Reading Challenge Updates!

June was Sci-fi Summer Readathon hosted by Michelle at Seasons of Reading. I managed to get two books in

• Adulthood Rites by Octavia Butler
• Imago by Octavia Butler

Which finished off the Xenogenesis series for me. A very thought-provoking series and I'm still mulling on it. Hopefully I'll some reviews up soon!

It's also been awhile since I updated my all year long reading challenges. I know I haven't done a few reviews and I KNOW I'm really behind on a couple as well. The summer is just getting away from me.

I've been really enjoying stretching my usual horror readings with this one. 5/12 complete. I'm hoping to catch up by the end of the month. I finished off The Upstairs Wife by Rachel Hawkins in June. I'm hoping to complete The Good House and Asylum this month.

1. The Ascent by Ronald Malfi (Winter)
2. The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James (Spirits or ghosts)
3. The Upstairs Wife by Rachel Hawkins (Psychological)
4. Hide and Seeker by Daka Herman (monsters)
5. The Route of Ice and Salt by Jose Luis Zarate (A body of water)
6. The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling (scary book cover)
7. Sawkill Girls by Claire LeGrand (A woman on the cover)
8. Asylum by Madeleine Roux or The Girl in the Well by Rue Chupeco(written by a woman)
9. The Good House by Tananarive Due (written by a best-selling horror author)
10. The Rust Maidens by Gwedolyn Kiste (Indie author)
11. The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell (Historical horror)
12. The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher (Folk horror)

I am super behind on this one. Classics are my nemesis which is why I chose to do this challenge...kick my butt in gear! 3/12. I am three behind. I am currently reading Black Beauty and The Little Prince so hopefully that will help me get back on track!

I just finished The Count of Monte Cristo! Clocked that bad boy in 6 months!

1. A 19th century classic: any book first published from 1800 to 1899

• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

2. A 20th century classic: any book first published from 1900 to 1971. All books must have been published at least 50 years ago; the only exceptions are books which were written by 1971 and posthumously published.

• Go Tell It on a Mountain by James Baldwin

3. A classic by a woman author.

• The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

4. A classic in translation, meaning any book first published in a language that is not your primary language. You may read it in translation or in its original language, if you prefer. 

• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Epinay

5. A classic by BIPOC author; that is, a non-white author.

• Dust Tracks on a Road: An Autiobiography by Zora Neale Hurston

6. A classic by a new-to-you author, i.e., an author whose work you have never read.

• A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

7. New-to-you classic by a favorite author -- a new book by an author whose works you have already read. 

• Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

8. A classic about an animal, or with an animal in the title. The animal can be real or metaphorical. (i.e., To Kill a Mockingbird).

• Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

9. A children's classic. 

• The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin

10. A humorous or satirical classic.

• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
• Slaughter-house Five by Kurt Vonnegut
• Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

11. A travel or adventure classic (fiction or non-fiction). It can be a travelogue or a classic in which the main character travels or has an adventure. 

• Gulliver's Travels by Jonathon Swift
• The Kon-Tiki Expedition by Thor Heyerdahl

12. A classic play. Plays will only count in this category.

• A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

This is by far my most up-to-date! I'm actually ahead on this one. I'm a big non-fiction fan. 7/12 complete! I'm hoping to read Cork Dork this month. I'm leaving a few more of the heavy hitters for later, though. We shall see how it all plays out later...

1. Biography

You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexis Coe

2. Travel

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

3. Self-help

The Self-driven Child: The Science and Sense of Giving Your Kids More Control Over Their Lives by William Stixrud and Ned Johnson

4. Essay Collection

Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby

5. Disease

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks

6. Oceanography

The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson

Deep: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us About Ourselves by James Nestor

The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery

7. Hobbies

World Travel: An Irreverent Guide by Anthony Bourdain and Laurie Woolever

8. Indigenous Cultures

Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs by Camilla Townsend

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann

Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present by David Treuer

9. Food

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

Cork Dork by Biana Bosker

Wine Girl by Victoria James

Blood, Bones, & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton

10. Wartime experiences

A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City by Anonymous

Last Witnesses: An Oral History of the Children of World War II by Svetlana Alexievich

The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich

11. Inventions

Broad Band: The Untold Story of Women Who Made the Internet by Claire L. Evans

Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel

12. Published in 2021

Cosmic Queries: StarTalk's Guide to Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We're Going by Neil deGrasse Tyson and James Trefil