Introduction to the Genre Challenge

[Liz, Moderator]

Hi all,
There have been requests for the Genre Challenge to run again! We will kick off in April, reading a different genre each month.

In the meantime we need to work out a way to select the genres that we read. Personally, I'm a little bored with the monthly poll (having done it for four years...) Is there another way we could randomly choose the next genre?

Before we start, I've copied the list of the genres we faced last time. There are are currently 24 genres, which is two years' worth of books. Please take a look and see if there are any serious omissions:

Historical
Magical-realism
Crime/detective (includes true crime)
Classic novels (pre 20thC)
Modern British classics (20thC/kitchen sink)
Travel/exploration
Non-fiction/self-help
Sci-Fi/distopian
Horror/gothic/ghost-story
Fantasy/folklore
Biography/memoir
Gay & Lesbian
Psychiatry/madness
Young Adult/New adult
Romance/Erotica
Short stories
Espionage/spy
Cult/Chemical fiction
War/revolution
Poetry
Comedy/humour
Award-winning (Booker, Orange, Pulitzer)
Western
Graphic novels

[Liz, Moderator]

If I sorted the list alphabetically, that might make it easy!

[Laura]

Randomising seems like a generally better idea anyway because the point of the challenge seems to be to encourage to read outside of their normal comfort zones. However, if you have a poll then you can get certain unpopular genres clustering together at the end of the challenge which seems to defeat the purpose a little.

If we just give each genre a number then use a random number generator each month then that should work.

[Andrew]

Alphabetical order sounds sensible Liz. The only other categories that I would like might be '20th century American classics' and/or Film tie in (e.g made into a film/tv or inspired by film tv). But as there are 24 already best to stick with the winning formula.

[Liz, Moderator]

Laura, you've hit the nail on the head. Everyone starts with good intentions and it's easy at first as the most popular choices are voted for and read. Then as we get into the more obscure or niche genres, participants drop like flies! So a mix-up is definitely needed.

[Liz, Moderator]

Andrew, I like the idea of 20thC US classics.

[Ellie]

Ooh glad to see we are doing this again. I failed miserably last go (due to having 2 v young kids within the timeframe and no chance to really read) so would like another go at it.

Happy with whatever selection process you opt for.

[Danielle]

Maybe this is nice way to randomly choose a certain order: https://www.random.org/lists/

[Danielle]

I also like the idea of 20th US classics. Could we do 25 then?

[Bill]

I like the idea of the random order. Maybe Danielle's suggestion might work. But however we do it, I do like this challenge.

[Liz, Moderator]

Danielle, That looks fun, I will have a go and see what happens...

[Liz, Moderator]

I'm sure we can do 25 genres. After all, we often squeeze in Christmas/winter novels for December, which extends the challenge too.

[Laura]

Is there any reason that children's books aren't on the list? I know there's young adult/new adult but there are a lot of books for younger children that are really enjoyable for all ages eg. The Little Prince, the Paddington stories.

[Liz, Moderator]

Laura wrote: "Is there any reason that children's books aren't on the list? I know there's young adult/new adult but there are a lot of books for younger children that are really enjoyable for all ages eg. The L..."

There's no reason why Children's books aren't on the list, but I'd suggest we group them with the Young Adult books.

[Anna]

If at all possible, I'd prefer romance and erotica not to be in the same genre.

[Liz, Moderator]

Anna, I agree they are separate genres, however they've been put together in the same way as sci-fi & distopian fiction, because they share some common ground.

I will happily split them, if that's the group's feeling.

I paired them up (and some of the other genres) so that we had a more digestible list of 24 genres, rather than an immense 36, (3 years of challenge!) And to give participants a little more leeway in their monthly choice.

(Personally, when facing Romance/Erotica in the challenge, I've chosen one of each, that month, but it's down to individual reader's choice/time available etc.)

[Liz, Moderator]

BTW I hope I don't sound defensive. I'm happy to run this challenge, the way you want it....


....within reason ;)

[Laura]

I'm more than happy with those groupings. A three year challenge is a bit much :)

[Ian, Moderator]

I'm also happy with groupings as is and a random selection announced every month.

[Andrew]

Random is fine by me and I am happy with the categories. However having seen what Ian read for his Madagascar read perhaps he will be seeking another specialist category !

[Anna]

Oh yes, three years would be far too long. Almost time to get to Mars and back.

You've done a good job keeping it to 24.

[Em]

I'm happy with random order too - alphabetical or otherwise.

[Ian, Moderator]

Andrew wrote: "Random is fine by me and I am happy with the categories. However having seen what Ian read for his Madagascar read perhaps he will be seeking another specialist category !"

That'd be the "Scraping the barrel to get a country" category, tho' I think romance/erotica would do just as well.

[Kiwi Sarah]

Yay glad it's running again as I started with such gusto and then ran out of steam as life revved up... Random or alphabetical, sounds good to me, however it happens.

[Nikks]

Ok gonna try harder this time around. Lol. 24 is a good number, 2 years to complete it but I love the idea of a film tie-in read, invariably it will lead to movie discussion too, which will be cool.

[Sue]

Kiwi Sarah wrote: "Yay glad it's running again as I started with such gusto and then ran out of steam as life revved up... Random or alphabetical, sounds good to me, however it happens."
That's what happened to me too. Ended up reading the genres I liked which was not the idea! Pleased to give it another go!

[Kate, Moderator]

Can't wait to have another go. I found some real gems last time that I would never have normally picked up in a million years.
Alphabetical would be handy as I like to have a rough idea of what's coming next so I can seek out books in advance.

[Davidg]

I am another liking the idea of adding 20th C US classics. But if we are to stay within the two years we need to drop one of the categories. My suggestion is "Psychiatry/Madness" - I'm yet to see a madness section a bookshop. (I hope that agreeing between us what we might drop would take the pressure off Liz.)

I also like the random idea, it would help me not to drop out before the end, like last time.

[Sue]

Davidg wrote: " My suggestion is "Psychiatry/Madness" - I'm yet to see..."

I'm beginning to think probably in the politics section. Now that would be a genre all of its own (ducks)!

[Helen]

Looks good, I like the idea of a movie tie in and childrens as opposed to YA. What about a 'released this year' Book. Mind, of it came up in Jan your choice would be limited. Perhaps a new release, less than three months?

[Helen]

And how good am I, I only ditched five categories.

[Kate, Moderator]

And there was me (when I joined this group at the start of this challenge) thinking you'd all be diligently ticking off the categories like me! Think I'll cheat too next time! lol

[Helen]

Lol, I avoided all the ones I didn't fancy!

[Liz, Moderator]

Just to state; I completed ALL the genres in the recent run of the challenge *smug smirk* ;)

I usually unearth something that appeals, from even the least promising genre. Although I have to admit that my heart sinks when I have to tackle poetry. I have yet to find an author who doesn't cause my mind to wander while I read their poetry. It takes me ages and feels like school....

Ok, factoring in all your responses, the list (in no particular order, as yet) we will be facing this time around is:

Historical
Magical-realism
Crime/detective (includes true crime)
Classic novels (pre 20thC)
Modern British classics (20thC/kitchen sink)
American 20thC classics
Travel/exploration
Non-fiction/self-help
Sci-Fi/distopian
Horror/gothic/ghost-story
Fantasy/folklore
Biography/memoir
Gay & Lesbian
Psychiatry/madness
Young Adult/New adult/Children's
Romance/Erotica
Short stories
Espionage/spy
Cult/Chemical fiction
War/revolution
Poetry
Comedy/humour
Award-winning (Booker, Orange, Pulitzer)
Western
Graphic novels
Film tie-in (books that have been adapted for the screen)

(You may have noticed that I've kept psychiatry/madness in - it always throws up really interesting reads).

[Liz, Moderator]

I've followed Danielle's suggestion and used the random list generator.
The first genre for the challenge is........*drum roll*......

'Classic novels (pre 20thC)'

(I'd better set up the new thread).

[Ellie]

Ooh glad you kept in the psychiatry / madness books - anyone struggling could take a look on Listopia as there's a few interesting lists there.

Can recommend The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories as a quick read.

And I agree re poetry...I will do my best!

[Aneta]

I have recently joined the group and the genre challenge has drawn my attention. I'd really like to try it. Is it enough to read one book from the given genre per month? Or would you read a certain genre for the whole month?

[Helen]

Aneta, people do it both ways.

[Bill]

What's the difference between a young adult and a new adult? And ref the kitchen sink category, I guess that's books on plumbing?? ;0)... of course, just kidding.. Looking forward to starting this again.

[Ellie]

Bill wrote: "What's the difference between a young adult and a new adult? And ref the kitchen sink category, I guess that's books on plumbing?? ;0)... of course, just kidding.. Looking forward to starting this ..."

I didn't know either http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New-adul...

In summary it's a new name for fiction covering more adult YA themes - New Adult fiction tends to focus on issues such as leaving home, developing sexuality, and negotiating education and career choices, according to article above.

[Bill]

Thanks, Ellie. Much appreciated.

[Kiwi Sarah]

Yay Ellie - thanks again for organising this - off to take a look through bookshelves for some of those classic pre 20th Century novels that I have always been meaning to read but...

(reassuring that others fell by the wayside too but also impressive that some people have actually finished the challenge!)

[Ellie]

Kiwi Sarah wrote: "Yay Ellie - thanks again for organising this - off to take a look through bookshelves for some of those classic pre 20th Century novels that I have always been meaning to read but...

(reassuring t..."

Liz organised it! I can't take any credit!

I posted the bit above about definitions for NA fiction :)

[Liz, Moderator]

Oh no!!!

I just ran the random genre-selector to find out what next month's genre is going to be, and it's: poetry!

Oh how I struggle with poetry....

... I will need to find something short!

[Sue]

Perhaps a book of haiku. I really like them. A few of them a day to make you think!

[Ellie]

Poetry? Ugh :/

[Liz, Moderator]

Sue, now that's an idea...

[Ellie]

I wonder what it is about poetry people don't like? I think I was just taught it really badly at school unfortunately. The poems we did in secondary were terribly dull. Maybe this is a chance to revisit poetry in an adult light!

[Liz, Moderator]

Yes, my school was definitely responsible for my current dissinterest in poetry.

Did anyone out there have an English teacher who brought poetry to life and inspired them to read more of it?

[[deleted user]]

I don't think we ever studied any poetry at my school. If we did I must have blocked it out of my memory!