The V.C. Andrews Movement / Reading Challenge

Taren and Steph said, “Know what? We need a way to spice up this new year.” So they both came to the simultaneous conclusion that we’re making this a themed year—V.C. Andrews (hereafter VCA) will proliferate in their blogs. Which goes to say they’ll do a VCA post once in a while, but it’ll be an ongoing thing; their regular blog activities will continue to ensue the majority of the time, don’t worry.

But wait, that doesn’t work if most of their (more so Steph’s than Taren’s) readership isn’t familiar with the novels, does it? They’ll be doing recaps, essay-style posts, so on so forth (way funnier than it sounds, promise), and they don’t want to alienate anyone. Both do hope to draw in new people, but also keep their oldies (and—don’t let anyone know this but—besties).

So! They contemplated. And…! Since everyone’s got these reading challenges going on, THEY WILL, TOO.

Henceforth:

The V.C. Andrews “Read the Good-Trash” Movement

How will it work?
It is generally understood that there are 12 months in a year, yes? Well, this is a year-long thing, but only 11 books have to be read, one a month, at the end. You get a freebie month somewhere, whenever you so choose.

Because Taren feels the newer books suck ass, we’ll be limiting the eligible titles to VCA’s earliest series—Dollanganger, Casteel, Cutler, Landry and Logan—and her sole standalone, My Sweet Audrina. Here’s the list:

Dollanganger series
Flowers in the Attic
Petals on the Wind
If There Be Thorns
Seeds of Yesterday
Garden of Shadows

Casteel series
Heaven
Dark Angel
Fallen Hearts
Gates of Paradise
Web of Dreams

Cutler series
Dawn
Secrets of the Morning
Twilight’s Child
Midnight Whispers
Darkest Hour

Landry series
Ruby
Pearl in the Mist
All That Glitters
Hidden Jewel
Tarnished Gold

Logan series
Melody
Heart Song
Unfinished Symphony
Music in the Night
Olivia

This gives you a pool of 26 books, and you only have to choose 11 of them. You can read two complete series and My Sweet Audrina, or you can jump around, divide and conquer, whatever. It’s your choice.

How do I participate?
You make a challenge post on your blog like you would with anything else, enumerating your progress. Make sure to link to THIS post on either Steph’s blog or Taren’s blog, whichever you found it in. Also, feel free to use the banner if you need some sort of illustration. And if you feel like being extra awesome, you can even mention it on your sidebar…

Here are some images you can use. Please host them on your own. If you use the smaller ones without our links, make sure to include those in there so people can be directed here! More will come later!

Why should I participate?
Well, firstly because both Taren and Steph are, and they’re awesome, and this is random, and with awesome + random, you can’t go wrong.

Secondly, because there are two types of trashy in this world: the good and the bad. (A third, lesser known, type is Breaking Dawn, but let’s not go there.) V.C. Andrews—if only in these aforementioned series—is decidedly the good kind. You’d be exploring these books with a group of people, and by pacing yourself slowly, they wouldn’t fall to the wayside to be read “someday.”

Thirdly, they’re cheap. Print that list out and go to any used bookstore and we guarantee you can walk out with at least three of those books. Bonus points if you get a keyhole cover—Melissa Walker would be very jealous of you.

Find out more:
Taren did an excellent and highly readable post on the VCA pattern, sans spoilers, over on her blog.

Also check out the Complete VCA site. Beware of spoilers on the book pages, though.

What now?

If you want to participate, leave a comment below. We want to have a comprehensive list of everyone taking part. If you don't have a blog, not to worry! Leave a comment anyway, or you can email either one of us.

Please refer to 'How do I participate?' for further instructions.