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We were throwing the idea around the mod pod and we already do some non-fantasy BRs here. Second with everybody scurrying to get points for the team challenge we thought it a good idea so that people don't get totally burnt on fantasy. Plus maybe some of these will become buddy reads and it would be fun to interact with everybody on these different topics.

A: Alaska
B: BC (Before Christ)
C: China
D: Documentary
E: England
F: Fiction (like a free spot)
G: Germany
H: Historical Fiction
I: India
J: Japan
K: Korea (Jenna Special)
L: Law (fiction or non)
M: Mystery
N: Nonfiction
O: Original (author's first work)
P: Police (fiction or non)
Q: Queen
R: Russia
S: Satire
T: Thriller
U: U-Choose
V: Victorian Era
W: Wild West
X: Xray (anything medical fiction or non)
Y: YA
Z: Zoology

I like this, it's a good idea to break things up. And it fits nicely with the non fantasy reads that I had planned.

GASP!!! This is a great Idea. I'm on it.

Also, how flexible is this. For example with the random selection of countries on there. Are we accepting books set in that location as well as authors from there, and books originally published there? This also goes for BC. Published then or a story set in that time?

This is brilliant. Might be just what I need

ooooh. I'm in~

also i'm adding this to the fantasy A-Z thread post since it's pretty much empty and I don't want more threads.

Ooh I love this too. Might struggle with some of them, but I'll give it a go!

Yanique wrote: "GASP!!! This is a great Idea. I'm on it.

Also, how flexible is this. For example with the random selection of countries on there. Are we accepting books set in that location as well as authors fro..."

However you want to do it. Flexibility is key. Having none the author's last name A-Z it's miserable when you get to X. Author or setting from Alaska as an example is up to you.

I already know I want to do The Great Alone for Alaska so maybe a buddy read.

Cool, I'm glad this was so well received.

The Snow Child for Alaska for me. I love that both blurbs start Alaska: date. Haha XD

Siobhan wrote: "The Snow Child for Alaska for me. I love that both blurbs start Alaska: date. Haha XD"

Aw man apparently it's fantasy! I thought it was just general lit fiction.

I propose that Fiction be the non-genre thingy, where you can't put it in any genre other than [literary] fiction.

I like to keep my challenges for getting through the physical books on my shelves so I'm probably going to go realllllllly flexible and do A: Alaska or really cold setting. Unless I discover that one of my books is set in Alaska and I didn't know.

Yanique wrote: "I like to keep my challenges for getting through the physical books on my shelves so I'm probably going to go realllllllly flexible and do A: Alaska or really cold setting. Unless I discover that o..."

Haha you never know, here's hoping! :)

Siobhan wrote: "Yanique wrote: "I like to keep my challenges for getting through the physical books on my shelves so I'm probably going to go realllllllly flexible and do A: Alaska or really cold setting. Unless I..."

Looking at this closer I'll probably do A: Africa since that continent is not represented in the challenge prompts, and I'll try to include South America, Australia, and The Caribbean in the free spots for the same reason. To me Alaska is just part of the US and most of the books I read anyway come from the US and the UK anyway.

Is it bad that I will probably loop half of these back to Fantasy subgenres like Urban Fantasy?

Zoology: Half-Off Ragnarok -- Cryptozoology

I'll be setting up a thread in the next few days... I need all the challenges I can get, if I'm going to keep doing the occasional re-reads, which have been gobbling my book cover and other A-Z slots...

Oooh, I need to set one of these up.

Iain wrote: "Is it bad that I will probably loop half of these back to Fantasy subgenres like Urban Fantasy?

Zoology: Half-Off Ragnarok -- Cryptozoology

I'll be setting up a thread in the next..."

If you can fill the categories with UF etc then why not? :)

This is a great idea! I'm in :)

Yay! Exciting! As a warning to those of you looking to fill the K spot with Korea - Korean fiction is pretty damn depressing (at least the stuff famous enough to get published).

edit* - published -> translated

Jenna wrote: "Yay! Exciting! As a warning to those of you looking to fill the K spot with Korea - Korean fiction is pretty damn depressing (at least the stuff famous enough to get published)."

Hopefully you have some recommendations for us!? :)

Jenna wrote: "Yay! Exciting! As a warning to those of you looking to fill the K spot with Korea - Korean fiction is pretty damn depressing (at least the stuff famous enough to get published)."

I love Han Kang's writing, though as @Jenna said it is heavy and depressing stuff. I'm planning on reading two Korean books soon actually:



Let me know if any of you are interested!

I would agree, Han Kang is definitely the most famous Korean author and there is a reason. I liked both The Vegetarian (fiction) and Human Acts (historical fiction). They are both really weird and whether you like it or not might depend on your background information about the culture/history of Korea. Human Acts features a POV from a dead body so that's pretty dark.

The problem with a lot of Korean translated works is the translation is not always that great. A prime example would be Please Look After Mom. Very interesting story (also very famous), but I really didn't like how the translator chose to present it. There is a lot of just direct translations that are either confusing or boring.

There is a lot of good non-fiction by North Korean defectors so that is an option as well. One I really enjoyed was In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom.

if anyone wants to read some good non-fic from BC (British Columbia, Canada)

here is a recommendation:

The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed

When a shattered kayak and camping gear are found on an uninhabited island in the Pacific Northwest, they reignite a mystery surrounding a shocking act of protest. Five months earlier, logger-turned-activist Grant Hadwin had plunged naked into a river in British Columbia's Queen Charlotte Islands, towing a chainsaw. When his night's work was done, a unique Sitka spruce, 165 feet tall and covered with luminous golden needles, teetered on its stump. Two days later it fell.
As vividly as John Krakauer puts readers on Everest, John Vaillant takes us into the heart of North America's last great forest.

I read one of his books once (The Tiger). John Vaillant is indeed a great writer, thanks for the book recommendation.

I’m going to read Craig & Fred: A Marine, A Stray Dog, and How They Rescued Each Other in March.

For the K spot: I just read The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly and it was fantastic. It's only 134 pages and it's from the perspective of a chicken. Don't really think I need to say more than that. ;)

Jenna wrote: "For the K spot: I just read The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly and it was fantastic. It's only 134 pages and it's from the perspective of a chicken. Don't really think I need to say ..."

Jenna flew over the cuckoo's nest. :)

This sounds super fun, definitely going to try it! Already planning on reading The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin which is perfect for Russia, and I'm almost finished with Becoming for the Non-fiction category.