What is a reading challenge?
I’m finding reading challenges all over Pinterest the past few weeks, and it had me asking what are reading challenges and where can I sign up? Reading challenges are challenges to read as many books as you can in a set amount of time. Non-readers may have 1 book on their list, while others have a 100+ books listed.
Some of the reading challenge posts list books mentioned in TV shows. For example, the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge is based on all 339 books the fictional character, Rory Gilmore, reads during the five seasons of The Gilmore Girls. Other Reading Challenges are lists of for a specific genre like romance novels, biographies, or science fictions novels. The list that has intrigued me the most is the 2015 Reading Challenge posted on Popsugar’s website. This list mixes genres, and it did not list specific books to be read. It rather gives categories like read a play, a graphic novel, or a book with a color in the title. It has allowed me to pick books that are on my To Be Read (TBR) list as well as some of the books for my book club.
Why I am participating in a reading challenge?
I have often wondered how many books I can read in a year. I have decided to challenge myself this year and participate in Popsugar’s challenge to read 52 books this year. That is one book per week! It seems like a lot to some, but for bibliophiles it is a short list.
How I’m tracking what I read for the reading challenge
To keep track of the books I read, I am using the 2015 Reading Challenge app on goodreads.com. I am also writing the book titles, authors, and completion date in the notes section of my planner.
Here’s my reading list for 2015
- A book with more than 500 pages : The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
- A classic romance : Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
- A book that became a movie : The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- A book published this year : Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
- A book with a number in the title : The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
- A book written by someone under 30 : #Girlboss by Sophia Amoruso
- A book with nonhuman characters : Our Iceberg Is Melting by John P. Kotter
- A funny book : Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell
- A book by a female author :The Vision by Heather Graham
- A mystery or thriller : The Betrayed by Heather Graham
- A book with a one-word title : Tribes by Seth Godin
- A book of short stories : The Short Story and It Author by Ann Charters
- A book set in a different country : Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James
- A nonfiction book : The Elements of Editing by Arthur Plotnik
- A popular author’s first book : Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s Learned by Lena Dunham
- A book from an author you love that you haven’t read yet : The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
- A book a friend recommended : The Fred Factor: How passion in your work and life can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary by Mark Sanborn
- A Pulitzer Prize-winning book : March by Geraldine Brooks
- A book based on a true story : Night by Elie Wiesel
- A book at the bottom of your to-read list : Get Motivated!: Overcome Any Obstacle, Achieve Any Goal, and Accelerate Your Success with Motivational DNA by Tamara Lowe
- A book your mom loves : Hedy’s Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World by Richard Rhodes
- A book that scares you : Dracula by Bram Stoker
- A book more than 100 years old : Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
- A book based entirely on its cover : The Vactioners by Emma Straub
- A book you were supposed to read in school but didn’t : The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
- A memoir : Bossypants by Tina Fey
- A book you can finish in a day : By Royal Command by Mary Hooper
- A book with antonyms in the title : The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
- A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit : The Bookshop Book by Jen Campbell
- A book that came out the year you were born : Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind: How to Be Seen and Heard in the Overcrowded Marketplace by Al Ries
- A book with bad reviews : Thornfield Hall by Emma Tennant
- A trilogy : The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
- A book from your childhood : Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
- A book with a love triangle : Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
- A book set in the future : Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- A book set in high school : Killer Frost by Jennifer Estep
- A book with a color in the title : A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
- A book that made you cry : Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
- A book with magic : Eragon by Christopher Paolini
- A graphic novel : V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
- A book by an author you’ve never read before : Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell
- A book you own but have never read : McGraw-Hill’s Proofreading Handbook by Laura Killen Anderson
- A book that takes place in your hometown : Magnolia City by Duncan W. Alderson
- A book that originally was written in a different language : Song of the Nibelungs by Anonymous
- A book set during Christmas : The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
- A book written by an author with your same initials : The Complete Poems by Christina Rossetti
- A play : As You Like It by William Shakespeare
- A banned book : 1984 by George Orwell
- A book based on or turned into a TV show : The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas
- A book you started but never finished : The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
What books do you plan to read in 2015? Leave a comment below.