Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

It's time to start thinking about setting up our Group Reading Challenges for 2016. (I know everyone's busy with the end of year holidays, but the new year starts right after)

(For those who haven't participated before, our Group Challenges let you set a reading goal for yourself to read a certain number of books that fit the criteria of that Challenge. It's a SF&F-oriented complement to the Goodreads Annual Reading Challenge. Because each Challenge lets you set your own goal for the number of books you want to read, it's a form of self motivation, not a competition.)

Last year we had six year-long Challenges:

The SF&F 2015 Reading Challenge
Set yourself a goal for reading Science Fiction and Fantasy books in 2015.

The SF&F 2015 Discussion Challenge
Set yourself a goal for reading Science Fiction and Fantasy selected by our group for discussion in 2015. Join the conversations!

The SF&F 2015 Explorer Challenge
Set yourself a goal to read SF&F books by authors you've never read before. Explore new worlds, find new favorites!

The SF&F 2015 Awards Challenge
Set yourself a goal to read SF&F books which have won awards, such as the Hugo and Nebula, or any other award(s) you care to include.

The SF&F 2015 Graphic Novel Challenge
Set yourself a goal to read SF&F Graphic Novels.

The SF&F 2015 Short Works Challenge Set yourself a goal to read novella, short stories, or anthologies.

* You can see all our past & present SF&HF Group Challenges here.

In 2015, the general SF&F Challenge was the most popular, with 52 members signing up (34 actually marked books as belonging to the challenge, and 14 actually completing their challenge so far – there's still two weeks left to finish up!) The Discussion topic reading Challenge was 2nd most popular with 17 participants, the Explorer Challenge had 16 participants, the Graphic Novel challenge had 12 participants, the Awards Challenge had 9 participants, and the Short Works Challenge had only 6 participants.


So, what do people think about new Group Challenges for our sci-fi and fantasy genre in 2016?

In the past we tried some shorter challenge lasting 3 months & 6 months, though they were less popular than the full-year challenges. Should the challenge last an entire year, or just a part of the year? Three months? Six months? Other? (Shorter Challenges might be more focused, and also let new members join in more easily, though there is nothing to stop anyone from joining in mid-Challenge, since you set your own goal. An annual challenge matches the Goodreads Reading Challenge.)

So, any new ideas for 2016? Without any new suggestions, I'm leaning toward new versions of the general SF&F, Explorer, Award-winner, Discussion, Graphic Novel & Short Works challenges we did last year. (I'm a creature of habit.) Do people want something else?

Please share your thoughts below!

I've never done anything like this. I'm very excited by the idea. With the way my life is, the year long challenge is definitely the way for me to go. I'm interested in two groups in particular, well, three: Explorer, General and Award winner though I can kill two birds with one stone with explorer.

How do we start?!?!? I'm ready!

Will defintly be doing the general reading challenge, if explorer is there still, will give it a bash. And perhaps short works also.
I enjoy the year long challenge and it's easy enough to join in mid year.
Can't really think of any new challenges other then author specific ones admin list say 5 authors and we need to try read a set amount of their books? Guess it would be a challenge if we don't enjoy the authors books :D

The short works challenge is one I'd like. I love short stories! It would pair nicely with my 2016 reading challenge goal. Last year I set mine at 25 and ended up with 41 books. Dropping short stores and novellas in there would suit me just fine!

April wrote: "The short works challenge is one I'd like. I love short stories! It would pair nicely with my 2016 reading challenge goal. Last year I set mine at 25 and ended up with 41 books. Dropping short stor..."

You know what? Me too. I actually love short stories.

This sounds like just what I need to keep reading.

Can't think of anything new so I would like to sign up for the year-long general sff challenge.

All about the first two (Reading and Discussion). Beyond that, I think I'd have to go part-time at work to keep up with you!

April wrote: "The short works challenge is one I'd like. I love short stories!..."

Excellent, I'm a big SF&F short story reader, too.

Shameless promotion: we do have a monthly SF&F short works group discussion topic, the least popular of our discussions, and we'd love to have some more voices!

Okay, I guess I'm planning on replicating the six challenges from last year. I'll get them set up in time for the New Year.

G33z3r wrote: "Okay, I guess I'm planning on replicating the six challenges from last year. I'll get them set up in time for the New Year."

Good, I'm ready to join in.