Reading Challenges

Photo via @megtristao
Do you love reading challenges? Be sure to check out my seasonal reading challenges, held semiannually in the summer and winter! The categories and rules for the summer 2016 challenge will be announced on May 15.

In addition to my own challenges, I'm attempting the PopSugar Ultimate Reading Challenge (which I finished in 2015!) and the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge in 2016. Bolded categories below are completed; other titles are books I intend to read.

1. A book based on a fairy tale: Boy Snow Bird or Tiger Lily
2. A National Book Award winner: The Round House or Behind the Beautiful Forevers or Brown Girl Dreaming
3. A YA bestseller: Salt to the Sea, Ruta Sepetys (debuted at #2)
4. A book you haven’t read since high school:
5. A book set in your home state: The Girls, Emma Cline (California)
6. A book translated to English: The Red Notebook, Antoine Laurain (translated from French)
7. A romance set in the future: The Age of Miracles, Karen Thompson Walker
8. A book set in Europe: Girl in the Blue Coat, Monica Hesse (Amsterdam)
9. A book that’s under 150 pages: 84, Charing Cross Road, Helene Hanff (97 pages)
10. A New York Times bestseller: The Guest Room, Chris Bohjalian (debuted at #11)
11. A book that’s becoming a movie this year: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Newt Scamander
12. A book recommended by someone you just met: Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson (recommended by a new classmate)
13. A self-improvement book:
14. A book you can finish in a day: This is Where It Ends, Marieke Nijkamp (read March 18)
15. A book written by a celebrity: Not That Kind of Girl, Lena Dunham
16. A political memoir:
17. A book at least 100 years older than you: The Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux
18. A book that’s more than 600 pages: The Crow Girl, Erik Axl Sund (768 pages)
19. A book from Oprah’s Book Club: A Map of the World, Jane Hamilton
20. A science-fiction novel: Dark Matter, Blake Crouch
21. A book recommended by a family member: Orphan 8, Kim van Alkemade (from my brother)
22. A graphic novel: Democracy, Abraham Kawa, Annie Di Donna & Alecos Papadatos
23. A book that is published in 2016: The Arrangement, Ashley Warlick
24. A book with a protagonist who has your occupation: The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu, Joshua Hammer (librarian)
25. A book that takes place during summer: Perfect Days, Raphael Montes
26 & 27. A book and its prequel:
28. A murder mystery: The Cuckoo’s Calling, Robert Galbraith
29. A book written by a comedian: Yes Please, Amy Poehler
30. A dystopian novel: The Circle, Dave Eggers
31. A book with a blue cover: The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend, Katarina Bivald
32. A book of poetry:
33. The first book you see in a bookstore: The Danish Girl, David Ebershoff
34. A classic from the 20th century: The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende (1982)
35. A book from the library: Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America, Jill Leovy
36. An autobiography: The Argonauts, Maggie Nelson
37. A book about a road trip: Mosquitoland, David Arnold
38. A book about a culture you’re unfamiliar with: People of the Book, Geraldine Brooks (European Jews & Muslims)
39. A satirical book: The Unfortunate Importance of Beauty, Amanda Filipacchi
40. A book that takes place on an island: Asking for It, Louise O'Neill (Ireland)
41. A book that’s guaranteed to bring you joy: A Man Called Ove, Fredrik Backman (everyone told me this was a feel-good novel, and they were right!)

PopSugar progress: 31/41

1. Read a horror book: The Fireman, Joe Hill
2. Read a nonfiction book about science: Lab Girl
3. Read a collection of essays: The Fire This Time, Jesmyn Ward
4. Read a book out loud to someone else:
5. Read a middle grade novel: George, Alex Gino
6. Read a biography: Notorious RBG, Irin Carmon & Shana Knizhnik
7. Read a dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel: The Circle, Dave Eggers
8. Read a book originally published in the decade you were born: A Map of the World, Jane Hamilton (published 1992)
9. Listen to an audiobook that has won an Audie Award: The Age of Miracles, Karen Thompson Walker (2013 winner for Science Fiction)
10. Read a book over 500 pages long: The Cuckoo’s Calling, Robert Galbraith (550 pages)
11. Read a book under 100 pages: 84, Charing Cross Road, Helene Hanff (97 pages)
12. Read a book by or about a person that identifies as transgender: George, Alex Gino
13. Read a book that is set in the Middle East: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, Marjane Satrapi
14. Read a book that is by an author from Southeast Asia:
15. Read a book of historical fiction set before 1900: News of the World, Paulette Jiles (set in 1870)
16. Read the first book in a series by a person of color:
17. Read a non-superhero comic book that debuted in the last three years: Democracy, Abraham Kawa, Annie Di Donna & Alecos Papadatos (published 2015)
18. Read a book that was adapted into a movie, then watch the movie. Debate which is better:
19. Read a nonfiction book about feminism or dealing with feminist themes: Notorious RBG, Irin Carmon & Shana Knizhnik
20. Read a book about religion (fiction or nonfiction): The Name of God is Mercy, Pope Francis
21. Read a book about politics, in your country or another (fiction or nonfiction): Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson (social justice/politics/law memoir)
22. Read a food memoir: The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, Jennifer 8. Lee
23. Read a play: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Jack Thorne
24. Read a book with a main character that has a mental illness: Mosquitoland, David Arnold

Book Riot progress: 17/24
(Note: Book Riot is a-okay with using the same book for multiple categories. Woohoo!)

Also, Christy from Planes, Trains and Running Shoes has a fun 2016 book challenge, so of course I had to join:

1. A book written by two authors: Notorious RBG, Irin Carmon & Shana Knizhnik
2. A book mentioned in another book you’ve read: 84 Charing Cross Road, Helene Hanff (mentioned in both The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend and Readers' Advisory Service in the Public Library)
3. A book about sports: The End of the Perfect 10: The Making and Breaking of Gymnastics' Top Score, Dvora Meyers
4. A self help book:
5. A book about food: The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, Jennifer 8. Lee
6. A book written by a blogger:
7. A book about a global issue: Asking for It, Louise O'Neill (sexual assault/rape culture/social media)
8. A book written under a pseudonym: The Cuckoo's Calling, Robert Galbraith (a.k.a. J.K. Rowling)
9. A graphic novel: Democracy, Abraham Kawa, Annie Di Donna & Alecos Papadatos
10. A friend’s favorite book: Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese
11. A historical fiction novel: The Arrangement, Ashley Warlick
12. A book that is set in a place you love: Her Every Fear, Peter Swanson (set in Boston)
13. A book that became a TV show:
14. A book being turned into a movie this year: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, J.K. Rowling
15. A book published in 2016: The Guest Room, Chris Bohjalian

#planestrainsandbooks progress: 10/15

See past yearly reading challenge round-ups here:
>> 2015
>> 2014: My reading challenge was to not participate in any reading challenges except my own.
>> 2013
>> 2012