Emily’s Comments (group member since Jan 01, 2019)

Emily’s comments from the BYL Reading Challenge group.

What is a genre you rarely read from? Here are some genres to get your gears turning:

Romance
Mystery/Thriller
Literary Fiction
Horror
Historical Fiction
Fantasy
Science Fiction
Poetry
Non-Fiction
Graphic Novel

You could easily double this challenge with the mythology since there are already a few titles that work well for both. But here are some other ideas if you wanted to keep them separate.

The Round House - Louise Erdrich
There There - Tommy Orange
Heart Berries: A Memoir - Terese Marie Mailhot
The Marrow Thieves - Cherie Dimaline
Indian No More - Charlene Willing with Traci Sorell (Middle Grade)

Who doesn't love the comfort of a familiar fairy tale?

Uprooted - Naomi Novik
The Bear and the Nightingale - Katherine Arden
Children of Blood and Bone - Tomi Adeyemi
The Dollmaker of Krakow - R.M. Romero (middle grade)
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon - Grace Lin (middle grade)

This can be any mythology from any culture. Some recommendations:

Circe - Madeline Miller (Greek)
Trail of Lightning - Rebecca Roanhorse (Navajo)
The Way Back - Gavriel Savit (Jewish)
Elatsoe - Darcie Little Badger (Lipan Apache)
The Twelve - Cindy Lin (Chinese)

It can be fiction or non-fiction, so long as the setting is a library!

The Library of the Unwritten - A.J. Hackwith
The Midnight Library - Matt Haig
Escape from Mr. Lemonchello's Library - Chris Grabenstein (middle grade)
Sorcery of Thorns - Margaret Rogerson

Not only are these quick reads, making them very satisfying, but they are also frequently beautifully written and thought-provoking.

Bull - David Elliott
White Rose - Kip Wilson
Clap When You Land - Elizabeth Acevedo
The Red Pencil - Andrea Davis Pinkney (middle grade)

What country have you always wanted to visit? Read a book set there!

Tidelands - Philippa Gregory (England)
Revolution - Jennifer Donnelly (France)
Burial Rites - Hannah Kent (Iceland)
The Traveling Cat Chronicles - Hiro Arikawa (Japan)

Share recommendations for books set under the sea here!

The Soul of an Octopus - Sy Montgomery (non-fiction)
A Song Below Water - Bethany C. Morrow (YA)
Into the Drowning Deep - Mira Grant (horror)
Malamander - Thomas Taylor (middle grade)

It could be the whole cover or just a splash of your favorite color on the cover.

It's time for a new challenge! This year is all about comfort and finding joy in reading. I hope you will join me in the 2021 Hygge Family Reading Challenge!

You can download the free checklist here:
https://buildyourlibrary.com/2021-bui...

I just discovered a great option for this challenge!

Once Upon an Eid: Stories of Hope and Joy by 15 Muslim Voices

I just pre-ordered it (May 5 release)!

For anyone, like me, who enjoyed the Netflix series The Witcher, the books are translated from Polish. ;) I really don't have time to dive into a new fantasy series, but I'm very tempted.

Jena wrote: "I have a note that the book club is reading The Night Circus... is that the YouTube club or a good reads club... I just got my copy!"

We'll be doing that in the Arrrgh Booked book club on my YouTube channel! I'll be doing a live show at the end of the month to discuss. :)

Cassie wrote: "I’m joining in this year but not quite sure I’ll try for all of them. It may be a little easier this year than any other year since I have kids going through BYL level 7. Which makes me wonder if a..."

Yes - I do plan on updating Level 7, hopefully over the summer. So yes, it will be done by 2021. ;)

Many of the Level 7 books will work towards completing the prompts, so that will give you a great chance at completing the challenge!

Nikki wrote: "I've been meaning to read The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker for ages. It's written by a friend of a friend & comes highly recommended! I'll definitely pick that one for this ..."

It's one of my favorite books from this year. It's such a beautifully written story. I have heard that their is a sequel in the works, but no release date as of yet.

Nikki wrote: "It's sitting on my bookshelf, waiting to be read, so I'm going to read The Round House, also by Louise Erdrich for this category."

I have several titles that could fit, but I am also strongly considering The Round House, because I had hoped to read it this year and didn't get to it.

Nikki wrote: "Exit West (Emily you have an extra S in there) is on my tbr but I have also tentatively tagged Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga for this category.

I HIGHLY recommend Illegal."

Thanks, I fixed it!

It's a few days til the end of the year - who managed to complete all of the challenges?

I came pretty close. I have 6 challenges left that I didn't complete, and I doubt I'll manage to get to them at this point. But overall I'm pretty happy with what I did accomplish!

How did you do? What was your favorite book of the year? (Mine was Lovely War by Julie Berry, which was for the challenge "A book that is similar either in theme or story to your favorite tv show or movie".)

Did you discover a new favorite because of the challenge?

We've explored the world we inhabit, now let us venture out into the stars.

Some suggestions:

The Martian by Andy Weir
The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Lucy and the Rocket Dog by Will Buckingham
Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente

This can be any genre, fiction or non-fiction.

Some suggestions:

Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah