2021 Reading Challenge

 

Hello Readers! It's that time of year where one challenge is ending, and it's time to post the next year's challenge. 2020 was our biggest challenge yet, and I can't tell you how cool I think it is that so many people said they were joining us on it! Tress and I have been compiling ideas all year, and then over Thanksgiving break, we worked to finalize it. 

For those of you who are new to the challenge, here's how it works. Our challenge is really kind of like five challenges in one. There are five tiers divided into 60 categories. We try to alternate the types in a way that gives a lot of variety and increases in difficulty. Tier one is generally the easier category. You can complete it tier by tier, pick the tiers you want, pick the categories you want, or go about it haphazardly (my preferred method). Tress prefers to plan hers out, so part of our releasing it early is to give other planners a chance to do so. You can find Tress's blog here.  Your book format of choice is totally okay! And if you have a blog and want to drop a link in the comments, that is totally fine. If you don't want to, that's okay too. If you want to follow me on Goodreads or Twitter and tell me what you're reading, I'm all for it (if I don't respond on Twitter, it's not personal; I'm just terrible about being on Tweety-thing more than once or twice a week). 

The whole point of the challenge is just to get people reading and get people (Tress and I) out of our comfort zones with reading. Tress went all out this year in her Spreadsheet-nerd glory. She broke down what we usually do into categories, and then assigned some numbers to the categories to hopefully get the perfect ratio and cut down on duplicates beyond the ones we intend to have, and get a good variety.  There are two categories on separate tiers regarding ethnicity. We did this on purpose as we really wanted to encourage more diversity in reading. We also had a reader request something to be brought back, and we accommodated it. 

I'll do an update of my final 2020 books around the end of December. You can find the previous challenges here: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017

Here's a link to Tress's printable list, for some reason mine is not working: Printable List

1.) Read a book obtained from Kindle Unlimited, Audible, Amazon First Reads, Paperback Swap, or the Library

2.) Read a book under 400 pages

3.) Reread a book that makes you happy

4.) Read a stand-alone novel (not in a series)

5.) Read a book that starts with the letter D

6.) Read a book that was recommended to you

7.) Read a book with the color white on the cover

8.) Read a book where the main character is a High School or College Student

9.) Read a book by an author named Michael/Mike/Michelle or variant

10.) Read a book that's been turned into a TV series or a Movie

11.) Read a book with exactly two words in the title

12.) Free Space! Pick any book!

13.) A book from https://www.whatshouldireadnext.com

14.) Read a Murder Mystery

15.) Read the first book in a series you've wanted to start

16.) Read a book that has a person on the cover

17.) Read a book where the main character's occupation is a chef or baker

18.) Read a book by an author born in the 20th Century (1901-2000)

19.) Read a book with a form of royalty in the title (Queen, King, Prince, Princess, etc.)

20.) Read a book you meant to read on last year's challenge

21.) Read a book by Barbara Cartland

22.) Read a book that takes place in Spring

23.) Read a book with the word Human/Person/People in the title

24.) Free space! Pick any book!

25.) Read a book by a Self Published author

26.) Read a book for under $5

27. Read a book from https://time.com/collection/100-best-fantasy-books/

28.) Read a book published in the 2010s

29.) Read a book from your favorite genre

30.) Read a book that has had at least three different covers

31.) Read a book that takes place in Europe

32.) Read a book by an author with the same first name as one of your grandparents

33.) Read a book where the main character is a magic user

34.) Read a book with a time of day in the title (Morning, Noon, Evening, Dusk, Dawn, etc.)

35.) Read a book by an author of a different ethnicity than you

36.) Free Space! Pick any book!

 

37.) Read the next book in a series you've started

38.) Read a book with an orange cover

39.) Read a book over 600 pages

40.) Read a book that uses the "Chosen One" trope

41.) Read a book where the main character is elderly

42.) Read a book with the letter V in the title or author's name

43.) Read a Science Fiction 

44.) Read a book that starts with the letter P

45.) Read a book with a bird on the cover

46.) Read a book (fiction or nonfiction) about a lady on this list:  https://www.historyextra.com/100-women/100-women-results/

47.) Read a book with the main character of a different ethnicity than you

48.) Free space! Pick any book!

49.) Read a book with an interesting cover font

50.) Read a book about orphans

51.) Read a book with the word "wind" in the title

52.) Read a book by John Irving

53.) Read a book that was published with you were eleven

54.) Read a book that takes place in the 1960s

55.) Read a book (fiction or nonfiction) about a topic that's always interested you, but you haven't read about it yet

56.) Read a nonfiction book that teaches you a new skill

57.) Read a book without a picture on the cover

58.) Read a book (fiction or nonfiction) involving mental illness

59.) Read a book that has had unfavorable reviews, but you're still curious about

60.) Free space! Pick any book! 

So, that's it. I hope everyone likes this year's challenge and has fun with it. I've got a handful of books I had intended on reading this year but haven't that will work well. There's a handful that I'm really excited about and a few I've already picked as my Token Outlander/Wheel of Time/Dresden Files slots.