Do you want to stretch yourself to read more books (and more books outside your usual comfort zones) next year? Here’s your chance!
Rules:
Sign up here with your goal for how many books you want to read next year.
Every month, I’ll post one main prompt and 3-4 bonus prompts (total of 52 over the course of the year). I’ll post this a month in advance so you have time to discuss and acquire the books you want.
Look for books you want to read that fit one or more of the prompts, and post your plans. If other people decide to read some of those too, we get an impromptu book club, but if not it’s fine too.
Once the month starts, post your progress as you finish books. Impressions/discussion/reviews/etc. are welcome but not required.
Relax, have fun, and don’t sweat the rules. Nobody will shun you if you fall behind your goal, stretch the interpretation of a prompt, or finish a book before or after its assigned month.
(Optional): I’m posting this thread early so that there is time for meta-discussion before I post the first batch of prompts (for January) at the beginning of December. If you have any questions, comments, or thoughts on how you’d like this challenge to work, now’s the time. And if you want to help fill out the list of prompts, I started a shared doc here and seeded it with the first few that came to mind. If we don’t get to 52, I’ll fill the rest out by stealing from other reading challenges.
What’s wrong with the normal freeform book thread? Why complicate things with goals and prompts? Nothing – I just think it will be fun to have a bit more structure and defined goal, and the prompts add a bit of a scavenger hunt feel.
What if I missed the beginning and want to join later? No problem, just pick a goal that sounds right for whatever portion of the year is left, and jump in.
What about audio books / graphic novels / etc.? Sure, however you read is fine with me.
What if I can’t find anything for a prompt? Check here and see what other people are thinking about reading, or ask for suggestions. If you really can’t find anything, then take a mulligan on that prompt and read what you want instead – the prompts are supposed to be fun, not stressful.
OK, I’m going to jump in, there are always books I want to read and I just need to take time to fit them in.
To start with, I intend to read Peter Watts’ Rifters trilogy. I’m a huge fan of his Blindsight and Exhopraxia and since I discovered that Watts offers the earlier trilogy for free in his website, I grabbed them for my kindle and have been meaning to get to them. So today is the day, I say. Not totally sure how long it will take to get to all of them, but I’ll ballpark two months for all three books. I know, I’m slow. Hoping I can find a rhythm to pick things up.
Yes, there will be reading prompts. I’ll post the first batch at the beginning of December, so you have time to think and discuss what books to pick for them. Then we start for real in January.
I’ll jump in for 24, though I’ll state up-front that if a new book in a favorite series or author pops (like, if Winds of Winter gets released), then to hell with your stinking prompts.
When and how much I read varies a lot, so I don’t feel like setting a goal other than “as much as I get around too”. I like the idea of the prompts, though.
How about setting up a qt3 group on goodreads.com? Not to kill discussions here on the forum, but maybe it could be useful for getting passive recommendations and inspiration from the qt3 community of book-readers for both books and possible prompts?
Here’s the first batch of prompts. With the end of the year being the traditional awards season, January’s theme is critical recognition. Hopefully this will help everyone start off with some high-quality books and build up early momentum!
As a reminder, the idea is that you have a month to decide what to read for the prompts, so you can coordinate choices, request them from your library, ask for them for Christmas, or what have you.
And of course, there’s still plenty of time to sign up if you haven’t yet!
January 2019 Prompts
1A - Main: Recipient of a major award in one of your favorite genres
1B - Bonus: Recipient of a major award in a genre you rarely read
1C - Bonus: A book that appears on a "best of 2018" list
1D - Bonus: A book recommended by a friend or other Qt3 poster
