Saturday, January 26, 2019

More reading challenges!



An original myth rather than mytho-fiction (time to read the originals, not retellings)
Something that has won three awards since its release
A book from the point of view of something other than a human (or humanoid)
A book not from a first world country
A book your parent loved when they were your age
A current bestselling children's book
A classic from a genre you haven't explored



You can choose your books by the title, cover or theme of the book

(01)  LIMITLESS PALETTE

A book with a title with color 
For example "The Red Carnelian" or "Frankling in the Dark"

(02)  TREASURE OR HIGH ADVENTURE
Valuables, equipment for treasure or adventure; very broad possibilities.

For example "The Amulet" or "The Alchemist"

(03)  TOYS OR HOBBIES

(04)  HEALTHFULNESS
Happy feelings, drink, food, exercise, medicine, energy: you decide!

(05)  ANIMALS
Any animals, birds, fish, insects, not just mammals

(06)  NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

(07)  THE ARTS

(08)  FASHION & FURNISHINGS
We needn’t stop at sewing and knitting. We can expand to curtains, doilies, linen, and quilts!

(09)  CANADIAN
Books by and about Canadians and Canada and closely-associated attributes.

(10)  HISTORY
Historic things, places, or heroes. Fifty year-old books or settings too.

(11)  THIRD TIME CHARM?
Anything to do with three. Title with the number three, the authors third book, a trilogy... 


Choose at least one book from each of the following categories:
1) The word ‘the’ used twice (The Secret By The Lake; The End Of The Day)
2) A fruit or vegetable (The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society; The Particular Sadness Of Lemon Cake)
3) A shape (The Ninth Circle, The Square Root Of Summer, Circle Of Friends)
4) A title that begins with Z – can be after ‘The’ or ‘A’ (Zen In The Art Of Writing; The Zookeeper’s Wife, Zelda)
5) A nationality (Anna And The French Kiss; How To Be A Kosovan Bride; Norwegian Wood)
6) A season (White Truffles In Winter; The Spring Of Kasper Meier; The Summer Queen; Before I Fall; The Autumn Throne)


The Book-A-Shelf Reading Challenge 2016

A - a book with an apocalyptical theme
B - a bestseller
C - a book with a cat in the cover
D - a diary
E - a book with an element in the title
F - a book you got for free
G - a ghost story
H - a book set in hot country
I - a book with an industrial theme
J - a junior novel
K - a bookw here no-one gets killed
L - a book from a list
M - a book with a month in the title
N - a book with your name in the title
O - a book with an orange title or cover
P - a poetry book
Q - a book with a question in the title
R - a rare book
S - a sci-fi book
T - a book with traveling in it
U - a book with an unhappy ending
V - a violent book
W - a book with water
X - an author with an X in their name
Y - a book by an author who was younger than you when it was published
Z - a Zombie version of a classic (or just a zombie book)

A literary Map Chain Challenge

Pick one of your favorite authors and write his/her name on the Literature Map
You get a "map" with authors who are more or less similar to that author. The names closest are most similar to the author.
Pick one of the names and read a book by that author.
Then insert his/her name in the map and choose the next author.
Continue until you have read 10, 15 or 25 books, according to what you choose in the beginning of the challenge.
Don't read the same author twice!

My 25 books chain:

1. Terry Pratchett - Night Watch
2. Neil Gaiman - Anansi Boys
3. Jim Butcher - Storm Front
4. Patrick Rothfuss - The Name of the Wind
5. Scott Lynch - The Lies of Locke Lamora
6. R. Scott Bakker - The Darkness That Comes Before
7. Greg Keys - The Briar King
8. Jane Yolen - The Devil's Arithmetic
9. Patricia McKillip - Winter Rose
10. Katherine Kurtz - Deryni Rising
11. Judith Tarr - Household Gods
12. Naomi Novik - His Majesty's Dragon
13. V. E. Schwab - A Darker Shade of Magic
14. Helen Oyeyemi - Boy, Snow, Bird
15. Paul Yoon - Snow Hunters
16. Joy Williams - The Quick and The Dead
17. Lorrie Moore - A Gate At The Stairs
18. Mary Gaitskill - The Mare
19. Pat Califia - Doc and Fluff: The Dystopian Tale of a Girl and Her Biker
20. Ellen Gilchrist - The Anna Papers
21. Scott Ferrell - The Gatekeeper
22. Persimmon Blackbridge - Prozac Highway
23. Ashley Warlick - The Arrangement
24. Laura Greenwood - The Dryad's Pawprint
25. Coe Booth - Tyrell

Interesting chain...




18 ways to broaden your literary horizons

1. Read a story in its true serial form
2. Read a graphic novel or manga
3. Read a book of poems (not an anthology)
4. Read a terrifying horror novel (at night, under the blankets)
5. Read a massive classic
6. Read a play, act it out, then see it
7. Read a science fiction novel
8. Read a book and then watch the film version right after
9. The Bradbury Trio
"one poem a night, one short story a night, one essay a night, for the next 1,000 nights."
10. The Nobel Prize Book Challenge
(Read a book by a Nobel Prize winner once a month - take a book, divide it into 30 (or 28 or 31) parts and read one part each day
11. Read a romance novel
12. Read a short story collection
13. Read a book from a country you've never visited
14. Read a biography... chosen by someone else
15. Read a banned book
16. Read a self-published work
17. Read 3 magazines on unfamiliar areas
18. Read some acclaimed non-fiction

Here's some essays with writing info, as is suitable for this blog ;-)

Back to Classics

1.  A 19th century classic
2.  A 20th century classic
3.  A classic by a woman author.
4.  A classic in translation.
5.  A classic originally published before 1800.
6.  A romance classic.
7.  A Gothic or horror classic.
8.  A classic with a number in the title.
9.  A classic about an animal or which includes the name of an animal in the title.
10. A classic set in a place you'd like to visit.
11. An award-winning classic.
12. A Russian classic.

Victorian reading challenge
(Yes, REAL Victorian books, fiction and non-fiction, but written between 1837-1901, unless explicitly specified)

1. A book under 200 pages
2. A book over 400 pages
3. A book that REALLY intimidates you
4. A book you REALLY want to reread
5. A new-to-you book by a FAVORITE author
6. A book with illustrations
7. A book that was originally published serially
8. A book published between 1837-1849
9. A book published between 1850-1860
10. A book published between 1861-1870
11. A book published between 1871-1880
12. A book published between 1881-1890
13. A book published between 1891-1901
14. A book published between 1902-1999 with a Victorian setting
15. A book published between 2000-2017 with a Victorian setting
16. A book by Charles Dickens
17. A book by Wilkie Collins
18. A book by Anthony Trollope
19. A book by Elizabeth Gaskell
20. A book by George Eliot
21. A book by a new-to-you male author
22. A book by a new-to-you female author
23. A book translated into English
24. A fiction or nonfiction book about Queen Victoria
25. A book that has been filmed as movie, miniseries, or television show
26. A play OR a collection of short stories OR a collection of poems
27. Biography, Autobiography, or NONFICTION book about the Victorian era
28. Genre or subgenre of your choice (mystery, suspense, romance, gothic, adventure, western, science fiction, fantasy)
29. Book with a name as the title
30. Book you've started but never finished
31. A Christian book, fiction or nonfiction (aren't they all... why not a non-Christian book from the era... would be much more interesting.)
32. A children's book
33. Book with a number in the title
34. Book with a place in the title


the Redolent Mermaid 2017 Reading Challenge

1. Re-read a beloved book
2. Art and literature. Graphic novels, art history, comics, even a doodle or two on a Wreck This Journal, as long as art is involved, count it.
3. Magic.
4. A book gifted or loaned to you.
5. A book that has been in your TBR pile but overlooked time and again.
6. A library find.
7. A book to learn something from.
8. Cool book cover art that lures you in like bait.
9. A story that takes you to another place and time, real or imagined.
10. A book from a favorite author that you haven't gotten around to reading yet.
11. A book with an animal on the cover or in the title.
12. A memoir.
13. A fluff read. (Easy, fast, or cheesy).
14. A Steinbeck, Hemingway or John D. MacDonald creation or book about one of them or inspired by one of them.
15. A scarlet hued tome.
16. The next in a series you have read.
17. A tale that takes place during a war.
18. Female heroine triumphant.
19. A European setting.
20. Female authored.
21. Paranormal or supernatural phenomenon.
22. A book to make you belly laugh, guffaw or snort and chuckle along the way.
23. A book that will be a movie, you read, then watch.
24. A book with words in it. That should cover it.

Bookish Jay and Reading Mermaid 2019

1. A book set in your home state, or province for our Canadian buddies.
2. You saw the movie but didn’t read the book…. now read the book.
3. Carpe read ‘em- a title on your TBR for 1+ years.
4. Flora: flower on the cover.
5. Fauna: beastly book.
6. Scandinavian setting- create your own Jolabokaflod, or Yule Book Flood.
7. Flavor- a book built around food.
8. Passport required… set in a country you have never been to.
9. Yellow/Gold is the color of novelty, so read a yellow novel.
10. Something witchy this way comes. Witches, man, read a witch-centered tome.
11. A novel that is now a Netflix series or adaptation.
12. Shallowness: pick a book based on its spine appearance alone.
13. Nature Lover: non-fiction about the environment.
14. How old are you now? Read a book from your birth decade.
15. A book written by an author with your same initials.
16. Gothic read.
17. A retelling.
18. A guide.
19. BINGO Free Space- pick your own.
20. A book discovered by scrolling #bookstagram.
21. Bildungsroman: a coming of age tale.
22. Turn and face the strange- an out of your comfort zone read.
23. A last book written by your favorite author.
24. Hygge: a book for comfort.
25. A happy little accident… or a book that has a title Bob Ross would appreciate.
26. A numeric title.
27. Crossover- a book written by a beloved artist, musician or figure.
28. A tale where the main character loves to read.
29. 1890’s- a great Victorian vintage.
30. Celestial object on the cover or in the title.

Bookish Jay and Reading Mermaid 2018 

1. A classic, defined loosely or found on either of these sources: Modern Library 100 Best Novels or Radcliffe's 100 Best Novels.
2. Adventure awaits! Choose a rather adventurous read.
3. The next one in a series, there is always another on to get to...
4. A purple hued tome, be it lilac, lavender or deep royal purple.
5. A memoir.
6. A story set in a forest or mountains, or depicting either on the cover.
7. An epistolary novel, told in letters or journal entries.
8. A collection of short stories.
9. Pick up one of those neglected TBR books you have lurking about. I know you do.
10. A story set in the Middle East or Asia.
11. Be extra naughty.... no... not that kind of book (well, unless you want)... read a banned book!
12. Art and literature, whether just a gorgeous cover or actual art is in the storyline.
13. A heart pounding thriller!
14. Non-fiction to tickle the brain cells.
15. A book from the library.
16. Historical fiction.
17. Get your microscope and pocket protector ready... a book dealing with some aspect of science.
18. A book with a bird, on the cover or in the plot.
19. A book with a child protagonist.
20. It's about time this one happened: a book dealing with scent, fragrance or perfume.
21. Travelogue, a book taking place on a journey.
22. Re-trying that Hemingway, Steinbeck, or John D. MacDonald authored book.
23. An epic tale.
24. A sensual read.
25. A candle on the cover.
26. A book title that sounds like a cool name for a band.
27.  A book that was gifted to you.
28. A book by a debuted author.
29. A story based on mythology: Greek, Roman, Norse, Egyptian... any.
30. Second-hand stories, a book picked up in a thrift shop.


Litsy's #Booked2019 Season Reading Challenge
(Now, the division of seasons is %&$#?@! What idiot ever got the idea of taking a day in the middle of the summer and naming it "the first day of summer"? The day which is called in many cultures "Midsummer's day"?)

Winter

1. Female detective (International Day of the Woman - March 8)
2. Fairy tale retelling (Grimm Brothers Birthdays; Jacob January 4, Carl February 24)
3. Reminds you of your happy place
4. related to a podcast
5. Set in Ireland / Irish author (St. Patrick's Day)
6. New to you author (New Year's Day)

Spring
7. Night-oriented title (Spring Equinox)
8. Cli-Fi (Earth Day April 22)
9. Indigenous authors (National Indigenous Peoples' Day, Canada - June 21)
10. Features a musician (World Music Day, June 21)
11. Social media focus
12. Food or beverage on cover

Summer
13. Genrebusting (writing in many different genres at the same time, genre cross-over)
14. Muslim author or MC (Eid al-Adha, August 12)
15. Book to movie
16. Comic or graphic novel (National comic book day, September 25)
17. Book gifted to you
18. Diverse middle grade (International day of peace, September 21)

Autumn
19. Book about addiction (National substance abuse prevention month, October)
20. Soldier's story (Veteran's Day, November 11)
21. New in 2019
22. Person of color MC paranormal
23. Public domain
24. Political intrigue (Election Day, USA, November 3)

Litsy's 2018 Bookedchallenge

January – March
1. Book featuring an Olympic Sport (because it’s the 2018 Winter Olympics, y’all!)
2. POC Author
3. Body Positive Memoir or Novel
4. Cozy Mystery
5. Feminist Classic (For International Women’s Day on March 8!)
6. Unconventional Romance

April – June
7. Childhood favorite
8. Steampunk
9. Book about the Environment/Set Outdoors (In celebration of Earth Day!)
10. Refugee MC (For World Refugee Day on June 20)
11. Friendship
12. Flowers or Sword on Cover

July – September
13. Blame it on Litsy
14. Diverse Non-fiction
15. Set at school
16. LGBTQIA+ MC
17. Japanese Thriller
18. Beach Read

October – December
19. Underdog hero
20. Features a holiday
21. MC over 70 (The International Day of Older Persons is October 1)
22. New in 2018
23. MC with Invisible Illness
24. Spooky read

Netflix and Books challenge

the book and show have
- the same trope or premise
- common word in the titles
- the same setting
- the same time period
- bad reviews but you are still interested
- a main character with the same name
- spin-off series/show

the show is based on the book
the book is mentioned in the show

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