Though I didn’t do so well with the 2015 challenge, I decided to participate in the 2016 challenge anyway because I want to. If I do better this time, I’m sure to pick up a book that is outside my comfort zone. For Book Riot’s announcement of the challenge and to print a downloadable list, click here.
Book Riot is offering a 30% discount for its store to those who send in a completed list, with qualifying titles for each task filled in, by December 31. It’s okay to use the same book for multiple tasks.
The tasks:
Read a horror book
Book read: ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
A horror novel about a town in Maine that’s set upon by an ancient evil.
Read a nonfiction book about science
Book read: Thunder & Lightning: Weather Past, Present, Future by Lauren Redniss
An illustrated nonfiction book about the weather.
Read a collection of essays
Book read: When Hitler Took Cocaine and Lenin Lost His Brain: History’s Unknown Chapters by Giles Milton
A nonfiction book about unknown, or unpopular, historical facts.
Read a book out loud to someone else
Book read: Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb
The first in an epic fantasy series about a family of sea merchants. I read aloud to myself for part of it.
Read a middle grade novel
Book read: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling, narrated by Jim Dale
A fantasy novel about a boy who discovers he’s a famous wizard.
Read a biography (not memoir or autobiography)
Read a dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel
Book read: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
A literary post-apocalyptic novel that hops between the present and the future. The story is about how people readjust after the majority of humanity is wiped out by a flu.
Read a book originally published in the decade you were born
Listen to an audiobook that has won an Audie Award
Book listened to: You by Caroline Kepnes (I don’t know if it won the Audie. If it didn’t, it should have.)
A thriller about a guy stalking a girl.
Read a book over 500 pages long
Book read: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (652 pages)
A reread of book six in the popular young-adult, fantasy series about a boy chosen to save his magical world.
Read a book under 100 pages
Book read: The Sound of All Things by Myron Uhlberg, illus. by Ted Papoulas
An illustrated children’s book about a boy describing the sound of things to his deaf father. It’s about 36-pages long.
Read a book by or about a person that identifies as transgender
Read a book that is set in the Middle East
Read a book that is by an author from Southeast Asia
Book read: Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz
A paranormal novel about a family of witches who must deal with the repercussions of using their magic.
Read a book of historical fiction set before 1900
Read the first book in a series by a person of color
Book read: Monstress, Vol. 1 by Marjorie Liu, illus. by Sana Takeda
A fantasy comic about a girl with a mysterious power.
Read a non-superhero comic that debuted in the last three years
Comic read: Monstress, #1 by Marjorie Liu, illus. by Sana Takeda
A fantasy comic about a girl with a mysterious power.
Read a book that was adapted into a movie, then watch the movie. Debate which is better.
Book read: Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
I like the movies better.
Read a nonfiction book about feminism or dealing with feminist themes
Read a book about religion (fiction or nonfiction)
Read a book about politics, in your country or another (fiction or nonfiction)
Read a food memoir
Read a play
Read a book with a main character that has a mental illness
Zezee with Books 