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!).
This year I'm going back to my love of the 80's and am thrilled to annouce that we're hosting The Cure Reading Challenge!
I bought their Wish album on cassette in '92 and fell hard and fast for them. It was played on repeat for weeks on end, I remember not being able to get enough of it!
Whether you know and love The Cure or this is the first time you are hearing of them (I mean it's possible, right? They haven't had a new album drop in almost 15 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!!
The Cure (2023) Reading Challenge
So here's how this works:
*The goal is to cross off as many of The Cure's songs as you can throughout the course of 2023.
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!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three Imaginary Boys (1979)
“10:15 Saturday Night” – Stay in on a Saturday night, read a
book, and take credit for it here
“Accuracy” – Read a book that required the author to do a
lot of research to get right
“Grinding Halt” – Take credit for a book you DNFd
“Another Day” – Read a book you attempted to read in the
past but walked away from
“Object” – Read a book that focuses heavily around an object
(bonus points if it’s a haunted object!)
“Subway Song” – Read a book on the subway / that takes place
in a city
“Foxy Lady” – Read a book that is a homage to another work
of literature
“Meat Hook” – Read a book that features cannibalism or a
different spin on eating meat
“So What” – Take credit here if you read a book that
everyone else was raving about but left you feeling ‘meh’
“Fire in Cairo” – Read a book that is set in a country other
than your own
“It’s Not You” – Read a book that’s told in first person POV
“Three Imaginary Boys” – Read a book with a child protagonist
/ that involves children
“The Weedy Burton” – Read a book that has a protagonist with
a strange name
Seventeen Seconds (1980)
“A Reflection” – If you read a book in which you relate to
one of the characters, take credit here
“Play for Today” – Take credit here for a book that you finished
in one day
“Secrets” – Read a book that you’d consider a guilty
pleasure
“In Your House” – Break up the monotony! Read a book in
different rooms of your house and take credit for it here
“Three” – Read the third book by an author (either the third
book they’ve published, or the third book in general that you’ve read of
theirs)
“The Final Sound” – Read a book that still resonates with
you after you’ve finished it
“A Forest” – Read a book that takes place in or features a
forest (bonus points if it’s scary!)
“M” – Read a book with a title that starts with M or
features an initial in the title
“At Night” – Read a book that’s too scary to read at night
“Seventeen Seconds” – Read a micro fiction or flash fiction
collection
Faith (1981)
“The Holy Hour” – Read a book that heavily features religion
or has religious references
“Primary” – Read the first book in a series or an author’s
debut book
“Other Voices” – Read a book that is told from multiple POVs
“All Cats are Grey” – Read a book that features a cat or has
a cat on the cover
“The Funeral Party” – Read a book that focuses on a death,
grief, or features a cemetery
“Doubt” – If you read a book that you were doubtful of, but
ended up loving, take credit for it here
“The Drowning Man” – Read a book that features water on the
cover or that takes place on or near a body of water
“Faith” – Read a book in which the main character loses
faith
Pornography (1982)
“One Hundred Years” – If you read a book that felt like it took
ages to finish, take credit for it here
“A Short Term Effect” -
Read a book that is less than 100 pages
“The Hanging Garden” – If you read a book that creeped you
out, take credit for it here
“Siamese Twins” – Read a book that features a medial anomaly
“The Figurehead” – Read a book that a social media
influencer put on your radar
“A Strange Day” – Read a book that was just plain weird
“Cold” – Curl up with a blanket and a good book, and take
credit for it here
“Pornography” – Read a book that’s a little (or a LOT) sexy
(negative points if it’s Fifty Shades of Gray!)
The Top (1984)
“Shake Dog Shake” – Read a book that features a dog or has a
dog on the cover (bonus points if the dog doesn’t die!)
“Bird Mad Girl” – Read a book with a nonsensical title
“Wailing Wall” – Read a book with a title that contains the
same first letters
“Give Me It” – Run out and buy a book that you MUST have,
read it immediately, and take credit for it here
“Dressing Up” – Read a book that makes you feel fancy
“The Caterpillar” – Read a book that features bugs/insects
or has one on the cover
“Piggy in the Mirror” – Read a book that focuses on mental
health, or features a character who is struggling mentally
“The Empty World” – Read a post apocalyptic book
“Bananafishbones” – Read a bizarro book
“The Top” – Read the book that is currently sitting at the
top of your TBR pile
The Head on the Door (1985)
“In Between Days” – If you’re reading two books at the same
time, take credit for them here
“Kyoto Song” – Read a book that was written by a musician or
that frequently quotes song lyrics
“The Blood” – Read a splatterpunk book, or a book that
features an awful amount of blood
“Six Different Ways” – Read a book in a different format
than you normally do (digital instead of print, audiobook, graphic novel
instead of traditional)
“Push” – Read a book someone ‘pushed’ onto you
“The Baby Screams” – Read a book that features creepy babies
(or baby dolls) or in which the main character is pregnant
“Close to Me” – Read a book by an author you’ve met in RL,
or that you attended a reading for
“A Night Like This” – Stay up late reading a book and take
credit for it here
“Screw” – Read a book with a one word title
“Sinking” – If you read a book that sucked in right from the
start, take credit for it here
Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987)
“The Kiss” – Read a book that contains the ‘enemies to
lovers’ trope or in which there is a delayed hook up
“Catch” – Buy a book that caught your attention solely based
on the cover and take credit for it here when you read it
“Torture” – Take credit here for a book that you didn’t DNF
but should have
“If Only Tonight We Could Sleep” – If you read a book that
scared you silly, take credit for it here
“Why Can’t I Be You” – Read a book that is written in second
person
“How Beautiful You Are” – Read a book that you think is
visually gorgeous (cover, illustrations, French flaps, sprayed edges,
whatever!)
“The Snakepit” – Read a book that contains vicious behavior
or is set in a place of squalor
“Hey You!” – Read a book that you can’t stop telling people
about!
“Just Like Heaven” – Read a book that you anticipate will become
a year-end favorite
“All I Want” – Read a book that you were DYING to get your
hands on but that sat sitting on your TBR until now
“Hot Hot Hot!!!” – Read a book that everyone’s talking about
“One More Time” – Pick up a book you’ve read years ago, and
reread it now
“Like Cockatoos” – If you read a book that feels familiar,
take credit for it here
“Icing Sugar” – Read a book that you’d classify as “brain
candy”
“The Perfect Girl” – Read a book that features a female
protagonist
“A Thousand Hours” – Read a book that’s more than 400 pages
long
“Shiver and Shake” – Read a horror book
“Fight” – If you read a book that contains a lot of violence,
take credit for it here
Disintegration (1989)
“Plainsong” – Read a book that has flown under everyone’s
radar
“Pictures of You” – Read a graphic novel or a book that
contains illustrations
“Closedown” – Take credit here if you let your true introvert
shine, and read a book during a social event
“Lovesong” – Read a book that features love or in which the
main character is pining for someone
“Last Dance” – Read the last book an author published, or
the last book of a series
“Lullaby” – Read a fairy tale retelling
“Fascination Street” – Read a book on a topic that you find
fascinating
“Prayers for Rain” – Take credit here if you stayed inside
on a rainy day and read a book
“The Same Deep Water as You” – If you read a book that has
left you just as confused as everyone else, take credit here
“Disintegration” - Read a badly beat up used book (bonus
points if you show us how bad a condition it was in!)
“Homesick” – Read a book that’s set in your hometown, or
written by an author from your hometown
“Untitled” – Free space, take credit for any book here
Wish (1992)
“Open” – Read a book that you’ve been putting off
“High” – If you read a book that’s left you feeling all the
feels, take credit here
“Apart” – Read a book in which the cover doesn’t match the
content
“From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea” – Read a magical
realism or speculative fiction book
“Wendy Time” – Read a book that’s written by someone who
identifies as female
“Doing the Unstuck” – Read a science fiction book
“Friday I’m in Love” – Read a book that you think is the
author’s equivalent of a ‘sell out’
“Trust” – Read a book a close friend recommended to you
“A Letter to Elise” – Read a book that’s told in an
alternate format – texts, letters, emails, etc
“Cut” – If you read a book that you can’t stop highlighting or
quoting passages from, take credit for it here
“To Wish Impossible Things” – Give a new genre a try and
take credit for it here
“End” – if you read a book that just sort of… ends, leaving
you with a WTF did I just read feeling, take credit for it here
Wild Mood Swings (1996)
“Want” – Read a book you’ve been dying to get your hands on
“Club America” – Read a book that’s been translated into
English
“This is a Lie” – Read a book that ended up being different
than you thought it would be
“The 13th” – Read a ‘feel good’ book and take
credit for it here
“Strange Attraction” – Read a book didn’t you expect to like
that really surprised you
“Mint Car” – Read a book while on a road trip and take
credit for it here
“Jupiter Crash” – Read a space opera / book that takes place
in space
“Round & Round & Round” – Play Spin the Bottle with
your books and take credit for the one you landed on here
“Gone!” – Read a book in which magic is heavily featured
“Numb”- Read a book for so long, in the same position, that
your arms or legs go numb, and take credit for it here
“Return” – Read a book that you borrowed (from the library,
from a friend, from a little free library, etc)
“Trap” – Read a book that you literally could not put down
“Treasure” – Read a book in which someone is searching for
something / read a mystery book
“Bare” – Read a book that is exactly what it claims to be
“It Used to Be Me” – Read a book that’s been on your TBR for
a super long time, that a much younger you bought, but you realize you aren’t
into anymore.
Bloodflowers (2000)
“Out of This World” – Read a book that features aliens or
things that are not of this world
“Watching Me Fall” - Read a new to you author that you’ve
instantly fallen in love with
“Where the Birds Always Sing” – Read a book that features
birds or has birds on the cover
“Maybe Someday” – Read a book that you keep meaning to pick
up and take credit for it here
“Coming Up” – Read a book by a debut author
“The Last Day of Summer”
- Read a book that is set in the summer time
“There Is No If…” – Read a book you that strongly loved or
strongly hated and take credit for it here
“The Loudest Sound” – Listen to an audiobook and take credit
for it here
“39” – Read a book with a number in the title
“Bloodflowers” – Read a book that you know will haunt you
for some time to come
“Split Milk” – Read a book that was mildly unpleasant
The Cure (2004)
“Lost” – Read a book that made absolutely no sense to you
“Labyrinth” – Read a book that was published in the 80’s
“Before Three” – Read one of the first three books of an
author’s bibliography
“Truth, Goodness, and Beauty” – Read a book that blew you
away
“The End of the World” – Read a dystopian book or a book in
which the world has severely changed
“Anniversary” – Read a book in which something cyclical
happens
“Us or Them” – Read a book that is written in first person
plural, or forth person POV
“Fake” – Read a book you are too embarrassed to admit you
did / didn’t like
“alt.end” – Take credit for a book that you caught yourself
skimming through, either because you wanted to get through a slow part or you
couldn’t wait to discover what was happening
“(I Don’t Know What’s Going) On” – Read a book that has amazing
twists and turns that you couldn’t predict
“Taking Off” – If you read a book that started off slow but
then got really good, take credit for it here
“Never” – Read a book in a genre that you thought you’d
never read
“The Promise” – Read a book that you kept promising someone
you would get to, but kept putting off
“Going Nowhere” – Read a book that seemed to go nowhere
“This Morning” – Read a book in bed
4:13 Dream (2008)
“Underneath the Stars” – Read a book outside at night
“The Only One” – Read a book by your favorite author
“The Reasons Why” – Read a book and immediately review it
everywhere you can
“Freakshow” – Read a book you’d be embarrassed to have
people see you read
“Sirensong” – Read a book by an author whose books just keep
calling to you / your auto-buy author
“The Real Snow White” – Read a book that puts a spin on a
fairy tale
“The Hungry Ghost” – Read a book that features ghosts
“Switch” – Read a book that switches up the narrators /
tells the story from multiple POVs
“The Perfect Boy” – Read a book that was absolutely perfect,
a 5 star read
“This. Here and Now. With You” – Carry a book around with
you and read it wherever you go, whenever you can, then take credit for it here
“Sleep When I’m Dead” – Read a book cover to cover in one
sitting
“The Scream” – Read a book that pissed you off so badly you
wanted to throw it across the room
“It’s Over” – Read a book that convinces you to never read
another book by that author again
No comments:
Post a Comment