2025 Reading Challenge discussion

For one of our 1st Quarter Challenge, we want to give you all the power. We would like to see you build your own box set.

Many of us already own some famous series box sets like the Harry Potter Series and The Lord of the Rings set, and then there are the classic box sets from authors like Jane Austen and Jules Verne. Book stores often offer sets revolving around a genre like romance or mysteries, but how would you make your box set? You can do set up your box set with any theme you like, such as "Colors of the Rainbow," "Women of the 19th Century," or even, "Books I'm Reading because I Should Have Read Them in High School." It really is up to whatever you desire as long as you have 3 or more books in it!

For this challenge, chose the number of books you would like to read, and how many box sets you would like to make. You must name each box set, and each set should have a theme, but you are not limited to what you see suggested.
Please be creative!

Here is an example below:

0/10

The Ultimate Nerd Collection:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The Help
The Bell Jar
The Cider House Rules

Because Oprah Says So:
Beloved
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography
Cry, the Beloved Country
The Butler: A Witness to History
Uncommon Wisdom of Oprah Winfrey: a Portrait in her own words

What box sets will you create?

Blagica inspired this challenge and will be leading it.

I will give this one a try. My boxed set will be authors from around the world and maybe another set. I have a goal of 8 books.

8/8 read COMPLETE

Out of My World Authors
3/3 read

1 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Half of a Yellow Sun ✔ 2/13/16
2 Isabel Allende - The House of the Spirits ✔ 2/23/16
3 The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami ✔ 3/6/16

My Name is ....
5/5 read

1 Heidi by Johanna Spyri ✔ 1/2/16
2 Anna Christie by Eugene O'Neill ✔ 3/24/16
3 My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout ✔ 3/7/16
4 My Ántonia by Willa Cather ✔ 1/30/16
5 A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman ✔ 1/15/16

welcome to the challenge Laurie!

Participants

Adriana | 6/17
Ashlee | 0/TBD
Alexander | 0/7
Amber | 3/8
Amanda | 5/6
Amanda (104) | 4/6
Andy| 0/TBD
Angela | 13/15
Ariel | 1/11
Carmen | 1/8
Caro | 4/9
Chantal | 5/12
Ceira | 4/6
Candiss| 4/9
Cynthia | 2/4
Cynthia (147) | 2/13
Diana | 0/9
Dominique (Dom) | 0/6
Erika| 4/12
Jacqueline| 1/10
JamminJenny| 1/3
Jannene | 3/5
Jennie| 0/6
Jessica (70) | 0/4
Jessica (71) | 5/14
Jill | 0/9
June| 5/6
Jo| 0/10
Kadijah Michelle | 5/6
Kara | 0/ TBD
Karina | 2/10
Karin | 2/7
Karen | 0/8
Katherine | 0/24
Kim | 0/5
Kylie | 0/5
Lindsey| 0/24
Lulu | 0/3
Maria | 6/9
Maria (233) | 0/6
Marie| 0/3
Maureen| 0/20
Maya| 5/12
Misha24 | 0/6
Meg | 7/10
Monique | 8/9
Ornina| 3/7
Rebecca| 3/11
Robyn | 0/3
ScarlettMi | 0/5
Sam F | 14/16
Sharon| 3/ 17
Stephanie (Chinchillita) | 4/5
Stipe | 0/5
Susan | 5/6
Tea | 0/10
Theresa~OctoberLace| 2/12
Trisha | 1/15

We Crossed the Finish Line
Delmy (－‸ლ) | 6/6 WAY TO GO!
Susan | 6/6WAY TO GO!
Natalie| 9/9WAY TO GO!
Emma | 19/19Awesome job
Elsbeth| 12/10nice job
Eggp | 12/12 WAY TO GO!
Cheri| 6/6nice job
Ultrajbk| 3/3nicely done
Janet | 6/6 nicely done
Katharine| 16/16nicely done
Kelly| 12/12 nicely done
Jenny | 3/3nicely done
Laurie| 8/8 awesome
Stephanie (R-A) | 15/15awesome job
Blagica | 17/17 all done
Clare | 6/6 awesome work
Victoria | 6/6 awesome work
Jane| 6/6 awesome work
Chelsea| 12/12 awesome
Cassandra | 12/12awesome work
Amy (Other Amy) | 12/12great!
Sherry| 7/7 great job!
Geri| 8/8 job well done!
Gretchen | 6/6 well done!
Beth | 8/8 nicely done!
Gabriella | 9/9 nicely done!
Kelsi| 16/16 nicely done!
Winter | 7/7 job well done!
Zita | 14/14great job!

I'm in for 9 books (3) each

Completed: 0/9

Roaring 20's
The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine
The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty
The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro

Mystical, Magical
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Magician's Lie by Greer Macallister
The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Off with Her Head: Tudor Era
The Boleyn Bride by Brandy Purdy
The Taming of the Queen by Philippa Gregory
The King's Curse by Philippa Gregory

welcome to the challenge Jill I will add you cant wait to see what everyone comes up with!

The theme of my boxed set is going to be authors who use pen names. I'm going to be in for six to start. I'm just going to list three examples to get started.

By any other name....
1.) The Strangler Vine by M.J. Carter also publishes books under the name Miranda Carter
2.) The Prince Lost to Time by Ann Dukthas who also writes as Paul Doherty
3.) The Eye of God by Celia L. Grace who also writes at Paul Doherty
4.) Murder at Whitehall by Amanda Carmack- author's website says Amanda Carmack is a pen name but does not give any other name
5.) A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters- Peters is a pseudonym for Edith Pargeter
6.) Green Darkness- Anya Seton is a pen name for Ann Seton (I did not know this!)

welcome Gretchen!

I'm going to go for 12 books split across three box sets. I'll post my planned books in a little bit.

Thanks for coming up with this idea, Blagica - it's really fun.

EDIT:

... In SPACE
Leviathan Wakes
Foundation and Empire
Old Man's War

Fantasy That Pokes Fun at Tropes
The Outsorcerer's Apprentice
Off to Be the Wizard
The Fairy Godmother
Gooseberry Bluff Community College of Magic: The Thirteenth Rib

Military Protagonist Crime Thriller
Brilliance
Without Fail
First Family
The Heist
Zero Day

0/12

most welcome and welcome to the challenge,

This is so much fun! I am in. I will try to make 3 sets, 1 for each month.

Space Case (Completed!)

The Martian Finished 1/29/2016
A Princess of Mars Finished 1/31/2016
The Gods of Mars Finished 2/3/2016
Omon Ra Finished 1/30/2016
Winter Finished 1/24/2016

I Put A Spell On You (Completed!)

The Witch With No Name Finished 2/8/2016
A Discovery of Witches Finished 2/23/2016
Stardust Finished 3/10/2016
The Neverending Story Finished 3/12/2016
Ella Enchanted Finished 3/7/2016

Treat Her Like A Lady (Completed!)

The Bell Jar Finished 3/14/2016
The Help Finished 3/18/2016
Little Women Finished 3/26/2016
The Handmaid's Tale Finished 3/17/2016
A Room of One's Own Finished 3/13/2016

Total Books Read: 15/15
(Completed!!!!!!)

I love the I put a spell on you name! welcome to the Challenge!

I am in. My names are kind of uncreative and boring in comparison to others! lol
Box Set Challenge
Completed Books: 13/17
Completed Sets: 2/3

YA Fantasy
Cress (3/31/16)
Throne of Glass (3/14/16)
Wither (4/1/16)
Onyx (3/27/16)
Sabriel (1/14/16)
Beautiful Creatures (2/20/16)
The Maze Runner (2/7/16)

Feminist Memoirs
Orange Is the New Black (3/18/16)
How to Be a Woman (2/27/16)
Bossypants (3/2/16)
The Glass Castle (2/11/16)
Girl, Interrupted
Call the Midwife: A True Story of the East End in the 1950s
A Room of One's Own

Children's Classics
Little Women (3/26/16)
Anne of Green Gables (3/10/16)
Island of the Blue Dolphins (3/12/16)

How fun! I'm in for 3 sets of 3.


BOX SETS CHALLENGE
Duration: January 1 - March 31, 2016
Goal: Create and name "box sets" of thematic books. I've made 3 sets for a total of 9 books.

By the Numbers
Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth - Xiaolu Guo
China in Ten Words - Yu Hua
Around the World in Seventy-Two Days - Nellie Bly

City Slickers
City of Glass - Paul Auster
Tainaron: Mail from Another City - Leena Krohn
The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson

Kneel Down
The Diamond Age: or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer - Neal Stephenson
Unwind - Neal Shusterman
The Sandman: Overture - Neil Gaiman

Read: 4/9

Updated my post #5 Books listed

I'm in for 10 books, in 3 sets:


2/10

Ominous Ornithology
All the Birds in the Sky
Bird Box
Blackbirds
Wake of Vultures

Astounding Architecture
City of Blades
The Death House
We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Dreaming for dummies
Dreamstrider
A Man Lies Dreaming
Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep

Box Sets Challenge

The Norwegian Four:

1. Peer Gynt, Henrik Ibsen
2. En Glad Gut, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
3. Gift, Alexander Kielland
4. The Family at Gilje (Familien paa Gilje), Jonas Lie

2/4

The King of Horror:

1. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Stephen King
2. Revival, Stephen King
3. IT, Stephen King

1/3

Total:3/7

Box Sets Challenge

I've updated my goal in message 2. I will now try for 8, and I have rearranged and added another box set

Added and updated everyone. Merry christmas to those that celebrate!

Sounds fun, please sign me up for 12 books (3 sets). Happy holidays!


First Quarter Challenge, January 01 - March 31
Box Sets
Goal: 12/12

Complete: A Game of Chess - 4/4
01. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - 10 Jan 2016, 3/5
02. The King Must Die - 08 Mar 2016, 2/5
03. Queen Lucia - 21 Mar 2016, 4/5
04. The Rook (The Checquy Files, #1) - 22 Mar 2016, 3/5


Complete: Lucky Lotto Numbers - 4/4
01. At Swim Two Birds - 08 Jan 2016, 1/5
02. Seveneves - 18 Jan 2016, 4/5
03. Fahrenheit 451 - 05 Feb 2016, 4/5
04. 14 - 21 Feb 2016, 4/5


Complete: At the Zoo - 4/4
01. Crocodile on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody, #1) - 29 Jan 2016, 3/5
02. The Cormorant - 25 Feb 2016, 4/5
03. The War with the Newts - 02 Mar 2016, 4/5
04. The White Monkey - 04 Mar 2016, 4/5

added Happy Holidays to you all as well

I'm going to make 1 Box Set.

Islamic Women's Collection
1. American Muslim Women: Negotiating Race, Class, and Gender Within the Ummah(currently reading)
2. The Metamorphosis of a Muslim: Autobiography of My Conversion(3/15/16)
3. Reclaim Your Heart: Personal Insights on Breaking Free from Life's Shackles(3/11/16)
4. You Can Be The Happiest Woman in the World: A Treasure Chest of Reminders (2/15/16)
5. From My Sisters' Lips (3/1/16)
6. The Butterfly Mosque: A Young American Woman's Journey to Love and Islam(finished 3/23/16)

5/6

I'll do just one set.

0/5

(Private) Investigators
1. The Hound of the Baskervilles - Sherlock Holmes -
2. The Long Goodbye - Philip Marlowe -
3. Kiss Me, Deadly - Mike Hammer -
4. TBD
5. TBD

I'll build a box set of five.

Updated message 7, going in for 7 books, two sets.

After making my list for the group reads challenge I realized I had a bit of a theme going... so sign me up for 1 "box", 3 books.

It's all in your head
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
The Bell Jar
The Silver Linings Playbook

welcome Robyn!

Winter I love King myself I like your concept =)

This sounds great! I love this idea :) Please sign me up for 2 box sets, each with 6 books, so 12 in total!

BOXSETS CHALLENGE
Duration: January 1 - March 31, 2016

For this challenge, chose the number of books you would like to read, and how many box sets you would like to make. You must name each box set, and each set should have a theme, but you are not limited to what you see suggested.

Short But Sweet
Books 150 pages or less.

1. The Tales of Beedle the Bard ✔
2. The Little Prince ✔
3. Animal Farm ✔
4. The Grownup ✔
5. A Room of One's Own ✔
6. Under Milk Wood ✔

Night At The Movies
Books with a film adaptation.

1. The Green Mile ✔
2. The Silver Linings Playbook ✔
3. The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend ✔
4. Mary Poppins ✔
5. Bridget Jones's Diary ✔
6. Child 44 ✔

COMPLETE: 12/12

welcome Kelly! I am glad you all like the idea

here are my two box sets a little murder and a little romance can't go wrong

Boxed Set Challenge
Duration: January 1 - March 31, 2016

it's all about the Kill

Small Sacrifices: A True Story of Passion and Murder
The Hillside Stranglers
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
A Stolen Life


My book Boyfriend
Seven Years
Wicked Beat
Me Before You
Naked
Shades of Pearl
Sweet Evil

I like the idea of this challenge too - I'll try 4 sets with 4 books each:

Linked books have been read:

The Watered Down Boxed Set:

1. At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen
2. Shaler's Fish: Poems by Helen Macdonald
3. Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala
4. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

The Bio Boxed Set: (biographies, memoirs, auto-biographies)

1. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
2. Ten Points by Bill Strickland
3. The Sugarless Plum: A Memoir by Zippora Karz
4. Paula by Isabel Allende

Things Come in Fours:

1. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
2. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
3. The Fall of Five by Pittacus Lore
4. Lord of the Flies byWilliam Golding

The Dog Park Boxed Set:

1. The Dog Who Danced
2. Wallace: The Underdog Who Conquered a Sport, Saved a Marriage, and Championed Pit Bulls-- One Flying Disc at a Time
3. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
4. Be the Pack Leader

Added Sam welcome!

Sign me up for 2 box sets (6 books) - book titles TBD


"Little" books
Books with the word "little" in the title
✓ 1. Little Lady, Big Apple read 1/3/2016
✓ 2. Little Night read 1/11/2016
✓ 3. The Little Paris Bookshop read 2/27/2016

First in the series
✓ 1. A Dirty Job (Grim Reaper #1 )read 1/1/2016
✓ 2. Up at Butternut Lake (The Butternut Lake Trilogy, #1) read 1/19/2016
✓ 3. Shanghai Girls (Shanghai Girls #1) read 3/10/2016

6/6
Challenge completed!

welcome Susan I like the idea of reading the first in the series do you know what 3 you will start?

Around the World in Books
1. Europe Goodnight Mister Tom
2. North America The Assistant
3. Oceania Lord Jim
4. Asia Kim
5. Africa Cry, the Beloved Country
6. South America Nostromo:

6/6

Welcome Janet!

Box Sets
January - March 2016

8/8 completed

Sci-fi Megaset

With an introduction of essays by Margaret Atwood:
In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination - 3/5 ★★★★

And half a dozen titles by three more of my favorite authors:
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick - 3/7 ★★★★
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick - 3/15 ★★★★
Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card - 3/31 ★★★
Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card - 3/22 ★★★★★
Evolution's Darling by Scott Westerfeld - 3/29 ★★★★★
Polymorph by Scott Westerfeld - 3/17 ★★★★

Plus a bonus book, suggested by my husband from his teen reading years:
The Grotto of the Formigans by Daniel da Cruz - 3/20 ★★★

welcome Beth!

This is very cool! Signing up for one box set for now, 5 books. I love my internet celebrities!

Internet Celebrities:
Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened - Allie Brosh
Heart and Brain: An Awkward Yeti Collection
The Haunting of Sunshine Girl - Paige McKenzie
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
4/5

First Quarter is at an end made it to 4/5, not bad :)

welcome to the challenge

I love it!

Stately Reads
Until Friday Night (Alabama)
The Sea of Tranquility (Florida)
Almost Home (Illinois)
That’s Not Hay in My Hair (Texas)

Running with Wolves
Once in a Full Moon
The Beginning: Born at Midnight and Awake at Dawn
Taken at Dusk

Princess Power!
Princess Academy
Dealing with Dragons
Princess Ben
Beyond the Hundred Kingdoms
Wisdom's Kiss

Living in the Past
My Faire Lady
Colonial Madness
Scarlet
Jane Eyre

0/16 books

I am in for 5 from one box.
0/5

Medical Books

1. Hot Lights, Cold Steel--Michael J Collins
2. The Placebo Chronicles--Douglas Farrago
3. Lives in the Balance--Tilda Shalof
4. Baby ER--Edward Humes
5. The Real Grey's Anatomy--Andrew Holtz

all added to here. welcome to you all

Kadijah Michelle wrote: "For one of our 1st Quarter Challenge, we want to give you all the power. We would like to see you build your own box set.

Many of us already own some famous series box sets like the Harry Potter S..."

My first box set this year will be:

Graphic Horror Novels (Pictures can be scarier than words)

Current states: 2/3

1. Locke and Key - Welcome to Lovecraft (Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriquez) date read 1/4/16
2. Wytches - Volume 1 date read 3/21
3. Nailbiter - There Will be Blood (Williamson, Henderson, Guzowski, Hill, Levin)






May the scariness commence!!!

Creepy Crawlies Collection
1. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
2. The Bees by Laline Paull
3. Perdido Street Station by China Miéville (contains lots of bugs)

0/3

Will be adding another one, I just haven't decided what yet :)

I'd like to join . In total to read 19 books.
Read 19 / 19

Suspense/thriller
The Girl With No Past by Kathryn Croft
Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough
Wolf Winter by Cecilia Ekbäck
The Colony by F.G. Cottam
The House of Frozen Dreams by Seré Prince Halverson

Mystery

A Wolf in Hindelheim by Jenny Mayhew
The Lost Child by Ann Troup
The Hanging by Lotte Hammer
The Girl in the Ice by Lotte Hammer
The Whitstable Pearl Mystery

Families

This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
A Tiny Bit Marvellousby Dawn French
Oh Dear Silvia by Dawn French
The Good Father by Diane Chamberlain
This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
Black Sheep by Susan Hill
Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice-cream Float Before He Stole My Ma by Tony Hogan
The Island at the End of the World by Sam Taylor

I'm going to give this one a try!

I'm building two boxes:

YA Fiction I Should Have Already Read
1. Eleanor & Park
2.
3.


Favorites from ALA Midwinter 2016
(Excited to be attending my annual library mtg - great books to be had! Will update titles after 1/12)
1.
2.
3.

welcome everyone who joined recently. I have added everyone to here.

Emma I put yours in ass to be determined since I'm not sure how many books will be in your box.

1st Quarter Challenge: Box Sets
Jan 1st-March 31st 2016

4/6

Books that should be read at least once

1-The Count of Monte Cristo
2-Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 01/19/16
3-A Prayer for Owen Meany 04/06/16

Dystopian

1-The Passage
2-Angelfall 03/29/16
3-Warm Bodies 02/10/16

I will sign up for one set and after looking at my planned books maybe I'll add another

I'm liking this challenge so much I will probably make it my own yearly challenge. Here are the box sets I have thought of so far, will probably add to them. I will finish at least one of these sets for this challenge, maybe two. I'll update when closer the the end of the challenge.

I Put a Spell On You ...
1)
2)
3)

Read by Number ...
1)
2)
3)

Out of this world ...
1)
2)
3)

It's all in your head ...
1)
2)
3)

Movie Madness ...
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)