2025 Reading Challenge discussion
ARCHIVE: Yearly Challenges
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Around the World in Books Challenge - 2016
How to Participate
1. Post here telling the challenge leader that you'd like to join the challenge. You can choose your books for the challenge at the beginning, or add them as you go. You can join a challenge at any time, as long as the challenge is still active.
2. Whenever you finish a book for the challenge, post here and let the challenge leader know so they can update your progress.
Some members choose to update their original post with their progress to keep track of their challenge more easily, but make sure to also post a new message so the challenge leader knows to go look at your original post. You can look at how other members report their progress to find a strategy that works well for you.
For more information about how challenges work, check out this thread or ask your challenge leader.
Participants
Adria | 11/10
Alex | 15/15
Alexxy | 0/10
Alison | 0/10
Amanda R | 18/17
Amy (Other Amy) | 3/10
Andrew | 20/20
Angelique | 15/15
Anita | 19/20
Annie | 3/13
Annika | 3/10
Anvita | 0/10
Aurora | 14/15
B | 0/10
Balquis | 0/12
Barbara | 0/10
Beth (Ducky) | 0/5
Candiss | 8/12
Caro | 10/15
Carri | 2/10
Carrie | 4/5
Charity | 12/10
Cheri | 18/18
Chloé | 5/10
ChrisP | 0/10
Cinnie | 9/5
Claire [claire6452] | 6/10
Claire [proud-mum] | 6/15
Clare | 10/10
Cubi | 0/5
Daniela | 5/7
Danielle | 23/20
Daye | 0/5
Debra | 0/6
Deborah | 17/20
Diana | 12/12
Diane L | 20/20
Dominique (Dom) | 10/10
Ecem | 16/16
Eggp | 17/12
Elina | 10/10
Elizabeth | 0/20
Elsbeth | 15/20
Emily | 2/10
Emmie | 0/10
Erika | 12/12
Eva | 12/12
Fadwa | 5/15
Francina | 6/10
Gail | 15/15
Geri | 10/10
Grace | 0/20
Gretchen | 11/15
Haley | 4/12
Ilona | 10/10
Jacki | 0/20
Janine | 16/15
Jocelyn | 0/10
Joe | 0/10
Julie | 0/36
Kaitlyn | 5/15
Kara | 0/15
Karina | 0/15
Katariina | 4/15
Katharine | 20/20
Katie | 8/10
katie | 5/10
Kelly | 12/12
Kirstie | 0/5
Kme_17 | 0/20
Krissie | 10/12
Kylie | 0/12
Lauren | 1/5
Lauren (: | 6/5
Lauri | 20/20
Laurie | 24/24
Laurie | 15/15
Layla | 0/16
Leah | 26/15
Leslie | 5/5
Lindsay | 0/20
Lindsey | 0/30
Lindy-Lane | 0/10
Lisa [likenbooks] | 7/10
Lori | 0/15
Lori | 1/7
Lucija | 1/10
Lynn | 25/25
Mai | 12/12
Marelis | 7/10
Margaret | 0/10
Maria | 10/10
Marie Claude | 3/10
Marina | 20/20
Marina H | 15/15
Marja | 9/12
Mary-Ann | 0/10
Mary Pat | 10/10
Maureen | 4/25
Meg | 27/24
Melissa | 0/10
Melissa [Jackson] | 0/10
Merja | 2/6
Michelle | 0/15
Miley | 0/12
Monique | 8/5
Netanella | 0/5
Nicole | 10/10
Nik | 5/12
Nika | 0/20
Nikinnia | 0/13
Ornina | 1/10
Patricia | 0/15
Patricia [patea] | 10/18
Patricia [Wedertz] | 13/15
Paul [kickbackyak] | 31/20
Paul [Vieira] | 4/12
Pien | 2/15
Ragna | 0/10
Renee | 0/10
Richard | 0/20
Roda | 0/11
Rosa | 0/10
Ronja | 10/10
Rowizyx | 15/30
Sally | 0/15
Sam F | 20/20
Samantha | 0/15
Samantha | 4/20
Samantha (AK) | 10/10
Sandra | 0/7
Sara | 0/5
Sarah | 0/20
ScarlettMi | 0/20
Sharon [Conty] | 10/10
Sharon [sqin] | 7/8
Sherry | 7/7
SibylM | 0/15
Siewjye | 0/10
Sonia | 3/15
Stephanie (Chinchillita) | 8/10
Stipe | 0/10
Susan | 12/20
Susan [sacorwin] | 10/10
Tara | 7/12
Tasha | 1/10
TerryJane | 22/20
Theresa~OctoberLace | 1/10
Tonks | 5/8
Tricia | 0/10
Trish | 0/10
Vernice | 10/10
Victoria | 7/8
Violet | 0/20
Willemijn | 9/15
Winter | 1/10
Yaara | 9/15
Yvette | 13/40
Yvonne | 11/20
Zara | 0/5
Zita | 0/10
Around the World in Books Challenge 2016
Goal: Read 10 authors from specific countries in 2016. Decided to change my plan a little. It was so hard finding books for the randomised countries, so I decided to use the list to get some books read that I want to or need to read for different challenges.
1. India - Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie
2. Russia - Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
3. Mexico - Pedro Páramo, Juan Rulfo
4. New Zealand - The Garden Party and Other Stories, Katherine Mansfield
5. Brazil - Veronika Decides to Die, Paulo Coelho
6.
7. Poland - Quo Vadis, Henryk Sienkiewicz
8. Japan - Battle Royale, Koushun Takami
9. United States - The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
10. United Kingdom - Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
Total: 1/10
You're quick!Yup, you can choose your own countries. The countries in the first post are just an example.
Never mind. I found the answer to my question. :)I'll join this challenge.
This sounds like great fun! Please sign me up for 15. I'm trying to geographically diversify my reading. This year, I'm doing a Reading Map in Google Maps to track how I'm doing. This is what my map looks like so far:
SibylM wrote: "This sounds like great fun! Please sign me up for 15. I'm trying to geographically diversify my reading. This year, I'm doing a Reading Map in Google Maps to track how I'm doing. This is what my ma..."That's awesome!
Cassandra wrote: "You're quick!Yup, you can choose your own countries. The countries in the first post are just an example."
Good luck to me, that is some list I randomised lol.
Sibyl - I love the idea of a reading map! I haven't decided whether I'm going to do this challenge or not, but if I do I'll have to borrow your idea.Winter - I like the randomizing! How did you assign numbers to each country to use a random number generator?
Gretchen - how many countries would you like to set your goal for? You can change it anytime.
I'll start with 10.1.) United States- Priscilla Royal- read Land of Shadows: A Medieval Mystery 1/3-1/7- author currently lives in Northern California
2.) England- Bernard Cornwell- read The Empty Throne 1/8-1/10- author was born in London
3.) Turkey- Pliny the Younger- read The Letters of the Younger Pliny- 1/18-1/20- Pliny spent time in a position in Ephesus
4.) Wales- K.M. Ashman- read A Land Divided- 1/23-1/27- Author currently resides in Wales
5.) Austria- J. Sydney Jones- read Requiem in Vienna - 1/28-1/30- According to author's blog, he lived in Vienna for some time
6.) France- Sophie Perinot- read The Sister Queens- 3/20-3/24- According to the author's webpage, she studied in France during college
7.) Canada- Sally Christie- read The Rivals of Versailles- According to the author's blog, she lives in Toronto
8.) Czech Republic- Princess Michael of Kent- read The Serpent and the Moon: Two Rivals for the Love of a Renaissance King- author was born in Carlsbad, Bohemia
9.) Australia- Kerry Greenwood- read Cocaine Blues- author lives in Melbourne
10.) China- Weina Dai Randel- read The Moon in the Palace- author was born and raised in China
11.) Scotland- Manda Scott- read Dreaming the Eagle- author was born and raised in Scotland
12.) Kuwait- Tony Hays- read The Killing Way- author spend time living in Kuwait
13.) Ireland- The Fifth Knight- read E.M. Powell- author was born and raised in Ireland
I want to try 20.AROUND THE WORLD IN BOOKS
Duration: January 1 - December 31, 2016
Read books written by authors from as many different countries as you can. The authors can have either been born there or lived there.
15/20:
Australia - De ruïnes van Gorlan by John Flanagan (6-1-2015)
The Netherlands - Rose by Rosita Steenbeek (10-1-2016)
U.S.A - Rode letters by Anne Bishop (14-1-2016)
Germany - Die Eifelgräfin by Petra Schier (31-1-2016)
Ireland - Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer (11-2-2016)
France - Die laatste zomer by Tatiana de Rosnay (29-2-2016)
UK - The Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyes*The Ship of Brides - Jojo Moyes(13-3-2016)
Hungary - Ochtendkoorts by Péter Gárdos (19-3-2016)
Canada -De Rosebud Atletiekclub voor Vrouwen by Carrie Snyder (18-4-2016)
Singapore - My Ladybird Story by Magus Tor (30-4-2016)
Bulgaria/Israel - For Better For Worse: Biographies & Memoirs by Rachel Semo-Wool (9-5-2016)
Sri Lanka - Seizoen voor liefde by Stephanie Laurens (25-6-2016)
New Zealand - The Change Stone by Genesis Cotterell (21-7-2016)
Afghanistan - Memoirs of an Afghan Village: A Collection of Pashto Short Stories in English Translation by M. Zarin Anzor (25-7-2016)
België - Sushi King by Bavo Dhooge (12-9-2016)
Cassandra wrote: "Sibyl - I love the idea of a reading map! I haven't decided whether I'm going to do this challenge or not, but if I do I'll have to borrow your idea.Winter - I like the randomizing! How did you a..."
I didn't, I googled randomise contries ;) I have this challenge as a ongoing challenge, so I wanted to make this a bit different while still adding to that one :)
I'm going to sign up for this! Right now I'm going to put myself down for 15. [EDIT: 20 now.]16. France - Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
17. Russia - Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
31. Serbia - The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht
34. Sri Lanka - The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
35. Switzerland - Heidi by Johanna Spyri
etc. I'll discover as I go
31/20
I'm trying to use mostly books I own for challenges this year. Please put me down for 12. 1. Australia: Ransom - David Malouf
2. Austria: The Wall - Marlen Haushofer
3. Canada:
4. China:
5. England:
6. Egypt: Cairo Modern - Naguib Mahfouz
7. Finland:
8. apan:
9. Serbia:
10. South Korea:
11. Ukraine:
12. TBD*
Total read: 8/12
Around the World in 365ish days (it might be leap year).1.
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Complete 0/10
I'm trying to structure my yearly challenges the same way, Candiss! Good luck getting through your stacks of books. :)
Cassandra wrote: "I'm trying to structure my yearly challenges the same way, Candiss! Good luck getting through your stacks of books. :)"Thanks, Cassandra. Good luck to you, too!
Around the World in Books Challenge1st January 2016 - 31st December 2016
Goal 8
Australia -
I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes Completed 03.01.16 Rating 5 starsUSA -
The Yard by Alex Grecian Completed 07.01.16 Rating 3 starsUK -
The Poppy Factory by Liz Trenow Completed 10.01.16 Rating 3 starsFinland -
The Listener by Tove Jansson Completed 24.01.16 Rating 1 starSweden
Denmark -
The Elephant Girl by Henriette Gyland Completed 10.05.16 Rating 2 starsAfghanistan -
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini Completed 14.08.16 Rating 5 starsItaly -
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante Completed 25.09.16 Rating 2 stars
I will sign up for 24. I was planning on doing this on my own in 2016 anyway, so it is awesome that I can do with you guys and see what everyone else is reading.24/24 COMPLETE
1. Switzerland - Heidi by Johanna Spyri
2. France - The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
3. Japan - What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
4. Sweden - A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
5. USA- The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau
6. Mauritania - Guantánamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi
7. Nigeria - Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
8. Chile - The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
9. England - The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
10. Morocco - The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami
11. Sierra Leone - Radiance of Tomorrow by Ishmael Beah
12. Cape Verde - The Last Will & Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo by Germano Almeida
13. Canada - Girl Runner by Carrie Snyder
14. Czech Republic - The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
15. Turkey - My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
16. New Zealand - The Bone People by Keri Hulme
17. Antigua - Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid
18. Finland - The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
19. Russia - The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
20. Australia - A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
21. Ghana - Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
22. Latvia - High Tide by Inga Ābele
23. Iraq - The Corpse Washer by Sinan Antoon
24. Vietnam - The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
AROUND THE WORLD IN BOOKSDuration: January 1 - December 31, 2016
10/10
1. UK: Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsJ.K. Rowling 01/19/16
2. Norway: Blood on Snow Jo Nesbø 01/15/16
3. US: We Were Liars 06/18/16
4. Canada: At the Water's Edge Sara Gruen 03/09/16
5.Nigeria: The Fishermen Chigozie Obioma 02/29/16
6.Australia: The Husband's Secret Liane Moriarty 04/14/16
7. Sweden: The Girl in the Spider's WebDavid Lagercrantz 01/03/15
8. Ireland Colm TóibínBrooklyn 01/09/16
9. Italy: Elena Ferrante - My Brilliant Friend 03/24/16
10. Portugal: Blindness by José Saramago 09/20/16
SibylM wrote: "This sounds like great fun! Please sign me up for 15. I'm trying to geographically diversify my reading. This year, I'm doing a Reading Map in Google Maps to track how I'm doing. This is what my ma..."Your map looks great, Sibyl! If I do this challenge I think I'll try making a map as well!
I did a challenge like this on my own this year, but only got about half-way through what I had hoped for. Maybe I'll finish it off next year! However, I'm going to (try to) wait to see which other yearly challenges are around before I commit to anything specific...
I'm in! And let's start with.. 6!1. Finland:
2. USA Neil Patrick Harris
3. UK Terry Pratchett: Equal Rites
4. Ireland:
5. ?
6. ?
2/6
This is a great challenge, kudoz to the mods who invented it!I have been doing the same challenge on my own since the end of 2013, and have read authors from 69 different countries so far. It's been so fun! You can find it on my member's corner if you're intrigued.
Please sign me up for 20, Cassandra!
I'm in! Sign me up for 15... Then we'll see how it goes :)USA: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
North Korea: The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story by Hyeonseo Lee
Nigeria: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Canada: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
United Kingdom: The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes
Norway: øԲԱ by Jo Nesbø
Sweden: Ondskaben by Jan Guillou
France: èԱ by Pierre Lemaitre
Australia: Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
Ireland: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Afghanistan: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Peru: Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
Iceland: The Blue Fox by Sjón >b>Denmark: Afsporet by Michael Katz Krefeldt
Algeria: The Stranger by Albert Camus
Read: 15/15
SibylM wrote: "This sounds like great fun! Please sign me up for 15. I'm trying to geographically diversify my reading. This year, I'm doing a Reading Map in Google Maps to track how I'm doing. This is what my ma..."Hi Sibyl,
How do you design this map? Does google do it automatically for you or do you have to do it manually? I'd be interested in seeing where all the books I've read this year have come from.
Hi Cassandra,I'd like to sign up for 5 please. My pleasure reading next year is going to be severely limited due to a full-time study load at uni.
In for 20, please.2/20
1. USA - Carrie
2. Jamaica - A Brief History of Seven Killings
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So, if an author has moved countries, can you use that author for more than one country? Different book titles of course
Does anyone know of a good listopia for this challenge?
ChrisP, you may find this listopia useful: /list/show/8...Else, you can search listopias by country, there's basically one for each (or almost) country of the world.
It goes with one of my personal goals for next year! Sign me up for 15!
Marina wrote: "ChrisP, you may find this listopia useful: /list/show/8...Else, you can search listopias by country, there's basically one for each (or almos..."
THANK YOU!!!
Angelique - That's up to you!Kathryn - We're hoping to have the yearly challenges all up by the end of the first week of December, so you won't have too much longer to wait.
Cassandra wrote: "Angelique - That's up to you!Kathryn - We're hoping to have the yearly challenges all up by the end of the first week of December, so you won't have too much longer to wait."
That's great news! I find myself checking several rimes a day:P
No wonder you found this one as soon as I posted!
ChrisP wrote: "Does anyone know of a good listopia for this challenge?"ChrisP, there is a group callled Around The World In 80 Books - /group/show/... - which has lists of books from the countries of each continent/region e.g. Africa (/topic/group...), Asia (/topic/group...), and so on.
Cassandra wrote: "Angelique - That's up to you!Kathryn - We're hoping to have the yearly challenges all up by the end of the first week of December, so you won't have too much longer to wait."
Thanks, Cassandra! Will still have to wait a while for my other groups!
I'm in for 10.10/10
Cassandra wrote: "No wonder you found this one as soon as I posted!"Heh it ticked in on my ipod;) but I'm also at home for two years now trying to get well enough to work, so when my arm needs resting after exercise I read. After discovering this group it give my days more meaning and goals to work towards:) My corner probably reflects it lol ^^
You mods are also doing amazing work! There's never drama here, everyone is so nice! Thank you! Looking forward to 2016:)
Thank you for the feedback! We love to hear that.
Zara wrote: "SibylM wrote: "This sounds like great fun! Please sign me up for 15. I'm trying to geographically diversify my reading. This year, I'm doing a Reading Map in Google Maps to track how I'm doing. Thi..."Hi Zara,
This map is pretty basic. I went to (made sure I was signed in to my Google account), clicked on the little three bars on the left to get the menu --> My Maps --> Create Map. After that you can give it a title, set sharing parameters (I set mine so that anyone can see the map as long as they have the link to it), and start adding markers. You can either place the markers manually, or search for a location and then choose "add to map." Once I had a marker set, I edited it to change the title from just the location ("New York, New York") to the author & book ("Hanya Yanigahara, A Little Life"). They have a tab to add pictures, and I just copied and pasted the URL of an author pic I would find using Google images. Finally, I would go back to the list of map markers on the left and use the little paint can icon to change the color of the markers. There's a lot more editing you can do to make a map look pretty and fancy, but that is very much out of my depth!
When you go back to the map to edit it as the year goes on, just go back to maps.google.com --> My Maps --> Reading Map --> Open in My Maps.
Have fun!
10/10
United States - Bloodlines by Richelle Mead
China - The Only Child by Guojing
England - Fellside by M.R. Carey
South Africa - Survivors' Club (2015-) #1Lauren Beukes
Ireland - Asking For It by Louise O'Neill
Wales - The BFG by Roald Dahl
Canada - The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Australia - The Light Between Oceans
Afghanistan - The Kite Runner
Ghana - Homegoing
SibylM wrote: "Zara wrote: "SibylM wrote: "This sounds like great fun! Please sign me up for 15. I'm trying to geographically diversify my reading. This year, I'm doing a Reading Map in Google Maps to track how I..."Oh I am so doing this!!!! Sibyl you really did an amazing job! Congratulations! And thanks for teaching us this very nice way to track our reading around the globe!
I'm definitely in! I love this challenge. I will randomly set myself the goal of 24 countries for now - but will potentially change that after I actually think about it.
I'll participate! while I do this challenge, I can also work on completing the i-spy challenge. Two birds with 1 book!
sorry, forgot to say, I'll try for 15. I'm going to aim for at least 1 country per continent and maybe expand in south America seeing as now that I think about it, I've never read a book that takes place there! I'll also aim for Asia as I've only read a few from there and maybe Ireland!
Sign me up for 10.1. The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain - France
2. I am Radar by Reif Larson - Cambodia
2025 Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
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Wolf Winter (other topics)
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (other topics)
Uncovered: How I Left Hasidic Life and Finally Came Home (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Stephen King (other topics)Neil Gaiman (other topics)
Grant Boshoff (other topics)
Isaac Asimov (other topics)
Lois Lowry (other topics)
More...
Duration: January 1 - December 31, 2016
Read books written by authors from as many different countries as you can. The authors can have either been born there or lived there.
-----
Example
Let's say my goal was 20.
1. USA: The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
2. UK: Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
3. Japan: The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami
4. Belarus: Foundation by Isaac Asimov
5. Mexico: The People of Paper by Salvador Plascencia
6. France: A Very Long Engagement by Sébastien Japrisot
7. Kenya: The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (she was born in Kenya and moved to the UK when she was two)
8. Canada: The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
9. Germany: The Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse
10. Israel: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
11. India: The Art of Strategy: A Game Theorist's Guide to Success in Business and Life by Avindash K. Dixit
12. Argentina: The Path of Ascent: The Five Principles for Mastering Change by Juan Riboldi
13. Australia: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
14. Czech Republic: Identity by Milan Kundera
15. Afghanistan: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
16. Italy: The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
17. Russia: Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
18. South Africa: The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein
19. Poland: The Cyberiad by Stanislaw Lem
20. Finland: The Summer Book by Tove Jansson