A full list of Stephen King works is located at the bottom of the blog.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Introducing The Stephen King Challenge!

*Challenge sign-up linky is located at the bottom of the post*

As far as I could determine, there are no other Stephen King challenges (yearly or perpetual) going on now. I know that Book Geek blog was hosting a perpetual challenge at one time, but I checked her blog and she has not been active since January of 2011 (hope everything is okay with her).  I'm assuming that the challenge is no longer active.  If I'm mistaken, feel free to let me know.

So...my friend Kate and I (Read 2 Review) were talking about doing a project together and we decided to host a Stephen King reading challenge! Since Stephen King has such a huge list of books, we decided to make this a perpetual challenge.  I know, I know...you're thinking "perpetual?  I never get motivated to complete perpetual challenges."  Well, don't worry.  We are going to have mini-challenges throughout the year with prizes and we will also have read-a-longs during the year as well.  Kate had the idea for our first read-a-long...to read Carrie during prom season.  Clever, right?! As far as the mini-challenges go, the first one will begin at the official start of this challenge, which is February 1, 2012, and the prize will be a brand new hard cover copy of Stephen King's newest novel, 11/22/63! The mini-challenge schedule will work as follows:

Feb | March | April -- mini-challenge
May | June | July -- mini-challenge
Aug | Sept | Oct -- mini-challenge
Nov | Dec -- free months

*November and December are free/non-mini-challenge months due to most of us being so busy during the holiday season.

The first mini-challenge will be to read books within certain themes.  You will choose three themes and read three books that will fit each of the themes during the three month mini-challenge period.  If you complete the three themed reads, you will be entered in the giveaway for the book, 11/22/63.  A bonus entry will be given to any person who reads a fourth book that fits within the fourth left over theme.

Examples:

Fantasy/Post-Apocalyptic
i.e. The Stand, any book from the Gunslinger series, Under the Dome, The Eyes of the Dragon, The Talisman (with Peter Straub), Black House (with Peter Straub), 11/22/63

Ghosts/Hauntings
i.e. The Shining, Bag of Bones, Duma Key, It, Insomnia

Creatures--supernatural (werewolves, vampires, demons/devils, zombies, etc.) or other type (animals, aliens, etc.)
i.e. Salem's Lot, Needful Things, Cycle of the Werewolf, The Eyes of the Dragon, Dreamcatcher, Pet Sematary, Cell, Cujo, It, The Tommyknockers

the mind--psychic, psychological, possession, abuse, etc.
i.e. Misery, The Green Mile, Dolores Claiborne, Rose Madder, Carrie, Gerald's Game, The Dark Half, The Dead Zone, Desperation, The Regulators

You can also earn a bonus entry if you read a book of King short stories.  The books of short stories are clearly marked in the list of King works listed below in the footer of the blog.

To summarize:

  • Official start date is February 1, 2012 and lasts...forever! LOL! Stop when you've read all of King's books, could be two years from now, could be five years.  Take a break any time or stop when you've had enough (although I'll never have enough of SK).
  • Choose three themes from the list and read one book within each theme during the three month mini-challenge period (Feb., March, April) to receive one entry in the giveaway.
  • For a bonus entry, choose one book in the left over theme and read it during the three month period.
  • You can also receive a bonus entry if you read a book of SK short stories (you do not have to read the fourth themed book to get this entry).   
  • There will be a mini-challenge review page for you to link up your reviews.  This will be the method we use to keep track of who completes the mini-challenge (and who earns the bonus entries).  If you don't have a blog that you review books on, you can link to your reviews on Goodreads or leave your thoughts about the books in the comments (I will allow comments on the review page).
Giveaway rules:  The winner will be chosen via random.org and must be a resident of the U.S.  If the winner is not a U.S. resident, we will purchase the Stephen King book of your choice (under $10) from Better World Books (they ship free internationally) and have it shipped to you.  This book will quite possibly be a gently used book.

The goal of this challenge is to, ultimately, read all of Stephen King's books.  I have posted the complete list of his works in the footer section below.  If you would like to embark on this journey with us, please sign-up in the linky below.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact myself or Kate.  Contact information can be found in the 'About' page.

28 comments:

  1. This might actually make me read those SK books I've had for so long. Great idea to have it all year long! Happy Reading!!!

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  2. Ooooooooh, you read my mind, Michelle! I saw the inactive Stephen King challenge as well, and I was contemplating hosting this myself! I'm so glad to see that you have hosted and made this perpetual! I am going to sign up later today!!

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  3. Thanks for signing up, Mary!

    I'm so glad you're thrilled. We're pretty excited about it. Looking forward to your sign-up!

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  4. Michelle: Thank you for the invite. I was a huge Stephen King fan many years ago while in HS/college until I read (I think it was The Stand). I had nightmares for months and have not picked up a book by him since...seriously. So ty but I think I will have to pass. Maybe someday when I have more courage lol

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  5. While I have read most of the books, this will be a good reason for me to find the electronic titles and read the Dark Tower books which I could never get into before.

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  6. I'm so glad you are doing this! I was looking for a challenge like this. I'm definitely in! Thank you!

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  7. Alrighty, I am all signed up now! I doubt, though, that I will be able to read 3 books for each mini-challenge. I'll be lucky if I read just 1 book for each mini-challenge!

    Thanks for hosting!

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  8. I didn't notice if this was mentioned but are audio books allowed?

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  9. Yes, ma'am! They certainly are. I should add that in, I guess. Thanks for the heads up, Yvonne. =O)

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  10. Are we allowed to re-read any for the mini-challenges? For example, my all-time favorite SK is The Eyes of the Dragon and I re-read it every year.

    Thanks for [another] great challenge!

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  11. Yes, Leah, you may reread whichever books you like. If we do the Carrie read-a-long during prom season, that will be a reread for me so...of course, rereads are allowed. =O)

    I really want to read Eyes of the Dragon. I never really knew what it was about and recently read about it on Goodreads. It sounds awesome and of course, I already own it. Maybe this year!

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  12. Okay I'm in. Last year I committed myself to only reading books my students would read...and now I am on a state children's book review committee,so I walk past my Steven King bookshelf in my bedroom every day... dreaming of taking time away from the children's books to read him again. Your challenge is just what I needed.

    Audio books maybe the way I go, I have a 45 min commute to and from work.

    Thank you for the challenge.

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  13. I'm in! There are quite a few SK books I haven't read yet, so this may help persuade me to get to them.

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  14. I decided to sign-up for this one. I read SK all the time. Last year I did one with Book Chick City. It was an annual one though, just for 2011.

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  15. I'm late on this one but have read quite a few -thanks so much for creating it!

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    1. No worries on being late, Tracee. It's a perpetual challenge so it's ongoing for as long as you want to participate or until you finish all of SK's books.

      I'm hosting the Epic Dark Tower read-a-long starting in September so be watching for details.

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  16. will love rereading old friends :)

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  17. Replies
    1. Hi there! Thanks for joining. =O) There are three buttons to choose from in the sidebar under the "Grab a Button" header. If you have a blog, please add your link to the linky list above so I can stop by and visit. Happy Reading!

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    2. Okay, my bad. I see that you are Deal Sharing Aunt and that you did indeed get a button. =O) I'm following you back too.

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  18. So So So upset that I just came upon your blog!!! :( Stephen King is my favorite author! I would have loved this challange. These kinds of books are right up my alley and no other blogs I have been on have done this genra of books. You have become my new favorite blog and have been bookmarked. Thank you for doing this even if I missed the whole thing!! :)

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    1. Ashlee, you have not missed it. This is a perpetual challenge which means the challenge keeps going for you as long as you have Stephen King books to read and/or as long as King continues to write books. ;O) I try to have mini-challenges to give people incentive to get the books read. I'm also hosting a read-a-long of the Dark Tower series which started in September. We're on the third book in November and reading book four in Dec./Jan. Thank you for joining the challenge. Be sure to enter your blog link above so I can visit you if you have a blog. But you don't have to have a blog to participate.

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  19. Hey I read Misery this month =D Here is the review

    http://read2review.com/our-reviews/thriller/stephen-king/misery/

    I gave it a 5/5

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  20. I just found this, kind of sad I missed it. Big King fan...

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  21. You didn't miss it! It's a perpetual challenge so it's ongoing until you've read all the Stephen King books or until you stop. You can sign up at any time. =O)

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  22. Glad you are hosting this because I was just discussing with a reader that I needed to join a SK challenge. I haven't read any of his books but really want to. Glad it's a perpetual challenge too! I think I've already got my work cut out for me for 2013.

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  23. http://loelbooks.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-stephen-king-challenge.html?spref=fb

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