The Reading Challenge Group discussion

The genre for April is Fantasy. You can also includes fairy tales and myths and legends in this category.
Anything with aliens, technology, artificial intelligence, etc, will be suitable for our science fiction month.
Time travel stories can be tricky. If it's magic, the genre is fantasy. If machines are used, the genre is science fiction.

I hope everyone has a magical month of reading. 🧚🏻‍♂️

I'll be reading A Court of Frost and Starlight and Finnikin of the Rock; and maybe The Priory of the Orange Tree but not sure I'll manage that with all the other reads I have planned....

I'm planing to read The Chronicles Of Narnia, and maybe I'll read a few fairy tales.

Narnia sounds good. I have been reading one book a year, so I hope to get around to reading it this month. I think it is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader's turn.

I'm hoping to make time for the third Earthsea installment: The Farthest Shore

I also love this genre, and already have a big list going in the original genre challenge thread. In fact, I'm keeping track of all my genre books over there. :) I'm planning on starting with the Winternight Trilogy as they have been on my list for awhile! I'm planning on reading Chronicles of Narnia near the end of the year under Children's Lit. I figure it will be good around Christmas time. Alternatively, I could read it during classics month, although I have some major works for that month already.

I have a question about The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Claybecause I’m thinking about it for April. GR has it listed as Historical Fiction, but Guardian lists it with SciFi/Fantasy. Has anyone read it yet? Which genre is it????

The Buried Giant is considered fantasy, Sonia.

Renee, I checked the extended Genre list for The Adventures of..., and no one considered it fantasy.

Sometimes the Guardian lists have questionable books in the various categories.

Okay. Thanks for getting back to me.

Well, in the spirit of go big or go home, I'm going to tackle A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin for this month, all 1000+ pages of it! I read the 1st 4 books in this series and loved them, but they are huge! I don't think I'll put any others on the tbr list for now :-p

Ariana wrote: "Well, in the spirit of go big or go home, I'm going to tackle A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin for this month, all 1000+ pages of it! I read the 1st 4 books in this series and loved them,..."

Wow, good luck!!!!!

That is a big goal, Ariana. Good luck and happy reading!

I just finished The Bear and the Nightingale and am currently residing in the wilds of medieval Russia, lol! Brrr! I loved it and I'm diving straight back with the second book, The Girl in the Tower!

You’re making me want to jump on a sled and join you there!

Renee wrote: "You’re making me want to jump on a sled and join you there!"

The author does a great job of creating the atmosphere, that's for sure!

I have decided to make a start on His Dark Materials: The Complete Trilogy by Philip Pullman for this month’s theme.

I hope you enjoy them, Trisha.

I am hoping to reread the Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke this month and already started the first one. I haven't read them in ages and now it feels like the right time :)

Sounds good, Nele.

Dark Materials looks good, too!

I’m gonna start off with more from the Dresden Files. They’re a lot of fun.

I am going to try and read all five books of Tiger's Curse series by Colleen Houck.

Good luck on meeting your goal, Jacqueline!

Rosemarie wrote: "Good luck on meeting your goal, Jacqueline!"
Thank you!!

Renee wrote: "Dark Materials looks good, too!

I’m gonna start off with more from the Dresden Files. They’re a lot of fun."

Dark Materials has been on my list for a long time, but I don't think I'll have time this month, waaah! I love the Dresden books! They're definitely a lot of fun, partly because I grew up in Chicago.

Chicago is definitely on my list of cities to visit. I’ve heard great things about it.

Renee wrote: "Chicago is definitely on my list of cities to visit. I’ve heard great things about it."

I haven't been back since High School, but still have friends in the area. I would love a chance to visit!

Nele, I used to love Inkheart! I hope you enjoy your re read!
Trisha, His Dark Materials is a really good series, but be warned, the first quarter of The Subtle Knife is very slow!
Renee, enjoy your fun reads :)
Jacqueline, sounds like an interesting series!
Good luck to everyone!

Thanks, Jenny. Happy reading to you too!

I finished Blood Rites and Dead Beat this week. They are #6 and #7 in the Dresden Files. These books are so much fun to read! I might roll right into #8, but I’m worried I’ll blast through all of them and then have no more touch of Harry in the night. ;-)

Renee wrote: "I’m worried I’ll blast through all of them and then have no more touch of Harry in the night. ;-)"

LOL, I remember the feeling when I was reading this series! I thought the first three books weren't all that great, but after that, I felt like I was rolling from one book to the other! I love these audiobooks!

Just finished The Girl in the Tower and if anything, I enjoyed it even more than the first book. Rolling along right into the third book!

I just finished Academ's Fury. Fantasy is my favourite genre though so hopefully I will get through a couple more this month

Karen wrote: "I just finished Academ's Fury. Fantasy is my favourite genre though so hopefully I will get through a couple more this month"

Oooh, I'm planning on starting this series this month!

What would you consider The Dispatcher? It's been classified as mystery, sci-fi, and urban fantasy. Trying to figure out when to read it. It sounds fascinating.

It would be a good choice for either Science Fiction or Thriller month, Eileen.

Rosemarie wrote: "It would be a good choice for either Science Fiction or Thriller month, Eileen."
Okay, perfect, thanks! That's where I had it tentatively placed. Looking forward to it, but glad I don't have to figure out how to sneak it in this month, ha!

I finished “Northern Lights”, the first book of the trilogy, today. It’s not like anything I’ve read before so it seemed strange at first, but I gradually got more involved until I had to keep reading to find out what happened next.

An alternate title for Northern Lights is The Golden Compass. I have read both sequels and found them even more intriguing than the first book.

I’m initially reading The Final Empire, by Brandon Sanderson. If I have time, I’ll also read The Red Scrolls of Magic, by Cassandra Clare.

I finished The Winter of the Witch this morning and I can highly recommend both the trilogy and the audiobook. The reader is perfect and transports you to that time period and region. I like how the author incorporated many historically accurate things for the time period including the major battle at the end. I'm not normally one for battles in books, but she did a good job, I thought. My favorite was the 2nd book, followed by the 3rd and then the 1st. This is possibly because it took me awhile to figure out the Russian names and who was being referred to at any given moment since Russian names have so many nicknames that depend on the familiarity of the speaker and the person being addressed (among other things). Overall, I would give the series 4.5-5 stars with the second book being an easy 5 stars.

It's nice when the sequels live up to, or exceed, the first book in a trilogy. I am glad you started off the month which such good reads, Eileen.

Thanks, Rosemarie! Yes, it's very disappointing when you love a first book and then the following books are such a let down. I'm looking forward to this author's other series, which begins with Small Spaces. I think the second book is coming out this year. I think it's a Middle School book, but it's supposed to be spooky, so I'm hoping to read them in October.

Thanks for the update on the series, Eileen. I’m moving it up on my TBR. :)

Ariana wrote: "Well, in the spirit of go big or go home, I'm going to tackle A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin for this month, all 1000+ pages of it! I read the 1st 4 books in this series and loved them,..."

You GO girl!! Go BIG!!

Renee wrote: "Dark Materials looks good, too!

I’m gonna start off with more from the Dresden Files. They’re a lot of fun."

Sounds like there will be two of us! Dresden #3 for me!

Eileen wrote: "Renee wrote: "I’m worried I’ll blast through all of them and then have no more touch of Harry in the night. ;-)"

LOL, I remember the feeling when I was reading this series! I thought the first thr..."

Okay....I think I'm pushing through then!

I’m reading Robert Walser’s Fairy Tales: Three Dramolettes .

Can i read like lord of the ring or harry potter?

Those are perfect choices, Shirley. And two of my favourites.