Around The Stack In How Many Ways – A 2012 Book Challenge

There seem to be so many book challenges about on a regular basis and as we approach 2012 I wanted to take part in one. But, none really nailed what I wanted to accomplish and that is to become more well read. Since rediscovering my love for reading this year I’ve found genres that have surprised me and classics that have passed me by. So, it made sense to just create a challenge myself.

After some emails and tweets to one of my favourite book bloggers, Emma from Book Monkey we’ve decided to team up to launch the challenge “Around The Stack In How Many Ways”. The idea is simple – to read as many different genres as possible through the year. The challenge will start on January 1st 2012 and run right through to 31st December 2012.

I’d love to see other bloggers take a chance and jump on board with this one. I’m using this challenge to scale Mount TBR and discover new loves. If you want to take part, feel free to grab the banner below and pop it in the sidebar of your blog. If you want to sign up, click the Mister Linky below and leave your details.

The genres we are using, are as follows:

1. Crime/Mystery – Sherlock Holmes, Rebus, Lincoln Rhyme.
2. Thriller – Lee Child, Dan Brown.
3. Romance – Anything that has a love story at its centre.
4. Fantasy – Can be anything from Lord Of The Rings to The Dark Tower.
5. Sci-Fi – Space Opera, China Mieville, Gollancz Classics.
6. Literary – Just look at the past Booker lists. Read a winner for bonus points.
7. Young Adult – There’s plenty out there, scour your local bookstore.
8. Historical Fiction – Wolf Hall, Conn Iggulden.
9. Dystopian – Never Let Me Go, Margaret Atwood.
10. Steampunk – Boneshaker, Affinity Bridge.
11. Comedy/Black Comedy – Michael Chabon, Nick Hornby.
12. Horror/Ghost Story – Stephen King, Clive Barker, Susan Hill.
13. Adventure – Treasure Island, Jamrach’s Menagerie.
14. War – Birdsong, My Dear I Wanted To Tell You.
15. Gothic – Poe is a perfect example.
16. Poetry – Research something that grabs you.
17. Drama – Graham Swift, Ishiguro, The Help.
18. Kids – Harry Potter, Narnia.
19. Graphic Novel – Anything from Marvel and DC to Jonathan Cape stuff.
20. Classic – As it says on the tin, pick a classic book from Dickens to Haddon.

It’s up to you how you define the book you want to read into what genre, but I’ve given some suggestions of the books I’m considering, above.

The Rules:

• If you’re a book blogger, you can use review copies as part of the challenge.
• You have to review the book if you are a blogger, even if it’s just a paragraph.
• Feel free to use books from other challenges, if you like.
• Sign up in the comments thread at the bottom of this post. Leave your name and blog address and I will add them to this post.
• Feel free to add more genres if you need to, the above is just to start you off.
• You DON’T have to be a book blogger, but it would be nice to see people blogging about their reads.

Rewards:

• Hiker – Up to 5 genres
• Backpacker – 5-10 genres
• Traveler – 10-15
• Palin-esque – 20+