This year, I found a fantastic reading challenge from Linz the Bookworm that I’ve decided to follow. I liked this one because some of the categories were so quirky. To keep with my pledge to read women authors and authors of color (plus some quirks of my own), I have made a couple of alterations. Where I have strayed from Linz’s original challenge, I’ve marked with an asterisk.
Although I didn’t finish all 60 books on this list, I did read a grand total of 49. I didn’t record quick rereads that are like snacks. Titles and authors completed are listed. Where I wasn’t able to finish, I’ve indicated. These books are shifting to my 2020 list.
Level 1 – Book of the Month Club
- A book with a red cover – Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
- Read a YA fiction – #murdertrending by Gretchen McNeil
- A book under 300 pages – Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston
- A book you got for free – I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sánchez
- Reread the first book of a series you love – Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
- Read a book that takes place during the summer – Falling for You by Jill Mansell
- A book whose title starts with the letter M – Mama Day by Gloria Naylor
- Read a romance novel – Born to be Wilde by Eloisa James
- A book that has been turned into a TV show/movie – Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
- A book with a title done in alliteration – Passion Play by Sarah Ruhl
- A New York Times bestseller – You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero
- Free space (pick any book) – The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger
Level 2 – Casual Reader Club
- A book by Lisa Scottoline* – CHANGED to thriller: Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
- Read a fantasy novel – The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey
- Read a book with a color in the title – Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
- Reread a book you have recommended to someone else – Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
- Read a detective novel – The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
- A book with a number in the title – Five-Carat Soul by James McBride
- Read a book about dragons – Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey
- Read a book by an author different from you in race/gender/orientation* – Enter Title Here by Rahul Kanaka
- Read a book found on Project Gutenberg – A Lady of Quality by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- A book about an artist (fictional or real) – The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg
- A book that was published in 1999 – DNR
- Free space (pick any book) – Sourdough by Robin Sloan
Level 3 – Dedicated Reader Club
- Read Book 1 in a trilogy – Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
- Read Book 2 in the same trilogy – China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan
- Read Book 3 in the same trilogy – Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan
- Read a book recommended by a friend on social media – DNR
- A book about a librarian – The Secret, Book, and Scone Society by Ellery Adams
- A book about breaking a code or a treasure hunt – A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley
- Read a book by N.K. Jemisin* – DNR
- Read a book that takes place in a large city – DNR
- A book suggested by What Should I Read Next – DNR
- A book for under $3.00 – Tikka Chance on Me by Suleikha Snyder
- A book with exactly three words in the title – The Whispered Word by Ellery Adams
- Free Space (pick any book) – A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn
Level 4 – Speed Reader Club
- A book over 500 pages – The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton
- A book about time travel – Into the Dim by Janet B. Taylor
- A book with a form of weather in the title – The Snow Gypsy by Lindsay Jane Ashford
- Read a book published in 1964* – DNR
- A book authored by Catherine/Katherine or a variant – The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
- A Southern Gothic book* – DNR
- A book from Time‘s All-Time Top 100 book list – started a reread of Beloved by Toni Morrison; this should be my first 2020 book.
- Read a coming of age novel (memoir*) – Educated by Tara Westover
- A book involving mythology – Circe by Madeline Miller
- Read a self-published book – Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure by Courtney Milan
- A book with the word dream in the title – The All You Can Dream Buffet by Barbara O’Neal
- Free Space (pick any book) – A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn
Level 5 – Overachiever Club
- Read a book on a banned book list – DNR
- The most recent book in a series you haven’t finished – A Fortunate Arrangement by Nancy Robards Thompson
- A book that you judged by its cover (positive or negative) – Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
- A book that takes place in your home state – Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King
- A book that takes place prior to 1965 – Orphan Train by Christina Baker Klein
- Read a biography – Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas
- Read a book you’ve previously abandoned – Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
- A book about a real or fictional politician – Becoming by Michelle Obama
- A book set in Asia – Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
- A book with a tree or forest on the cover – An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
- A book with the letter Z in the title – PhiLOLZophy: Critical Thinking in Digestible Doses by Chrissy Stockton and Sarah Heuer
- Free Space (pick any book) – DNR, but probably did.
I liked this challenge so much, I’m going to do her 2020 challenge! Check out this year’s reading here.
