2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

We are looking for nominations for January 2016! Can you believe it?

The theme for January is Extremes. The theme is completely open to interpretation. As long as you can tell us why you think it should fit the theme, it counts. Please state why the book you are nominating fits the theme. I am looking forward to seeing what books you nominate!

Please nominate only one book and ensure you either link the book or give the name of the author as well to avoid confusion. Please do not nominate books from a series, unless it is the first book in the series. You can second someone else's nomination, but that will count as your own. Nominations cannot have been chosen for a past group read (past buddy reads are fine).

This thread will be closed by November 22, and we will choose ten books for the poll. If there are more than ten books nominated, we will choose the ten most nominated. If there is still a tie to get into the top ten, we'll go back to the Goodreads average rating to see which is highest.

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption hopefully it's ok to nominate this early in the post.


Unbroken is an unforgettable testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit, brought vividly to life by Seabiscuit author Laura Hillenbrand.

I think this fits the theme of extremes because he over comes so many obstacles that it shows extreme determination.

I have just finished a brilliant book that is really all about extremes of human resilience and much, much more. The book is called The Narrow Road to the Deep North. It is a really, really, powerful book.

I'd like to nominate The Road by Cormac McCarthy. The setting is a post-apocalyptic America where the landscape is completely destroyed. Since it's an extreme setting, I think it fits.

Cassandra wrote: "I'd like to nominate The Road by Cormac McCarthy. The setting is a post-apocalyptic America where the landscape is completely destroyed. Since it's an extreme setting, I think it fits."

I second The Road, that would be an awesome start for the year!

I nominate Infidel, a memoir about a woman dealing with cultural and religious extremes. As an added bonus, she makes extreme accomplishments.

Nea wrote: "I nominate Infidel, a memoir about a woman dealing with cultural and religious extremes. As an added bonus, she makes extreme accomplishments."

I'd like to second Infidel. Hirsi Ali is a hero living in extreme conditions (under threat of death).

I love how there is a real mix of different types of books here! I like this theme. It is so open to so many different suggestions. Keep them coming.

Jan wrote: "My nomination for January's theme of Extremes is The Snow Child, written by Eowyn Ivey. The audiobook The Snow Child is narrated by [author:Debra Mo..."

Have you read it? :) I quite liked it :)

I will recommend Them: Adventures with Extremists is a book that makes interviews of people that are it two different political extremes and/or represent two different extremes of a situation. The author is Jon Ronson a very well known columnist and author from UK that many people will remember from his book The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry that was later made into a movie.

Jan wrote: "My nomination for January's theme of Extremes is The Snow Child, written by Eowyn Ivey. The audiobook The Snow Child is narrated by..."

I'll second The Snow Child.

I would like to nominate Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. Since it is the story of a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder) I think it fits the Extreme theme. It is indeed an extreme illness, I believe it is one of the most (if not THE most) terrifying psychiatric conditions, and I would like both to know more about it and to read Atwood's point of view on it.

I nominate The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story by Hyeonseo Lee - because extreme is a fitting descriptor for North Korea and the act of escaping from it.

(It is nominated in "Best memoir & autobiography" in the 2015 goodreads awards opening round)

Karina wrote: "I nominate The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story by Hyeonseo Lee - because extreme is a fitting descriptor for North Korea and the act of escap..."

Ooh, very interesting, Karina!

These are such great nominations! Keep them coming.

I vote for the snow child.

Marina wrote: "I would like to nominate Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. Since it is the story of a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly known as Multiple Personality Diso..."

I love Margaret Atwood! Good suggestion.

I thought this theme would bring about some interesting nominations.

Oh, gosh, so many great nominations! I don't know which to second.

Kara wrote: "Oh, gosh, so many great nominations! I don't know which to second."

Agree, so many good ones!

I have seconded The Road, but I would love Alias Grace too. And The Snow Child is great, unfortunately I have already read that one.

Have we read The Martian? If not, I would like to nominate that one. I don't know that it gets more extreme than being abandoned on Mars and having to survive with no one else.

Karina wrote: "I nominate The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story by Hyeonseo Lee - because extreme is a fitting descriptor for North Korea and the act of escap..."

Okay, I just added this to my list because of the Choice Awards, so this is what I'm going to second.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isacsson.
I nominate it because Steve Jobs was a extreme person. Jobs had an extreme commitment to his visions and did everything that was necessary to achieve greatness.
It's also a great read, started it a while back but never finished it.

We haven't read The Martian as a group read, so that's a valid nomination. (Just mentioning it in case others want to second.)

ReGina wrote: "Have we read The Martian? If not, I would like to nominate that one. I don't know that it gets more extreme than being abandoned on Mars and having to survive with no one else."

The Martian has been on my list to read for a while now. I think I will have to second that one.

I'm new here. Has Challenger Deep been read already? If not, I nominate it.

I've never read it but I feel like it fits the theme well. It's about a boy battling the extremities of his mental illness.

No Kate it hasn't been read as a group read. That sounds like an interesting book.

I'll third The Road, but I would be happy to read many of the books already nominated.

I nominate Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune.Huguette Clark lived to be 104. She saw many extremes in her life. "The Clark family story spans nearly all of American history in three generations, from a log cabin in Pennsylvania to mining camps in the Montana gold rush, from backdoor politics in Washington to a distress call from an elegant Fifth Avenue apartment. The same Huguette who was touched by the terror attacks of 9/11 held a ticket nine decades earlier for a first-class stateroom on the second voyage of the Titanic."

This theme is producing some really great nominations. I see some more books I may add to my ever expanding to-read list.

I'll second Empty Mansions!

I am loving this theme!

Jodi wrote: "I am loving this theme!"

Same here Jodi. It's one theme that I wish we could nominate more than one because there are so many good books out there that would fit in with this theme.

I'm going to second The Narrow Road to the Deep North, but I would be more than happy to read most of the other books already nominated as well.

Caro wrote: "I will recommend Them: Adventures with Extremists is a book that makes interviews of people that are it two different political extremes and/or represent two different extremes of a sit..."

I'll second this. Them has been on to read list for a while.

I'm going to nominate Starfish. It's the first in a series of a sci-fi horror set at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. It is definitely extreme: the ocean floor, the people at the edge of society such as serial killers, child murderers, etc., and at the extreme of body modification to withstand the pressure.

I'd be happy, though, with a lot of the books nominated :)

I vote for the The Snow Child also

Ooh, interesting choice Lulu! I haven't read Starfish, though I've been kind of meaning to - not before I read Blindsight first, mind. Not that I wouldn't be happy if Starfish were nominated either, of course!

That said I'm mostly commenting here to let people know that the writer of Starfish and its series has made all three books available for download on his website. I'm not the author, nor am I affiliated with him (I also haven't read any of the books so I have no idea on their quality), I just thought this was worth mentioning. :)

Paul wrote: "Ooh, interesting choice Lulu! I haven't read Starfish, though I've been kind of meaning to - not before I read Blindsight first, mind. Not that I wouldn't be happy if Starfish were nom..."

These books sounds pretty interesting. Thanks a ot for letting us know they are avaible for free in the author's webpage. I will read them soon!

I'd like to nominate Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer. It's about an expedition on Mt. Everest, which is an extreme thing to do!

Plus, I love all the Jon Krakauer that I have read so far, and this has been on my list for awhile.

I'll second Into thin Air. I've been wanting to read it.

Into Thin Air has been on my "to read" list for a long time!


Last day for nominations

Keep your eyes out for the poll. It will be coming in the next couple of days.

The poll for our January read is now up! There were so many good books on our list. Please take a moment to vote.

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Please remember to vote in the poll for January's group read! The poll closes tomorrow.