In 2017, I am taking a much more lackadaisical approach to reading. Last year, I completed the PopSugar Reading Challenge and then some – a total of 60 books in all. This year my focus is on creating the written word, not consuming it. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be enjoying a book – or sixty. The PopSugar 2017 Reading Challenge and the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge will serve as inspiration for my literary pursuits, but I don’t imagine I’ll read 76 books this year…

Books that don’t fit into a category:

Midnight at the Bright Idea Bookstore – Matthew Sullivan
Hiddensee – Gregory Macguire
Artemis – Andy Weir
The Power – Naomi Alderman

POPSUGAR Reading Challenge: 

1. A book recommended by a librarian
   The Word Exchange – Alena Graedon
2. A book that’s been on your TBR list for way too long
   Loving Frank – Nancy Horan
3. A book of letters
4. An audiobook
5. A book by a person of color
   No One Is Coming to Save Us – Stephanie Powell Watts
6. A book with one of the four seasons in its title
7. A book that is a story within a story
   A Word For Love – Emily Robbins
8. A book with multiple authors
9. An espionage thriller
10. A book with a cat on the cover
11. A book by an author who uses a pseudonym
12. A bestseller from a genre you don’t usually read
    You are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life – Jen Sincero
13. A book by or about a person who has a disability
14. A book involving travel
    Origin – Dan Brown
15. A book with a subtitle
    10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works – A True Story – Dan Harris
16. A book that’s published in 2017
    Lincoln in the Bardo – George Sanders
17. A book involving a mythical creature
    Agents of Dreamland – Caitlin R. Kiernan
18. A book you’ve read before that never fails to make you smile
19. A book about food
20. A book with career advice
    The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Getting Ahead – Charles Murray
21. A book from a nonhuman perspective
22. A steampunk novel
    Everfair – Nisi Shawl
23. A book with a red spine
    The Geek Feminist – Kameron Hurley
24. A book set in the wilderness
    Eruption, The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens – Steve Olson
25. A book you loved as a child
26. A book by an author from a country you’ve never visited
27. A book with a title that’s a character’s name
    Where’d You Go, Bernadette – Maria Semple
28. A novel set during wartime
    Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet – Jamie Ford
29. A book with an unreliable narrator
    All Our Wrong Todays – Elan Mastai
30. A book with pictures
    How to Write like Tolstoy: A Journey into the Minds of Our Greatest Writers – Richard Cohen
31. A book where the main character is a different ethnicity than you
    Open City – Teju Cole
32. A book about an interesting woman
    The Elegance of the Hedgehog – Muriel Barbery
33. A book set in two different time periods
    I Am Radar – Reif Larsen
34. A book with a month or day of the week in the title
35. A book set in a hotel
36. A book written by someone you admire
    Player Piano – Kurt Vonnegut
37. A book that’s becoming a movie in 2017
    The Dinner – Herman Kock
38. A book set around a holiday other than Christmas
39. The first book in a series you haven’t read before
40. A book you bought on a trip
    Kappa Quartet – Daryl Qilin Yam

POPSUGAR Advanced List

1. A book recommended by an author you love
2. A bestseller from 2016
   Hillbilly Elegy – J.D. Vance
3. A book with a family member term in the title
4. A book that takes place over a character’s lifetime
   The Signature of All Things – Elizabeth Gilbert
5. A book about an immigrant or a refugee
   The Alex Crow – Andrew Smith
6. A book from a genre/subgenre that you’ve never heard of
   Slade House – David Mitchell
7. A book with an eccentric character
   Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Book Store – Robin Sloan
8. A book that’s more than 800 pages
9. A book you got from a used book sale
   The Word Detective: Searching for the Meaning of It All at the Oxford English Dictionary – John Simpson
10. A book that’s been mentioned in another book
    Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut
11. A book about a difficult topic
    The Vaccine Race – Meredith Wadman
12. A book based on mythology
    Pandora’s Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong – Paul A. Offit

Book Riot’s 2017 Read Harder Challenge

1. A book about sports
2. A debut novel
3. A book about books
   When Books Went to War – Molly Guptill Manning
4. A book set in Central or South America, written by a Central or South American author
5. A book by an immigrant or with a central immigration narrative
6. An all-ages comic
7. A book published between 1900 and 1950
8. A travel memoir
9. A book you’ve read before
10. A book that’s set within 100 miles of your location
11. A book that’s set more than 5,000 miles from your location
    Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2’s Deadliest Day – Peter Zuckerman and Amanda Padoan
12. A fantasy novel
    Borne – Jeff Vandermeer
13. A nonfiction book about technology
    Life in Code: A Personal History of Technology – Ellen Ullman
14. A book about war
    Mother Night – Kurt Vonnegut
15. A YA or middle-grade novel by an author who identifies as LGBTQ+
16. A book that has been banned or frequently challenged
17. A classic by an author of color
18. A superhero comic with a female lead
19. A book in which a character of color goes on a spiritual journey
20. An LGBTQ+ romance novel
21. A book published by a micropress
22. A collection of stories by a woman
23. A collection of poetry in translation on a theme other than love
24. A book wherein all point-of-view characters are people of color
    Underground Airlines – Ben Winters