Dragons & Jetpacks discussion

Do we want to repeat the same slots as this year? Are there new suggestions or preferences?

Make your thoughts known here.

I'll think more on it this weekend, but I'm happy to repeat. :) I could use some work in the genre dept.

Personally I'd keep the more basic and broad slots like the genres, page numbers, TBR lists. It helps for all the other books I read that aren't fantasy. I enjoyed the Around the World and We the People categories because it actively encouraged me to read books set in unfamiliar places, or by authors I haven't read before that come from different countries. You could add an "in translation" sub-category there as well.

I think the more specific categories could use a refresher to offer new challenges for next year. I posted various possibilities in the 2025 thread but will paste them again here so they're all in one place:

I'd love a couple more non-fantasy genres included for next year, as I do read a lot of other genres as well. And we could include a portal fantasy/isekai as a subgenre for next year, dark academia is another subgenre you could add that's been popular lately.

Could do a category for space/weather phenomena on the cover, such as cover with a planet, cover with stars, cover with clouds, cover with snow, cover with the sun or moon. Also a category with various fantasy items on the cover, e.g. a fantastical beast (any kind), a wand, a sword, a representation of magic.

Maybe a category for books featuring the following: time travel, mental abilities (e.g. telepathy, telekinesis, premonitions, etc.)...

You could do a "Books about books" theme where the subcategories are things like:
1. Has a character that is a writer/author
2. Has a character that is a librarian
3. Has a character that works in a bookstore
4. Has a magic book
5. Has a character that's in a book club
Etc...

Oh hey, bit of a new idea, since I re-read Lindsey's hope for a bit less fantasy (I'm taking it as fantasy vs sci-fi specifically, lemme know otherwise), maybe a bit of a rework for the Monsters section? Since we've had pretty much the same items for the last several years, but it's such a staple of the challenge, we could do some switch ups?
So, if it's okay for me to do this, if not just tell me, but I'll take the liberty to sort of throw my hat in the ring and propose an alternate list?

1. Read a book with a dragon in it
2. Read a book with a fairy or fairy-adjacent creature in it
3. Read a book with a flying monster in it
4. Read a book with a sea monster in it
5. Read a book with a sasquatch/bigfoot/yeti
6. Read a book with a ghost in it
7. Read a book with a vampire AND a werewolf in it (make it have both for extra spice?)
8. Read a book with a zombie in it
9. Read a book with an alien in it (instead of having it in the genres)
10. Read a book with an android/robot in it
11. Read a book with a dinosaur or kaiju in it
12. Read a book with an unusual animal in it
13. Read a book with a god in it or about a god

This way we could have a bit more variety for items that are very fantasy-focused, others more sci-fi, and several that can cater to either one (an unusual animal can be a griffin or hippogriff in a fantasy setting, or the result of a hybridization experiment in a sci-fi novel, or a Salem-esque pet in a paranormal or magical realism, or just a regular, Earth animal that just isn't a normal pet like dogs, cats, bunnies, etc,).

I agree that the broader sections are great to keep, but update/expand a bit.

I also think the monster manual section could use a bit of generalisation: like change the sasquatch/bigfoot one to a more general cryptid, and the zombie to more general non-ghost/vampire undead option?
Perhaps also include some sci-fi creatures as well, like a non-sentient alien, a robot, a genetically engineered creature - or a general construct that could also make it possible to fill with a fantasy novel if that's more your speed still.

On a more personal yearly struggle, could the 'author shares your name' one be broadened to 'same initials' - for those of us with non-English and/or uncommon names?

Finally, I think the 'Get a Job!' section was also a lot of fun, and could be great to expand in include again. The cover-related suggestions Lindsey made sound really fun, and this could potentially replace the shapes and elemenst sections we had the last few rounds - to make it fresh!

C.E.C. wrote: "Oh hey, bit of a new idea, since I re-read Lindsey's hope for a bit less fantasy (I'm taking it as fantasy vs sci-fi specifically, lemme know otherwise), maybe a bit of a rework for the Monsters se..."

Lol, for me I meant other genres such as mysteries, etc. There were a few listed in the challenge this year like Western, romance, etc. About half of the books I read are fantasy/sci-fi (mostly fantasy), and most of the rest fall in the mystery/thriller area. Given I only just passed 52 books total read for the year, there is no chance I can complete the challenge if I can't find categories to fit the non-fantasy/sci-fi books I read. But I know it's a fantasy group so that's fine, I just thought I'd throw it out to see if we could list a few other genres as options.

But I think it's a great idea to include sci-fi "monsters" like aliens and androids!

Elma wrote: "On a more personal yearly struggle, could the 'author shares your name' one be broadened to 'same initials' - for those of us with non-English and/or uncommon names?..."

I agree this is a good idea, I did think of one book with an author that shares my last name but didn't manage to read it, lol. Initials would certainly be more flexible and feasible for everyone to achieve.

I love the refreshed ideas. :)

Ok I will try and make the new challenge later tonight or tomorrow. So if anyone has any more ideas, sooner is better.

Lindsey wrote: "C.E.C. wrote: "Oh hey, bit of a new idea, since I re-read Lindsey's hope for a bit less fantasy (I'm taking it as fantasy vs sci-fi specifically, lemme know otherwise), maybe a bit of a rework for ..."

Aaah I see! Tbf I usually do less speculative works for other sections, like the continents' ones, this year I even did Austen for one of the Europeans and a Bronte sister for the other European item, or the colors and page-counts too. That way I can also give myself more variety because while I do love the speculative genres to death, I'm not all that keen on reading only those and nothing else my whole life xD

Really love the new "Cover Me" section! Just wanted to ask and make sure: do the images of the natural items required (stars, suns, moons, etc) need to be something along the lines of pictures or detailed artwork, or would something as simple and symbolic as a doodle or even their astronomical signs (☉ for the Sun, for example) count as well?