My Authors Water Cooler Reading Challenge selections for 2022. The rules are: out of a list of 50 categories, the participant chooses 12, the idea being you read one a month, more as extra credit if you’re ambitious.
My challenges for 2021 and 2020 were, I’m sad to say, a bust. In 2020 I got through 6, in 2021, only one. I can only blame it on the stress of living through a pandemic in which I found it hard to concentrate and immerse myself in a book. That can be a whole other post on its own.
This year I hope I’ll do better!
| 1. | Read it again, Sam: Reread a book you have already read. At The Mountains of Madness, H.P. Lovecraft One of my favorites for horro but I haven’t read it in many years. |
| 2. | Still time for more chapters: A memoir/biography by/about someone who’s still alive (as of January 1). Wonderful Tonight, Patti Boyd I found this one at a little free library. It should add to my Beatles knowledge. The Beatles were a living myth of my younger years. |
| 3. | Just the facts, Ma’am: Nonfiction on any subject. You Look Like a Thing and I Love You, Janelle Shane I was sooo looking forward to reading this when I bought it but I still haven’t! |
| 6. | Out of Africa: A book taking place in Africa (including North Africa). We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda, Philip Gourevitch Heavy subject matter. |
| 9. | Coming to a theater near you: A book made into a major motion picture. Blood of Elves, Andrzej Sapkowski I’ve finished watching The Witcher series on Netflix (both seasons) so am interested to see how the book compares. |
| 21. | Three-color mythology: A graphic novel or comic book. Locke & Key, Vol. I, Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez Had this one for a while. Goes with the Lovecraft theme. |
| 23. | Getting started: Read the first book of a series. The Book of Three, Lloyd Alexander This series has always been praised to high heaven on every YA list, every fantasy list, from the 1970s forward. I want to see what all the fuss is about. |
| 24. | Continuing on: A book from any point in a series that is NOT the first or the final. Kushiel’s Avatar, Jacqueline Carey Another series I’ve been interested in reading. But this wasn’t the first book, to my chagrin. Still, it’s my belief that a series is only truly successful if it can interest the reader who picks up any book, not just the first one. So I’ll put that to the test. |
| 32. | Old world charm: A book taking place in or about Europe. The World of the Castrati, Patrick Barbier How to make a eunuch in three easy steps. |
| 34. | Tag team: A book by more than one author. Roadside Picnic, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky Another classic of SF that I just happened to find at a little free library. |
| 36. | Ye olde booke shoppe: A book written before 1800. Saga of the Volsungs Way way back. |
| 50. | Loose ends: A book you started last year and haven’t yet finished. The Dragon Quartet, ed. Marvin Kaye I still have to finish this one. |
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[…] It’s time for another yearly reading challenge from the Authors Water Cooler! The past three years were disappointing for me, as I hadn’t been able to finish any of them despite my high intentions. 2022 was actually better, because I did make it 3/4 of the way, squeaking through with two books finished the week after Christmas (a deliberate choice on my part) so 8 out of 12 ain’t bad. All of them I enjoyed, except for the terrible Locke & Key and The Dragon Quintet, which was not so much hateable as disappointing (2022 choices here.) […]