Middle Grade Madness! discussion

The spooky season is once again upon us and it’s time for our annual October readathon!

This year it’s a little different, so read on for the rules and how it works before signing up with the link below!

How It Works:
- It’s a competition! The person who reads the most books from our book list wins!
- SIGN UP HERE: https://forms.gle/VxLoFWcbYmaGonTJ8
- Create a Goodreads shelf for the October Readathon so you can keep track of what you’ve read for it.
- Using the link below, access the random picker, spin the wheel, and it’ll randomly pick a book from our list for you to read.
- Read the book and let us know your thoughts on it are below! When you’ve finished leave a comment below so I can keep track of how many books you’ve read on my spreadsheet.
- Then spin the wheel of the random picker again and it’ll choose another book for you.
- Try to read what the random picker picks for you but if you don’t have access to that book yet or if it chooses a book you’ve already read for the readathon then spin it again and it’ll choose something different.

The Rules:
- Only books read between 1st October and 1st November count towards this readathon.
- The books read for this readathon must be from the book list.

The Book List:
Famous Last Words by Victoria Laurie - Kadi
Through the Woods by Emily Carroll - Kadi
Now Entering Addamsville by Francesca Zappia - Tishara
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell - Tishara
The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw - Annie
The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman - Ilsen
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson - Ilsen
Coraline by Neil Gaiman - Grace
The Shining by Stephen King - Jessica
'Salem's Lot by Stephen King - Jessica
Unbreakable by Kami Garcia - Lynn
The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld - Lynn
The Glass Children by Kristina Ohlsson - Amanda
The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sagar - Tanya
The Pilo Family Circus by Will Eliot - Tanya
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness - Aly
100 Hours by Rachel Vincent - Aly
Boy in the Mirror by Robert J. Duperre - Dee
The Secrets of Hawthorne House by Donald Firesmith - Dee
The Things you find in Rockpools by Gregg Dunnett - Montzalee
The Whisper Man by Alex North - Robin
Life or Death by Michael Robotham - Robin
The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs - Spencer
Juniper Berry by M.P. Kozlowsky - Spencer
The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend - Shaye
Watch Hollow by Gregory Funaro - Shaye
Insomnia by Stephen King - Audrey
The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud - Audrey
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco - Celeste
A Secret History of Witches by Louisa Morgan - Celeste
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson - Elizabeth
Asylum by Madeleine Roux - Elizabeth
Dracula by Bram Stoker - Heather
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux - Heather
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake - Ingrid
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty - Ingrid

The names in italics are the recommenders of each book!


If you have any questions, please ask below!

Countdown to the start of the readathon: https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown...

The link for the random picker: https://www.classtools.net/random-nam...

Oh man I’ve been waiting for this to pop up! I must admit it’s going to hard to pick three when I’ve been thinking of ten different books to add! XD I know you want to keep the list short but why are you only adding one of the three?

@Ilsen I’ve so been waiting for this as well. Literally since it ended last year I’ve been ready to do it again and now it’s upon us I’m so excited! I did not read enough books last time so I’m determined this time to read at least 7 books for this readathon!

So the reason I’ve limited it to 3 books only per person is because I remember last year we had that thing where a few people recommended like 10+ books for the list and then the list was super long. That wasn’t an issue for last year but this year because I wanted to make it a competition to see who can read the most and really if anyone can read them all on the list in 1 month I decided to put a limit on the amount of books you can recommend.

If a lot of people recommend books like 30 people then I’ll randomly pick just 1 book out of everyone’s 3 (so then the list will be like 30 books long which is a good amount of books) but if the number of people who recommend books for the list is significantly smaller then I’ll randomly pick 2 books out of everyone’s 3. Does that make sense?

I get you! It makes sense! It’s just really hard to narrow down what I want to read. I am going to try to pick books I haven’t read and really want to get to but I have some favorites here or there that I can put! I’m so excited!

I'm really excited too to see what everyone ends up choosing! I didn't have such a hard time choosing myself because I've read like 5 horror or spooky books so I just chose my 3 fave and they were the first ones that came to mind otherwise I'd really have to rack my brain to find books from this genre that I've read before. But I know it's probably paining you to choose only 3😂

i'm super pumped for this!! i've already chosen two, but I'm saving my last pick to think over

@Jessica smart! Saving the best choice till last😂👏🏻

How do I undo my vote? I went to make my list and added one instead. I tried to remove my vote for "The Last Time I Lied," but when I go to "change my vote" option, I don't see how to remove it? I am SO SO very sorry, I am still new to Goodreads groups!!

My votes are:
The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
IT by Stephen King
The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott

@Tanya it's ok😂 I'll fix it for you and add the books you've listed here to the list on the poll! And don't worry it's not even you, it's just Goodreads has a really confusing layout like that! Luckily being the poll creator means I can sort it out👏🏻

Thank you SO MUCH for understanding, Kari!! SO excited for this group!! Please let me know if I can ever help in any way!!💜💛💚

@Tanya no problem! We've all faced issues with Goodreads not working the way we want it before😂 And I'm so glad you're enjoying it here on the group! Thanks so much for the offer, you're so sweet😊

I dont know that I will do it but I have a book or two in the middle grade range that are spooky.

The Things you find in Rockpools

@Dee I’m pretty sure I haven’t read any horror since last years October readathon😂😂 it’s not a genre I read often enough which is why I’m happy to host this readathon again.

@Montzalee no worries! Thanks for recommending books for the list anyway! I’ll add them👏🏻

I only have access to books through my library and I live in the Netherlands, so my library often doesn't have the books. Can I still participate or will that be a problem?

@Robin that may prove to be a problem. If you’re trying to be competitive and win the competition that may put you at a disadvantage. I mean you could join in just for fun and use the random picker to select a book from the list and then see if your library has it or not and if it doesn’t then use the random picker again until it chooses a book your library does have. Maybe your library has signed up for an online library service so you can access more books digitally? Either way I think you’ll enjoy coming across new books so sign up anyway and let’s see how it goes!

@Kadi Yeah, I will just sign up and join in where I can. The online service of my library isn't that good unfortunately, so that won't be a help. I'm not super competitive, so that's okay for me. I will list some books that I thought were good in the poll.

So I listed 3 books, but I'm not sure I did it right. I commented with the books I added, so I hope it will be clear from that and hope you can change it if need be.

I'm also not sure about the horror books listed, because I'm not a horror reader. Could I just skip those? (will be a short list for me I think hmmm) Or maybe read another book by that author? For example I don't want to read It by Stephen King, because it's horror, but would like to read Mr. Mercedes and/or Misery

@A Robin Reads You can probably skip it if you really don’t want to read it. I’m planning to do the same thing for some books. As long as you have fun and discover new reads!

@Ilsen Glad I'm not the only one :). Yeah, indeed, it is about the fun and discovering something awesome.

A Robin Reads wrote: "So I listed 3 books, but I'm not sure I did it right. I commented with the books I added, so I hope it will be clear from that and hope you can change it if need be.

I'm also not sure about the ho..."

I understand what you mean about the books that are strictly horror, but I know the books that I suggested have scary parts but are not just horror. I assume there will be other books like that on the list too and I'm looking forward to finding them.

A Robin Reads wrote: "So I listed 3 books, but I'm not sure I did it right. I commented with the books I added, so I hope it will be clear from that and hope you can change it if need be."

No worries Robin I'll check the list on the poll and fix it all up. It's not the final list anyway so it's alright if it's a mess😂

Also, that's totally ok! My options weren't strict horror. They're more like YA supernatural. I mean I kept the genres pretty open because Halloween isn't just about horror it's also about spooky and creepy and supernatural stuff so it's whatever fits without vibes even if it only does so loosely.

It's totally ok if you want to skip a book the random picker has chosen for you because you don't like horror or if you want to DNF it because it's boring you or your not enjoying it. I'm not a huge fan of classic books and I see a few classic horrors on our list so I might end up DNFing them but I'm wanting to give all of them a try at least!

Kadi wrote: "A Robin Reads wrote: "So I listed 3 books, but I'm not sure I did it right. I commented with the books I added, so I hope it will be clear from that and hope you can change it if need be."

No worr..."

Thanks for not being too strict on the rules. It is appreciated.

@Lynn oh yeah always I try to be as lax as possible where I can be to accommodate everyone. I only brought in the competition aspect of who can read the most from the book list because I thought it’d be fun and I know some people read more if there’s a competition. But personally I’m really only competing with myself to see if I can read 7 or more books for the readathon, that’s my personal goal!

I'm not sure if this is still going on but here is my list!

The House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs
Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
Juniper Berry by M.P. Kozlowsky

Thanks so much Kadi!

@Spencer yep it’s still open! Make sure you sign up if you want to take part! (Sign up link is at the top of the page)
I’ll also be keeping the book recommendations for the list open till 22nd September so there’s still time for people deciding what books they’re choosing for it and time enough for people to borrow books from their library too. I’ll send out a message before the last few days to let everyone know so don’t worry!

@Robin no problem😊

😱The final reading list is almost finished! So far it has 30 books on it which is a decent amount. I decided to randomly choose 2 out of everyone's 3 recommendations.

Remember if you want to join in with this readathon you have to sign up first! The sign up form is at the top of the page where the rules are!

I have a question. Are you randomly picking two out of someone’s three choices? If so, how can you tell what are three (or one) choice they picked if some people did it directly on the poll?

Yeah I used a random number generator on google so it picked 1,2 or 3 and then I wrote down the 1st, 2nd or 3rd book depending on what the number was.

So on the poll it shows their name next to it if they entered it in and voted for it themselves but if people left a comment and I entered their choices into the poll for them then I made a note of who voted for what and I made it pretty recognisable because they're all in groups of 3 except for a few people who only voted for 1 book. Trust me I've looked at it so often right now I know who voted for what just by looking at the poll list😂
I also have written down on the new list who recommended what because I thought it'd be nice if people wanted to discuss afterwards what they thought of the book with the recommender!

Oh yay!! Trust me I’ve been looking at the poll list too. I’m too excited for this readathon that I had a dream about it XD

Hahahhaha that's next level excitement! I just got a library card so I've been checking if my library has any of the books (before I started working on the final list) and I'm so ready to start that I want it to be 1st October already😂

Same!! I hope most of these are in my library and if not, I’ll buy them on my Nook. That’s what I did with Strange Case of Alchemist’s Daughter.

so if i only suggested two books, will those two automatically be the ones chosen?

@Jessica yeah! Like some people only recommended 1 book so they’re book was automatically added to the list and if you only recommended 2 books they’d automatically be added to the final list too. I was actually going to message you later today because you originally said you were leaving your 3rd choice to make till later so I haven’t been able to choose 2 out of your 3 yet...

well that'll save the trouble of trying to decide on a third book, so you can go ahead and just count those two😂

@Jessica😂 great! I’ll add them to the final list now!

Hey everyone so here is the final book list for the readathon!

MG:
Through the Woods by Emily Carroll - Kadi
Coraline by Neil Gaiman - Grace
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness - Aly
The Glass Children by Kristina Ohlsson - Amanda
The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs - Spencer
The Things you find in Rockpools by Gregg Dunnett - Montzalee
The Secrets of Hawthorne House by Donald Firesmith - Dee
Juniper Berry by M.P. Kozlowsky - Spencer
The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend - Shaye
Watch Hollow by Gregory Funaro - Shaye
The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud - Audrey

YA:
Famous Last Words by Victoria Laurie - Kadi
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson - Ilsen
Asylum by Madeleine Roux - Elizabeth
Unbreakable by Kami Garcia - Lynn
The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw - Annie
The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman - Ilsen
Now Entering Addamsville by Francesca Zappia - Tishara
The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld - Lynn
100 Hours by Rachel Vincent - Aly
Boy in the Mirror by Robert J. Duperre - Dee
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco - Celeste
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake - Ingrid

Adult:
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell - Tishara
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson - Elizabeth
Dracula by Bram Stoker - Heather
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux - Heather
The Shining by Stephen King - Jessica
'Salem's Lot by Stephen King - Jessica
The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sagar - Tanya
The Pilo Family Circus by Will Eliot - Tanya
The Whisper Man by Alex North - Robin
Life or Death by Michael Robotham - Robin
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty - Ingrid
A Secret History of Witches by Louisa Morgan - Celeste
Insomnia by Stephen King - Audrey

Names in italic are the recommenders.

- I've added the list to the top of the discussion as well.
- I included who recommended what book because I thought it'd be nice if people wanted to discuss the book with the recommender after they'd read it.
- Here's the link for the random picker: https://www.classtools.net/random-nam...
- I've added the random picker link at the top as well
- I'm sending a message out about the final book list as well

Can u read Bram Stoker Dracula graphic novel to count or it has to the novel

Kadi wrote: "Hahahhaha that's next level excitement! I just got a library card so I've been checking if my library has any of the books (before I started working on the final list) and I'm so ready to start tha..."

Same for me - got my new library card yesterday.

@Tishara🤭 I’m going to say why not! I didn’t know a graphic novel existed for it but technically it is still reading the book and graphic novels are allowed so... 😂 that’s a yeah from me👏🏻

@Lynn it’s exciting getting a new library card right! Except because of corona I haven’t actually been to the library and I’m not sure how long it takes for reserved books to come🤔

I'm excited!! I didn't sign up since I'm super busy this month to get much reading in, but I'll definitely participate in my own way.

@Spencer the readathon starts next month! But any way you want to participate in is cool! Honestly I'm just excited to get a chance to read a genre I rarely read for and I may dnf a few of the books I start for this readathon but I'm hoping to come across some good reads as well

Looks like an awesome list. Am super excited!

So I used the random picker to randomly pick my first read for this readathon and it's going to be:
Then She Was Gone recommended by Tishara!
It actually looks like a really good book so I can't wait for October 1st to come!
Anyone else want to spin the picker early and find out what your first book is going to be for the readathon?

my first read will be Life or Death ! I've never heard of this one, but it seems interesting! so now i just have to make sure i can find a copy of it😂

Got my first read... It will be The Shining suggested by Jessica... don't have the copy but will definitely find it till October... excited!!!