I really love reading challenges because of the way it stretches your reading comfort zone, but I've always sucked at actually completing them.
In 2015, over at Goodreads, we kicked off our most outrageous challenge ever, borrowing The Beatles Reading Challenge from another group I was a part of, which had turned their songs into reading tasks. And in 2016, we whipped up The REM Reading Challenge. (I really sucked at this one. I couldn't even complete one album, but man was it fun trying!). And then to honor David Bowie's passing, in 2017 we pulled together the Bowie Reading Challenge! In 2018 I decided to take a break from our music theme and challenged everyone to read whatever the fuck they wanted in our RWTFYW challenge. The only rule was that there were no rules : ) In 2019 I spread my love of Guster around, 2020 was all about Ani DiFranco, 2021 had us fan girling over PJ Harvey, and 2022 continued the female artist love with our Liz Phair challenge (I sucked at this one too, didn't complete one album but came soooo close for so many!). 2023 had me returning to my 80s roots and we concocted The Cure challenge, which was my most successful up to that point. And 2024 brought us the Depeche Mode challenge, where I completed a whopping record breaking 8 albums!
For 2025 I'm going to keep the alternative resurgence theme going and am thrilled to announce that we're hosting The Afghan Whigs Reading Challenge!
I first caught a taste of them when dating my then-boyfriend, now-husband back in the mid-nineties. I remember playing their album Gentlemen ad nauseum because I just could not get enough of it. It was dark and sexy and that voice...! Every time I hear a song from that record, it immediately stirs up memories from that time.
Whether you know and love Afghan Whigs or this is the first time you are hearing of them (I mean it's possible, right? They just dropped a new album after nearly 5 years), what I think is most cool about these kinds of reading challenges... is that you don't even have to be a fan of the musicians to participate. You just have to be a fan of READING!!
Afghan Whigs (2025) Reading Challenge
So here's how this works:
*The goal is to cross off as many of Afghan Whigs' songs as you can throughout the course of 2025.
You can challenge yourself to complete one entire album, focus on completing one decades-worth of albums, or build your own challenge by hitting your favorite song titles... it's totally up to you!
*You cross off the songs by reading a book that meets the criteria listed after each song title.
If the book meets multiple reading tasks, cool! You can apply it to multiple song titles, OR you can make the reading challenge more challenging by limiting yourself to one song title per book.
*There may be built in redundancy with some of the tasks.
They are repetitive on purpose, to give you an opportunity to read more than one type of book and still get credit for completing a task. (Sneaky, I know!)
*Please copy and paste the entire list, or your customized challenge list, into your own thread in this goodreads folder and strike through the song titles as you complete them, OR, you can simply copy and paste each song title and its criteria from the master list here as you complete it. (obviously put your name in the thread title so we know whose challenge it is).
*Do not add your list directly to Rule and List thread.
*YOU MUST LIST THE BOOK TITLE AND AUTHOR that coincides with the song as you complete it for the challenge so we know what you read!
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An example of a completed song title task in your Challenge thread would look like this:““This Bouquet” – Read a book that features flowers on the cover - The Distance from Four Points by Margo Orlando Littell
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Big Top Halloween (1988)
“Here Comes Jesus” – Read a book that features religion
“In My Town” – Read a book that takes place in your
hometown/state, or is written by an author from there
“Priscilla’s Wedding” – Read a book that features a female
protagonist
“Push” – Read a book that you had to push yourself to finish
(and probably should have DNFd but didn’t)
“Scream” – Read a book that scares the beejezus out of you
“But Listen” – Read a book that you know you’ll never stop
talking about
“Big Top Halloween” – Read a Halloween themed books
“Life in a Day” – Read a book cover to cover in one day and
take credit for it here
“Sammy” – Read a book that features someone’s name in the
title
“Doughball” – Read a book that prominently features food
“Back o’ the Line” – Read the book that’s been sitting in
your TBR the longest
“Greek is Extra” – Read a book written by an author from a
different nationality/culture than you
Up In It (1990)
“Retarded” – Read a book that is highly offensive and/or
features very dated and inappropriate themes in today’s culture
“White Trash Party” – Read a trashy novel
“Hated” – Read a book and if you absolutely hated it, take
credit for it here
“Southpaw” – Read a
book that’s a little off kilter or left of center
“Amphetamines and Coffee” – Read a book that features
addiction
“Now We Can Begin” – Read the first book in a series and
take credit for it here
“You My Flower” -
Read a book with flowers on the cover
“Son of the South” – Read a book that is set in southern
state
“I Know Your Little Secret” – Read a book you’d consider a
guilty pleasure
“I Am the Sticks” – Get cozy with a seasonal read
Congregation (1992)
“Her Against Me” – Read a thriller
“I’m Her Slave” – Read a book written by a female author or an author who identifies as female
“Turn on the Water” – Read a cli-fi book
“Conjure Me” – Read a book that features ghosts/spirits
“Kiss the Floor” – Read a book with romance elements
“Congregation” – Let yourself be influenced by the masses,
read a book that’s heavily featured on Bookstagram or TikTok
“This is My Confession” – Read an autobiography or an
auto-fiction title
“Dedicate it” – Read a chunkster, a book with 400+ pages
“The Temple” – Free space, read anything you want and take
credit for it here
“Let Me Lie to You” – Read a book with a twist you did not
see coming
“Tonight” – Read a book in one sitting
“Miles Iz Ded” – Read a book that features made up language
or unique vernacular
Gentlemen (1993)
“If I Were Going” – Read a book while on a road trip/vacation
“Gentlemen” – If you read a book that you are absolutely obsessed
over, take credit here
“Be Sweet” – Read a book that’s lighthearted and cutesy
“Debonair” – Read a book that made you feel fancy
“When We Two Parted” – Read a book that you never wanted to
end
“Fountain and Fairfax” – Read a book that focuses on place
and landscape
“What Jail is Like” – Read a book that kept you captive the
entire time
“My Curse” – If you read a book that everyone else loved but
you didn’t, take credit for it here
“Now You Know” – Read a new-to-you genre
“I Keep Coming Back” – If you re-read a book, take credit
for it here
“Brother Woodrow/Closing Prayer” – Save this spot for the
last book you read this year!
Black Love (1996)
“Crime Scene Part One” – Read a true crime book or crime
novel
“My Enemy” – Give ‘em another chance, read a book by an
author you read previously but didn’t like
“Double Day” – Free space, read anything you want and take
credit for it here
“Blame, etc” – Finally read that book you keep meaning to
read but have been putting off
“Step Into the Light” – Read a book that won an award
“Going to Town” – Go buy a book, read it immediately, and
take credit for it here
“Honky’s Ladder” – Read a book with a wildly inappropriate
or misleading title
“Night by Candlelight” – Read a historical fiction book
“Bulletproof” – Read a book with a lot of action
“Summer’s Kiss” – Read a book set in the summertime, or a
book that could be considered a beach read
“Faded” – Read a used book (the more beat up the better)
1965 (1998)
“Somethin’ Hot” – Read a book that’s got sizzlin’ spicy
romance in it
“Crazy” – Read a bizarro or weird fiction book
“Uptown Again” – Read a book that’s set in a big city
“Sweet Son of a Bitch” – If you read a book and gave it 5
stars, take credit for it here
“66” – Read a book that features an elderly protagonist
“Citi Soleil” – Read a book that’s translated from another
language
“John the Baptist” – Read a book that features a character
with a different or unique job/career
“The Slide Song” – Slide out of that book you’ve been
struggling to read, go on, DNF it and take credit for it here
“Neglekted” – Read a book that’s been on your TBR for over a
year
“Omerta” – Read a book set in a made-up place
“The Vampire Lanois” – Read a book that features vampires or
other creatures of the night
Do to the Beast (2014)
“Parked Outside” – Read a book in which the main character
is on the run from something
“Matamoros” – Read a book set in another country
“It Kills” – Read a book that features a slasher or a lot of
gore
“Algiers” – Read a book written by an author of a different
nationality than you
“Lost in the Woods” – Read a book that takes place in or
around the woods
“The Lottery” – Read a book that was gifted to you
“Can Rova” – Free space, if there are no prompts that fit
the book just you read, take credit for it here
“Royal Cream” – Read a book that features food
“I Am Fire” – Read a book with a red cover
“These Sticks” – Read Appalachian fiction or a book that
takes place in the Fall
In Spades (2017)
“Birdland” – Read a book with a bird on the cover or that
features birds
“Arabian Heights” – Read a book that’s considered a classic
“Demon in Profile” – Read a book that features demons or
possession
“Toy Automatic” – Read a YA book
“Oriole” – Read a book with a red cover
“Copernicus” – Read a book that takes place in outer space
“The Spell” – Read a book that features witches or the
occult
“Light as a Feather” – Read a book that is less than 100
pages long
“I Got Lost” – Read a book that confused the heck out of you
“Into the Floor” – Read a book that’s just totally trippy
How Do You Burn (2022)
“I’ll Make You See God” – Read a book that prominently
features death or grief
“The Getaway” – Go hide from everyone and read a book, then
take credit for it here
“Catch a Colt” – Read a western, or a book that features
horses/cowboys
“Jyja” – Read a book with one word in the title
“Please, Baby, Please” – Read your most anticipated book of
the year and take credit for it here
“A Line of Shots” – Read a book that’s set in a bar/features
a lot of drinking
“Domino and Jimmy” – Read a book about BFFs
“Take Me There” – Read a book that features a place or thing
that you’ve visited or experienced
“Concealer” – Read a book that turned out to be something
different than you had expected
“In Flames” – Read a book that really pissed you off
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