The 52 Topics for the 2019 Reading Challenge

[Johanne]

But I haven´t read The Passage.

[Nadine in NY]

Milena wrote: "I could use some zombie fiction recommendations. The only one I have read in the last few years is The Passage, the first 2 books."


I LOVE zombie fiction!!! I have a shelf for it which I think anyone can access zombies
My favorites:
Aftertime (series - one of my all-time favorites, I don't understand why it's not more popular)
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (yeah it's gimmicky but it's also excellent)
Zone One "literary" zombies
The Girl With All the Gifts and its prequel (best read second) The Boy on the Bridge
Boneshaker - not really a zombie book, more like Civil War alternative history steampunk with zombies.

and YA:
The Forest of Hands and Teeth (a series)
Warm Bodies (don't bother reading the sequel, IMO)
Dread Nation (new series, US Civil War alternative history)
Enclave - more mutants than zombies, I thought the first book was great but didn't love the rest of the series, but others thought it just got better.
Masque of the Red Death - a retelling of Poe, with zombie-esque features


And some highly rated zombie books that I haven't read yet (but I will!):
Patient Zero
Raising Stony Mayhall
The First Days

Full disclosure: I have not yet read The Passage, so I don't know if these are "read alikes."

[Johanne]

Thanks Nadine. Yay, more books for my TBR!
I have a rule for myself that my TBR cannot exceed my Read books here on GR (I have to get a grip somehow. There are just too many books in the world to be able to read all the ones I want).

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Johanne wrote: "Thanks Nadine. Yay, more books for my TBR!
I have a rule for myself that my TBR cannot exceed my Read books here on GR (I have to get a grip somehow. There are just too many books in the world to b..."

I have the same rule for myself Johanne!

[Johanne]

Hahaha great minds think alike! (I´m not sure it works as intended, though).

[Nadine in NY]

:-)

I used to have rules for my TBR too. I wanted to keep it under 1000, then under 1200, then under 1400 ... then I just gave up. It IS finally less than the number of books I've read since I joined GR, so I call that a win.

[Pam]

Johanne and Emily - My rule, so it seems, is that my TBR can’t exceed 5 times my Read List! Yay, I can add 10 more to my TBR or add a bunch of books that I read years ago. (Just kidding!) I had to start a 2019 TBR Shelf to reflect reality. I also started a Try to Find Shelf for books I don’t own but think I want to read in the next year.

[Johanne]

Hahaha, okay I feel better now! I made a very strict "seriously TBR" shelf to reflect, well, that.

[Chinook]

I really enjoyed The Passage and the second. I’m hoping to get to the last in the trilogy before the end of the year.

Warm Bodies has a new book coming out in the series, though I haven’t read the first two yet.

[Milena]

I loved The Passage. I was completely confused by The Twelve, which is why I haven't read The City of Mirrors yet. I need to re-read The Twelve first.

[Milena]

This year's monster prompt is the perfect excuse to catch up on some zombie fiction. Thank you for all the suggestions, Nadine.

[Ellie]

If anyone wanted a non-fiction pairing for zombie fiction Do Zombies Dream of Undead Sheep?: A Neuroscientific View of the Zombie Brain tries to explain if zombies could medically exist or what things might be very similar to being a zombie!

[Johanne]

Oh my, what a clever and funny title Ellie :)

[Milena]

Ellie wrote: "If anyone wanted a non-fiction pairing for zombie fiction Do Zombies Dream of Undead Sheep?: A Neuroscientific View of the Zombie Brain tries to explain if zombies could medically e..."

That sounds great!

[Sophie]

Johanne wrote: "Thanks Nadine. Yay, more books for my TBR!
I have a rule for myself that my TBR cannot exceed my Read books here on GR (I have to get a grip somehow. There are just too many books in the world to b..."

I’m actually keeping track of the number of books I’m adding to my TBR this year to make sure it’s not higher to the number books I read! Not easy but I have to in order to keep it manageable!

[Johanne]

Well, my TBR has exploded since being active on GR this year, so I know I put more books on my TBR than I read...

[Pam]

Sophie wrote: "Johanne wrote: "Thanks Nadine. Yay, more books for my TBR!
I have a rule for myself that my TBR cannot exceed my Read books here on GR (I have to get a grip somehow. There are just too many books i..."

That's a good idea. I've completely given up! It's a lost battle.

[Sabrina]

for the zombie people, you could also read some of The Walking Dead, Book One graphic novels! The show is based off of the graphic novels, but there's also a ton of differences.

[Johanne]

Sabrina wrote: "for the zombie people, you could also read some of The Walking Dead, Book One graphic novels! The show is based off of the graphic novels, but there's also a ton of differences."

Of course, so that would work for "related to a TV show". I think it might be possible to do the whole challenge with zombie books! That would be so cool! (I am not going to do that, but I like the idea)

[Milena]

When I went to Barnes & Noble to look for a graphic novel for Book Riot Read Harder, the salesperson recommended The Walking Dead. I had no interest at that time since I had watched a few years of the TV show. I may be into it now though.

[Angie]

Milena wrote: "When I went to Barnes & Noble to look for a graphic novel for Book Riot Read Harder, the salesperson recommended The Walking Dead. I had no interest at that time since I had watched a few years of ..."

The graphic novel is pretty good. I've read most of the series. It does differ in many key points from the show, but it's interesting to see the source material and to see how the character differ from those on TV. Carl is way different.

[MJ]

Dear mods: You are so awesome for doing this!! Thank-you for all the work you continue to put into this amazing group!

2018 has been a total bust reading-wise... I hope next year I can get back on track OR at least do better than this year!

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

Thank you for all the thank you's!

I am slowly making my way through the weekly topics but we obviously passed the November 1 goal. But maybe that will force people to stretch out their planning a bit :P

[Nadine in NY]

I kind of like having the topic posts appear slowly, it lets us really focus on each one!

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Nadine wrote: "I kind of like having the topic posts appear slowly, it lets us really focus on each one!"

I agree! I've been marking off the prompts that I feel like I'm done planning, and they are almost all the ones that have weekly threads open. Slowly rolling it out works for me!

[Rachelnyc]

Same here! I am in awe of those of you who seem to have their plans for next year in order because I am all over the place. It helps that the threads are popping up a few at a time because I use them to help get myself more organized for those prompts.

[Emily]

Emily wrote: "https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Ok here's what I put together. It's a blank copy of what I'm using (with all of my 2019 sheets ..."

This is awesome! Thank you so much. Can't wait to get planning. :)

[Sabrina]

Angie wrote: "Milena wrote: "When I went to Barnes & Noble to look for a graphic novel for Book Riot Read Harder, the salesperson recommended The Walking Dead. I had no interest at that time since I had watched ..."

I'm excited to try it! my only small concern is that daryl's one of my absolute faves on the show so i'm hoping I'll still enjoy the GN

[Leanne]

For the four books in the wedding rhyme prompt, should the books themselves all be related somehow or should they simply contain the word "old", "borrowed", etc?

[Nicole]

Leanne wrote: "For the four books in the wedding rhyme prompt, should the books themselves all be related somehow or should they simply contain the word "old", "borrowed", etc?"

It's entirely up to you. If you want them to be related in some way, you can do that, but if not, that's fine, too. They can all just have the word in the title, or they could even be something like a book published before 1900 for old, or a 2018/19 release for new, or a book that is a retelling of another story for borrowed, etc.

[Leanne]

Nicole wrote: "Leanne wrote: "For the four books in the wedding rhyme prompt, should the books themselves all be related somehow or should they simply contain the word "old", "borrowed", etc?"

It's entirely up t..."

Thanks!!!

[Nicole]

Emily wrote: "After looking at the list some more I must say that I LOVE that the multi-week prompts are back to back.. it gives me a mad urge to connect books for the wedding theme prompts

At one point I was ahead, but now I'm 8 books behind schedule!! Yikes! I read some series and other books didn't have on my list. Now I have some major catching up to do. I think I can do it!

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Nicole wrote: "Emily wrote: "After looking at the list some more I must say that I LOVE that the multi-week prompts are back to back.. it gives me a mad urge to connect books for the wedding theme prompts

At on..."

I went from September 1st to November 7th without reading a single challenge book... now I'm only one book ahead! Considering one of the books I have left is Anna Karenina, I'm a bit more stressed than I was a month ago lol

[Nicole]

I'm making my list in Barnes and Noble! What a great place to hunt for books that meet the requirements!

[dalex]

Is it just me or has it been ages since anything new was added in the Weekly Topics? Just wondering when the rest of the prompts are going to be posted.

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

One of the mods must have hit a busy patch. I should have some time this weekend to get some of them posted :)

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

dalex wrote: "Is it just me or has it been ages since anything new was added in the Weekly Topics? Just wondering when the rest of the prompts are going to be posted."

There were a few new ones up earlier this week, I think.

So we are still missing 18-19, all of the books in the 20s, and 30-35. Seems like the mods were working from either end of the list, since we have all of the beginnings and all of the endings haha.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I really have enjoyed having them slowly released! Most of the ones I don't have fully planned yet are the ones that the threads haven't been posted yet, but that keeps me entertained.

[Nicole]

Here's a link for a book about reading, etc.

100 must-read books about books
https://bookriot.com/2016/05/25/100-m...

There are so many options I thought I'd share. This prompt hasn't stumped me but some others have and I'm not happy with some of my options.

Does anyone have some great reads for the book featuring a historical figure? I don't know why I'm struggling so much on that one. I would really be interested in reading something set in the 1800s.

[Sophie]

Thanks for the link Nicole! For more recommendations not you should head to the weekly topics where people have been discussing the prompts 🙂 If not all topics are open yet I’m sure they will be soon.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

[Nicole]

Sophie wrote: "Thanks for the link Nicole! For more recommendations not you should head to the weekly topics where people have been discussing the prompts 🙂 If not all topics are open yet I’m sure they will be so..."

Thank you! I was having trouble finding that!

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I've opened up the 2019 tabs on the community spreadsheet! Feel free to go add your name, link your plan, and eagerly await January 1st with us. (I say, as I'm still 5 books out from finishing 2018's challenge...)

[Donna]

Excited!! I failed to complete this in 2018 but I'll keep participating!!

[Sophie]

That's the spirit Donna! And the year isn't over yet, you never know what can happen! 😉

[Jennifer]

Where do I find the list of "polarizing or close call" books for this year?

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

The mods will likely post a clear topic at some point before the official start of the challenge. But Emily was kind enough to compile a list of all the polls. You can see the polarizing and close call prompts on there.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Crumb]

Hey guys! This will be my first time participating in this challenge. Last year I did the Popsugar challenge.. and I wanted to try something new for this 2019. Where is the folder that I am supposed to create for 2019?

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

You can copy the list from the first post of this thread and then paste it into a new thread in this section: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

'new topic' at top of the page and then paste the plan and create your own title.

[Lisa]

I'm in. Not sure at what level until I decide what other challenges I am doing in 2019. For sure at the basic level.

Happy Reading in 2019!!!!!

[Linka]

Hi.

I'm new and I don't understand at all how this works. 😬
I'm Caroline by the way.
One of the reasons I don't go on forums like formats is because there is a whole vocabulary and world only accessible to those who knows and there is no visual explanations (clearly words aren't enough for me to get it, it seems).
How do we 'using "create a new topic" and choosing "2019 Plans" for the folder' , from where? for what? I'm so confused so if a kind soul would explain to me, I'd be grateful.;)

And hopefully I'll be able to join in the 2019 reading challenge (by the way.. can it not be in the reading challenge of goodreads?)
xxx