Saturday, May 5, 2007

Dystopian Challenge Rules

Ok, I have no creativity for these things, so I have named my challenge the ever-inspiring: Dystopian Challenge. Like it?

In case you missed the first post, the rules were as follows:


  1. Pick any number of books you wish to read that fall into the Utopia/Dystopia genre.
  2. They do not have to be books you've never read, but hopefully they aren't books you last week.
  3. Challenge is open now, and will last until November 6th.

I followed that up with post #2, which has some lists of books and links to lists.

A couple of brave souls actually agreed to play along with me! Ok, so there aren't many, but at least I'm not alone. I plan to convince my husband to join in too. I had a hard time narrowing down my list, without it being the first 5 books listed. I think I have it now though.

  1. The Giver by Lois Lowry. (I really want to read Lowry's Number the Stars too, but it doesn't fit the challenge. Or really, any of her books. )
  2. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. (I read this in 10th grade and loved it so much. It was the first books that really made me *think*. Then I had to do a presentation to my class, much of which revolved around sex and drugs, and I was mortified.)
  3. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. (I've also read this before, but I'd like to read it again as an adult and mother.)
  4. Where Late The Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm. (Susan at West of Mars keeps recommending it, so I chose it.)
  5. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. (This one was on the list at wikipedia and looks interesting.)
  6. Either Animal Farm or 1984 by Orwell. I have not decided which.

Those of you who are gamely playing along, post your list in comments and I'll edit it into my post here.

Gina's List:

  1. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
  2. The Giver by Lois Lowry
  3. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
  4. Animal Farm by George Orwell
  5. Brave New World and
  6. The Island by Aldous Huxley
Michelle's List:


  1. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
  2. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
  3. 1984 by George Orwell
  4. (and possibly) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip Dick
  5. Jennifer Government by Max Barry
  6. Uglies by Scott Westerfield
Maggie at Maggie Reads is playing, she's starting with The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

Mercy's Maid over at Random Musings is only unoffically playing. If she WERE playing, she'd start with:



  1. 1984
  2. The Handmaid's Tale
  3. Animal Farm
Raidergirl3 at an adventure in reading is planning to tackle:



  1. The Giver
  2. Never Let Me Go
  3. The Road by Cormac McCarthy or Cloud Atlas
  4. Brave New World
  5. Fahrenheit 451

Paige is planning to read:

  1. 1984
  2. Brave New World
  3. The Giver
  4. The Road
  5. Oryz and Crate

Amy at The Sleepy Reader's list comes from the YA field:

  1. The House of the Scorpion by Farmer
  2. Feed by Anderson
  3. Gathering Blue by Lowry
  4. The City of Ember by DuPrau
  5. Among the Enemy by Haddix
  6. Among the Free by Haddix
Wendy at Caribousmom is reading:


  1. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
  2. The Road
  3. The Handmaid's Tale
  4. In the Country of Las Things by Paul Auster ( I can't find a link for this?)
Camille at Dabbling Dilettante has signed up for:


  1. The Handmaid's Tale
  2. The Postman by David Brin
  3. A Canticle for Lebowitz by Walter M Miller Jr.
  4. Fahrenheit 451 (re-read)
  5. The Road
  6. Children of Men by P.D. James

Nattie at Nattie Writes! is planning to join.

Dana at Think Pink is going to read:

  1. Fahrenheit 451
  2. A Brave New World
  3. Oryx and Crake
  4. Shade's Children by Garth Nix
  5. The Road

Denise W at not-so-deep thoughts posted her list:

  1. Brave New World
  2. When Late the Sweet Birds Sang
  3. The Road
  4. The Giver

Chris at book-a-rama is joining with:

  1. Oryx & Crake
  2. Brave New World
  3. and maybe more!

Teabird at Tea Reads will be back with her list!
And here it is:

  1. Children of Men
  2. Oryz and Crake
  3. Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut
  4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Michelle at 3M's Booklist will read:

  1. A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick
  2. The Messenger by Lois Lowry
  3. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
  4. The Handmaid's Tale
  5. Never Let Me Go
And possibly:
6. Oryx and Crake
7. Children of Men
8. Cloud Atlas

a.book.in.the.life's list:

  1. The Road
  2. Animal Farm
  3. Brave New World
  4. The Handmaid's Tale
Stephanie at Stephanie's Confessions of a Book-a-holic:

  1. The Giver
  2. Uglies
  3. Brave New World
  4. Fahrenheit 451
  5. The Road
  6. Cloud Atlas
lovelyloey:

  1. 1984
  2. Animal Farm
  3. The Giver
Megan:

  1. We - Yevgeny Zamyatin
  2. Utopia - Thomas More
  3. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
  4. The Hideous Strength - C.S. Lewis
  5. The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
  6. The Island - Aldus Huxley
  7. Herland - Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Becky at Becky's Book Reviews has quite an extensive list. You can find it here.

Katrina is reading:

  1. Cloud Atlas
  2. Z for Zachaiah
  3. The Road
  4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (extra)
  5. Naked Lunch (extra)

8 comments:

Megan said...

I don't know if these two books count. But when I chose to read The Hideous Strength, I didn't realize that it was the third book in the series. So I am adding the first two books. I am about a third of the way through the first one. They are Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra.

It was a great idea to start a new blog for this.

Anonymous said...

Excellent site! My list is:

- Among the Free by Margaret Peterson Haddix.
- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.
- Feed by M. T. Anderson.
- Dies the Fire by S. M. Stirling
- Z is for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien

Michelle Fluttering Butterflies said...

Everyone's reading such interesting books! I'm glad to see Shade's Children on someone's list - I read that ages ago and loved it to bits, Nix is one of my favourite authors!

Dewey said...

Oh, I LOVE dystopia books! But I don't know if I can handle a fourth challenge.

Frida K said...

I love this theme! I was actually sent here by someone from bookcrossing because another bookcrosser and myself have a book box going on dystopian/utopian fiction, with sadly, no participants:-(

If anyone is interested in some of the books we have, let me know...our current box includes two faves of hers and two of mine...http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/20/4570916

Anyway, my reading list for the challenge is:

1. Handmaid's Tale (my all time favourite book)
2. Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy
3. Cloud Atlas
4. Gateway to Women's Country (arguably, utopian with dystopian elements??)

And thanks to Jen Robinson because I've been racking my brain to remember Z is for Zachariah!!!

If anyone needs a copy of Handmaid's Tale and/or Woman on the Edge of Time, let me know...they're part of the bookbox that can be dismantled easily.

Maaja Wentz said...

Cereal box reader: Dystopians need challenges too

The Dystopia Challenge seems made for me. By November, I have to read 5 books in one of my favorite forms. Here's my list so far:

Never Let Me Go
Pretties
Welcome to the Monkey House (I need to reread this one)

I'm looking for brand new Dystopias or novels aimed at teens to fill out the rest of my list. Any suggestions?

Happy (unhappy) reading.

Maaja Wentz said...

I wrote a review of Feed here:

http://cerealboxreader.blogspot.com/2007/03/feed.html

Maaja Wentz said...

I put a "Dystopian Challenge" comic on my blog that you might find funny. Feel free to use it.

I have added Germ to my reading list as I won it from Cee Cee who was running a giveaway contest at Book Splurge!