MacKenzie's 2022-2023 Winter Reading Challenge

[MacKenzie]

DECEMBER (12/12)

1. Winter

a. Read a book with a title beginning with a letter in WINTER. What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman (completed 12/22)

b. Read a book with a person wearing winter clothing on the cover. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George (completed 12/7)

c. Read a book that is between 89 and 128 pages long. Animal Farm by George Orwell (completed 2/7) Revelance: 90 pages


2. December birthdays: Jane Austen

a. Read a book written by a female author. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (completed 12/8)

b. Read a novel set in the 19th century. Middlemarch by George Eliot (completed 2/28)

c. Read a romance novel. Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola (completed 1/23)


3. The Holidays

a. Read a book related to a holiday that happens in December. The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer (completed 1/8) Relevance: Hannukah

b. Read a book that has one of the gifts referred to in The Twelve Days of Christmas shown on its cover. The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li (completed 2/8) Relevance: Six geese a-laying

c. Read a book that features a family gathering. Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood (completed 12/16)


4. Winter sports: yukigassen

a. Read a book by an author whose first and last initials appear in YUKIGASSEN. While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams (completed 12/13)

b. Read a book in a series that is at least 7 books long. When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn (completed 1/31)

c. Read a book set in a country where yukigassen is played. A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel by Amor Towles (completed 1/31) Relevance: set in Russia


JANUARY (12/12)

1. Happy New Year!

a. Read a book by an author who is new to you. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson (completed 12/10)

b. Read a book from a genre that is new to you. Heartstopper: Volume One by Alice Oseman (completed 1/27) Relevance: fiction graphic novel

c. Read a book in which all the words in the title have the same number of letters. Sign Here by Claudia Lux (completed 12/4)


2. January birthdays: Haruki Murakami

a. Read a book set in Japan. Heaven by Mieko Kawakami (completed 12/29)

b. Read a book that features a cat in some way. Sing Anyway by Anita Kelly (completed 1/2)

c. Read a magical realism novel. The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova (completed 12/24)


3. New Year Resolutions

a. Read a book where the first letter of each word in the title can be found in NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi (completed 12/27)

b. Read a book that looks into the past. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (completed 12/18)

c. Read a book that will help you keep one of your New Year resolutions. Read This to Get Smarter: About Race, Class, Gender, Disability, and More by Blair Imani (completed 1/25) Relevance: reading more non-fiction is one of my resolutions


4. Winter sports: bobsleigh

a. Read a book set mostly in a location that begins with a letter in SWITZERLAND. Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman by Lucy Worsley England & Iraq (completed 12/6)

b. Read a book in which a conflict between characters is a major part of the plot. Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee - infidelity (completed 12/4)

c. Read a book that is fast-paced. My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh (completed 12/18)


FEBRUARY (12/12)

1. Valentine’s Day

a. Read a book with Romance listed as one of the top five genres on its Goodreads page. City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert (completed 12/19)

b. Read a book by an author whose first and last initials appear in VALENTINE’S DAY. Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat (completed 12/1)

c. Read a book written in or set in the Medieval period (usually defined as the 5th to 15th centuries). Beowulf translated by Maria Dahvana Headley (completed 2/24)


2. February birthdays: Laura Ingalls Wilder

a. Read a book set in the American midwest. All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews (completed 1/15)

b. Read a novel that features the wilderness. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (completed 12/12)

c. Read a coming of age story. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (completed 1/15)


3. Winter sports: Ski jumping

a. Read a book that is at least 253 pages long. All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham (completed 12/12)

b. Read a book published in a year in which the Winter Olympics took place. The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After by Clemantine Wamariya (completed 12/31)

c. Read a book where the plot “jumps” about (a non-linear narrative as it’s normally called). Bangkok Wakes to Rain by Pitchaya Sudbanthad (completed 12/28)


4. The Shortest Month of the Year

a. Read a literary fiction novel. The Mothers by Brit Bennett (completed 12/7)

b. Read a book that features a ghost. The Things She's Seen by Ambelin Kwaymullina (completed 12/21)

c. Read a book that starts with a letter in the word SHORT. Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swann (completed 12/27)