2018 Category Challenge
Welcome to the 2018 Category Challenge!
What are the categories? It’s up to you! You can set as many categories as you like, in whatever genres you like. You can set minimum numbers of books to read in each category, or you can fill them up as the whim takes you. You can structure your reading year around a clever theme, although this is by no means mandatory. You can focus on prize winners, certain geographical areas, topics that are of particular interest to you, series you want to finish, authors with an extensive backlist… there are no limits to what you can do with the challenge.
What if I hate my categories halfway through the year, or sooner? Change them! While we do have the word “challenge” in the group name, reading should always be fun. So if your challenge isn’t working for you, change it up! The only rule is there are no rules.
Do you do group reads? Heck yes. We have four kinds of group reads:
1. “Standard” group reads: we pick a book to read in a specific month or quarter, or throughout the year. We’ll start voting on potential group reads in the last quarter of 2017. But any member can suggest a group read at any time!
2. CATs: these are monthly challenges inspired by the TIOLI (Take It Or Leave It) challenge over at the 75 Books group. We call them CATs because we are the CATegory challenge. Our CATs this year are the Colo(u)rCAT, the MysteryCAT, and the RandomCAT.
3. KITs: these are mini-CATs; KIT comes from kitten :) KITs may be former CATs, or they may be CAT ideas that didn’t get enough votes to be official CATs. Our most popular KITs are the SFFF KIT and the AlphaKIT. Both of these KITs are returning in 2018, and joining them is the wonderfully named ScaredyKIT.
4. BingoDOG: a bingo card put together by the members. One member is responsible for gathering suggestions for squares and weeding out the duplicates, then the finalists are put on a bingo card. We call it the BingoDOG as a counterpart to the CAT challenges.
Do I have to be a member of this group to join the group reads? Not at all. If you have a home base in another group and just want to swing by here for a CAT, KIT, or group read, or to play BingoDOG, you're most welcome to join us.
When do we get started?! The challenge officially begins on January 1, 2018, but you’re welcome to start earlier or later!
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CATs, KITs, DOG
CAT planning thread
ColourCAT general thread and ColourCAT wiki
MysteryCAT planning thread and MysteryCAT wiki
RandomCAT planning thread and RandomCAT wiki
AlphaKIT and AlphaKIT wiki
ScaredyKIT planning thread and ScaredyKIT wiki
SFFKIT general thread and SFFKIT wiki
BingoDOG planning thread and BingoDOG wiki
Group reads
Group reads planning thread
First quarter
January: Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
February: Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
March: Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell
Second quarter
April: The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer
May: Ulysses, by James Joyce: Chapters 1 to 3
June: Ursula K. LeGuin memorial read
Third quarter
July
August: Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe
September: English Renaissance drama
Fourth quarter
October: Neal Stephenson author read
November: World War One theme read
December
Multi-month reads
February/March/April: Young Henry of Navarre, by Heinrich Mann
April/May/June: Kristin Lavransdatter, by Sigrid Undset
August/September/October: Henry, King of France, by Heinrich Mann (discussion on Young Henry of Navarre thread)
Year-long group reads
The Forsyte Saga, by John Galsworthy
Short story collections
