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Reading challenge - suggestions needed!

28 replies

sproutish · 05/07/2017 15:16

So, I've set myself up a sort of challenge of different types of books to read. I tend to get stuck on similar books and wanted to branch out a bit.

My plan is to keep a little reading journal type thing, detailing what I liked/disliked etc etc. I'm aware this is very much like setting myself unnecessary school homework but I'm enjoying it so far! Grin

The boxes I still need to tick are:
A classic romance
A book that became a film
A book with a number in the title
A book written by someone under 30
A book with non-human characters (I've already read Animal Farm before)
A funny book
A book with a one word title
A book of short stories
A Pulitzer Prize winner
A trilogy

If anyone has any suggestions for really good books that fall under these categories I'd be v v grateful!

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Tarahumara · 12/07/2017 21:09

Pulitzer Prize winner - The Goldfinch

Written by someone under 30 - A Constellation of Vital Phenomena

A book that became a film - The Hours

NomNomNominativeDeterminism · 12/07/2017 20:48

Book that became a film: The Maltese Falcon.

AdaColeman · 12/07/2017 16:50

Oh yes purple, the mobile library parked in the courtyard, that's a fab book.
I like all your selection, especially Angel and 84 Charing Cross Road. Years ago there was a lovely film of 84 CCR, IIRC I wept buckets at the end. Smile

purplegreen99 · 12/07/2017 15:48

Ada's suggestion of the Queen & I for a funny book made me remember the Alan Bennett book about the Queen discovering her local library - I think it's called The Uncommon Reader? Funny & very short.

purplegreen99 · 12/07/2017 15:46

Forgot a Pulitzer Prize winner - A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

purplegreen99 · 12/07/2017 15:42

A book that became a film - Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller
A book with a number in the title - 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
A book written by someone under 30 - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
A funny book - Love in a Cold Climate, The Pursuit of Love both by Nancy Mitford
A book with a one word title - Angel by Elizabeth Taylor
A trilogy - His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

impostersyndrome · 11/07/2017 22:08

Pulitzer Prize winner: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay By Michael Chabon (or The Shipping News, mentioned above)

Trilogy: The L-Shaped Room and sequels by Lynne Reid Banks

AdaColeman · 05/07/2017 22:38

Romance ~ Mansfield Park

Book that's a film ~ The light between oceans, M L Stedman
(or The Hunger Games)

Number in title ~ A thousand acres, Jane Smiley

Non human characters ~ Wind in the Willows

A funny book ~ A confederacy of dunces , John Kennedy Toole
or a bit lighter, The Queen and I, Sue Townsend

One word title ~ Wool, Hugh Howey

Short stories ~ The assasination of Margaret Thatcher, Hilary Mantel

Pulitzer winner ~ All the light we cannot see, Anthony Doerr
or The Shipping News, Annie Prouix
or The Colour Purple, Alice Walker

Trilogy ~ The Lord of the Rings

StitchesInTime · 05/07/2017 22:14

A classic romance - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

A book that became a film - Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. It's also a trilogy.

A book with a number in the title - A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

A book written by someone under 30 - Carrie by Stephen King

A book with non-human characters - Watership Down by Richard Adams

A book with a one word title - Idlewild by Nick Sagan

A book of short stories - one of Roald Dahl or Stephen King's collections

A Pulitzer Prize winner - To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

userblahblahwhatever · 05/07/2017 21:52

A book with a one word title - ONE

userblahblahwhatever · 05/07/2017 21:50

A book that became a film -The Book Thief
A book with a number in the title - ONE
A book with non-human characters -The Humans by Matt haigh 😛
A funny book - A man called Ove
A book with a one word title
A book of short stories- Rachel Joyce has a lovely book of short stories but I've forgotten what it's called! Something to do with Snow
A triology- Child 44 is amazing and the following two

mumoffour1715144 · 05/07/2017 21:40

A classic romance - Jane Eyre
A book that became a film - Rebecca
A book with a number in the title - 1984, catch 24
A book with non-human characters (I've already read Animal Farm before) - The Island of Dr Moreau
A book with a one word title - atonement
A book of short stories - Kate Mosse
A Pulitzer Prize winner - To kill a mockingbird. Harper Lee
A trilogy - All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness, Languedoc Trilogy by Kate mosse

sproutish · 05/07/2017 21:27

Actually think I already have the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo + 2, was given them for Christmas many moons ago but don't think I ever finished them! So will give them a bash.
I've never read LOTR! That will definitely make it onto my list as well in some form too now.

OP posts:
southeastdweller · 05/07/2017 21:25

Here's a few ideas:

A book that became a film - Notes on a Scandal
A book with a number in the title - Starter for Ten
A book written by someone under 30 - The Secret History
A funny book - I, Partridge
A Pulitzer Prize winner - The Goldfinch

sproutish · 05/07/2017 21:24

I've always been a bookworm... I graduated this year and found that when I was at uni I wasn't reading as much for fun and when I was it was just easy reads that I knew I'd like already. Was very much judging books by their covers - so wanted to set myself some new challenges now I've got a bit more time for it Smile

OP posts:
CluelessMama · 05/07/2017 20:43

I agree with Peter May's Lewis trilogy, or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the rest of the original Millennium trilogy.
Book made into a film - The Great Gatsby/Little Women/Suite Francaise
Sounds like a fab challenge, happy reading!

SatsukiKusakabe · 05/07/2017 19:35

I was hard-pressed to think of many true trilogies that were any good tbh Confused

Bookend LOTR with The Hobbit and Silmarillon if you want to fulfil the category with a clear conscience, OP Grin

strikealight · 05/07/2017 19:10

Btw, love your challenge. I try and mix it up for reading but realistically I fall back on the same authors/genres.
Making notes from some of the suggestions.

sproutish · 05/07/2017 18:57

Thanks everyone! I'll come back and let you know how it goes!

OP posts:
MaximilianNero · 05/07/2017 17:37

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead is this year's Pulitzer prize winner, it's on my to-read list and I've heard very good things about it.

Octavia E. Butler wrote some great short stories

For a number in the title, I thought 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' (Khaled Hosseini) was fantastic.

The Lord of the Rings is really one novel in 3 volumes, but I'd still stick it under the trilogy section because it's too good not to read. The Two Towers has a number in the title, so you could get it in that way too

SatsukiKusakabe · 05/07/2017 17:02

A few of those suggestions cross over into other categories - I think Gone WW and the Carver both won Pulitzers, etc lots of movies made, so can mix and match, hope you find something you like!

SatsukiKusakabe · 05/07/2017 17:00

A classic romance: Pride and Prejudice/Peruasion/Sense and Sensibility if you haven't read any of them.

Book that became a film: Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres, Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

Book with number: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Under 30: The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

Non humans: Watership Down or Black Beauty

Funny book: Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis

One word title: Lolita by Nabokov

Short stories: Where I'm Calling From, Raymond Carver or To Room Nineteen, Doris Lessing

Pulitzer Prize winner: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

A Trilogy: His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman or Lord of the Rings by Tolkien

Pallisers · 05/07/2017 16:25

A classic romance
Barchester Towers

A book that became a film
The Martian

A book with a number in the title
Slaughterhouse five or 1066 and All That

A book written by someone under 30
Bright Lights Big City by Jay McInerney

A book with non-human characters (I've already read Animal Farm before)
The Wind in the Willows

A funny book
Mapp and Lucia or Three Men and a Boat or any Wooster and Jeeves or 1066 And All That

A book with a one word title

A book of short stories

A Pulitzer Prize winner

A trilogy
Jane Smiley's Some Luck Trilogy. I recommend Some Luck on its own if you only want to read one.

strikealight · 05/07/2017 16:19

The Name of the Rose or LA confidential for book to film. WARNING: both way more complex than the films.
The Martian is also a good book to film or in sci-fi category if you want something lighter and uplifting.

sproutish · 05/07/2017 16:05

Sounds completely different for what I'd go for usually too, but that's what I want!
Ive found myself reaching for books set in late 1800s/early 1900s more and more, mysteries but quite a nice bimbling pace.
Need something completely different that will get me excited again!

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