2022 Reading Challenges and Last Year’s Recap

Posted on by kellyvincent

Every year I report on my reading challenges and set the plan for coming year. I didn’t do that well this year. I have been in a reading slump for much of the year. 

First, the Recap of 2021

I signed up for the same three challenges I did in 2020, the Goodreads, the King County Library’s 10 to Try, and BookRiot’s Read Harder Challenge. 

For Goodreads, I set it to 110 for 2021. I technically did finish this, but only because I counted picture books, which take 10 minutes to read (often less), so they really don’t count. I checked against my spreadsheet where I track my reading, and I actually did do better than I thought: I read 87 non-picture book books. So I didn’t hit the 110, but I seriously thought it would be way lower than that. I didn’t finish either of the other two challenges, though I made decent 

For the KCLS 10 to Try, I read the following:

  • Makes you laugh - Enter Title Here by Rahul Kanakia
  • About the future - The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum
  • Epistolary novel (Written in letters, emails, etc.) - Dear Rachel Maddow: A Novel by Adrienne Kisner
  • Set where you were born - Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
  • Published this year - Indestructible Object by Mary McCoy
  • Re-read an old favorite - The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart
  • About pop culture - The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller

But failed on the following:

  • Recommended by staff - You Should See Me in A Crown by Leah Johnson
  • Non-human characters - Watership Down by Richard Adams
  • By a Black author - Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi

I’m disappointed in myself. If I had tried, I could have done it, especially the two YA ones. I read many other books instead. 

For the Read Harder Challenge (which is a lot harder than the others) I managed to complete only 8 books of the 24 on the list (pitiful!):

  • Read a non-European novel in translation - The Disaster Tourist: A Novel by Yun Ko-eun and Lizzie Buehler
  • Read a genre novel by an Indigenous, First Nations, or Native American author - Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger and Rovina Cai
  • Read a middle grade mystery - From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
  • Read an SFF anthology edited by a person of color - Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite edited by Zoraida Cordova and Natalie C. Parker
  • Read a realistic YA book not set in the U.S., UK, or Canada - Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley
  • Read a children’s book that centers a disabled character but not their disability - Emmanuel’s Dream by Laurie Ann Thompson and Sean Qualls
  • Read a food memoir by an author of color - Stealing Buddha’s Dinner by Bich Minh Nguyen
  • Read a book by/about a non-Western world leader - Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff 

I failed on the following:

  • Read a book you’ve been intimidated to read - Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel 
  • Read a nonfiction book about anti-racism - White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
  • Read an LGBTQ+ history book - Queer: A Graphic History by Dr. Meg-John Barker and Julia Scheele
  • Read a fanfic - A Wattpad story based on Rainbow Rowell’s book Fangirl (https://www.wattpad.com/story/61458965-coffee-kisses-a-cather-and-levi-fanfic)
  • Read a fat-positive romance - Take a Hint, Dani Brown: A Novel by Talia Hibbert
  • Read a romance by a trans or nonbinary author - Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
  • Read a work of investigative nonfiction by an author of color - Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias by Pragya Agarwal
  • Read a book with a cover you don’t like - Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero
  • Read a memoir by a Latinx author - Children of the Land: A Memoir by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo
  • Read an own voices book about disability - Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens edited by Mariene Nijkamp
  • Read an own voices YA book with a Black main character that isn’t about Black pain - Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland
  • Read a historical fiction with a POC or LGBTQ+ protagonist - The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
  • Read a book of nature poems - The Radiant Lives of Animals by Linda Hogan
  • Read a book set in the Midwest - The Lake Effect by Erin McCahan
  • Read a book that demystifies a common mental illness - Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
  • Read a book featuring a beloved pet where the pet doesn’t die - Vicarious by Paula Stokes

I did start one of them (Take a Hint, Dani Brown: A Novel by Talia Hibbert) but I just haven’t been able to read much romance this year for some reason. I liked what I read so far, but it’s on my nightstand. I haven’t been reading too much at night. 

Now, the Plan for 2022

Okay, I’m going to go easy on myself. I’m going to scale things back and skip the Read Harder one this year. So Goodreads and KCLS 10 to Try is all I’m going to do. 

This year I’m going to count picture books and set a goal of 200 total books on Goodreads.That’s basically 100 picture books and 100 others, at least in my head. 

For KCLS 10 to Try, here are the categories and my intended books: 

  • The cover is your favorite color - The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan
  • Set somewhere you've wanted to visit - Spindle and Dagger by J. Anderson Coats
  • The main character is over 50 - Gray Hair Don't Care by Karen Booth
  • By an Asian or Asian American author - Anna K by Jenny Lee
  • About a library or set in a library - Suggested Reading by Dave Connis
  • Set in another century - Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland
  • A one-word title - Monster by Walter Dean Myers
  • Recommended by a friend - Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
  • Has won an award - Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman
  • Recommended by staff - Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach