Middle Grade Madness! discussion

Unlike last year’s TBR challenge which rounded out the decade, this year’s TBR challenge is in honour of 2020, no doubt a trying time in everyone’s lives.

The rules:
- Try reading only books that are already on your TBR to finish the tasks, but if you can't find one to fulfil a task then it's ok to read just any book.
- The books you read can be MG, YA, NA or adult.
- Try finishing as many of the tasks as you can.
- There's no time limit, spend all year completing the challenge if you like!

The tasks:
1. Read the 46th book on your TBR shelf.
2. Read a book with a red cover.
3. Read a book written by an African-American author.
4. Read a book with a major character that has a life-threatening disease/illness.
5. Read a book that belongs to the contemporary genre.
6. Read a book set during a war.
7. Read a book set in Europe.
8. Read a book in which the main character plays a sport.
9. Read a poetry book or a book written as a novel-in-verse.
10. Read a middle grade book.

Why I chose these tasks:
1. In honour of the inauguration of the 46th President of US.
2. In remembrance of the Australian wildfires.
3. In honour of the Black Lives Matter movement.
4. In remembrance of those who unfortunately didn’t survive COVID-19 and looking at the impact the virus had on our lives and the world.
5. The Pantone colour of 2020 is Classic Blue, which is a calming colour that also represents the unknown.
6. Commiserating many wars that occurred around the world.
7. Accepting the end of Brexit (finally!) and the UK officially leaving the EU with or without a deal (I don't know which it'll be at the point of writing this).
8. Making up for the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
9. The Oxford Dictionary announced that this year they'd chosen multiple Words of the Year to reflect "an ‘unprecedented’ year".
10. Celebrating the group reaching 400 group members!

Feel free to ask any questions about the tasks below!

Please note that I've listed the tasks early so you can start to think about what you might read for the challenge. This challenge starts in January 2021 so please don't start reading books for it now!

Kadi wrote: "Please note that I've listed the tasks early so you can start to think about what you might read for the challenge. This challenge starts in January 2021 so please don't start reading books for it ..."

This sounds like so much fun, Kadi. I'm going to start looking at my TBR list tonight to see which ones I can find to fit the categories.

Kadi wrote: "Please note that I've listed the tasks early so you can start to think about what you might read for the challenge. This challenge starts in January 2021 so please don't start reading books for it ..."

I love all of these prompts! I think I found ones from my TBR that fit each category! I might be wrong about a few though.

1. Read the 46th book on your TBR shelf. : The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
2. Read a book with a red cover. : Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
3. Read a book written by an African-American author. : The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
4. Read a book with a major character that has a life-threatening disease/illness. : A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
5. Read a book that belongs to the contemporary genre. : Waiting for Fitz by Spencer Hyde
6. Read a book set during a war. : The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
7. Read a book set in Europe. : Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
8. Read a book in which the main character plays a sport. : We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly
9. Read a poetry book or a book written as a novel-in-verse. : Memories by Lang Leav
10. Read a middle grade book. : The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

@Lynn thanks! I’m perusing my TBR shelf for the tasks too now!

@Spencer woah you’re quick! Loving some of your choices I’ve been wanting to read them too. And I’ve read Fahrenheit 451 it’s a great book, very deep!

Spencer wrote: "Kadi wrote: "Please note that I've listed the tasks early so you can start to think about what you might read for the challenge. This challenge starts in January 2021 so please don't start reading ..."

Classics one and all. Spencer, you are quite the overachiever. ;-) I'm afraid my list won't be as sophisticated.

Okay - here is my list. This may change depending on availability, but I tried to list books that I already have in my personal library so that I don't have to depend on the public library or other sources.
Completed - 8/10
1. Read the 46th book on your TBR shelf. -
2. Read a book with a red cover. The Island of Thieves by Josh Lacey - Completed
3. Read a book written by an African-American author. Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant - Completed
4. Read a book with a major character that has a life-threatening disease/illness. Five Total Strangers by Natalie D. Richards - Completed
5. Read a book that belongs to the contemporary genre. Deepfake by Sarah Darer Littman - Completed
6. Read a book set during a war. Free by Kristen Ashley - Completed
7. Read a book set in Europe. The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen - Completed
8. Read a book in which the main character plays a sport. Making Faces by Amy Harmon - Completed
9. Read a poetry book or a book written as a novel-in-verse. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo - Completed
10. Read a middle grade book. Greetings from Witness Protection! by Jake Burt Completed

@Lynn interesting choices! Out of all of them I only recognise 2😂 There are so many amazing books out there

I'm wondering if I should start this challenge in January or if I should finish last year's TBR challenge first because I still have 6 of the 10 tasks left for that one! Or should I start and finish this challenge and then go back and finish that one? I don't have to finish last year's but I feel like because I've read almost half the tasks I'm committed enough now that I should finish it

Kadi wrote: "@Lynn interesting choices! Out of all of them I only recognise 2😂 There are so many amazing books out there

I'm wondering if I should start this challenge in January or if I should finish last yea..."

I guess that's up to you - one of the perks of being in charge.

You could do both, Kadi! That’s what I’m planning on doing!

@Lynn 😂😂 but it’s not helpful when I can’t decide or when I need to motivate myself to get stuff done for the group but I’m a really bad procrastinator!

@Ilsen you only have 1 book left from last year’s challenge so it should be easier for you but you’re right I might as well do them both at the same time. I’m hoping to actually finish the 2021 challenge in 2021😂 we’ll see how that goes! Now I need to pick out some books for it...

TBR Challenge 2021

The tasks:
1. Read the 46th book on your TBR shelf.
2. Read a book with a red cover.
3. Read a book written by an African-American author.
4. Read a book with a major character that has a life-threatening disease/illness.
5. Read a book that belongs to the contemporary genre.
6. Read a book set during a war.
7. Read a book set in Europe.
8. Read a book in which the main character plays a sport.
9. Read a poetry book or a book written as a novel-in-verse.
10. Read a middle grade book.

Here's my books for this challenge:
1. Read the 46th book on your TBR shelf. - Enclave
2. Read a book with a red cover. - Urban Outlaws
3. Read a book written by an African-American author. - Pig-Heart Boy
4. Read a book with a major character that has a life-threatening disease/illness. - The Colossus Rises
5. Read a book that belongs to the contemporary genre. - Lost and Found
6. Read a book set during a war. - Words on Fire
7. Read a book set in Europe. - Brainwashed
8. Read a book in which the main character plays a sport. - Sidetracked
9. Read a poetry book or a book written as a novel-in-verse. - The Poet X
10. Read a middle grade book. - Greetings from Witness Protection!

When I was making the tasks I thought that they were way too easy and simplistic. But when I tried to find books for each task it took me more than an hour and a half! Some I really had to search for but I'm super happy with my choices because most are MG, some I've reeeeally wanted to read for a long time and lots of the choices are short books that aren't more than 300 pages (something that helps defeat reading slumps).

I'm actually looking forward to this challenge even more than the 2020 one now just because I went way way back in my TBR and pulled out books I added to it in like 2017 and from genres I really love like adventure and superhero that I've always meant to read but just never got round to.I can't wait for 2021 to start so I can start reading these!!

I forgot The Colossus Rises had the MC with a life-threatening disease. I actually own that and haven't read it so it is definitely going on the 2021 tbr

@Bella I was scrolling through my TBR and basically picking out all the books I wanted to read and trying to see if they fit any of the tasks and then I saw in the synopsis it said the MC was going to die at the end of the year. This was the only circumstance in which I’ll ever say brilliant about someone possibly dying😂

I know it was a bit of a stretch because it wasn’t really what I meant when I wrote the task, I meant more of a real and genuine life-threatening illness not this probably fantasy kind (I could be wrong about it being a fantasy kind, I haven’t read it yet) but technically it fit the task and I want to read the book so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ why not!

I’m pretty sure I added it to my TBR mainly for the cover art because it looks so cool but upon refreshing myself of the synopsis I’m excited to read it soon👏🏻 yes you should add it to your TBR. We could actually buddy read it in 2021 if you like!! Let me know, there’s no pressure either way😊

My TBR:

1. Read the 46th book on your TBR shelf
The fires of heaven by Robert Jordan

2. Read a book with a red cover
The copy I own of War and peace by Tolstoi

3. Read a book written by an African-American author
Kleurenblind by Trevor Noah

4. Read a book with a major character that has a life-threatening disease/illness
Five feet apart by Rachael Lippincott

5. Read a book that belongs to the contemporary genre
With the fire on high/red, white and royal blue?

6. Read a book set during a war
Maybe a book in The wheel of time series, otherwise need to find something else

7. Read a book set in Europe
Jij zegt het by Connie Palmen

8. Read a book in which the main character plays a sport
Wing Jones by Katherine Webber

9. Read a poetry book or a book written as a novel-in-verse
The poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

10. Read a middle grade book
The beetle queen by MG Leonard

@Robin some awesome choices there! I watched the movie of Five Feet Apart and it was actually pretty good so hopefully the book is too or possibly even better! Also we’re both going to read The Poet X! I’m really looking forward to it🙌🏻

@Kadi Yeah, saw the movie as well and it was really good and indeed I hope the book will be as well. Yes, looking forward to The poet X

[] 1. Read the 46th book on your TBR shelf. -- The Once and Future King: The Rise of Crown Government in America
[X] 2. Read a book with a red cover. -- The Chestnut Man
[X] 3. Read a book written by an African-American author. -- The Space Between Worlds
[X] 4. Read a book with a major character that has a life-threatening disease/illness. -- Panic Attack: Playing Politics with Science in the Fight Against COVID-19
[X] 5. Read a book that belongs to the contemporary genre. -- Gimme a Call
[X] 6. Read a book set during a war. -- The Girl is Murder
[X] 7. Read a book set in Europe. -- The Assassin's Curse
[X] 8. Read a book in which the main character plays a sport. -- The Bromance Book Club
[] 9. Read a poetry book or a book written as a novel-in-verse.
[X] 10. Read a middle grade book. -- The Secret Window

Here is my plan:
Completed: 1/10

COMPLETED 1. Read the 46th book on your TBR shelf. Messenger of Fear
2. Read a book with a red cover. I Am Number Four
COMPLETED 3. Read a book written by an African-American author. Dear Martin
4. Read a book with a major character that has a life-threatening disease/illness.Before I Die
5. Read a book that belongs to the contemporary genre. The Black Kids
6. Read a book set during a war. All the Light We Cannot See
7. Read a book set in Europe. Goodbye, Paris
8. Read a book in which the main character plays a sport. Girl Against the Universe
COMPLETED 9. Read a poetry book or a book written as a novel-in-verse. Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc
10. Read a middle grade book. Brown Girl Dreaming

1. Read the 46th book on your TBR shelf:
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (on my paper tbr list)
2. Read a book with a red cover:
Dry by Neal Shusterman
3. Read a book written by an African-American author:
Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron
4. Read a book with a major character that has a life-threatening disease/illness.
Five Feet Apart Mikki Daughtry and Rachael Lippincott
5. Read a book that belongs to the contemporary genre.
The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth
6. Read a book set during a war.
The War that Saved my Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
7. Read a book set in Europe.
Harry Potter and the goblet of fire by jkr
8. Read a book in which the main character plays a sport.
Going wild by Lisa Mcmann
9. Read a poetry book or a book written as a novel-in-verse.
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
10. Read a middle-grade book.
Stand up Yumi Chung by Jessica Kim

since I very recently got back into posting on Goodreads and very recently joined this group, this will be the first challenge of you guys' that I will be participating in... wish me luck!

jem wrote: "1. Read the 46th book on your TBR shelf:
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (on my paper tbr list)
2. Read a book with a red cover:
Dry by Neal Shusterman
3. Read a book written by an African-Am..."

Good luck, Jem

Is it okay if I add this challenge to The StoryGraph?

@Robin I had no idea what StoryGraph was until you asked so then I googled it and I've set up my own account on their now. Personally I don't think I'll use it much but I guess it's always good to have something to fall back on in Goodreads eventually collapses. I think I'm too fond of Goodreads to completely switch and it seems like StoryGraph still has some ways to go yet.

Anyway, I set up this challenge on their so you can take part on there if you want to.
Check it out here:
https://beta.thestorygraph.com/readin...

@Dana you're going to love I Am Number Four! It's a great book and also a really great series, I wish I'd finished it.

@Jem it's an honour for this to be your first challenge! I can see you have some really awesome choices for the tasks so hopefully you have a lot of fun reading for this challenge!

@Kadi
I at first thought it was an amazing website with awesome new things on there and switched over from Goodreads almost immediately. I only stayed on Goodreads for the social stuff. But after using the site a couple of months now a lot of things are actually bothering me and I miss a lot of things, including the social aspect. So might switch back to Goodreads haha. I just don't really want to support Amazon, but you know...
Thanks for making the challenge though! That is something that I think is a lot of fun and handy on the website.

@Robin if it makes you feel any better, Amazon don’t want to support Goodreads any more than you want to support Amazon😂😂 hence why Goodreads has so many many issues that have been around for ages and they just don’t seem to fix no matter how much you nag them about the issue.

I think the other website looked very sparse. I didn’t immediately get the sense that there was a large community on there or that I could easily browse for books. I couldn’t even find my shelves easily😂 but one thing that I thought was better on there was the reading challenges tab like Goddard would benefit from introducing that kind of function, especially for groups. Then again the other website could be amazing and I’m just biased towards Goodreads because this is where my reading community is at and I’m also not a fan of change.

Kadi wrote: "@Dana you're going to love I Am Number Four! It's a great book and also a really great series, I wish I'd finished it.

@Jem it's an honour for this to be your first challenge! I can..."

Dana, I agree with Kadi that you will like I Am Number Four. I've only read the first two books in the series, but I would love to finish it someday.

@Kadi
Hahaha so true!
The have this very cool search system that you can search on your mood, genre, pages etc. That's super handy, but I myself don't really use that. It's good for recs though. What I also really like is that they use content warnings. Again, I don't need that, but I think it's very handy for people who do need that.
But other things still really lack like editions, sorting your owned/read/currently reading shelf and the search system itself doesn't work very good either.

@Robin what we need is to just have Goodreads listen to us when we suggest improvements and additional stuff they can add because all of those features that the other website has that goodreads doesn’t are things people have been saying goodreads should get for a while but Amazon doesn’t care enough about gr or the users to invest money into programmers and developers to add these things to gr. It’s pretty sad for us tbh but we have a great platform here but it could be amazing if they wanted to bother making it so.

@Kadi So true. Maybe we need to sign a petition! ;)

@Robin I would in a heartbeat but they wouldn’t listen anyway😂 they’re pretty notorious for just ignoring people

Kadi wrote: "@Robin I would in a heartbeat but they wouldn’t listen anyway😂 they’re pretty notorious for just ignoring people"

They also need to expand their capacity. I've been getting "over capacity" messages all day.

@Lynn that’s weird! As in it basically won’t load any page, right? I had that a couple of days ago for a few hours. You just have to wait for it to stop doing that, it’s super annoying. Well you know what they say, it is glitch season after all😂

Kadi wrote: "@Lynn that’s weird! As in it basically won’t load any page, right? I had that a couple of days ago for a few hours. You just have to wait for it to stop doing that, it’s super annoying. Well you kn..."

The message is something like "There are never too many books but..." And then it says Goodreads is over capacity and to keep trying to reload pages. I gave up earlier and just turned it off.

@Lynn oh wow I’ve never seen that one before! That’s a pain. I’ve had some ones where it says it’s over capacity with too many users and then it just crashes and refuses to open the page for a good few hours at which point I give up and come back later. Just one of the perks of using Goodreads I guess!

1/1/21-
1/10

1. Read the 46th book on your TBR shelf.
2. Read a book with a red cover.
3. Read a book written by an African-American author.
4. Read a book with a major character that has a life-threatening disease/illness.
5. Read a book that belongs to the contemporary genre.
6. Read a book set during a war.
7. Read a book set in Europe.
8. Read a book in which the main character plays a sport.
9. Read a poetry book or a book written as a novel-in-verse.Sold
10. Read a middle grade book.

Update on my TBR Challenge:
1. Read the 46th book on your TBR shelf. - Enclave
2. Read a book with a red cover. - Urban Outlaws
3. Read a book written by an African-American author. - Pig-Heart Boy
4. Read a book with a major character that has a life-threatening disease/illness. - The Colossus Rises
5. Read a book that belongs to the contemporary genre. - Lost and Found
6. Read a book set during a war. - Words on Fire
7. Read a book set in Europe. - Brainwashed
8. Read a book in which the main character plays a sport. - Sidetracked
9. Read a poetry book or a book written as a novel-in-verse. - The Poet X
10. Read a middle grade book. - Greetings from Witness Protection!

Whoop whoop!🎉 One down already!
If anyone’s interested you can read my review for Sidetracked here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I reckon it could be a good idea to read one book for this challenge each month so I’m spreading it out more. Not sure what I’ll read next, either Pig-Heart Boy or Lost and Found depending on my mood next month!

What a fun challenge!! I'm definitely going to join in, and I'll try to choose a MG book for as many of the prompts as possible.

1. Read the 46th book on your TBR shelf.


2. Read a book with a red cover.

3. *finished* Read a book written by an African-American author.


4. *finished* Read a book with a major character that has a life-threatening disease/illness.


5. *finished* Read a book that belongs to the contemporary genre.


6. *finished* Read a book set during a war.
Someone Named Eva

7. *finished* Read a book set in Europe.


8. *finished* Read a book in which the main character plays a sport.


9. *finished* Read a poetry book or a book written as a novel-in-verse.


10. *finished* Read a middle grade book.

@Tiffany ooh good luck! Can’t wait to see what you come up with. If you have a lot of mg books on your TBR it should be more easier for you to pick mg books for each task. I’m really happy I managed to get mostly mg books too, 8 out of 10 of mine are mg (Enclave and The Poet X are YA)!

Kadi wrote: "Update on my TBR Challenge:
1. Read the 46th book on your TBR shelf. - Enclave
2. Read a book with a red cover. - Urban Outlaws
3. Read a book written by an African-A..."

Congrats on your first book of the challenge. I also want to read and I've read .

@Lynn thanks! And I randomly came across Greetings from Witness Protection on my TBR shelf like well before I’d finished making the tasks for this challenge and it was the book that motivated me to finish working on the tasks because I realised this book that sounds awesome has been hidden on my TBR for so long and not I need to read it! We could buddy read it some time if you like! (There’s no pressure to, of course)

Also what did you think of Urban Outlaws? It sounds amazing and the sequels look good too. I’m excited about it! But then again I’m genuinely excited for all the books on my list I’ve really chosen some ones that I’m passionate about this time👏🏻

Kadi wrote: "@Lynn thanks! And I randomly came across Greetings from Witness Protection on my TBR shelf like well before I’d finished making the tasks for this challenge and it was the book that motivated me to..."

I would love to read it as a buddy read. Maybe I could substitute it for my middle grade book in the challenge.
I liked Urban Outlaws. I would put the link to my review of it here, but I can't ever figure out how to do that.

Finished first book in challenge - Contemporary - . All about the consequences of fake news.

@Lynn congrats on finishing your first read for the challenge! Reading books that relate to fake news and like justice in a sense tend to get me riled up in like the best way possible. I remember when I was reading Dangerous Girls I was filled with righteous anger for the protag who was being accused of murder. That book was a fantastic one you should read it!

No worries on not being able to link the review. I found it on your shelf pretty easily! And yesss you want to buddy read it in February? Or whenever you're free I'm not fussy except not January because I've read my one book for this challenge for this month. We can discuss a date here if you like: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
or closer to the time, I don't mind either way!

@Kadi Thanks! I do have quite a few MG books on my TBR, some saved on goodreads and even more on my written TBR (which mostly consists of titles jotted down on random scraps of paper, sticky notes, and library receipts)! I'm trying to gradually add those to my shelves on here as I come across them, but for now I looked through and found books for 7 of the categories! (Eight if ballet can count as a sport.) I updated my list post above, but I still need to find something for the life-threatening illness, red cover, and sports books.

Update: I DNFed Wing Jones by Katherine Webber :(
I will change that one to the second book in the track series, because I really enjoyed Ghost

@Tiffany I’m sure I’d responded already but I guess I never🤔 must’ve not hit the send button. Anyway, ballet definitely counts as a sport! If you need any help finding books for the tasks you’re missing let me know and I’m sure we can all rustle up some suggestions for you!

@Robin it’s a shame you DNF’ed it but if it’s not working it’s not working! Ooh I’m interested to see how you will find Sunny though! I read Ghost and liked it too and was planning to read Sunny but have just never gotten around to it.

@Kadi We could buddy read it if you want to. Or it could be a series to read with the group?