Favourite Genres Challenge - 2015

[Mary Pat]

UPDATE: CHALLENGE COMPLETE! :)


16/16 - 0 to go

Kara's Favourites
Natural History Nonfiction - The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
Magical Realism - Like Water for Chocolate
Business Nonfiction - Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
Post-apocalyptic - Station Eleven

Zara's Favourites
Religion - Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion
Fiction - For a Few Demons More
Young Adult - Brisingr
Chick-Lit - My Sister's Keeper

Craig's Favourites
Heroic Fantasy - Sword-Dancer
Military Science Fiction - Crucible of Gold
Classics - Walking
Gaming Fiction = Dragons of a Fallen Sun

Cassandra's Favourites
Social Science Fiction - The Giver
World History - 101 Things You Didn't Know about Irish History: The People, Places, Culture, and Tradition of the Emerald Isle
Biography-Memoir - Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
High Fantasy - Inheritance

[Dominique]

Number 102 updated: 5/14

[Leslie]

Please update message 114: 6/16 read.

[Maria]

11/14

Cassandra's Favorites

High Fantasy: Throne of Glass completed 8-7-15

[ChrisR]

Just finished American Gods and slotted that into Religion. 11 of 14 complete.

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

I've updated Message #4. I've now read 11 of 14 books for this challenge.

[Leslie]

Please update message 114: 7/16 read.

[Leslie]

Please update message 114: 8/16 read

[Jackie B. -]

Updated message 190 with Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination, The Selection, and Breakfast at Tiffany's. I'm now at 8/16. Halfway there!

[Maria]

Could I use The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah as my World History for Cassandra's Favorites?

I saw that somebody used the Book Thief for it and it seems like a similar book.

[Leslie]

Please update message 114: 9/16 read

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

I just updated message #4 with my finish of A Wolf Called Romeo. Two more to go.



12/14

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

I just updated message #4, and I can now report that I've completed the challenge!

I thought I had two left, but when checking on the remaining genres, I realized that The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer was listed under World History. I'd also read Blindness by José Saramago, and that rather disturbing book definitely fits the definition of Social Science Fiction.

[Maria]

12/14
Cassandra's Favourites

World History: The Nightingale

[Leslie]

Updated message 114: 10/16 read.

[Dominique]

Number 102 updated: 6/14

[Jackie B. -]

I just finished reading The Handmaid's Tale as my Social Science Fiction book. 9/16 read!

We're getting towards the end of the year, so I'd best catch up...

[Cassandra]

Young Adult


12/16

[ChrisP]

Message 86

14/16 Complete


Chick-Lit - Jane Eyre Terrific!!!
Memoir - Night

Only gaming fiction and religion left:)

[Jackie B. -]

I've now read 10/16 by finishing Ready Player One as my Gaming Fiction book.

I've never read anything in the Gaming Fiction category. It was really great; I'll have to look for more in this genre! Thanks for introducing me.

[Kara]

I completed the challenge!

Kara's Favorites
Natural History Nonfiction: Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation, finished 4/3, ****
Magical Realism: Deathless, finished 2/21, ***
Business Nonfiction: Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, finished 2/1, *
Post-apocalyptic: All You Zombies, finished 2/15, *****Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

Zara's Favorites
Religion: Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World, finished 1/31, ***
Fiction: Landline, finished 1/13, *
Young Adult: Alanna: The First Adventure, finished 2/1, unrated
Chick-Lit: The Rosie Effect, finished 3/8, **

Craig's Favorites
Heroic Fantasy:
Military Science Fiction: Legend, finished 5/6, ****
Classics: 2001: A Space Odyssey, finished 3/8, *****
Gaming Fiction: Armada, finished 7/14, ****

Cassandra's Favorites
Social Science Fiction: The Water Knife, finished 7/26, *****
World History
Biography-Memoir: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory, finished 2/11, *****
High Fantasy: City of Stairs, finished 5/28, *****

COMPLETED: 14/14

[ChrisR]

Mission Accomplished. I've read 14 of the genres. Original Post

High Fantasy

I think Les Contes du Chat Perché fits into Magical Realism. It's a collection of short stories about two little girls on a farm. Some of the stories have magic, some don't. Many of the stories are tragic.

(view spoiler)[ There's the one about the seeing-eye dog whose master convinces him to take his blindness from him. So the dog goes blind, and the man abandons him.

Or the deer who is spared by the lead hound of a hunting pack. The deer tries to make a life on the farm, but he is yoked up with an ox and forced to plow fields. He goes back to the forest and is killed.

Or the time that the two little girls magically transform into a horse and donkey just by dreaming about it. They can still speak (all the animals in the book can) and so the parents know these are their children, but they still go ahead use them as beasts of burden for the farm and treat them worse and worse as time goes by, finally denying that these animals were ever their children, until the girls also can't remember their former lives anymore.

That is some grim children's story.
(hide spoiler)]

[ChrisP]

Message 86 updated.

14/15 Completed


Religion ---Till We Have Faces***

[Maria]

13/14

Craig's Favourites

Military Science Fiction: Ender's Game finished 11-11-15

[Debi]

I read the Ender's Game series a while ago and loved all of them.

[Maria]

Debi wrote: "I read the Ender's Game series a while ago and loved all of them."

I've only read the one book, but loved it. I'll probably read the others as well.

[Eggp]

Challenge complete!
Goal: 15/15

Kara's Favourites
Natural History Nonfiction - The Flight of the Iguana - 11 Nov 2015, 3/5
Magical Realism - Chronicle of a Death Foretold - 20 Jan 2015, 4/5
Business Nonfiction - PASS
Post-apocalyptic - Parable of the Sower - 14 Nov 2015, 4/5

Zara's Favourites
Religion - The Monk - 20 Apr 2015, 3/5
Fiction - Bel Canto - 12 Feb 2015, 4/5
Young Adult - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - 20 Feb 2015, 4/5
Chick-Lit - Left Neglected - 19 Mar 2015, 3/5

Craig's Favourites
Heroic Fantasy - American Gods - 04 May 2015, 4/5
Classics - The Forsyte Saga - 21 Feb 2015, 5/5
Military Science Fiction - The Ghost Brigades - 02 Aug 2015, 4/5
Gaming Fiction - Ready Player One - 08 Apr 2015, 3/5

Cassandra's Favourites
Social Science Fiction - Brave New World - 21 Aug 2015, 4/5
World History - A Short History of Nearly Everything - 17 Mar 2015, 5/5
Biography-Memoir - American on Purpose - 28 Apr 2015, 4/5
High Fantasy - Tigana - 25 Mar 2015, 3/5

[[deleted user]]

I am calling this one finished, I was planning to read all of the books (not use the passes) but the year is starting to look a bit short and I don't feel like reading nonfiction during my holidays (it's just not really my genre!)

Kara's Favourites
Natural History Nonfiction: PASS
Magical Realism: Completed April 23, 2015.
Business Nonfiction: PASS
Post-apocalyptic: Completed January 31, 2015.

Zara's Favourites
Religion: Completed March 8, 2015.
Fiction: Completed March 12, 2015.
Young Adult: Completed July 7, 2015.
Chick-Lit: Completed July 17, 2015.

Craig's Favourites
Heroic Fantasy: Completed March 30, 2015.
Military Science Fiction: Completed June 23, 2015.
Classics: Completed January 25, 2015.
Gaming Fiction: Completed July 20, 2015.

Cassandra's Favourites
Social Science Fiction: Completed January 2, 2015.
World History: Completed November 18, 2015.
Biography-Memoir: Completed July 24, 2015.
High Fantasy: Completed August 18, 2015.

[Cassandra]

Finished!

Kara's Favourites
Natural History: Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies - April 30
Magical Realism: A Discovery of Witches - August 14
Business Nonfiction: Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard - July 19
Post-apocalyptic: The Water Knife - October 21

Zara's Favourites
Religion: The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad
Fiction: Norwegian Wood - March 17
Young Adult: An Ember in the Ashes - September 15
Chick Lit: Landline - March 3

Craig's Favourites
Heroic Fantasy: Assassin's Apprentice - August 3
Military Science Fiction: Ancillary Justice - December 2
Classics: Atlas Shrugged - March 31
Gaming Fiction: Armada - August 8

Cassandra's Favourites
Social Science Fiction: Foundation - June 6
World History: The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt
Biography-Memoir: Bossypants - July 15
High Fantasy: Clariel - January 3

14/14

[Maria]

I was hoping not to use the two free passes, but oh well. I did finish 14/14.

Kara's Favourites
Natural History Nonfiction:
Magical Realism: Landline
Business Nonfiction: PASS
Post-apocalyptic: Insurgent

Zara's Favourites
Religion: The Book of Strange New Things
Fiction: Prince Lestat
Young Adult: Fangirl
Chick-Lit :Eat, Pray, Love

Craig's Favourites
Heroic Fantasy: A Discovery of Witches
Military Science Fiction: Ender's Game
Classics: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Gaming Fiction: Armada finished 12-4-15

Cassandra's Favourites
Social Science Fiction: The Giver
World History: The Nightingale
Biography-Memoir: I Am Malala
High Fantasy: Throne of Glass

[Cassandra]

Maria - I was originally planning on reading all 16 too, but I'm happy enough to be finished at 14. Congratulations!

[Joe]

Unfortunately, I'm out of time and have to take two passes too.
Favorite Genre Challenge

Completed: 14/14

Kara's Favorites
p Natural History Nonfiction: Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat
✔ Magical Realism: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz (2/21) *****
✔ Business Nonfiction: The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (10/6) ****
✔ Post-apocalyptic: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (6/4) ****

Zara's Favorites
✔ Religion: The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber (4/27) ****
✔ Fiction: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (7/12)*****
✔ Young Adult The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (3/28) ****
✔ Chick-Lit: Chocolat by Joanne Harris (6/13) ****1/2

Craig's Favorites
✔ Heroic Fantasy: The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro (7/26) ***1/2
✔ Military Science Fiction: Foundation by Isaac Asimov (1/10) ***
✔ Classics: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (5/24) *****
✔ Gaming Fiction: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (3/6) ****

Cassandra's Favorites
✔ Social Science Fiction: Foundation by Isaac Asimov (7/10) ****
✔ World History: All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (9/29) ****
✔ Biography-Memoir: Unbroken A World War II Story of Survival Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (4/8) ****
p High Fantasy: Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan

[Maria]

Cassandra wrote: "Maria - I was originally planning on reading all 16 too, but I'm happy enough to be finished at 14. Congratulations!"

Thank you Cassandra! It was a fun challenge. I read some pretty awesome books I probably wouldn't have read if not for this challenge!

[Reija]

This was really great challenge, I really had to some digging to find right books and even then I had to pass military sci-fi (I didn't wanna read Ender again). One of my favorite was Ready player one in gaming fiction which was new category for me. So maybe next year I try to check little more other than my favorite genres.

Kara's Favourites
Natural History Nonfiction The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness
Magical Realism The Night Circus
Business Nonfiction It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be
Post-apocalyptic Wool Omnibus

Zara's Favourites
Religion The Book of Strange New Things
Fiction Contact
Young Adult Everyday
Chick-Lit Maybe in Another Life

Craig's Favourites
Heroic Fantasy Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Military Science Fiction
Classics A Bear Called Paddington
Gaming Fiction Ready Player One

Cassandra's Favourites
Social Science Fiction Foundation
World History Hiroshima - survavior stories
Biography-Memoir An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth
High Fantasy The Sleeper and the Spindle

15/15 **DONE

[Jackie B. -]

As we are getting closer to the end of the year, I was rifling through my challenge and realized I had let this one drop off my radar! Thankfully, I had planned for this in my reading list-- I'm at 14/14 read!

With the finalization of Carry On on 11/14/15, I have wrapped this challenge up!

Personal reflection: I really enjoyed this challenge. It helped me think about books outside the traditional genres I read. It pushed me, and I learned that I really love Gaming Fiction and Magical Realism! I hadn't read anything in those genres before this year, and now I can't imagine a year without them.

[Merja]

✔ Post-apocalyptic A Zombie Christmas
✔ High Fantasy The Light Fantastic


7/14

Trying to read few more genres before end of the year..

[ScarlettMi]

Updated Message #55.

I completed 12/14 genres in this challenge.

[Tara]

Well, I failed spectacularly on this one, ha! I knew I was stretching when I took this one one, but I did read 3 books I otherwise never would have, so I call that a win.....

Completed: 5/14

Kara's Favourites
Natural History Nonfiction
Magical Realism
Business Nonfiction
Post-apocalyptic - Insurgent (3/23/15)

Zara's Favourites
Religion
Fiction - Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson (1/14/15)
Young Adult
Chick-Lit Attachments (3/6/15)

Craig's Favourites
Heroic Fantasy
Military Science Fiction
Classics
Gaming Fiction - PASS

Cassandra's Favourites
Social Science Fiction - Divergent (3/13/15)
World History
Biography-Memoir - Those Wild, Wild Kennedy Boys (7/18/15)
High Fantasy

[Lulu]

Updated post #165:

My final tally is 13/14! Just didn't read anything for Chick Lit, Business Non-Fic, or Gaming Fiction, sadly!