Much Madness is Divinest Sense

2023 Reading Challenge Progress

Goal: read 50 books

 

Decades Reading Challenge

Each month, read one book SET in a different decade, in chronological order. The book doesn’t have to be written during the decade; they just need to take place during it to give you a feel for life in that era. Goal: read 12 books.

1. January (1880s or 1890s): To the Bright Edge of the World, Eowyn Ivey (1885 Alaska)
2. February (1900s or 1910s): The Pull of the Stars, Emma Donoghue (1918 Dublin, Ireland)
3. March (1920s): Time’s Undoing, Cheryl A. Head (partly in 1929 Birmingham, Alabama)
4. April (1930s):
5. May (1940s):
6. June (1950s): Daughter Dalloway, Emily France (set partly in 1923 and partly in 1952 London)
7. July (1960s): Black Cake, Charmaine Wilkerson (partly 1960s Caribbean and United Kingdom)
8. August (1970s): Dust Child, Nguyen Phan Qu�i Mai (1970s Vietnam)
9. September (1980s):�The Only One Left, Riley Sager (partly set in 1980s Maine)
10. October (1990s): Country, Michael Hughes (1996 Northern Ireland)
11. November (2000s or 2010s): The Cookbook Collector (1999-2002 Bay Area, CA and Massachusetts)
12. December (Books Spanning Decades):�Life, Keith Richards (1940s to 2000s).

Sign up for the challenge here.

 

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Read books set at least 20 years before the year in which they are published (that is my definition of historical fiction, not the challenge host’s). Goal: Ancient History (25 books).

1. The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton (published 1920, set in 1870s)
2. The Lost Apothecary, Sarah Penner (about half set in 1791, London)
3. The Door of No Return, Kwame Alexander (1860, Ghana)
4. Harlem Shuffle, Colson Whitehead (1950s-1960s, Harlem, NY)
5. To the Bright Edge of the World, Eowyn Ivey (1885 Alaska)
6. The Pull of the Stars, Emma Donoghue (1918 Dublin, Ireland)
7. Country, Michael Hughes (1996 Northern Ireland)
8. Weyward, Emilia Hart (1619, 1942, and 2019 Cumbria, England)
9. Wuthering Heights, Emily Bront� (early 1800s Yorkshire, England)
10. The London S�ance Society, Sarah Penner (1873 Paris and London)
11. Longbourn, Jo Baker (early 1800s Hertfordshire, England)
12. Dust Child, Nguyen Phan Quai Mai (1970s Vietnam)
13. Time’s Undoing, Cheryl A. Head (partly in 1929 Birmingham, Alabama)
14. Memphis, Tara M. Stringfellow (spanning multiple decades, ending in 2003)
15. River Sing Me Home, Eleanor Shearer (1830s Caribbean and Guyana)
16. Conjure Women, Afia Atakora (before, during, and after the U.S. Civil War, the South)
17. Black Cake, Charmaine Wilkerson (partly 1960s Caribbean and United Kingdom)
18. Daughter Dalloway, Emily France (set partly in 1923 and partly in 1952 London)
19. The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams (1880s-1910s Oxford, United Kingdom, with a coda in 1929 Adelaide, Australia and 1989 Australia)
20. Daisy Jones & the Six, Taylor Jenkins Reid (1970s Southern California)
21. Haunting the Deep, Adriana Mather (partly set on Titanic)
22. The Clockmaker’s Daughter, Kate Morton (partly set in 1860s England)
23. The Silent Companions, Laura Purcell (1600s England)
24. The Only One Left, Riley Sager (1929, 1980s Maine)

Sign up for the challenge here.

 

Monthly Motif Challenge

Read one book each month based on that month’s theme. Goal: read 12 books.

1. JANUARY�New Year, New Direction. Read a book with one, or more “directional” words in the title (i.e., into, over, out, behind, left, right, down, up, north, south, out, etc.): The Lost Apothecary, Sarah Penner (lost is a direction… right?)
2. FEBRUARY�If You Have A Garden and a Library…Read a book with a plant or flower on the cover: Barracoon: The Story of the Last Black Cargo, Zora Neale Hurston
3. MARCH�Animal, Number, Color, Name. Read a book with an animal, number, color, or name in the title: The Blackhouse, Carole Johnstone
4. APRIL�I Like Big Books. Read a book over 400 pages long or listen to an audiobook over 14 hrs long: Wuthering Heights, Emily Bront� (the Obscure podcast hosted by Michael Ian Black took longer than 14 hours for this book)
5. MAY�In It to Win It. Read a book that involves a game or contest of some sort.” ie. Virtual reality, video games, war games, psychological mess-with-your-mind games, characters who participate in a contest, or a story in which the character takes on a personal challenge: The Golden Spoon, Jessa Maxwell
6. JUNE�Take the Plunge. Read a book from any genre that is set on or near a body of water�lake, ocean, pool, river, etc.: River Sing Me Home, Eleanor Shearer (1830s Caribbean and Guyana, set on/near Demerara River, Caribbean Sea)
7. JULY�I Need Only One Word. Read a book with only one word as the title: Memphis, Tara M. Stringfellow
8. AUGUST�A Book and a Song. Read a book with the same title as a song you’ve heard.
9. SEPTEMBER�Speculative Stories. Read a book from the speculative fiction subgenre, i.e., a book with elements that do not exist in the real world: How to Hang a Witch, Adriana Mather
10. OCTOBER�Spellbinding or Spooktacular. Read a book that involves something spooky or magical or both: The Only One Left, Riley Sager
11. NOVEMBER�Around OR Out of this World. Read a book set in a country other than the one you live in OR read a book that takes place in space or on another planet: This is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
12. DECEMBER�White-Out. Read a book with a wintery setting or a book with a mostly white cover.

Sign up for the challenge here.

 

Book Voyage Read Around the World Challenge

Each month, read one book set in a different region of the world as a way of armchair traveling and learning more about the vast and beautiful differences in both landscape and culture. Goal: read 12 books

1. 1. January (book set in the Artic or Antarctic): Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica’s Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night, Julian Sancton (Antarctica)
   2. February (book set in Western Europe): The English Bookshop, Janis Wildy (England)
   3. March (book set in Africa): The Girl with the Louding Voice, Abi Daré (Nigeria)
   4. April (book set in on an island): River Sing Me Home, Eleanor Shearer (1830s Caribbean islands of Barbados and Trinidad as well as Guyana)
   5. May (book set in Eastern Europe):
   6. June (book set in Australia):
   7. July (book set in Southern Asia): Dust Child, Nguyen Phan Quai Mai (Vietnam)
   8. August (book set in Northern Asia):
   9. September (book set on a mode of transportation):
   10. October (book set in the Middle East):
   11. November (book set in North America):
   12. December (book set in South America): The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, David Grann (Wager Island, Chile)

   Bonus: Book set on multiple continents:

   Sign up for the challenge here.
   

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1. Read Your Bookshelf Challenge

   This is a low-pressure reading challenge with reading prompts for every month of the year. Goal: read 12 books

   1. January: “A” or “The” in the title: The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton
   2. February: Complementary colors on the cover or the spine of January book: To the Bright Edge of the World, Eowyn Ivey
   3. March: Title starts with the next letter in the alphabet from February book: The Uncommon Reader, Alan Bennett
   4. April: A different genre from March book: Above Ground, Clint Smith (poetry)
   5. May: Has more pages than April book: Daring to Lead, Bren� Brown
   6. June: Title has half as many letters as May book (6 letters)
   7. July: Set in a different country or world than June book: River Sing Me Home, Eleanor Shearer (1830s Caribbean and Guyana)
   8. August: The same genre as July book: Black Cake, Charmaine Wilkerson (partly 1960s Caribbean and United Kingdom)
   9. September: Turn to page 50, one of those words is in the title
   10. October: First letter of author’s last name is the first letter of the title of September book
   11. November: A different time period than October book
   12. December: Page count is within 20 of November book

   Sign up for the challenge here.
   

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1. Where Am I Reading?

   A map of setting locations for books I read in 2023.