Introduction to the Genre Challenge

[Tania]

Oh god, this means I need to do some serious reading to catch up, still got 3 genre to do lol

[Leni]

I'm still missing Western, and possibly a couple of others. :-/ I need to compile a list and see where I'm at

[Laura]

It's been really fun and I've read and enjoyed a bunch of things I wouldn't normally have considered reading.

Poetry: Rumi: Swallowing the Sun: Poems Translated from Persian, Corpus and The Broken Word.

Magical Realism: Slaughterhouse-Five.

Classic Novels (Pre 20thC): Northanger Abbey and The Turn of the Screw.

Travel & Exploration: Man Belong Mrs Queen: Adventures with the Philip Worshippers.

Psychiatry/Madness: We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

Sci-Fi / Dystopian Fiction: Atlas Shrugged.

Romance/Erotica: Nana 15 and Tampa.

Young adult / New adult: Holes, Anne of Green Gables, A Wrinkle in Time, Charlotte's Web and The Emerald City of Oz.

Christmas/Winter: At the Mountains of Madness.

Crime / Detective: A Dry White Season and Stevenson Under the Palm Trees.

Film Tie-ins: Starship Troopers.

Horror/Gothic/Ghost stories: A Sickness in the Family.

Spy/Espionage: The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare.

20thC American Classics: Breakfast of Champions.

War/Revolution: Silver Stallion: A Novel of Korea.

Award-Winning Books: Gateway, Life During Wartime and Out Stealing Horses.

Graphic Novels: Kick-Ass 2.

Historical Fiction: The Poisonwood Bible.

Winter / The Cold / Christmas; A Christmas Memory.

Comedy / Humour: Cold Comfort Farm and A Time to Be Born.

Biography/Memoir: West with the Night.

Cult/Chemical Fiction: The Doors of Perception & Heaven and Hell and The Dice Man.

Gay/Lesbian Fiction: Confessions of a Mask.

Fantasy/Folklore: Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality and Nine Lives: Cats in Folklore.

The Western: The Sisters Brothers.

Short Stories: Pretty Monsters: Stories.

Modern British classics: The Death of Grass.

Non fiction / Self-help: The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form.

[Kate, Moderator]

This was my second round of the genre challenge and I've loved it. Together with all my other challenges with this group I'm really broadening out my reading and finding some nice surprises which I would never normally have picked up.
I've kept a handy spreadsheet since April 2015 so here goes:

April 2015 CLASSICS PRE 20TH CENTURY Moll Flanders
May 2015 TRAVEL AND EXPLORATION Transylvania and Beyond: A Travel Memoir and Raffles and the Golden Opportunity and Us
June 2015 POETRY Paws For Thought
July 2015 PSYCHIATRY/MADNESS 2 short stories by HG Wells
August 2015 SCI-FI/DISTOPIAN Doctor Who: Shada
Sept 2015 ROMANCE/EROTICA Blame It on the Dog and The Playboy of Argentina
Oct 2015 YOUNG ADULT The Spider Sapphire Mystery
Nov 2015 MAGICAL REALISM Eva Luna
Dec 2015 CHRISTMAS/WINTER Hercule Poirot's Christmas
Jan 2016 WESTERN Stampede
Feb 2016 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN CLASSICS The Old Man and the Sea
March 2016 HORROR/GOTHIC/GHOST The Phantom of the Opera
April 2016 CRIME/DETECTIVE The Devil's Novice and Murder on the Orient Express
May 2016 FILM TIE-IN The Jungle Books (DNF)
June 2016 ESPIONAGE/SPY The Winter Spy
July 2016 WAR/REVOLUTION Island Madness
Aug 2016 AWARD WINNING The Seducer (Awful)
Sep 2016 GRAPHIC NOVELS Bone: The Complete Edition
Oct 2016 HISTORICAL The Diamond of Drury Lane and Netherwood
Nov 2016 BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR The Shaman in Stilettos
Dec 2016 CHRISTMAS/WINTER A Meal In Winter and The Chimes
Jan 2017 COMEDY/HUMOUR Wyrd Sisters
Feb 2017 GAY/LESBIAN - Didn't find a book in time. :(
March 2017 FANTASY/FOLKLORE Reaper Man
April 2017 CULT/CHEMICAL FICTION Whirlwind
May 2017 NON-FICTION/SELF-HELP The Badness of King George and Still Me
June 2017 SHORT STORIES The Lost Prophecies
July 2017 MODERN BRITISH CLASSICS Out of Africa (I cheated - it's not British!)

My top one would have to be Still Me (Christopher Reeve's autobiography) which I found at the holiday cottage I was staying at and really blew me away.
The worst has to be The Seducer which I only finished because I wanted Norway for Around the World!

Can't wait to start again!

[Danielle]

I still miss books for 4 genres. Magic realism I only managed to cross this of my list a year afterwards.

Magic realism: The Confessions of Max Tivoli
Classic novel pre 20th century: Ivanhoe
Travel and exploration: Shadow of the Silk Road
Psychiatry/madness: The Collector
Romance: Theatre
Young adult: My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece
Crime: The Ghost Runner
Film: A Passage to India
Horror/ghost: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and an audio collection of Chilling Ghost Stories
Spy: Casino Royale
American classics: Breakfast at Tiffany's
War/revolution: The Attack
Award winning: River Thieves, The Vegetarian and The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman
Graphic novel: Miss Endicott, Tome 1
Historical fiction: Arctic Summer
Comedy: A Handful of Dust
Biography/memoir: My Left Foot
Cult fiction: The Razor's Edge
Gay/lesbian: A Perfect Waiter
Fantasy: A Monster Calls
Western: Days Without End

[Liz, Moderator]

Great lists, Laura, Kate & Danielle. Lots of interesting books to explore.... That to read list only ever seems to get longer!

This is what I read for the challenge:

April 2015 - Classic Novels: Great Expectations
May 2015 - Travel/Exploration: Coronation Everest
June 2015 - Poetry: The Ballad Of Reading Gaol & Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
July 2015 - Psychiatry/Madness: The Shock of the Fall
August 2015 - SciFi/Dystopian: The Martian & 2001: A Space Odyssey
September 2015 - Romance/Erotica: Lady Chatterley's Lover & Palimpsest
October 2015 - YA/NA: Wonder
November 2015 - Magical Realism: The Girl With Glass Feet & The Ghost Rider
December 2015 - Christmas/Winter: Winter's Bone
January 2016 - The Western: Close Range
February 2016 - 20th Century American Classics: The Color Purple
March 2016 - Horror/Gothic: Misery & The Phantom of the Opera
April 2016 - Crime/Detective: The Coroner's Lunch
May 2016 - Film Tie-Ins: Cold Mountain
June 2016 - Spy/Espionage: Cold MountainThe Comedians & A Dead Man in Deptford
July 2016 - War/Revolution: The Orchard of Lost Souls
August 2016 - Award Winning Books: The Orphan Master's Son & Olive Kitteridge
September 2016 - Graphic Novels: Palestine
October 2016 - Historical Novels: Baltasar and Blimunda & The Anatomy of Ghosts
November 2016 - Biography/Memoir: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
December 2016 - Christmas/Winter: The Corrections
January 2017 - Comedy: How to Be a Woman & Quite Ugly One Morning
February 2017 - Gay/Lesbian: A Single Man
March 2017 - Fantasy/Folklore: The Buried Giant & A Dance with Dragons
April 2017 - Cult/Chemical Fiction: Naked Lunch & High-Rise
May 2017 - Non Fiction/Self-Help: The 100-Year Life: Living and working in an age of longevity & The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
June 2017 - Short Stories: The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories & Cold Hand in Mine: Strange Stories
July 2017 - Modern British Classics: The Razor's Edge, To the Lighthouse, & A Kestrel for a Knave

[Bill]

Lots of interesting looking books chosen by you folks. I didn't complete all of the challenges but as always did enjoy it...

April 2015 - Classic Novels: The Mill on the Floss
May 2015 - Travel/Exploration: Neither Here Nor There
June 2015 - Poetry: Selected Poems of T. S. Eliot
July 2015 - Psychiatry/Madness: This Sweet Sickness
August 2015 - SciFi/Dystopian: Excession
September 2015 - Romance/Erotica: Amanda In Spain
October 2015 - YA/NA: The Hunger Games
November 2015 - Magical Realism: Winter's Tale (didn't finish)
December 2015 - Christmas/Winter: Miracle on 34th Street
January 2016 - The Western: didn't complete at the time but since then... The Last Crossing
February 2016 - 20th Century American Classics: Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales
March 2016 - Horror/Gothic: The Deep & Lost Girls
April 2016 - Crime/Detective: The Chalk Circle Man, The Allingham Minibus, Winter Frost, Hour Game
May 2016 - Film Tie-Ins: King Solomon's Mines
June 2016 - Spy/Espionage: Silesian Station & Istanbul Passage
July 2016 - War/Revolution: OFFICERS AND GENTLEMEN. & The General
August 2016 - Award Winning Books: The Black Echo
September 2016 - Graphic Novels: Rising Stars: Born in Fire (Vols 1 - 3), Top 10, Vol. 1 (Vols 1 - 3)
October 2016 - Historical Novels: Behind the Scenes at the Museum
November 2016 - Biography/Memoir: Parkinson's Lore
December 2016 - Christmas/Winter: Wycliffe and Death in Stanley Street & Winter Study
January 2017 - Comedy: Did not complete this one.
February 2017 - Gay/Lesbian: Fingersmith
March 2017 - Fantasy/Folklore: Midnight Crossroad
April 2017 - Cult/Chemical Fiction: Vermilion Sands
May 2017 - Non Fiction/Self-Help: did not complete
June 2017 - Short Stories: Classics of the Macabre
July 2017 - Modern British Classics: The Return of Sherlock Holmes, The Anti-death League, Last Seen Wearing

[Julien]

I really enjoyed this challenge because I got to read books I wouldn't have otherwise thought about. Here's what I read:

Classic Novels -- 20000 Leagues Under the Sea
Travel/exploration -- Man Belong Mrs Queen: Adventures with the Philip Worshippers
Psychiaty/madness* -- Naoki Urasawa's Monster, Volume 1
Sci-fi/dystopian -- Non-Stop
Romance/erotica -- Outlander
Young adult/new adult/children's -- Charlotte's Web
Magical-realism -- American Gods
Winter/the cold** -- Smashed in the USSR: Fear, Loathing and Vodka on the Steppes
Western -- The Ox-Bow Incident
American C20 classics -- Breakfast of Champions
Horror/gothic/ghost stories -- Slade House
Crime/detective -- Out
Film tie-in -- The Girl on the Train
Espionage/spy -- Our Man in Havana
War/revolution -- Transmetropolitan, Vol. 5: Lonely City - Transmetropolitan, Vol. 9: The Cure
Award-winning*** -- The Gods Themselves
Graphic novels -- Kick-Ass 2
Historical -- les quatre de baker Street, tome 1 : l'affaire du rideau bleu
Biography/memoir -- The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom
Comedy/Humour -- Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character
Gay/lesbian -- Fingersmith
Fantasy/folklore -- Le Morte D'Arthur - Volume I
Cult/chemical fiction -- At the Mountains of Madness
Non-fiction/self help -- Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Volume 1
Short stories -- The Best of Connie Willis: Award-Winning Stories
Modern British classics -- Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

(*) I can't remember what I read (if anything) for the Psychiatry/madness month, so have put something I've only read recently that fits.
(**) I only read one book for this genre and skipped one of the Decembers
(***) This links in with my next 'challenge' of reading all of the novels that have won both the Hugo and Nebula awards -- I'm really looking forward to that as it's a great list!

[Liz, Moderator]

I love the genre challenge because it does get me to read outside my usual comfort zone.

I'm happy to take a risk, as I get so much from the library there's no money involved ;)

[Bill]

Liz wrote: "I love the genre challenge because it does get me to read outside my usual comfort zone.

I'm happy to take a risk, as I get so much from the library there's no money involved ;)"

I've enjoyed both go-arounds for the same reason. It's let me explore even more than I normally do. Thanks for running it, Liz.

[Tania]

I started this late in November so am happy with only missing one month in the end. This turned into quite a fun challenge putting me in corners to read what I would not normally read yet enjoyed most of it and now find my reading horizon a lot larger. Here's how I did

Classic novels (pre 20thC) - April 2015
Carmilla - Young Goodman Brown

Travel / Exploration - May 2015
The Ice Balloon: S. A. Andrée and the Heroic Age of Arctic Exploration - Where The Hell Is Tuvalu?: How I became the law man of the world's fourth-smallest country

Poetry - June 2015
A Children's Treasury of Milligan: Classic Stories and Poems by Spike Milligan

Psychiatry / Madness - July 2015
Carrie

Sci-Fi / Distopian Fiction - August 2015
The War of the Worlds

Romance / Erotica - September 2015
Unraveled

Young Adult / New adult - October 2015
Hatchet - The River

Magical Realism - November 2015
The Ghost Rider - The Vet's Daughter

Christmas / Winter read - December 2015
A Dog Named Christmas - Christmas with Tucker - Letters from Father Christmas

Western - January 2016
Roped In - Eagles Rest

20thC American Classics - February 2016
Close Range

Horror / Gothic / Ghost-stories - March 2016
Runaway Vampire - The Canterville Ghost –

Crime / Detective (includes true crime) - April 2016
Norwegian by Night

Film Tie-ins - May 2016
MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors - The African Queen - Goodbye Mr Chips

Espionage / Spy - June 2016
Arctic Wargame - A Colder War.

War / Revolution - July 2016
Target America - The Yompers: With 45 Commando in the Falklands War

Award-winning Books - August 2016
The Dead Lake

Graphic Novels - September 2016
Saga, Volume 1 - Saga, Volume 2 -
The Fixer: A Story from Sarajevo

Historical fiction - October 2016
The Wanderer: Highland Soldiers 4 - Everything in This Country Must: A Novella and Two Stories.

Biography / Memoir - November 2016
Does This Island Go To The Bottom? - How a Boy Survived Genocide: Living with Hope

Christmas / Winter - December 2016
One Wish - Flay

Comedy / humour January 2017
The Nose

Gay & Lesbian - February 2017
Rough, Raw and Ready - Shadow's Seduction

Fantasy / Folklore - March 2017
Water Bound - Tales of liechtenstein Then and Now - Dark Curse

Cult / Chemical fiction April 2017
Didn’t manage to do this one

Non-fiction / Self-help - May 2017
Vanished: The Sixty-Year Search for the Missing Men of World War II - The Longest Kill: The Story of Maverick 41, One of the World's Greatest Snipers - Fourteen: A Daughter's Memoir of Adventure, Sailing, and Survival - Make Your Bed: Small things that can change your life... and maybe the world

Short stories June 2017
Ghostly Whispers: Thirteen Ghost Stories Set in Macao - Tales from the Heart of Haiti

Modern British classics (20thC/kitchen sink)
The 39 Steps

[Em]

CLASSICS PRE 20TH CENTURY Emma by Jane Austen
TRAVEL AND EXPLORATION The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey
POETRY Singing Underwater by Susan Wicks and Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot
PSYCHIATRY/MADNESS Still Alice by Lisa Genova
SCI-FI/DISTOPIAN Neuromancer by William Gibson and Divergent by Veronica Roth
ROMANCE/EROTICA The Nation's Favourite Love Poems and The Faber Book of Love Poems
YOUNG ADULT The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon and Jon for Short by Malorie Blackman
MAGICAL REALISM 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
CHRISTMAS/WINTER The Gift by Cecelia Ahern
WESTERN Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown
20TH CENTURY AMERICAN CLASSICS The Call of the Wild by Jack London and Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
HORROR/GOTHIC/GHOST The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter
CRIME/DETECTIVE Missing You by Harlan Coben
FILM TIE-IN Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
ESPIONAGE/SPY Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal by Ben Macintyre
WAR/REVOLUTION Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
AWARD WINNING Restoration by Rose Tremain
GRAPHIC NOVELS Bone: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi and Storm the Illustrated Book by Tim Minchin
HISTORICAL The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR Mad Girl by Bryony Gordon
CHRISTMAS/WINTER Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days by Jeanette Winterson
COMEDY/HUMOUR Quite Ugly One Morning by Christopher Brookmyre and The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
GAY/LESBIAN Carol by Patricia Highsmith
FANTASY/FOLKLORE Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
CULT/CHEMICAL FICTION The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
NON-FICTION/SELF-HELP The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson
SHORT STORIES Stone Mattress: Nine Tales by Margaret Atwood
MODERN BRITISH CLASSICS Look Back in Anger by John Osborne

[Kate, Moderator]

So what's the plan? Are we starting again? Maybe in January???
Please!!!

[Liz, Moderator]

We could start again, if enough people are interested :)

[Em]

I'm interested!

I love this challenge, it certainly keeps me from getting stuck in "reading rut" and always reading the same kinds of books!

[[deleted user]]

I'm new to the group and would love to join in if you did it again.

[Tania]

What the heck put me down for it. Nothing like being outside the comfort zone

[Bill]

I like the challenge too. I manage to complete the majority. Start anytime.

[Kate, Moderator]

I wonder if there's enough interested perhaps we could do a Halloween/Ghost/Horror/Gothic type theme for October and a Winter/Christmas theme for December then launch the new one in January? Those two seem to be seasonal favourites for this group! Just a thought...

[Liz, Moderator]

Excellent suggestion, Kate. Let's do that :)

Start thinking about your Halloween reads.....

[Tania]

Will you staring a new challenge page for this new run?

[Liz, Moderator]

Yes, I'll set it up this evening, when I get back from work...