I spent some of the first day of 2020 crafting my reading challenge for the year, with an aim to stretching myself a bit more. I got rid of some items from 2019 because they no longer felt like a challenge or because they just felt a little boring, like "read a book that's been made into a movie, then see the movie" (not that that's not fun, but I feel like I'll probably do that anyway). But I also want very much to continue to expand my selections, especially when it comes to reading about and reading authors from diverse, and marginalized communities.
In 2019 my challenge had 18 items, and I read 39 books. I like to still have the freedom to read "other" stuff that isn't a part of the challenge... but figured I could add two more items to make it 20 (for 2020!), and I'll still have time to read other things.
Tate's 2020 Reading Challenge
(Updating as I go...)
✓ 1. a book published this year
The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett
✓ 2. a book you should have read in school
Twelve Years a Slave, by Solomon Northup
✓ 3. a book you can finish in a day
We Should All be Feminists, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi
✓ 4. a book you’ve been meaning to read
The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic, and How it
Changed Science, Cities and the Modern World - Steven Johnson
✓ 5. a book recommended to you by a relative/close friend (Shannon)
Bellweather Rhapsody, by Kate Racculia
✓ 6. a book by a female author in a male-dominated genre
The Broken Earth Series, by N.K. Jemisin
✓ 7. a book that features characters from a marginalized group due to race or ethnicity,
where all main POV characters are people from that group
Speak No Evil, by Uzodinma Iweala
✓ 8. a book that features LGBTQ+ characters, where all main POV characters are
people from that group
Girl, Woman, Other, by Bernadine Evaristo
✓ 9. a book by an immigrant or with a central immigration narrative
Disoriental, by Negar Djavadi
✓ 10. a book that addresses disability rights
Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space, by Amanda Leduc
✓ 11. a book of diverse folktales/culture/mythology, or a diverse retelling of a Western tale
In the House in the Dark of the Woods, by Laird Hunt
✓ 12. a book of nonfiction that focuses on learning about &/or becoming an ally
for a marginalized group
So You Want To Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo
✓ 13. a book that intimidates you
The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead
✓ 14. a debut novel
The Astonishing Color of After, by Emily X.R. Pan
✓ 15. a book that has been translated from another language
Judas, by Amos Oz
✓ 16. a book by a local author, or a book that was published locally
Name All the Animals, by Alison Hunt
✓ 17. a play
Men on Boats, by Jaclyn Backhaus
✓ 18. a book of poetry or of short stories
Jaw, by Albert Abonado
✓ 19. a memoir, biography, or autobiography
The Yellow House, by Sarah M. Broom
✓ 20. a book of historical fiction
Euphoria, by Lily King
