Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

Sshhh….That’s Taboo! Reading Challenge

Are you intrigued by controversial topics? Do you like to sometimes go beyond what is mainstream? Not easily embarrassed or offended? If so, this reading challenge is for you.

Inspired by a discussion in our Challenge Suggestions thread, I have put together a new challenge for our more adventurous readers.

Duration: 6 months
Required total number of books: 10

Read two books for each category. Books can either be fiction or non-fiction. Categories are pretty loose, so I encourage you to write a brief statement why you feel the book/s you’ve chosen fits the category.

Religion and/or Spirituality (religious persecution, controversial spiritual movements, wars or conflicts caused by religion, books involving gods, deities or other religious figures, etc)

Politics (books set in the political arena; politicians as characters; biographies of political figures, etc)

Sexuality (m/m or f/f books, ménage, BDSM, strange sexual fetishes, etc)

Other Controversial Topics (This is pretty much an open field: rape, abortion, addiction, racism, child abuse, etc)

Banned Books (There are many lists available online. Please link which list your book/s come from)

You can sign up anytime you like. Be sure to put in your start date and end date.

To share and/or get ideas for this challenge, check these shelves out. (Thanks, Rossy, for creating them!)

http://www.goodreads.com/group/booksh...
http://www.goodreads.com/group/booksh...

Ooh, I like this a lot! Sign me up!
Start: May 1, 2010
End: November 1, 2010

Religion:

Politics:

Sexuality:

Other Controversial Topics:

Banned Books:

I'm in.

What a great idea! I am in. Thanks!
Start April 15
End October 15
0/10 Finished
Religion:

(characters struggle with faith in post-war England)



Politics:
Hillary Clinton bio (about the status of women in Saudi Arabian society)

Sexuality:

Other Controversial Topics:
(about child prostitution)
(suicide)

Banned Books:


Banned books from http://www.oclc.org/research/top1000/...

I'm going into extremes for this challenge...

Duration: Start May/End November
Required total number of books: 2/10

Religion and/or Spirituality:
Bone Worship Arranged marriage based on religious belief.
Hidden Wives About characters in a polygamist community.

Politics:
A Thousand Veils Fatima Shihabi's asylum from Saddam Hussein.
Reading Lolita in Tehran Women and academics under the totalitarian regime in Iran.

Sexuality: TBD

Other Controversial Topics:
Annie's Song deals with rape
What's Yours Is Mine sister as surrogate

Banned Books: From "Best Banned and/or Censored Books (or Worst to have banned"
Lolita step-father/pedophile?
Forever explicit sex between teenagers?

Question - Does the political book have to be set in the current time or could it be set in the past? For example, could the book be set in the Tudor court or among the ancient Roman Senators?

Nita wrote: "Question - Does the political book have to be set in the current time or could it be set in the past? For example, could the book be set in the Tudor court or among the ancient Roman Senators?"

Any time period will work.

This is fantastic Yz, i didn't know i had so many controversial books i've forgotten on my mountain TBR! Thanks for the challenge!

I'll definitely be doing this, but I think I'll have to wait to sign up until I finish a couple of the challenges I'm doing right now. I'm excited to do this one, though!

Rossy ~*~ Ehrotic ~*~ wrote: "This is fantastic Yz, i didn't know i had so many controversial books i've forgotten on my mountain TBR! Thanks for the challenge!"

Can't really claim full responsibility for this challenge. It's really a product of some brainstorming that was going on in the Challenge Suggestions thread.

Kudos to everybody who pushed for it, most especially Annvelwis.

I'm in, but I probably won't start this until June/July.

I'm in

Sshhh….That’s Taboo! Reading Challenge
Start: May 1, 2010
End: November 1, 2010
Required total number of books: 10

Read two books for each category. Books can either be fiction or non-fiction. Categories are pretty loose, so I encourage you to write a brief statement why you feel the book/s you’ve chosen fits the category.

Religion and/or Spirituality (religious persecution, controversial spiritual movements, wars or conflicts caused by religion, books involving gods, deities or other religious figures, etc)

Politics (books set in the political arena; politicians as characters; biographies of political figures, etc)

Sexuality (m/m or f/f books, ménage, BDSM, strange sexual fetishes, etc)

Other Controversial Topics (This is pretty much an open field: rape, abortion, addiction, racism, child abuse, etc)

Banned Books (There are many lists available online. Please link which list your book/s come from)

Religion:

Politics: Living History

Sexuality:

Other Controversial Topics: Invisible Man

Banned Books:

Thanks Yz! Here is my list so far:


4/9/10 - 10/8/10
0/10 done

Religion
1. The Sparrow
2. The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ

Politics
3. The Secret History of the Mongol Queens
4. The Heretic Queen

Sexuality
5. Wolf Tales I
6. Undercover

Other
7. TBD
8. TBD

Banned
9. A Wrinkle in Time
10. The Handmaid's Tale
Both from the ALA Banned Book List: http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy...

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Great list, Nita.

I'm planning to read The Handmaid's Tale for one of my banned books, too.

Thanks for the Banned Books link.

Hey I'm in for this, great idea. I'll read Anais Nins Delta of Venus for one of my books in the 'Other Controversial' has shorts stories covering drug use, and incest. And A N Roqueluere Claiming of Sleeping Beauty for my Sexuality books. I'll list others just before I read them as this is a challenge that I think require careful consideration:).

Edit 10/04 I'll read Peyton Place for one of my banned books.


Spirituality/Religion


Political


Sexuality
1. The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty BDSM
2. The Ages of Lulu

Other
1. Delta of Venus Taboo subjects incest, drug taking, mutilation for sexual gratification, read 19 April


Banned
1. Peyton Place Hot bed of everything I enjoyed this sooo much read 20 April

I'm game to try this one :)

Start: April 9, 2010
End: October 8, 2010

Religion:
1. The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Quest to Follow the Bible Literally by Jacobs
2. The 19th Wife by Ebershoff

Politics:
3. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Ehrenreich
4. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Wollstonecraft

Sexuality: (f/f historicals)
5. Tipping the Velvet by Waters
6. Fingersmith by Waters

Other Controversial Topics:
7. Annie's Song by Anderson (rape)
8. Wide Sargasso Sea by Rhys
(about the madness of a wife who is locked away by her husband... precursor to Jane Eyre)

Banned Books:
9.Blood and Chocolate by Klause
10. Gossip Girl by Von Ziegesar

I'm in (although the number of challenges I'm doing is getting seriously out of hand).

Struggling a little bit with the Sexuality topic though - being a good Catholic girl I don't have many books that are freaky in the bedroom department - would work? From what I've seen so far when I've flicked through V's into some weird sh*t.

Of course I'm in for this one.

I'm in, but will post my list later this month. I need to finish my April challenges.

What an excellent idea for a challenge, I love to try new things.. I'm most definitelly in!
I’ll post my list later on, I need to catch up on my April challenges and see what books I want to read but this sounds really good!

Huummm... Interrresstiiing.... ;-D

Such an awesome challenge YZ.

I'm in. However, I have 2 tissues.
1. Can I start this challenge June - Dec?
2. I'm not really famillar with these taboo books :-( Any suggestions as to where I can start to find these books.

Cher wrote: "Huummm... Interrresstiiing.... ;-D

Such an awesome challenge YZ.

I'm in. However, I have 2 tissues.
1. Can I start this challenge June - Dec?
2. I'm not really famillar with these taboo b..."

I'll answer for Yz since i know the answers to your questions.

You can start at any time, your list just have to be done in 6 months. Also, you can check the groups bookshelf by clicking in the top of this page right corner. Go to the shelf that says "taboo challenge recs". I've placed some books i felt could go into different categories. Anyone is welcome to add more!

Thanks Rossy. That helps alot. I saw the reading link after I made my comment. There are some great books listed there. I'm really excited now! Thanks-a bunch. I'll post my list later.

BTW...nudge,nudge,wink, wink... the sexual ones kinda give me the hebe jebes...

Cher wrote: "Thanks Rossy. That helps alot. I saw the reading link after I made my comment. There are some great books listed there. I'm really excited now! Thanks-a bunch. I'll post my list later.

BTW....."

LOL! That's why they're towards the end, if you notice they are the ones that have a tag for "taboo stories"
Warning: Those contain incest, rape and so forth....what i like to call "the real taboo" books.

I'm insanely busy but I am sure I have most of these books, if not all, on my shelves waiting to be read. So sign me up, I'll give it a shot!

Ok I'm in, here's my list...

Duration: May 1st - November 1st

0/10 Done

Religion and/or Spirituality
Both books feature fallen Angels
1. Fallen Angel by Margaret Weis
2. Covet by J.R. Ward


Politics
Both books have a politician character
1. Metro Girl by Janet Evanovich
2. Murder Game by Christine Feehan


Sexuality
1. Demon's Fire by Emma Holly
2. Wolf Tales I by Kate Douglas


Other Controversial Topics
Book one, child abuse. Book two, sex trafficking.
1. Forgotten: A Novel by Mariah Stewart
2. The Second Betrayal by Cheyenne McCray


Banned Books
Both from the ALA Banned Book List: http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy...
1. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
2. Forever by Judy Blume

Another great challenge! I backdated to April 1 since I've started A Canticle for Leibowitz already.

Duration: April 1 - October 1
Required total number of books: 10

Religion and/or Spirituality
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Set in a Roman Catholic monastery in the desert of the Southwestern United States after a devastating nuclear war.
The Master and Margarita - The main character is Satan and is the inspiration for the song "Sympathy for the Devil".

Politics
Animal Farm - a satirical allegory of Russian government under Stalin.
Nineteen Eighty-Four - a dystopian novel about a totalitarian regime.

Sexuality
Overlord's Vessel
Fleetblade
Both contain BDSM.

Other Controversial Topics:
Lolita - the story of a middle-aged man's obsession with his 12 year old stepdaughter.
The Lovely Bones - is about a teenage girl who, after being raped and murdered, watches from heaven as her family and friends go on with their lives.

Banned Books
We - (from Wikipedia) We was the first work banned by Glavlit, the new Soviet censorship bureau, in 1921. The novel was first published in English in 1924, but its first publication in the Soviet Union had to wait until 1988.
Slaughterhouse-Five - (from Wikipedia) Slaughterhouse-Five is the sixty-seventh entry to the American Library Association's list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-1999 and, in the USA, it is frequently banned from literature classes, removed from school libraries, and struck from literary curricula.

I'll give this one a try.


Challenge Duration: April 10, 2010 - October 10,2010

1/10

Religion and/or Spirituality:
Demonkeepers by Jessica Andersen (part of a series about the Mayan prophecy of 12/21/2012)
To Teach an Ancient God by Sapphire Phelan (Hades as main character) — 04/10

Politics:
The India Fan by Victoria Holt (set during the time of the Indian independence movement)
Moonraker's Bride by Madeleine Brent (set during the time of the Boxer Rebellion)

Sexuality:
Sun Stroked by Cathryn Fox (BDSM, voyeurism)
The Hot Line by Cathryn Fox (BDSM, voyeurism, ménage)

Other Controversial Topics:
The Demon Lover by Victoria Holt (rape)
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (incest)

Banned Books: (list)
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence

For those interested, here is the Discussion/Suggestions thread:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/3...

RRR - Shhhh It's Taboo

0/10

Religion - The Fall of Lucifer by Wendy Alec
Religion - The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
Politics - Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life by Noor Al-Hussein - It's the biography of the former Queen of Jordan (involves a lot of information about the middle east situation)
Politics - Jennifer Government by Max Barry - Can switch it out if need be, got lots of books about JFK to read.
Sexuality - Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf - Apparent themes of manlove and ladylove.
Sexuality - How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale by Jenna Jameson
Other - The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule - About Ted Bundy (who I'm lead to believe had "relations" with his victims - after they stopped breathing).
Other - Monster Love by Carol Topolski (child abuse).
Banned - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Banned - Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Both the banned books came from the link that Sandy posted.

I'll probably start this 1st June.

Charlotte (Buried in Books) wrote: "I'm in (although the number of challenges I'm doing is getting seriously out of hand).

Struggling a little bit with the Sexuality topic though - being a good Catholic girl I don't have many books that are freaky in the bedroom department - would Lover Unbound (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #5) work? From what I've seen so far when I've flicked through V's into some weird sh*t."

V is into BDSM. There is also some sexual abuse in the flashback sequences.

5/10


Religion and/or Spirituality:
Demonkeepers by Jessica Andersen (part of a series about the Mayan prophecy of 12/21/2012)
To Teach an Ancient God by Sapphire Phelan (Hades as main character) — 04/10

Politics:
The India Fan by Victoria Holt (set during the time of the Indian independence movement) — 04/12
Moonraker's Bride by Madeleine Brent (set during the time of the Boxer Rebellion) — 04/10

Sexuality:
Sun Stroked by Cathryn Fox (BDSM, voyeurism)
The Hot Line by Cathryn Fox (BDSM, voyeurism, ménage)

Other Controversial Topics:
The Demon Lover by Victoria Holt (rape) — 04/11
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (incest) — 04/10

Banned Books: (list)
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence

Gaijinmama, LL & Charlotte; I moved your posts and my response to the other thread in this challenge! Just click on this link here: Taboo Discussion

I'm in, I'll list later.

Jeanine, i moved your post to the discussion/suggestion thread.

Sshhh….That’s Taboo! Reading Challenge
0/10 completed

Here is my List...

Duration: 6 Months - 01 May 10 - 01 Nov 10

RELIGION/SPIRITUAL:
Bless Me, Ultima by: Rudolfo Anaya (religious, ocult)
God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It by: Jim Wallis ( religious, spritual morals)



POLITICS:
The Catcher in the Rye by: J.D Salinger
1984 by: George Orwell


SEXUALITY:
Flowers in the Attic by: V.C Andrews
TBA


OTHER CONTROVERSIAL BOOKS:
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by: Maya Angelou
The Lovely Bones by: Alice Sebold


BANNED BOOKS:
Black Boy by: Richard Wright
TBA


source: http://hunch.com/banned-books/

I started my Iowa book this morning for the April monthly challenge which coincidentally will fill one of the religion/spiritual slots for this challenge. Score!

So I'm in, starting today. I'll post the rest of my list once it has more than one book on it.

7/10
Challenge Duration: April 10, 2010 - October 10,2010


Religion and/or Spirituality:
Demonkeepers by Jessica Andersen (part of a series about the Mayan prophecy of 12/21/2012)
To Teach an Ancient God by Sapphire Phelan (Hades as main character) — 04/10

Politics:
The India Fan by Victoria Holt (set during the time of the Indian independence movement) — 04/12
Moonraker's Bride by Madeleine Brent (set during the time of the Boxer Rebellion) — 04/10

Sexuality:
Sun Stroked by Cathryn Fox (BDSM, voyeurism)
The Hot Line by Cathryn Fox (BDSM, voyeurism, ménage)

Other Controversial Topics:
The Demon Lover by Victoria Holt (rape) — 04/11
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (incest) — 04/10

Banned Books: (list)
Dracula by Bram Stoker — 04/13
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence — 04/12

Somebody is zipping through this challenge. *winks at Alathea*

Alathea,

I need you to put your start date and end date for this challenge.

With the way Alathea reads, it might as well be, 'Start date: Monday. End date: Friday.'

Just keep reading Alathea!

Does she need a finish date?LOL
Alathea, i see your list and feel like a total slacker. You go girl!

I did post my dates in my first (of the two) post in this thread, Yz, but I'll update the second as well.

Well, I won't be as fast as I hoped, because I'm still waiting for one of my chosen books to be available for purchase as e-book.
Is anyone else annoyed with the REP changes and all the delays they brought?

Very annoyed indeed. They started fixing some on Monday but i doubt the pricing will be fixed everywhere by the end of this week. With new titles releasing it's quite inconvenient.

8/10
Challenge Duration: April 10, 2010 - October 10,2010


Religion and/or Spirituality:
Demonkeepers by Jessica Andersen (part of a series about the Mayan prophecy of 12/21/2012)
To Teach an Ancient God by Sapphire Phelan (Hades as main character) — 04/10

Politics:
The India Fan by Victoria Holt (set during the time of the Indian independence movement) — 04/12
Moonraker's Bride by Madeleine Brent (set during the time of the Boxer Rebellion) — 04/10

Sexuality:
Sun Stroked by Cathryn Fox (BDSM, voyeurism) — 04/14
The Hot Line by Cathryn Fox (BDSM, voyeurism, ménage)

Other Controversial Topics:
The Demon Lover by Victoria Holt (rape) — 04/11
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (incest) — 04/10

Banned Books: (list)
Dracula by Bram Stoker — 04/13
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence — 04/12

I'm going to sign up for this one as soon as I finish 2-3 challenges. I guess my plate is currently full, heh, but I'm looking forward to this one. And it's so fun doing the research for it!
People's reaction is especially funny. My very nice and very catholic librarian actually crossed herself(!) when I asked if she can help me find some fiction with rape, incest, abortion or euthanasia... I didn't expect that, hah.

9/10
Challenge Duration: April 10, 2010 - October 10,2010


Religion and/or Spirituality:
Demonkeepers by Jessica Andersen (part of a series about the Mayan prophecy of 12/21/2012)
To Teach an Ancient God by Sapphire Phelan (Hades as main character) — 04/10

Politics:
The India Fan by Victoria Holt (set during the time of the Indian independence movement) — 04/12
Moonraker's Bride by Madeleine Brent (set during the time of the Boxer Rebellion) — 04/10

Sexuality:
Sun Stroked by Cathryn Fox (BDSM, voyeurism) — 04/14
The Hot Line by Cathryn Fox (BDSM, voyeurism, ménage) — 04/15

Other Controversial Topics:
The Demon Lover by Victoria Holt (rape) — 04/11
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (incest) — 04/10

Banned Books: (list)
Dracula by Bram Stoker — 04/13
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence — 04/12

i'm going to sign up for this one when I get my lists under control a bit more too! but I am keeping an eye out for books I might want to read

10/10
Challenge Duration: April 10, 2010 - October 10,2010


Religion and/or Spirituality:
Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon (the last Atlantean god as the main character) — 04/16 (I got tired of waiting for the Demonkeepers ebook. Besides, I needed a male characters starting with "U". ;p)
To Teach an Ancient God by Sapphire Phelan (Hades as main character) — 04/10

Politics:
The India Fan by Victoria Holt (set during the time of the Indian independence movement) — 04/12
Moonraker's Bride by Madeleine Brent (set during the time of the Boxer Rebellion) — 04/10

Sexuality:
Sun Stroked by Cathryn Fox (BDSM, voyeurism) — 04/14
The Hot Line by Cathryn Fox (BDSM, voyeurism, ménage) — 04/15

Other Controversial Topics:
The Demon Lover by Victoria Holt (rape) — 04/11
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (incest) — 04/10

Banned Books: (list)
Dracula by Bram Stoker — 04/13
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence — 04/12

I guess I'm no longer surprised. : ) Congrats, Alathea!