2023 Reading Challenges

 Tis past that time of year to get up my reading challenges...The best kind of challenge for me is a short month or two with no prompts. I can then focus on mood reading. But I do like to think about what kinds of books I read and get some prompts to help me focus and diversify from time to time and reading challenges with prompts fit that bill.

Book Challenge by Erin 18.0 is a private Facebook bookclub hosted twice a year. Anyone can signup. First round is January through April. I tried to pick books I own so I can work on that TBR own pile this year a bit more.

1. Prime Number <1000: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

2. Book with an unusual narrator: Watership Down by Richard Adams

3. Title with 1st letter of your first name (H): Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

4. Heart or love in the title: The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

5. Set in small town or rural setting: The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel

6. Goodreads award winner: (history & biography) The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold 

7. Black or white in the title: Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine by Olivia Campbell

8. Author with 3 names: The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky

9. Book set in Australia or by an Australian author: Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

10. Freebie: The Glass Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

Build Your Library Reading Challenge 2023

I'm not sure exactly which books I'm going to read for this....I already know I'll never read 40 books for this. But I'm using it as a good way to diversify and get ideas for some more nonfiction and nature-related fiction.

I Read Horror Year-round Challenge 2023 hosted by Michelle at Castle Macabre

Not sure on this one quite yet...will update as I pick. There are various levels to pick from but I always go for bucks, even though I rarely complete this one.

Fairy-tale retelling:

Zombies, witches, vampires, or werewolves: Probably Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice. I have not yet read this series and I've been meaning to for a long time now.

Book by BIPOC author: Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones. It has a tentative release date for this year! I'm hoping!

Title with dead, blood, or bone

Something by Poe

Set in the past: The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Horrific cover

Folk horror

Winter theme or cover: Snow by Ronald Malfi

Black, red, or white cover: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Written by a woman: Darkly: Black History and America's Gothic Soul by Leila Taylor

Debut horror

1000 Books Before You Die--Banned Books 2023 Challenge hosted by Michelle at Gather Together and Read

First quarter is The Night Trilogy by Elie Wiesel. January will be Night. February is Dawn and March will finish with The Accident.

Second quarter will focus on Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

Third quarter- The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. I have already read this one. And while I liked it, I didn't love it enough to reread. So I plan on reading another of her books on my TBR.

Fourth quarter- Beloved by Toni Morrison. Also read this one a few years ago but I really enjoyed it and it's short so I plan on rereading.

I joined StoryGraph a couple of years ago. It's a great site to keep track of my personal reading challenges. They also host their own reading challenges every year. The one I joined is StoryGraph Reads the World 2023.

Argentina: Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrrica

Colombia: Either Love in the Time of Cholera or 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Cuba: Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy by Carlos Eire

Italy: From Scratch by Tembi Locke

Nigeria: Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Norway: Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset

Pakistan: Either The Bad Muslim Discount by Syed M. Masood or The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

South Africa: Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela

Syria: Others Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

Trinidad & Tobago: Trinidad Noir: The Classics edited by Earl Lovelace & Robert Antoni

Whew! Should keep my reading interesting!

1000 Books Project: French Classics 2021

I joined this one last year but only managed to read Herodotus' Histories...the other three did not happen! But this year Michelle is hosting only two books! We have six months to read each one. The Count of Monte Cristo (January-June) and Les Miserables (July-December). I read the abridged version of Les Mis. back as a teenager but have been wanting to read the full unabridged version. So here's my chance! Check out all the details on Michelle's blog Gather Together and Read.

James Mustich has his own website dedicated to these books. You can even answer a survey on how many you've read or comment on the books.

We got started late so the official time frame to finish is August through the end of December. There are five sections/books so one section a month followed by a brief discussion of each one.

Mini Book Reviews: The Histories and The Subtle Knife

The Histories by Herodotus

Published: approximately 450 BCE, this edition January 30th, 2003 by Penguin Books

Genre: Non-fiction, Myth, History

Format: Paperback, 716 Pages, Own

Rating: 3 stars

Publisher's Summary:

One of the masterpieces of classical literature, the "Histories" describes how a small and quarrelsome band of Greek city states united to repel the might of the Persian empire. But while this epic struggle forms the core of his work, Herodotus' natural curiosity frequently gives rise to colorful digressions - a description of the natural wonders of Egypt; an account of European lake-dwellers; and far-fetched accounts of dog-headed men and gold-digging ants. With its kaleidoscopic blend of fact and legend, the "Histories" offers a compelling Greek view of the world of the fifth century BC.

My Thoughts:

I read parts of this originally when I was in college back in the day for my Greek History course. But I finally decided to read through the whole thing. It's hard to follow all the names and dates but it's a fascinating look at what Herodotus thought was important historically and thematically. He was a big proponent of looking at the divine hand of the gods in the Greeks' history so he seemed to play up that theme a lot.

I also noticed how crappy they treated their women. Lots of insults that were the worst insults ever were calling men "women" or that they fought like "women." If a woman did fight than she fought weirdly like a man and wasn't really a woman anymore. The more things change the more they stay the same, honestly.

I never have to read it again! Yay!

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

Published: originally July 22nd, 1997 this edition November 13, 2001 by Alfred A. Knopf

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Format: Paperback, 326 Pages, Own

Rating: 4 stars

Publisher's Summary:

Lost in a new world, Lyra finds Will--a boy on the run, a murderer--a worthy and welcome ally. For this is a world where soul-eating Specters stalk the streets and witches share the skies with troops of angels.
Each is searching--Lyra for the meaning of Dark Matter, Will for his missing father--but what they find instead is a deadly secret, a knife of untold power. And neither Lyra nor Will suspects how tightly their lives, their loves, their destinies are bound together . . . until they are split apart.

My Thoughts:

It's a very enjoyable second book, though it did drag a bit in the middle. I think it's harder to keep up with the middle in a trilogy. But not always. 

Who does one root for? Is Lord Asriel goodish, or just crazy, or deluded? We don't know and neither does Lyra or Will. So we are on their side wherever that may lead. And can Mrs. Coulter and her golden monkey die already? She's so deliciously evil.

*Read "The Histories" as part of the:

1000 Books Project: Non-fiction 2020 Sign-up

Michelle over at Gather Together and Read is hosting a reading challenge based on the book 1000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List by James Mustich. (The previous link links to Mustich's website where he has added all of the books and small blurbs about why he chose them. It's pretty cool!) This year she is focusing on non-fiction.

Here are the books: 4 spread out three months each:

• First Quarter (Jan, Feb, March) - The Histories, Herodotus  Reading/Discussion schedule
• Second Quarter (April, May, June) - The Sagas of Icelanders (preface by Jane Smiley) Reading/Discussion Schedule
• Third Quarter (July, Aug, Sept) - In Cold Blood, Truman Capote (in honor of Banned Books Week in September.)
• Fourth Quarter (Oct, Nov, Dec) - Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown (in honor of National American Indian Heritage Month in November.)

I picked up the book from the library a few months ago and remember thinking it was a really well-rounded list. I even took the time to copy down ones I hadn't read or heard of before so I could get to them one day! So when Michelle posted the challenge I knew this was one I couldn't miss!