My 2016 Book Challenge!
A few months ago a friend of mine shared an article about a 12 category book challenge for 2016, and she tagged me in the post. I love to read, and challenges are fun, so I decided I was going to give it a go this year! But to make it more exciting, I’m going to try to go through it twice, and I even ended up tacking two more books onto the end of it. I’ll be reading the books in the order the article put them in.
I will write another blog about this at the end of the year, but here’s my introductory blog to tell you what the categories are, and what ideas I have for most of the categories. (Original article: http://modernmrsdarcy.com/2016-reading-challenge/?utm_source=-&utm_medium=-&utm_term&utm_content&utm_campaign&origin)
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A Book That Was Published This Year
1. Calamity by Brandon Sanderson. The reason I’m starting this challenge so late is because the FIRST ONE ON THE LIST (which I said I’m doing in order) was a book that was published this year. So since my family has been trying to get me to read The Reckoners Series for a while, I quickly read the first two books in March and have now finally begun Calamity, which came out this year and officially begins my challenge!
- Unknown
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A Book You Can Read In A Day
With 2 & 16 I figure I can just go to the library, find a book in the kid’s section and read it there, so I’m not going to plan ahead for this category.
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A Book You’ve Been Meaning To Read
3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. When I asked a friend for a recommendation, this was one she mentioned, and since I have been meaning to read this, I added it to this category and used one of her other books for a later category.
17. Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain. This popped into my head the other day as a book I can put in this category, since I’ve been meaning to read it ever since I knew the movies was based off of a book.
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A Book Recommendation From A Librarian
4. I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron. This was recommended to me by my librarian friend Maria, the lady who originally tagged me in her post. I know nothing about this except where in the library to find it, so whee!
18. Bunnicula by James Howe. I asked my librarian friend Beth what book she could recommend to me, and this Bunny version of Dracula was her first choice, so we’re getting into some more interesting genres than just classics here!
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A Book I Should Have Read In School
5 & 19; I couldn’t think of any books that I was supposed to read in school that I didn’t, so I’m assuming they mean a more worldwide “most people read this in school” rather than my specific experience… I might do some Shakespeare, but I still need to come up with some specific answers.
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A Book Recommendation By A Family Member/Friend
6. Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. I got this recommendation from my sister Hannah, who I know loves to read and said that this book is hilariously funny, so I will be looking forward to finding that out that this year.
20. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. My friend Jami (who recommended Wuthering Heights to me) and I were talking about books when she mentioned that this was one she found fascinating, so I added it to my list.
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A Book That Was Published Before I Was Born
7 & 21; again, there are lots of these books that are still on my “to read” list, so I’ll just pick one of the classics I’ve never read when I get to these categories.
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A Book That Was Banned Before
8. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. I remember seeing this movie long ago and not getting it, and of course I’ve seen the VeggieTales version, so it’s about time I read the original!
22. The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank. This seems like one of those that everyone is supposed to read at some point, and I’ve always been interested, so I’ma give it a go.
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A Book I Didn’t Finish
9. Wicked by Gregory MaGuire. This category was harder to come up with books for, but then I glanced at my bookshelf and remembered that I had bought Wicked, read the first chapter and never picked it back up again. So that is happening this year!
23. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. My Dad has been reading and really enjoying the Thursday Next books, and when he mentioned to me that I should read them and that The Eyre Affair was the first book, I remembered that I had tried to read it a few years ago and never finished!
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A Book That I Own But Never Read
10. The Fiction Class by Susan Breen. I was worried that I wouldn’t find a book that fit this category, either, since I don’t usually buy books I haven’t read. But I bought this last year at a library book sale because it’s about fiction writing, and it was cheap, and why not? Was it a poor choice to buy a book I’ve never read? We’ll find out this year!
24. Three by Ted Dekker. I’ve only read two books by Ted Dekker, and have heard many mixed reviews about him as an author and this book particularly. But I bought this so I could read it and have my own opinion, and by golly, I will do that now!
A Book That’s Intimidating
11. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. How can you watch “Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!” and not be intimidated by that huge copy of War and Peace that is half the size of him? But if Charlie Brown can read it, I can too!
25. Moby Dick by Herman Melville. In one of the Ramona books, her mother has trouble getting through Moby Dick for her book club, and as Ramona flips through it she’s disappointed that it’s a picture-less, small-print book with very grown up words. It was intimidating to my young mind.
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A Book I’ve Already Read
12/26a. Animal Farm by George Orwell. I remember finding this fascinating when I read this in school, and that was a very long time ago, so I figure I’ll retry it.
12/26b. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I read this in high school, didn’t get it at all, and now I’ve seen both movies and understand the plot, so I think on a reread this’ll make much more sense.
12/26c. The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. I read this years ago and found it fascinating, even though I didn’t always get everything he was saying, and I now own it and clearly need to reread it!
12/26d. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I’ve already this, but 2 friends recommended it, so it’s going on as a possible reread.
Disclaimer: I couldn’t decide between these 4 books which two to reread, so I’m putting them all down and will either just read two or manage to add more to the challenge.
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A Book That Was Made Into A Movie
13. Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I loved the Lizzie Bennet Diaries which was created by the Green brothers, and I watched the movie, and I need more modern books in this challenge, so we’re going with this one!
27. Watership Down by Richard Adams. I remember that this movie was terrifying… so to get over it I have to read the book!
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A Play
14. Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. My older sister loves this play, and I’ve heard lots about it but never read it, so this is a great chance to finally get to know Hannah’s favorite fictional character!
28. The Real Inspector by Tom Stopard. I asked my dad “what’s another play I should read?” and he went upstairs and found this book for me and so this will go on my list as the very last book!
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So… if I can finish Calamity in early April, I will have 9 months to read 27 books, which will be an average of 3 books per month. Plus I’m going to try and read The Wheel of Time Series with my friend Kathy, and any other books I get when I go to the library… so we’ll see how well it goes! Stay tuned for the update in 9 months! 🙂