This week was very busy, and a little depressing. But most importantly it was the start of NaNoWriMo 2018! I’m pleased to say I’ve managed to keep my word count so far, and the story seems like it will be a lot of fun. I’m excited!
That’s right you beautiful somebodies. The big day is here, the wait is finally over. The categories are being revealed so you can go out and stockpile your books ready for next year.
Before anything else, a request. Please, please, PLEASE spread this about, I’d love for people to get involved. Share it anywhere you like (as long as you link it back here, or to @RagdollReads on twitter). If you or somebody you know decides to take up the challenge, let me know. Now back to what you came here for.
The reading challenge is in three parts. Light Reading, Regular and Serious Book Dragon editions.
12 categories – one book for each category. (Plus a special WILDCARD category for the holidays)
That’s one book per month, and one bonus book for the holiday season.
24 categories – one book for each category. (Plus a special WILDCARD category for the holidays)
That’s one book every twoweeks. Or two books per month if you prefer. Or roughly 0.00204918 books every 45 minutes if you want to be completely absurd about it! (I think!)
That’s 59 books for those of you who can’t be bothered to work it out. 1 read a week, plus a few extras thrown in. Finish this, and you can consider yourself a Serious Book-Dragon!
Please enjoy the challenge. I hope you’ll spread it around (remember to tag me here or @RagdollReads on twitter). Enjoy your reading ❤ Much love all!!!
That’s right you beautiful somebodies (especially the beautiful somebody who has been checking back pretty much every day for this news, I super love you), in 5 sweet, sweet days, I will be revealing the categories for the official Ragdoll Reads 2019 Reading Challenge!!
In case you don’t know about the challenge, here are some deets!
There are three levels;
Lite Reading
Regular
Serious Book Dragon
The level you choose will depend on how many books you think you can manage.
The Lite Reading edition contains 12 categories plus a special bonus category. That’s a book a month, and one for luck!
The Regular edition contains 24 categories plus a special bonus category.
The Serious Book Dragon edition contains a whopping 52 categories, 4 ‘free reads’ and a super special bonus category.
The editions build on each other, so if you completed the Lite Reading challenge, you would have completed half the categories from the Regular edition. You see? Fun!
I would loooove it if people got on board with this, and if you do plan on doing the challenge, please let me know in the comments or hit me up on twitter (@RagdollReads)!
Book 3 in the Redwall series. The young mouse, Mattimeo and his friends are captured by an evil fox, and must be rescued. Exciting fantasy for young and old.
Rating: 5/5 Buttons
A classic book or a book published over 100 years ago.
The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne (1874)
Four men and a dog find themselves stranded on a deserted island after a mishap with a hot air balloon. This is the story of how they survived.
Rating: 5/5 Buttons
A book that you’ve started before and never finished.
Ring for Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse (1953)
The continuing hilarious adventures of everybody’s favourite valet, Jeeves..
Rating: 4/5 Buttons
A book you should have read in school, but didn’t.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (1892)
Another short story collection, featuring the worlds most famous detective duo.
Rating: 5/5 Buttons
A Book you’ve already read – time for a re-read!
Stonehenge by Bernard Cornwell (1999)
A tale of war, betrayal, murder and temples. An epic novel worked around the building of stonehenge.
Rating: 5/5
A book that you’ve put off reading.
The Stonehenge Legacy by Sam Christer(2010)
An ancient cult, and a murderous conspiracy. Can Gideon expose the cult that murdered his father, or will they get to him too!?
Rating: 4/5 Buttons
A banned book.
1984 by George Orwell (1949)
“Orwell’s nightmare vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world and one poor stiff’s attempt to find individuality.” (Goodreads)
Rating: 4/5 Buttons
A book by an author you’ve never read.
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett (2018)
Sancia is offered the job of a lifetime – steal one item for more money than she could ever hope to see in her lifetime. She takes the chance, and then her world falls apart.
Rating: Exceptional (Book of the Month August 2018)
A popular author’s first book.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (1900)
“Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first person she meets and then teams up with three strangers to kill again.” (Newspaper clipping…do I really need to tell you what this is about?)
Rating: 4/5 Buttons
A book turned movie you’ve seen but haven’t read.
The Maze Runner by James Dashner (2009)
A group of boys are trapped in a colossal maze, filled with murderous machines. One day, a girl is dumped in their midst and then everything goes wrong, fast!
Rating: 5/5 Buttons
A book turned TV show you’ve seen but haven’t read.
Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie (2012)
If you like the whole “Sleepy little town has more murders than small countries” genre, and you like priests you’ll probably like this book.
A book about Gods, their dwindling power and the coming war. This book is cleverly crafted, brilliantly written and endlessly entertaining. Once again Gaiman delivers a cracking read! A must have for fans of fantasy and myths.
A team of pioneering paleontologists set out to discover new and interesting fossils. But William Johnson gets separated from the group and is left to fend for himself in the wilds of the west.
Rating: 5/5 Buttons
A book chosen for you by a friend.
Buddhist Meditation by Kamalashila (2013)
This book is a great guide for any meditation practitioner – from the absolute beginner to the more advanced users
So there we have it. Badass Books Reading Challenge #3 is complete. I’m only 8 books away from completing Reading Challenge: Around the World 2018, and 16 books away from 100 books total, which I reckon I should manage by the end of the month.
Last thing before I go:
Top 3 of the Challenge:
You gotta pick a top three, so here are mine (Drum roll please):
You should go out and read these books immediately!!
Finally, a big thank you to mehawkins.com for writing the reading challenge in the first place.
Technically speaking, that’s three reading challenges complete so far this year. 52 total books and two different runs of the Badass Books Reading Challenge detailed here.
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (1990)
Two of my absolute favourite authors writing a book about the end of the world. What could be finer? Funny, clever and entertaining.
Rating: 5/5 Buttons
A classic book or a book published over 100 years ago.
Round the Moon by Jules Verne (1865)
After being blasted into orbit around the moon in Journey to the Moon, our intrepid heroes find themselves stuck – never to hit the moon, never to fall back to Earth. To orbit until their death. It sounds far more dull than it actually is.
Rating: 5/5 Buttons
A book that you’ve started before and never finished.
Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett (2001)
“The construction of the world’s first truly accurate clock starts a race against, well, time, for Lu Tze and his apprentice Lobsang Ludd. Because it will stop time. And that will only be the start of everyone’s problems.” (from Goodreads). Probably my least favourite Pratchett book – it’s telling that I remember so little that I had to steal a summary rather than write my own – I may owe it a re-read.
Rating: 2/5 Buttons A book you should have read in school, but didn’t.
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arther Conan Doyle (1902)
After the suspicious death of land-owner, Holmes and Watson must solve the case of the mysterious devil-dog that has been reported to curse the Baskerville family, before the last of the great line meets a grizzly end. One of my favourite Holmes stories.
Rating: 4/5 Buttons
A Book you’ve already read – time for a re-read!
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Napoleon by Gideon Defoe (2004)
This story finds the Pirate Captain giving up piracy and going to become a beekeeper on the island of Corsica, which he bought from the dastardly Black Bellamy. But PC’s dreams are shattered with the arrival of Napoleon, which sees the pair become locked in a battle for supremacy – and popularity – over the Island and it’s inhabitants.
A brief introduction into what it means to be a Bodhisattva – someone who strives to attain enlightenment for all beings . A fascinating read. Don’t read this unless you have at least some idea about Buddhism beforehand.
The animals take over the farmyard in the interests of seizing the means of production so they can all live a better life. Until the pigs take over. A weird, but enjoyable read.
Rating: 4/5 Buttons
A book by an author you’ve never read.
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
The very strange tale of the land of Nollop, where words are treasured and linguists are deified. A weird but brilliant look into the world of religious totalitarianism. A word lovers dream (or indeed nightmare).
A collection of tales about the colonization of Mars. I tried SO hard to like this book. Bits of it were interesting but mostly it just bored me. If you’re not a serious Sci-fi fan, give it a miss.
Rating: 2/5 Buttons
A book turned movie you’ve seen but haven’t read.
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne (1872)
Phileas Fogg sets off on an impossible journey, in order to win a wager. A delightful tale of round the world travel in the shortest possible time. Well worth a read.
Rating: 5/5 Buttons
A book turned TV show you’ve seen but haven’t read.
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne (1864)
When an ancient clue, written in runes, is discovered and translated a journey is made to discover what lies beneath the Earth’s surface. A tale of peril and adventures – fanciful and wonderful.
Rating: 5/5 Buttons
A funny book.
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Communists by Gideon Defoe (2006)
The Pirates – for reasons that escape me – find themselves in London and have to solve a mystery involving the Opera, and see’s the Pirate Captain mistaken for Karl Marx, and become a Philosopher himself. Probably my least favourite of the series – it’s a great book, but the story doesn’t stand out in my mind as well as the rest.
The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching by Thich Nhat Nanh (1998)
This book is a basic introduction to the foundations of Buddhism, taught from the point of view of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Absolutely recommended. This is definitely one of the most important books I have ever read.
The unlikely, and indeed impossible, tale of Arthur Dent – sole survivor of the destruction of Earth. What can you do when you discover your best friends an alien, your planet has been destroyed to make an interstellar bypass and you’ll never get a decent cup of tea ever again? Hilarious – one of my all time favourite books.
Rating: 5/5 Buttons
A book based on a true story.
Buddha by Osamu Tezuka (1972)
This is the first book on a graphic novel series detailing the events of the life of the Buddha. It’s interesting, but I can’t help but feel that if you didn’t already know the story you would be completely lost almost immediately.
Rating: 4.5/5 Buttons
A book chosen for you by a friend.
Pirate Lattitudes by Michael Crichton (2009)
Most of the story was really good, and with a few small changes could have been amazing. Still recommended. It’s exciting and entertaining and a little bit racist which is super annoying.
This is the story of the boy whose life falls apart on Christmas eve. The book reads like that list of ‘really bad metaphors’ that surfaces on the net every now and then – and I LOVE it.
So there we have it. Badass Books Reading Challenge #2 is complete. Only a handful of books left to read before I make run #3 and the second total books challenge (80 books).
Last thing before I go:
Top 3 of the Challenge:
You gotta pick a top three, so here are mine (Drum roll please):
You should go out and read these books immediately!!
Finally, a big thank you to mehawkins.com for writing the reading challenge in the first place and getting me reading again!
Progress has been made – it’s getting towards the end of June and I’m 2 – that’s right – TWO reading challenges down already. It’s a good year for reading.
First I completed challenge #4, 52 books in a year. But I’m not about to pointlessly list 52 books, if you’re that desperate to know what I read you can check my challenge page on Goodreads.
Rating: Exceptional (Book of the Month, April 2018)
A book published the year you were born.
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (1990)
Who are you kidding, you know what Jurassic Park is about – and if you don’t, it’s about dinosaurs and being chased and possibly eaten by dinosaurs. What more could you possibly want. I loved it. Definitely one of the top reads of the challenge.
Rating: 5/5 Buttons
A classic book or a book published over 100 years ago.
From Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne (1865)
American artillery makers find themselves bored after the war. Not content with the theory of making big guns, they set out to make the biggest gun ever – a gun that will launch a shell to the moon! It was great to see some really old science fiction, and how it differs from modern stuff·
Rating: 5/5 Buttons
A book that you’ve started before and never finished.
A Guide to the Bodhisattvas by Vessantara (2008)
An introduction to some of the key bodhisattvas. Very descriptive and detailed, if a bit heavy going at times.
Rating: 3.5/5 Buttons A book you should have read in school, but didn’t.
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle (1887)
The first collection of Sherlock Holmes novels. I like the Holmes stories. They aren’t necessarily the most exciting books in the world, or the most clever or beautifully written, but they are fun and that’s worth something on its own.
Rating: 5/5 Buttons
A Book you’ve already read – time for a re-read!
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists by Gideon Defoe (2004)
The first book in ‘The Pirates!’ series. This story follows the pirates as the try to solve a mystery and find some serious gold in the midst of London. This book is just pure and funny. It’s silly and doesn’t take itself to seriously, and it’s about pirates. It’s everything I want in a book. It’s just a lovely, fun read.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (1869)
The tales of Captain Nemo and his submarine, Nautilus. This book is a round-the-world trip of adventures. It’s fairly dated at times, but if you like classic books and you like adventure stories as I do, then you can’t go far wrong.
Rating: 5/5 Buttons
A banned book.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)
In a world where books and readers are burned without a care, it takes a brave soul to keep reading alive. An interesting read that has left almost nothing in my memory to assure me I actually read it. Take from that what you will.
Rating: 3.5/5 Buttons
A book by an author you’ve never read.
Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne (1863)
3 men set off on an adventure to cross Africa in a balloon. The book is exciting, interesting and exceedingly racist. It is very “of it’s time”. But if you can see your way past that particular element, the story itself is very enjoyable, full of peril and thrills.
Rating: 4.5/5 Buttons
A popular author’s first book.
10 Years in an Open Necked Shirt by Dr. John Cooper Clarke (1983)
I’m not 100% sure whether this is a first book, or a popular author, but it’s the only book of his I could find evidence of and I like him so I read it. It’s a collection of poems – I don’t do poetry as a rule, but i quite like JCC – unfortunately performance poetry does not translate so well into written poetry and quite a lot of the magic was lost.
Rating: 3/5 Buttons
A book turned movie you’ve seen but haven’t read.
The Lost World by Michael Crichton (1995)
Another book all about dinosaurs, and being chased and possibly eaten by dinosaurs. Once again, Crichton’s writing style is – how should I put it – weird, but very readable, exciting and enjoyable. Another ‘top read’ contender.
Rating: 5/5 Buttons
A book turned TV show you’ve seen but haven’t read.
The World of Blandings by P.G. Wodehouse (1981)
This wasn’t written in 1981, just this collection of stories was released in a nice big omnibus. It’s great fun. The collection is a series of long and short comedic tales all centered around Blandings Castle. Wodehouse writes excellent comedy and I enjoyed it immensely.
Rating: 5/5 Buttons
A funny book.
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Moby Dick by Gideon Defoe (2005)
This is the second book in ‘The Pirates!’ series. This one has the pirates attempting to capture Moby Dick in order to collect a reward with which to pay for the expensive new boat the Pirate Captain was suckered into buying. It is hilarious and silly.
Coding Unlocked: Scratch and Python: the basic by Hywel Carver (2015)
This book is a fun introduction to computer coding aimed at children, but suitable for anybody who wants to try it out. It focuses on using Scratch to teach basic coding concepts, and then Python to do ‘proper’ text-based coding. It’s a lot of fun and by the end of it you’ll have made a couple of really simple games.
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon (2007)
This was a pretty good detective story with some exciting elements but I thought it pretty much died out towards the end, which was fairly disappointing.
An autobiographical graphic novel. I don’t like biographies, auto or otherwise, but I do like graphic novels, especially the ‘alternative’ (as in, not superheroes) ones (although I love superheroes too). Someone recommended this book while I was studying my degree as a bit of an insight into the Iranian Revolution, and it was a very interesting read. I recommend it, but only if you like the medium of graphic novels.
Rating: 4.5/5 Buttons
A book chosen for you by a friend.
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (2017)
In this book, Neil Gaiman retells a selection of Norse myths in his own style. The book was better than good, but less than excellent. I enjoyed it, and it was a pleasure to read some mythology aimed at someone other than children and academics – I’m not on a mission to find similar books about other pantheons and cultures.
Rating: 4/5 Buttons
A book set during Christmas.
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett (1996)
It’s Hogswatch Eve on the Discworld and the Hogfather is on his rounds – or at least something like the Hogfather. A hilarious tale of how to kill a God, and the real meaning of Hogswatch! I’ve never read a Pratchett book I didn’t like so perhaps I’m biased, but still…
Rating: 5/5 Buttons
So that’s what I read for this challenge. I’m most of the way through a second and third run of this Badass Books Reading Challenge, so hopefully I’ll finish both before the end of the year.
This was the first time I’ve ever done a reading challenge like this and succeeded. I’ve done X number of books a few times, and they’ve been OK, but the last time I tried with specific categories I got stuck real quick and gave up.
It was a real good experience for me – I read a lot of things I’ve been meaning to read, things that have been on my shelf for ages that I’ve never got around to before. I also read some things I never would have picked up in the past which was fun too. It was a lot of fun.
Last things before I go:
Top 3 of the Challenge:
You gotta pick a top three, so here are mine (Drum roll please):
You should go out and read these books immediately!!
Finally, a big thank you to mehawkins.com for writing the reading challenge in the first place and getting me reading again!
We are mid-way through the year, the sun is shining (although I don’t encourage that sort of thing) and there is a whole world of books just waiting – begging – to be read.
I’ve already started writing the official Ragdoll Reads Reading Challenges for next year, but that seems like such a long way away and there is so much reading to be done. Hence this super special reading challenge, just for you special somebodies who have stumbled upon my humble blog.
The challenge is seven to ten books long, so it should be manageable for most people.
So let’s crack on the with Ragdoll Reads ‘Around the World‘ Reading Challenge 2018!!!
Warning!! Completing this challenge may expand your mind.
Around the World:
First, pick a location:
Africa
Asia
Antarctica / At Sea*
Australia/Oceania
Europe
North America
South America
Think about the author, the story or the characters. Perhaps your author is from a country in Asia, or the story is about a town in some part of Africa, maybe the main character in the book is from Australia – fairly simple.
*This one seemed prohibitively difficult as just Antarctica, so I added At Sea for ease of use.
Then pick a category:
Author From The Same Continent
Author or Story based in a Developing Nation*
LGBTQIA+ Author, characters or themes
Female Author
P.O.C Author
Pick any of these five categories – they should be fairly self explanatory. These categories will be applied to our location choices and hopefully narrow down our choices a bit. Also, they should help us find authors from demographics we might miss out on normally. You can use any category for any continent, you don’t have to use them all.
*within the continent you picked. If you aren’t sure which countries count as ‘developing’, click here for a link to the United Nations classifications.
Then pick a book that fits both!!
For example:
Asia + Female Author = Wandering Son by Shimura Takako (Japan)
Africa + Developing Nation = Links by Nuruddin Farah (Somalia)
When you’ve finished one, move on to the next continent until you’ve read one from all seven!!
If you finish those and still want more, here are some bonus locations. Pick a bonus location and a category, find a book and read it.
Bonus Locations:
At Sea
In Space
A Made Up Land
You can download a neat little chart (.pdf) so you can keep track of your progress!
So there is is, the Ragdoll Reads Around the World Reading Challenge 2018. I really hope you enjoy it – it’s definitely worth doing!!
If you feel like giving this challenge a go, leave me a comment below. If you’re feeling really lovely, share it with your friends – the more the merrier. Oh, and if you find something really amazing let me know so I can give it a read!!
Will you take the challenge? 24 individual categories plus a special bonus wildcard category for the holidays!
Sound overwhelming? Perhaps you don’t read much yet, or you don’t have much time. Maybe you read slowly, or just feel like something a little simpler! HAVE NO FEAR! At ragdollreads.co.uk, we’ve got your back! We made a 12 category (plus smaller, but just as special wildcard) challenge JUST FOR YOU!!
Whatever your level, we want to get you reading! So stay tuned, and get ready to take the plunge into reading next year!
12 categories – one book for each category. (Plus a special WILDCARD category for the holidays)
An Argumentation of Historians by Jodi Taylor (2018)
Mattimeo by Brian Jacques (1990)
The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne (1874)
Ring for Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse (1953)
Stonehenge by Bernard Cornwell (1999)
The Stonehenge Legacy by Sam Christer (2010)
1984 by George Orwell (1949)
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett (2018)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (1900)
The Maze Runner by James Dashner (2009)
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Romantics by Gideon Defoe (2012)
Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana (1992)
American Gods by Neil Gaiman (2001)
Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton (2017)
Buddhist Meditation by Kamalashila (2013)
The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder (1992)
Head On by John Scalzi(2018)
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (1990)
Round the Moon by Jules Verne (1865)
Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett (2001)
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Napoleon by Gideon Defoe (2004)
The Bodhisattva Ideal by Sangharakshita (2000)
Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945)
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (1950)
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne (1872)
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Communists by Gideon Defoe (2006)
The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching by Thich Nhat Nanh (1998)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1979)
Buddha by Osamu Tezuka (1972)
Pirate Lattitudes by Michael Crichton (2009)
Lost Christmas by David Logan (2011)
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (2018)
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (1990)
From Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne (1865)
A Guide to the Bodhisattvas by Vessantara (2008)
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle (1887)
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists by Gideon Defoe (2004)
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (1869)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)
Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne (1863)
10 Years in an Open Necked Shirt by Dr. John Cooper Clarke (1983)
The Lost World by Michael Crichton (1995)
The World of Blandings by P.G. Wodehouse (1981)
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Moby Dick by Gideon Defoe (2005)
Coding Unlocked: Scratch and Python: the basic by Hywel Carver (2015)
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon (2007)
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (2003)
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (2017)
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett (1996)
