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Buying: 2018 Challenge Book Recommendations



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Wed Jan 03, 2018 7:59 am
niteowl says...



Okay, so I actually meant to gather recs for last year's list, but never got around to it. So let's try again in 2018!

If you're familiar with the 2018 Reading Challenge, then you know I'm looking for specific books to fit certain categories. Since this is hard, I'm seeking help from all of YOU and I'm willing to pay for it.

Some stuff that may help guide recommendations: I mostly read fantasy growing up, but I've branched out in recent years to other genres, especially mystery and historical fiction. I'm a sucker for romance. I'm generally not into non-fiction or realistic fiction or sad books. Also was never big on the classics.

What am I asking for? A book, what categories it may fit into (as many as are applicable is fine, I've "double-dipped" in the past and I will ultimately sort out what categories I want to use the book for), and a brief description. The book should fit at least one category that is currently (as of whenever you're reading this) blank on the below Master List.

What am I offering? The payment structure for this is two-fold. First, I will offer 25 points once I've seen your post on this thread and added it to the master list. This will probably be about 1-2 weeks at the most, as I'm not on every day anymore. The second 25 points will be awarded whenever I actually finish reading the book, which could be any time between now and December 31, 2018. If that day arrives and I haven't gotten to it yet, you'll get the points then. On the (highly unlikely) occasion that I start reading it but can't finish because I hate it that much, you will not get the second 25 points.

Is there a deadline? Limit on number of entries? I technically have all year for this, but I will set a deadline of YWS's 14th birthday on November 14, 2018. This gives me six weeks to obtain and finish the books. Limit 5 per person for the year, though they don't have to be at once. So like if you recommend a book in January, but then find another one later one, that's totally fine.

Anything else I need to know? If you've looked at the categories, you may notice that some of the categories require personal information. If I'm willing to give that out, I will specify. If not or I really can't, I'll mark it as "N/A".

Now, without further ado, here is the Master List (last updated 4/12/18)
Spoiler! :
1. A book made into a movie you've already seen:N/A "A Man Called Ove" by Fredrich Bachman(TBR)
2. True crime:"The Professor and the Madman" by Simon Winchester(TBR)
3. The next book in a series you started:Already completed
4. A book involving a heist: "Lawless" by Jeffrey Salane (TBR)
5. Nordic noir:
6. A novel based on a real person: "Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller" by Sarah Miller- a novel from the perspective of Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller's beloved "Teacher".
(TBR)

7. A book set in a country that fascinates you:(Pretty much any country that isn't the US)A Thousand Splendid Suns (?) "All the Light we cannot see" by Anthony Doerr (TBR)
"Red Winter" by Annette Marie (TBR) (still open to other suggestions)
8. A book with a time of day in the title:
9. A book about a villain or antihero: "Archvillian" by Barry Lyga
10. A book about death or grief: "What You Left Behind" by Jessica Verdi
11. A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym: "Jane Eyre" (TBR)
12. A book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist:Raven Boys series? Idk I'm open to reading more in this category Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (TBR)
13. A book that is also a stage play or a musical: "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" (TBR)
14. A book by an author of different ethnicity than you:(I'm white)A Thousand Splendid Suns (?) (open to other possibilities)"I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban" by Malala Yousafzai (?)
15. A book about feminism:"I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban" by Malala Yousafzai
16. A book about mental health:Solitaire by Alice Oseman (TBR) (still open to other suggestions)Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (TBR)
17. A book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift:N/A (unless you're offering to buy me a book :P)
18. A book by two authors:Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (TBRe-Read)
19. A book about or involving a sport:
20. A book by a local author:N/A
21. A book with your favourite colour in the title:(I like purple, blue, green, and red, or any shade thereof)Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater (read)
22. A book with alliteration in the title:Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater (read)
23. A book about time travel:"Sapphire Blue" by Kerstin Gier (TBR)
24. A book with a weather element in the title:"The Small Rain" by Madeline L'Engle
25. A book set at sea:The Life of Pi by Yann Martel (TBR)
26. A book with an animal in the title:The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (READ)
27. A book set on a different planet:
28. A book with song lyrics in the title:Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater (read)
29. A book about or set on Halloween:The girl who fell beneath fairyland and led the revels there by Catherynne M. Valente (read)
30. A book with characters who are twins:"The Trouble with Twins" by Kathryn Siebel (TBR) The girl who fell beneath fairyland and led the revels there by Catherynne M. Valente (read)
31. A book mentioned in another book:The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente (read)
32. A book from a celebrity book club:
33. A childhood classic you’ve never read:(Like I said, I was never big on classics, so feel free to suggest and I will add it unless I've already read it)The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
34. A book that’s published in 2018:
35. A past Goodreads Choice Awards winner:
36. A book set in the decade you were born:(1990's)The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (TBR)
37. A book you meant to read in 2017 but didn’t get to:Already completed!
38. A book with an ugly cover:The Giver by Lois Lowry or Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas (TBR)
39. A book that involves a bookstore or library:
40. Your favorite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 POPSUGAR Reading Challenges:(I'm...not sure if I had a favorite? If you're willing to look at those lists and suggest a book/category, I'll roll with it) (could use Good Omens for this since I used it in the past for "published the year you were born)

Advanced

41. A bestseller from the year you graduated high school:(2008)A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini (TBR)
42. A cyberpunk book:
43. A book that was being read by a stranger in a public place:N/A
44. A book tied to your ancestry:(Greek, Irish, German)
45. A book with a fruit or a vegetable in the title:
46. An allegory:
47. A book by an author with the same first or last name as you:(First name Nicole, last name I would rather not divulge)"Eternal Eden" by Nicole Williams.
48. A microhistory:
49. A book about a problem facing society today:The Transgender Manifesto by Ian Thomas Malone (read)
50. A book recommended by someone else taking the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge:
"You do ill if you praise, but worse if you censure, what you do not understand." Leonardo Da Vinci

<YWS><R1>
  





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Wed Jan 03, 2018 8:15 am
Rosendorn says...



I'm nervous to recommend these because I feel like I'm a million years late to the party, but:

Raven Boys
Dream Thieves
Blue Lily, Lily Blue
Raven King

All by Maggie Stiefvater

It's basically part mystery, part urban fantasy, part slice of life. Mostly urban fantasy and hunting for an ancient supposed to be dead but apparently just sleeping Welsh king. The blurb is not to be trusted in the slightest. Foreshadowing everywhere.

I've currently only read Raven Boys (nearly done) but from various spoilers around the net, I know at least one of them fits "book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist" (At least, viewpoint character). So you're looking at animal in title, next book in a series, favourite colour, and LGBTQ+ protagonist.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

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Wed Jan 03, 2018 9:55 am
Mageheart says...



While I still haven't read it myself, I believe that Solitaire by Alice Oseman deals with mental health!
mage

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Wed Jan 03, 2018 12:47 pm
zaminami says...



**note to self: fill out books**
tartaglia, they/he lesbian.
i also go by skylar and reginald!
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Wed Jan 03, 2018 7:12 pm
BluesClues says...



31. A book mentioned in another book: BRO. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente (mentioned in Palimsest, also by Catherynne M. Valente but not as good).

And then, when you discover how much you totally love that (you will), you can complete 3. The next book in a series you started with the next book in the Fairyland series, but since you said "N/A" for that category I won't mention the title here.

(I got really excited because Fairyland is my go-to book suggestion and I'm always so pleased when I can recommend it to someone. It may be my favorite book series ever. This coming from someone who grew up on Harry Potter.)

33. A childhood classic you’ve never read: The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Alternatively, The Alligator and His Uncle Tooth, by Geoffrey Hayes, which is a classic in my family and costs pennies on Amazon. I count this as one recommendation, on the off chance that you've read The Little Prince and can't use that.

41. A bestseller from the year you graduated high school:(2008) A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini, which would also work toward 14. A book by an author of different ethnicity than you:(I'm white) or 7. A book set in a country that fascinates you:(Pretty much any country that isn't the US), although if you're looking forward to trying to read multiple books that fit those categories (like I am), then definitely use it as your best-seller-from-high-school-graduation.

18. A book by two authors: Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

25. A book set at sea: Life of Pi, by Yann Martel.

That's it! I adore every one of these books. Happy reading!
  





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Sun Jan 07, 2018 6:49 pm
niteowl says...



Thanks guys! I went ahead and checked out "Raven Boys" and "Fairyland" yesterday. I also read the book I had in mind for "next book in a series" haha.
"You do ill if you praise, but worse if you censure, what you do not understand." Leonardo Da Vinci

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Mon Jan 22, 2018 5:03 am
LJF says...



4) "Lawless" by Jeffrey Salane- a middle grade novel about a girl who attends a school for future criminal masterminds.

6) "Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller" by Sarah Miller- a novel from the perspective of Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller's beloved "Teacher".

7) "Red Winter" by Annette Marie- a fantasy YA novel set in Japan, about a girl who is to become the host of a goddess.

9) "Archvillian" by Barry Lyga- a middle grade/kids novel about a boy who uses his newfound powers to stop the town's new superhero.

10) "What You Left Behind" by Jessica Verdi- a YA novel about a boy who's girlfriend died of complications from cancer due to childbirth.

11) Anything by any of the Bronte sisters- they all used male pseudonyms. I'd recommend "Jane Eyre"

13) "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" by Gregory Maguire- an adult fantasy novel about the Wicked Witch, inspired the hit musical.

14/15) "I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban" by Malala Yousafzai- an autobiography. (I haven't read this one, so I can't verify how good it is.)

21/23) "Sapphire Blue" by Kerstin Gier- a ya fantasy about a girl from a family of time travelers.

30) "The Trouble with Twins" by Kathryn Siebel- a middle grade historical fiction about the misfortunes of being the less attractive twin.

35) here's the list of winners of 2017: https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-books-2017

47) "Eternal Eden" by Nicole Williams- YA fantasy about a college freshman who nearly dies and is revived as an immortal.

I'll probably come up with more, but that's all for now!
-LJF
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Sun Jan 28, 2018 3:17 am
alliyah says...



Here's some book recommendations.

1. Book Made into MovieWell I have no ideas what book/movies you've seen but "A Man Called Ove" by Fredrich Bachman is a wonderful movie - haven't read the book, but I've read another book by him which was excellent. It's about an old guy who's always really grumpy and through the course of the book you discover why he is how he is.

2. Book about True Crime "The Professor and the Madman" by Simon Winchester -- so this isn't an action-heavy crime novel. It's the real story about a man who contributed huge portions to the Oxford English Dictionary (one of the first English dictionaries around, so therefore was pretty influential in how we view language even today) and no one knew for the first few years he was contributing... but he had sort of a checkered past. If you like rhetoric and language, you'll like this book. Although it is more fact than action heavy -- but it's at least short!

7. A book set in a country that fascinates you Not sure if you've read "All the Light we cannot see" by Anthony Doerr but it won the 2015 Pulitzer and is set in France during WWII. It follows 3 different stories happening simultaneously - definitely one of my favorite books ever. A bit long, but worth the read if you haven't read it yet. If you like historical fiction, you'll love this.

24. A book with a weather element in the title "The Small Rain" by Madeline L'Engle is a lovely coming of age novel about a girl who's life takes a bunch of horrible turns.
you should know i am a time traveler &
there is no season as achingly temporary as now
but i have promised to return
  





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Mon Feb 26, 2018 7:11 am
EternalRain says...



I have a lot of recommendations for realistic fiction but I tried to avoid that genre haha.

16. A book about mental health Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. It's about a girl who enters high school with something heavy on her back and the whole school hating her for calling the cops on a summer party. It's realistic fiction, though really good!

38. A book with an ugly cover: (In my opinion, it's an ugly cover!) The Giver by Lois Lowry. It's about a boy in a dystopian, "perfect" world who gets assigned a job that changes everything. You may have already read this one because it's a pretty well known book, so if so, here's a second recommendation: Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas (I'm going off the original cover). It's a high fantasy series about a female assassin! Really good.

12. A book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. It's fantasy, very Harry Potter-esque! It's about a mage enrolled in a magic school who falls in love with a vampire.

36. A book set in the decade you were born: (1990s) Another realistic fiction, but so good! The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. It follows the coming-of-age story of a boy entering high school in the early 1990s, learning about all the sorts of things you learn about.
“Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant filled with odd little waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don't always like.”

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