Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

This is the place to ask questions and get suggestions for the categories.

I'll post a few of the questions we encountered last year, and the answers. Bare with me as i make my way slowly from the recommendations for last year, some which have been read/rated by participants.

Q. What exactly is "Religious Romance"? -LL

A. There is a Harlequin line called "Love Inspired" that are all religious romances. At least one of the characters is religious, attends church regularly, prays alot, etc. and the romances are clean, ie no sex in the book. Needless to say, they all have a HEA ending. Steeple Hill is another publisher of Inspirational Romances. Most books by Janette Oke or Beverly Lewis would qualify, although they write alot of Amish stories. -BsG
Religious Romance is fairly straightforward. A romance where religion is a major theme. A lot of Christian fiction geared towards women qualify as Religious Romance. Beverly Lewis' Amish/Mennonite fiction is quite good - I've read a number of her books and will probably read from her newest series. -N.L.

Religious fiction recs:
Redeeming Love
A Bride Most Begrudging

Non-fiction recs:
The Bridge Across Forever: A True Love StoryShe's Not There: A Life in Two Genders

GLBT recs:
M/M
Caught Running
Tigers and Devils
Zero at the Bone
Faith & Fidelity
Take My Picture
Warrior's Cross

F/F
Empress of the World
Annie on My Mind
Tipping the Velvet
Rubyfruit Jungle

YA novels with GLBT main/supporting characters:
The Bermudez Triangle
Down to the Bone
Boy Meets Boy
The Realm of Possibility

Rossy if u want I'll do a world lit list

Feel free to do that and any others, my hand hurts and i need to read! *pouts*

I have a shelf in my books, called "International", can you add those too?

sure..i'll go through my around the world in 80 books list and add ones that are actually culture/history based and not just wallpaper novels set in a country with no context

Those are the ones i use on my shelf too.

A few YA choices for World Literature/International that I will be choosing from-

Freefall
Real Time
Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak

Thinking of using a cozy mystery for the Suspense/Mystery genre-

I Scream, You Scream
I, Spy?

Jane, here are your recs:

Hook Line and Sink Him: From a male POV
Jemima J: A Novel About Ugly Ducklings and Swans: Found it really funny at times, heroine has some weight issues.
The Love Goddess' Cooking School: This book is a blur between not too light, yet not too heavy....just right!LOL

If the blurbs for those doesn't entice you, here are some women's fiction that'll surely be a hit for you:
Henry's Sisters: Available for kindle loan
No Place Like Home
The Last Time I Was Me
The Lost Recipe for Happiness

This one (women's fiction)by Jennifer Weiner just came out and has gotten some really good reviews on Amazon and GR-

Then Came You

Rossy, you reminded me that I have How to Bake a Perfect Life at home.

Kristin Hannah is my go-to author for women's fiction

I'm leaning towards And One Last Thing ... for chick-lit- looks really cute.

I have so many to choose from, but i'll probably go with First day of the Rest of My Life. I'll be reading that one for sure as soon as it comes out.

I should mention that i also have a couple of women's fiction/chick-lit books available for loan, if you've never tried the genre and not sure if you want to spend the money.

Wow - thanks Rossy and Fran. I'll have a look at these tomorrow and see what I can access over here :)

Here is my list as it looks so far- will narrow it down by the 30th and post it when I finally decide!


Contemporary- The Sweetest Thing or Mouth To Mouth or Get A Clue or Playing with Fire
Erotic- Ruby Tuesday or Samson's Lovely Mortal or Wolf Tales 12 or Black Jackor Passionate Pleasures
BDSM-Roughing It or Silent Heat
GLBT- Caught Running or Life in Fusion
Historical or Regency- Lily Mine
Paranormal- Demonglass
Fantasy- Unearthly
Suspense-Murder Game
Mystery- I Scream, You Scream or I, Spy?
Chick-lit/Women's Fiction- And One Last Thing ...
World Lit/International- Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak
YA- Gone


*OPTIONAL/BONUS Categories:
Classic: Book you would consider a classic of its genre or literary classic.
Memoir OR Non-fiction: Bossypantsor Lies that Chelsea Handler Told Me
Thriller OR Horror:
Religious OR Inspirational: Have a Little Faith: The Story of a Last Request
Speculative FictionSoulless

So basically we pick a book (romance clearly being the preferred background) that fits each of these above genres. There are 9 categories plus the bonus ones. So long as we read our specific selection within the 11 month timeframe - and discuss it - then we WIN (within our own minds)! So it is like Romance 101 only we can't change our selection, we discuss our books and it is defined to this 11 month period...

BTW - I need to have my books selected before 30 July?

I was searching through listopia, yes I was working on my list :) and I find a list named favorite world fiction & literature, that might be helpful for World lit category I suppose, the link is below (if I can manage to post the link that is)
I am planning to stick with my own-to-read shelf *fingers crossed*
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/323.favorite_world_fiction_literature

I reread the rules: do we just read one category each month?

This might be a really ignorant question, but would The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo classify for the International/World Lit? I haven't read anything from Scandanavia and I'm figuring there will be quite a bit of exposure to Sweden's culture etc...

The other ones I was thinking about:-

International/World Lit:
Carry On, Jeeves - PG Wodehouse. No romance (I assume) but very British
Animal Farm by George Orwell. An allegory of the Russian revolution - a classic and maybe more political - but also cultural?
The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald. Another classic but with buckets of 1920's American culture?

Do any of these fit...?

The World Lit/ International category is Dee's so I am going to defer to her wisdom on this one. But... I do know that if the book immerses you in the culture, gives you a good idea of that countries' culture/way of life, not just being the setting of the story, but part of the story, it counts.

I haven't read any of the choices above but I will check them out, I am really easy-going and a little bit of a "make the book fit the challenge" kind of girl, so as long as you think the book fits the description of the category in the rules section I am inclined to say "sure!"

The only one that I think probably doesn't fit is Animal Farm- does it give you a clear picture of life in that country during the time period of the book?

Here is an example from last year's challenge. You can post your answers to the challenge questions underneath your original list each time you complete a genre. I added so many books to my tbr after reading all the reviews- and crossed some off!


Contemporary: Wicked Pleasure - Lora Leigh
Historical: The Persimmon Tree - Bryce Courtenay
Regency: An Invitation to Sin - Suzanne Enoch
Erotic: Devil's Pact- Samantha Cruise
BDSM: Owning Rachel - Madison Layle - Complete - 6 Jul 10
PNR: Lover Awakened - JR Ward
Fantasy: Some Girls Bite - Chloe Neill - Complete - 4 Jul 10
Women's Fiction: - While My Sister Sleeps - Barbara Delinsky
Chick-lit: Undead and Unappreciated - Mary Janice Davidson (Audiobook)
GLBT: The River In Winter - Matt Dean - In Progress
Young Adult: Wit'ch Fire - James Clemens
Non-Fiction: Tried by War : Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief - James M. McPherson - In Progress
Religious Romance (BONUS): Love's Long Journey - Janette Oke - Complete - 2 Jul 10
Classic (BONUS): Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (Audiobook)

Discussion: Have you tried this genre before? What did you think about this book/author?

Comments on book(s) read
Religious Romance - I just finished Love's Long Journey for my religious romance. I'd heard a lot about Janette Oke's books since they had been made into movies but never read one. This is actually the third in the series, but I didn't feel lost without having read the others because its about the daughter of the original book. It was a short sweet read. Not sure if I will read other books by her in the future, but I enjoyed it for what it was. This is the first time recently that I have read any books in the religious romance/inspirational romance genre, although I remember reading some in my teens.

Fantasy - Started and finished up Some Girls Bite in a rather short period of time. I was completely engrossed in it. I liked the interaction between Merit and Ethan and look forward to more in the future. Definately didn't pick up on who the bad person was until it was revealed, a sign of a good plot to me. I already have the next two sitting in my cart at Amazon (waiting for the third to officially be released in a few days). This is the second book I've read in the Urban Fantasy genre (the first being Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews. I will definitely be seeking more out in this genre in the future.

BDSM - reading Owning Rachel for my BDSM selection. It was ok...but I don't know if I would run out to read another one in the series. It opens with Rachel who is a successful lawyer seeking treating for her sexual dreams that she is having...her therapist provides her a phone number to call and it goes from there - she is kidnapped and made into a "pet" - i've read a lot of BDSM and will continue to read this genre, but overall, wasn't too impressed with this variation. I have another book in the series that I'm going to try out before I completely make up my mind though.

I would think animal farm is on there because it gives you an idea of communism in Russia...lemme think about that one - my inclinaiton would be no...but hmmm

here are some I've read for World Lit:

Afghanistan - The Kite Runner
Iran - Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
Israel - Drawing in the Dust
Saudi Arabia - Finding Nouf: A Novel
Brazil - Blood of the Wicked
Paraguay - The News from Paraguay
Spain - Miracle in Seville
Sweden - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Latvia - The Dogs of Riga
Lithuania - Between Shades of Gray
the Netherlands - The Hiding Place
Norway - Don't Look Back
Russia - Eye of the Red Tsar: A Novel of Suspense
Iceland - Frozen Assets
Greenland - Cold Earth
Finland - Snow Angels
Belgium - 11 Days in December: Christmas at the Bulge, 1944
Bosnia-Herzogovenia - The Cellist of Sarajevo
Denmark - One, Two ... He is coming for you
Albania - Chronicle in Stone: A Novel
Puerto Rico - The Time It Snowed in Puerto Rico
Kiribati - The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific
Japan - The Housekeeper and the Professor
Korea - The Surrendered
China - Mao's Last Dancer
India - The Case of the Missing Servant
Botswana - The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Libya - In the Country of Men
Morocco - The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca
Nigeria - Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away
Rwanda - Baking Cakes in Kigali

this is from Rossy's "International" shelf

Ruptured - Refaat, Tarek *
Cross Currents - Shors, John *
Untold Story - Ali, Monica
Secret Daughter - Gowda, Shilpi Somaya *
The Queens of K-town - Hur, Angela *
Chinatown Beat - Chang, Henry
Dreaming in English - Fitzgerald, Laura *
Someone Else's Garden: A Novel - Rai, Dipika
Normal Miguel - Orrantia, Erik *
My Sisters Made of Light - Joan, Jacqueline St.
Playa Perdida - Schmidt, Dan *
Mistress: A Novel - Nair, Anita
Tamarind Woman - Badami, Anita Rau
Bitter Sweets - Farooki, Roopa
One Hundred Shades of White - Nair, Preethi
Water: A Novel - Sidhwa, Bapsi
The Zahir: A Novel of Love, Longing and Obsession - Coelho, Paulo *
Buddha: With Bonus Material - Chopra, Deepak
Cleopatra Confesses - Meyer, Carolyn
Lily of the Nile (Cleopatra's Daughter, #1) - Dray, Stephanie *
Sister of My Heart - Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee *
The Mistress of Spices - Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee *
Desirable Daughters: A Novel - Mukherjee, Bharati
Mirage - Khashoggi, Soheir
Finding Nouf (Nayir al-Sharqi, #1) - Ferraris, Zoë *
The Bastard of Istanbul - Shafak, Elif
How to Be an American Housewife - Dilloway, Margaret *
Toads and Diamonds - Tomlinson, Heather *
Peach Blossom Pavilion - Yip, Mingmei
Petals from the Sky - Yip, Mingmei
Princess Sultana's Daughters - Sasson, Jean P. *
Beneath a Marble Sky - Shors, John *
The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien - Hijuelos, Oscar
Yakuza: Japan's Criminal Underworld, Expanded Edition - Kaplan, David E.
Girl in Translation - Kwok, Jean *
Saffron Dreams - Abdullah, Shaila M. *
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Hosseini, Khaled
Pearl of China - Min, Anchee
Shadow Princess: A Novel - Sundaresan, Indu
Hotel Iris: A Novel - Ogawa, Yoko
The Cuban Chronicles: A True Tale of Rascals, Rogues, and Romance - St.Hilaire, Wanda *
A Thousand Veils - Murphy, D.J. *
Bone Worship - Eslami, Elizabeth *
Allah's Garden: A True Story of a Forgotten War in the Sahara Desert of Morocco - Hollowell, Thomas *
Splendor of Silence - Sundaresan, Indu
The Feast of Roses - Sundaresan, Indu
When I Was Puerto Rican - Santiago, Esmeralda
Drawing In the Dust - Klein, Zoe
Brick Lane - Ali, Monica
A Good Indian Wife - Cherian, Anne
The Namesake - Lahiri, Jhumpa
Imaginary Men - Banerjee, Anjali
Salt and Saffron - Shamsie, Kamila
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books - Nafisi, Azar *
The Time It Snowed in Puerto Rico - McCoy, Sarah *
A Disobedient Girl: A Novel - Freeman, Ru
Sundowners - Lokko, Lesley
Veil of Roses - Fitzgerald, Laura *
Nefertiti - Moran, Michelle *

Jane (PS) wrote: "I reread the rules: do we just read one category each month?"

You could do that, but you could read more than one in a single month. The one book per month is a way of helping the participants to not fall behind. If you read more than one book in a month, then you can skip reading a book for a month that you'll be really busy.

Jane (PS) wrote: "So basically we pick a book (romance clearly being the preferred background) that fits each of these above genres. There are 9 categories plus the bonus ones. So long as we read our specific selection within the 11 month timeframe - and discuss it - then we WIN (within our own minds)! So it is like Romance 101 only we can't change our selection, we discuss our books and it is defined to this 11 month period...

BTW - I need to have my books selected before 30 July?"

Yes to the Romance 101.

As for when you need to have all your books selected depends on you. If you're going to start counting the books you'll be reading from July 30, then yes. Otherwise you can post your list whenever you're ready to start. There's no extra time though, you'll have to finish in the same time-frame as those who started reading on the 30th.

For the Optional/Bonus categories-

I have a little twist for the Optional/Bonus genre categories.

If you post your Optional/Bonus books at the start of the challenge then you may read them at any time during the challenge, no need to wait until the first 9 genres are completed.

If you don't post the Optional/Bonus books at the start of the challenge, you may still add them at any time, but you may not read them until after the first 9 genres are completed.

ohh, i like...hence i'm planning to put the bonus in early!

Does anyone have an opinion on where Passionate Pleasures falls- Contemporary or Erotica? I think it's more a Contemporary story with some hot scenes but I would love a second opinion :)

looks like its classed as contemporary erotic romance - and her other historicals tend to push the bounds...incest and the like

Dee wrote: "looks like its classed as contemporary erotic romance - and her other historicals tend to push the bounds...incest and the like"

So Dee, if it's classified as Conteporary Erotic where should I put it? Erotic? I've read the whole series and there are some steamy scenes, but my library actually carries some of them (and they carry zero erotica).

I would based on the description

It's Erotica, just with a contemporary setting actually.

Thanks for all the World Lit lists Dee. I have the 'Dragon Tattoed Girl' so I'll use that one for World Lit - I might put The Great Gatsby in Classics... And I could use Animal Farm for Dystopia :) Jeeves can wait for another 'dare'...

Thanks Fran for an extract from last year's dare - that really helps me picture where I'm going :)

Rossy wrote: "Jane (PS) wrote: "So basically we pick a book (romance clearly being the preferred background) that fits each of these above genres. There are 9 categories plus the bonus ones. So long as we read o..."

Thanks Rossy - I think I'm under control now :)

Tugce Nida wrote: "I was searching through listopia, yes I was working on my list :) and I find a list named favorite world fiction & literature, that might be helpful for World lit category I suppose, the link is be..."

Thanks Nida!

out of curiosity - what if we pick a book that we have pre-ordered and for some reason something happens and its delayed etc?? I have like 3 i'm going to list that are due out later this year - my PNR, UF and Speculative ones - and they should all be released on time, but what if?

Then we'll trust you and make an exception for that book/category. ^.^

i'm pretty since they are all relatively popular i'll be good...but wanted to play devil's advocate

I really liked this series - but as a warning, the first 100 pages or so has a lot of financial mumbo-jumbo in it and is a bit tedious

Jane (PS) wrote: "Thanks for all the World Lit lists Dee. I have the 'Dragon Tattoed Girl' so I'll use that one for World Lit - I might put The Great Gatsby in Classics... And I could use Animal Farm for Dystopia ..."

Dee wrote: "i'm pretty since they are all relatively popular i'll be good...but wanted to play devil's advocate"

I figured as much. Not that it doesn't happen, but i had not thought about it myself either. So good call!

its the new Stephen King, the new Chloe Neill and the new Larissa ione - all of which i'm sure about...the only one i'm not sure is the new Madelaine urban/abigail roux, which is just late 2011

Well unless the book being pre-ordered is totally not going to be published, or pushed back to after June 30, 2012.....it should be fine.

Dee, Ice Queen and Mirror of My Soul are two of my favorites! Make sure you have the second one ready for when you finish Ice Queen! Great pick for your BDSM!

i've had them on the pile for I dont know how long...lol! I read natural law late last year and rough canvas early that year (I think it was a pick for the m/m pick it for me)

Dee wrote: "i've had them on the pile for I dont know how long...lol! I read natural law late last year and rough canvas early that year (I think it was a pick for the m/m pick it for me)"

Both of those are good, but wait till you read Ice Queen and Mirror Of My Soul...I loved them!