Stina’s
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(group member since Dec 11, 2016)
Stina’s
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from the Challenges from Exploding Steamboats group.
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Well, the Goodreads PTBs have seen fit to delete all but a handful of the threads I posted for individual prompts. They've been deleting a bunch of stuff randomly in other groups, too. Or maybe their servers are just that unstable. Anyway, I am not going to re-post all those threads at this point. If you have any questions about prompts, we can discuss them here.
Stina wrote: "Here is the entire list! If I counted correctly, this is 74 prompts (including the 4 "free" reads) and 11 specific titles. I ..."Nope! Wrong! I found six prompts and one title I missed:
- A Victorian work with a Bildungsroman
- A Victorian work with chronic illness/disability rep
- A book with gods or godlike characters, or themes of religions, cults, or mythology
- A book with a colour in the title
- A book with spooky vibes
- Scroll through a social media feed and read the first book you own or have access to
- The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
So, 80 prompts and 12 titles. I could take the "parallel reality" prompt off, since I've realized Piranesi counted for that last year, but I've already read one book this year that fills it, so I won't bother. Anyway, do with this information whatever you like. (I'll be updating the lists wherever they appear.)
Stina wrote: "The two I own are The Hotel New Hampshire and A Prayer for Owen Meany. Neither one actually sounds at all interesting to me, and they're really long, but everybody keeps t..."Well, I decided on The Hotel New Hampshire. I DNFed it pretty quickly. I didn't have the spoons to even attempt Owen Meany or Irving's wrestling memoir, and I almost went with something by another guy named John Irving, just out of spite. But then I found The Cider House Rules: A Screenplay. I watched the movie first, and it was...fine. The casting of Tobey Maguire was a horrible decision, but there were some good performances and the story was...fine. The script, however, was not. It was nearly twice as long as it should have been, and I noticed right away that much of it got edited out of the final product. And for good reason. Good gravy, I don't know how anybody slogs through 600 pages of this stuff.
Maybe it isn't quite according to Hoyle, but I listened to "Insight and Wisdom Through Loss," which turned out to be an interview of Isabel Allende and not an actual book. And at this point I kinda don't care. I'm counting it for both this prompt and the "book published in 1995" prompt. If you don't like it, you can report me to the challenge police.
Maybe it isn't quite according to Hoyle, but I listened to "Insight and Wisdom Through Loss," which turned out to be an interview of Isabel Allende and not an actual book. And at this point I kinda don't care. I'm counting it for both this prompt and the "book by Isabel Allende" prompt. If you don't like it, you can report me to the challenge police.
No change here for 2023.
Stina wrote: "Wikipedia is still probably your best bet for familiarizing yourself with this genre. I still have RiftWorlds Online: Book 1 - Space Opera Insertion: a LitRPG Sci-Fi Adventure on my..."That is still my plan for 2023, but I think I do have another option now, if it turns out I don't like this one.
My oldest ARC remains the same as last year: Right as Rain. It's in a 2-novel volume, so maybe it just looks too intimidating.
I listened to Seveneves. A LOT of it went way over my head, but one thing I really enjoy about Neal Stephenson's writing style is that he doesn't make me feel stupid for, uh, being stupid. Especially in audiobook format, it lets my brain just kinda gloss over the mathy bits and gives me plenty of shiny bits to chew on.
This actually covers two prompts, one with the parenthetical qualifier and one without. I could spread this over two reads and read one of the Missouri Review editions I have (I occasionally subscribe), but I'm aiming for efficiency and am trying out Galaxy’s Edge Magazine: Issue 56, May 2022.
This is tough for me, because I really like food, and I also really like exploring food from other cultures. I have tried a LOT of different cuisines in my life! I feel like I'm cheating a little bit with my choice of The Island Kitchen: Recipes from Mauritius and the Indian Ocean, as it shares a lot of similarities with other cuisines I'm already familiar with. But I'm counting it because until I started reading the book, I did not know that.
My family apparently shares my dislike of absolutes. I am going with The Family Trade because it's a book that Brian has been bugging me to read for years and Charles Stross is one of his favorite authors. I have started it and am enjoying it. I hope to get back to it soon.
I still have RiftWorlds Online: Book 1 - Space Opera Insertion: a LitRPG Sci-Fi Adventure on my TBR, but I think I picked up another LitRPG book at MileHiCon last fall.
An ARC is an advance reading copy. These are the editions publishers send out in advance of publication to readers in the industry in hopes of getting timely buzz to boost sales. Paper copies still exist, but digital ARCs abound at places like NetGalley.My oldest ARC is one I picked up at a mystery con somewhere around the turn of the millennium. It contains two novels, the earlier of which is Right as Rain.
Here is the entire list! If I counted correctly, this is 80 prompts (including the 4 "free" reads) and 12 specific titles. I will be multi-dipping as much as humanly possible. Penitent Prioritization
** The oldest ARC you own - Right as Rain
** A LitRPG book - RiftWorlds Online: Book 1 - Space Opera Insertion: a LitRPG Sci-Fi Adventure
** A family member's favorite book - The Family Trade
* A food book about a cuisine you've never tried before - The Island Kitchen: Recipes from Mauritius and the Indian Ocean
* An edition of a literary magazine - Galaxy’s Edge Magazine: Issue 56, May 2022
* A book from the 2019 Reading Women Award shortlists and honorable mentions - The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays
* Read a Victorian (1837-1901) diary or collection of letters - The Diaries of Hannah Cullwick, Victorian Maidservant
- An indigenous literature award nominee, such as the AIYLA, Burt, Indigenous Voices Awards, Nga Kupu Ora, etc. - The Marrow Thieves - Elatsoe - Firekeeper's Daughter
- Book becoming a movie in 2021 - News of the World
- Read a genre novel by an Indigenous, First Nations, or Native American author - My Heart Is a Chainsaw - The Only Good Indians - The Mona Lisa Sisters - The Marrow Thieves - Robbers and Cops
- Read an SFF anthology edited by a person of color - Heartwood: Non-binary Tales of Sylvan Fantasy - New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color
- (22) Read a food memoir by an author of color - Notes from a Young Black Chef
- Read a book from the neighborhood library box - Forever . . . - The Long Call - Flowers in the Attic
- A book by a Slovak author - Seeing People Off
- A book with a spine you love - Douglas Adams's Starship Titanic - The Bone Witch
- A Victorian sensation novel - Lady Audley's Secret
Lost Levels
Level 3
- A book that you intended to read on last year's challenge - Handwritten: Speculative Fiction Stories and Vignettes
- Free Space! Pick any book.
Level 5
- Read a book by Georges Simenon - Le Chien Jaune - Pietr-le-Letton - Un échec de Maigret
- Read a banned book from the specified ALA list - The Glass Castle - The Hate U Give - The House of the Spirits - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Year of Wonders
- Read a book that Linz read previously - American Gods - Asylum - Blood Rites - The Bone Witch - Circe - The Deep - The Fault in Our Stars - Hollow CityThe Secret, Book & Scone Society - Spellbreaker - The Watchmaker's Daughter - Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators - Graveyard Shift
- Free Space! Pick any book.
The Usual Fails
- A "Sense of Gender Award" winner, or a similar award such as the Otherwise Award (adjust as needed for age appropriateness and accessibility) - Perdido Street Station - Changeless - The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - Waking the Moon - Half Life - The Drowning Girl - When the Moon Was Ours
- Read a biography of an author you admire - Dangerous Water: A Biography Of The Boy Who Became Mark Twain
- Read a new-to-you literary magazine (print or digital) - Galaxy’s Edge Magazine: Issue 56, May 2022
- Read a memoir written by someone who is trans or nonbinary - Sorted: Growing Up, Coming Out, and Finding My Place - Pageboy
- Read a "Best ____ Writing of the year" book for a topic and year of your choice - The Best American Mystery Stories 1998
- Read an award-winning book from the year you were born - Ringworld
- A book picked based on its spine - The Silver Road - The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall
- Jane Austen-inspired - Pride, Prejudice and Poison - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
- Read the third book in a trilogy - Blood Dawn - Impostor Syndrome - The Final Gambit - A Conjuring of Light
- (32) A middle grade book with an orphan main character - The Night Raven
- A book translated from Korean - Familiar Things
- A historical fiction novel featuring Korea - The Calligrapher's Daughter - Broken Summer -
- An award-winning Korean novel - The Vegetarian
- (131) A book with the number 7 in the title or subtitle - The Seven Purposes: An Experience in Psychic Phenomena
- (45) A book you read as a child - Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - The Secret Garden -
- (25, 47, 77, 111) Read a book that represents chaos to you - Oona Out of Order
- (43, 124) A nonfiction book related to the word "border" - The Devil's Highway: A True Story - Romania
- Scroll through a social media feed and read the first book you own or have access to - Book Lovers - Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Specific Titles
- Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
- Shirley by Charlotte Bronte
- The Brave by James Bird
- The Blood Countess by Elizabeth Bathory
- The Sundial by Shirley Jackson
- Walkaway by Cory Doctorow
- Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer
- Pony by R.J. Palacio
- A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark
- Gone to the Woods by Gary Paulsen
- The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
COMPLETED
3. Book becoming movie in 2022 - Glass Onion
4. A graphic novel - Digger, Volume One
5. Read a book that gives you thrills and chills - The Kaiju Preservation Society
7. A book with spooky vibes - The Decagon House Murders
9. The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie
13. Reread a favorite - The Birthmark
14. Author who shares your initials - The Lost Baroness: A Regency Romance
17. A book with a colour in the title - Black Pearl: A Cold Case Suspense
20. A book by an Eastern European author - The White Guard
21. A Victorian work with chronic illness/disability rep - A Christmas Carol: What if Scrooge were a woman?
22. A food-related memoir - Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef’s Journey to Discover America’s New Melting-Pot Cuisine
23. Read an adventure story by a BIPOC author - Moses: The Chronicles of Harriet Tubman
25. Read a book with snow on the cover - The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep
28. A biography or book about history - Singled Out: The True Story of Glenn Burke
32. A middle grade book set in Asia or featuring an Asian main character - Greenglass House
38. (4, 23) A book with gods or godlike characters, or themes of religions, cults, or mythology - Black Candle Women
40. (22) A book featuring a Korean diaspora character - Daybreak on Raven Island
43. (28) A nonfiction book related to the word "secret" - Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Highly Decorated Spy
45. A book you've been wanting to re-read - The Mysterious Affair at Styles
47. Read a slasher - The Writing Retreat
50. (38) A book recommended to you by someone with a viewpoint different from yours - Verity
53. Read a book by an author with the same first name as one of your grandparents. - Where Billy Died
54. Free Space! Pick any book. - Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?
68. A book with a title starting with the letter R - Remarkably Bright Creatures
69. A book from the Sir Julius Vogel Award long-list from any year - The Impossible Resurrection of Grief
74. (25) A nonfiction book related to the word "element" - Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors
77. Read any book from the Men's Health most popular book list - Lord of the Flies
91. Read a book that a movie/show you've watched is based on but have yet to read - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
92. Free Space! Pick any book. - Big Trouble in Little Rodentia
94. A middle grade book older than you - The Light Princess
111. (5, 9) A book featuring a parallel reality - The Ballad of Perilous Graves
124. A second-person narrative - In the Dream House
125. A Victorian work with a Bildungsroman - David Copperfield
131. (45) A book by a Grand Master - Babel-17
132. A 5-star prediction - Network Effect
139. A book longer than 700 pages - The Way We Live Now
146. Read the second book in a trilogy - Herland
147. Bottom of your to-read list - Monday's Not Coming
156. (132) A Bookoplathon Chance card book - A Gentleman in Moscow
166. A book in French or Italian - Violet (Purple) (Ma couleur préférée (My Favorite Color))
Here is the entire list! If I counted correctly, this is 80 prompts (including the 4 "free" reads) and 12 specific titles. I will be multi-dipping as much as humanly possible. You can copy any or all of this list into a post on this thread, add your planning notes if you like, and update it throughout the year.
Penitent Prioritization
** The oldest ARC you own
** A LitRPG book
** A family member's favorite book
* A food book about a cuisine you've never tried before
* An edition of a literary magazine
* A book from the 2019 Reading Women Award shortlists and honorable mentions
* Read a Victorian (1837-1901) diary or collection of letters
- An indigenous literature award nominee, such as the AIYLA, Burt, Indigenous Voices Awards, Nga Kupu Ora, etc.
- A book from the Sir Julius Vogel Award long-list from any year
- Book becoming a movie in 2021
- Read a genre novel by an Indigenous, First Nations, or Native American author
- Read an SFF anthology edited by a person of color
- Read a food memoir by an author of color
- Read a book from the neighborhood library box
- A book by a Slovak author
- A book with a spine you love
- A Bookoplathon Chance card book
- A Victorian sensation novel
Lost Levels
*2021: Level 3*
- Read a book by an author with the same first name as one of your grandparents.
- Free Space! Pick any book.
Level 3
- A book that you intended to read on last year's challenge
- Free Space! Pick any book.
Level 4
- Read a book that a movie/show you've watched is based on but have yet to read
- Read any book from the Men's Health most popular book list
- Free Space! Pick any book.
Level 5
- Read a book by Georges Simenon
- Read a banned book from the specified ALA list
- Read a book that Linz read previously
- Free Space! Pick any book.
The Usual Fails
- A book by an Eastern European author
- A "Sense of Gender Award" winner, or a similar award such as the Otherwise Award (adjust as needed for age appropriateness and accessibility)
- A book featuring a parallel reality
- Read a biography of an author you admire
- Read an adventure story by a BIPOC author
- Read a new-to-you literary magazine (print or digital)
- Read a memoir written by someone who is trans or nonbinary
- Read a "Best ____ Writing of the year" book for a topic and year of your choice
- Read an award-winning book from the year you were born
- Book becoming movie in 2022
- Bottom of your to-read list
- Author who shares your initials
- Reread a favorite
- A second-person narrative
- A book picked based on its spine
- Jane Austen-inspired
- Read the second book in a trilogy
- Read the third book in a trilogy
- A food-related memoir
- Read a book with snow on the cover
- Read a book that gives you thrills and chills
- A middle grade book set in Asia or featuring an Asian main character
- A middle grade book older than you
- A middle grade book with an orphan main character
- A book translated from Korean
- A historical fiction novel featuring Korea
- A book featuring a Korean diaspora character
- An award-winning Korean novel
- A biography or book about history
- A book you've been wanting to re-read
- A graphic novel
- A book longer than 700 pages
- A book with the number 7 in the title or subtitle
- A book recommended to you by someone with a viewpoint different from yours
- A book you read as a child
- A 5-star prediction
- A book with a scripted font for the title
- Read a book that represents chaos to you
- Read a slasher
- A book in French or Italian
- A book with a title starting with the letter R
- A book by a Grand Master
- A nonfiction book related to the word "element"
- A nonfiction book related to the word "border"
- A nonfiction book related to the word "secret"
- A Victorian work with a Bildungsroman
- A Victorian work with chronic illness/disability rep
- A book with gods or godlike characters, or themes of religions, cults, or mythology
- A book with a colour in the title
- A book with spooky vibes
- Scroll through a social media feed and read the first book you own or have access to
Specific Titles
- Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
- Shirley by Charlotte Bronte
- The Brave by James Bird
- The Blood Countess by Elizabeth Bathory
- The Sundial by Shirley Jackson
- Walkaway by Cory Doctorow
- Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer
- Pony by R.J. Palacio
- A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark
- Gone to the Woods by Gary Paulsen
- The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
As usual, approach this however you like. I'm not the challenge police.
There are no points or prizes. This is just a fun way to tackle and/or build your TBR.
I will (hopefully) be posting discussion threads for all of the prompts, so check those out to suggest books, find recommendations, and discuss your reads with our reading community.
This is my increasingly ridiculous annual challenge where I punish myself for everything I didn't manage to finish to my satisfaction in the previous year. And, um, years prior to that. I don't think I even managed to post discussion threads for all of last year's prompts, but I will try to clean that up some in the near future. It's tricky, though, because if you make too many posts too quickly, Goodreads assumes you're a bot and shuts you down without warning. It's sort of like petting a cat....purr...purr...purr...slash!The first section contains prompts I've failed at in 2019, 2020, 2021, AND 2022. Making an effort to prioritize them in my monthly TBRs has obviously not been working all that great for me. So. I'm doing that again. Because sure, that makes perfect sense. ::shrug::
** The oldest ARC you own
** A LitRPG book
** A family member's favorite book
* A food book about a cuisine you've never tried before
* An edition of a literary magazine
* A book from the 2019 Reading Women Award shortlists and honorable mentions
* Read a Victorian (1837-1901) diary or collection of letters
The second section contains prompts I've failed at only two years in a row. Go me! They will be prioritized right after the first section prompts. That'll show 'em who's boss.
- An indigenous literature award nominee, such as the AIYLA, Burt, Indigenous Voices Awards, Nga Kupu Ora, etc.
- A book from the Sir Julius Vogel Award long-list from any year
- Book becoming a movie in 2021
- Read a genre novel by an Indigenous, First Nations, or Native American author
- Read an SFF anthology edited by a person of color
- Read a food memoir by an author of color
- Read a book from the neighborhood library box
- A book by a Slovak author
- A book with a spine you love
- A Bookoplathon Chance card book
- A Victorian sensation novel
The third section contains prompts I failed from Linz and Tress's challenge. It was set up in levels and I was not allowing myself to count the "free" read until I had completed that level. Treat that however you like. I am giving priority to Level 3 from the 2021 challenge, and the other levels are from the 2022 challenge.
*Level 3*
- Read a book by an author with the same first name as one of your grandparents.
- Free Space! Pick any book.
Level 3
- A book that you intended to read on last year's challenge
- Free Space! Pick any book.
Level 4
- Read a book that a movie/show you've watched is based on but have yet to read
- Read any book from the Men's Health most popular book list
- Free Space! Pick any book.
Level 5
- Read a book by Georges Simenon
- Read a banned book from the specified ALA list
- Read a book that Linz read previously
- Free Space! Pick any book.
The fourth section contains my normal prompt fails. Some were from seasonal challenges, but I'm not restricting myself to a season for this challenge.
- A book by an Eastern European author
- A "Sense of Gender Award" winner, or a similar award such as the Otherwise Award (adjust as needed for age appropriateness and accessibility)
- A book featuring a parallel reality
- Read a biography of an author you admire
- Read an adventure story by a BIPOC author
- Read a new-to-you literary magazine (print or digital)
- Read a memoir written by someone who is trans or nonbinary
- Read a "Best ____ Writing of the year" book for a topic and year of your choice
- Read an award-winning book from the year you were born
- Book becoming movie in 2022
- Bottom of your to-read list
- Author who shares your initials
- Reread a favorite
- A second-person narrative
- A book picked based on its spine
- Jane Austen-inspired
- Read the second book in a trilogy
- Read the third book in a trilogy
- A food-related memoir
- Read a book with snow on the cover
- Read a book that gives you thrills and chills
- A middle grade book set in Asia or featuring an Asian main character
- A middle grade book older than you
- A middle grade book with an orphan main character
- A book translated from Korean
- A historical fiction novel featuring Korea
- A book featuring a Korean diaspora character
- An award-winning Korean novel
- A biography or book about history
- A book you've been wanting to re-read
- A graphic novel
- A book longer than 700 pages
- A book with the number 7 in the title or subtitle
- A book recommended to you by someone with a viewpoint different from yours
- A book you read as a child
- A 5-star prediction
- A book with a scripted font for the title
- Read a book that represents chaos to you
- Read a slasher
- A book in French or Italian
- A book with a title starting with the letter R
- A book by a Grand Master
- A nonfiction book related to the word "element"
- A nonfiction book related to the word "border"
- A nonfiction book related to the word "secret"
- A Victorian work with a Bildungsroman
- A Victorian work with chronic illness/disability rep
- A book with gods or godlike characters, or themes of religions, cults, or mythology
- A book with a colour in the title
- A book with spooky vibes
- Scroll through a social media feed and read the first book you own or have access to
And the final section consists of specific titles that were "assigned" in some fashion, such as for a readathon group read. Some I may permit myself to DNF, and others I am determined to finish.
- Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
- Shirley by Charlotte Bronte
- The Brave by James Bird
- The Blood Countess by Elizabeth Bathory
- The Sundial by Shirley Jackson
- Walkaway by Cory Doctorow
- Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer
- Pony by R.J. Palacio
- A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark
- Gone to the Woods by Gary Paulsen
- The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
As usual, approach this however you like. I'm not the challenge police.
There are no points or prizes. This is just a fun way to tackle and/or build your TBR.
I will be posting discussion threads for all of the prompts, so check those out to suggest books, find recommendations, and discuss your reads with our reading community. There will also be a place to post your reading list, and if you'd like to track your challenge progress here, you are welcome to use the stina-challenge-2023 shelf tag.
