Tuesday, December 1, 2020

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: 2020201920182017

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. 

62 comments:

  1. Looks like an interesting challenge. Hope to take part

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  2. Hi, I'm joining again. Are you going to have a printable list this year?

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    1. Welcome back! Glad to have you along with us again. Yes, I just forgot to include it in the post. Here's the link. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTSuxMUgKcSin34ATKAEZaBsjiwWSR8pbYe2GTFtKVB2WNi2ulQyuPVvgh7L-JSvy1qkfE-mKcAt9iz/pubhtml?gid=708635083&single=true

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    2. Done now!
      https://jannghi.blogspot.com/2020/12/2021-reading-challenge-linz-bookworm.html

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    3. I'm done now!
      https://jannghi.blogspot.com/2020/12/2021-reading-challenge-linz-bookworm.html

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  3. I'm going to join up this year. Looking forward to it!

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  4. Just googled reading challenges for 2021 and came across this, will be adding it to my bullet journal! I will be changing the first prompt for my personal use though, lol. I hate Amazon very much. Will pick something from Libby instead (free audio/ebooks through the library)

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  5. this looks great I have a pile of books I bought a while ago and need to get through

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    1. Thanks! Hopefully this list helps you with the book pile. :D

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  6. Looks like a great challenge - will be joining it this year. Thanks for hosting it!

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  7. I like this challenge! You should list it on StoryGraph - challenges are so much easier to follow there!

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    1. Hi, thank you for the suggestion. This is the first time I've heard of StoryGraph.

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  8. So I tried to print the challenge and it only prints on one page and not all of the challenge shows. Is there a different way to print it? I would love to participate in this challenge again but if I can't get the list printed out I may not be able to.

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    1. Hi, I'm not really sure why it's only showing up as one page. I just tried to print it and had to print one page and then scroll to get it to work. I'll try to get the PDF version to work over the weekend.

      You can also try Tress's PDF version here and see if that will work a little better. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SNvni2SydZGaXmD2WDEl-uGb5NfM9IZ2/view?usp=sharing

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  9. This looks awesome! I can't wait to participate!

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  10. I've done Popsugar's challenge for the past 5 years, but I want to switch things up! This looks fun and I like that there are 5 tiers to it. Thanks for sharing :)

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  11. For 2020, I'll complete 4 of the 5 tiers and most of the 5th. Love how it gets me reading books I might not have thought to get to or try. Looking forward to doing it again!!

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  12. This challenge sounds really fun! I wish there was a Habitica post of this challenge so I could use this alongside Habitica. Have you heard of that site? (habitica.com)

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    1. I hope you have fun with it, if you decide to do it. I have not heard of habitica. This is something that Tress and I developed for our blogs, and don't really have any intention of taking it outside of the respective blogs at this time.

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  13. This looks like fun! Hopefully this year is better for me for reading.

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  14. This is my third year in a row joining in, I love these so much! thank you for making them!! You guys are amazing!!

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    1. Glad to have you back! I messaged Tress and showed her this comment. We both had rough days today and this definitely lifted our spirits. Thank you! <3

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  15. Super excited to be signing up again! Love these challenges! https://frominktopaper.com/2021/01/02/2021-reading-challenges/

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    1. Thanks for joining us again! I hope you enjoy it. :)

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  16. I'm excited to give this challenge a try. I found it through the big list on GirlXOXO

    I'll track at https://titlesurfingwithtraci.blogspot.com/2021/01/linz-book-worm-challenge.html

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  17. I'm excited to give this challenge a try. Hopefully I am not overextending myself this year but it's fun to read and try new things

    I'll track here

    https://titlesurfingwithtraci.blogspot.com/2021/01/linz-book-worm-challenge.html

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    1. Welcome to the challenge. I hope you have fun with it!

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  18. I'm looking forward to this year's challenge!

    As I was finishing one of the books from the 2020 Challenge, a potential category occurred to me. I'm new(ish) to your challenges so you may have covered this one already and, if so, please disregard. Additionally, you may not take suggestions from the audience and, if so, please disregard.

    That said, I thought it might be fun to have a category like "Read a book about something you read about in another book that inspired you to want to learn more about it". For example, in reading "The Crimes of Paris" by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler, I learned that while Edgar Allan Poe wrote the first fictional detective stories that kick-started the genre, French author Émile Gaboriau is considered godfather of the detective novel. So, I have been inspired to reread Poe and to read Gaboriau's translated works.

    Anyway, thanks for doing all the brainwork in putting this list together each year!

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    1. What a great suggestion! We definitely take reader suggestions into consideration, and this actually has given me an idea for a post. So thanks for that. I can't promise the suggestion will make it in 2022 yet, but we will definitely take it into consideration.

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    2. If you'd like to check it out, here is the post your question kind of inspired! https://linzthebookworm.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-creation-of-linzthebookwormlogophil.html

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    3. Thanks for sharing that - it's interesting to know the genesis of the challenge and how it has evolved.

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  19. Gonna give it a try - https://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2021/01/2021-reading-challenge-from-linz.html

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  20. Count me in! Looks like a great challenge. I'm going to intially sign up for Level 1 but with luck I'll be able to add some other levels as the year goes on!

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  21. Definitely signing up though I'm not sure if I'll be able to go more than.... 2? Maybe more, since I'm doing lots of other challenges and could combine them together! Thanks so much for all the time and effort you put into making this look great, and with so many different ideas and tasks! :D I know how hard and frustrating that can be with the fanfic challenge I was putting together. Spreadsheets are a b**ch! xD

    Anyway, my WordPress blog is new and mostly lacking, but it'll get there as time goes by. Here's the link for now, and soon I'll be keeping it regularly and easily up to date! https://juulna725191629.wordpress.com/linz-2021-reading-challenge/

    Thanks, be well, and take care!
    Juuls

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    1. Best of luck with all of your challenges! I'm sure things will work for multiple ones :D

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  22. I just started the Challenge. :-)
    https://doublerainbowandagraycloud.blogspot.com/2021/01/blog-post_2.html

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    1. Hi, sorry for the delayed response. All you have to do is track what you read. Here's a printable list if you'd like it.

      https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SNvni2SydZGaXmD2WDEl-uGb5NfM9IZ2/view

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  24. I hope you do this again next year! This has been one of my favorite challenges so far!

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    1. That's awesome to hear! I'm so glad you like it. Tress and I have every intention of continuing this. We've already started our list for 2022!

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  25. Have you finished with the 2022 list? Super excited to see it!

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    1. Hi there! It's not finished yet, but we typically launch it in between Christmas and New Years Eve.

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  26. If anyone would like the 2022 Reading Challenge, it was posted yesterday. You can find it here: http://linzthebookworm.blogspot.com/2021/12/its-here-readers-2022-reading-challenge.html

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  27. So happy to have joined in this year! I only finished Level 1 since I was already participating in several more reading challenges. Thanks for the reading prompts! Not sure if people will be able to see, but my list is on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/127062940-indy-chick?ref=nav_mybooks&shelf=2021linz-the-bookworm-challenge

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