This challenge came from Fiftyfifty. The challenge is simple: You have one year to read 50 new books and watch 50 new movies.
Rules:
- 1- Read 50 NEW books and watch 50 NEW movies before Jan 1st 2020.
- 2- You can join the challenge at any time.
- 3- Be honest! Nobody is going to be making sure you actually read that book or watched that movie.
All you have to do is make a post in this very thread. Your initial post will be where you update your list. You MUST follow this format in order for your entry to be counted. New format this year. In an effort to make it easier to navigate through the thread, I would like everyone to put their movie and book lists in quotes. Format:
EverythingShiny - 57/50 books | 51/50 movies
Books:
1) Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman
2) Storm Glass by Jeff Wheeler
3) The City of Endless Night by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
4) The Widow by Fiona Barton
5) Come Closer by Sara Gran
6) Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly
7) Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco
8) The Help by Kathryn Stockett
9) Verses for the Dead by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
10) Most Wanted by Lisa Scottoline
11) Legend by Marie Lu
12) The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
13) Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
14) Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
15) Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
16) Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson
17) Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
18) Gideon's Sword by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
19) Gideon's Corpse by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
20) The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle
21) The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
22) On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
23) Written in Red by Anne Bishop
24) The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
25) City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett
26) The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter
27) Decoding your Dog by a whole bunch of veterinarians
28) Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough
29) Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero
30) The Trespasser by Tana French
31) Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson
32) Lincoln in the Bardello by George Saunders
33) There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins
34) Elevation by Stephen King
35) Little Sister Death by William Gay
36) The Lonely by Andrew Michael Hurley
37) Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
38) The Late Show by Michael Connelly
39) Zero Day by David Baldacci
40) City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett
41) Experimental Film by Gemma Files
42) Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter
43) Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly
44) The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino
45) Recursion by Blake Crouch
46) The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
47) Vengeful by V. E. Schwab
48) Freefall by Jessica Berry
49) Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
50) Blindsight by Karin Slaughter
51) Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter
52) Wanderers by Chuck Wendig
53) Growing Things and Other Stories by Paul Tremblay
54) Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty
55) Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
56) Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton
57) Triptych by Karin Slaughter
Movies:
1) Bird Box
2) Black Mirror: Bandersnatch
3) 2036: Origin Unknown
4) Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
5) Ghoul
6) Bohemian Rhapsody
7) Alita: Battle Angel
8) The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher
9) Horror Noire
10) Call to Courage
11) Hell or High Water
12) Guava Island
13) Avengers: Endgame
14) The Silence
15) Mercy Black
16) BlacKkKlansman
17) The Hole in the Ground
18) John Wick
19) John Wick 2
20) John Wick 3
21) Eighth Grade
22) Always Be My Maybe
23) Pyewacket
24) Searching
25) They Come Knocking
26) I Am Mother
27) Lost City of Z
28) Good Time
29) Jungle
30) The Son
31) Moonlight
32) Dark River
33) A Simple Favor
34) I Still See You
35) East Side Sushi
36) The Devil's Carnival
37) Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival
38) Gwen
39) Threads
40) Midsommar
41) Suspiria (2019)
42) Happy Death Day
43) Happy Death Day 2 U
44) House (1986)
45) Ravenous
46) The Last Exorcism
47) Eli
48) Absentia
49) Southbound
50) Afflicted
51) Knives Out
Video games:
1) Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
This is important - I will be updating the Master Tracker (which will be in the second post of the OP) every month. If you want the Master Tracker to reflect your book/movie count, please do a separate update post at the end of each month. The update post should follow this format (doesn't require quotes like the Master Tracker post):
January Update:
StoveOven - 4/50 Books | 4/50 Movies
Books:
Movies:
- The Plague (1947) - Albert Camus, tr. Stuart Gilbert
- Tragedy: A Very Short Introduction (2005) - Adrian Poole
- The Oresteia (458 BC) - Aeschylus, tr. Robert Fagles
- Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave (1845) - Fredrick Douglass
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) - dir. James Gunn
- John Wick (2014) - dir. Chad Stahelski
- John Wick Chapter 2 (2017) - dir. Chad Stahelski
- Arrival (2016) - dir. Denis Villeneuve
- What do you mean by 'new'? It doesn't matter what year the book/movie was released in, as long as you have NEVER seen or read it before, it counts.
- What is the prize for finishing the challenge? You win some brownie points.
- What is stopping me from lying? Absolutely nothing, but, why would you?
- Ok, I'm in. Who keeps track of what I read/watch? You do! Update your initial post as you rack up the books and movies.
- What counts as a book? Anything over 100 pages.
- What if it is really long? If it is more than 500 pages, you may count it as two books. But only two.
- Do Audiobooks/Textbooks count? Yes.
- What about comics/graphic novels? Use your best judgement. Rule of thumb, a "run" would be considered one book.
- What counts as a movie? 90+ minutes of pure enjoyment.
- Can I count my favorite TV show? Most will say no. If you do want to count them, one season = one movie. Use your best judgement. People do keep track of the shows they watch, but I won't keep stats on it.
- Do Documentaries count? Yes.
Hints and Tips (from Tragiccomedy):
- Prioritize reading early and often! Participants in last year's thread watched twice as many movies as they read books, since the time commitment and mental effort tends to be significantly less on the film front. Theoretically, you could binge watch all 50 movies in a month or two and be done with that aspect of the challenge. If you're reading a regular 300+ page book, that is unlikely to hold true on the book front.
- Avoid "dead time." My wife gets hooked on HGTV programs because when they finish an episode they cut straight to the next one without a commercial break. That's their hook, and it's quite effective. Treat reading the same way. Finish a book knowing what you want to read next and try to start it immediately. Even reading 10-15 pages might be all it takes to get you immersed in your next book.
- Read every night as you fall asleep, or find time to squeeze in a chapter or two during break times at work. If you can read ~30 minutes to an hour a day, you should be able to finish the challenge quite easily (and maybe even early).
- Lists can be super helpful! Goodreads, in particular, is a great way to track what you've read and what's in your queue to read next.
- Consider picking up a Kindle or e-reader of your choice. One very common trend you'll hear among e-reader users is they actually read more and at a faster pace than they do with physical copies of books. That has certainly been my experience.
- Check out some classics. Some stuff may be dated, but there are a ton of gems out there ready to be discovered by a younger generation.
- Find your niche! I'm a science fiction and fantasy guy. I can blast through a 1K page fantasy book faster than I could ever finish a 300 page love story. Feel free to expand your horizons but know what's in your current wheelhouse.
- 52 Games. One Year. 2019
- 50 Albums in 2019 Challenge
- 50 Books. 50 Movies. 2018
- Goodreads - Nice way to keep track of what you're reading and creep on other participants.
- Letterboxd - Keep track of what you're watching.
- Movie lists: IMDB and Rottentomatoes.
- Want to discuss the books you're reading with other people? Visit the monthly 'What are you reading" threads! These threads are also fantastic for recommendations. I'll put a link to the most recent thread here.
If you need stars for reviews:
★
★★
★★★
★★★★
★★★★★
Credit: This OP was mostly created by GK86, who ran the challenge for several years. Thank you! Additional credit goes to the past OP's, who have helped pave the way for the challenge to be more efficient for everyone around. Graphics were (shamelessly) taken from Fiftyfifty's website.
There is also a BacklogERA Discord channel open. A place to discuss your ever growing backlogs and how to tackle them. Quote to reveal link.
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