The Eclectic Reader Challenge 2012

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Pete Denton

I came across The Eclectic Reader 2012 Challenge whilst reading Blogs-Of-A-Bookaholic and thought it sounded like a great idea.

The aim is to push you a little outside your comfort zone by reading up to 12 books during the year from 12 different genres.

I like to set goals. I find this the best way to achieve anything. I know that I don’t read enough and what I do read is limited in the genre field so I decided to go for this in 2012.

Genres

Literary Fiction
Crime/Mystery Fiction
Romantic Fiction
Historical Fiction
Young Adult
Fantasy
Science Fiction
Non Fiction
Horror
Thriller /Suspense
Classic
Your favourite genre

I thought this would be a great way for YOU to influence my reading.

I welcome any suggestions for books you think I should consider for the twelve genres, please include a link if available. I can’t promise to read your suggestion, but I will give it serious thought.

I’ll create a new page with the books that I’m going to read as we go.

Happy reading.

About Pete Denton

I'm a writer working my way through the redrafts of a British crime novel. I also write short stories, flash fiction and some screen writing. Check out my blog for more.

View all posts by Pete Denton →

This entry was posted in Reading, Recommended Books, Writing and tagged Fiction, Historical fiction, Literary fiction, Literature, Science fiction, Young-adult fiction. Bookmark the permalink.

59 Responses to The Eclectic Reader Challenge 2012

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Donna Brown says:

December 30, 2011 at 15:00

I’ve got my novel to finish writing, and I am also working on 366 articles that I am writing during the next year on various subjects, on top of that, I’ve got a part time job and am going to school full time. I got three books on writing to read this coming year and one of them is The Daily Reader by Fred White. It contains 366 selections of prose and poetry to inspire a productive and meaningful writing life. It contains prose from a all the genres that you suggest, so even though I’m not going to do the twelve books, I believe I will be able to meet the genre quota.

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  January 1, 2012 at 16:16
  
  Wow, Donna. That’s a lot of things to do in 2012. Good luck!
  
  Reply
Shen Hart says:

December 30, 2011 at 23:48

This sounds like a great plan!
As for suggestions on books, perhaps Michael Chrichton’s Timeline? Not entirely sure which genre it would fall under. Historical sci-fi…?
Philip Pullman’s dark materials trilogy (ok it’s 3 not 1..) is also great for the YA genre.

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  January 1, 2012 at 16:22
  
  Thanks for your comments. I’ll add those books to the list to consider 🙂
  
  Reply
shelleyrae @ Book'd Out says:

December 31, 2011 at 03:34

Glad you joining me for the Eclectic Reader Challenge Peter!
I look forward to seeing what you choose to read!

Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  January 1, 2012 at 16:23
  
  Thank you. I’m looking forward to seeing what I’m going to read too!
  
  Reply
Rob Adams says:

January 1, 2012 at 01:37

Great idea! I just signed up myself.

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  January 1, 2012 at 16:24
  
  Thanks. Good luck with the challenge!
  
  Reply
Dave P Perlmutter (@davepperlmutter) says:

January 1, 2012 at 17:46

Hi Pete,

We are now following each other on twitter.

I am not an author just writing a story about a true event. Would love your comments on it, the story is not complete and is being updated and editing. Please follow as well.

You have a great blog and great content.

My blog is http://thewrongplaceatthewrongtime.blogspot.com/2010/02/1-let-journey-commence.html

Thanks and heres to a great 2012.

Dave Perlmutter

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  January 1, 2012 at 20:15
  
  Thanks for following. Good luck with the story and have a great 2012 🙂
  
  Reply
belleofmountains says:

January 1, 2012 at 18:25

I love this idea! I’m definitely going to try it…I usually get stuck in a rut reading the same fantasy novels over and over again. 🙂

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  January 1, 2012 at 20:14
  
  My sentiments exactly. Best of luck choosing your books. 🙂
  
  Reply
craig hallam says:

January 2, 2012 at 12:09

Ooooh…suggestions ahoy!

Crime/thriller – Jar City by (somebody) Indridason.
Fantasy/gothic – Titus Groan and Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake.
Science Fiction – A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.
Fantasy (again) – Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susannah Clarke
Horror – Anything by M.R. James or H.P. Lovecraft
Romance – Wuthering Heights (also great gothic novel)

Hope that helps! 🙂

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  January 2, 2012 at 20:33
  
  I like a lengthy list!
  
  Thanks. I will have a look at all those, kind sir.
  
  Reply
Jennifer M Eaton says:

January 2, 2012 at 15:31

I just started reading “The Sword” and I am loving it. Great pacing, and it gripped me from the first page.

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  January 2, 2012 at 20:36
  
  Thanks. I’ve just had a look at the book, it does look good. I’ll add it to my list.
  
  Reply
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Penelope Crowe says:

January 3, 2012 at 14:44

I love horror and psychological fiction. I love your idea to get info from others–I may do the same 🙂
May I recommend Let the Right One In, a dark take on vampirism.

http://www.amazon.com/Let-Right-John-Ajvide-Lindqvist/dp/0312355297

I hope you like it. 🙂
Penelope

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  January 3, 2012 at 20:21
  
  Thanks. I’ll have a look. I keep seeing the film, but would prefer to read the book before watching it. I’ll add it to my list.
  
  Reply
thatvoiceagain says:

January 4, 2012 at 20:50

May I suggest for your Non Fiction Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang. I read it many years ago whilst in hospital, it was fantastic, sad and very interesting.

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  January 5, 2012 at 22:05
  
  Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve had a look at some of the reviews and everyone says its a great book.
  
  Reply
Libby O says:

January 4, 2012 at 23:11

Hey Pete, how do you feel about genre-bending? A great book which would straddle both Crime and Literary Fiction categories is ‘The Broken Shore’ by Aussie writer Peter Temple.

http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Shore-Novel-Peter-Temple/dp/0374116938

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- Pete Denton says:
  
  January 5, 2012 at 22:08
  
  Thanks for the comment.
  
  genre-bending (I had to be careful typing that) is strictly forbidden 🙂
  
  I’ll check out the book though, even if it only ticks one of the categories.
  
  Reply
http://www.tinaboscha.com says:

January 7, 2012 at 18:15

This is a dangerous post for an author to read – you know we all want to mention our own books!

nonfiction: The End of Boys by Peter Brown Hoffmeister (I know him!)
scifi – Hyperion by Dan Simmons (my dtr and my dh geeked out over this)
YA – The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
Classic – The House of Mirth
romantic – Fifty Shades of Grey (fans self)
literary: The Local News by Miriam Gershow (I know her!)
historical: oh come on, I have to put my book here: River in the Sea
thriller: A Small Fortune by Audrey Braun

As for the others, I just don’t have the knowledge to suggest. This is fun – I might have to do this myself!

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  January 7, 2012 at 20:02
  
  Plugging your own books are more than acceptable. Thanks for the visit and the comprehensive list of suggestions. I’ll check them out.
  
  Reply
belleofmountains says:

January 8, 2012 at 02:48

Ursula K. Le Guin’s fantasy and scifi novels are stellar.

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  January 8, 2012 at 16:11
  
  Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll add it to the list.
  
  Reply
Leighton Gage says:

January 14, 2012 at 18:08

Crime/Mystery Fiction, Pete, is HUGE!
It might be easier to tackle if you broke it down into sub-categories.
Cozies, Police Procedurals, Noir, etc.
And then, if you’re an armchair traveler, you might like the “international” mysteries.
I’d be most pleased if you and your readers checked out our blog:

http://murderiseverywhere.blogspot.com/

There are seven of us, and we all write them.
But, in the blog, we leave the books aside and concentrate on items of cultural, human or historical interest in the countries in which we set our stories.

And there’s a new post every day of the week.

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  January 14, 2012 at 21:44
  
  Thanks for your visit.
  
  For the challenge I only need one for each of the listed genres. I do read a lot of different crime novels. I’ll check out your blog and take a closer look.
  
  Reply
Manage Better Now says:

January 17, 2012 at 21:50

In the non fiction genre I would reccomend Leadership and Self Deception. Don’t let the title fool you, it is a book about communication. It will make you a better communciation in your personal and professional life.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1576759776?ie=UTF8&tag=manbetnow-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=1576759776

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  January 17, 2012 at 21:56
  
  Thanks for the link I’ll have a look.
  
  Reply
sheila pierson says:

January 18, 2012 at 18:36

Couple of my suggestions:
Classic: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Sci-Fi: Probability Angels by Joseph Devon (he’s on twitter too)

I blog as well at sheilapierson.tumblr.com – just getting started 🙂

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  January 18, 2012 at 20:07
  
  Thanks for stopping by and the suggested books. I checked out your blog. Good luck with your writing.
  
  Reply
LindseyJoy says:

January 20, 2012 at 21:01

Thanks for the “like” & this is a great idea! 🙂 I would recommend:

Classic: Bleak House
Fantasy: any of the Game of Thrones books
YA: A Wrinkle in Time
Fiction: The Poisonwood Bible

Happy reading 🙂

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  January 20, 2012 at 21:10
  
  No problem. Thanks for visiting and the recommendations. I will add them to the list, which is now HUGE!
  
  Reply
SarahAlice says:

January 25, 2012 at 21:08

I’d suggest Crime and Punishment for the crime genre; it’s a classic basis of a murder novel, as well as being a beautiful example of Russian literature. It’s not quite as easy going as Philip Pullman, but worth the extra effort!

(:

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- Pete Denton says:
  
  January 25, 2012 at 22:07
  
  Thanks for commenting and the suggestions. I’ll add it to list list.
  
  Reply
andyholloman says:

January 27, 2012 at 20:14

thanks dude

Reply
Bruce G. Smith (@carpebiblio) says:

January 29, 2012 at 21:09

My next science fiction book will either be After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress due out in March or an oldie, A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller. In fantasy, I am waiting for Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night due out in mid summer. If you haven’t read the first one. Discovery of Witches, start with it.

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  January 29, 2012 at 21:32
  
  Thanks for stopping by, Bruce.
  
  I will add those books to my list for checking out. I haven’t really read any sci-fi for nearly 30 years. I’m looking forward to it.
  
  Reply
Jane Gorman says:

January 30, 2012 at 15:27

I notice you don’t list Nursery Crime as a genre … I’d still recommend Jasper Fforde anyway! I almost always read either mysteries or sci fi, but a little literary humor makes for a great interlude.

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  January 30, 2012 at 20:28
  
  Thanks for commenting, Jane. I didn’t pick the categories but I will add Jasper’s name to the list I’m considering.
  
  Reply
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Ray says:

February 3, 2012 at 19:02

Pete-thanks for liking my blog. This sounds great, and I’ll keep it in mind, but I’m soooo far behind my reading of the few genres I read, I don’t know when I’ll be able/willing to branch out.

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  February 4, 2012 at 13:32
  
  Thanks for commenting. I know what you mean. I’m trying to branch oout and am enjoying it so far.
  
  Reply
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Rhonda Hopkins says:

February 5, 2012 at 18:07

What a great idea! I just found your blog, so don’t know what you typically read. But I’d recommend anything by Dean Koontz (especially the Odd Thomas series). Also, Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series. If you want to try something futuristic that still kicks butt, I’d go for J.D. Robb’s In Death Series.

I already read a lot of different genres, so I’ve challenged myself to read one classic a month. Didn’t realize there were so many I hadn’t read until I started making a list. 🙂

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  February 11, 2012 at 16:06
  
  Sorry for not responding sooner. Thanks for your visit and the suggestions. I’ve added them to my list.
  
  Reply
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Beth says:

February 9, 2012 at 04:25

Have you read, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien. Literary Fiction.

Reply
- Pete Denton says:
  
  February 9, 2012 at 21:36
  
  Thanks for visiting. I’ll add the book to my list. 🙂
  
  Reply
Once You Know... says:

February 11, 2012 at 23:30

Here’s what I’d pick based on your genres:
Literary Fiction–To Kill a Mockingbird or The Secret Life of Bees
Crime/Mystery Fiction–Laurie R. King Sherlock Holmes series
Romantic Fiction–Spring of the Tiger – Victoria Holt
Historical Fiction–Gone with the Wind
Young Adult–The Rose Round
Fantasy–Mists of Avalon
Science Fiction–2001: A Space Odyssey
Non Fiction–Anything by Marianne Williamson
Horror–Anything by Stephen King
Thriller /Suspense–The Interpretation of Murder or Rebecca
Classic–Wuthering Heights

This was fun–let me know if you need any of the authors! Would love to see your list!

Reply
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