Christian Fiction Devourers discussion

We are fast nearing the end of 2025! Wow, time flies. As we prepare for the 2026 challenges, I'm checking in on annual challenges.

Which annual challenges would you like to see return?

Any annual challenges you would discontinue?

Any suggestions for new annual challenges?

Your feedback is highly valued. Thanks in advance!

Thanks, I love the challenges!!

Here I some I enjoy every year:
ABC
Children's
Non-Fiction
Audiobooks
Classics
50 States

Here are some new ones I've enjoyed:
Numbers
Single Word Title

Here are some I'd like to see slightly revised:
Proper Noun Title - too easy for annual, maybe make it just a month-long or quarterly challenge.
Colonial - maybe make it just a month long instead of year long, for instance for July, which is the month of America's 250th.
Around the World - I'd love to see this become a quarterly challenge, where each quarter focuses on a different part of the world - Europe, Africa, Asia/Pacific, and the Americas.

I also posted some ideas in the post about monthly challenge ideas.

Thanks!!

My favorite challenges (out of ALL challenges) have been Genre Match and Author Match, and I loved how we changed the format to let players pick their own lists, then have the admins draw numbers. That was fun!!! I already made a list for 2026 based on a random pick wheel (just in case we continue these two challenges lol). I participated in a few other annual ones without specific monthly picks, but these two remain my favorites. I also did the e-books, non-fiction, library loans, and proper noun ones. They did challenge me, but annual challenges broken down into monthly challenges like the Genre and Author Match seem to be a better fit for me. It was fun to fill my list of the other ones, though. I'm still working on my e-book and library loans goal, but I finished non-fiction and Keeping it Proper.

I enjoyed Numbered and the State Challenges the most this year, even though I know I wont finish them. I had a goal to get through 1-12 and that's not going to happen, but I've had fun trying! I tried to focus on Finish the Series Challenge, and for most series, books are set in the same state, so my series challenge tended to over ride a lot of progress on the state challenge.

I'd love to see a non-fiction challenge. Maybe something where there are specific categories, like Bible study, women's inspiration, devotional, books of the Bible etc., and we chose which categories we want to focus on.

I would also really love to see the Biblical fiction challenge that we had for a quarterly challenge this year as an annual challenge. I loved how there were specific characters and Bible stories for the prompts, making the way through the Bible, but I wasn't able to do that within a quarterly time frame. I would really enjoy working through the start of the Bible to the end, hitting Bible characters and stories in order! Andrea did a great job with the prompts she listed.

Last thing, thank you for all the work you put in to the annual challenges Staci! I'm sure they take a good bit of time to plan and post, and then get everyone all linked up. Thanks!

I'm in a lot of annual challenges, most of them I use to see how many I read in a year. These are: Children’s & YA, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Non-fiction, Classics, New Release, European Tour, Completed Series, New Authors, Electronic Books, and Library Loans.

I had a lot of fun this year finding all 50 states in books. I have one state left. This is my first time reading all the states in a year! Next year I'll only keep track of the states I read.

For the annual challenges new to this year, I liked Singularity and Numbered the best.

I would like to see Going Colonial as a shorter challenge, perhaps for quarter or month.

For annual challenge ideas, I would like to see one for the US in the 19th century. Maybe something divided by period/era.

Thanks Staci for a great set of annual challenges!

Returning ones I enjoyed:
Make a STATEment
50 states
ABC/123
Completed Series
New Authors

New ones this year I enjoyed:
Singularity
Numbered

I would like to see Going Colonial continue into next year either as an annual or a shorter one

I would like to see a tour outside of the US - maybe broader than just Europe. Not sure if that might be better done as one broken up in quarters.

Like Crystal, I would like one or two focused on the Bible. These could be Biblical Fiction and/or some aspect of working thru the whole Bible.

In addition to Going Colonial, related to America's 250th, I think it would be fun to have one that looks at significant periods across the 250 years. This could be a new twist on the Decades challenges we've done.

I enjoy all of the annual challenges, but my favorite is always New to me Authors. I’m always amazed at how many new authors I find and some jump right to my favorite author list.

I really appreciate all the work you ladies put into the challenges, and though I know it is so much extra work for you, being linked up has been amazing. Thank you so much for adding that.

Returning ones that are my go to:
Completed Series
Audiobooks
Non-Fiction

New ones this year I tried:
Singularity
Numbered
Proper Name

I also second Crystal's comments she made regarding the idea of annual challenges focused on non-fiction and fiction specific Biblical features.

Thanks again Staci for the time that goes into the variety and fun of these challenges for the group!

I just have a "new" idea for an annual challenge. Maybe it has been done before, or something similar. I remember we had a complete the author challenge before, but some authors have so many books I couldn't complete all their books in a year.

So this suggestion is similar to Make a STATEment, where you try to read as many books set in one particular state.

The new challenge would be to read as many books as you can from one particular author in a year. No stress about trying to finish all the books by the author, just to read as many as you can.

I have about 24 books by Roseanna M. White I would like to read, and it would be fun to challenge myself to see how many of these books I could complete in a year.

Thanks!!

I love Katrina's idea and would love to see that as a new challenge.

I am loving the Revisit Your Favorites quarterly challenge. I would love to see that as an annual challenge.

The new challenge would be to read as many books as you can from your favorite authors. Levels could be based on either number of favorite authors being read or number of books being read. I could also see this helping with the Completed Series challenge.

As many have said, many thanks to Staci for all these innovative and fun annual challenges.

I like the idea of an author version of make a STATEment.

I also love Katrinas idea for completing authors! And even the idea of making it similar to the Making A Statement Challenge.

First, thank you Staci for all of your hard work on these challenges! I look forward to them every year. :)

My favorite challenges are:
New Author
Finish the series
ABC
50 States (although I mostly use that one to see which states I read books from)

I don't really have any other feedback, but I like the ideas others have mentioned.

Thanks all for the feedback so far. Much appreciated! Keep the feedback and ideas coming. :-)

Bonny wrote: "Thanks, I love the challenges!!

Here I some I enjoy every year:
ABC
Children's
Non-Fiction
Audiobooks
Classics
50 States

Here are some new ones I've enjoyed:
Numbers
Single Word Title

Here are s..."

Thanks Bonny! Your feedback about tried and true threads plus suggestions is appreciated. I really like the quarterly idea for different areas of the world.

Simone wrote: "My favorite challenges (out of ALL challenges) have been Genre Match and Author Match, and I loved how we changed the format to let players pick their own lists, then have the admins draw numbers. ..."

Thanks Simone! I love that we have multiple timeframes available for challenges so there are options for works best for each reader.

Crystal wrote: "I enjoyed Numbered and the State Challenges the most this year, even though I know I wont finish them. I had a goal to get through 1-12 and that's not going to happen, but I've had fun trying! I tr..."

Thanks Crystal! I've added your suggestion for a Biblical Fiction annual challenge to my notes.

Michelle wrote: "I'm in a lot of annual challenges, most of them I use to see how many I read in a year. These are: Children’s & YA, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Non-fiction, Classics, New Release, European Tour, Com..."

Thank you for all the feedback and suggestions. :-) My notes are updated.

I like the usual ones: New Authors, Electronic Books, European Tour, Title Search, Cover Search, Grab Bag, Genre Match, 50 States, ABC/123, Bingo. I do better on the 6-month and year challenges than the quarter challenges. I just don't read enough, or quickly enough, to do the quarter challenges.

I enjoyed some of the new ones, Keeping it Proper, Going Colonial, and Through the Decades. But I read more what interests me at the time, rather than for challenges. I thought I would have more on these, but not this year.

This was my first year doing the ABC/123 challenge and enjoyed it. I think this next year (if you have it, I think you will) I will try the Author Match.

I think a challenge, like said before (like the Let's Bake challenge) is one on Biblical names, places, objects would be fun. I would do either a 6-month or year challenge. I also like, I think it was Bonny's suggestion of a flower bouquet challenge in another challenge section, something different.

Otherwise, I like most all the challenges, whether I do good or bad on them.

Karen wrote: "In addition to Going Colonial, related to America's 250th, I think it would be fun to have one that looks at significant periods across the 250 years. This could be a new twist on the Decades challenges we've done...."

Karen, I like your idea of a revised Decades challenge! It was tons of fun this year with a new decade each month, but it would be nice to change it up a little next year. I liked Michelle's idea of it focusing on the 19th century instead of the 20th, but I also like your idea of spanning the entire 250 years. Perhaps if we lumped together every 20 years? We could skip the colonial era and do these 12 categories: 1790s-1800s, 1810s-1820s, 1830s-1840s, 1850s-1860s, 1870s-1880s, 1890s-1900s, 1910s-1920s, 1930s-1940s, 1950s-1960s, 1970s-1980s, 1990s-2000s, 2010s-2020s. Or we could just do every decade from 1790s-1900s. Or we could do themes for each month, like New Nation, Western Expansion, Civil War, Gilded Age, Industrial Revolution, World War I, Roaring Twenties, Great Depression, World War II, Cold War, Civil Rights, Contemporary, etc. I'm sure any version of this would be fun!

Karen wrote: "Thanks Staci for a great set of annual challenges!

Returning ones I enjoyed:
Make a STATEment
50 states
ABC/123
Completed Series
New Authors

New ones this year I enjoyed:
Singularity
Numbered

I ..."

Thanks so much for the feedback and suggestions!

Lynnette wrote: "I enjoy all of the annual challenges, but my favorite is always New to me Authors. I’m always amazed at how many new authors I find and some jump right to my favorite author list.

I really apprec..."

Thanks Lynnette. We appreciate the feedback and appreciation. :-)

Sherri wrote: "Returning ones that are my go to:
Completed Series
Audiobooks
Non-Fiction

New ones this year I tried:
Singularity
Numbered
Proper Name

I also second Crystal's comments she made regarding the idea..."

Thanks Sherri! Definitely hearing that there is interest in a Biblical challenge.

Katrina wrote: "I just have a "new" idea for an annual challenge. Maybe it has been done before, or something similar. I remember we had a complete the author challenge before, but some authors have so many books ..."

Thanks Katrina! Great idea! I also have multiple authors that could work for this including Roseanna M White.

Michelle wrote: "I like the idea of an author version of make a STATEment."

Thanks Michelle! I made a note of the second for the singular author focus. :-)

Crystal wrote: "I also love Katrinas idea for completing authors! And even the idea of making it similar to the Making A Statement Challenge."

Thanks for sharing your interest in an annual challenge to focus on one author. Noted!

Megan wrote: "First, thank you Staci for all of your hard work on these challenges! I look forward to them every year. :)

My favorite challenges are:
New Author
Finish the series
ABC
50 States (although I most..."

Thank you Megan. This is helpful! And thank you for the appreciation.

Missy wrote: "I like the usual ones: New Authors, Electronic Books, European Tour, Title Search, Cover Search, Grab Bag, Genre Match, 50 States, ABC/123, Bingo. I do better on the 6-month and year challenges tha..."

Thanks Missy! Much appreciated.

Bonny wrote: "Karen wrote: "In addition to Going Colonial, related to America's 250th, I think it would be fun to have one that looks at significant periods across the 250 years. This could be a new twist on the..."

Thanks Bonny! I hope this idea was also shared in the monthly feedback thread so it's not missed.

I have an idea for a challenge.

I own so many paperback books that I haven't read yet, so I wrapped several of them so I could randomly draw one to read.

I love the accountability of playing along with others. And thought it might be more fun to randomly draw a number together.

I loved the Genre Match challenge but this one isn't about genre, but wrapped paperbacks. It could be played with Kindle titles on a list or wrapped physical books.

Maybe calling it Mystery Grab or something. It feels like a surprise gift to myself like receiving it in the mail all over again. Lol

I'm flexible if you want to take the challenge and tweak it. It was just an idea I had and a fun way to tackle the backlist of owner books.

I do that with my non-fiction. I've wrapped them in brown paper and wrote numbers on them. I have a small jar that I draw from. I don't draw another number until I finish the book. For me it would be difficult to do with others because my books vary in size - some can be read in days while others would take me several weeks. My problem is that I need to actually read the ones I am on.

My goal for 2026 is to read less fiction, so I can have time to read my non-fiction. I use the non-fiction annual challenge for this goal.

A.M. wrote: "I have an idea for a challenge.

I own so many paperback books that I haven't read yet, so I wrapped several of them so I could randomly draw one to read.

I love the accountability of playing al..."

Thanks so much for sharing this suggestion! We did something similar in 2024 (or maybe 2023) to get those books that have been on our TBRs a long time moving forward. Your idea is a little different twist.

Michelle wrote: "I do that with my non-fiction. I've wrapped them in brown paper and wrote numbers on them. I have a small jar that I draw from. I don't draw another number until I finish the book. For me it would ..."

Good plan Michelle! Best wishes on achieving your goal in 2026.

Thanks Staci!

That's cool, Michelle!

I like doing the authors - new and monthly, the 50 states, europe,
would love to see something done with colonial since its 250th anniversary. I also like the library one and the nonfiction one.
I am also like Missy - I do better on 6 month and yearly challenges rather than monthly other than author for a month - thats been fun for learning about new authors,

Chris wrote: "I like doing the authors - new and monthly, the 50 states, europe,
would love to see something done with colonial since its 250th anniversary. I also like the library one and the nonfiction one.
I..."

Thanks for the feedback Chris!

Below are some staple annual challenges, that the participation wasn't super small, but less than 20 and there was not a lot of positive feedback about. Any comments about these annual challenges specifically? Is it time to sunset them or are they must haves?

Electronic Books
New Releases
Library Loans
Classics

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Staci wrote: "Below are some staple annual challenges, that the participation wasn't super small, but less than 20 and there was not a lot of positive feedback about. Any comments about these annual challenges s..."

I usually participate in these but feel like they are more like trackers and not really challenges. Maybe we could change some of them up a bit. For example for ebooks, maybe we could do something similar to Tile Mania, where we read on ebooks, books saved last year, the year before, etc. Or different categories....books only available on ebook, ebooks you had to wait on hold for, ebooks recently made available, etc. Those are probably terrible categories and hopefully someone else will come along and give better suggestions.

I do like setting a goal for the New Releases, because I often get caught up in trying to finish series and read my favorite authors and it's a reminder to check out new stuff as well. If we end up not doing any type of listopia in the other timeframe challenges, maybe we could put a spin on New Releases and do some type of Listopia for that one.

Just a few suggestions! I'll participate in some of them either way. :)

Like Crystal - Electronic Books & Library Loans feel more like trackers than actual challenges to me.

For Classics, I've tried for a few years, but always come up short. Maybe sunset it for at least a few years.

I haven't participated in New Releases because they are so hard for me to access. I do like Crystal's idea of doing some type of Listopia in its place - maybe the Most Anticipated CF 2026.

I use all of them for tracker and would like to see them return. If you're looking for ideas to change the format of the challenges, here are some ideas.

For New Release, you could have categories for the month books are released or maybe by quarter (January-March; April-June; etc.), or the categories can be general genres (Romance, Suspense, Amish, Chick Lit, Historical, etc.)

For ebooks, maybe something like Publication Towers where books are categorized by the year published.

Of the four, New Release is the one I use most as a challenge and enjoy. For personal use, I like keeping track of books I check out from the library. I enjoy reading classics; however, I don't read very many. The challenge helps me remember to read them.

Library loans challenge is one of few challenges I use. It is nice to see how many library books I read.

Michelle wrote: "I use all of them for tracker and would like to see them return. If you're looking for ideas to change the format of the challenges, here are some ideas.

For New Release, you could have categories..."

I like these ideas a lot and would enjoy these changes! I feel like it would move them from trackers to challenges.....

An idea to change up Classics is to have categories such as British literature, American Literature, etc., or by period.

Thanks all for the feedback! We are going to continue electronic books and new releases. Library loans and classics will be paused for 2026.