2025 Reading Challenge discussion

DECEMBER BACKWARDS CHALLENGE
Duration: December 1 - December 31

Our theme this month is "anything goes," so in that spirit, we have an anything goes challenge.

Rules

1. Pick your goal for the month
2. After you read your book, post it to your list with a task you invent

Example:
I set my goal for the month at five. The first book I read is The Hunger Games. I could make up a task like one of these:
1. Read a dystopia
2. Read a book where a character's name is a flower
3. Read a book with a title of consecutive letters of the alphabet (can be reverse order and excluding "the" and "a")

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The leader for this challenge will be Trevor.

Participant List


Ashley: 0/5
Barb: 10/10 - completed!
Candiss: 0/6
Christina: 2/5
Devynne: 2/2 - completed!
Fell4: 0/?
Georgina: 6/7
Gina: 0/8
Joanne: 0/8
Kara: 11/11 - completed!
Kattibrie: 6/17
Kelsi: 15/19
Lilac: 9/9 - completed!
Lindy: 16/16 - completed!
Melanie: 32/32 - completed!
Swamini: 10/10 - completed!
Sweetpea: 0/8
Trevor: 4/5

Let me know if you're number changes, or you want to join/drop out. :)

I'm definitely in, though I have no idea how many books I will read. Maybe 15?

And normally, I would happily volunteer to lead, but sadly I will not have interwebs (other than my phone) for the last week or so of December :(

Fun idea! I know what I'm reading for the rest of the year, for the most part, so right now it looks like my goal for December will be 6.

That really sounds fun. But I'll come up with my goal later - I'll have to see what I'll manage to read in November and what other challenges that end this year I have left. :)

Sounds good! I will have to think about how many to read. I'm a little confused about the task. Do we just make up a challenge for the number of books or do all the tasks have to be related to the first book?

Good question, Gina. You would make up a different task related to each book you read in December.

Got it! Thanks for such a quick response Kara!

Soungs good, but need to think of the topics

I "need" to read quite a few books by the end of the year -- to complete my challenges on time :) -- but I'm going to wait till later in November to see how many of those books I've knocked out in the next couple of weeks.

Seems like a cute challenge! Good idea!

I've beaten my yearly challenge of 52 books already this year but would like to get up to 75 before the end of the year, so far I am on 59, almost 60, so I shall have to see how many more I manage this month but I would like to aim for at least 10 in December, as I have been averaging at 7 a month lately.

Still need a challenge leader--any takers?

I can lead, Kara. :)

Thanks, Trev!

Cool! I've got to read 5 books in December to make my goal, so i guess I'll go for 5. ;)

I'm in too. I will also commit to a number as we get closer to December.

I'm in. Will make my goal number closer to time. I should have about 115 books read at the end of the month, so I'm thinking my goal will be 5 to make a good round number of 120, but we will see where I'm at. :)

Here are my tasks:

Task
1 1 gets murdered
2 2 gets murdered
3. Romance with old boyfriend
4. Romance with new boyfriend
5 Has a pet
6. Horse or Cow
7. Sisters
8. Single Mom
9. FBI
10.Holiday

Welcome all! Great tasks, Lindy. :)

Count me in too please. Finished my yearly goal if 52 so put me down for another 8 :)

Congratulations on meeting your 2012 goal, Sweetpea!

I have 5 books on my list to read before the end of the year so that will be my goal.

I'm in. My list has 8 books I'm gonna try to read

1. Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan
Task: Read an YA book

2. Beautiful Lie by Jessica Warman
Task: Read a book with twins in it

3. The Immortal Rules by Julia Kawaga
Task: Read a book with vampires in it

4. I Swear by Lane Davis
Task: Read a book about bullying

5. The Blessed by Tonya Hurley
Task: read a book with a religious aspect in it

6. The Raft by S.A. Bodeen
Task: Read a book about survival

7. The Dark Light by Sara Walsh
Task: Read a Paranormal book

8. Through to You by Emily Hainsworth
Task: Read a urban Fantasy book

I am CRAZILY going to try for 17. It's what I'll need to reach my goal. Yikes!

Trevor wrote: "Goals List

Joanna: 8?


I've got ? because I know we ..."

Hi. I dont wanna be a pain in the butt but my name is spelled wrong. It ends in an E. Thanks :D

Joanne♥ wrote: "Hi. I dont wanna be a pain in the butt but my name is spelled wrong. It ends in an E. Thanks :D"

Oh no, that is totally not being a pain! Worry not, Joanne! I'll fix that right now. :) Sorry!

I am going to try for 8 books. I will put in my tasks when I come up with them over the next few days.

I can't wait until Friday midnght to start

Kelsi's December Backwards Challenge
Goal: 15/19

1. Read a book about a place you have been, outside of your own country.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (Paris)
2. Read a book with a graph in it
The Formation of American Local Governments: Private Values in Public Institutions
3. Read a work of Chick Lit
Mini Shopaholic
4. Read a book where love solves a problem.
A Wind in the Door
5.Read a historical nonfiction book that challenges a popular held view of something.
The Roman Triumph
6. Read a book that takes place in multiple countries
The Winter Rose (Antarctica, Britain and Kenya)
7. Read a book that has been made into a TV series
Dead Until Dark
8. Read a book that is second in a series
The Sea of Monsters
9. Read an Oprah's Book Club pick.
The Good Earth
10. Read a book that involves Time Travel
A Swiftly Tilting Planet
11. Read a book in which one of the main characters die
Madame Bovary: 150th Anniversary
12. Read a book about running.
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
13. Read a book about Christmas
A Christmas Carol
14. Re-read a book that is being made into a movie.
The Hobbit
15. Read a romance novel
Reflected in You

OK, setting my goal to 17 - that's how many books I'll need to finish in December for other challenges (although I'll probably won't manage :( ).

I'm going to shoot for ten books for this challenge. That will get me close to finishing all the challenges -- all 15 of them, yikes! -- that I have going that end in December.

Do we create our tasks now, or can that be done as the challenge progresses?

BACKWARDS CHALLENGE, 12/1 - 12/31
PROGRESS: 10/10

✔ 1. Read a book that focuses on social change.
Safe at Home, by Richard Doster, finished 12/1 – about the integration of minor league baseball in the US in the early 1950s

✔ 2. Read a non-fiction book.
Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, by Jon Krakauer, finished 12/1

✔ 3. Read a book with some sort of connection to your hometown.
Good Hope Road, by Lisa Wingate – Good Hope Road is a busy road not far from my home :)

✔ 4. Read an anthology.
Thrillers: 100 Must Reads, by David Morrell & Hank Wagner, finished 12/2

✔ 5. Read the first book of a series.
Never Buried (Leigh Koslow series #1), by Edie Claire, finished 12/3

✔ 6. Read a book published in the 1960s.
Dress Her in Indigo (Travis McGee series #11), by John D. MacDonald, finished 12/6 - published 1969

✔ 7. Read a book set at least 50 years in the past.
Absolution by Murder (Sister Fidelma series #1), by Peter Tremayne, finished 12/12 - set in 7th century Northumbria

✔ 8. Read a book that will help you finish a difficult challenge.
Death of a Red Heroine (Inspector Chen Cao series #1), by Qiu Xiaolong, finished 12/15 – an X author for my A-Z author challenge!

✔ 9. Read a book with angels in it.
Angels at the Table: A Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy Christmas Story, by Debbie Macomber, finished 12/18

✔ 10. Read a book that has been made into a movie.
The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, by Michael Lewis, finished 12/29


                  


***** CHALLENGE COMPLETE *****

You can do them as the challenge progresses--good question, Barb!

does every read the books in november exept for the end and finished them when December rolls around???

Ok so I managed 63 so far this year, and I want to manage 75 total, 12 more to go!

Georgina's Backwards challenge 1/12/12-31/12/12
Completed 6/12
Updated 28/12/12

1. Meet Me at the Cupcake Café by Jenny Colgan - Read a book containing recipe's
2. The Daylight Gate by Jeanette Winterson - Read a historical fiction book
3. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - Read a story about illness
4. Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich - Read the second book in a series
5. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - Read a christmas story
6. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - Read a non-fiction book.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12

Let's see how many I can read this month - it's a sprint!

1 - Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder
Read the last book in a trilogy (finished 12/1/12 - 4 stars)

Lindy wrote: "does every read the books in november exept for the end and finished them when December rolls around???"

I'm not sure I understand your question, but if I do you're asking if we read the books in November or December, right? This is a December challenge, so you'll read the books in December. :)

Melanie wrote: "Let's see how many I can read this month - it's a sprint!

1 - Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder
Read the last book in a trilogy (finished 12/1/12 - 4 stars)

"

Congrats on finishing your first one, Melanie!! :D

This challenge is officially on, everybody! Good luck and happy reading. Happy holidays as well, all of you who celebrate. :D

Oh no, that is totally not being a pain! Worry not, Joanne! I'll fix that right now..."

Thanks :D

I'm in for 8 :)

completed my first one!

Read a classic book: A Christmas Carol.

So I changed my goal from 200 to 400 - that leaves me 32 to finish!

I already posted #1, so here are #s 2-5

2. How to train your dragon by Cressida Cowell
Read a book that has been made into a movie (finished 12/1/12 - 3 stars)



3. My life as a white trash zombie by Diana Rowland
Read a book about someone who turns their life around (finished 12/2/12 - 4 stars)



4. Onyx by Jennifer Armentrout
Read a book with a betrayal (finished 12/2/12 - 3 stars)



5. Morning of the Magicians by Jacques Bergier
Read a book that was recommended to you (finished 12/3/12 - 2 stars)

Post 30 updated.

Goal: 1/19

1. X-Men and Philosophy: Astonishing Insight and Uncanny Argument in the Mutant X-Verse - read a book whose title starts with "X" - 04.12, 3/5

2. & 3. A Christmas Carol & Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - read a Christmas-themed book - both finished 04.12, 5/5 and 3/5

Goal 3/17

Way to go!! Keep it up everybody!


@Melanie, if I understood that right, you are at 5/32 right now? If that's wrong, just lemme know so I can change it back! :)

Trevor wrote: "@Melanie, if I understood that right, you are at 5/32 right now? If that's wrong, just lemme know so I can change it back! :)"

That's right! Since I decided to officially up my tally for the year, I need those 32 to get to 400!

Thanks, Trevor!

#2 down:

Read a book with a graph in it.

3. Read a work of Chick Lit:


Completed: 3/19

6. Casket of Souls by Lynn Flewelling
Read a book with necromancy/dark magic (finished 12/4/12 - 5 stars)