Share Your Plans and Progress

[Stina]

Here is the entire list of prompts. Pick and choose as you like, and adjust as necessary. I do not expect y'all to show up at my Dad's house asking to borrow a book. I mean, he'd probably be delighted to give you a book, but it's a bit of a drive for some of you.

I will be posting separate discussion threads for all of the prompts, so check those out to suggest books, find recommendations, and discuss your reads with our reading community. You can use this thread to create a post of your reading plans that you can then update throughout the year. Have fun!!

- A book longer than 700 pages
- The oldest ARC you own
- A book published on your birthday (any year)
- A LitRPG book
- A family member's favorite book

- A book that was published in 1995
- A food book about a cuisine you've never tried before
- An edition of a literary magazine
- Borrowed from a friend
- A book set on the opposite side of the planet
- A winner of the Stella Prize or the Women's Prize for Fiction
- A book from the 2019 Reading Women Award shortlists and honorable mentions
- A book by Isabel Allende
- Read a Victorian (1837-1901) diary or collection of letters

Level 2
- The original "Beauty & the Beast" fairy tale
- Free Space! Pick any book.
Level 3
- Read a book by an author with the same first name as one of your grandparents.
- Free Space! Pick any book.
Level 5
- Read a book by John Irving.
- Free Space! Pick any book.

- An indigenous literature award nominee, such as the AIYLA, Burt, Indigenous Voices Awards, Nga Kupu Ora, etc.
- A book from the Sir Julius Vogel Award long-list from any year
- A book written in an endangered (or now extinct) language
- A book by a prisoner or about prison systems
- A book involving recovery from a natural disaster
- A book about or by a Little Person
- Book becoming a movie in 2021
- Bestselling memoir
- A sequel
- Oprah Winfrey Book Club pick
- A book everyone is talking about
- Set before the 17th century
- Book with a deckled edge
- An alternate history novel
- An epistolary
- Winner of the National Book Award (any year)
- Read a non-European novel in translation
- Read a genre novel by an Indigenous, First Nations, or Native American author
- A book that has won the Women's Prize for Fiction
- A bestseller from the 1990s
- A locked-room mystery
- Read a book from Dad's library
- Read an SFF anthology edited by a person of color
- Read a food memoir by an author of color
- Read a work of investigative fiction by an author of color
- Read a NetGalley book
- Read a book from the neighborhood library box
- A fantasy book released in 2021
- A military sci fi
- A book by a Slovak author
- A book set in winter
- An SFF book with a trope you love
- A nonfiction book someone you love loves
- A historical fiction book in a series you love
- A book with a spine you love
- A book set in a place you have visited
- Book about a war that is not World War II
- A book with a person's name in the title
- A book from your birth decade
- A book set in the present day
- The first book in a series
- A Bookoplathon Chance card book
- A book in an atypical genre for you
- A book already on your e-reader
- A book with a purple cover
- An audiobook that is a tear-jerker
- An audiobook that made you gasp or laugh out loud
- A wildly popular audiobook you've never read before
- A book with a word in the title that is related to an Element (earth, air, water, or fire)
- A Victorian book set in either the countryside or the city
- A Victorian sensation novel
- A book with a group of teens as the main characters
- A book with a camp setting
- A middle grade book
- A book by a Mediterranean author
- Debut novel of a famous author
- A fanfic
- The book on your TBR list with the ugliest cover
- A Victorian mystery or one set in the Victorian era
- A mystery with a bilingual detective or one set in a village
- A mystery that features a great team
- A Golden Age mystery or one set between 1920 and 1945
- A translated mystery or one set in a country not your own
- A mystery with a private detective

- Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
- Shirley by Charlotte Bronte
- The Yellow Bird Sings by Jennifer Rosner
- The Brave by James Bird
- Gothic Tales by Elizabeth Gaskell
- The Blood Countess by Elizabeth Bathory
- The Sundial by Shirley Jackson
- Walkaway by Cory Doctorow
- Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer

[Stina]

Penitent Prioritization

* The oldest ARC you own - Right as Rain
* A LitRPG book - RiftWorlds Online: Book 1 - Space Opera Insertion: a LitRPG Sci-Fi Adventure
* A family member's favorite book - The Family Trade
- A book that was published in 1995 - The Lions of Al-Rassan
- A food book about a cuisine you've never tried before - The Island Kitchen: Recipes from Mauritius and the Indian Ocean
- An edition of a literary magazine - Galaxy’s Edge Magazine: Issue 56, May 2022
- A book from the 2019 Reading Women Award shortlists and honorable mentions - The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays
- A book by Isabel Allende - Zorro
- Read a Victorian (1837-1901) diary or collection of letters - The Diaries of Hannah Cullwick, Victorian Maidservant

25. * A book published on your birthday (any year) - Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men

83. Borrowed from a friend - Jack and the Beanstalk/Juan y los Frijoles Magicos

100. A winner of the Stella Prize or the Women's Prize for Fiction - Piranesi
101. (33) A book set on the opposite side of the planet - The Survivors

163. A book longer than 700 pages - Seveneves


Lost Linz Levels

*Level 2*
- The original "Beauty & the Beast" fairy tale - La Belle et la Bête
- Free Space! Pick any book.
Level 3
- Read a book by an author with the same first name as one of your grandparents - Handwritten: Speculative Fiction Stories and Vignettes - Where Billy Died
- Free Space! Pick any book.
Level 5
- Read a book by John Irving The Hotel New Hampshire
- Free Space! Pick any book.

The Usual Fails

- An indigenous literature award nominee, such as the AIYLA, Burt, Indigenous Voices Awards, Nga Kupu Ora, etc. - The Marrow Thieves
- A book from the Sir Julius Vogel Award long-list from any year - The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper
- Book becoming a movie in 2021 - News of the World
- (7) An alternate history novel - From Here to Timbuktu - A Master of Djinn
- (31) Winner of the National Book Award (any year) - Interior Chinatown
- Read a genre novel by an Indigenous, First Nations, or Native American author - My Heart Is a Chainsaw - The Only Good Indians - The Marrow Thieves
- (100) A book that has won the Women's Prize for Fiction - The Book of Form and Emptiness - The Tiger's Wife
- Read a book from Dad's library - Our Margin of Life
- Read an SFF anthology edited by a person of color - Heartwood: Non-binary Tales of Sylvan Fantasy
- Read a food memoir by an author of color - Notes from a Young Black Chef
- Read a book from the neighborhood library box - The Long Call - Flowers in the Attic - Forever
- A military sci fi - A Pale Light in the Black - The Guns Above
- A book by a Slovak author - Seeing People Off
- A historical fiction book in a series you love - When Gods Die - Blossom Culp and the Sleep of Death
- A book with a spine you love - Douglas Adams' Starship Titanic
- A Bookoplathon Chance card book - Jade City - Network Effect - The Dispossessed
- A Victorian sensation novel - Lady Audley's Secret
- (152) A book by a Mediterranean author - La peste - Death at Sea: Montalbano's Early Cases
- (147) A Victorian mystery or one set in the Victorian era - James Moriarty, Consulting Criminal - The Woman in White - Stalking Jack the Ripper
- (4) A mystery with a private detective - The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Specific Titles

- Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
- Shirley by Charlotte Bronte
- The Brave by James Bird
- The Blood Countess by Elizabeth Bathory
- The Sundial by Shirley Jackson
- Walkaway by Cory Doctorow
- Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer


1. Debut novel of a famous author - The Near Witch
3. The first book in a series - The Planet Savers
4. A fanfic - Twelfth Night: The Season 5 New Year Special by Jolie Black
5. Bestselling memoir - The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music
6. A book set in the present day - Charms and Chocolate Chips
7. A book with a word in the title that is related to an Element (earth, air, water, or fire) - Airborn
8. A book involving recovery from a natural disaster - Depart, Depart!
11. A sequel - Solutions and Other Problems

14. An audiobook that made you gasp or laugh out loud - (5) - The House in the Cerulean Sea
17. A mystery that features a great team - Razorblade Tears
21. A wildly popular audiobook you've never read before - (5, 14)
- Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside
23. A book with a group of teens as the main characters - (7) - Meet the Sky

24. Read a NetGalley book - Her Last Flight
28. A middle grade book - The True Story of Jim the Wonder Dog
29. Read a non-European novel in translation - Confessions
31. A book in an atypical genre for you - Winter in Sokcho
32. A book everyone is talking about - (5, 17, 21) - The Paris Apartment
33. An audiobook that is a tear-jerker - (17, 23) - The Island of Sea Women

42. (1, 4) A mystery with a bilingual detective or one set in a village - The Accidental Alchemist
44. A book by a prisoner or about prison systems - The Prisons / Le Carceri
50. An SFF book with a trope you love (time travel) - Kindred

53. (4, 31) A book set in winter - All Her Little Secrets
54. A translated mystery or one set in a country not your own - Slow Horses
57. (50) A book from your birth decade - Pedagogy of the Oppressed
61. Book with a deckled edge - All In: An Autobiography
65. An epistolary - The Turn of the Key

66. Oprah Winfrey Book Club pick - Deacon King Kong
68. (4) A Golden Age mystery or one set between 1920 and 1945 - Malice Aforethought
84. A book with a purple cover - Corduroy's Sleepover

86. (8, 21) A book with a camp setting - Hide
89. (24) A book already on your e-reader - Potions and Pastries
92. A locked-room mystery - A Scandal in Brooklyn
94. A nonfiction book someone you love loves - The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

102. A fantasy book released in 2021 - The Ladies of the Secret Circus

120. The book on your TBR list with the ugliest cover - The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
121. A book about or by a Little Person - At First Light
130. Gothic Tales

139. A bestseller from the 1990s - Parable of the Sower
143. A book written in an endangered (or now extinct) language - Tevye the Milkman
147. A Victorian book set in either the countryside or the city - Lady Windermere's Fan: A Play About a Good Woman

152. Read a work of investigative fiction by an author of color - The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls
161. Set before the 17th century - Much Ado About Nothing

[Cheryl]

I think your dad's front door is a little out of my way, but the Book from Dad's Library intrigues me. My dad has been gone more than 15 years, but I found some favorite authors by raiding his library as a kid.

I might see if I have any of my dad's books on my own shelves. But I am hoping you might post a list of 10 or 20 (as recommended by your dad?) on the thread for that prompt.

[Mary]

Thank you, Stina! I hope to do 24 books again this year.

Here goes!

- A book published on your birthday (any year): "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" by James Joyce
- Free Space! Pick any book. "Bitch: A revolutionary guide to sex, evolution, & the female animal" by Lucy Cooke
- Bestselling memoir: "When Time Stopped: A Memoir of My Father's War and What Remains" by Ariana Neumann

[Marie-thérèse]

I am not sure that I understood what members must do in this challenge, but personally for sure I will read an Isabel Allende novel. I read them all, and I already ordered the last one coming this month "Violeta"

[Stina]

Okay, y'all, I've made some significant changes. I've decided to deal with my backlog of Historathon prompts separately, so I've removed three prompts and one specific title. In the first message in this thread, I have put a line through them.

I had been planning to handle my Cloak & Dagger Christmas fails separately, but I finally decided to lump them in here.
- A Victorian mystery or one set in the Victorian era
- A mystery with a bilingual detective or one set in a village
- A mystery that features a great team
- A Golden Age mystery or one set between 1920 and 1945
- A translated mystery or one set in a country not your own
- A mystery with a private detective
- Specific Title: Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer

And I just plain missed one prompt:
- A fanfic

I'm still posting prompt threads, so I will add these in there eventually. I can't make very many posts in a row or the site thinks I'm a bot and tries to shut me down. But I'll answer your question there, Cheryl.

And there are no "must-do" things in this challenge. I'm just sharing my ridiculous challenge that I've set for myself, and I'm inviting everybody to participate however they like. Some people just post in the individual prompt threads, and this thread is for folks who want to make one post of their goals and then come back in occasionally to edit that post to show their progress.

[Cheryl]

Copying the whole list, including the ones crossed out and the new ones added. Will update as I get around to it.


-A book longer than 700 pages
- The oldest ARC you own
- A book published on your birthday (any year)
- A LitRPG book
- A family member's favorite book

- A book that was published in 1995
- A food book about a cuisine you've never tried before
- An edition of a literary magazine
- Borrowed from a friend
- A book set on the opposite side of the planet -- DONE -- Ships in the Desert (Kazakhstan)
- A winner of the Stella Prize or the Women's Prize for Fiction
- A book from the 2019 Reading Women Award shortlists and honorable mentions
- A book by Isabel Allende
- Read a Victorian (1837-1901) diary or collection of letters

Level 2
- The original "Beauty & the Beast" fairy tale
- Free Space! Pick any book.
Level 3
- Read a book by an author with the same first name as one of your grandparents. -- DONE -- A Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel Sparks
- Free Space! Pick any book. -- DONE -- Encyclopedia of Counseling
Level 5
- Read a book by John Irving.
- Free Space! Pick any book.

- An indigenous literature award nominee, such as the AIYLA, Burt, Indigenous Voices Awards, Nga Kupu Ora, etc.
- A book from the Sir Julius Vogel Award long-list from any year
- A book written in an endangered (or now extinct) language
- A book by a prisoner or about prison systems
- A book involving recovery from a natural disaster
- A book about or by a Little Person
- Book becoming a movie in 2021
- Bestselling memoir
- A sequel
- Oprah Winfrey Book Club pick
- A book everyone is talking about
- Set before the 17th century
- Book with a deckled edge -- DONE -- The Demigod Files
- An alternate history novel
- An epistolary
- Winner of the National Book Award (any year)
- Read a non-European novel in translation
- Read a genre novel by an Indigenous, First Nations, or Native American author
- A book that has won the Women's Prize for Fiction
- A bestseller from the 1990s
- A locked-room mystery -- DONE - The Sugar Cookie Murder
- Read a book from Dad's library
- Read a NetGalley book
- Read a book from the neighborhood library box -- DONE -- The Cat Saw Murder
- A fantasy book released in 2021
- A military sci fi -- DONE -- We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
- A book by a Slovak author
- A book set in winter -- DONE -- Spinning Silver
- An SFF book with a trope you love
- A nonfiction book someone you love loves
- A historical fiction book in a series you love
- A book with a spine you love
- A book set in a place you have visited --DONE -- When in Rome
- Book about a war that is not World War II-- DONE -- The Hamiliton Affair
- A book with a person's name in the title -- DONE -- Coffin in Fashion
- A book from your birth decade
- A book set in the present day
- The first book in a series
- A Bookoplathon Chance card book
- A book in an atypical genre for you --DONE -- 21 Proms (teenage romance)
- A book already on your e-reader
- A book with a purple cover -- DONE -- Sew Deadly
- An audiobook that is a tear-jerker
- An audiobook that made you gasp or laugh out loud -- DONE -- I Remember Nothing
- A wildly popular audiobook you've never read before
- A book with a word in the title that is related to an Element (earth, air, water, or fire)
- A Victorian book set in either the countryside or the city -- DONE -- The Wicked Boy
- A Victorian sensation novel
- A book with a group of teens as the main characters -- DONE -- A Deadly Education
- A book with a camp setting
- A middle grade book -- DONE -- Everything Sad is Untrue
- A book by a Mediterranean author -- DONE -- The Sound of the Dragon's Feet by Alki Zei
- Debut novel of a famous author
- A fanfic
- The book on your TBR list with the ugliest cover
- A Victorian mystery or one set in the Victorian era -- DONE -- The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets
- A mystery with a bilingual detective or one set in a village -- DONE -- The Beckoning Lady
- A mystery that features a great team -- DONE -- Mrs Jeffries Wins the Prize
- A Golden Age mystery or one set between 1920 and 1945
- A translated mystery or one set in a country not your own -- DONE -- The Meerkat Murders
- A mystery with a private detective -- DONE -- Latter End


- Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
- Shirley by Charlotte Bronte
- The Yellow Bird Sings by Jennifer Rosner
- The Brave by James Bird
- Gothic Tales by Elizabeth Gaskell
- The Blood Countess by Elizabeth Bathory
- The Sundial by Shirley Jackson
- Walkaway by Cory Doctorow
- Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer

[Stina]

Stina wrote: "Okay, y'all, I've made some significant changes. I've decided to deal with my backlog of Historathon prompts separately, so I've removed three prompts and one specific title. In the first message i..."

Good grief, I've really made a hash of it. I just found three prompts that somehow got deleted:
- Read an SFF anthology edited by a person of color
- Read a food memoir by an author of color
- Read a work of investigative fiction by an author of color

I'm adding them back in for myself, and I've done a careful re-count, and my full challenge for myself is 89 prompts. You, of course, are under no obligation to pay any attention at all to my nonsense.