As a new year starts, most of us think about what we’d like to have different in our lives. One improvement I make each year is in my reading life. Rather than just picking up whatever book looks good to me at the moment, I am attempting to split my time between planned reading and spontaneous reading.
Planned reading requires preparation. Otherwise, you end up grabbing whatever is at hand. January is the perfect time to start, with dozens of 2024 reading challenges popping up all over the internet, many of which have been compiled by Chapter Adventure. I’m going to discuss a few that should appeal to most people, but you may want to scroll through all of the options to find the challenge that fits your reading life.
A well-known reading challenge in the bookish community is the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge. This is their 10th year of hosting a reading challenge, and the latest edition includes 40 prompts, plus 10 advanced prompts. Some of their choices include:
Read a celebrity memoir: Choices published in the last year include: Making It So, by Patrick Stewart; Thicker Than Water, by Kerry Washington; and The Woman in Me, by Britney Spears.
Read a modern retelling of a classic: The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia; Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver; and Good Fortune, by C.K. Chau, would all be great choices for this category.
Read a #BookTok recommendation: Some great titles are: Honey and Spice, by Bolu Babalola; Maame, by Jessica George; and Young Mungo, by Douglas Stuart
Read a book about a holiday that’s not Christmas: Celebrate Diwali in A Holly Jolly Diwali, by Sonja Lalli; New Year’s in The Hunting Party, by Lucy Foley; and Halloween in Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury.
If the size of the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge overwhelms you, perhaps the NoveList Reading Challenge will be a better fit, as it contains only one prompt per month. You can log into your library account and use NoveList Plus to find titles to fit each month’s prompts or reach out to one of CRRL's My Librarians for ideas. A few of the categories include:
A book published in 2023 by a debut author: Some great choices published last year are The Berry Pickers, by Amanda Peters; Pineapple Street, by Jenny Jackson; and What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez, by Claire Jimenez.
A book adapted into a movie or TV series: All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr; Black Cake, by Charmaine Wilkerson; and The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse, by Charlie Mackesy would all fall into this category.
A novella: Try Foster, by Claire Keegan; Passing, by Nella Larsen; or The Uncommon Reader, by Alan Bennett.
Literary Escapes, a challenge that allows you to travel around the United States by book, looks fun. Here are suggestions for a few of the states. Please feel free to stop by, call, or email the library staff for suggestions for other states:
A book set in Arkansas: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou, or Shakespeare’s Landlord, by Charlaine Harris
A book set in Indiana: Last Words, by Michael Koryta, or Somebody’s Daughter, by Ashley C. Ford
A book set in Virginia: Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver, or Razorblade Tears, by S.A. Cosby
Some Other Challenges
The Mount TBR Reading Challenge, opens a new window is for those of us who have a bad habit of collecting books we want to read without actually reading them. Read 12 to scale Pike’s Peak, or, if you are very ambitious, try climbing Mount Everest by reading 100 books on your shelves.
The Book Riot Read Harder Challenge is a good one for stretching your reading into new genres and experiences, while the Key Word Reading Challenge allows you to choose from eight keywords each month for a more serendipitous book adventure.
If you choose to participate in one of these reading challenges, feel free to contact a librarian for ideas to fill your categories. Also, if you combine your challenge with CRRL's Adult Winter Reading Challenge, you can count your reading for both challenges and earn a colorful pen.
Have fun, and may your 2024 reading year be a satisfying one!
