Weres Wanna Know: What non-bookish blogs do you follow?

At the beginning of the year I went through Bloglovin and decided I needed to follow more food blogs. I'd been following Half Baked Harvest for a while but it was the only non-bookish thing in my feed. I wound up adding two more, but now that we're cooking at home a lot more it doesn't feel like enough. I need recs for more food blogs.

But that got me thinking, what else am I missing? I love looking at bullet journals but I never had the motivation to actually make one. My planner's feeling a little neglected the last few weeks though, so maybe now's the time. Do you have a favorite blog on planners or bullet journals? 

What about crafting, refinishing furniture, closet organizing? You know all those projects we keep thinking we might work on while we're stuck at home? I need some inspiration.

Tell me your favorite blogs or Instagram accounts about non-bookish things.

Weres Wanna Know: Have you ever read a book because of a negative review?

Every time I scroll through Facebook lately I see the same ad from author Lauren Landish quoting a review that called her latest book, “Vulgar and trashy.” That book is currently a Kindle best seller so I'm not the only who doesn't think trashy sounds like such a bad thing. But also, I'm impressed with the author's ability to embrace the criticism. It can be tough to see someone dislike a book you love. I'm sure it's even harder for the authors. 

We all know in theory that not every book is for every reader. I saw a review on Instagram earlier this year that said something like, "This book was just not for me. It felt like a Victorian Weekend at Bernie’s." And my response was, "That sounds awesome. Sign me up!" But maybe that's just me? I read a three star review recently that said, "I just don't like the Fake Relationship trope." I usually enjoy it so that wasn't a bad review at all for me.

As a reviewer, I take some comfort in all of this. I often feel a little bit guilty writing a negative review so I'm going to try to keep in mind that I might actually be selling someone on the book. But I honestly can't think of a time when it happened. My really bad reviews tend to be more like "it was badly written" or "the protagonist was unlikable" and I'm not sure how that would be a selling point. So this all has me wondering:

Have you ever read a book because of a negative review?

We’re participating in the 2019 Discussion Challenge hosted by It Starts at Midnight and Feed Your Fiction Addiction. Check out all the December discussions!

Weres Wanna Know: Why aren't we done with this trope yet?

I read a book recently in which a human falls in love with a shifter. I read a lot of books like that actually, but something about this one bothered me. At the end, the human gains magical powers. Now they're both supernatural and can live Happily Ever After, right? But why did the author think the human needed to change? It's unnecessary, and honestly kind of offensive.

SFF in general is allegorical, whether the author intends it or not. PNR in particular is about people overcoming their differences to find love. But PNR has a long history of undermining its own message. How many times have we seen the heroine (because it's usually the heroine) get turned into a vampire (or a werewolf or whatever) just like the hero before she gets her HEA? 

I've never seen an interracial romance where the heroine has to change her skin color to be with her boyfriend. Maybe she moves to another country or quits her job, but she doesn't abandon her identity. How is giving up her humanity any different? If we accept it’s allegory, it’s not different at all. In an era that champions diversity, why are we still sending a message that what she was is not enough?

Have I lost you? Here's an example. (Warning: I'm about to spoil a four year old animated film.) In the movie Hotel Transylvania 2, Dracula's daughter Mavis is married to a human. Their son is at the age when his fangs should have come in and Dracula starts to worry that his grandson might be human. Mavis is fine with that. She loves humans. She even married one. And just when Drac learns to accept that his grandson is not exactly like him, the boy gets his fangs after all. Watching the movie I'm thinking, "What a great message for my mixed race child!" Aaand then they ruined it.

(And here's a spoiler for a series that ended six years ago.) In the books, Sookie Stackhouse rejected this convention, which is ultimately why she didn't end up with Eric. He assumed that if she stayed with him she would eventually be turned. When she didn't want to become a vampire, he left her behind. Sookie wound up marrying the man who had always accepted her just as she was. She's a role model for her genre really. But it's frustrating that she's the only example I can think of.

I've noticed a shift in recent years to include clear consent in PNR. With its emphasis on Alpha Males, it was not always good about that in the past. And I would expect the genre to embrace diversity as well, but I'm not sure I'm seeing that yet. I mean, here was a 2018 release that felt the need to give the heroine magic. Even if you're not offended, it feels outdated.

When are we going to be done with this trope?

Which genre tropes or conventions are you tired of?

We’re participating in the 2019 Discussion Challenge hosted by It Starts at Midnight and Feed Your Fiction Addiction. Check out all the January discussions!

Weres Wanna Know: When do you give up on your reading goal?

If you've been following the blog lately you've probably heard about our reading slumps. Mine started in July! I've lowered my Goodreads goal twice in the last few months and I still may not make it.

I joined Goodreads in 2012 and that year I read more than 250 books. (I was home with a newborn and hadn't started reviewing yet.) I binged the Fever series and Psy-Changelings that year. It was awesome! I haven't come close to that number since and the last two years I've lowered my goal in the middle of the year, but I've never ended up under 100. I’m currently at 66. Who am I right now?

But that's not the only way I'm failing 2018. I'm 5 books short of my goal for the Beat the Backlist challenge with 2 weeks to go. How hard is it to read old books? Especially when I restarted my Kindle Unlimited in November. I could find an older series to binge or a bunch of novellas. But what am I doing? Watching Hallmark movies and NCIS reruns.

We also made year end TBRs last month. (Check those out here and here.) I tried to be realistic when I made my list but I've only read one of the ten books so far. At this point I really can't even.

I have some Big Ideas about how I’m going to be a more balanced and organized reader next year. (That might be an upcoming post.) I'm thinking I should just forget about this year and start reading my 2019 ARCs.

So I wanna know:

When do you give up on your reading goal?

We’re participating in the 2018 Discussion Challenge hosted by It Starts at Midnight and Feed Your Fiction Addiction. Go check out all the December discussions!

We Love Lists: How to Break Out of a Reading Slump

We did a Top 5 Wednesday list on Slump Busters last February. I decided it was time to revisit that list because I'm in the worst slump ever - I've finished one book in the last two months! 

I've updated the list with a few more suggestions, but I'd love some more ideas. Give me all your slump busting book recs in the comments.


Netflix
Sometimes my reading slump is just burnout. I can't read another book, or I can't hold a book without my wrist aching. So a week of binging a TV show on Netflix (or Hulu or Prime) will do the trick. I recently enjoyed Jack Ryan on Prime and it's got me in the mood for more spy shows. I may rewatch Alias or Covert Affairs next.


 Rereads
One way to get out of a slump is to read something you've already read. There's no pressure to review and no worries that you might not like it. I've reread the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews and Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series four times each, but I think the next time I'm in a rut I may go for Nalini Singh and some Psy-Changelings.

Rose Red added: My go-to method for busting out of a slump is to reread old favorites. I tend to pick up paranormal romances, urban fantasy, childhood favorites. Nalini Singh's books have been my go-to slump busters since I first read the Psy-Changeling series in 2014. I also love rereading Harry Potter, The Blue Sword, and Patricia C. Wrede's books to get out of a slump.


 Paranormal Romance
Last year I was feeling slumpy when I picked up The Leopard King by Ann Aguire. It combines old school trope-y PNR with a completely new fantasy world that reminds me a bit of The Others series. It was just the thing to get me reading again!


 Urban Fantasy
Rose Red: I love reading urban fantasy to get out slumps whether they are new series or rereads! Urban fantasy's fast-pace and familiar worlds are awesome at kickstarting you back into reading. When I'm in a slump I tend to gravitate towards rereading Nalini Singh's Guild Hunter series, Ilona Andrews's Kate Daniels books, and Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson/Alpha & Omega series.


 Series Binge
I know that sounds wrong - get out of a reading slump by reading a whole series, but it's worked for me a few times. I think maybe it's because it takes off the pressure of having to find your next book for a while. Or maybe it's just that I'm a natural binge reader. It's fun to be able to pick up the next book the minute you finish and stay in that world for like a week.

Gretl: Last year I binged Paige Tyler's SWAT series when nothing else sounded good to me. The year before I did J.D. Tyler's Alpha Pack series. They both blend romantic suspense and shifter PNR. Both authors were also new to me at the time. I think the first time I read the Psy-Changeling series, which was about four years ago, it was a slump buster as well.

Rose Red: I did this as well last year but with Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed series and Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark books.


 Contemporary Romance
A lot of times my reading rut is really an I don't want to write a review rut. When that happens my go to is contemp romance. I'll usually pick up a rom com like Emma Chase or Alice Clayton or suspense like Julie Ann Walker. The last time I didn't want to write reviews I read Idol by Kristen Callihan, which I highly recommend. The third book in the VIP series is out this month, so I may try that next.


Novellas
The problem I'm having right now is that I have no attention span. I've read the first hundred pages of a few different books, but if I don't finish in one sitting my brain moves on to the next thing. Novellas are a perfect solution for this one. I often look for Psy-Changeling novellas since there are a lot of them and it hits that familiar, comfort read spot at the same time. But you can also find a lot of free contemp romance novellas on Kindle if that's more your mood. Or for UF, I loved Melissa F. Olson's Nightshade trilogy.

What do you do to get out of a slump?

Weres Wanna Know: Is anyone else confused about New Adult?

I think I first heard the term New Adult five or six years ago when Jeaniene Frost was writing The Beautiful Ashes. The first NA I read was probably Cecy Robson's Shattered Past series, which has lots of sex and other "adult subject matter" like abuse. (If you like to cry, check these out. They're intense!) It was my understanding that what made something NA was a college age - let's say 18-24 year old - protagonist. And I've read a few college romances, which also had lots of sexual content, that reinforced that.

I actually started to think NA = lots of sex. I mean, lots of people have lots of sex in college so it made sense. The Beautiful Ashes was re-released with a new cover that looked like adult PNR because lots of people thought it was YA. And I figured that was a problem because of the adult content in the series, though I don't think there was much in that first book.

About two years ago I reviewed a book with an 18 year old heroine who had already graduated from high school and a 20 year old hero. And I spent a ton of time trying to figure out why it came from a YA publisher when it was obviously an NA book. Was it because there's no sex? Because all the NA I had read had lots of sex. (I do understand that's not really the definition of the genre so don't @ me.)

I don't think I'm the only one who's about confused this. I've seen so many comments about how the ACOTAR series has so much sex for YA. And then I read something that called it NA and I had an epiphany. One, that would explain why everyone comments on all the sex. And two, NA comes from both YA and adult publishers. That second one kind of blew my mind.

But now how am I supposed to know what to call any given book? I've read some UF with nineteen year old heroines, like Hailey Edwards Black Dog series, and tagged the reviews as New Adult Urban Fantasy - that one seems pretty easy. But what about the ones from YA publishers? I have no idea. The main character's age is usually in the blurb, but now we need more information.

I read a Twitter thread not too long ago that claimed YA is about finding out who you are and NA is about finding your place in the world. That sounds good, but then I might not know which one it is until after I read the book. And if NA also has all the sex, how am I supposed to know if my twelve year old should read it unless I read it first? I don't actually have a twelve year old, but you get the point. Plus, now I'm afraid I can't even tag my review correctly!

I think that the genre has evolved in the last six years. But that really only makes it more confusing. There are lots of NA releases without a lot of sex in them. Maybe they have more cursing - like how a certain number of F-bombs automatically gets an R rating? And I can name a handful of adult books with teen protagonists that muddy the waters even more. Maybe it all depends on the marketing? Honestly, the more I analyze it, the less clear the definition gets.

And does it really matter? For teens, I think it does. For my own reading, probably not. I'm going to read what sounds good to me regardless of what label you put on it. And I'm not sensitive to sexual or violent content. But I'm a word person and it bothers me when labels are used incorrectly. It's worse if I'm the one doing it wrong because that's my thing. But sure, let's keep changing how we use the term. Aaah!

And don't even get me started on this, which actually means "New Releases in Adult Fiction."

Is anyone else confused about New Adult?

We’re participating in the 2018 Discussion Challenge hosted by It Starts at Midnight and Feed Your Fiction Addiction. Go check out all the May discussions!

Gateway Books and Reading Histories

A few weeks back, I had to reorganize my bookshelves and in the process I came across some books that got me thinking about my personal reading history and gateway books. I've been thinking a lot about my reading history and the books that made me the reader I am now. Recently, I've specifically been thinking about how much one book and one author influenced my reading and changed everything. Since then, I've gotten to have numerous conversations with friends and family about the books that made them the readers they are now. So bear with me, I'm going to get a bit nostalgic and long winded on you.

Personally, I owe much of my reading history to Robin McKinley and her books. I’ve spoken often about how The Blue Sword was the first book to really interest me in fantasy. It is THE book that I can attribute most of my current reading tastes to. Before I read it, my reading tastes ran along the lines of classics like The Swiss Family Robinson, The Boxcar Children series, and the Nancy Drew books. Let’s just say that if I hadn’t picked it and the rest of McKinley's books up my reading tastes would probably be very different today.

Let’s flashback to the 90s. 1995 to be exact. Eight year old me was browsing through the books at the local library and I found the above beauty and the cover immediately drew me in. I was so intrigued by the pretty horse and awesome glowing sword that I had to check it out. As soon as I was home, I sat down and read it in one sitting. That book made me a Robin McKinley fangirl for life. It had everything I never knew I had wanted. There were kidnappings, magic, horses, swords, a kickass heroine, and just a hint of romance. I loved it. Like loved it so much that I immediately reread it and proceeded to reread it four more times before we went back to the library a week later.

I was obsessed! I wanted more of the world and more of the horses! When we returned the book, I asked my librarian if The Blue Sword was part of a series. She just smiled knowingly and lead me to where all of McKinley’s books were located. Let’s just say that my librarian made sure that I went home with both The Hero and the Crown, Spindle's End, and Beauty in my hands. And I loved them every bit as much as I had The Blue Sword. 

It was the book that lead me to fantasy. Every time I returned to the library after that, the librarian always had a couple books set aside that she promised that I would love because I loved The Blue Sword. I devoured each and every book she gave me after that. And guess what? She was right. I loved all of them! And each one was always a fantasy novel. That librarian recognized the intense love I was developing for the genre and she kept the fire stoked. She and the books she gave me became a lifeline. I was that weird girl who read all the time. Each book offered an escape and an adventure and I couldn't resist diving in to one every chance I got.

Over the next several months and years, my librarian introduced me to some of my favorite books of all time. After I finished Hero, Spindle's End, and Beauty, I was introduced to Patricia C. Wrede and her delightful Mairelon the Magician books. And let’s not forget her wonderful The Enchanted Forest Chronicles and her Sorcery and Cecelia books. Those were quickly followed by Ella Enchanted, Gom on Windy Mountain, and The Hobbit which then led to me devouring the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy. From there it snowballed dramatically. I quickly picked up Sabriel and my first Shannara book. And then the wonderful Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was released and books with magic and mythical creatures became cool in my small town. I was no longer the weird kid who read all of the fantasy books she could get her hands on but became the person that people came to for book recommendations. Ironically enough, that’s something that hasn’t changed and I still read fantasy with an undying fervor.

 

When I think about it, the moment I picked up The Blue Sword for the first time was probably the most important moment in my reading life. It started my life long love affair with fantasy and all of its awesome subgenres. That book and that librarian helped shape who I am as a reader and as a person today. I shudder to think of all the books I would never have found if I hadn’t read it and asked my librarian for more books like it. Robin McKinley's other books had just as big of an impact on my reading. Beauty and Spindle's End introduced me to fairy tale retellings and I devoured all I could get my hands on and I still have a soft spot for them. When I first read Sunshine, I had no idea what urban fantasy was but it was the first book that exposed me to the genre. 

I've wondered more than once if I would have been brave enough to pick up the a lot of the books I love today without having read The Blue Sword. I really don't know if I would have even though I seriously can’t imagine my life without steampunk, urban fantasy, or Brandon Sanderson books in it. I’m so grateful that Past Me was so intrigued by the cover. I wouldn’t be the same if I hadn’t taken it home that day.

What about you? What book changed your reading history forever?

Weres Wanna Know: When do you get rid of books?

There are lots rules for cleaning out your closet, like "if you haven't worn it in a year, get rid of it." But that's totally unreasonable when it comes to cleaning out your bookcase. I mean, do you know anyone who could get through their TBR in a year?

But in the spirit of Spring Cleaning, I've been thinking about getting rid of some books. *gasp* I don’t read physical books as much as I used to. The Kindle app is just so convenient! But it means that I have paperbacks I haven’t touched in quite a while. I still have two boxes of books from when I moved six years ago! (Did I mention I only have two bookcases?) 

There are some series I quit reading like BDB, Argeneau, and Love at Stake. And there are some series I finished, but haven't really thought of rereading like Jocelyn Drake's Nightwalker and the Jill Kismet series by Lilith Saintcrow. But I’m hesitant to get rid of them because they have sentimental value since they're some of the first books I bought when I started reading UF/PNR.

I also quit reading Anita Blake but I've been thinking about looking back at the early books for a post on the Reverse Harem trend. So how can I be sure I'm not going to need those other books for something later?

And then there are two entire shelves of YA hardcovers that I’ve never read. They’re from subscription boxes or they were great deals. But some I might never read. How long do I keep them? Maybe until I need the shelf space? And how do I know which ones I’m not going to read. OK,  there’s one where the author was recently named as a serial harasser so that’s a definite no. But when you’re a mood reader, it’s tough to predict future moods. I’m stressed out just thinking about it!

So help me out folks! 

When do you get rid of books?

We’re participating in the 2018 Discussion Challenge hosted by It Starts at Midnight and Feed Your Fiction Addiction. Check out all the March discussions!

Weres Wanna Know: How do you diversify your TBR?

It's Women's History Month, a time of year when we see a lot of  Best [insert genre here] Books by Women. I've seen the statistics and I understand the need for these lists, but it's still so bizarre to me. I almost exclusively read books by women. Not intentionally, but I would guess I read 5 books by men every year. I counted my 2017 list and I only read 2 out of just over 100 total books. (Unless you count Ilona Andrews who is a husband and wife team. Then it's 6.)

So I've definitely got women covered, but I think I only read 4 books by POCs and 2 or 3 by queer authors last year. Again it wasn't intentional, but I should definitely do better. And those are a little trickier to count because I don't usually read an author's bio before I pick up the book. And even if I did, there's no reason the authors need to tell you their sexual orientation or their ethnic background in their bios. (I think the idea that Own Voices is a label you can only assign yourself is kind of profound.)

I was actually surprised when I found out how few POC authors I read last year because I do feel like I read diverse books. For example, one of the things I love about Nalini Singh is how effortlessly diverse her worlds are. And stories about aliens and supernatural creatures are almost always allegories for racism (or some other -ism.) But I want to support new authors and I want the publishing industry to do representation better. So I suppose what I'm looking for is a way to balance it all.

And here's where I need some suggestions. Given that I'm such a mood reader I can never stick to a monthly TBR list and that I don't read a lot of YA, which is where I see the most Own Voices books, how do I do better in 2018? Give me book recs from marginalized authors. Tell me your favorite tracking methods or where you discover diverse books.

How do you diversify your TBR?

We're participating in the 2018 Discussion Challenge.
Check out all the March discussions!

Weres Wanna Know: How does your environment affect your reading choices? (Thoughts on Mood Reading and #MeToo)

We’re probably all mood readers to one degree or another. Maybe you want to get in the mood for winter by reading all the snowbound romances. Or you might want to read them in the middle of summer to take your mind off the heat. Maybe you moved away and want to read a book set in your hometown. Or you’ve just been through a break up and want to binge feel good rom-coms.

The mood that strikes me most often is review book burnout. I just don’t want to think about what I’m reading that much. I don’t want to take notes and I definitely don’t want to write more than two sentences on Goodreads when I’ve finished. Sometimes when that happens I pick up a light hearted contemp romance from Alice Clayton, Emma Chase or Lauren Blakeley. And sometimes I go dark with someone like Annika Martin or Skye Warren. But most of the time, my go to slump buster is shifter PNR.

I was in one of those moods in November where I just wanted to read all shifters all the time. But I found that against the backdrop of #metoo, shifters just didn’t work for me. I could no longer abide an alpha male who threw the heroine over his shoulder and dragged her back to his lair to mate. I’m not saying that all shifter romances are like that, but I picked up three in a row that were. And I’m not OK with that.

I have a feeling that I’m not the only one, that as a society we’re becoming more aware of the issue. And I hope that it’s a permanent shift. I for one am going to keep calling out the problem when I see it. You might have noticed more comments about consent in my reviews lately.

At the same time, I’m afraid that some of my old favorite books may now be problematic. Did I just accept that behavior as a shifter trope and overlook it? I’m not sure. I can’t think of a specific example. I’ve always had problems with overly controlling alpha males and have written about them in reviews. So maybe I’ve been aware it was an issue but didn’t have the tools to express it. I’m not going to stop reading PNR, I just might approach it differently than I did a year ago.

What’s going on in our lives and our surroundings is bound to impact our book choices. However, I can’t think of anything in my life that’s caused a shift in perspective like the #metoo movement.

How has your mood or your environment impacted your reading choices?

We're participating in the 2018 Discussion Challenge.

Check out all the February discussions!

Weres Wanna Know: How do you organize your TBR?

Even though we Weres like many of the same books, we are very different in some ways. Here's a big one: how we organize our TBRs and track our reading goals. Rose Red uses spreadsheets, but I'm not a fan of them and I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual. I've been writing down the books I read and the reviews on my to do list in my planner for at least the last five years. This year I'm trying out a reading journal in addition to my daily planner.

In this post, we'll show you both of our methods and then we want to hear about yours.

Gretl aka The Planner Extraordinaire

I've been using a planner to keep track of release dates, to do lists and what books I read for a few years now. I put release dates and review books on the monthly page. My new journal even has a column for a monthly TBR. For the first time this year I also made a list of my unread books in the notes section at the back of the planner. It was mostly to plan for the Beat the Backlist Challenge but I thought it was interesting to see how long the list was. I didn't do the math, but the ebooks took up five pages.

Then I make a to do list each week and check off tasks as they're completed. This year I added a line down the middle of the weekly page to separate blog tasks from things like doctor's appointments. In the past I've recorded books read on the day I finished them, but the reading journal has a separate page so I'm trying to get used to using that.

I'm still trying to decide which planner to put blog tasks in. Are they regular to do's or reading related? Right now they're in both. The weekly pages repeat a lot of the same information so I still have some kinks to work out. Plus I also have a notebook for review notes and I feel like having three places to write in might be too much.

And I keep my Currently Reading, Want to Read and Recently Read books updated on Goodreads. It doesn't have every book I own or every book I've ever read, but it has the ones I've read since I joined in 2012. Now that I write it all out, that's a lot of tracking to keep track of!

Rose Red aka The Spreadsheet Enthusiast

2018 TBR

I love spreadsheets! Outside of the blogosphere, I'm a scientist so, as you can imagine, I use spreadsheets a lot. Originally, I started tracking my reading via Excel when I was frustrated with Goodreads for not having a function to count rereads at the time. It then blossomed into me tracking my reading stats, my pre-orders, book releases, my physical TBR list, my reading log, and my physical book inventory all in spreadsheets. Man, I'm starting to doubt my sanity listing all of those down. O.o

2018 Book Releases

I don't want to go into formulas and a lot of details because I could write a whole post on just one of my sheets. For the most part, I set up my spreadsheets for the next year over Christmas break and just enter data as I read during the year. So I think it's not as time intensive over the year as Gretl's planner but my tracking is spread out in more places though. Most of my spreadsheets are kind of similar to each other and track a lot of the same things like Title, Author, POV, Author Gender, Series, etc. I've done this on purpose so I can copy and paste things between spreadsheets more easily. I do like to track special stats like my projected TBR finish date in my Physical TBR sheet.

The Stats Page in My Book Stats Spreadsheet

My favorite/most used spreadsheet has to be my Book Stats sheet. If you're looking for a great pre-made spreadsheet where you just plug values in, check out Crini's 2018 Book Spreadsheet. You can save a copy to your Google Drive and have it for your own. And she has even a manual for those who need one. You can track your audiobook listening, longest/shortest books, what you buy, library reads, how many books by each author, and so much more! This year I'm actually using Crini's sheet as my base sheet. I track a few more things than she does so I just added those sections in. Her sheet is truly impressive and a great place to start. I highly recommend checking it out if you want to try using a spreadsheet.

The Stat Tracker in my TBR Spreadsheet. Look at those projected finish dates.

Like Gretl, I also track a lot things on Goodreads like my Currently Reading, Want to Read, Owned Books, Physical TBR books, and Beat the Backlist books. It's a bit redundant but I like when my spreadsheets match my Goodreads shelves.

How do you organize your TBR and reading goals?

and

We're participating in the 2018 Discussion Challenge.

Check out all the January discussions!