Books

2016 Reading Challenge

Every year, I do some sort of reading challenge. In 2015, I found the 2015 Popsugar Reading Challenge. I didn’t complete it – I met 40 out of 50 requirements, which I thought was pretty good! I did read several additional books; in total, I read 57 books.

This year, I considered a few other reading challenges, but I found that the Popsugar challenge fits my preferences the best. It allows me to read outside of my comfort zone, but it also allows for me to read books that I already wanted to read, anyway.

I definitely believe that at least part of what stood in my way, in 2015, was a lack of planning. Keeping that in mind, I’ve already gone through the 2016 challenge and decided which books to read. I also added all of the books to a wish list on my library’s website, and I’ve put several books on hold (one of them has 16 people on the hold list ahead of me!).

Below, I’ve listed the categories and the books I plan to read for each one. I feel really good about this year’s challenge!!

  1. A book based on a fairy taleThe Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

  2. A National Book Award winnerFortune Smiles by Adam Johnson

  3. A YA BestsellerRed Queen by Victoria Aveyard

  4. A book you haven’t read since high schoolEthan Frome by Edith Wharton

  5. A book set in your home statePrince of Tides by Pat Conroy

  6. A book translated to EnglishColorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami

  7. A book set in EuropeThe Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes

  8. A book that’s under 150 pagesThe Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

  9. A New York Times bestsellerFates and Furies by Lauren Groff

  10. A book that’s becoming a movie this yearEast of Eden by John Steinbeck

  11. A book recommended by someone you just metGrain Brain by David Perlmutter

  12. A self-improvement bookThe Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

  13. A book you can finish in a dayThe Awakening by Kate Chopin

  14. A book written by a celebritySomeday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

  15. A political memoirElizabeth the Queen by Sally Bedell Smith

  16. A book at least 100 years older than youGreat Expectations by Charles Dickens

  17. A book that’s more than 600 pagesThe Secret History by Donna Tartt

  18. A book from Oprah’s Book ClubThe Reader by Bernard Schlink

  19. A science fiction novelThe Ninth Life of Louis Drax by Liz Jensen

  20. A graphic novelThe Worrier’s Guide to Life by Gemma Correll

  21. A book published in 2016A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

  22. A book with a protagonist who has your occupationDead Poets’ Society by N.H. Kleinbaum

  23. A book and its prequelDelirium and Annabel by Lauren Oliver

  24. A book and its prequelDelirium and Annabel by Lauren Oliver

  25. A murder mysteryAnd Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

  26. A book written by a comedianSick in the Head by Judd Apatow

  27. A Dystopian Novel1984 by George Orwell

  28. A book with a blue coverMe and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

  29. A book of poetryShakespeare’s Love Sonnets by Caitlin Keegan

  30. The first book you see in a bookstorePride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

  31. A classic from the 20th centuryGone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

  32. A book from the libraryYear of No Sugar by Eve O. Schaub

  33. An autobiographyBeyond Belief by Jenna Miscavige Hill

  34. A book about a road tripStation Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

  35. A satirical bookCatch-22 by Joseph Heller

  36. A book that takes place on an islandTo the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

I still have to decide which books to use for the following categories:

  • A book that’s guaranteed to bring you joy
  • A book about a culture you’re unfamiliar with
  • A book that takes place during summer
  • A book recommended by a family member
  • A romance set in the future

If you have any suggestions, let me know!

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