Thursday, August 8, 2013

The Fantasy Project: 101 books in 10 years

10 years - participants choose their start and end dates


I've been wanting to make some changes to this challenge for a while now. It seems if I neglect any genre, it always ends up being fantasy which is kind of funny seeing how it's one of my favorite genres. And the problem has been that there is no deadline and I'm a deadline kind of gal. I thought about making it a five year challenge, but I'm already participating in three other five year challenges (The Classics Club, A Non-Fiction Adventure (my challenge) and the Fill in the Gaps: 100 project) so I thought ten years would be good. The 101 Books part is an homage to the original challenge, The 101 Fantasy Reading Challenge, which was created originally by Bella, formerly of A Bibliophile's Bookshelf. I took the challenge over in early 2010. The original premise was based on the list itself. Here are the details of how it was created:

The list was compiled by Bella (formerly of A Bibliophile's Bookshelf), who currently blogs at A Prairie Girl Reads, and Jo (Ink & Paper) when they held a mammoth poll in 2009 inviting readers to nominate their favorite fantasy books. The list is compiled of all the books nominated and voted for (813 total) in order by number of votes. The challenge started out with a year long format and then I changed it to a perpetual challenge. In both instances, books could be read from the top 101 or the entire list of 813.

Below are the guidelines for this revamped challenge. I hope you will join me!

The guidelines for The Fantasy Project

  • Read 101 fantasy books from the list of 101, or the entire list of 813, in 10 years (access the lists at the top of the blog).
  • choose 101 fantasy books from the list (due to the large amount of urban/paranormal fantasy titles on the list, I have made this exception--26 titles can be titles that are not on the list, i.e. newer releases that came out after the list was compiled, more books of a high fantasy nature, etc.) To break it down...75 titles from the list and 26 that are not on the list = 101 books total.
  • you can read other books in a series in which the first book, or other books in the series, appears on the list, to complete the challenge (for example, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, first book in the Graceling Realm series, made the list in 2009. Further books have been released in the series since the list was compiled and those books can be read for this challenge...these DO NOT have to be part of the 26 titles option--see above).
  • post your list on your blog (or on Goodreads or another social media site, if you do not have a blog)
  • choose your completion goal date ten years in the future and make note of it with your list of titles (like this:  reading goal--101 books  goal dates--August 20, 2013 - August 20, 2023)
  • come back here and post the link to your list in the linky below
  • write a review (or a short summary) on the book when finished and link it to the title in your list (or link to your review on Goodreads, again, if you don't have a blog)
  • there are pages at the top of the blog that link to spreadsheets where you can list/link up your reviews (they will be listed by author's last name, i.e. A - F, etc.)
  • there is a members list page, where I will list your name, blog, goal date, and link to your list
  • there is a "introduce yourself" page for members
  • when you have completed the challenge, come add your link to the Completed Challenges page
  • If you happen to host a read-a-long, or an event or challenge surrounding one of the titles on your list, post about it at this PAGE
  • I will try to have periodic group check-ins too
  • grab the button from sidebar

A few more important details

  • this challenge can be crossed over with any other challenges
  • your link in the linky below must lead to your list, not just your main blog address. Any links that are blog links only will be deleted
  • the list must be made in advance. The idea is to work toward reading fantasy you may have been otherwise neglecting and/or the fantasy titles/authors you love. However, the list does not have to be set in stone. You can change out titles as the mood suits you.
  • every 2 - 3 months we will have what we'll call the Wheel of Fortune (borrowing from The Classics Club classics spin idea) where you make a list of 15 books from your list (i.e. 5 you're dreading, 5 you can't wait for, 5 favorites or rereads--yes, rereads are okay OR 5 urban fantasy, 5 high fantasy, 5 by the same author...the list is pretty much up to you). On a predetermined date, I will randomly draw (random.org) a number from 1 - 15 and the number that's chosen will be the book you read from your list of fifteen.
  • our Twitter hashtag is#101FantasyProject


This reading challenge is hosted by The True Book Addict at the dedicated blog. For more information and to sign-up, please see this post.