Have you read something that you really enjoyed and want to give others a reason to try it out because it fits a square? Want to solicit help finding things to read that fit squares? This is a great place to do that.
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Markdown Card
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3B: We’re Putting the Band (Back) Together: A group assembles for a common purpose. HARD MODE: The group had previously drifted apart, but is now reunited.
5E: Double Up, Double Down: Includes two or more points of view that are notably separate from one another (although they may eventually converge), rather than jumping between members of an adventuring party or one person’s past and present. See also epistolary works/letter collections, critique/analysis, sociology-related works, shared worlds, parallel narratives, and nesting narratives. Example: This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. HARD MODE: The title includes a pluralized or repeated word.
5B: The Late, Great…: The author is deceased. HARD MODE: They passed away before January 1, 2000.
4E: Putting the Pieces Together: The premise involves an individual or team solving a puzzle, uncovering a secret, unraveling an ancient mystery, or investigating a crime. HARD MODE: The “detective” is an everyday civilian or an amateur in the field of the investigation, like a cop looking for a lost city on vacation, or an archaeologist trying to solve a murder.
3A: Punctuated!: The title on the cover (or cover-analogue) includes at least one punctuation symbol. Example: Thud! by Terry Pratchett. HARD MODE: Includes a symbol that is not a comma, apostrophe, or colon (e.g. !, ?, -, or …).
4A: Minority Author: The author belongs to a demographic that is underrepresented or marginalized in publishing where you live (e.g. LGBTQIA+, BIPOC). HARD MODE: Belongs to more than one marginalized group.
3E: Late to the Party: Apparently this is a really popular work, you just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Read something you’ve seen recommended over and over. HARD MODE: Has not been released as a major film or television franchise prior to the end of the challenge.
4D: The Ink Is Still Fresh: New for 2026/2027 (no reprints or new editions). First translations into your language of choice are allowed. HARD MODE: Not a sequel.
4B: Rooted & Rising: The natural world is prominent in some aspect of the work, such as setting, theme, or narrative catalyst. HARD MODE: Nature is key to a major figure’s resilience or ability to survive. Example: Hatchet by Gary Paulsen.
Questions, Complaints, Whines, General Commentary, Shitposting
As always, this year’s Storygraph challenge is pre-seeded with over 400 example books from a variety of (99% fiction) genres and subjects! Each square on there has at least 10 works that qualify only for regular mode, plus 10 more that also qualify for hard mode.
Where are the suggestions? I’ve followed several links and just see the square descriptions.
Clicking on the name of a square on the Storygraph challenge page** should bring you to a page that shows every book that’s been added to that square (by me or other participants). For instance, here’s the A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words page. They do take a second to load all the way, especially when there’s a lot of books in the list. Does that help?
** clarifying edit
Hmm, maybe my app is misbehaving? When I click on the links in the top post it just sends me back here, but when I clicked the link you shared in the comment it sent me to storygraph where I could see all of the recommendations.
I can find the rest of them now by browsing from there, so that does work for me. Ty for helping me find them. I just finished my latest series so I’m floundering for what’s next!!
Hmm I think the post links may be messed up; I’ll poke Jaymes.
Glad to help–I hope you find something fun to read next!
Ty, so I browsed those lists and found out there’s a new Sanderson, and Wells this year, so I’ve got those two on my list. And I picked up the Twisted Ones from Kingfisher. My first for this author, and more real than I’m used to, but I think this’ll be good.
2E: Independent Author: Self-published by the author at the time of reading. This includes works that have been picked up by a conventional publishing house, but are not yet rereleased, as well as those that are no longer conventionally published. HARD MODE: Not published via Amazon Kindle Direct.
1C: A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words: Illustrations, photographs, or graphic elements noticeably enhance the work. HARD MODE: Heavily visual, such as a graphic novel, manga, photo essay, picture book, or coffee table book.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199020569-grim-portraits
What do you see when you look at a painting? The image, the brush strokes, the stippled canvas beneath? What if you looked beyond it? And what do you know about the person who created that picture that’s hanging on your wall? They say art requires a certain acceptable degree of madness. What secrets then lie beyond the pigment in the darkness between depiction and delusion?
Herein you’ll find stories about self-destructive lovers on a quest to find themselves while getting lost in each other (“Sometimes They See Me”), meet a man who wakes to find himself bound to a chair in a gallery of nightmarish paintings (“The Binding”), discover how one horrific act converts a child’s grief into artistic talent in “The Portrait”, witness the unveiling of an art collector’s most precious and macabre find in “The Acquisition”, visit a comic book store with a pair of thieves intent on robbing a man they don’t know is expecting them (“The Barbed Lady Wants for Nothing”), and read a roadie’s account of a band’s final days after they discover “The Amp.”
Inspired by Rod Serling’s NIGHT GALLERY, GRIM PORTRAITS features six stories of art, madness, and horror by Bram Stoker Award-winning author Kealan Patrick Burke.
Browse at your peril.
Might fit since its ABOUT pictures? I enjoyed it. It was a librarian recommendation during Halloween one year.
Manwha: Insanely Talented Player
It’s like a satire of all the midslop manhwa I normally read, and it’s actually pretty good.
5A: Get Off My Lawn: A major figure is middle-aged or older. HARD MODE: They’re considered a senior citizen or elderly.
2D: Great Big Title: The title takes up a lot of real estate on the cover (or cover-analogue). HARD MODE: It’s also six (6) words or longer (articles, conjunctions, and names do count, but subtitles don’t).
5D: Kintsugi: A major figure attempts to navigate a significant personal or systemic struggle, trauma, or loss. HARD MODE: Centered on a healing journey.
