Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Eclectic Reader Challenge 2014

In the past 2 years I have had fun exploring genres I may not normally be drawn to with the Eclectic Reader Challenge, so I am going to sign up again next year.

2014 looked like the toughest challenge yet; I had to look up definitions for many of the genres and then I wasn't sure I would even have books that would fit. But after going through my shelves I found I had more than a few options.

Here are the categories and some of the books I have on hand:

Award Winning (should be easy - seems like half of my books have some kind of award mentioned on the cover)

True Crime (used to be one of my favorites to read. It will be nice to pick one up again.) - Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi with Curt Gentry, All She Wanted by Aphrodite Jones, The Minds of Billy Milligan by Daniel Keyes, and Killing for Company: The Story of a Man Addicted to Murder by Brian Masters

Romantic Comedy - The Lucky Dog Matchmaking Service by Beth Kendrick, 4 Blondes by Candace Bushnell, and Last Chance Saloon by Marian Keyes

Alternate History Fiction (I had to look this one up. These are "what if" books. What our world would be like if only...) - The Time Machine by H.G. Wells is the closest I think I have, if not I would like to get 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Graphic Novel - I have tons of Walking Dead graphic novels to read stacked on my headboard

Cozy Mystery Fiction (I had to look this one up. It's like that tea shop murder series, where women who aren't in law enforcement solve murders. I read a few scrapbook ones but they're not my deal. I still have one left that I bought and never read so this will help me get it off the shelf and on to Bookman's.) - Bound for Murder by Laura Childs

Gothic Fiction (another Wikipedia search, I found a lot of elements but the key thing seems to be setting, specifically a castle. I found my book on a Gothic list but it's set in a boys school. A boys school could be a castle right? And it's a thriller so I think it fits.) - Gentlemen and Players: A Novel by Joanne Harris

War/Military Fiction - Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (probably will be this one because I can also read it for Banned Books Week), For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway (my friend Richard has wanted me to read this for a long time), and The March by E. L. Doctorow

Anthology - I have lots of Alfred Hitchcock Presents anthologies

Medical Thriller Fiction (another search needed, "outbreak" stories) - Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland (sounds like it will fit, there's an apocalypse that causes people to sleep but it doesn't sound very "thriller-y")

Travel (Non Fiction) - Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck (I want to read more Steinbeck in 2014) and Woman Alone: Travel Tales from Around the Globe by Faith Conlon

Published in 2014 - should be easy because of the Early Reviewers program

Does anyone have any corrections or additions to these genre descriptions? Do you recommend any of the books on my list? Have you read one of these books but don't think it fits my genre description? Do you want to join with me?

P.S. The cozy library picture is from the Steward.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Welcome! I just joined up today as well. Can't wait to read your reviews. All the best and Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

Glad yo have you joining me again for the Eclectic Reader Challenge, you have made some great choices! I look forward to reading your reviews.

Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out