Deciding what to read first...

[Julie]

How do you decide what book to start with once you have planned out your challenges?

[Erica]

I just read what I want to read the most and then try and fit it in. I currently have a few library books and Christmas presents that I'm holding off on because they accomplish prompts. It's your challenge so whatever you decide is right.

[John]

I have another virtual group and a face-to-face (currently zoom) meeting which have books selected that we have previously voted for. So I begin with them.

[Edie]

I participate in several challenges and like Erica, at this time of year, I read what interests me. For prompts that I think may be hard to fill, I do try to find something to fit them early on. I also look at the listopias for each prompt and use them to slot in books on my copious TBR list. And then, of course, there is the discussion around each of the prompts. I get lots of ideas from fellow readers. For this year, I am starting with The Vanishing Half which I got off hold from the library earlier than I had expected, and ..and the Ladies of the Club which is MUCH longer than I anticipated and will be finished in the new year.

[Rose]

Agree with all comments and also I make sure not to leave the most difficult (to me) prompts until the end. I always pick one I am not looking forward to as much and start it in January - along with ones I am excited about. Nothing worse than later in the year with only prompts you aren't looking forward to fill. Although I will note - often I am pleasantly surprised by how much I like the books in the prompts I am least looking forward to....

[Kendra]

I don't really plan out my challenges, I just read what I want and then see where it fits for the most part, but I do look through the list and figure out which prompts will be hardest to fill with my usual reading habits, and then I try to get those prompts over and done with as early on as possible. And then if I really don't like the book, I can DNF it and find something else.

[Celine]

I planned out my entire challenge this year. Last year I read whatever I felt like reading and hoped it would fit into challenges, but with the listopia lists I was able to find books on my TBR that fit nearly every single prompt! I decided to go with one of the books I have on my bookshelf that fit in a prompt. OUTLANDER! Everyone has read this but me haha!

[Brandon]

I asked Excel to pick a few random numbers between 1 and 50 to get me started in placing holds at the library. After this first batch, it will just be whatever excites me the most to read at that moment.

Some of the books my book club is reading in early 2021 also fit prompts, so I am fast-tracking those.

[Leona]

I chose Gone with the Wind

[Heather]

I plan my list in advance, and then I read whatever excites me most from that list. If I don't know what I want to read next, I'll start at the top of the list and read whichever book I've picked out for the next unfilled prompt. (I like the idea of doing prompts in order, but sticking to that is really difficult between library holds and audiobooks taking me so long to finish!)

[Christy]

Like Edie, I plan to start ...And Ladies of the Club on the early end of the year, because reading the longest book in one's TBR is a bit of a project. In January, I generally try to have a balance of light books (Her Royal Spyness, Rivers of London) and books that I expect to take a while to read (Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration). That way, I can have the satisfaction of knocking out some prompts quickly, and still make headway on the weightier subjects. I also tend to have multiple books on the go at once, which I know not everyone likes.

[Teri]

I'm starting with The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons, the library book that I haven't yet read but is due on the 4th. Don't know if it fits any prompt yet, but I'll figure that out later.

[Cheryl]

I plan my list ahead of time with about 3 options using mostly books from my TBR. Though, there are some I have to find something to fit the task. Then I read whatever I'm in the mood for. I often read 150+ books a year (except 2020), so I can easily read outside the challenge when I'm feeling adventurous.

[Heather L]

Since I do multiple challenges and participate in group reads outside this group, I usually start with a book that fits one of those as well as here. The book I started today is All Through the Night, which fits book/song title here, as well as a book with an open door or window in another group (New Year’s superstition).

[Laura]

I usually read the ones I'm most excited about first or the holds that become available through Overdrive. I highly recommend starting with some of the longest books on your list, or strategically reading those at a "slow" period of the year (which for most of us ends up being January/February I think), otherwise it's really hard racing to finish those at the end of the year!

[Layne]

Most of the books I have planned are coming from the library, so I've requested some of the ones that will take the longest to be available, a couple that should be available in a few weeks, and started with whatever is currently available on Libby.

[Exokiwi]

For me it is similar to most - I have a list of books to read and often they fit a prompt anyway.
For this challenge I was going to listen to Der Schwarm anyway over the christmas break and it fit the challenge so that will be the first I started (as it is a 40h listen I may well finish a read book first)

[Cari]

This is my first year participating in these challenges, and I am excited to read books outside my comfort zone. I have decided to use a random number generator to pick the prompt for each book. As a result, I will be selecting and reading one book at a time.