Elena Finds a New Challenge

[Elena]

THE 2020 LIST
[will be updated with completed books as they happen]

1. A book with a title that doesn't contain the letters A, T or Y: Sunshine
2. A book by an author whose last name is one syllable: Full Dark, No Stars
3. A book that you are prompted to read because of something you read in 2019: Golden Fool
4. A book set in a place or time that you wouldn't want to live: Station Eleven
5. The first book in a series that you have not started: Red Rising

6. A book with a mode of transportation on the cover: From a Buick 8
7. A book set in the southern hemisphere: Beauty Is a Wound
8. A book with a two-word title where the first word is "The": The Miniaturist
9. A book that can be read in a day: The Only Harmless Great Thing

10. A book that is between 400-600 pages: Dreams Underfoot
11. A book originally published in a year that is a prime number: The Inexplicable Logic of My Life
12. A book that is a collaboration between 2 or more people: Bayou Moon
13. A prompt from a previous Around the Year in 52 Books challenge: Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States (a book related to a hobby or passion you have)
14. A book by an author on the Abe List of 100 Essential Female Writers : State of Wonder

15. A book set in a global city: The Night Watch
16. A book set in a rural or sparsely populated area: The Bridges of Madison County
17. A book with a neurodiverse character: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
18. A book by an author you've only read once before: Wasted Words

19. A fantasy book: The Dragon Keeper
20. The 20th book [on your TBR, in a series, by an author, on a list, etc.]: Starlight on Willow Lake
21. A book related to Maximilian Hell, the noted astronomer and Jesuit Priest who was born in 1720: Ancillary Justice
22. A book with the major theme of survival: Room

23. A book featuring an LGBTQIA+ character or by an LGBTQIA+ author: The Picture of Dorian Gray
24. A book with an emotion in the title: Love On My Mind
25. A book related to the arts: The Art of Peeling an Orange
26. A book from the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards: The Bride Test
27. A history or historical fiction: The Remains of the Day

28. A book by an Australian, Canadian or New Zealand author: Fake Out
29. An underrated book, a hidden gem or a lesser known book: Wildwood Dancing
30. A book from the New York Times '100 Notable Books' list for any year: An American Marriage
31. A book inspired by a leading news story: Rosewater: A Family's Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival

32. A book related to the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Japan: Norwegian Wood
33. A book about a non-traditional family: In Other Lands
34. A book from a genre or sub genre that starts with a letter in your name: Shantaram
35. A book with a geometric pattern or element on the cover: The Great Passage

36. A book from your TBR/wishlist that you don't recognize, recall putting there, or put there on a whim: Dirty
37. Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites: Book #1: Insomnia
38. Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites: Book #2: Sleeping Beauty and the Demon
39. A book by an author whose real name(s) you're not quite sure how to pronounce: Autobiography of a Corpse

40. A book with a place name in the title
41. A mystery
42. A book that was nominated for one of the ‘10 Most Coveted Literary Prizes in the World’: The Remains of the Day
43. A book related to one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse
44. A book related to witches

45. A book by the same author who wrote one of your best reads in 2019 or 2018
46. A book about an event or era in history taken from the Billy Joel song "We Didn't Start the Fire"
47. A classic book you've always meant to read: War and Peace
48. A book published in 2020

49. A book that fits a prompt from the list of suggestions that didn't win: The Thing About December
50. A book with a silhouette on the cover
51. A book with an "-ing" word in the title: The Neverending Story
52. A book related to time

[Elena]

I was just reading this morning about dissatisfaction with the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge, with just how hard/specific/odd the tasks have been getting. I have not participated since 2016. I missed doing a second prompt-based challenge alongside PopSugar, and someone in that thread linked this group, and here I am! This seems like fun, and it has a lot of unique prompts that still aren't so specific I feel like I only have two books to choose from.

I'm still putting together a list for the whole year of possible reads, but I have January's books chosen:

1. A book with a title that doesn't contain the letters A, T or Y
Sunshine by Robin McKinley

2. A book by an author whose last name is one syllable
Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

3. A book that you are prompted to read because of something you read in 2019
Golden Fool by Robin Hobb (continuing a series I've read throughout 2018)

4. A book set in a place or time that you wouldn't want to live
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

5. The first book in a series that you have not started
Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Fortunately, in this case all of them count for various tasks for my PopSugar challenge as well, though that won't always be true, I'm sure.

[Elena]

February

6. A book with a mode of transportation on the cover
From a Buick 8 by Stephen King

7. A book set in the southern hemisphere
Beauty Is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan

8. A book with a two-word title where the first word is "The"
The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

9. A book that can be read in a day
The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander

March

10. A book that is between 400-600 pages
I Am a Cat by Natsume Soseki

11. A book originally published in a year that is a prime number
The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Saenz (2017)

12. A book that is a collaboration between 2 or more people
Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews (pseudonym for husband-and-wife writing team)

13. A prompt from a previous Around the Year in 52 Books challenge
Drawing Lessons by Julia Gabriel (a book related to a hobby or passion you have)

14. A book by an author on the Abe List of 100 Essential Female Writers
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

April

15. A book set in a global city
Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

16. A book set in a rural or sparsely populated area
The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller

17. A book with a neurodiverse character
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

18. A book by an author you've only read once before
Wasted Words by Staci Hart

[Elena]

May

19. A fantasy book
[whatever book from the Realms of the Elderings series is up next by this point, I won't know until we get closer]

20. The 20th book [on your TBR, in a series, by an author, on a list, etc.]
Starlight on Willow Lake (20th book on my unread-physical-books list at the time of TBR creation)

21. A book related to Maximilian Hell, the noted astronomer and Jesuit Priest who was born in 1720
Ancillary Justice (KIS, set in space)

22. A book with the major theme of survival
Room

June

23. A book featuring an LGBTQIA+ character or by an LGBTQIA+ author
The Picture of Dorian Gray

24. A book with an emotion in the title
Love On My Mind

25. A book related to the arts
The Art of Peeling an Orange

26. A book from the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards
The Bride Test

27. A history or historical fiction
The Other Boleyn Girl

July

28. A book by an Australian, Canadian or New Zealand author
A Song for Arbonne

29. An underrated book, a hidden gem or a lesser known book
The Man Who Loved Children

30. A book from the New York Times '100 Notable Books' list for any year
An American Marriage (2018)

31. A book inspired by a leading news story
Rosewater: A Family's Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival

[Elena]

August

32. A book related to the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Japan
Norwegian Wood (KIS, set in Japan)

33. A book about a non-traditional family
The Marrow Thieves

34. A book from a genre or sub genre that starts with a letter in your name
Shantaram (Adventure Fiction)

35. A book with a geometric pattern or element on the cover
The Great Passage

September

36. A book from your TBR/wishlist that you don't recognize, recall putting there, or put there on a whim
The Shirley Letters: From the California Mines, 1851-1852

37. Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites: Book #1
Insomnia

38. Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites: Book #2
Doctor Sleep

39. A book by an author whose real name(s) you're not quite sure how to pronounce
Autobiography of a Corpse

October

40. A book with a place name in the title
Kitchens of the Great Midwest

41. A mystery
Behold, Here's Poison

42. A book that was nominated for one of the ‘10 Most Coveted Literary Prizes in the World’
The Remains of the Day (Booker Prize Winner)

43. A book related to one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse
Dread Nation

44. A book related to witches
The Hangman's Daughter

[Elena]

November

45. A book by the same author who wrote one of your best reads in 2019 or 2018
[I have a list of authors that qualify in my notes so I can choose later from whatever I haven't read yet this year]

46. A book about an event or era in history taken from the Billy Joel song "We Didn't Start the Fire"
And the Mountains Echoed

47. A classic book you've always meant to read
War and Peace

48. A book published in 2020
Don't Read the Comments

December

49. A book that fits a prompt from the list of suggestions that didn't win
The Spinning Heart (a book by an Irish author)

50. A book with a silhouette on the cover
His Bride for the Taking

51. A book with an "-ing" word in the title
The Neverending Story

52. A book related to time
Cloud Atlas

[Elena]

I have my first failure! I tried to finish I Am a Cat for "a book that is 400-600 pages," because I needed to read it for other challenges as well, and I DNF'd at page 150.

I'm still counting it for those challenges--it meets my personal standard for "done" as a DNF, I got waaay past 10%--but I can't, in good conscious, claim to have read a 400-600 page book for this task when I didn't.

I'm sure I will read a different one soon and still have something to put in that slot, but I'm annoyed, it seemed like it was going to be so good!

[Elena]

I have my first books out of order! A friend and I were both looking forward to The Bride Test, so when her copy came in from the library, we did a buddy read. Then, I was reading The Thing About December for a different challenge, and intended to read the same author's The Spinning Heart properly later in the year, except I hated December so much I don't intend to read that author again, so I'm counting it instead of reading the other.

Now that I've broken free of the weekly schedule a little, I'll probably do it again, but so far I've enjoyed having a book ready to go each week.

[Elena]

Technically I'm still "ahead" because I read a few late-year books out of order for other challenges, but it's August 1st and I failed to read two of my July books. (sigh)

I overloaded myself and now I'm feeling burnt out. Just needed to whine for a second.

[Elena]

After falling "behind" in July, I am not only caught up now, but ahead again, because I've now read all of August's. Determination is a powerful force.