2015 Reading Challenge Results

So last year, for about three months, I tried really hard read books that I might not have read without being challenged to… and then I kind of forgot about it. I had a checklist of all the themes and genres I wanted to read through, but I got hung up on certain books and got distracted by others. I think I did a pretty good job even though I wasn’t reading with intent for most of the year.

Books that People Talk About 

1. A Giller Prize Winner or Nominee – If I Fall, If I Die by Michael Christie (unfinished)
2. A Man Booker Prize winner or nominee
3. A book by a Nobel prize winning author
4. Something from the banned book list – To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Exploring Genres

1. A book about business
2. A romance novel – Of Silk and Steam by Bec McMaster
3. A collection of poetry – Dawn of the Algorithm by Yann Rousselot
4. A graphic novel – Saga by Brian Vaughn and Fiona Staples
5. A self improvement book
6. A mystery – The Strings of Murder by Oscar de Muriel
7. A ghost or horror story – Maplecroft by Cherie Priest
8. A novella – Photographs & Phantoms by Cindy Spencer Pape
9. A collection of short stories – Unnatural Creatures edited by Neil Gaiman
10. A non-fiction book about science
11. A non-fiction book about religion
12. A humourous book – Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson
13. A high fantasy book – The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
14. A steampunk book – Her Sky Cowboy by Beth Ciotta
15. A microhistory – At Home by Bill Bryson (unfinished)
16. A book written for children or young adults – The Doldrums by Nicholas Gannon

A Time and Place for Everything

1. A book set in Asia
2. A book set in your home country – The Prison Book Club by Ann Walmsley
   
3. A book published more than a hundred years ago – Pollyanna by Elanor Porter
   
4. A book with time travel in it – The Spiritglass Charade by Colleen Gleason
5. A book published in the year you were born – Little, Big by John Crowley (unfinished)
   
6. A book set in South America
7. A book set in Africa
8. A book set in Antarctica
9. A book set in Australia – Euphoria by Lily King (technically New Guinea)
10. A book set in Europe – The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

Different People, Different Lives

1. A book that is by or about someone from an indigenous culture
2. A book about someone with a disability or mental illness – Get Well Soon by Julie Halpern
3. A book written by an author you have never read before – Say You Will by Eric Walters
4. A book by a first time author – Thunder of Giants by Joel Fishbane
5. A book originally written in another language – A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Bachman
6. A book with a gay or lesbian main character – Guardian by Alex London
   
7. A book about someone from a different culture than your own – Orphan Number Eight by Kim van Alkemade
   
8. A memoir about an actor or actress – Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
9. A memoir about someone in the music industry
10. A memoir about an athlete or sports figure
11. A memoir about a political figure
12. A book about a trans-gendered person – (SPOILERS)
13. A book with a main/key character who is old enough to be considered a senior – Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf

Just For Fun

1. A book with a blue cover – The Room by Jonas Karlsson
2. A book where an animal plays a key role –Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper
3. A book that someone else has recommended to you – The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
4. A book you want to read just because you love the cover – The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan
5. A book you originally read more than 10 years ago – Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
6. A book you owned for more than a year but have never read (until now) –  Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper
7. A book by an author with your same initials
8. A novel generally read in highschool that you never got to read – To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

FINAL TALLY: 33/51

So that’s where we stand. I’m going to try to fit in a few of the categories I missed into my 2016 reading list. I definitely want to try to get a Nobel Laureate in there somewhere.

 Did you meet your reading challenges for 2015? Are there any books you really want to try to read in 2016?