The Reading Challenge Group discussion

Good luck!

Year-Long Challenges 2017 >Alphabet Soup Challenge 2017

"26 Books in one year, each beginning with a different letter of the alphabet. (Not counting articles like "a," "an" or "the") to create your own special Alphabet Soup."

Total: 26/26 (2nd December) *COMPLETED!* ✔

A- Address Unknown
B- Burial Rites
C- Close to the Knives
D- Diaries of Kenneth Tynan, The
E- Enfants Terribles, Les
F- Flaubert's Parrot
G- Good-Bye to All That
H- Hons and Rebels
I- If This Is a Woman: Inside Ravensbruck
J- Journey Out Returning
K- Kubla Khan
L- Life After Life
M- Madonna in a Fur Coat
N- Noonday
O- Outrun, The
P- Paying Guests, The
Q- Quarantine
R- Reader on the 6.27, The
S- Slaughterhouse-Five
T- Tove Jansson: Life, Art, Words
U- Unrivalled Transcendence of Willem J. Gyle, The
V- Vegetarian, The
W-Written on the Body
X- Xingu
Y- Yellow Wall-Paper and Other Writings, The
Z- Zennor in Darkness

Mini Challenges 2017 > Viva La France! (July 2017) ✔

"Mission: Read one book in July that celebrates the French. You could go with a French author. French history. French food. French artists. Be creative!

I actually read two:

* Les Enfants Terribles by Jean Cocteau
* Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes

Year-Long Challenges 2017 > Dust the Shelf (April-Dec 2017)

Clear away the cobwebs from the back of your shelves and find the books that have been waiting the longest for you to read.

Completed: 30th August ✔

Level 1 (2 Books)
1. Bizarre Books by Russell Ash
2. Pure Pleasure by John Carey

Level 2 (4 Books)
3. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
4. Les Enfants Terribles by Jean Cocteau

Level 3 (7 Books)
5. Shop Talk by Philip Roth
6. The Yellow Wall-Paper and Other Writings by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
7. Moments Of Truth: Twelve Twentieth Century Women Writers by Lorna Sage

Level 4 (10 Books)
8. Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
9. The End of the Affair by Graham Green
10. Nourishment by Gerard Woodward

Year-Long Challenges 2017 > Anti-Alphabet Challenge 2017

Mission: 26 books, each missing one letter of the alphabet

Mission completed: 26/26 (20th July 2017) ✔

No A- The Outrun by Amy Liptrot
No B- Written Lives by Javier Marías
No C- The Power by Naomi Alderman
No D- Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford
No E- Xingu by Edith Wharton
No F- Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
No G- Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes
No H- Les Enfants Terribles by Jean Cocteau
No I- Address Unknown by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor
No J- An Everywhere: A Little Book About Reading by Heather Reyes
No K- Noonday by Pat Barker
No L- The Observer Book of Books by Carl Wilkinson
No M- Bizarre Books by Russell Ash
No N- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
No O- The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
No P- The Modern Library by Carmen Callil
No Q- Tove Jansson: Life, Art, Words: The Authorised Biography by Boel Westin
No R- Outside of a Dog by Rick Gekoski
No S- Good-bye to All That: The Original Edition by Robert Graves
No T- Fair Play by Tove Jansson
No U- Archipelago by Monique Roffey
No V- Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali
No W- Close to the Knives: A Memoir of Disintegration by David Wojnarowicz
No X- Outsider II: Always Almost: Never Quite by Brian Sewell
No Y- If This Is a Woman: Inside Ravensbruck by Sarah Helm
No Z- Dracula by Bram Stoker

Maxi Challenges 2017 > Fantasy Faire (April-Dec 2017)

"This can include any kind of fiction that has magic or paranormal elements, or that is set in a fictional location (excluding Sci Fi settings such as the future or space)."

Progress so far 12/15 (4th December):

Level 1 - Linger with Elves (2 Books) ✔
1. Slaughterhouse-Five
2. The Power

Level 2 - Fly with Dragons (4 Books) ✔
3. Dracula
4. Herland

Level 3 - Eat the Food in Faerie (7 Books) ✔
5. Quarantine
6. The Metamorphosis
7. Life After Life

Level 4 - Go on a Quest to Save the World (10 Books) ✔
8. The Turn of the Screw
9. Grimm's Fairy Stories
10. Hortense and the Shadow

Level 5 - Explore Another World (15 Books)
11. A Christmas Carol
12. The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere
13.
14.
15.

Year-Long Challenges 2017 > 50 Book Challenge 2017

"Mission: Read 50 books this year." COMPLETED! 27/09/17 ✔

1. The Diaries of Kenneth Tynan
2. Madonna in a Fur Coat
3. If This Is a Woman: Inside Ravensbruck
4. Burial Rites
5. Outsider II: Always Almost: Never Quite
6. Hons and Rebels
7. Tove Jansson: Life, Art, Words: The Authorised Biography
8. Good-bye to All That: The Original Edition
9. Fair Play
10. Close to the Knives: A Memoir of Disintegration
11. Archipelago
12. An Everywhere: A Little Book About Reading
13. The Paying Guests
14. Written Lives
15. At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails
16. Bizarre Books
17. Hot Flashes: A Collection of Short Stories
18. Address Unknown
19. Pure Pleasure: A Guide to the Twentieth Century's Most Enjoyable Books
20. Noonday
21. Slaughterhouse-Five
22. The Power
23. The Observer Book of Books
24. The Outrun
25. Outside of a Dog
26. Les Enfants Terribles
27. Flaubert's Parrot
28. Xingu
29. The Modern Library
30. Dracula
31. Shop Talk : A Writer and His Colleagues and Their Work
32. The Yellow Wall-Paper and Other Writings
33. The Vegetarian
34. The Hound of the Baskervilles
35. Quarantine
36. Moments Of Truth: Twelve Twentieth Century Women Writers
37. Written on the Body
38. Death in Venice
39. The End of the Affair
40. Nourishment
41. The Ballad of Reading Gaol
42. My Own Story: Emmeline Pankhurst
43. The Awakening: And Other Stories
44. Me Again: Uncollected Writings of Stevie Smith
45. Cat's Eye
46. Nightmare Abbey
47. An Obsession With Butterflies
48. The Reader on the 6.27
49. Zennor in Darkness
50. The Metamorphosis

Year-Long Challenges 2017 > Decade Challenge 2017

"The idea is to try to read and record ONE book originally published in each decade listed. Your end result should be a list of the 22 decades posted here, with one book you've read beside each decade."

Decade Challenge
(Original publication date)

1800-1809:
1810-1819: Nightmare Abbey (1818)
1820-1829:
1830-1839:
1840-1849: A Christmas Carol (1843)
1850-1859:
1860-1869:
1870-1879:
1880-1889: A Study in Scarlet (1887)
1890-1899: Dracula (1897)
1900-1909: The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902)
1910-1919: Xingu (1916)
1920-1929: Good-bye to All That (1929)
1930-1939: Address Unknown (1938)
1940-1949: Madonna in a Fur Coat (1949)
1950-1959: The End of the Affair (1951)
1960-1969: Hons and Rebels (1960)
1970-1979:
1980-1989: Fair Play (1989)
1990-1999: Written on the Body (1992)
2000-2009: The Diaries of Kenneth Tynan (2002)
2010-2017: The Outrun (2016)

Maxi Challenges 2017 > Seize the Day! (Sept-Dec 2017)

"From September through the end of the year, choose those books you most want to read, by favorite authors, or maybe books in a favorite series. Treat yourself."

Read: 7/6 (TASK COMPLETED 4th December)

Level 1 - Have a Treat (3 Books) ✔
1. Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood (14/09/17)
2. The Reader on the 6.27 by Jean-Paul Didierlaurent (21/09/17)
3. Zennor in Darkness by Helen Dunmore (27/09/17)

Level 2 - Savor the Moment (6 Books) ✔
4. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (07/10/17)
5. Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew J. Sullivan (22/10/17)
6. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (04/12/17)

Level 3 - Seize the Day (10 Books)
7. Ru by Kim Thúy (14/12/17)
8.
9.
10.

Great job

Monthly Theme Challenge 2017 > Halloween & Paranormal - October 2017

"We're reading spooky in October! Think Paranormal, Halloween, witches, cats, creepy, spooky, scary, gothic atmosphere... whatever puts you in the Halloween mood."

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James COMPLETED! (18/10/17) ✔

Year-Long Challenges 2017 > Overachiever's Challenge : What comes after 50?

"Some of you will go way beyond 50 books this year. This is a place to share your achievements after you complete the 50 Book Challenge. Go, You! "

51. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (07/10/17)
52. Shooting Stars are the Flying Fish of the Night by Lynn Michell (09/10/17)
53. Novel On Yellow Paper by Stevie Smith (16/10/17)
54. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (18/10/17)
55. Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew J. Sullivan (22/10/17)
56. Grimm's Fairy Stories by Jacob Grimm (24/10/17)
57. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris (26/10/17)
58. A Chill in the Air: An Italian War Diary 1939-1940 by Iris Origo (30/10/17)
59. House of Fiction by Phyllis Richardson (03/11/17)
60. A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle (05/11/17)
61. In Search of Mary Shelley by Fiona Sampson (12/11/17)
62. Hortense and the Shadow by Natalia O'Hara (15/11/17)
63. In Search of Nice Americans by Geoff Steward (18/11/17)
64. Journey Out Returning by William Fell-Holden (21/11/17)
65. Aphra Behn: A Secret Life by Janet Todd (26/11/17)
66. Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (27/11/17)
67. Love by Hanne Ørstavik (28/11/17)
68. The Unrivalled Transcendence of Willem J. Gyle by J.D. Dixon (02/12/17)
69. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (04/12/17)
70. The Extraordinary Life of A A Milne by Nadia Cohen (11/12/17)
71. A Maigret Christmas by Georges Simenon (12/12/17)
72. Ru by Kim Thúy (14/12/17)
73. Stories: The Collected Short Fiction by Helen Garner (20/12/17)
74. The Reservoir Tapes by Jon McGregor (24/12/17)
75. The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere by John Chu (26/12/17)

Monthly Theme Challenge 2017 > Changes - November 2017

"November's theme is Changes. Changes in seasons or nature, in life, character, or personality are all possibilities. Shifts in a political or cultural scene or in location could also work."

* In Search of Nice Americans by Geoff Steward COMPLETED! (18/11/17) ✔

Monthly Theme Challenge 2017 > Winter - December 2017

Our final theme for the year is Winter. This can include anything that you associate with winter, including weather, holidays, family, sports, or even just the time of year that winter arrives in your corner of the world... what is winter to you?

* A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (04/12/17)
* A Maigret Christmas by Georges Simenon (12/12/17)