One of the beautiful things about the HF forum is that we have such a diversity of people all interacting around a common love. And that is shown no where so clearly as our attitude about challenges. Most of us love a good challenge....we love the hunt for just the right title, the puzzle of fitting books into the right slot, the rush of closing the last page on that last category, and the pride of finishing a bonus category. But then....there are the few holdouts. The ones who don't want anybody telling them what to read. Just want to go willy nilly into the night reading what ever strikes their fancy. So this year, we have a challenge for each type. A classic challenge for the seriously competitive, and an un-Challenge for you willy nilly types who don't want to work at it, but still want to wear a shiny banner that says you completed a challenge. And if that's not enough for you, there are TWO...count 'em....TWO bonus challenges.

In honor of the year 2013, the challenges are based around the 13 numbers in a deck of cards. The Classic Challenge and the Un-Challenge each have 13 categories. To complete either Challenge, you must read 12 books from a single challenge. Note that categories 5, 6 and 7 each have multiple books in them. Each book you read for those categories counts towards the 12 books.

The Classic Challenge

The Un-Challenge

The “Follow Suit” Bonus Mini-Challenge

The Poker Hand Bonus Challenge

Make your lists here:  2013 Historical Fiction Challenge - A House of Cards LISTS ONLY
 

Deb, Holly and Jerelyn have graciously made us some awesome signature banners to display our challenge pride.  Use whichever ones you fancy!

Deb's Banners

Jerelyn's Banners

Holly's Banner

The Classic Challenge

Ace: In a deck of cards, the Ace can be high or low. For this category, read the first or the latest book by an author.

Two: Read a book set in two time periods. It can be a time-warp book, or a flashback, or a parallel story. The two time periods must be separated by at least 50 years.

Three: The term “Third World Country” was originally coined during the Cold War to describe countries that were not aligned with either the capitalist/NATO countries (First World) or the communist/Soviet countries (Second World). Because many of these countries were extremely poor, it became a stereotype to use the term in reference to under-developed countries. Read a book set in any of the Third World Countries shown in green in this Wikipedia map.

Four: Drawn & Quartered Your choice. Read a book where someone is tortured to represent “Quartered”. Or read a book about a work of art to represent “Drawn”. The work of art does not have to be a picture. It can be a piece of classic music, theater, literature, etc.

Five: One of our old favorites. Read five books that are somehow connected. Be as creative as you want in connecting the books. They can be by the same author, about the same character, set in the same time period...whatever you can come up with.

Six: Read six books from your TBR. Only books on your TBR on January 1, 2013 can be used.

Seven: Catch up on a series that has at least seven books in it. You can start a new series, or pick up where ever you are in a favorite series and read to the current end of the series. For example, if a series has 8 books in it, and you have read the first five, you can read books six through eight to complete this category. If book nine comes out during the year after you have finished book eight, you do not have to read book nine to count this category complete.

Eight: Pieces o’ Eight Read a book about a pirate (you knew I would have a historical hunk in here somewhere, didn’t you??)

Nine: Nine holes of golf, nine players and nine innings in baseball....read a book where a main character wins a sporting event. It can be a joust, a race, an archery contest....anything where people are competing in a game to win.

Ten: Ten Little Indians Read a book with a Native American character, OR set in India OR set in the West Indies.

Jack: Jack of All Trades - Read a book about a real person who was NOT a royal, or a book about anybody named Jack.

Queen: Read a book about any queen

King: Read a book about any king

(yea, I got a little lazy on those last two!)

 

The Un-Challenge

Really...how hard can this be??? Pretty much any book you pick up should fit in one or more of these categories. And then you get to use the pretty banners!

Ace: Read a book that is neither the first or the latest book by an author.

Two: Read a book not set in two time periods. The setting of the book should span no more that 10 years

Three: Read a book set in any of the First or Second World Countries shown in blue or red in this Wikipedia map.

Four: Plain & Pampered Your choice. Read a book where someone is pampered. OR read a book with NO pictures in it....no maps, no chapter illustrations or doodles. Cover illustrations are allowed.

Five: Read five completely random books that are in no way connected to each other.

Six: Read six newly-acquired books. Only books acquired after January 1, 2013 can be used.

Seven: Start a series that has at least seven books in it. You must read the first book in the series and then as many of the subsequent books as you feel like to complete this category

Eight: Peaces o’ Eight Read a book about a priest, nun or other (supposedly) pious person (priests can be hunks too, ya know. Richard Chamberlain, anyone??)

Nine: Read a book where any character loses a sporting event.

Ten: Ten Little Un-Indians Read a book where a main character leaves their native country, OR a book NOT set in India OR a book NOT set in the West Indies.

Jack: Jack of No Trades - Read a book about a real person who was a royal, or a book about anybody not named Jack.

Queen: Read a book about anybody who is not a queen

King: Read a book about anybody who is not a king
 

Bonus Challenges

The “Follow Suit” Bonus Mini-Challenge

Read a book representing each of the four suits in a deck of cards: Hearts, Diamonds, Spades and Clubs (or Puppy Feet, if you must). Four books in total to complete this bonus mini-challenge

The Poker Hand Bonus
Using the Categories of the Classic Challenge and/or the Un-Challenge, create the highest poker hand you can. You can do this as a stand-alone bonus in addition to completing one or both of the challenges, or you can use the books you read for the challenges to come up with your best hand. It’s up to you. In order from highest rank to lowest:

Royal Flush: Complete Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten all from one challenge
Straight Flush: Complete any five consecutive categories all from one challenge
Four of a Kind: Complete the same category four times, can be from either challenge
Full House: Complete one category three times and another category two times, can be from either challenge
Flush: Complete any five categories from one challenge
Straight: Complete five consecutive categories, can be from either challenge
Three of a Kind: Complete one category three times, can be from either challenge
Two Pair: Complete two different categories, two times each, can be from either challenge.
 

Okay.....GO!  Y'all know I'm no good at buttons and banners, so if anyone wants to make up some, go right ahead.  I'll put them in the main post for anyone to use. Enjoy!

Oh...BTW...the Un-Challenge was the "brilliant" idea.  I really wanted something that was kinda funny and that any book could fit in. I originally had categories like a book where someone has a wife, a book where someone gets drunk, a book with the word "however" on page 78, etc.  But then Vicky's Mystery Challenge inspired me to do the "opposites" thing and so the Un-Challenge was born!

Well DONE, Christa!

I didn't think I'd do the challenge this year--stick to my TBR. But I should be able to do this regardless what I read.  So, once again, I look forward to the HF challenge.

This looks great Christa!! I'm excited to start finding books that'll fit!

I bow to your cleverness, Christa! Very well & very nicely done! 

And, as in past years, looking forward to next year's challenge!

Kelly (& Linda, as well! ... who will probably do both the Challenge and the Un-Challenge!)

Wow, Christa -- well done indeed! I love the Un-Challenge -- basically anything counts -- that's my kind of challenge!!

Anyway, I have a question about the Follow Suit Bonus Mini-Challenge. What constitutes books representing clubs, diamonds, spades, and hearts? Should those terms be in the title, somewhere on p. 52, between the lines, in secret code? Does club mean any book with a weapon, a spade any book where someone is buried, a heart a love story??? Or do we get to just make up a connection (which I'm quite happy to do)?

Thanks!

Love it!

Good Job Christa I like them.

Glad you guys are liking the challenge!  Funny, Deb....I was specifically thinking of you when I created the Un-Challenge.  Or maybe I was thinking of myself, since I haven't managed to finish even the smallest section of this year's challenge! 

You are exactly right about the Follow Suit mini-challenge.  You can come up with any way you want to connect the books to the four suits.  When I asked for ideas for this challenge, several people said they liked the one where you could connect five books in any way because they enjoyed seeing how creatively people connected their books. I've included that as part of the Classic challenge but I thought the Follow Suit mini-challenge would be another fun way to show that kind of creativity.

Christa, great job!  This really looks like fun!  And the Un-Challenge has Deb's name all over it!!    I'll be thinking about titles for this challenge all next week, as I'll be out of town and away from my stacks. 

When I grow up and retire, I want to be just like Linda, who seems to be able to read tons of books.  That's my goal in life: time to just read!   

This is a great challenge Christa!

Christa - Wow!  What a great challenge!  This will be such fun!

Vicky - You know, I frequently feel guilty, about spending so much time reading -- just not guilty enough to change my habits.  And, Kelly aids, abets, and helps me justify.  Retirement is indeed wonderful.

Linda

Another great challenge Christa well done!

Oh My God, Christa! I almost choked on a pretzel as I was reading the Un-Challenge category.  

I can't wait to get started on this! (And I'm not even finished with this years challenge!)

Yikes! why has it taken me so long to see this? This is my spot but I have NO idea yet as to what I will do. Great job Christa!!! I may go with the Un-Challenge since I haven't been able to finish a challenge yet this year - including MY OWN!!!

How fun!  I really want to try for the Classic Challenge, though that may not be very realistic... but I can definitely do the UnChallenge!

ETA: OH, and I have a question: can books be usedfor two challenges?  If I want to participate in the Historical Mystery challenge, can I use a book for one of those categories to also count for a category on the HF challenge?

Nice job Christa!

Hi Kate!  Welcome to the challenge!  It is fine with me for you to use the same books for multiple challenges.  Vicky has the final say on the HF Mystery Challenge, but we are pretty loose about rules around here, so I'm pretty sure she will be fine with it as well.

No takers on making us some banners??

Oh dear, this looks like oodles of fun! 

Can a title be used for more than one category?

You can only use a book once for either the Classic Challenge or Un-Challenge.  However, books that you use for those challenges can be re-used for the Bonus Challenges if you want to.

Hi Kate!  I think it's fine to use a book for both challenges.  (Christa had me pegged!)