2025 Reading Challenge discussion
ARCHIVE: Monthly Challenges
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2017 Challenge Ideas
For January - Mythical Creatures from Around the World. There are so many different mythical creatures in so many different traditions - find a book or character that reflects each of the categories below:1. Fenghuang - Chinese bird, also known as the Chinese Phoenix, a mythical bird that signifies high virtue and grace. Read either a book set in China or a book featuring a character full of grace and virtue.
2. Brownie - Scottish mythical creature that inhabits houses and aids in tasks. Read either a book set in Scotland or a book featuring a character that toils unseen.
3. Cyclops - Greek mythical one-eyed giants. Read either a book based on a Greek tragedy or a book featuring a short-sighted character.
4. Enenra - Japanese smoke creature. It inhabits bonfires and legend says can only be seen by the pure of heart. Read a book featuring fire or a book with a pure-hearted character.
5. Lang suir - Malaysian ghost of a woman who died in childbirth. Read a book dealing with childbirth or featuring a character who dies from a broken heart.
6. Bakunawa - Filipino dragon/sea serpent who causes eclipses. Read a book featuring some sort of dragon or a book about the moon.
7. Nakki - Finnish water spirit who will capture unmindful children. Read a book set on the sea or a book about a captured child.
8. Hippogriff - European medieval beast that is half eagle and half horse, known for being extremely fast and able to fly long distances. Read a book about flight or a book featuring a character who flies.
9. Wandjina - Australian aboriginal wind and cloud spirits. Read a book set in Australia or a book featuring a weather event.
10. Jumbee - Caribbean malevolent entities. Read a book set in the Caribbean or a book featuring a malevolent character.
I'd be happy to lead this challenge if my idea is selected:)
For February/Earth: read books set in Earth's 5 major biomes: aquatic, desert, forest, grassland, tundra. Read all, one, or some.
March/women. Read a book or books written by a woman who lives in a different continent from yours.
Megan wrote: "For January - Mythical Creatures from Around the World. There are so many different mythical creatures in so many different traditions - find a book or character that reflects each of the categorie..."I love it! I will propose it to the other Mods!
Honor the Gods Challenge 1. Aphrodite Goddess of beauty, love, desire, and pleasure. Read an author you have grown to love or find a book with love or desire in the title.
2. Apollo God of music, arts, knowledge, healing, plague, prophecy, poetry, manly beauty, and archery. Read a book where the main character plays an instrument or is part of a band. Or read a book about a topic you are unfamiliar with.
3. Ares God of war, bloodshed, and violence. Read a book set in wartime or a book where the characters have an external or internal struggle.
4. Artemis Virgin goddess of the hunt, wilderness, animals, young girls, childbirth. Read an author that is completely new to you “a virgin author”
5. Dionysus God of wine, fruitfulness, parties, festivals, madness, chaos, drunkenness, vegetation, and ecstasy. Read an author who also writes under a pen name (they got so drunk they forgot their name)
6. Hades God of the underworld and the dead. His consort is Persephone. His attributes are the drinking horn or cornucopia, key, sceptre, and the three-headed dog Cerberus. His sacred animals include the screech owl. Read a book where a character is ‘Undead “ werewolf, vampire. Or a book that deals with a wise character that goes on a journey (wise like the owl.)
7. Athena Goddess of reason, wisdom, intelligence, skill, peace, warfare, battle strategy, and handicrafts. According to most traditions, she was born from Zeus's forehead, fully formed and armored. She is depicted as being crowned with a crested helm, armed with shield and spear, and wearing the aegis over a long dress. Poets describe her as "grey-eyed" or having especially bright, keen eyes. She is a special patron of heroes such as Odysseus. She is the patron of the city Athens Read a book Set in Greece or read a book where a character has a second sight
8. Hermes God of boundaries, travel, communication, trade, language, and writing. Read a book that crosses two book genres (crossing boundaries) Or a book that’s been translated to or from another language
9. Poseidon God of the sea, rivers, floods, droughts, and earthquakes. Read a book that has a theme of a natural disaster
10. Zeus King of the gods, ruler of Mount Olympus, and god of the sky, weather, thunder, lightning, law, order, and justice. Read a book where the central theme is royalty or power or a book that deals with getting justice for someone.
11. Just for fun read a book that is based off of a Myth or is a modern retelling
not sure if this would work for January but I had some fun with it
Blagica wrote: "Honor the Gods Challenge 1. Aphrodite Goddess of beauty, love, desire, and pleasure. Read an author you have grown to love or find a book with love or desire in the title.
2. Apollo God of music..."
Blagica, we have already decided the challenges for January, but thank you for the suggestion. You always have such good ones!
I think I'm going to add your number 11 because it is such a fun idea!
Kristin wrote: "Where do we find the challenges that were selected for January? I only see 2016 challenges post under monthly challenges. Sorry, I am new here!"I believe the quarterly and monthly challenges are posted around the 25th of each month, so they're not up for January 2017 yet :)
Yup, that's right - expect the quarterly and monthly challenges soon. :)
March: Strangers and Sojourners by Michael O'Brien. Anne is an English woman who relocates to Canada to teach school. Her journey of self discovery is incredible. This book is going on my read yearly list!
For February:Spanning the Earth One Book at a Time! The circumference of the Earth is 24,901 miles. For each book you read for the challenge, you will plot the distance between the locations and keep a total of the distances for all the books. Those wanting to read around the globe can go for 24,901 total miles. Or you can shorten the distance to between continents. Or you can shoot for the moon and read the distance between the earth and the moon (238,900 miles!).
(we did something similar to this in 2015, I believe, and it was really interesting!)
Ilea wrote: "March: Strangers and Sojourners by Michael O'Brien. Anne is an English woman who relocates to Canada to teach school. Her journey of self discovery is incredible. This book is going on my read year..."You will want to wait till we open the March group read thread to suggest a book. We will do that at the beginning of January. This thread is for creating the challenges we use.
Kristin wrote: "Ideas for quarterly challenges: 1) read two books with the same title (or very similar)
2) read two books on the same subject, one fiction and one non-fiction
3) create a chain, where a commonali..."
I like that!
Megan wrote: "For February:Spanning the Earth One Book at a Time! The circumference of the Earth is 24,901 miles. For each book you read for the challenge, you will plot the distance between the locations and ..."
We did, and I loved it. Our group read was The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, so for many of us, reaching our goal was very easy! I had to up my goal 3 times because that man could not sit still! I think that would be a great challenge to bring back for February. I'll ask the others.
For February, since the theme is Earth, how about:1. something with the 9 planets
2. the 5 elements (water, fire, wood, earth & metal)
3. the 7 continents
Caitlin wrote: "I haven't seen a Yearly Challenge for the Goodreads Choice Awards Challenge so will that possibly be a Quarterly Challenge?"Most likely yes. It seemed to work better that way.
The 7 ContinentsAfrica fun fact: Between 1500 and 2000 languages are spoken in Africa! Some languages spoken in Africa are: Arabic, French, Swahili and English. Pick a book that has been translated to a language spoken in Africa
Africa is the world's 2nd largest continent. 1 billion people live in Africa! Read a book that has the most reviews from your TBR list.
Antarctica
Antarctica is the world's coldest continent. And that's no wonder - 98% of Antarctica is covered by a thick layer of ice! Challenge yourself read a book that’s more than 300 pages (a book that’s thick as ice)
Antarctica is too cold and windy to support humans, so no humans live there. Read a book where the hero or heroine is not human.
Asia
Since Asia is such a big continent, it has many different climates. In the southern part of Asia, the climate is tropical. In the north, it can get very cold and icy. In central Asia, the climate can be dry and desert-like. Read a book set in a tropical place. Or a book actually set in Asia
Australia
About 23 million people live in Australia Read the book that’s number 23 on your TBR list or a book with a 23 on the cover
Europe
Europe contains the world's smallest country (Vatican City), as well as the world's largest country (Russia). Read the shortest book on your TBR or a book with a short title
North America
Read a book that’s about a road trip across state lines. Or a book that’s read in north American schools as a classic.
South America
South America is the 4th largest continent Read a book that’s won some kind of award (since South America comes in 4th place) OR a book written by a south American author
Lisa wrote: "For February, since the theme is Earth, how about:1. something with the 9 planets
2. the 5 elements (water, fire, wood, earth & metal)
3. the 7 continents"
sorry Lisa i never saw this don't want you to think i took your idea
Blagica wrote: "Lisa wrote: "For February, since the theme is Earth, how about:1. something with the 9 planets
2. the 5 elements (water, fire, wood, earth & metal)
3. the 7 continents"
sorry Lisa i never saw th..."
No worries, Blagica.
I didn't have the possibility to build up on it when I chimed, but what you wrote with the 7 continents was similar to what I had been thinking :) Great minds think alike :D
This is not a challenge suggestion for a specific month, but just something I've been thinking about. Was thinking about one of my fave monthly challenges from last year - Times Gone By. Would be happy to see that return, maybe with a twist - e.g. for March - a book written by a woman or with female protagonist from different eras; or for February as it's different time periods of our planet.The main reason I liked that challenge was that it gave me the opportunity to really delve into one genre (historical fiction) for a month. So I wondered about a monthly or quarterly challenge that's genre specific? Either each participant chooses a genre or two and tries to read as many books from it as possible. Or one specific genre that matches the theme, or is popular, with prompts.
E.g. Romance:
- Read a romance with LGBT characters.
- Read a historical romance.
- Read a romance set in the future.
- Read about unrequited love.
- Read a paranormal romance.
- Read a teenage/adult/elderly romance.
- Read a book about first love.
- Read a book about marriage.
E.g. Fantasy/Sci-fi
- Read a book set in space.
- Read a book with non-human characters.
- Read a book with magic.
- Read a book with immortal characters /Vampires / Elves etc.
- Read a book where a character goes on a quest.
- Read a book with an evil/dark force needs to be defeated
I know I'm not giving you a fully fledged challenge idea here, but it's just something I've been thinking about. If there's anything mods like in particular, I'm happy to try and flesh something out. Otherwise I just thought I'd pass on my ideas!
I have no idea if or where in the months it would fit, or maybe it would make a good quarterly challenge... but how about "Cold Cases"
As a challenge, the reader would finish a number of books they put down and never finished for whatever reason (multi-books going at the same time & lost track, forgot about it, a case of the 'oh, shiny new book' etc.)
I'm not suggesting that people pick up a book they intentionally DNR'd (although there might be one or two they are willing to retry -- maybe even after many years...) but rather, finish off books that simply fell out of consciousness.
I was thinking about this all day yesterday and though it would be a fun challenge.Months of the year
Either read a book published each month of the year, read an author born for each month of the year or books that take place for each month of the year.
Been reading through the posts and a couple challenges for February stand out to me: the one that Blagica posted about the continents and the spanning the globe challenge. Both of those sound really cool. Just adding my vote, in case it matters :)
Janine wrote: "This is not a challenge suggestion for a specific month, but just something I've been thinking about. Was thinking about one of my fave monthly challenges from last year - Times Gone By. Would be h..."Janine, I like this idea! I think you came up with some good ideas for the two genres you gave examples for.
Blagica wrote: "The 7 ContinentsAfrica fun fact: Between 1500 and 2000 languages are spoken in Africa! Some languages spoken in Africa are: Arabic, French, Swahili and English. Pick a book that has been translat..."
As I new to this what is the TBR list?
As I typed this I have thought about it. Is the books on our want to read list?
Or is it a list linked to this group?
TBR is a common reader's acronym for "to be read" list. It's not a specific list, but whatever is on your personal to-read list. :)
Cassandra wrote: "TBR is a common reader's acronym for "to be read" list. It's not a specific list, but whatever is on your personal to-read list. :)"Thanks Cassandra
March challenge idea - Women Across the World Through Time This challenge focuses on looking at women and their roles throughout time and in different cultures and countries. Read a book featuring a woman in a specific time period and get bonus points if that woman is in a different country or culture than your own! Choose your points target and read as many books as possible to get there!
5 points - A book about a woman who lived between 1950-2000.
10 points - A book about a woman who lived between 1900-1949.
15 points - A book about a woman who lived between 1800-1899.
20 points - A book about a woman who lived between 1700-1799.
25 points - A book about a woman who lived between 1500-1699.
30 points - A book about a woman who lived between 1000-1499
35 points - A book about a woman who lived between 0 AD-999 AD
40 points - A book about a woman who lived BCE (before common era)
For my dystopian/futuristic/sci fi fans - 5 points for a book about a futuristic woman with a different role than yours
5 points extra for a book about a woman from a different culture or country than yours!
Megan, I like your women through time challenge!My idea for a March challenge was to read books that contain 'female' words in the title (e.g woman, girl, miss, mrs, lady, a woman's name, even women specific job titles such as waitress, actress etc). There is so much scope and choice with this challenge. Just a few examples of books that spring to mind: Little Women, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Time Travelers Wife, Jane Eyre...
A gender-centric challenge:1. Read a book with a female name in the title
2. Read a book with a female title in the title (Mrs, Miss, Lady, Madame etc.)
3. Read a book where a man or woman disguises him or herself as the opposite gender
4. Read a book where the antagonist is female (surprisingly rare!)
5. Read a book with a trans character or author
6. Read a book that's classed as feminist literature or shelves as "feminist"
7. Read a book that includes at least two main characters of a different sex or gender
8. Read a book by a non-white woman
9. Read a non-fiction book about an influential woman
10. Read a book with a character that does not conform to typical gender standards (agender, intersex etc.)
Just spitballing a few ideas for March here: 1. Read a book with a strong female lead character or written by a strong female writer.
2. Read a book about a woman under 50 / Read a book written by an author under 50.
3. Read a book with a female character that reminds you of yourself/somehow reflects something about you.
4. Read a book about women set in a time of war.
5. Read a book set in one of the 7 continents, or written by a female author born in said continent.
6. Choose a book written by a female author within a genre of choice.
7. read a book set in country/continent you've never been to but would love to visit.
8. Read a book about an influential woman who changed the world.
9. A book about a famous female historical figure.
10. Read a book by an female author that is not White.
11. Choose a book you could picture yourself being the protagonist of.
Also:
- Choose a number of new-to-you female authors you would like to read.
- Match a book you've already read or want to read by a male author with one by a female author (that is new to you) that has written something similar / in the same genre.
okay this might be too hard to put together but since all the mods in our group are women what about making a challenge based on the mods top 5 female authors and us reading a book from each author listed or how many books you think you can do
Blagica wrote: "okay this might be too hard to put together but since all the mods in our group are women what about making a challenge based on the mods top 5 female authors and us reading a book from each author..."This is amazing! :)
We love you Mods!
..
I was wondering if this idea could be considered :)
:
I've discovered (among my own observations) a trend among members. Last year was the 10,000 member celebration with special challenges included with this accomplishment. I keep thinking back to this milestone for the group.
My observation is that many readers, including myself, have mentioned this year that their physical book shelves in their homes have became too full. They want to finish reading those books they have before purchasing new ones. They want to find a general solution whether it be finally reading it and returning it to whomever let them borrow it, donating to make room for more books, or giving them as a gift to someone.
With a quarterly challenge as a possible solution, could this be considered? Here are a few details on such a challenge:
Physical Bookshelf Challenge
Duration: 3 months long
Read books from your physical bookshelf, books you hold in possession, books you have borrowed from friends and want to return, books you bought years ago but never read, or books you have from the library at this moment.
As long as they are physical books you can hold, you have not read before (reread is fine too), and want to clear your physical shelf to make room on those pesky, full shelves.
Here could be possible outcomes to consider:
A general tally for books
A general page number count
or
A list:
1. Read a book that you borrowed from a friend and want to return when finished.
2. Read a book that you have had for two+ years and haven't started.
3. Read a book from your shelf then donate it to your local Little Free Library, church, shelters, Goodwill, etc.
4. Read a book you have started, set aside for awhile, and now want to finish.
5. Read a book that you own that will help towards a yearly challenge.
6. Check the publication month, and read it during this quarterly challenge. (just an idea, this one needs work)
7. Read a book with your favorite color as the cover.
8. Read a book that is a minimum of 300 pages long.
9. Read a book from an E-reader that has been there for more than six months.
10. Read a comic book then give it to someone who you think would get a good laugh out of it.
11. Read that classic novel you said you would get to but haven't yet.
12. Read a kids/YA book published from your childhood.
11. Read a book that you purchased from a used book store or a garage sale.
Those are just a few examples. I know a chunk of this has already been done before. What I want to portray though is bringing a challenge like this back to life for a quarter. After finishing a book instead of just putting it back on our shelf if it's something we don't want anymore, taking into consideration that someone out there would love to have a book too! :)
Taylor R wrote: "..
I was wondering if this idea could be considered :)
:
I've discovered (among my own observations) a trend among members. Last year was the 10,000 member celebration with special challenges incl..."
Taylor, I love this, and I think it would make a great 2nd Quarter Challenge!
Kadijah Michelle wrote: "Taylor R wrote: "..
I was wondering if this idea could be considered :)
:
I've discovered (among my own observations) a trend among members. Last year was the 10,000 member celebration with specia..."
Thank you! :D I believe it can be a product idea, it'll be SO fun to hear what everyone will read. I think it'll be very rewarding to accomplish those books that have been sitting for months, years, maybe even a decade! Above all else, we can feel great while doing it :)
I'm sure you are all set with the challenges for March but I still wanted to pitch this idea, for another year or whatever :) I had thought of something for Valentine's day but it was too late... Anyways! I was thinking since Saint Patrick's day is coming up in March, why not do a mini challenge (or something) to celebrate it.
For example:
1. Read a book featuring luck/unlucky numbers around the world
2. Read a book with a green cover
3. Read a book set in Ireland
4. Read a book that features a leprechaun
5. Read a book written by an irish author
Okay so, it may be the wine but I got another idea for a challenge.. this time for April. 1. Pick a book regarding any of the major religions of the world (e.g. Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.)
2. Choose a book about another religion not mentioned above.
3. Read a biblical allegory
4. Read a book that features afterlife beliefs. (For instance: Christianity (heaven/hell) Buddishm (rebirth/nirvana) Reincarnation, Islam (paradise or hell) )
5. Read a book about a spiritual / religious leader in history.
Lisa wrote: "I'm sure you are all set with the challenges for March but I still wanted to pitch this idea, for another year or whatever :) I had thought of something for Valentine's day but it was too late... ..."
I really like the sound of this challenge, though I do have to admit I'm a little biased ;D *waves tricolour* If I could make a few suggestions, however:
Other people can correct me on this if I'm wrong, but I don't think we tend to go in for lucky/unlucky numbers *that* much. We're more of the four-leaf clover, never put your shoes on the table or hand someone a knife kind of people. So instead of unlucky numbers, perhaps one of the categories could be to read a book involving a lucky or unlucky symbol or a superstition?
As well as that, while I'm not saying leprechauns aren't great, Irish folklore has so many other weird and wonderful creatures running around in it! Banshees, faeries, púca, selkies, kelpies, there's plenty to go around! I just feel like only having a leprechaun is a bit limiting so it might be better/nice to widen it out a bit. :)
This one is a bit more out there, but is there any way snakes could be included? Saint Patrick is famous for driving all the snakes out of Ireland, after all ;)
Hope these help! :)
Seriously, Goodreads needs a thumbs up or a "like" feature. I agree that only including a leprechaun would be too narrow
Thanks so much for adding your suggestions Paul :) I liked them all
Paul and Lisa, those were great ideas...remind me about them in October when we do folklore!
Kadijah Michelle wrote: "Hello Challenge Members!We rely on your creative minds to help us come up with exciting challenge ideas throughout the year. Have you been thinking about a challenge? We'd love to hear about it!
..."
If your theme is around the world, would a travel challenge/theme be something you're missing???
I was thinking that it could be interesting to do a challenge focusing on censorship, i.e. books that have been banned or challenged for religious viewpoints?
For 2nd quarter challenge, how about a riff on the country game? Frequent travelers often add up the number of different countries they visit and strive to have the highest number. For this challenge, the participant chooses a target number of countries for the quarter. Each book can only count for one country, and the participant cannot duplicate a country (cannot read two books for the US and have both count). Only current countries would count (books that feature the past would count towards the country in that current geographical location, i.e. a book about Burma would count towards Myanmar). Only countries on planet Earth would count (no moon colonies, etc.).
I feel as if (almost) every time I pitch a challenge idea on this thread I'm having a glass of wine.... hmmm... Anyways!
I'm currently watching the fantastic "The Man in the High Castle" and was thinking an idea for July might be alternative history?
Also, I was looking at this and thought it perhaps could be interesting making the categories representative of each time period.
For example, "read a book that takes place in the time period 1900-1999" and then each person can decide whether they want to read a book that takes place during or is about the Spanish Civil War or World War I or Vietnam War, etc.
Hope that made sense :)
Lately, I've been looking up award winning books for the mrs. darcy "reading for growth" tasks so I really love Irene's suggestion of doing a challenge for award winning books.
A few more suggestions for quarterly challenges: 1. Filmization
I've been coming across more and more movies that I didn't know where books first, so I propose a "book-to-film-adaptions"-challenge where we can choose however many books to read that have been made or are going to be made into movies.
2. Classics.
I saw this blog and felt inspired to suggest it as a challenge idea.
I know everyone (myself included) is constantly striving to reading more classics. So why not make a fun challenge of it in order to discover classic books we might have given up on or simply not gotten around to reading.
3. "Read outside your comfort zone"
I'm guilty as hell of this. I tend to stick to what I know works for me. But the topic of diversifying our reading habits came up while talking with another member of the group. So I thought it could be cool to have a challenge where we get to experiment and discover other genres.
For this last challenge, I thought of two ways it could be done:
- The first was just the typical "Choose the amount of books you want to read".
- The second way, I don't know if it could actually be possible, but it was doing a chain. Like the first person signs up and names the genre they want to read they normally stay away from. For example in my case:
I hate romance so I that would be what I would have to pick up , then the next person would have to suggest a romance I should read aswell as writing what genre he/she wants to pick up outside his/her comfort zone, and then the next person would do likewise, and so on and so forth.
2025 Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (other topics)Dorothy Must Die (other topics)
The World's Greatest Book of Useless Information: An Official Useless Information Society Publication (other topics)
Life's That Way (other topics)
The Book of Extraordinary Facts (other topics)
More...
We rely on your creative minds to help us come up with exciting challenge ideas throughout the year. Have you been thinking about a challenge? We'd love to hear about it!
To help get you started, here are the themes for each month in 2017:
January: MythsFebruary: EarthMarch: WomenApril: World FaithsMay: SunrisesJune: Summer CelebrationsJuly: WarsAugust: NeighborsSeptember: EducationsOctober: Folk/Fairy TalesNovember: TogethernessDecember: Long Nights***Taking Ideas Now***
Our Yearly Theme is Around the World!
A monthly challenge doesn't necessarily need to fit the theme, and often we will have two monthly challenges.
We also have two challenges per quarter, so feel free to suggest ideas for those too.
We can't use every challenge idea that gets posted, but we do use many of them. If we do decide to use your challenge, you will have the opportunity to lead your challenge if you want. If you'd rather not, we can ask for volunteer leaders, so there's no pressure there!