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Do you have an idea for a challenge? Post it here, and we may use it.

Here are our themes for 2014:

January - Best of books 2013
February - Je t'aime
March - Spring forward
April - Showers
May - Birthdays
June - End of term
July - Summer holiday
August - Empires
September - Banned books
October - Scream!
November - Fireworks
December - Ice cold

Challenges don't always have to fit the themes.

I have one for the June theme (End of term): How about finish the series. I know I have a list of a many series that I am trying to finish.

People could shoot for levels:

Doctorate Degree: finish 9 + books
Masters Degree: finish 5-8
Bachelor Degree: finish 1-4 books

I don't know. I am not good for details.

For February:

EXPLORATIONS IN LOVE
Love comes in all flavors right?

1. Philia Translated from the ancient Greek as brotherly love. Read a book that features some sort of ‘bromance,� or two strong male characters. Or read a book that only has men in it.

2. Love triangle There are some pretty famous ones. In honor of Aphrodite, Hephaistos, and Ares, read a book about ancient myths or fables, or a mythic fantasy novel.

3. Pygmalionism From the Greek myth of Pygmalion. Read a book that features an artist, a great work of art or architecture, or an inanimate object coming to life or having some sort of consciousness.

4. Autassassinophilia Another way to say you love death, destruction, or mayhem. Read a mystery, horror, or thriller. This can fiction or non-fiction.

5. Chronophilia When you only date people of a certain age group. Derived from the God Chronos (father time). Read a book where the main characters are vastly different age ranges. Or read a book that features a large span of time.

6. Biophilia A love of nature. Coined by the great E.O.Wilson. Read a book whose setting takes place in nature, or wild and untamed lands. Or read a book about ecology. Bonus if you read a book by E. O. Wilson!

7. Star-crossed lovers In honor of the original star-crossed lovers, read a book that takes place in Renaissance Italy, Elizabethan England, or was book to movie that had Claire Danes or Leonardo DiCaprio in them. (There are a lot, seriously. Check out IMDb if you don’t believe me.)

8. Mechanophilia Who doesn’t love cool machines? Read a Steampunk/Cyberpunk book. Or read a book that machines (like a spaceship) play a big role.

9. Plushophilia A love of stuffed animals. They even call themselves plushies. Read a book about a sub-culture. Or read a book involving anthropomorphism like The Plague Dogs.

I love your idea Daphne!

Annika wrote: "I love your idea Daphne!"

Thanks Annika. I love making lists. It's probably a 'philia' of mine lol. It helps me recall things, or make connections in my head that I wouldn't normally. Opening up a call for challenge ideas has given me a reason to make more lists!

Jodi I like your idea of finishing books in series in June. I think it would make a good quarter challenge since I've got so many to work on.

Lynn wrote: "Jodi I like your idea of finishing books in series in June. I think it would make a good quarter challenge since I've got so many to work on."

I agree. I start series, and then I lose track of them. It would be a great incentive to get them finished up. I upvote for a quarter challenge too.

Daphne wrote: "Annika wrote: "I love your idea Daphne!"

Thanks Annika. I love making lists. It's probably a 'philia' of mine lol. It helps me recall things, or make connections in my head that I wouldn't normall..."

I love lists too. Although I have a lot of trouble sticking to them. :S

I'm not sure if this has been done before, but I don't see it for 2014...

I'm doing an alphabet challenge, and so far I think I have 18 of the 26 letters covered. I'm going to try to complete my list in the next day or two.

I have an idea for a challenge, it doesn't fit any of the themes so perhaps it would work as a quarterly challenge.

I thought it could be interesting to tell everyone a bit about ourselves using the books we choose to read. For example, my reading list could be something like:
Tenth of December - My birthday
Psychology for Dummies - I have a degree in psychology
Scouting for Boys: A Handbook for Instruction in Good Citizenship - I am a Cub Scout leader
Animal Liberation - I have been a vegetarian for 13 years

I have just thrown this list together off the top of my head, but with a little thought this could be a cool way for goodreads members to get to know each other better.

I really like your challenge idea Jodi, and agree it would make a great quarterly challenge. Even a 6 month challenge like we had in 2012 would work.

Laura Jane that is such a cool idea. I love the idea for a get to know you challenge. That would be one where you would really have to plan out the books in advance.

These are such great ideas! Keep 'em coming!

I have a challenge idea for May's Birthday theme.

1. Read a book that was published year you were born in.

2. Read a book where main character has birthday.
(Like for example Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry has his 11th birthday)

3. Read a book from author who shares birthday or birth year with you.
(Like in my case for example I could choose an author who was born July 27th (Cassandra Clare) or 1983 (Christopher Paolini))

Merja wrote: "I have a challenge idea for May's Birthday theme.

1. Read a book that was published year you were born in.

2. Read a book where main character has birthday.
(Like for example Harry Potter and t..."

This could be a fun one. It would take some digging for everyone to find the published date, or the authors birthday.

For March:
SPEAKING OF SPRING
All quotes with the word spring in them. For this challenge you can substitute any of the challenge goal with a book by the author of the quote.

1. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.� � Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities Some books get you on the first line, and never let up. Read a book from this list: Best Beginning of a Novel

2. “From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.�
� J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring Read a book from a trilogy or a series.

3. “There's this piece of wall in Hiroshima that was completely burnt black by the radiation. But on the front step, a person who was sitting there blocked the rays from hitting the stone. The only thing left now is a permanent shadow of positive light. After the A bomb, specialists said it would take 75 years for the radiation damaged soil of Hiroshima City to ever grow anything again. But that spring, there were new buds popping up from the earth.� –Sarah Kay Read a book that takes place during wartime, or read a nonfiction book about a battle or war.

4. “Spring is the time of year when it is summer in the sun and winter in the shade.� � Charles Dickens, Great Expectations Read a book that takes place in the winter or summer.

5. “Pleasure to me is wonder—the unexplored, the unexpected, the thing that is hidden and the changeless thing that lurks behind superficial mutability. To trace the remote in the immediate; the eternal in the ephemeral; the past in the present; the infinite in the finite; these are to me the springs of delight and beauty.� � H.P. Lovecraft Read a nonfiction book about science.

6. “One has no right to love or hate anything if one has not acquired a thorough knowledge of its nature. Great love springs from great knowledge of the beloved object, and if you know it but little you will be able to love it only a little or not at all.� � Leonardo da Vinci Read a book that teaches you more about your career/job, a hobby, or a passion of yours.

7. “Friendship however is a plant which cannot be forced -- true friendship is no gourd spring up in a night and withering in a day.� � Charlotte Brontë, The Letters of Charlotte Brontë Read a book that has true friendship in it.

8. “What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind;
In the primal sympathy
Which having been must ever be;
In the soothing thoughts that spring
Out of human suffering;
In the faith that looks through death,
In years that bring the philosophic mind.�
� William Wordsworth Read a book where one of the main characters dies.

9. “You won't forget me, Peter, will you, before spring-cleaning time comes?
Of course Peter promised, and then he flew away. He took Mrs. Darling's kiss with him. The kiss that had been for no one else Peter took quite easily. Funny. But she seemd satisfied.� � J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan Read a children’s book, a coming of age novel, or a mythic fantasy book.

10. “It was the face of spring, it was the face of summer, it was the warmness of clover breath. Pomegranate glowed in her lips, and the noon sky in her eyes. To touch her face was that always new experience of opening your window one December morning, early, and putting out your hand to the first white cool powdering of snow that had come, silently, with no announcement, in the night. And all of this, this breath-warmness and plum-tenderness was held forever in one miracle of photographic is chemistry which no clock winds could blow upon to change one hour or one second; this fine first cool white snow would never melt, but live a thousand summers.� � Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine Read a book that has a flower on the cover or in the title, or read a memoir or autobiography.

11. “They kissed for the first time then in the cold spring rain, though neither one of them now knew that it was raining. Tristran's heart pounded in his chest as if it was not big enough to contain all the joy that it held. He opened his eyes as he kissed the star. Her sky-blue eyes stared back into his, and in her eyes he could see no parting from her.� � Neil Gaiman, Stardust Read a book where two characters fall in love.

For April: a word association test.
The question: what do you think of when you think of when I say "Showers"?

When I think of showers I think of Cosmo Kramer making a salad in the shower on Seinfeld while talking on the phone and the drain gets clogged. So, I could spell out any of the following words using a book's title or author: Cosmo, Kramer, Seinfeld, Salad, Phone, Clogged, Drain.

Really this could be done with any of the months, I just thought of Seinfeld right away!

You could also take this another way and instead of spelling a word you could do a "book association test." So answering the same question "What do you think of when I say "Showers," one could say "rain." They would then read a book that has "rain" in the title or a book about that topic. People could make their own list of words and then find books with those words in the title.

Again, this could be done with any month, but I was on a roll with April!

I like that showers challenge, it seems to have been a while since I've actually participated in a spell out monthly challenge.

Another idea I had was to do a challenge based on obscure or bizarre holidays -- it would work well for July I think. to a website that has compiled a bunch of odd holidays in July and we could make challenges based on some of the holidays. For example:

July 2nd, World UFO Day: Read a Science-Fiction Book.

July 2nd, I Forgot Day: We all have ridiculously large TBR lists. Read a book on your TBR list that you forgot that you wanted to read.

July 15th, Tapioca Pudding Day: Tapioca reminds me of my childhood. Read a book that takes you to simpler times or one with a child as the main character.

July 21st, National Junk Food Day: Read a guilty pleasure book or one you know is bad for you (ex. you know you'll cry/have nightmares/not sleep to finish reading it).

July 24th, Amelia Earhart Day: Read a biography/ auto-biography or a book about a famous event in history.

I could go on and on, but this is just to give you an idea of what I was thinking. This could easily become a quarterly challenge as well. If you like it I'd be happy to put it together.

I love this bizarre holiday challenge idea! Super fun.

Jodi wrote: "I love this bizarre holiday challenge idea! Super fun."

Me too. :)

Jodi wrote: "I love this bizarre holiday challenge idea! Super fun."

Me three! ;-)

Daphne wrote: "For March:
SPEAKING OF SPRING
All quotes with the word spring in them. For this challenge you can substitute any of the challenge goal with a book by the author of the quote.

1. “It was the best o..."

I love this idea! Both your ideas sound really fun.

Dana wrote: "Daphne wrote: "For March:
SPEAKING OF SPRING
All quotes with the word spring in them. For this challenge you can substitute any of the challenge goal with a book by the author of the quote.

1. “It..."
Ahh, thanks Dana! I'd make list after list if given the chance lol.

This would make a cool yearly chanlenge! If it's not too late to start on.

Chloe, I love the idea. Maybe we could do it as a quarterly challenge?

°ä³ó±ô´Çé wrote: "

This would make a cool yearly chanlenge! If it's not too late to start on."

I love this idea! I just went through my list of authors I plan to read this year and I'm ashamed! 33 men and only 13 women!

Claire wrote: "I'm not sure if this has been done before, but I don't see it for 2014...

I'm doing an alphabet challenge, and so far I think I have 18 of the 26 letters covered. I'm going to try to complete my l..."

I do this as a personal challenge every year. The letter X is always the hardest to find!

Kara wrote: "Chloe, I love the idea. Maybe we could do it as a quarterly challenge?"
Yeah that could be a good Idea :).

Erika, I know right. I read books from 16 men last year but only 6 women (but I read more books from each woman then each man).

Kara wrote: "Do you have an idea for a challenge? Post it here, and we may use it.

Here are our themes for 2014:

January - Best of books 2013
February - Je t'aime
March - Spring forward
April - Showers
May - ..."

loved your idea!! i'll try to make this one my personal challenge as well )) hope to manage ^_^ thanks !!

i need a help!!!
as i previously said i'm making my own list for the themes for 2014, but i can't find books for those 4 below mentioned themes. if anyone knows what to read, please help me....
April � Showers/ ????
June - End of term/ ????
August � Empires/ ????
November � Fireworks/ ????

There will be vote for the month group read.
January was "and the mountain echoes" (best of 2013)
February will be "rosy project" (Je t'aime)
We're currently voting for March, there's a tread somewhere. But if you want to read more books by categories you can always look into the suggestions that didn't make it.

Claire wrote: "I'm not sure if this has been done before, but I don't see it for 2014...

I'm doing an alphabet challenge, and so far I think I have 18 of the 26 letters covered. I'm going to try to complete my l..."

Exactly what I was thinking, but I don't know if I can complete it in a month. Might need to be a yearly challenge for me. :)

Jackie wrote: "Claire wrote: "I'm not sure if this has been done before, but I don't see it for 2014...

I'm doing an alphabet challenge, and so far I think I have 18 of the 26 letters covered. I'm going to try t..."

You should check out the read the month around the world yearly challenge then. It's a letter challenge. :)

I keep coming across titles of movies I've seen that I didn't know were books first. My interest in reading these books has peaked and so I found a couple listopias that is a good starting point. I propose we use Better Than the Movie and/or I Only Watched the Movie for a challenge in October since there's a whole series of Scream movies. It would be simple, just read as many as you can/want. I'll probably do this at some point this year one way or the other. Too bad I already made my listopia challenge goal!

Rachel wrote: "I keep coming across titles of movies I've seen that I didn't know were books first. My interest in reading these books has peaked and so I found a couple listopias that is a good starting point. I..."

You can always adjust your goal! I've already added two listopias to my challenge since the beginning of the year.

I'm doing an A-Z challenge this year where I read 26 books each one's title starts with a letter of the alphabet. Thought it would good to see if anyone else would want to do it?

Jo wrote: "I'm doing an A-Z challenge this year where I read 26 books each one's title starts with a letter of the alphabet. Thought it would good to see if anyone else would want to do it?"

I'm doing this for another group as well, Jo. The former took me two years; now I hope to try to do as many as possible in one year. I have drawn up a list. I'm going to put up a thread in the less than 50 books.

Maybe one for the 'summer holidays'?
I was just reading Around The World In 80 Days, so I thought: why not a 'Around the world in 80 days'- challenge?

1. Read a book which takes place in one of the countries through which Mr. Fogg and Passepartout (the main characters of this book) travel. These are: England, France, Italy, Egypt, India, Singapore, China, Japan, U.S.A. and Ireland.
2. Read a book which has a number in the title.
3. Read a book with a means of transport in it, with which the main characters travelled; like a steamtrain, steamboat, sledge, elephant or on foot.
4.Read a book which features one of the themes of this book: like a wager, a robbery, a kidnap, a rescue or a faithful servant.
5. Read this book or one of the others by Jules Verne.
6. Read a book which was written in the time Jules Verne lived (between 8 februari 1828 and 24 maart 1905), but which was not written by him.
7 Read a book with a modern means of transport; like an earoplane, rocket, diesel- or electrical train etc. Something with which the characters in this book did not travel.
8. Read a book in which the main-character(s) don't stay in one place; so they have to travel or move - to another country or just in the neighbourhood.

These are just some ideas...

Elsbeth wrote: "Maybe one for the 'summer holidays'?
I was just reading Around The World In 80 Days, so I thought: why not a 'Around the world in 80 days'- challenge?
1. Read a book which takes pla..."

What a great idea, Elsbeth! It's one I would find fun to do.

LynnB wrote: "Elsbeth wrote: "Maybe one for the 'summer holidays'?
I was just reading Around The World In 80 Days, so I thought: why not a 'Around the world in 80 days'- challenge?
1. Read a book ..."
There's already a really similar challenge actualy if you want to join.
/topic/show/...

You need to read a book from each area. It's a yearly challenge.

°ä³ó±ô´Çé wrote: "LynnB wrote: "Elsbeth wrote: "Maybe one for the 'summer holidays'?
I was just reading Around The World In 80 Days, so I thought: why not a 'Around the world in 80 days'- challenge?
1..."

I know, I'm already in that challenge! And I like it!
But it has only one part of this challenge-idea in common - the country part.

Elsbeth wrote: "Maybe one for the 'summer holidays'?
I was just reading Around The World In 80 Days, so I thought: why not a 'Around the world in 80 days'- challenge?

1. Read a book which takes pla..."

I was just thinking: you could do this about many more books.
Like a 'Harry Potter'-challenge:
1. Read a book about witchcraft
2. Read a book from a British writer or which is set in the UK
3. Read a book about a (team-)sport
4. Read a book, published after, lets say, 1990.
5. Read a book about friendship
6. Read a book about dragons or other 'not-existing' animals or creatures
etc.

Or a 'Lord of the Rings' challenge, which could be like this:
1. Read a book in which people from more than one nationality are involved
2. Read a book in which the characters go on a journey
3. Read a book which is set in a country which does not really exist
4. Read a book what is also is made into a movie
5. Read a book about someone who is shorter than an average person
6. Read a book about elves
etc.

I was playing Ticket to Ride last night and I got to thinking about a Board Game Challenge. It could totally work for a number of months, but I thought a good tie-in would be June for an End of Term = Beginning of Fun kind of thing. (Here are some examples, but really, there are endless possibilities.)

1. Ticket to Ride: Read a book that involves a unique form of transportation.
2. Scrabble: Read a book that celebrates the written word/language (ie. Ella Minnow Pea or Letters to Jackie: Condolences from a Grieving Nation or The End of Your Life Book Club).
3. Chutes and Ladders: Read a book where the main character faces a series of setbacks.
4. Battleship: Read a book set during a period of war.
5. Uno: Read a book that either has a number or color in the title.
6. Monopoly: Read a non-fiction business book.
7. Chess: Read a book based in a monarchical society.
8. Clue: Read a mystery.
9. Life: Read a coming-of-age story.
10. Mancala: Evidence of this game originates in the 5th or 6th century. Read a book that's been around for a long time.

I like the idea of a board game challenge

Rachel wrote: "I was playing Ticket to Ride last night and I got to thinking about a Board Game Challenge. It could totally work for a number of months, but I thought a good tie-in would be June for an End of Ter..."

Great idea!

Elsbeth wrote: "Rachel wrote: "I was playing Ticket to Ride last night and I got to thinking about a Board Game Challenge. It could totally work for a number of months, but I thought a good tie-in would be June fo..."

Thank you Tahsa and Elsbeth!

I love Ticket to Ride!

Jaclyn wrote: "I saw a challenge I liked in another group, but the way it was played seemed difficult and kind of convoluted so I thought of an alternative way to use it. It's kind of a twist on the randomizer ch..."

sounds like fun!

Did anyone else miss out on reading classics in high school either because your school didn't teach it or you didn't read it? (I remember not being taught, but I was also not the best student so I probably also didn't read...)

This is just an outline, so any suggestions or changes would be welcome. Also, did anyone else find that if they read Shakespeare they didn't read Chaucer because their teacher thought one covered the other, or just me?

Maybe in June (End of Term) or September (Banned Books) we could do a Required Reading/Classics Challenge.

1. Shakespeare vs. Chaucer: read any work by Shakespeare or Chaucer.

2. Homer vs. Virgil: read any work by Homer or Virgil.

3. 19th Century: read any work written in the 19th Century.

4. 20th Century: read any work written in the 20th Century.

5. 21st Century: read any work written in the 21st Century.

6. Poetry: read any collection of poetry.

7. World Literature: read any work written by an author from a country that you have never been to, or a work set in a country you have never been to.

8. Autobiography: read any autobiography written by a significant historical figure (i.e. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas).