Pocki’s Comments (group member since Dec 17, 2017)

Pocki’s comments from the A challenge of relative ease and merriment 2018 group.

The year is coming to a close, and that means the challenge is as well. So how did you do?
Personally I feel like I failed, cause my new job and new found love of music kept me from reading a lot so I didn't hit all the categories. However, you don't actually have to finish all of it! It's all for fun and inspiration and pushing your reading a little bit.

So, please share what you ended up with! Be it a full list or parts of one.
If you've shared your progress during the year you don't have to use the books you chose at the time of reporting on the finished categories. Choose whichever book you feel you want representing that category (as long as you've read it this year obviously).

You still have a week if you're trying to fill in more categories, don't worry. Share when you're ready. I'll do that myself. See if I can get at least one more category done.

So congrats on all your amazing progress on this challenge!
And I hope your reading year 2019 will be beautiful.

You're all doing so well! Nicely done.

I'm having such a bad reading year. But I'm getting somewhere on the challenge. Might not be able to finish but we'll see.

a book released in 2018: I've Got This Round by Mamrie Heart
a non-fiction book: Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt
a kids book: The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse by Mac Barnett
an LGBTQIA+ book: All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages by a bunch of people
a biography/autobiography/memoir: Binge by Tyler Oakley
a book with mythological creatures: The Lightning-Struck Heart by TJ Klune
a book about a death: From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty
a book with a predominantly yellow cover: The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster by Sara Krasnostein
a book written by more than one author: From a Certain Point of View by 40 different authors
a book written by a person of colour: Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
the first book in an existing series (of at least two released books): Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Creekwood, #1) by Becky Albertally

I'm working on important character with disability (well less character more just the actual real life narrator of a biography of sorts), and have retelling of a classic waiting. And a book set being 1940 that i've been waiting for is released this week. So if I can get properly back into reading I should be doing okay.

It can definitely be something acquired later in life. But I'd say not like... halfway through the book. But if the book starts with the trauma or whatever (or obviously if it happened before the book even begins) then by all means.

I'll probably finally read a book I've had around for a few years and have really wanted to read - a funny biography (sort of) by a guy who lost his leg to cancer in his youth.

When I wrote the original list for 2016 I thought of like, really young kids, but tbh it's up to you. I always read picture books for that category.

Also, remember that it says set before 1940 and not actually "historical fiction", meaning that if you read a contemporary novel from 1813 or 1934, you're a-okay.

No, to both.
A translator is definitely not a second author. And I don't think that alt or fantastical history would count either, at least not on the level of Lady Trent. That is straight up fantasy set somewhere very similar to early victorian Europe. But for example, a story set in 17th century Prague where alchemy is "real" and finally working (rather than trying really hard) would still be historical. So history with some fantastical elements rather than fantastical history.

It's been a month, and maybe some of you have already read some books for the challenge, so I thought I'd set up the Progress topic!

Here you can share how the challenge is going for you. Check in every month, check in once, check in never... it's all up to you!

You can make a post that you keep editing if that's your thing, or you can post every now and then with whatever new books you've read for the challenge (that's what I personally do), or you can keep posting the full list, with your new updates each time. Whatever feels best!

And if you want, tell us what you think of the books you add.

Now good luck and keep reading!

Hey Debbie, and welcome! I'm glad you've decided to join!

After giving everyone some time to read I will make a Progress topic where you can report every now and then how it's going, if you want to. There is absolutely no need to do it if you'd rather keep your progress to yourself.
Sometime in December I will then create another topic for final results where you can post a list of what you read for each category. You can change things along the way too if you feel like what you chose for once category early on is better for another that turned out to be harder to fill for example. Or like me, who want my final result to have books I really enjoyed if possible, or that fit the category really well.

So in general I say keep track on your own overall, but feel free to report in every now and then. And if you want you can also add books to the group bookshelf to give others some ideas if they're struggling with some categories!

Welcome everyone!

I guess I should introduce myself too. I'm Pocki, or Rebecka, I started this whole thing in 2016. I'm Swedish, I'm 30, I'm queer, I'm a nerd, I like bones and jellyfish... yeah there you have it XD

I obviously took part in the 2017 challenge, and I managed to finish juuuuuust in time (as in I had about 90 minutes to spare until the year ended. Or ends rather. There's still time left).

My taste in books vary but I like some serious escapism. Contemporary makes that hard. But at the same time I love non-fiction. As for the categories this year... I'm pretty excited for a book about death! And the hardest thing for me will just be to read enough books. I've been in such a slump for most of 2017, but hopefully I can find another job that will make me less tired in the evenings so I can actually read. However, I have been drawn back into fanfiction (both reading and writing) which means that my literary time so to speak won't be 100% books anymore.

Welcome to 2018's reading challenge!

A lot of you have probably come from 2017, or even been with us since the original 2016 challenge. If so, welcome back! And to the newbies: welcome welcome!

Feel free to invite anyone you want, and remember that it is never too late to join. Whatever you've read during the year counts. So if you find us in November and still want to give it a go, just go through your Read list for the year and start shoving books into categories!

And that's why we're here really... the categories. As always we have some oldies but goodies on the list, and some new ones. And there is bound to be confusion about what I mean. So here are some explanations, and just ASK about the rest. No question is stupid!


How-to can be any book telling you how to do, or deal with, something. It can be your classic DIY books, cookbooks, crafting, how to survive in nature, taking care of exotic birds, travelling on a budget etc etc. But it doesn’t actually have to be properly factual. Guides on how to survive your first year as a werewolf, how to conduct yourself when travelling through time etc, or how to best prep for the impending zombie apocalypse (or any apocalypse really, some of those might be more factual than others).

Death can mean many things. Your classic mystery/detective novel, ghost stories, dealing with a terminal illness, the death of a nation, etc. It doesn’t have to be personal and it doesn’t have to be fictional.

More than one author could be a collaboration with both (or more) authors’ names on the cover, more than one author under a single pseudonym, or a collection of short stories or essays by a bunch of different authors. An illustrator does not count as a second author for this.

A classic in this case can be a lot of things: myths, fairytales, Shakespeare, Alice in Wonderland… I think you get the drift.


So, questions?

Third year running. Some of you are oldies, some will be newbies. So time to introduce ourselves once again!

Tell us a bit about yourself. Were you a part of the 2017 challenge? How did that go for you?
What do you like to read? Is there something you hate to read?
Which category this year do you look most forward to, and which scares you a little bit?