Middle Grade Madness! discussion

New year is a perfect opportunity to purge your TBR shelf!

How it works:
- Complete as many tasks as you can by reading one book towards each task.
- Ideally, read books only from your TBR but you can read other books to complete the tasks too.
- You can read MG, YA, new adult or adult books, whatever you prefer.
- Read at your own pace and enjoy!

The Tasks:
Read:
1. A book that’s been on your TBR for 2 years or more.
2. A book with a 4.0 or more star rating on Goodreads.
3. A book you meant to read in 2019 but you didn’t have the time to.
4. A book that was adapted into a tv show or movie in 2019.
5. A book written by an author you’ve never read before.
6. A book with an orange cover or a book that has the word orange in the title.
7. A book belonging to a genre you don’t read a lot of.
8. A book awarded an accolade in 2019 (Goodreads Choice Award, Pulitzer, Carnegie Medal, etc.)
9. A book that was recommended to you by a friend.
10. The first book in a series you’ve never read before.

I’d like to explain why I chose a few of the tasks a bit:
- Some of these tasks are about reaching new horizons. 2020 is a new year and it’s time to try something new, read something different.
- Some of these tasks are about rounding out 2019 and closing that chapter of your life by experiencing some books that belong to 2019.
- Task 6: living coral was announced by Pantone as the colour of the year for 2019. Living coral is actually a shade of orange not pink!

I like these new challenges! I still have three more from the other challenge but I hope to start this one soon!

This one starts in January! I’ve just put it up beforehand to give people a chance to prepare and also because I’m trying to be more organised and get things done earlier😂

I figure it starts in January because we are still in 2019 XD But I hope to finish it in the actual year!

i am super pumped for this because one of my reading resolutions for the new year was to knock out some books from my every expanding and never ending tbr😂

Ilsen wrote: "I figure it starts in January because we are still in 2019 XD But I hope to finish it in the actual year!"

The great thing about flexible challenges is you can finish them whenever it suits you!🙌🏻

jessica wrote: "i am super pumped for this because one of my reading resolutions for the new year was to knock out some books from my every expanding and never ending tbr😂"

I should make that one of my reading resolutions! My TBR is 779 books large and that definitely eclipses my read shelf which is at 635 books. I really want to take part in this challenge as well so I think I'll start it once my exams are over on Jan 9th.

so many books, so little time

jessica wrote: "so many books, so little time"

Tell me about it!

In!!
Although the orange challenge is good. I have a book to read from 2019 called “Coral” and it feels like it should count here. Lol. 😂
Great list! Can’t wait to get started on Jan 1

I would say the book called Coral would count towards task 6👍🏻

I haven't been on here for 2 years, so I can't do the first task

Oh I meant to write what to do if that happens🤦🏻‍♀️ instead of 2 years you could do 1 year or 6 months. Or even choose any random book on your TBR and read that!

@Kadi Sounds good to me!

I can’t wait to start this one! 😊

10 days to go...

I'm preparing now :)). I'll edit this comment along the way!

1. A book that’s been on your TBR for 2 years or more.
2. A book with a 4.0 or more star rating on Goodreads -
3. A book you meant to read in 2019 but you didn’t have the time to -
4. A book that was adapted into a tv show or movie in 2019.
5. A book written by an author you’ve never read before -
6. A book with an orange cover or a book that has the word orange in the title.
7. A book belonging to a genre you don’t read a lot of.
8. A book awarded an accolade in 2019 (Goodreads Choice Award, Pulitzer, Carnegie Medal, etc.)
9. A book that was recommended to you by a friend.
10. The first book in a series you’ve never read before -

I was so prepared for this challenge that I put it up ages beforehand and now the wait for it to arrive is killing me! Still it’s good to give everyone time to prepare for it too👏🏻

yah i've got a list of all the books i want to read for each task and i'm ready to start reading them but gotta wait😂😂

Working on my list today!

🙌🏻🙌🏻I should really get round to doing that too!

Happy New Year everyone! Let the challenge commence!

It’s still 6 hours until the new year where i live lol! I can’t wait to start this challenge. I already have a list of the books i’m going to read.

This challenge sounds fun, and i desperately need it for my TBR, it is overflowing!!!

There's still 8 hours and 20 minutes left till the new year for me

Here I am sitting in 2020 whilst you’re all in 2019! Time differences are an amazing thing! Happy New Year to everyone whenever it turns midnight for you!!

Has anyone started this challenge? I’d love to know what you’re all reading! I’m picking out my books now... let’s purge those TBRs!!

i'm going to start today!
my first read is going to be The Silent Patient for task #5: a book by an author i've never read before

I'm probably going to start in a couple days because I have some other books I want to finish first

I’m going to start on the 9th because that’s when my exams finish. I guess that gives me time to plan which books I’m going to read for each task!

I just finished The Silent Patient task #5!

also i highly recommend. it's a bit of a slow burn, but still captivating and intriguing and also that ending though.

jessica wrote: "I just finished The Silent Patient task #5!

also i highly recommend. it's a bit of a slow burn, but still captivating and intriguing and also that ending though."

Loved that book in 2019.

Dana wrote: "jessica wrote: "I just finished The Silent Patient task #5!

also i highly recommend. it's a bit of a slow burn, but still captivating and intriguing and also that ending though."
..."

it's seriously just so good!

jessica wrote: "I just finished The Silent Patient task #5! "

It sounds so good! I’ve just added it to my TBR and it’s been a while since I’ve read a mystery thriller like this

So my exams have just finished and I’m finally free to start this challenge! I’m going to be reading for task 5. A book written by an author you’ve never read before.

It has very mixed reviews so I’m a little cautious but I’ve been waiting for ages for this book to even come out so I can read it and now I can’t wait so I hope I’m not disappointed...

So I’ve decided to this task with a small twist. I want all the books I read for it to be from my (out of control) print TBR collection. So almost no ARCs, mostly big name books and ones I need to read before my husband starts purging them for me! 😳
My next up read is Vicious by Schwabb. It meets a couple categories so I need to look closer at my thoughts for others and then will pick.

Vicious is on my TBR too! Tell me how you find it once you’re done and maybe I’ll read it for this challenge. You’re lucky it counts for multiple tasks for you. My book only counts for task 5 and that’s the easiest one to fulfil😂

I am about to start reading Little Women for task 9: a book that was recommended to you by a friend.
Technically it was my sister's therapist, but i'm counting it because she's been telling me to read it for the past month and a half😂

😂😂I think I’ve read the children’s abridged version of that book but to be honest I don’t like classics so I probably wouldn’t enjoy it if I tried to read the original version now. Have you watched the movie adaptation yet Jessica?

ah man😅 is there a particular reason you don't like classics? i've enjoyed like 90% of the classics i've read (which hasn't really been that many but whatever) so we'll see how this one fits in!
but i have not seen any adaptation for it. i have a bad problem of wanting to read the book before watching things, which usually means it's years before i do either bc mood reading. but after i read this i'll either be very motivated to watch it bc i loved the book or not bother if i don't enjoy the book😅 have you seen the movie adaptation?

The only classic I've ever liked was Lord of the Flies and I highly recommend it if you haven't read it. It actually filled me with sadness and it's obviously fiction but there's some part of it that is so real and human that it touches something inside me in a way no other book has. Like the world was ending and we brought it upon ourselves. It's a beautifully horrible book.

But otherwise I find classics boring. Like The Great Gatsby oh my gosh yaaaawn. I liked Fahrenheit 451 and The Stranger. Both actually pretty good. It;s just classics are usually so long and filled with fanciful descriptions and it's just no I can't do that.

I have the same problem Jessica! Although I wouldn't call it a problem per se. I always want to read the book before I watch the movie or show which is why I still haven't watched The Umbrella Academy show because I'm waiting to finish reading the first volume of the comic first. I was going to read Five Feet Apart and then watch the movie but yesterday I decided to just watch the movie. Lately I haven't been reading a lot so I figured it wasn't likely I'd read the book any time soon.

I haven't watched the Little Women movie and I doubt I will really. Not my type of movie although it does have a lot of big name actors in it. Meryl Streep, Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamat, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, etc. It's constantly advertised on Instagram so I've seen the trailer for it at least 30 times or so!

i have not read Lord of the Flies but I've heard of it many times, so I'll definitely be sure to read it. at some point😂

I definitely get that though. And, depending on the classic and when it was written, you have to slug through and make sense of the language used. Sometimes it's super easy. Other times I have 0 idea what they're trying to say.

And I would also not necessarily call it a problem except it ends up being years before I do either because I want to read the book first but then it's not a priority😅 and ends up being put off for ages. but i've also come to the conclusion that i'm more likely to enjoy a film / show if i read the book afterwards bc i'm not constantly comparing the two so i probably just need to watch stuff first😂

Let me know what you think of Lord of the Flies when you get round to reading it!

I would say wanting to read the book first has become a problem for me most recently because nowadays I don't take the time to read a lot and so there'll be a show or movie that I want to watch but I just won't because of my principle of reading the book/comic first and then I'll never get round to reading the book. I'm stuck in this kind of limbo of neither reading the book nor watching the movie😂😂 oh to be a reader!

Funnily enough, I do compare the book and the movie always. Often if I read the book and then the movie I won't compare harshly but if I watch the movie then read the book then I'll compare pretty harshly and most likely not enjoy the book. It's probably something to do with the fact that a movie is only like 2 hours long whereas reading a book is like more than a week long commitment and I'll be confused whilst reading it because I'll constantly be referring to the movie in the back of my mind and it's much less enjoyable to do that for over a week than to do that for only 2 hours if I read the book then watch the movie. Does that make sense? I feel like it does and it doesn't😂

that does make sense! quite a lot actually. crazy how it works differently for different people. but i definitely understand, especially because one of the reasons i like reading the book first is so that i can picture and imagine everything in my mind before seeing someone else's depiction. because once i see their version, that's how i see it in my brain while reading, which makes it confusing like you said because you're sitting there comparing for the entire time it takes you to read the book.

jessica wrote: "I am about to start reading Little Women for task 9: a book that was recommended to you by a friend.
Technically it was my sister's therapist, but i'm counting it because she's been te..."

I read this as a kid and loved it. Re-read it a year or two ago and it really didn't hold up for me. BUT, I know several people who have re-read it multiple times as adults and still love it every time, so I think it's just personal reasons for me.

I just finished my first book!

1. A book that’s been on your TBR for 2 years or more.
2. A book with a 4.0 or more star rating on Goodreads.
3. A book you meant to read in 2019 but you didn’t have the time to. - The Hammer of Thor
4. A book that was adapted into a tv show or movie in 2019.
5. A book written by an author you’ve never read before.
6. A book with an orange cover or a book that has the word orange in the title.
7. A book belonging to a genre you don’t read a lot of.
8. A book awarded an accolade in 2019 (Goodreads Choice Award, Pulitzer, Carnegie Medal, etc.)
9. A book that was recommended to you by a friend.
10. The first book in a series you’ve never read before.

finished my first one! number 2.

A book with a 4.0 or more star rating on goodreads. I read the newly released Peculiar Series book, The Conference Of The Birds.

And man I can't get enough of this series!

Wow is that book 4??
I thought the series was going to end at 3 and it’s one of the only series I actually own physical copies of but I remember reading the 3rd book after I bought it and it was such a disappointment it made me wish I’d spent money buying another book because books are expensive😩

i think it's actually #5? i think map of days was #4 in the series. i've only read the first three too but remember 0 of it

Oh yeeeah Map of Days! I remember I was really surprised when that came out. Riggs totally could’ve ended it at the 3rd book. I only vaguely remember what happened in that book. Something like they were all stuck in a castle and they had to figure out how to get out. Something like that. I read it more than 4 years ago so I’m surprised I even remembered that much considering all I’ve read in the time since.