I really love reading challenges because of the way it stretches your reading comfort zone, but I've always sucked at actually completing them.In 2015, over at Goodreads, we kicked off our most outrageous challenge ever, borrowing The Beatles Reading...
I really love reading challenges because of the way it stretches your reading comfort zone, but I've always sucked at actually completing them.
In 2015, over at Goodreads, we kicked off our most outrageous challenge ever, borrowing The Beatles Reading Challenge from another group I was a part of, which had turned their songs into reading tasks. And in 2016, we whipped up The REM Reading Challenge. (I really sucked at this one. I couldn't even complete one album, but man was it fun trying!). And then to honor David Bowie's passing, in 2017 we pulled together the Bowie Reading Challenge! In 2018 I decided to take a break from our music theme and challenged everyone to read whatever the fuck they wanted in our RWTFYW challenge. The only rule was that there were no rules : ) In 2019 I spread my love of Guster around, 2020 was all about Ani DiFranco, 2021 had us fan girling over PJ Harvey, and 2022 continued the female artist love with our Liz Phair challenge (I sucked at this one too, didn't complete one album but came soooo close for so many!). 2023 had me returning to my 80s roots and we concocted The Cure challenge, which was my most successful to date! I completed a total of 5 full albums!!)
for 2024 I'm going to keep the love of the classic alternative music going and am thrilled to annouce that we're hosting The Depech Mode Reading Challenge!
I became obsessed with them when Violator dropped. It's one of the few "perfect" albums I've ever listened to. Though before I played that cassette on an endless loop, I remember first hearing them when I was visiting my dad's girlfriend's house back in middle school. Her daughter was a few years older, and much much cooler, than me and was cranking out one of their earlier records. It was so much deeper and different from what I had been currently listening to back then but I was smitten.
Whether you know and love Depeche Mode or this is the first time you are hearing of them (I mean it's possible, right? They haven't had a new album drop in almost 7 years), what I think is most cool about these kinds of reading challenges... is that you don't even have to be a fan of the musicians to participate. You just have to be a fan of READING!!
Depeche Mode (2024) Reading Challenge
So here's how this works:
*The goal is to cross off as many of Depeche Mode's songs as you can throughout the course of 2024.
You can challenge yourself to complete one entire album, focus on completing one decades-worth of albums, or build your own challenge by hitting your favorite song titles... it's totally up to you!
*You cross off the songs by reading a book that meets the criteria listed after each song title.
If the book meets multiple reading tasks, cool! You can apply it to multiple song titles, OR you can make the reading challenge more challenging by limiting yourself to one song title per book.
*There may be built in redundancy with some of the tasks.
They are repetitive on purpose, to give you an opportunity to read more than one type of book and still get credit for completing a task. (Sneaky, I know!)
*Please copy and paste the entire list, or your customized challenge list, into your own thread in this goodreads folder and strike through the song titles as you complete them, OR, you can simply copy and paste each song title and its criteria from the master list here as you complete it. (obviously put your name in the thread title so we know whose challenge it is).
*Do not add your list directly to Rule and List thread.
*YOU MUST LIST THE BOOK TITLE AND AUTHOR that coincides with the song as you complete it for the challenge so we know what you read!
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An example of a completed song title task in your Challenge thread would look like this:
““This Bouquet” – Read a book that features flowers on the cover - The Distance from Four Points by Margo Orlando Littell
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Speak & Spell (1981)
“New Life “ – Read a book that was published in the 1900’s but feels like it was written now
“Puppets” – A book that features puppets, ventriloquist dummies, or marionettes
“Dreaming of Me” – Read a book that you were dying to get your hands on and take credit for it here
“Boys Say Go!” – Read a “manly” “dude” book
“Nodisco” – Read a book with a strange title
“What’s Your Name?” – Read a book with a person’s name in the title
“Photographic” – Read a book that has burned its words onto your brain or contained very graphic scenes
“Tora! Tora! Tora! – Read a translated book
“Big Muff” – Read a book that’s a bit of a mess, or feels clumsy
“Any Second Now (voices)” – Read a book that kept you waiting for the twist
“Just Can’t Get Enough” – Read a book in a genre you just can’t get enough of
A Broken Frame (1982)
“Leave in Silence” – DNF a book and take credit for it here
“My Secret Garden” – Read a book that’s considered a guilty pleasure
“Monument” – Read a historical fiction book
“Nothing to Fear” – Read a book that creeped you out a little
“See You” – Read a book written in second person
“Satellite” – Read a book that takes place in space
“The Meaning of Love” - Read a rom-com, or a book that revolves around love
“Furter Excerpts From: My Secret Garden” – Read the sequel or prequel to a book you’ve already read
“A Photograph of You” – Read a book with a person on the cover
“Shouldn’t Have Done That” – Read a book you DNFd in the past and give it one more chance
“The Sun & the Rainfall” - Read a cli-fi book
Construction Time Again (1983)
“Love, in Itself” – Pick up a book by an auto-buy author, and without reading the jacket copy just jump right in and read it
“More Than a Party” – Get on the bus and read a big buzz book
“Pipeline” – Read an ARC (Advanced Readers Copy) and take credit for it here
“Everything Counts” – Read whatever you want and take credit for it here
“Two Minute Warning” – Read a book in which the apocalypse or world-ending event is currently happening
“Shame” – Read a book that you’d be ashamed to be seen reading
“The Landscape is Changing” – Stretch your comfort zone and read a book in a genre you haven’t read yet
“Told You So” – Read a book someone recommended to you because they knew you’d love it
“And Then…” – Read a book that ends on a cliffhanger or seems to not resolve itself
Some Great Reward (1984)
“Something to Do” – Ignore all of your chores/errands and read a book instead, then take credit for it here
“Lie to Me” – Finally read that book you’ve been telling people you’ll get to
“People are People” – Read a book by someone who is different than you (nationality, religion, ability, gender, etc)
“It Doesn’t Matter” – Read a book that features friendship or unrequited love
“Stories of Old” – Read a classic!
“Somebody” – Read a book with a one word title
“Master and Servant” – Read a book that involves weird relationship dynamics
“If You Want” – Run out and buy that book you’ve been thinking of getting, then read it and take credit for it here
“Blasphemous Rumours” – Read a really popular book and take credit for it here if you didn’t like it and don’t get what all the buzz was about
Black Celebration (1986)
“Black Celebration” – Read a book in which the protagonist overcomes a great obstacle or evil
“Fly on the Windscreen” – Read a book that features bugs/insects on the cover or in its pages
“A Question of Lust” – Read a book by an author that you have a crush on
“Sometimes” – Read a book that leaves you questioning everything
“It Doesn’t Matter Two” – Read a book that makes you feel all the feels
“A Question of Time” – Read a book that has 400 pages or more
“Stripped” – Read a book with really short, sparce writing
“Here is the House” – Read a book that prominently features a house (bonus points if it’s haunted!)
“World Full of Nothing” – Read a post apocalyptic book
“Dressed in Black” – Read a book that features a funeral or the death of a main character
“New Dress” – read a brand new, just published book
Music for the Masses (1987)
“Never Let Me Down Again” – Read a book in a genre you don’t typically enjoy
“The Things You Said” – Read a book that’s incredibly quote-worthy
“Strangelove” – Read a book that’s considered weird fiction
“Sacred” – Read a book that features religion or a conspiracy theory
“Little 5” – Read a book with a number in the title
“Behind the Wheel” – Read a book while on a road trip or that features a road trip
“I Want You Now” – Give yourself permission to be a mood reader and read whatever you want, then take credit for it here
“To Have and to Hold” – Read a physical book
“Nothing” – Read a book that was gifted to you
“Pimpf” – Read a book with a nonsensical title
Violator (1990)
“World in My Eyes” – Read a book written in first person
“Sweetest Perfection” – Save this task for the best book you’ve read this year
“Personal Jesus” – Read a book that touches you in ways you hadn’t expected
“Halo” – Read a book that you thought was a perfect 5 star read
“Waiting for the Night” – Read a book that takes place at night
“Enjoy the Silence” – Take a break from everyone, go ahead, shut yourself away somewhere and read in silence for a while, then take credit for it here when you finish it
“Policy of Truth” – Read a true crime or non fiction book
“Blue Dress” – Read a book with a blue cover
“Clean” – Read a book that deals with drugs/drug abuse
Songs of Faith and Devotion (1993)
“I Feel You” – Read a book that has deckled edges or an embossed cover
“Walking in My Shoes” – Read a book written by an author from a culture different than your own
“Condemnation” – Read a book that has ruined you and convinced you to never read another book by that author again
“Mercy in You” – Read a book in which the main character requires forgiveness
“Judas” – Read a book set in really harsh conditions
“In Your Room” – Read a book that takes your breath away
“Get Right with Me” – Give an author another try, pick up a different book by them, go on… give it a shot
“Rush” – If you read a book and found yourself skimming to get to the good parts, take credit here
“One Caress” – Read a book that feels extremely vulnerable and tender
“Higher Love” – Read a book that contains gorgeous end papers
Ultra (1997)
“Barrel of a Gun” –Read a book that contains violence
“The Love Thieves” – Read a book that stole your heart
“Home” – Read a book in which the protagonist returns to their hometown
“It’s No Good” – Read a book you should have DNFd but didn’t and now you regret it
“Uselink” – Read a book that contains very little dialogue
“Useless” – Read a book that was pure brain candy
“Sister of the Night” – Read a book that features vampires or werewolves
“Jazz Thieves” – Read a book that focuses on music or was written by a musician
“Freestate” – Read a book that doesn’t seem to fit into any specific genre
“The Bottom Line” – Read the book that is currently at the bottom of your TBR
“Insight” – Read a book that taught you something
Exciter (2001)
“Dream On” – Read a book in which the main character(s) get what’s coming to them
“Shine” – Read a book with a yellow cover or sparkly cover
“The Sweetest Condition” – Read a book that focuses on a mental condition or disability
“When the Body Speaks” – Read a book that features body horror
“The Dead of Night” – Read a book where all the action takes place at night
“Lovetheme” – Read a book that’s told in a non traditional way (found footage, post it notes, texts, emails, etc)
“Freelove” – Read a book that features a unique kind of love
“Comatose” – Read a book that knocked you dead
“I Feel Loved” – Gift a copy of your favorite book to someone and take credit for it here
“Breathe” – Read a post-pandemic novel
“Easy Tiger” – Read a book that prominently features an animal
“I Am You” – Read a book in which you totally relate to one of the characters
“Goodnight Lovers” – Stay up all night reading a book and take credit for it here
Playing the Angel (2005)
“A Pain That I’m Used To” – Read a book in the same position for so long that your arms/legs start to hurt
“John the Revelator” – Read a book in which you didn’t figure out the ending until the very end
“Suffer Well” – If you read a book and thought about DNFing it but didn’t and ended up liking it, take credit for it here
“The Sinner in Me” – Read a book that features gods or angels and devils
“Precious” – Read someone else’s favorite book and take credit for it here
“Macro” – Read an epic novel, one that spans multiple generations or takes place over many years
“I Want it All” – Read a book that you own in multiple formats or have multiple editions of
“Nothing’s Impossible” – Read a bizarro book
“Introspectre” – Read a book that contains illustrations or graphics throughout
“Damaged People” – Read a book that features characters who are seriously F’d up
“Lilian” – Read a book written by someone who identifies as female
“The Darkest Star” – Read a book that is super dark and heavy
Sounds of the Universe (2009)
“In Chains” – Read a story that features prison or a character who is in trouble with the law
“Hole to Feed” – Read a book that features food on the cover or is food focused
“Wrong” – Read a book where you guessed the ending wrong
“Fragile Tension” – Read a psychological thriller
“Little Soul” – Read a chapbook
“In Sympathy” – Host a read-a-long / buddy read and take credit for that book here
“Peace” – Read a book about war or fighting
“Come Back” – Reread a book
“Spacewalker” – Read a sci-fi book
“Perfect” – If you read a five star book, take credit for it here
“Miles Away/The Truth Is” – Read a book that’s set in a different country
“Jezebel” – Read a book that features a crafty, deceptive female protag
“Corrupt” – read a crime non/fiction book
Delta Machine (2013)
“Welcome to My World” – Read a book that takes place on or around another planet
“Angel” – Read a book with religion in it
“Heaven” – Read a book in your favorite reading spot and take credit for it here
“Secret to End” – Read a book by an author who published under a pseudonym
“My Little Universe” – Read a book that’s under 100 pages
“Slow” – Read a book that took forever to get going
“Broken” – Read a used book (the more beat up the better)
“The Child Inside” – Read a YA book or a book that features a child protagonist
“Soft Touch/Raw Nerve” – Read a book that really pissed you off and take credit for it here
“Should Be Higher” – Read a book that you thought more people should be reading
“Alone” – Read a book that could be considered isolation fiction
“Soothe My Soul” – Read a book in your go-to genre
“Goodbye” – Read the last book published in an author’s bibliography
Spirit (2017)
“Going Backwards” – Read a book that was originally published in the eighties or earlier
“Where’s the Revolution” – Read a dystopian novel or a novel in which the people revolt
“The Worst Crime” – Watch the movie BEFORE you read the book it was based on and take credit for it here
“Scum” – Read a book that features the most cringe character(s)
“You Move” – Read a travel themed book
“Cover Me” – Save this space for the book with the best cover you’ve read this year
“Eternal” – Read a book that is set in an unknown time/period or that features time jumps/time travel
“Poison Heart” – Read a book that features an evil or morally grey protagonist
“So Much Love” – Read a book by your favorite author
“No More (This is the Last Time)” – Read another book by an author you read before and didn’t like
“Fail” – Read a book in which nothing seems to go right for the main character
Memento Mori (2023)
“My Cosmos is Mine” – Read a space opera
“Wagging Tongue” – Read a book that could have benefited from being shorter
“Ghosts Again” – Read a book that features ghosts
“Don’t Say You Love Me” – If you read a book and rate it less than 3 stars, take credit for it here
“My Favorite Singer” – Read a book that fits one of our previous years’ book challenges and take credit for it here
“Soul With Me” – Read a book about a haunting or possession
“Caroline’s Monkey” – Read a book that features a wild animal
“Before we Drown” – Read a book that takes place on or near the water
“People Are Good” – Read a book that has a high star rating on goodreads
“Always You” – Read two books back to back by the same author and take credit for it here
“Never Let Me Go” – Read a book that is absolutely unputdownable
“Speak to Me” – Read an audiobook
