of a series.

TV/Movie
KIS: A book that has a TV/Movie adaptation.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

For the author multiple times on TBR, a KIS would be a book by an author you've already read (so they are featured on your TBR and Read lists).

For the TV/movie, a KIS could be a book for a movie/TV series that will be coming out soon (so not your favorite, but still related).

[Elise]

For TV/movie, a BIO option could be a book by an author who's written for a show or movie.

For example, HBO's The Wire had a few crime novelists among its writers, including Dennis Lehane.

[Anastasia]

That is a cool idea Elise.

[°~Amy~°]

I need to update the list with the suggestions for this last week but in the meantime, any thoughts for KIS/BIO for STEM?

[Avery]

°~Amy~° wrote: "I need to update the list with the suggestions for this last week but in the meantime, any thoughts for KIS/BIO for STEM?"

A book related to STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics)
KIS: A book where a character has an occupation or college major related to STEM.
KIS: A book with equations on the cover or in the text.
BIO: A book where the stem of a flower is shown on the cover.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

BIO: Covers multiple facets of STEM (for example, includes biology and technology)
KIS: A book about mental health (which could fall under biology)

[Ellie]

BIO for A book told from multiple perspectives:

A book with more than two narrators.

[°~Amy~°]

OK, I believe that we are all updated as of Friday Sept 28th at 2:30pm. Please let me know if I have missed anything. :-)

I just checked the announcements and we have 40 of the 52 needed prompts to fill our list for the year. Only 12 more topics to go, however I was running out of room on our list so I have officially started thread #3. We should have enough room now to fit 12 more topics with BIO/KIS options and to make the adjustments we will need to put things in order after the final list is published. It's all looking pretty great to me so far. I hope you all agree! Thank you all for your wonderful ideas thus far, keep them coming!

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

For the connected prompt:

BIO: A nonfiction and fiction book on the same subject
KIS: Two books by the same author
BIO: Two books about the same subject in different genres (historical fiction/sci-fi, for example)
KIS: Any two books in the same genre

[°~Amy~°]

This weeks winners:

- A book related to one of the elements on the periodic table of elements
- A book that was nominated for or won an award in a genre you enjoy
- 2 books related to the same topic, genre, or theme

I did my best to come up with some bio/kis options for these rather broad topics. Hopefully you all have some better ideas!

[Sarah]

For the award prompt:

BIO: An award winner from a genre you don't usually read
BIO: A book that won an award in a country other than your own

For periodic table
BIO: Connected to a non-metallic element (I don't have many on my TBR anyway!)

[°~Amy~°]

Emily wrote: "For the connected prompt:

BIO: A nonfiction and fiction book on the same subject
KIS: Two books by the same author
BIO: Two books about the same subject in different genres (historical fiction/sci..."

Thanks Emily, you must have posted while I was updating the list. I will add your ideas now. :-)

[°~Amy~°]

Sarah wrote: "For the award prompt:

BIO: An award winner from a genre you don't usually read
BIO: A book that won an award in a country other than your own

For periodic table
BIO: Connected to a non-metallic e..."

Thank you Sarah. I don't have many on my tbr for this prompt either, which surprised me. I did a title search for elements on my tbr yesterday (only books I actually own) and out of 140+ physical books and 350+ kindle books, I ended up with only two that mentioned WATER in the title (blah) and one called FINAL FORMULA, which I guess would work, but not really what I wanted. On my wishlist I have ONE book that will work well as a title prompt (Iron Gold) but it's still quite expensive and not available at my local library. I guess I will need to get a bit more creative with this prompt. :)

[Sarah]

°~Amy~° wrote: "Sarah wrote: "For the award prompt:

BIO: An award winner from a genre you don't usually read
BIO: A book that won an award in a country other than your own

For periodic table
BIO: Connected to a ..."

For some reason I have a lot of iron, gold and silver on my TBR! A few other metals dotted around but nothing really for other elements. Arsenic, silicon & neon spring to mind as some of the most likely. I feel awkward searching my library database for arsenic though lol

[Avery]

For the Periodic Table Prompt:

BIO: A "period piece" related to an element from the Periodic Table
BIO: A book that is related to an element (e.g. silver) and which the symbol (e.g. Ag) for that element appears in the title or author's name

[°~Amy~°]

Sarah wrote: "°~Amy~° wrote: "Sarah wrote: "For the award prompt:

BIO: An award winner from a genre you don't usually read
BIO: A book that won an award in a country other than your own

For periodic table
BIO:..."

Searching for arsenic online......that would be awkward if the wrong person walks into the room at that same moment lol

I think Iron, gold and silver are very common in YA fiction titles, that's why I assumed that I had tons of options. I have recently moved away from YA for the most though. Maybe I will have to pick it up again just for this challenge. If I get sucked back into another YA series I am going to be very cross! lol

[dalex]

Periodic element

KIS: A book set in location that is sort of like a periodic element (Americium = America, Indium = India, Californium = California)

KIS: A book by an author whose initials are the same as a periodic element (Pb = Pearl Buck, At = Anne Tyler, As = Anita Shreve)

KIS: A book with a title that contains a word similar to a periodic element (calcium = milk, sodium = salt)

KIS: A book with a color in the title that relates to a periodic element (cobalt blue, cadmium yellow)

KIS: A book with a word in the title that connects to an element (When Breath Becomes Air for oxygen [you breathe oxygen], Slaughterhouse Five for nickel [a nickel is 5 cents], The Ocean at the End of the Lane for iodine [seawood is in the ocean and seaweed contions iodine]

[Nadine in NY]

I suppose a KIS for elements could be "a book about someone from the planet Krypton" (Krypton is an element - obviously the character would be Superman or Supergirl or maybe even Mon-El, etc)

[Liz]

Emily wrote: "BIO: Two books about the same subject in different genres (historical fiction/sci-fi, for example)."

That sounds hard, but interesting! I like this idea!

[Chinook]

For the two related books - I’m considering picking a year and reading a book by an author born that year and one who died that year. Alternatively a year where an author published their first book and one published their last.

Diversity in publishing year/time is one of the really big gap in my reading. I have been reading a lot of newly published books and almost everything is since 1950.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I just want to point out that it does say connected by theme, topic, or genre... you could stretch it doing the same author because they generally write in the same genre, but I would hesitate to do it solely based on authors birthdays, just because it doesn't really fit the prompt. If the authors wrote in the same genre, that would work (and could give a cool perspective when it comes to how the genre has evolved!)

That being said, your challenge, your choice! Just wanted to point that out.

[Chinook]

Yeah, I may just ignore that. I also never care if my choice is a bestseller if a prompt asks for one. I figure if the book was popular or had some buzz to it, that’s enough for me.

I’m quite tempted to make a rejects challenge that’s just all the two book prompts, with one of those filling in for the actual prompt that made it. I like when two books are connecting in some way by serendipity, so I can only imagine it would be even more awesome to plan it.

[°~Amy~°]

I think that many if not most of the kis options do stretch or even break the core idea of the prompt. That's sort of the idea of kis, to make a difficult prompt more easily accessible for people. If connecting by birth/death date helps you, then go for it :)

[Avery]

A book told from multiple perspectives
BIO: Both perspectives must be in first-person perspective.

A book related to one of the elements on the periodic table of elements
BIO: A "period piece" related to an element from the Periodic Table.
BIO: A book that is related to an element (e.g. silver) and for which the symbol for that element (e.g. Ag) appears in the title or author's name.

A book not written in traditional novel format (poetry, essay, epistolary, graphic novel, etc)
KIS: Read one poem/essay/short story out of a larger collection.
BIO: Must not be any kind of novel (e.g. a graphic novel and an epistolary are still novels).

A book featuring an historical figure
KIS: A book featuring a historical event, place, or item (e.g. Korean War, Berlin Wall, the Mona Lisa, etc.) [who said anything about the figure having to be a person?]

A book from one of the top 5 money making genres (romance/erotica, crime/mystery, religious/inspirational, science fiction/fantasy or horror)
BIO: Must be from one of the 5 genres and also relate to money.

A book that was a finalist or winner for the National Book Award for any year
BIO: Must be a book from the most recent NBA lists (2018).

A book featuring indigenous people of a country
KIS: A book about an ancient civilization.

Other Notes: (now I'm just being nitpicky... sorry haha)

- For the first KIS option for periodic table, you have water (H2O) listed as one of the elements, maybe just replace that example with copper or nickel.

- For the journey prompt, you have the BIO option saying it must be a physical journey. I don't see why this is BIO since it's listed as an example in the prompt, and what makes that option more challenging than the other two that are mentioned?

- For the Something Old prompt, I would recommend scratching the old character off the BIO list (or the list in general), now that we have the elderly character prompt. Same goes for the Something Borrowed prompt... it lists historical figure for a BIO option.

[°~Amy~°]

List updated as of Tuesday Oct 9 @9:45 am

Any thoughts on the three winners for this week?:

- A book with a title, subtitle or cover relating to an astronomical term
- A book that is included on a New York Public Library Staff Picks list
- A book published before 1950

[Tammy]

- A book with a title, subtitle or cover relating to an astronomical term
BIO: Make it a non-fiction book
- A book that is included on a New York Public Library Staff Picks list:
BIO: Close your eyes and point.
BIO: Pick from a genre you don't normally read
- A book published before 1950
KIS: A book from any time before 1950
BIO: A book published between a specific decade prior to the 50's. This will narrow the theme considerably
BIO: Read the first book by an author who had achieved considerable fame by 1950 (Hemingway, Faulkner, Stein, Steinbeck, Sinclair Lewis, Tolkein, etc)