EPBOT Readers discussion

As the year winds down and our thoughts start to turn towards reading challenges for next year, I'm very curious to know what fun challenge themes people have run across, even if you're opting to do something different.

I know PopSugar is a really common one, and the Hogwarts challenge seems to be popular every year, too. Any other awesome quirky, creative, or nerdy ones that you've found out there? (extra house points given if you've got the link to it) I'm thinking of trying one this year, but I'd really love a themed version. I swear I saw a LOTR/Tolkien-based one a few months back that I can't find now!

I'll cross-post this over on the Mothership too, just for fun discussion.

I don’t typically do the themed challenges myself, because my IRL and online book clubs provide me with more than enough variety - but I’ve seen this one posted multiple places and I love the idea!

https://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2...

I do popsugar every year, I like the community in the goodreads group. This year's prompts I'm not in love with, there's a lot of throwbacks to other prompts from other challenges I've done. And I'm not a huge fan of the 20's theme for this year, that's why I'd decided to not do Around the Year (another reading challenge that's user voted).

I've done Read Harder by Book Riot the last 3 years, wasn't sure if I was going to do it this year since last year's was really fiddly and I didn't love a lot of the books I ended up reading. However I really love the prompt list for it this year. A couple might be tricky, like literary magazine or indie horror but overall it looks good.

https://bookriot.com/watch/announcing...

I did reading women last year, thinking that because I read a ton of women it'd be easy to overlap with the other three. but it's prompts ended up being SO fiddly, I had trouble finding stuff I wanted to read that I could get at the library.

I kind of like the idea of a reading challenge, but I have so much on my plate that it's hard to keep track of one more thing, plus I already have a huge TBR so it's not like I have a hard time finding something to read. Maybe in a few years when my kids are a little older and parenting is less hands-on!

I'm planning to do Popsugar for the first time this year. I have a whole spreadsheet already, with two choices for each prompt just in case my library fails me on one. :)

I was able to find stuff already on my TBR to fit almost all the Popsugar prompts, which was nice. I figure the ones that aren't already on my list are a good way of expanding my reading horizons, so I don't mind. I don't know if I could handle more than one reading challenge a year, though, unless I could "double-dip" most of the books. I am kind of a slow reader sometimes, so I think multiple challenges might be too difficult for me.

I like that Read Harder challenge - I think I’ll try to keep track of those ideas in 2020!

Jennifer, I do as much double dipping across challenges as possible when I do more than one. Some prompts just don't work out that way, but usually I manage to count at least half my books for at least 2 challenges, sometimes 3.

Shel, a lot of times I'm using it less to figure out what to read than to figure out what to read next, specifically. Sometimes without a goal in mind I'll stand in front of my bookshelf/flip through my kindle for 20 minutes or more going "what do I want to read?". So it's less of a looking for new books as encouraging me to read stuff I've had a while and just haven't gotten to yet.

Now that we've entered the new year, I've made my choices in terms of reading challenges. I'm a challenge fiend. I collect the darn things :)

The Potterhead Running Club has launched its first ever reading challenge, and that will be my main focus for 2020. It's 60 pretty broad/flexible challenges.

After that, I'm also tracking the Booklist Queen (52 prompts), ATY (52), Mommy Mannegren (52), Popsugar (40+10), and Flourish & Blotts (56) challenges, multiple dipping books across challenges. As I finish the main one, I move down the list to complete the next one, as I tend to read some 80 or so books a year.

I'm finding Book Riot is growing increasingly finicky about its prompts, so while it has a tab on my master spreadsheet, I don't plan on putting too much energy in completing it.

I actually really liked the read harder ones this year, much more than the last couple. I was going to only do popsugar this year, but read harder’s were too fun to pass!

There's a Math Reading Challenge that I'm participating in. Only 12 categories.
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/....

Like Sheri, I thought Book Riot's Read Harder list looks more doable for 2020 than it did for 2018 or 2019.

I also tend to at least think about the United Methodist Women's book program.

I don't have any desire to read that many math related books, haha. But I think The Calculating Stars would work for the first one

Sheri wrote: "I don't have any desire to read that many math related books, haha. But I think The Calculating Stars would work for the first one"

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal is *SO* good!

It was! It was interesting too because i'd just read a nonfiction book about the space race, so the real events vs. the alternate history parts were easier to keep straight

My other group just voted to read The Calculating Stars in March - I can't wait to read it!

Daniele wrote: "Now that we've entered the new year, I've made my choices in terms of reading challenges. I'm a challenge fiend. I collect the darn things :)

The Flourish and Blotts Challenge looks awesome! I like that that the topics are open enough for some interpretation and that there doesn't seem to be a particular agenda attached aside from encouraging more diverse reading.

I've never done one of these before, but I think I may try this one. I may be taking a class later this year that will drive much of my reading for the fall, but this looks like fun for a low-key secondary.

can we have some links to the challenges? I have googled some of the more interesting ones and can't find them. Thanks.

Around the year is a goodreads one, here’s a list to prompts https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Pop sugar is https://www.popsugar.com/entertainmen...

Read harder https://www.google.com/amp/s/bookriot...

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Reading women are

Booklist Queen is at https://booklistqueen.com/2020-readin...

Mommy Mannegren is at https://mommymannegren.com/2019/11/13...

The OnePHRC challenge is run as an event on Facebook, through the Potterhead Running Club Great Hall at https://www.facebook.com/groups/HRCGr...

The Wizarding World Tour challenge is run in the Flourish and Blotts Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/HPOOT...

next year. planning on reading a number of 'time travel' books.
I've found that many genres utilise time travel and it is a concept I entity. I've got sci-fi, fantasy, romance, fiction, historical fiction and ya books all lined up.

Oh that's cool! Let us know how it goes!