Get Lost in Literature

I was looking for a yearly reading challenge that I’d be able to complete in a year, and I found the inaugural Speccy Fiction Challenge hosted by Book’d Out . The rules say, “It allows you to choose from the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror, (though the focus is skewed towards the first two), and their myriad of subgenres.” And since I read a crapton of fantasy, I thought this might be an achievable challenge. There are 4 levels/goals: Spectator who can set their own goal, Squint read and review 3 books from 3 categories, Stare is 6 books, and Survey is 12. I’m aiming to at least achieve ‘Stare’ and read 6 books from 6 categories, but if I make it to 6 with time to spare, I’m going to try to get to 12. CATEGORIES: Published in 2026   A speculative novella (less than 250pgs)   A translated speculative novel   The first book in a speculative fiction duology/trilogy/series   Romantic speculative fiction   Speculative fict...

I discovered this reading challenge by Gregory Road in December of 2024, ten years too late to be a long-term participant. I was disappointed to learn 2025 was to be the final year of the challenge but made the decision to join in the fun while it lasted. The challenge was designed to be a reading challenge for people who struggle with reading challenges, offering a wide variety of topics for participants to choose from.  I challenged myself to the Baker's Dozen: 13 books - Choose one category from any of the thirteen topics provided except for the wildcard books,  thinking it would give me the best shot at actually completing the challenge. Thirteen would be one more book than my GoodReads Challenge so it seemed like an okay goal. Imagine how stunned I was that I hit book 13 by July, surpassing my GoodReads Challenge, and I hadn't had to go out of my way to track down suitable books. These are the categories and books I chose: 1. Basic Genres - Biography .  American Ph...