MobileRead Book Challenges discussion

I'm keeping it simple this year:

- 75 books read in total (the first must be Game of Thrones, which was given to me for my Birthday by my eldest daughter).
- Read a book in each of the 40 categories below in post #2.

And that's it.

UPDATE: I'm now also doing the All Your Books Are Belong to Us challenge. Updates via the spreadsheet and postings in the relevant thread. Final Score 209/300

75 Books - COMPLETED 88
1. Six Scary Stories: Selected by Stephen King (Audiobook)
2. Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
3. Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall by Spike Milligan
4. Dear Amy by Helen Callaghan
5. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
6. John MacNab by John Buchan
7. The Creeper by Stephen Leather
8. Livia Lone by Barry Eisler
9. Children of the Dark by Stephen Leather
10. Death of a Bore by M.C. Beaton
11. Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Mayberry
12. Extracted by R.R. Haywood
13. Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough
14. Queen Lucia by E.F. Benson
15. Robert B. Parker's Blackjack by Robert Knott
16. Gerald's Game by Stephen King
17. Heartbreak Hotel by Jonathan Kellerman
18. The Cleaner by Mark Dawson
19. Diary Of An Oxygen Thief by Anonymous
20. Zero by Matt Brolly
21. Parsnips, Buttered by Joe Lycett
22. The Undead Day One by R.R. Haywood
23. Preacher, Volume 1: Gone to Texas by Garth Ennis, Steve Dillon
24. Jack Carter's Law by Ted Lewis
25. Domina by L.S. Hilton
26. The Undead Day Two by R.R. Haywood
27. At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
28. XOMBIE by Brody Sommers
29. Alien: River of Pain by Christopher Golden
30. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
31. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
32. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
33. Robert B. Parker's Revelation by Robert Knott
34. The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey
35. Sniper's Honor by Stephen Hunter
36. Prince2 for Beginners by Bryan Mathis
37. Keller's Fedora by Lawrence Block
38. Robert B. Parker's Little White Lies by Ace Atkins
39. Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz
40. Twisted 50 by Stephanie Wessel
41. And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead by Brooke Bolander
42. No Middle Name: The Complete Collected Jack Reacher Short Stories by Lee Child
43. Twisted's Evil Little Sister: Volume 1 by Chris Jones
44. Deathworld 1 by Harry Harrison
45. Orfeo by Richard Powers
46. Zero Sum by Barry Eisler
47. War Cry by Wilbur Smith
48. Executed 2 by R.R. Haywood
49. The Silent Corner by Dean Koontz
50. Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
51. The End by Charlie Higson
52. Somewhere In Time by Richard Matheson
53. The Nowhere Man by Gregg Hurwitz
54. Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King
55. G-Man by Stephen Hunter
56. VOICE: The Secret Power of Great Writing by James Scott Bell
57. Monster Hunter Siege by Larry Correia
58. The Butterfly Effect by Jon Ronson
59. Safe by Ryan Gattis
60. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
61. The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz
62. Y is for Yesterday by Sue Grafton
63. Death of a Dreamer by M.C. Beaton
64. Silent Child by Sarah A. Denzil
65. Jack the Ripper: Case Closed by Gyles Brandreth
66. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
67. The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett
68. The Bourne Enigma by Eric Van Lustbader
69. Watch Me Die by Lee Goldberg
70. Desperation by Stephen King
71. Agile Project Management: For Beginners! by Austin Spencer
72. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
73. The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
74. Kill the Father by Sandrone Dazieri
75. The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain by Bill Bryson
76. The Hangman's Sonnet by Reed Farrel Coleman
77. The Ritual by Adam Nevill
78. The Spring Suit by P.G. Wodehouse
79. Old Man's War by John Scalzi
80. White Trash Zombie Unchained by Diana Rowland
81. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
82. Midnight Line by Lee Child
83. Pulse by Felix Francis
84. Revival by Stephen King
85. The Whispering Room by Dean Koontz
86. Don't Let Go by Harlan Coben
87. Snare by Lilja Sigurðardóttir
88. Ghostly Tales by Various

"Borrowed" from Nyssa/MrsJoseph, the category list below has been rationalised down from 60 to a more manageable 40. A book can only count in one category:

Categories:
[36 of 40 matched]

Action/Adventure - Extracted by R.R. Haywood
AutoBiography/Biography - Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall by Spike Milligan
Award Winner - A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Banned or Challenged - Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Crime Fiction - Heartbreak Hotel by Jonathan Kellerman
Cyberpunk - And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead by Brooke Bolander
Dystopian - Zero by Matt Brolly
Espionage - The Cleaner by Mark Dawson
Family or Friend Recommendation - Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Fantasy Free for All (Freebie, Open Slot) - The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett
Gothic - Jack the Ripper: Case Closed by Gyles Brandreth
Graphic Novels - Preacher: Gone to Texas by Garth Ennis, Steve Dillon
Historical Fiction - Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
Horror - The Creeper by Stephen Leather
Humour - Queen Lucia by E.F. Benson
LGBTQ
Literary Fiction - Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Magical Realism - Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
Mystery - Dear Amy by Helen Callaghan
Mythology
New (to you) Author - Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough
Noir - Domina by L.S. Hilton
Non-Fiction - Parsnips, Buttered by Joe Lycett
Paranormal - The Dead Zone by Stephen King
Philosophical (Fiction or Non-Fiction) - The Butterfly Effect by Jon Ronson
Post-Apocalyptic - The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey
Pulp Fiction - Jack Carter's Law by Ted Lewis
Science Fiction - I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Short Story Collection or Anthology - Six Scary Stories: Selected by Stephen King
Speculative Fiction - Diary of an Oxygen Thief by Anonymous
Steampunk
Supernatural - Desperation by Stephen King
Survival - Gerald's Game by Stephen King
Thriller - Livia Lone by Barry Eisler
Translated Work (Formerly Foreign) - Kill the Father by Sandrone Dazieri
Urban Fantasy
War - War Cry by Wilbur Smith
Western - Robert B. Parker's Blackjack by Robert Knott
Zombies - Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Mayberry

First! and wishing you an awesome 2017!!

Beaten by 2 minutes!! You sneaky Nyssa :P

Have a great 2017 Orlok, may your books be good :D

That was quick :) Thanks guys.

dang it!

In post #2 I have added 60 category reads, which I will probably shorten to 40 - chick-lit's a likely casualty :P

Overall, I'll probably aim for 75 books, same as 2016, as I made that reasonably comfortably (will end 2016 on 83 or 84 read), but that total included quite a few short books, which may not be the case this year. I want to leave some space for my must-read-authors, which is why I'm considering limiting the category challenge to 40.

My eldest has been nagging at me for a while to watch Game of Thrones, and to push that along has just bought me the book. So I think my first challenge of 2017 will be to read this (all 800 pages of it). It'll probably cross off one of my category reads too - just have to finalise that list first.

Orlok wrote: "My eldest has been nagging at me for a while to watch Game of Thrones, and to push that along has just bought me the book. So I think my first challenge of 2017 will be to read this (all 800 pages ..."

I'm interested in your opinion. I've not been able to consume that series in any format but almost everyone I know enjoys it.

MrsJoseph wrote: "Orlok wrote: "My eldest has been nagging at me for a while to watch Game of Thrones, and to push that along has just bought me the book. So I think my first challenge of 2017 will be to read this (..."

Not particularly looking forward to it, TBH, but given that my daughter bought me the book for my Birthday from her own money (great, isn't it, when they start to earn wages), I feel obliged. I'll post back what I thought of it in due course.

MrsJoseph wrote: "I'm interested in your opinion. I've not been able to consume that series in any format but almost everyone I know enjoys it. ."

This!

Orlok wrote: "Not particularly looking forward to it, TBH, but given that my daughter bought me the book for my Birthday from her own money (great, isn't it, when they start to earn wages), I feel obliged. I'll post back what I thought of it in due course. ."

Can't snub our noses at a gift. Hopefully, you'll get some reading pleasure from it if nothing else.

I look forward to your post.

Well I've settled on my 40 categories for the year (post #2). I've reduced it down from Mrs Josephs's initial list of 60 (there were some I would never be able to read from, and some that were rather similar to other categories), but to balance that will only cross off one category per book read - no multiple category scoring.

Just realized that, while I always read your updates, I've not yet posted in your thread. I was tempted to just post "LAST!!". :D

I like your category list. Might use something like that, not as a challenge but just to see how many I hit, like I do with the Alphabet list.

I guess what I'm saying is, I might steal your list. Or MrsJ's. :D

Christa wrote: "I like your category list. Might use something like that, not as a challenge but just to see how many I hit like I do with the Alphabet list."

I stole Mrs. J's original list then added and/or changed a few of the categories either last year or the year before. I then added additional categories this year taking it to 60. But as I said in my thread, I have absolutely no expectation of completing the list this year. I may make it an ongoing thing, starting with whatever I miss this year and then adding, changing, or resetting everything else. But that's an end of the year decision and we're just getting started, :)

Posted my first read :)

#1 - Six Scary Stories: Selected by Stephen King

Christa wrote: "Just realized that, while I always read your updates, I've not yet posted in your thread. I was tempted to just post "LAST!!". :D
"

LAST!!!

Hahahaa...

I think you're missing out ignoring chick-lit.

HomeInMyShoes wrote: "I think you're missing out ignoring chick-lit."

You think? I guess it's something I'll just have to live with :P

Orlok wrote: "Posted my first read :)

#1 - Six Scary Stories: Selected by Stephen King"

Congratulations! :)

Grats on your first read of 2017 :D

#2

Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. A big book, and the sequel is about 600 pages longer! Not going to go there for a while, if ever. It's put me 4 books behind schedule...

^Lol. I read the first three and then quit the series. Your average page count is probably quite good.

Congrats on #2.

Congratulations on completing your second book of the year!
What did you think of Game of Thrones? I'm assuming it's not just the page count that turned you off to the series. I don't think I'd enjoy it, myself, but every once in a while I get curious.

Thanks both. It was okay, but I did have some issues. Partly that it seemed like 800 plus pages of set-up, and that the real action will come later. I also got a bit irritated by the names - too many similar ones in the same family left me trying to guess who was being talked about, and also the names were largely modern names with a letter or two changed, which I found annoying. Trevur for Trevor, Eddard for Edward, Randyll for Randal (you get the picture). Not sorry I read it (3 stars) but not sure I'll bother with the rest.

Congrats!

How did you feel about the violence and/or other random things people are complaining about?

Well done! I've been wondering whether to read them myself, but I'm not ready for a long term commitment :P

MrsJoseph wrote: "Congrats!

How did you feel about the violence and/or other random things people are complaining about?"

Not particularly violent or sexual, though both elements were there. Tame compared to a lot of fare around these days. Though I know some have objected to the young age of some of the (female) characters indulging in sexual activity. Uncomfortable reading to an extent, but historically accurate, I've no doubt.

#3 - Dear Amy by Helen Callaghan

Mystery category cross off.

#4 - Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (War Memoirs #1)
by Spike Milligan

Autobiography category.

A bit of catching up to do regarding my updates...

#5. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Science Fiction category

#6. John MacNab by John Buchan
No category match

# 7. The Creeper by Stephen Leather
Horror category

#8. Livia Lone by Barry Eisler
Thriller category

#9. Children of the Dark by Stephen Leather
Also Horror

#10. Death of a Bore by M.C. Beaton
No category match

#11. Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Mayberry
Zombies category

Orlok wrote: "MrsJoseph wrote: "Congrats!

How did you feel about the violence and/or other random things people are complaining about?"

Not particularly violent or sexual, though both elements were there. Tam..."


I couldn't get through book 1 myself - the violence was too much and I'm not super into politic plotlines. (Kushiel being the exception)

Well that seems a little more like you for reading pace.

Another catch-up post:

#12. Extracted by R.R. Haywood
- Action/Adventure

#13. Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough
- New Author

#14. Queen Lucia by E.F. Benson
- Humour

#15. Robert B. Parker's Blackjack by Robert Knott
- Western

#16. Gerald's Game by Stephen King
- Survival

#17. Heartbreak Hotel by Jonathan Kellerman
- Crime Fiction

You know, I wouldn't be so far ahead if you actually categorized your reads. Haha.

I just added these to the AYBABTU score sheet and threw in a bunch of placeholder categories. Brings you up to 44 points, could be more I am sure but I only put in the VERY obvious categories. :)

Dazrin wrote: "I just added these to the AYBABTU score sheet and threw in a bunch of placeholder categories. Brings you up to 44 points, could be more I am sure but I only put in the VERY obvious categories. :)"

Well thank you. Do you have a link?

HomeInMyShoes wrote: "You know, I wouldn't be so far ahead if you actually categorized your reads. Haha."

You say that, but look at the raw numbers - you've read more than twice the number I have. (*getting my skates on*)

Here you go: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

You can re-assign any points you want. I was just filling space.

Dazrin wrote: "Here you go: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

You can re-assign any points you want. I was just filling space."

Thanks! I guess I'm now formally part of the challenge team :)

I have assigned categories and am now on 62 points.

Only got 55 more categories to go.

Two more down:

#18. The Cleaner by Mark Dawson
- Espionage category

#19. Diary Of An Oxygen Thief by Anonymous
- Speculative Fiction category

Nice.

#20. Zero by Matt Brolly
- Dystopian category

This was a DNF, I'm afraid. An audiobook in which not only couldn't I get interested enough to care who the various protagonists were, I found the narrator's voicing of the various characters faintly risible (now lets make up yet another silly voice for this new character).

I'm still counting it as a read, as I got over a fifth of the way through. And it got me the letter Z in the AYBABTU challenge :)

Thankfully this is the last year I will ever do an alphabet title challenge. I might do another one for authors sometime though. That seemed a bit more challenging, but easier to find good choices.

It's also a challenge that is easily done at the library just wandering the stacks in the letter you are looking for.

Good job. I'm a little stalled right now...

#21. Parsnips, Buttered by Joe Lycett
- Non-fiction category

#22. The Undead Day One by R.R. Haywood

#23. Preacher, Volume 1: Gone to Texas by Garth Ennis, Steve Dillon
- Graphic Novel category

Orlok, you post #2 list is impressive!

GA wrote: "Orlok, you post #2 list is impressive!"

Thanks :) There are a couple of categories that are going to be a challenge, and I may seek recommendations in a while. LGBTQ and Magical Realism spring to mind.

^I can maybe help with magical realism.

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. I thought this was just a fun greatly enjoyable read.

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. Hard-Boiled Wonderland is probably my favorite Murakami.

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende which is pretty high on my to read list.

The first two come highly recommended from me, although I know Like Water for Chocolate is way off your usual reading path.

Orlok wrote: "Thanks :) There are a couple of categories that are going to be a challenge, and I may seek recommendations in a while. LGBTQ and Magical Realism..."

There are some wonderful Magical Realism books out there, I haven't read many but the ones I have are all 4+ stars I think.

The Golem and the Djinni
Among Others
1Q84 and others by Haruki Murakami
Several of Neil Gaiman's books

Looking at the GR list link there are many that I don't think apply though (Harry Potter? The Magicians?)

This is starting to look very, very sweet!