2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

THE HALLOWEEN COSTUME MINI CHALLENGE
Duration: October 1 - 31, 2013

Below are the top five costumes, per the LA Times, in 2012. Read a book that suits each costume.


1. Zombie. Read a book that contains zombies OR read a book that's classified as "horror."


2. Batman. Read a graphic novel OR read a book that contains superheroes.


3. Pirate. Read a book that at least partially takes place at sea OR read a book with a body of water on its cover.


4. Vampire. Read a book that contains vampires OR read a book classified as "paranormal."


5. Witch. This costume is a timeless classic. Read a book that contains witches OR read a book classified as a classic.

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Theresa~OctoberLace will be the leader for this challenge. Thank you, Theresa!

THE COSTUME MINI CHALLENGE
Duration: October 1 - 31, 2013
I'll try for 4

1. Zombie. Read a book that contains zombies OR read a book that's classified as "horror."


2. Batman. Read a graphic novel OR read a book that contains superheroes.


3. Pirate. Read a book that at least partially takes place at sea OR read a book with a body of water on its cover.


4. Vampire. Read a book that contains vampires OR read a book classified as "paranormal."


5. Witch. This costume is a timeless classic. Read a book that contains witches OR read a book classified as a classic.

This challenge is right up my alley! Love, love, love. I think I am in for 3.

THE COSTUME MINI CHALLENGE
Duration: October 1 - 31, 2013


1. Zombie. Read a book that contains zombies OR read a book that's classified as "horror." Carrie


2. Batman. Read a graphic novel OR read a book that contains superheroes.


3. Pirate. Read a book that at least partially takes place at sea OR read a book with a body of water on its cover.


4. Vampire. Read a book that contains vampires OR read a book classified as "paranormal." Interview With The Vampire

5. Witch. This costume is a timeless classic. Read a book that contains witches OR read a book classified as a classic. The Shining

I am not going to set myself a goal this month but if I read any books that satisfy the criteria for this challenge I will list them.

I'll join for at least 3.

THE COSTUME MINI CHALLENGE
Duration: October 1 - 31, 2013
Put me down for 4. (I already have 2 for October!)

1. Zombie. Read a book that contains zombies OR read a book that's classified as "horror."

A Darkness Strange and Lovely (Something Strange and Deadly #2) by Susan Dennard A Darkness Strange and Lovely

2. Batman. Read a graphic novel OR read a book that contains superheroes.

A Karma Girl Christmas (Bigtime #3.5)by Jennifer Estep
A Karma Girl Christmas


3. Pirate. Read a book that at least partially takes place at sea OR read a book with a body of water on its cover.


4. Vampire. Read a book that contains vampires OR read a book classified as "paranormal."

Jealousy (Strange Angels #3) by Lili St. Crow OR The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1) by Julie Kagawa
Jealousy OR The Immortal Rules


5. Witch. This costume is a timeless classic. Read a book that contains witches OR read a book classified as a classic.
Ever After (The Hollows #11) by Kim Harrison
Ever After

I'm in for 3 :)

Oh, I'm in for 5!

I'm in for at least 3, maybe even more!

I'm in for three!

If leading the challenge means keeping track of progress, fielding questions, and being sure books meet the guidelines, I can volunteer.

I'll join in for three!

#3 - Pirate/Water - The Traitor's Wife by Susan Higginbotham - completed

#4 - Paranormal - Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater - completed

#5 - Classic/Witch - Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card and Villette by Charlotte Bronte - completed

3/3 - challenge complete

I'm in, gonna try for three.

Thanks, Theresa! You're it. :)

count me in

It's good to see we have a number of folks joining this challenge. I've volunteered to lead, so I'll post a list of participants tomorrow. I've been checking my TBR list and may have choices for all 5.

Theresa, I'm in but I don't know my goal yet. Put me down for five and I'll adjust it later if I have to.

Through Message 17, we had 13 readers participating, and now thru Message 20 we have 15!

Sharon - 4
Jodi - 3
Sarah - TBD
Theresa~OctoberLace - 3+
Sherry - 4
Lilac - 3
Karina - 5
Lianne - 3+
Erika - 3
Megan - 3
Sara - 3
Lindy - TBD
SilverRaindrops - 5
Ashley - 3
Sarah - 5

Hi Theresa! I want to join and try for 3. :)

October Mini-Costume Challenge
October 1 - October 31, 2013
1/3 Completed

1. Zombie:Carrie, by Stephen King, finished 10/13/13, 3.5 stars (horror genre)
2. Vampire:
3. Witch:

I edited Message #18 to add Ashley & Sarah. Now we are 15!

Hi Theresa, I'll try for at least 3 as well :)

THE COSTUME MINI CHALLENGE
Duration: October 1 - 31, 2013
I'll try for 3

1. Zombie. Read a book that contains zombies OR read a book that's classified as "horror."
Hell House, Richard Matheson, 10/11/13 ***

2. Batman. Read a graphic novel OR read a book that contains superheroes.


3. Pirate. Read a book that at least partially takes place at sea OR read a book with a body of water on its cover.


4. Vampire. Read a book classified as "paranormal."
Call Me When You Get to Heaven: Our Amazing True Story of Messages From the Other Side, Jacky Newcomb Madeline Richardson, 10/31/13 ***

5. Witch. read a book classified as a classic.Twenty Years After, Alexandre Dumas, 10/30/13 ****
3/3 challenge complete

Did not complete challenge, maybe next time.

3/5

1. DONE Zombie- Cell

2. DONE Batman- Fathom: Dawn of War Beginnings

3. Pirate-The Stowaway

4. Vampire-Vampire Crush

5. DONE Witch- The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Through Message 25, we have 18!

Sharon - 4
Jodi - 3
Sarah - TBD
Theresa~OctoberLace - 3+
Sherry - 4
Lilac - 3
Karina - 5
Lianne - 3+
Erika - 3
Megan - 3
Sara - 3
Lindy - TBD
SilverRaindrops - 5
Ashley - 3
Sarah - 5
Laura - 3
Mave - 3
Tiffany-Rae - 5

I decided I just had to finish this challenge! 5/5

1. Zombie. Read a book that contains zombies OR read a book that's classified as "horror."
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Horror for Halloween 10/31/13

2. Batman. Read a graphic novel OR read a book that contains superheroes.
Fathom: Dawn of War Beginnings by Talent Caldwell Graphic Novel 10/1/13

3. Pirate. Read a book that at least partially takes place at sea OR read a book with a body of water on its cover.
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks (view spoiler)[In the end of the book, Anna Firth travels by ship from London, England to the Port of Oran, Algeria. (hide spoiler)] 10/5/13

4. Vampire. Read a book that contains vampires OR read a book classified as "paranormal."
Mariana Susanna Kearsley
Paranormal genre on Goodreads page 10/13/13

5. Witch. This costume is a timeless classic. Read a book that contains witches OR read a book classified as a classic.
The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence Classic genre 10/5/13

ill try 2. If I finish Les Mis this month can I count that? I have been reading it for a few months.

Welcome, Alison! I asked that question of the mods myself recently. Kara's answer was:

Theresa, we're pretty casual about all of our challenges.

1) There's no minimum page requirements, and anything Goodreads counts as a book, we count as a book.

2) Books can be started before the beginning of the month but must be finished in the month they're claimed.

Completed #5 - Classic/Witch - Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card. Classic book in a classic series! Good counterpoint to Ender's Game, so glad that I read this one second in the series! Not sure if this is true to the movie coming out in a few weeks, but the author mentioned at the end of the audiobook that the screenplay for the movie combines both Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow. More excited than ever to see the film now! 4.5 stars

1/3

Megan,

I hate to say this, but the GR page for Ender's Shadow does not include Classic under the Genre Section. SciFi, YA, War, Fantasy, Space, etc., but no Classic. To be fair to everyone, this one doesn't qualify for this challenge.

Fortunately, I do see that you've already finished books for other challenges this month, and there's plenty of time to read another that will qualify here.

I'm going to claim my graphic novel Fathom: Dawn of War Beginnings by Talent Caldwell, which I read tonight. I barely give it 1* but some lovers of graphic novels give it 5*.

If anyone else wants a graphic novel for this challenge, this is a freebie on Amazon for Kindle. It takes no time at all to read, though I had to squint to do so. Quoting from Kara's response to me, 1) There's no minimum page requirements, and anything Goodreads counts as a book, we count as a book.

As a point of order, this same book is listed as Fathom Dawn of War Beginnings by Michael Layne Turner, and the Graphic Novel genre is listed there. Both Talent Caldwell and Michael Turner are listed as contributors on Amazon.

Through Message 32, we have 19!

Sharon - 4
Jodi - 3
Sarah - TBD
Theresa~OctoberLace - 1/3+
Sherry - 4
Lilac - 3
Karina - 5
Lianne - 3+
Erika - 3
Megan - 3
Sara - 3
Lindy - TBD
SilverRaindrops - 5
Ashley - 3
Sarah - 5
Laura - 3
Mave - 3
Tiffany-Rae - 5
Craig - 3

Suggested reading

If you're looking for a short book with just over 100 pages that is interesting and has Horror, Vampires, Paranormal, and Classics listed as genres on its Goodreads page, you might like to try:

Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

The author was a contemporary of Bram Stoker, and both were from Dublin, Ireland and wrote about vampires. Carmilla, by the way, is about a female vampire.

I can't claim it because it was my Sunday morning read on September 1st. You can get the free eBook from the GR page and Amazon, or get the Kindle version with the lovely illustrations for a nominal price.

Great, Craig. I'll update our readerboard again on Sunday.

Just edited my original post. Finished Vampire costume

Today I finished Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks for my #3 Pirate. The spoiler in post #26 explains how this books fits there.

Last night I finished The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence Classic genre 10/5/13

This counts for #5. Witch, since it is classified as a classic on its GR page.

Finished 3/5

Here's our update through Message 39:

Sharon - 4
Jodi - 1/3
Sarah - TBD
Theresa~OctoberLace - 3/5
Sherry - 4
Lilac - 3
Karina - 5
Lianne - 3+
Erika - 3
Megan - 3
Sara - 3
Lindy - TBD
SilverRaindrops - 5
Ashley - 3
Sarah - 5
Laura - 3
Mave - 3
Tiffany-Rae - 5
Craig - 1/3
Deedee - 5

THE COSTUME MINI CHALLENGE
Duration: October 1 - 31, 2013


1. Zombie. Read a book that contains zombies OR read a book that's classified as "horror."


2. Batman. Read a graphic novel OR read a book that contains superheroes.


3. Pirate. Read a book that at least partially takes place at sea OR read a book with a body of water on its cover.


4. Vampire. Read a book that contains vampires OR read a book classified as "paranormal."


5. Witch. This costume is a timeless classic. Read a book that contains witches OR read a book classified as a classic.

Welcome, Deedee! I've edited Message 40 to add you.

So I am going to be like everyone else and use Fathom: Dawn of War Beginnings for the graphic novel. I don't own any. :(

Go for it, Tiffany-Rae! I only found that because another challenge needed a graphic novel, and it was free. I can get into almost any genre of books, except the graphic novels! Hey, it fits, and I have many other great books for the other categories.

Theresa~OctoberLace wrote: "Go for it, Tiffany-Rae! I only found that because another challenge needed a graphic novel, and it was free. I can get into almost any genre of books, except the graphic novels! Hey, it fits, an..."
Yea I just read it and I am so confused lol. Graphic novels are not my taste. I have a jughead one now but that's funny lol.

I wasn't planning on reading a book for the "Pirate" costume but I just downloaded a free kindle book that has pirates in it. I guess I will have to try to get to it this month.

I'll try to do all of them. :3

A Darkness Strange and Lovely (Something Strange and Deadly #2) by Susan Dennard - HALLOWEEN Costume MINI Challenge: ZOMBIEA Darkness Strange and Lovely

1/4 completed

1/5:

2. Doug TenNapel - Creature Tech (graphic novel)

1/3

3. Pirate. Read a book that at least partially takes place at sea OR read a book with a body of water on its cover. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Explanation (tiny spoiler for those who haven't watched the movie or read the book): (view spoiler)[McMurphy, The Chief and some other inmates go on a fishing trip at sea. (hide spoiler)]

Here's our update through Message 50:

Sharon - 4
Jodi - 1/3
Sarah - TBD
Theresa~OctoberLace - 3/5
Sherry - 1/4
Lilac - 3
Karina - 1/5
Lianne - 1/3
Erika - 3
Megan - 3
Sara - 3
Lindy - TBD
SilverRaindrops - 5
Ashley - 3
Sarah - 5
Laura - 3
Mave - 3
Tiffany-Rae - 1/5
Craig - 1/3
Deedee - 5
Emily~ - 5

Completed 2nd book for #5 - Villette by Charlotte Bronte. Classified as classic on the book's page. I much prefer Bronte's more straightforward Jane Eyre. There was a significant portion of this book that was difficult to read. However difficult the book was to read, the writing is brilliant and the picture painted in the narrative, particularly the last 25%, was really well done. I typically don't like books that end in a question, but despite not liking the ending, I can still appreciate Bronte's savvy in constructing it. Definitely worth reading! 4 stars

Going to try for 3 for this challenge.

I read The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis which has a witch in it giving me 1/3.