2016 Reading Challenge – February Update!

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downloadIt’s the last Sunday of the month, which means it’s time for an update on my 2016 Reading Challenge! I’ve actually surprised myself by how far I’ve gotten on this challenge already with it only being February.  I’ve really enjoyed branching out on my reading and have discovered some excellent books!  Through most of January I was publishing reviews from books I read in 2015, so this month, we’ve finally seen more from the challenge.

At the rate I’ve been plowing through the challenge, there’s no question now that I’ll finish very early!

Speaking of this challenge, something has been burning in me for a little bit, and that was a post in the GoodReads group for this challenge asking people to read a blog post about the challenge.  As a blogger myself, I did, and was terribly distressed.  It was all about how the blogger was changing the challenge so she didn’t have to read anything uncomfortable or unusual to her, replacing quite a few categories, including a book with LGBT material, a banned book, a controversial book, even a Dystopian book!  Really, these challenges are meant to challenge – to get you out of your regular reading cycle and into something new!  If you don’t like a challenge, I can see you choosing a different one, but for me, if you are going to simply change it til it fits what you were going to read anyway, you’ve missed the whole point!

There are quite a few books I’ve read that I never would have picked up otherwise – such as Subterranean which I chose for my Antarctica slot – and loved!  Or Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, which was so much better than the movie (which I adored!) and brought me so much joy in reading!

I hope this challenge can inspire some of you to read outside of the areas you’re used to and spread your wings a little bit.  Maybe pick a category or two that you wouldn’t normally read, even if you don’t do the whole challenge.  It’s worth it!

And don’t forget, Fill me what you’ve been reading in the comments – especially if you have a recommendation for a category I don’t have filled in yet!

22/52

Read a book that takes place on each continent, or is written by an author from that continent (fiction or non-fiction)

1. North America: Low Pressure by Sandra Brown
2. South America: At Night We Walk in Circles by Daniel Alarcón
3. Africa
4. Antarctica: Subterranean by James Rollins
5. Europe: Paris by Edward Rutherfurd
6. Asia: The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness
by Yongey Mingyur, Daniel Goleman
7. Australia: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

8. A banned or challenged book: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
9. An award winning book (National Book Award): What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
10. Memoir/Autobiography/Biography
11. A dead author’s last book
12. A book with LGBT matter or character(s): OMG Queer: Short Stories by Queer Youth by Radclyffe
13. A book your favorite author loves
14. A retold fairytale
15. A Young Adult book: Raven by Lauren Oliver
16. A history book (fiction or non-fiction)
17. A book where you have seen the movie, but not read the book: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
18. A book from the NYT Bestseller list: (debuted at #1) Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
19. A book with the point of view of an immigrant: Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer
20. A controversial book
21. The first book you see when you walk into a library or bookstore
22. A classic
23. A debut novel: Five Days Left by Julie Lawson Timmer
24. Published this year (2016)
25. Based entirely on the cover
26. Own but never read
27. A book by an author you never read before: Lock In by John Scalzi
28. A book recommended to you by a friendly librarian
29. A book by a Nobel Prize winner
30. Mythology (not just Greek)
31. A book written by someone born the same year as you
32. Dystopia: Requiem by Lauren Oliver
33. Reread of a favorite book: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
34. A book about books
35. Book published the year you graduated high school
36. A book a child/teen/someone younger than you loves: The Selection
by Kiera Cass
37. A book about/set by the sea
38. A book with two authors
39. Author from your own state, province, or country
40. A book about a trip (road, cruise, around the world): The Vacationers by Emma Straub
41. A book with the name of a person in the title
42. Science Fiction: The 100 by Kass Morgan
43. Fantasy
44. Wild card: Every Fifteen Minutes by Lisa Scottoline
45. Wild card: Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden’s Syndrome by John Scalzi
46. Wild card
47. Wild card
48. Wild card
49. Wild card
50. Wild card
51. Wild card
52. Wild card

2 Comments for “2016 Reading Challenge – February Update!”

says:

Nice work! I like the idea of reading something your favourite author loves. Hmm. First I’d have to pick a favourite author. I could, of course, choose Jane Austen, but I’m not sure I’d like what she read. Forsyth’s sermons anyone?

says:

I’m having a hard time with that slot – it’s going to have to be “a” favourite author, because I have so many! I’m thinking of reading The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman because it’s one of the books Dean Koontz listed in his top five favourites, and he’s definitely a favourite of mine! And… well… I was planning on reading that book anyway, LOL! I’ve officially hit the halfway point now (26 books read, actually more, I finished a couple of more) mainly because I was soooo sick for a couple of weeks and mostly just read all day, every day.