2021 Casual Challenge, Part 2

This is the part of my annual challenge where I casually participate in challenge by other creators. There will only be minor changes here. I’ll be dropping Modern Mrs. Darcy since I don’t engage with her content very much. On the recommendation of someone in a book group I’m in on the socials, I added the 52 Book Club.

I’ll be (sort of) doing the following challenges:

PopSugar Reading Challenge

Book Riot Read Harder Challenge

52 Book Club Challenge

Professional Book Nerds

Reading Glasses Challenge

As per usual, I have no regrets or remorse if I don’t finish any of these challenges. It’s all in good fun.

Happy Reading everyone!

Favorite Books of 2020

It’s pretty unlikely I’m going to finish any more books this week or that the ones I’ve started will make this list so I give it to you now.

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

I listened to this on audio and I’m really glad I did. Hearing the various accents really drove home some of the aspects of this story. Inspired by an actual library, this historical fiction had captivating characters and an intriguing story.

NPCs & Split the Party by Drew Hayes

Hayes is an independent author so his books don’t get the attention they deserve. His series about the adventures of the NPCs in a D&D-like world are excellent. Compelling and funny. I hope I actually get around to finishing the series next year.

Maid by Stephanie Land

The heartbreaking memoir of a woman who struggled to get by cleaning the homes of others. It’s a harsh look at what being poor in America really means.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

A retelling of a classic fairytale. It did everything I expected it to do in the first third so everything after that was quite an adventure.

The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin

I was hooked almost immediately on this strange and spellbinding tale about a city come to life. Not only was it newly born but fighting to stay alive against a very clever enemy. The production quality on the audiobook was fantastic and I was over the moon to hear it’s the first in a series. This has been my favorite read of the year.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

I employ some of his methods but his message is so important that I was happy to enjoy a whole book about it. Choose what you care about and choose carefully.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

This YA novel is as relevant now as when it came out. It humanizes so much of what Black Lives Matter stands for and should be required reading.

So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo

This incredible work of nonfiction is something I want to listen to once a year for at least the next few years. To attempt to distill it’s message here would be to do it a great disservice.

One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

One of my problematic faves is The Bachelor and its spin-off shows. I’m plus size so the combination of these two topics made me very excited. I very much enjoyed this book. It was problematic in a few places but I think the good far outweighed the bad.

Emergency Skin by N. K. Jemisin

It’s a short story free to Prime subscribers but you can only get it on the Kindle app, not the device. Why? Because Bezos says “Screw you.” That’s why. It’s a perfect short story that could easily be expanded into a trilogy. I wish she would but I don’t think she will. I definitely need to read more of her work.

Haunted Home Renovations by Juliet Blackwell

It’s a series of cozy mysteries. None of the books are literary standouts but it’s perfect for what it is. I’m really glad I discovered it and hope to continue reading more of it in 2021.

2021 Casual Challenge, Part 1

I’m making some modifications to my reading challenge for next year. I thought about extending it to 21 categories but I’d just be adding arbitrary boxes. I trimmed it to include things that are really important to me. Since the list is shorter, no overlap.

Author is a POC
Author is LGBTQ+
Author is a woman
Audiobook
Children’s Book
Christmas
Collecting Dust
Fiction
Graphic Novel
Halloween
Library book
Parenting
Mythology or Fairytale
Nonfiction
Part of a series
Reread
Translation
YA

As a mom to an almost toddler, it matters more that I read than treating it like homework. I can challenge myself more when the spawn is older and more independent.

My other big goal is to read 21 works meant for teen and adult audiences. This can be full length works, short works, graphic works, etc. It can be whatever length or format I want. Individual stories in an anthology don’t count but freestanding short stories can. My life is about to have a lot more toddler entertainment so I’m going to try to keep some adult content flowing in.

Casual Challenge Wrap-Up

2020 draws to a merciful close. I don’t think anyone could have anticipated just how insane 2020 was going to be. I remember John Oliver had a video about how much 2016 sucked. 2020 said “Call and raise.”

I saw one quip on the internet that resonated with me. It’s a common trope in time travel stories to go back, change one thing, and make a bigger mess. 2020 is that but several times over. Youth Pastor Ryan said this may be the best incarnation of 2020 and it is the fixed timeline. I’m not sure which is more terrifying.

This resulted in mixed results in my reading. I read/listened to nonfiction to stay informed. I broke at the continued siege of our democracy. I had slumps from stress and sleep deprivations (thanks spawn). I went into this knowing I might not finish anything and that was OK.

While there’s still a few days left in December, I doubt I’ll be finishing anything between then and now. Let’s see how I did.

2020 Casual Challenge

Collecting Dust – The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F#ck by Mark Manson
Motherhood – Cribsheet
Star Wars – Chewie and the Porgs
Christmas – Secret Santa
Cover – Diary of a Bookseller

I managed to finish all of them at the end of the year! Diary has a lovely illustration of the bookshop in a mix of cool and warm tones. It would make a lovely wall print. I read quite a few books about parenting, at least partially. I completed Subtle Art ages ago but didn’t realize it checked this box until November. 2020 + parenthood does not result in optimal brain function.

I might adjust next year’s challenge to be shorter than 20. I’m a mood reader and it’s more important to read than check arbitrary boxes. At least during these chaotic times.

PopSugar

Title caught my attention – Death by Pumpkin Spice
Set in a country starting with C – I Am Still Alive
Woman in STEM – Survivor Song
Pun in the title – Murder on the House
About a World Leader – Fear
By a Journalist – Twilight of Democracy
More than 20 Letters in the Title – Solutions and Other Problems

Survivor Song has a female doctor. Apparently, March is not a popular publishing month so I didn’t randomly pickup any books released in that month. Some of the others were also rather arbitrary so not a lot of regret there.

Unfinished: 22

Book Riot

Mystery w/o a female victim – If Walls Could Talk
Rural Setting – Small Spaces
Disabled protagonist – I Am Still Alive

Walls is the first book in the Haunted Home Renovation where Mel, a woman in the trades, has to solve the murder of a male colleague. Spaces is set on a farm in Vermont. Mostly. Alive has a protagonist with mobility issues from an accident, probably permanent. The ensuing circumstances do not bode well for a full recovery.

They do not mess when they call it a read harder challenge. Audiobooks of poetry are not easy to come by even when you’re trying. The POC retelling of a fairytale would have been good but I didn’t stay on top of it. I probably should have since that is very YA and those books are not challenging on an already tired brain.

Unfinished: 15

Pro Book Nerds

Short stories – Solutions and Other Problems

While not fiction, Solutions is graphic essays so I think it meets the spirit. I’m OK with skipping most prompts that encourage me to revisit my reading habits from when I was in a teenager. I’m still not 100% on what qualifies as a microhistory though.

Unfinished: 4

Modern Mrs. Darcy

Local author – Fear
2020 Award Nominee – Idiot

While not the spirit, I’m pretty sure Woodward still lives in the DC area. Laura Clery’s memoir was nominated for an audiobook award. I was eyeing some Stephen King books for things that came out in the 1980s (decade I was born). They’re on my long list for next year.

Unfinished: 3

Reading Glasses

I polled the Reading Glasses Facebook group and a humanoid alien counts as a nonhuman protagonist so I finished this challenge! I’m quite pleased by this. I read Forever Autumn, a Doctor Who novel. Definitely not the best novelization to go with the series but I regret nothing.