Literaire Studentenvereniging Flanor

Suggestions for reading challenges

Below you can find suggestions from the Readathon Committee on what to read for the reading prompts.

Uitgeverij Passage: A book by an author who has been a Flanor guest

Destination Anywhere – Sara Barnard
Hogere natuurkunde – Ellen Deckwitz
The Traitor Baru Cormorant – Seth Dickinson
(Series) Ranger’s Apprentice – John Flanagan
Goodlord – Ella Frears
A Thousand Ships – Natalie Haynes
Mensendieren – Yoko Heiligers
Voordat we slapen – Siep Hendriks
Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating – Adiba Jaigirdar
Jaguarman – Raoul de Jong
Echo – Thomas Olde Heuvelt
Lievegedicht – Joost Oomen
Hutten bouwen – Sonja Schulte
Joe Speedboot – Tommy Wieringa
Prooidier – Irene Wiersma

Student room: A book that’s currently being read by a reading group (up to date as of the July newsletter)

Around the World in 196 Books: Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ
Brooding Books: Normal People – Sally Rooney
Cult of Dionysus 2.0: Good Omens – Terry Pratchett
Discworld Travellers: Small Gods – Terry Pratchett
Dronken Boot: De dichter en de duivel – Lieke Marsman
Egel en Haas: Inkheart – Cornelia Funke
Electric Sheep: The Language of Liars – S.L. Huang
Fladab: You Exist too Much – Zaina Arafat
Flanor Redemption: That's Not My Name – Megan Lally
I Flan Therefore I Am: The Philosophy Cure – Laurence Devillairs
Magisch Afvoerputje: City of the Beasts – Isabel Allende
M is for Memoir: Crying in H Mart – Michelle Zauner
Sappho and Achilles: Bromantasy – Máire Roche
Slay-vic Squad: Flights – Olga Tokarczuk
These Adjective Nouns: The Fifth Season – N.K. Jemisin
The Wyrdreaders: Kingdom of Ash – Sarah J. Maas
YA: Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating – Adiba Jaigirdar

Wirwar: A book about games, competitions, or (sports) matches

Chain-Gang All-Stars – Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
A Rival Most Vial – R.K. Ashwick
Beartown – Fredrik Backman
The Inheritance Games – Jennifer Lynn Barnes
17776: What football will look like in the future – Jon Bois
Over het water – H.M. van den Brink
The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
The Passing Playbook – Isaac Fitzsimons
Kill Joy – Holly Jackson
Rani Choudhury Must Die – Adiba Jaigirdar
You Don’t Have a Shot – Racquel Marie
Like Real People Do – E.L. Massey
Fence – C.S. Pacat
Heated Rivalry – Rachel Reid
The Sunbearer Trials – Aiden Thomas
Cleat Cute – Meryl Wilsner

Walter's Bookshop: A book about reading, books, or bookstores

Matilda – Roald Dahl
Verona Comics – Jennifer Dugan
Index – Dennis Duncan
Inkheart – Cornelia Funke
The Midnight Library – Matt Haig
Book Lovers – Emily Henry
Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop – Hwang Bo-Reum
Yellowface – R.F. Kuang
The Book That Wouldn’t Burn – Mark Lawrence
The Starless Sea – Erin Morgenstern
Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise – Katherine Rundell
The Bookseller at the End of the World – Ruth Shaw
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookshop – Robin Sloan
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop – Satoshi Yagisawa

Stadsstrand (City beach): A summer read

My Friends – Fredrik Backman
Destination Anywhere – Sara Barnard
So Thrilled for You – Holly Bourne
The Miseducation of Cameron Post – Emily M. Danforth
Love in Ruins – Auriane Desombre
People we Meet on Vacation – Emily Henry
Swimming in the Dark – Tomasz Jedrowski
The Summer that Melted Everything – Tiffany McDaniel
Heartstopper – Alice Oseman
Juli – Aya Sabi
The Fortnight in September – R.C. Sherriff
Summer – Ali Smith

Groninger Museum: A book about art, or a book with a cover design that could be displayed in a museum

About art

My Friends – Fredrik Backman
All Fours – Miranda July
I’ll Give You the Sun – Jandy Nelson
I, Mona Lisa – Natasha Solomons
Vincent – Barbara Stok

Cover design that could be displayed in a museum

The seasonal quartet (Spring Unfurled; Summer’s Hum; Falling into Autumn; Winter’s Song) – Angela Harding
Wat stilte wil – Arthur Japin
Wild Dark Shore – Charlotte McConaghy
Buitenleven – Nina Polak
The Seasonal Quartet (Autumn; Winter; Spring; Summer) – Ali Smith
Het atelier – Lucy Steeds
As We Fall – Anya Wildt

Martinitoren: A book based on folklore

Tales from Russian Folklore – Alexander Afanasyev
The Penelopiad – Margaret Atwood
The Silence of the Girls – Pat Barker
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi – Shannon Chakraborty
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries – Heather Fawcett
A Thousand Ships – Natalie Haynes
Circe – Madeline Miller
She Who Became the Sun – Shelley Parker-Chan

Groninger Archieven: A history book or historical novel

History

Gouden jaren – Annegreet van Bergen
The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews – Peter Duffy
Index – Dennis Duncan
The Six: The Untold Story of America’s First Women Astronauts – Loren Grush
Jaguarman – Raoul de Jong
Bi – Julia Shaw
The Gulag Archipelago – Alexandr Solzhenitsyn
Alle Geschiedenis Ooit - Nederland – Arco Gnocchi, Thom Aalmoes, Nynke de Jong, Andrea Huntjens

Historical

Like in Love with You – Emma R. Alban
Civilizations – Laurent Binet
The Less You Know the Sounder You Sleep – Juliet Butler
Gwen and Art Are Not in Love – Lex Croucher
The Years – Annie Ernaux
James – Percival Everett
Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi
The Great Alone – Kristin Hannah
The Girl with the Red Hair – Buzzy Jackson
De zwarte met het witte hart – Arthur Japin
Swimming in the Dark – Tomasz Jedrowski
Babel – R.F. Kuang
For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain – Victoria Mackenzie
The Song of Achilles – Madeline Miller
Beloved – Toni Morrison
Daisy Jones & The Six – Taylor Jenkins Reid
My Policeman – Bethan Roberts
I, Mona Lisa – Natasha Solomons
A Language of Dragons – S.F. Williamson
The Safekeep – Yael van der Wouden
The Book Thief – Markus Zusak

Prinsentuin: A book in verse or poetry collection

The words I have yet to say out loud – Ieisha Brown
Hogere natuurkunde – Ellen Deckwitz
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats – T.S. Eliot
Goodlord – Ella Frears
The Odyssey – Homer
Milk and Honey – Rupi Kaur
Aan tafels – Joke van Leeuwen
Ze gaan er met je neus vandoor – Ted van Lieshout
You Are Your Own Fairy Tale – Amanda Lovelace
Humans Who Feel Things: Book One – Karlee Rose North
Lievegedicht – Joost Oomen
Vergleden tied: Over older worden en dingen dij veurbie goan – multiple authors

Cat cafe Op z'n Kop: A book featuring a cat

The Travelling Cat Chronicles – Hiro Arikawa
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats – T.S. Eliot
The Pumpkin Spice Café – Laurie Gilmore
Kafka on the Shore – Haruki Murakami
My Cat Yugoslavia – Pajtim Statovci
Meneertje – Sanne Vogel

Luhu: A book with a Deaf character and/or written by a Deaf author

You can also find many more tips in this blog post by S. Leigh Ann Cowan, a Deaf writer and editor: https://slacowan.com/2026/05/31/ranked-deaf-characters-in-fiction/ 

A Quiet Kind of Thunder – Sara Barnard
Ben je doof, of zo!? – Robin Frings
Deaf Republic – Ilya Kaminsky
True Biz – Sara Nović

RUG Language Centre: A book that was originally written in a language other than Dutch or English

You can read the book either in translation or in the original language. You can also read a book written in a regional language.

Finnish

My Cat Yugoslavia – Pajtim Statovci

French

Civilizations – Laurent Binet
Vladivostok Circus – Elisa Shua Dusapin
The Years – Annie Ernaux
The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

German

The Story of the Little Mole Who Went in Search of Whodunit – Wolf Erlbruch and Werner Holzwarth
Inkheart – Cornelia Funke

Gronings

n Geluud van stilte – Reinder Willem Hiemstra
Vergleden tied: Over older worden en dingen dij veurbie goan – multiple authors

Japanese

The Travelling Cat Chronicles – Hiro Arikawa
Before the Coffee Gets Cold – Toshikazu Kawaguchi
All the Lovers in the Night – Mieko Kawakami
Convenience Store Woman – Sayaka Murata
The Memory Police – Yōko Ogawa

Korean

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 – Cho Nam-joo

Mandarin Chinese

Taiwan Travelogue – Yáng Shuāng-zǐ

Polish

Solaris – Stanisław Lem

Russian

The Lady with the Dog – Anton Chekhov
White Nights – Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Overcoat – Nikolai Gogol

Spanish

City of the Beasts – Isabel Allende
Fictions – Jorge Luis Borges

Swedish

A Man Called Ove – Fredrik Backman
Beartown – Fredrik Backman
The Invisible Man from Salem – Christoffer Carlsson
Water Angels – Mons Kallentoft
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson
Pippi Longstocking – Astrid Lindgren
The Return of the Dancing Master – Henning Mankell
Marked for Life – Emelie Schepp