2025 Reading Challenge discussion

2020 was not the reading year I had hoped for. Maybe it was 3 distance classes for work, maybe it was lockdowns, maybe it was just not being in the mood for much of anything in the middle of the year so we tried to get outside as much as we could.

So for 2021, I'm striving for balance and trying for 121 books, focusing on one specific challenge at a time rather than a few at once.

Morgan wrote: "2020 was not the reading year I had hoped for. Maybe it was 3 distance classes for work, maybe it was lockdowns, maybe it was just not being in the mood for much of anything in the middle of the ye..."

Total: 91/121


Books read:
King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender 1/3/2021
The Martian by Andy Weir 1/23/2021
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab 1/24/2021
The Break by Katherena Vermette 1/27/2021
Bloom by Kenneth Oppel 2/10/2021
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black 2/22/2021
The Wicked King by Holly Black 2/26/2021
Hatch by Kenneth Oppel 3/1/2021
The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver 3/9/2021
The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black 3/13/2021
What You Wish For by Katherine Center 3/15/2021
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs 3/16/2021
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi 3/17/2021
Game Changer by Neal Shusterman 3/25/21
We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom 3/25/21
I Promise by LeBron James 3/25/21
Me & Mama by Cozbi A. Cabrera 3/25/21
The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family by Ibtihaj Muhammad 3/25/21
Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho 3/25/21
Thrive by Kenneth Oppel 5/6/21
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin 5/7/2021
You Have a Match by Emma Lord 5/12/2021
One Day in December by Josie Silver 5/17/21
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston 5/25/2021
Magic Trash: A Story of Tyree Guyton and His Art by J.H. Shapiro 6/4/2021
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson 6/9/21
One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London 6/13/21
A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart by Zetta Elliott 6/17/21
Fast Friends by Heather M. O'Connor 6/17/21
The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee 6/17/21
Be You! by Peter H. Reynolds 6/17/21
Prise de becs by Émilie Demers 6/17/21
Donner by Andrée Poulin 6/17/21
Sofia et le marchand ambulant by Katia Canciani 6/17/21
The Midnight Fair by Gideon Sterer 6/17/21
Boxitects by Kim Smith 6/17/21
Try It!: How Frieda Caplan Changed the Way We Eat by Mara Rockliff 6/17/21
Outside In by Deborah Underwood 6/17/21
Mon beau potager by Anne-Marie Fortin 6/17/21
Cave Paintings by Jairo Buitrago 6/17/21
The Cat Man of Aleppo by Irene Latham 6/17/21
Our Little Kitchen by Jillian Tamaki 6/17/21
My Day with Gong Gong by Sennah Yee 6/17/21
The Blue House by Phoebe Wahl 6/17/21
Time for Kenny by Brian Pinkney 6/17/21
How to Find a Bird by Jennifer Ward 6/17/21
Mel Fell by Corey R. Tabor 6/17/21
Bad Dog by Mike Boldt 6/17/21
13 Stories about Harris by Amy Schwartz 6/17/21
You're Invited to a Moth Ball: A Nighttime Insect Celebration by Loree Griffin Burns 6/17/21
La dinde qui voulait voter by Carine Paquin 6/17/21
Madame Grisemine et le petit chenapan by Marie-Francine Hébert 6/17/21
Un jardin pour Tipiti le colibri by Lucie Papineau 6/17/21
Pas moi by Elise Gravel 6/17/21
Parce que je t'aime by Angele Delaunois 6/17/21
Sulwe by Lupita Nyong'o 6/11/21
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett 6/18/21
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 6/23/21
We All Play by Julie Flett 6/30/21
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo 7/3/21
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 7/8/21
How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr 7/8/21
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah 7/10/21
Heartless by Marissa Meyer 7/31/21
The Broken Girls by Simone St. James 8/1/21
The Traitor's Blade by Kevin Sands 8/2/21
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo 8/4/21
The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus 8/6/21
Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg 8/7/21
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig 8/10/21
Hippos Go Berserk! by Sandra Boynton 8/10/21
Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang 8/10/21
Crab Cab by Harriet Ziefert 8/13/21
Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog? by Theo LeSieg 8/13/21
The Three Questions by Jon J. Muth 8/13/21
Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric A. Kimmel 8/13/21
Come On, Rain! by Karen Hesse 8/13/21
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry 8/13/21
The Black Book of Colors by Menena Cottin 8/13/21
Dream Snow by Eric Carle 8/13/21
The Shape of Me and Other Stuff by Dr. Seuss 8/13/21
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman 8/14/21
How to Stop Time by Matt Haig 8/20/21
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver 9/6/2021
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg 9/18/21
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons 10/2/21
The Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss 10/2/21
Captain Raptor and the Moon Mystery by Kevin O'Malley 10/2/21
Nappy Hair by Carolivia Herron 10/2/21

So I'm going to focus first on the Popsugar Challenge

Total: 39/50

REGULAR
1. A book that published in 2021 Game Changer 3/25/21
2. An Afrofuturist book The Fifth Season 5/7/21
3. A book that has a heart, diamond, club, or spade on the cover Parce que je t'aime 6/17/21
4. A book by an author who shares your zodiac sign Hippos Go Berserk! 8/11/2021
5. A dark academia book Ninth House 7/3/21
6. A book with a gem, mineral, or rock in the title
7. A book where the main character works at your current or dream job What You Wish For 3/15/2021
8. A book that has won the Women’s Prize for Fiction Bel Canto 6/18/21
9. A book with a family tree Homegoing 3/17/2021
10. A bestseller from the 1990s The Poisonwood Bible 9/6/2021
11. A book about forgetting The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue 1/24/2021
12. A book you have seen on someone’s bookshelf (in real life, on a Zoom call, in a TV show, etc.) I Promise 3/25/21
13. A locked-room mystery Anxious People 8/14/21
14. A book set in a restaurant Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe 9/18/21
15. A book with a black-and-white cover Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children 3/16/2021
16. A book by an indigenous author The Break 1/27/2021
17. A book that has the same title as a song How to Save a Life 7/8/21
18. A book about a subject you are passionate about You Have a Match 5/12/2021
19. A book that discusses body positivity One to Watch 6/13/21
20. A book on a Black Lives Matter reading list - White Fragility
21. A genre hybrid Boxitects 6/17/21
22. A book set mostly or entirely outdoors We Are Water Protectors 3/25/21
23. A book with something broken on the cover The Broken Girls 8/1/21
24. A book by a Muslim American author The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family by Ibtihaj Muhammad 3/25/21
25. A book that was published anonymously
26. A book with an oxymoron in the title Cold Comfort Farm 10/2/21
27. A book about do-overs or fresh starts The Two Lives of Lydia Bird 3/9/2021
28. A magical realism book Sulwe 6/11/21
29. A book set in multiple countries Red, White & Royal Blue 5/25/21
30. A book set somewhere you’d like to visit in 2021 Bloom 2/10/2021
31. A book by a blogger, vlogger, YouTube video creator, or other online personality Untamed
32. A book whose title starts with “Q,” “X,” or “Z” The Queen of Nothing 3/13/2021
33. A book featuring three generations (grandparent, parent, child) Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho 3/25/21
34. A book about a social justice issue King and the Dragonflies 1/3/2021
35. A book in a different format than what you normally read (audiobooks, ebooks, graphic novels) Me & Mama 3/25/2021
36. A book that has fewer than 1,000 reviews on Amazon or Goodreads Hatch: A Novel 3/1/2021
37. A book you think your best friend would like (son) Project Hail Mary 7/8/2021
38. A book about art or an artist Magic Trash: A Story of Tyree Guyton and His Art 6/4/2021
39. A book everyone seems to have read but you
40. Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge The Midnight Library 8/10/21

ADVANCED
41. The longest book (by pages) on your TBR list
42. The shortest book (by pages) on your TBR list Crab Cab 8/13/2021
43. The book on your TBR list with the prettiest cover
44. The book on your TBR list with the ugliest cover
45. The book that’s been on your TBR list for the longest amount of time
46. A book from your TBR list you meant to read last year but didn’t The Martian 1/23/2021
47. A book from your TBR list you associate with a favorite person, place, or thing
48. A book from your TBR list chosen at random Captain Raptor and the Moon Mystery 10/2/21
49. A DNF book from your TBR list
50. borrowed book, library book The Traitor's Blade

Top 10 favourites of 2021

1. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
2. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
3. The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver
4. The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus
5. The Martian by Andy Weir
6. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
7. Bloom by Kenneth Oppel
8. The Midnight Libraryby Matt Haig
9. Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
10. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo