Winter Reading Challenge - Introduction & Tasks

[Bryony]

Welcome to the next Around the Year in 52 Books seasonal challenge. Our Winter challenge will start on 1 December 2019 and finish on 29 February 2020.

The challenge has twelve prompts in total, divided into four for each month of the season. For each prompt there is a choice of three tasks. Some are easy, some are more difficult - it’s your choice which you want to complete. You only need to complete one of the three tasks to record a prompt as completed.

You can choose to complete all twelve prompts, or if you prefer a shorter challenge you can just complete one month’s prompts. And, if you’re super keen then you’re very welcome to set yourself an even more challenging goal, like completing two tasks per prompt, or even aiming to finish all 36 tasks.

New for this challenge:
It’s Christmas and although we can’t exchange actual gifts with each other, we can exchange the gift of a great book recommendation. Maybe there’s a new genre you’ve been meaning to try but you’re not sure where to start? Or you’d like to find a hidden gem in one of your favourite genres? This game (which is part of December’s prompt three) lets you ask for a recommendation from a fellow group member who enjoys the genre you’re interested in. Please check out the details here and make sure you have signed up by Saturday December 14 if you want to participate.

How to join the challenge
1. First check out the prompts and choice of tasks in post two of this thread.

2. Next you need to set up a thread to keep track of your books for the challenge. For the Winter challenge, instead of one thread for everyone’s planning post, you can create a new thread for your challenge in this folder. This is intended to make it easier to find your own plan and look at or comment on other people’s plans.

3. If you need ideas or inspiration for any of the prompts, or you’d like to share recommendations then you can do so here:
❄️ December prompts discussion
❄️ January prompts discussion
❄️ February prompts discussion
❄️ General discussion thread (for anything not related to a specific prompt)

4. When you’ve completed all four prompts for one month, post the details in this thread. We’ll then add your name to the finishers list and you can carry on with the next month’s tasks or celebrate having finished the challenge.

What books can be counted?
Unlike the summer challenge, this one doesn’t involve any competition between people, so there are no really strict rules about what books count. Generally books should be 100 pages or more, but if you’ve found the perfect book and it’s 90 pages then it’s your choice whether to count it. Or, if you’re really stuck on one task and you want to read a picture book or short story just to mark it as complete then go right ahead. The aim is to have fun and enjoy what you read, so nobody is going to judge anyone else for their book choices.

If you have any questions about the challenge then you can post them in this thread. The FAQs in post three below will also be updated as people ask questions so you might find your question has been answered there.

Happy reading, and we hope you enjoy the challenge!

[Bryony]

Winter Reading Challenge Tasks

DECEMBER

1. Winter

Brrrr. Time to break out the hats, scarves and gloves as the coldest time of the year approaches (in the northern hemisphere at least). On the other hand, cold weather is the perfect excuse to curl up under a blanket with your latest book. And, however cold you are, at least you can be glad your home town is warmer then Antarctica, where the lowest temperature on Earth was recorded: an icy −89.2°C (−128.6 °F).

1. Read a book with a title beginning with a letter in WINTER (you can use or ignore a, an or the)
2. Read a book with snow, snowflakes or a snowman on the cover OR a book with a person wearing winter clothing (scarf, hat, warm coat etc) on the cover.
3. Read a book that is between 89 and 128 pages long (you can ignore the 100 page requirement for this task).

2. December birthdays: Ann Patchett

The American novelist Ann Patchett was born on 2 December 1963. She has published eight novels, including Bel Canto, winner of the 2002 PEN/Faulkner Award and the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Her debut novel, The Patron Saint of Liars, was published in 1992 and her latest book, The Dutch House, was one of the most anticipated books of 2019.

1. Read a book published between 1992 and 2019 (inclusive).
2. Read a book by Ann Patchett or another author named Ann or a close variation (eg Anne, Anna, Annie etc)
3. Read a book that has won or been nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award or the Women’s Prize for Fiction

3. Christmas

It’s the most wonderful time of the year... Time for decorating the Christmas tree, singing carols, wearing a novelty Christmas jumper, and hopefully waking up on Christmas morning to find the new release you’ve been excited to read waiting under the Christmas tree for you to unwrap. Merry Christmas!

1. Read a book that was recommended to you in our Christmas book recommendations game
Please make sure you have signed up here by 14 December if you’d like to participate
2. Read a book that has one of the gifts referred to in The Twelve Days of Christmas shown on its cover (ignore the numbers - eg a book with a gold ring works, you don’t need a book with five gold rings!)
3. Read a book on one of the following Christmas reading lists:
🎁 Oprah magazine: 35 best Christmas books of all time
🎁 Bustle: 9 classic Christmas books for adults
🎁 Stylist: 50 best Christmas books

4. Winter sports: yukigassen

Imagine if someone turned snowball fighting into an official sport with rules, a referee, a court and a snowball making machine. That’s yukigassen! Created in Japan in 1988, there are now competitions all over the world. Teams of seven players battle to capture each other’s flag, while trying to avoid being hit by a snowball and eliminated from the game. Preparation for a match involves making 270 snowballs, no wonder they invented a snowball making machine!

1. Read a book by an author whose first and last initials appear in YUKIGASSEN.
2. Read a book in a series that is at least 7 books long
3. Read a book set in a country where yukigassen is played (Japan, Armenia, Canada, China, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, or Slovakia).

JANUARY

1. Happy New Year!

Happy 2020! Here’s to a great year of reading. Around the world people will be welcoming the new year while watching fireworks displays, drinking champagne and singing Auld Lang Syne.

1. Read a book by an author who is new to you.
2. Read a book from a genre that is new to you (you can use a sub-genre, eg urban fantasy, historical romance, etc if you already read books from most genres).
3. Read a book in which all the words in the title have the same number of letters (eg The Bat, Ninth House, The Old Man and the Sea).

2. January birthdays: A.A. Milne

A.A. Milne was born in London in 18 January 1882. He is most famous for his Winnie the Pooh books which are among the most popular children’s books ever published and have been translated into numerous languages, including Latin!

1. Read a book by an author who is usually known by their initials (eg J.K. Rowling, J.D. Salinger, L.M. Montgomery)
2. Read a book by an author who was born in a capital city (for this task, a capital city means the capital of a country rather than a state or province)
3. Read a book that has been translated into Latin. (There are several short children’s books and picture books on the list, it’s up to you if you want to count them for this challenge.)

3. New Year Resolutions

Millions of people see January 1st as an opportunity to set goals for the year ahead and the practice of making new year resolutions has a long history. In Babylonia new year was a time to promise the repayment of debts and return of borrowed items. And Romans are believed to have made sacrifices and promises to the god Janus, who is depicted as having two faces - one looking to the past and one to the future. Given that history, whether you keep or break your own resolutions this year, you’re probably in good company!

1. Read a book where the first letter of each word in the title can be found in NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS (the title must be at leat three words long for this option)
2. Read a book that looks into the past (historical fiction, history, etc) or a book that looks into the future (science fiction, fantasy, etc).
3. Read a book that will help you keep one of your New Year resolutions OR if you don’t make resolutions then read a book related to one of the top ten New Years resolutions. Tell us what your resolution is when recording this task as completed.

4. Winter sports: bobsleigh

Bobsleighing originated in the Swiss town of St Moritz in the 19th century. Holidaymakers looking for entertainment in the cold winters hit on a plan to adapt delivery sleds into racing sleds and compete in races down the steep roads of the town. While undoubtedly entertaining for holidaymakers, the high speed sled races became immensely unpopular with residents of the town who, not unreasonably, objected to being mown down on their own streets by out of control sleds. In order to restore calm, a local hotel owner constructed an ice half-pipe track outside the town where the sled races could continue, and the sport of bobsleighing was born.

1. Read a book set mostly in a location that begins with a letter in SWITZERLAND.
2. Read a book in which a conflict between characters is a major part of the plot. Tell us what the conflict was (using spoiler tags if necessary) when recording the task as completed.
3. Read a book that appears on one of these lists of fast-paced books:
🛷 Bookbub: 16 fast-paced books to read in a day
🛷 Business Insider: 25 fast-paced thrillers
🛷 Bustle: 11 fast-paced books

FEBRUARY

1. Valentine’s Day

February 14th is celebrated around the world as Valentine’s Day. It was originally a feast day honouring an early Christian saint and only became associated with love and romance in the 14th century. Fun fact: Cadbury first began producing heart-shaped boxes of chocolates for Valentine’s Day in 1868. Buying overpriced novelty chocolates as a token of love has a long history!

1. Read a book with Romance listed as one of the top five genres on its Goodreads page.
2. Read a book by an author whose first and last initials appear in VALENTINE’S DAY.
3. Read a book written in or set in the Medieval period (usually defined as the 5th to 15th centuries).

2. February birthdays: Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison was born on 18 February 1931. After becoming the first Black female editor at Random House (a position she used to champion the writings of Black authors), she began writing novels and became one of the most admired writers of her time. Her debut novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970 and in total she published eleven novels as well as several children’s books, plays and short fiction. In 1993 she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

1. Read a book with a colour in the title OR a book with a cover that is mostly blue.
2. Read a book that was first published in the 1970s.
3. Read a book by Toni Morrison or another author who has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

3. Winter sports: Ski jumping

Ski jumping has featured in every Winter Olympics since 1924. Athletes ski down a specially designed ramp and compete against each other to see who can make the longest jump. The current world record is over 253 metres. It was set by Austrian ski jumper, Stefan Kraft, who perhaps predictably is known by the nickname Air Kraft.

1. Read a book that is at least 253 pages long.
2. Read a book published in a year in which the Winter Olympics took place (1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018)
3. Read a book where the plot “jumps” about (a non-linear narrative as it’s normally called). These lists might be useful as inspiration but your book doesn’t have to appear on one to work for this task:
🎿 Wikipedia: nonlinear narrative m
🎿 Goodreads: popular non-linear narrative books

4. Leap year

People born on 29th February technically only have a birthday every fourth year. This unusual situation is at the heart of Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera, The Pirates of Penzance. Frederic, the lead character, believes he is freed from his apprenticeship to a gang of pirates when he is 21 years old, only to find that actually his apprenticeship lasts until his 21st birthday and as he was born in a leap year that won’t be until he’s 88 years old! Fortunately most people today who are born on 29th February simply celebrate their birthday a day early.

1. Read a book that is part of a series and that has a series umber that is a multiple of four (4, 8, 12 etc).
2. Read a book in which the numbers 2 and 9 appear in the number of pages.
3. Read a book with a word from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Modern Major-General Song in the title or subtitle. (Words must be at least four letters long to count).

[Bryony]

FAQs

[Bryony]

Reserved

[dalex]

I'm so excited about the Winter Challenge! Thanks for organizing everything, Bryony, and for all the fantastic updates. :)

[Lin]

This is my first seasonal challenge. Do the December books need to be read in December or can the prompts be read in any order?

Thanks for the wonderful ideas!

[Lieke]

The links don't show the following two lists for me:
Oprah magazine: 35 best Christmas books of all time
Bookbub: 16 fast-paced books to read in a day

Can anyone else see them?

[Bryony]

Thanks dalex, it’s always great to know people are enjoying the seasonal challenges. :-)

Linda, you can count books you read between 1 December and 29 February for any of the prompts, you don’t have to complete prompts in the month they belong to. You can also count a book you started in November as long as you have at least 100 pages remaining to read in December.

Lieke, the links are working okay for me. I’ve pasted just the URLs here, could you see if those work? If not then let me know and I’ll copy and paste the lists here for you and anyone else who the links don’t work for.

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/blog/fast-pac...
Oprah: https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainmen...

[Lieke]

Thanks
Oprah’s list is working now, and bookbub too except that they want my email and won’t show the list before I give it (and I refuse that). But I have the two other list so I will be ok :)

[Alicia]

When I click on the Oprah link it shows a slide show but no play slideshow button.

[Lin]

Bryony wrote: "Thanks dalex, it’s always great to know people are enjoying the seasonal challenges. :-)

Linda, you can count books you read between 1 December and 29 February for any of the prompts, you don’t ha..."

Thank you! I’m in need of a good Christmas book and a glass of wine. It doesn’t matter that it’s not December yet. I’m going to go with my heart not the calendar.

[Ellie]

I'm super happy to have a small challenge to tide me over until I can start next year's challenge. I've been floundering on what to read next without any prompt guidance!

[bamaace83]

I really got behind in the autumn challenge and couldn't catch back up. I'm in for the winter full force!

[Nancy]

I love the seasonal challenges! Woo hoo thanks so much for organizing all of this

[Bryony]

Lieke wrote: "Thanks
Oprah’s list is working now, and bookbub too except that they want my email and won’t show the list before I give it (and I refuse that). But I have the two other list so I will be ok :)"

Sorry Lieke, I didn’t realise they made people sign up just to look at their articles. I imagine a lot of people won’t want to hand over their email address so I’ve just copied the Bookbub list to the January discussion thread so everyone can read it without signing up to a mailing list.

[Lieke]

Bryony wrote: "Lieke wrote: "Thanks
Oprah’s list is working now, and bookbub too except that they want my email and won’t show the list before I give it (and I refuse that). But I have the two other list so I wil..."

Thanks Bryony!