Attacking the To-Read pile

I was doing so well. I posted the 100 Word Challenge on time for a couple of weeks, then BOOM, I just couldn’t get inspired. As an experiment, this week I’m moving the posting day to Friday. We can try that for a little while to see if I can meet a deadline. Publishing mid-week has been a troublesome task.

I have been busy though. I’ve been working on a 2020 reading list. I cobbled together several online book challenges to make one of my own that includes 52 “types” of books – one a week for the year if you don’t want to do the math.

That may be overly ambitious, but I think I can do it. Aside from getting back to reading regularly and thinning out my To-Read pile, I hope it will also spark my atrophied imagination.

I didn’t write the list with any specific books in mind but after I finished I sorted through my books shelves. It appears that I can fulfill the majority of the list from my stacks. If not, I’ll get them from my local library.

The goal is to not buy any new books to mark an item off the list. We’ll see how that goes, there are a lot of weeks left in the year. The titles may change as I go along. You never know what book will call out to be read.

The 2020 Reading List: (with prospective titles/authors included, and no particular order)

Bold type – I own
√ – Currently reading
Finished
Italicized – Library books
TBD – To Be Determined

1. Book written by an Indigenous author – “Future Home of the Living God,” Louise Erdrich
2. Main character who is a senior – “An Unnecessary Woman,” Rabih Alameddie
3. Written in 1820 – “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” Washington Irving
4. Story takes place in my hometown – “Niceville,” Carsten Stroud
5. Set in space – “The Red Planet,” Robert A. Heinlein
6. Book with POC main characters – “Black Leopard, Red Wolf,” Marlon James
7. Book with LGBT+ main characters – “Priory of the Orange Tree,” Samantha Shannon
8. Book in a series – “Map of Days,” Ransom Riggs
9. Written by two authors – “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,” Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
10. Published in 2020 – TBD
11. Published in 1920 – “The Affair at Styles,” Agatha Christie
12. Written by a blogger – “Storytellers,” Bjørn Larssen
13. Award winning (Pulitzer) – “The Underground Railroad,” Colson Whitehead
14. Basis for a movie – “Orlando,” Virginia Woolf
15. √ A spy novel – “The Secrets We Kept,” Lara Prescott
16. A book that includes poetry – “Three Things I Know are True,” Betty Cully
17. Recommended by a friend – TBD (currently accepting recommendations.)
18. Costs less than $5 – TBD (the vast majority of my ebooks fit in this category)
19. √ A genre not usually read (nonfiction)— “Quiet,” Susan Cain
20. An author previously disliked – (I’m thinking maybe a political writer, so many to ‘dislike.’)
21. A translated book – “The Snowman,” Jo Nesbø
22. Written by a foreign author – “Homegoing,” Yaa Gyasi
23. √ Based on a fairytale/folklore – “Monkey,” Wu Cheng’en
24. Takes place in another country – “The Kishi,” Antoine Bandele
25. A book with a map – “Dead Man’s Ransom,” Ellis Peters
26. Based on a true story – “Killers of the Flower Moon,” David Grann
27. An Indie author – “The Man Who Spoke Snakish,” Andrus Kivirâhk
28. Debut novel – “Ready Player One,” Ernest Cline
29. Own but never read – (TBD – hundreds to to pick from… seriously)
30. Passes the Bechdel test – “Boy, Snow, Bird,” Helen Oyeyemi
31. About Women in STEM – “Code Girls,” Liza Mundy
32. A banned book – “A Prayer for Owen Meany,” John Irving
33. Book originally picked for its cover – “The Library of the Unwritten,” A.J. Hackworth
34. Author of 20+ books – “Gwenty’s Magic Feather,” Stephen King and Richard Chizard
35. Written by a 20-something author – “Mysteries of Pittsburg,” Michael Chabon
36. Celebrity Book Club – TBD
37. Published in 1982 (year I was 20) – “The Blue Sword,” Robin McKinley
38. By an author with initial T.R. – any book by Taylor Jenkins Reid
39. Written by a female author – “The Bards of Bone Plain,” Patricia McKillip
40. A humorous book – “Furiously Happy,” Jenny Lawson
41. By a deceased author – “Eaters of the Dead,” Michael Crichton
42. Bought at a thrift/used book store – TBD
43. Book with 200 pages or less – “Ragnarok” A.S. Byatt
44. Book recommended by librarian – TBD
45. A psychological thriller – “The Death of Mrs. Westaway,” Ruth Ware
46. Book started but never finished – “A Gentleman of Moscow,” Amor Towles
47. Should have read in school, but didn’t – “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” Zora Neale Hurston
48. Prominently features animal characters – “Mort(e),” Robert Repino
49. Classic novel – “Around the World in 80 Days,” Jules Verne
50. A book set in Mississippi (20th state) – “Sing, Unburied, Sing,” Jesmyn Ward
51. A romance novel – “The After Wife,” Melanie Summers
52. A collection of short stories – “Thirteen Stories,” Eudora Welty

How high is your To-Read pile? What books are you looking forward to reading this year?