Adding Another 2019 Challenge… Or Two

January 9, 2019 Challenges 16

I’m signing up for two more challenges!

I know… I’m crazy. I said I was going to keep the challenges simple this year. But these two were just too tempting.

 

My Goals for the 2019 Library Love Challenge

The 2019 Library Love Challenge is hosted by Angel’s Guilty Pleasures. The challenge is simple: Read library books. Print, audio, ebook… It doesn’t matter, as long as it’s from the library! Crossovers with other challenges are allowed, as are rereads. You can find the full list of rules and a sign up link here (or just click the image above.)

Since I love my library and often borrow books and audiobooks, this challenge is tailor-made for me. However, since I’m also swamped with ARCs and books I already own that I really should read, I’m going for the easiest level to start with: Dewey Decimal, 12 books. I can always revise my goal upward.

 

My Goals for the 2019 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

I’m also attempting the 2019 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge. This is a challenge with specific prompts intended to help you stretch beyond your reading “comfort zone.” There are 40 “standard book challenge prompts plus 10 “advanced” prompts,” for a total of 50…and honestly, I don’t need or expect to achieve them all. I’m just in this one for the fun of it.

It’s implied that you read one book for every prompt, but in fact, there’s nothing in the rather vague “rules” to say you can’t double up and use one book to satisfy several prompts. Rebecca Roanhorse’s Trail of Lightning, for instance, could satisfy at least three prompts: “cli-fi” (climate-change fiction); “own voices” author, and an author whose first and last names begin with the same letter. I haven’t decided whether to double up my prompts or not.

There’s a  printable list of the prompts, and a Goodreads group with lots of helpful advice and book suggestions.  I’ve already created a spreadsheet of ideas for some prompts, based on books on my Goodreads to-read list. Other prompts are pretty wide open (“a book about family”), so I thought I’d just wait and see what fits from my ARCs and any other books I read during the year. Some of the books I may read for this challenge will also work for one or more of my other challenges.

Here’s the full list of prompts. I’ll also post it on my 2019 Challenges page, where I can keep track of which prompts I’ve fulfilled.

Standard prompts:

1. A book becoming a movie in 2019
2. A book that makes you nostalgic
3. A book written by a musician (fiction or nonfiction)
4. A book you think should be turned into a movie
5. A book with at least one million ratings on Goodreads
6. A book with a plant in the title or on the cover
7. A reread of a favorite book
8. A book about a hobby
9. A book you meant to read in 2018
10. A book with POP, SUGAR, or CHALLENGE in the title
11. A book with an item of clothing or accessory on the cover
12. A book inspired by myth/legend/folklore
13. A book published posthumously
14. A book you see someone reading on TV or in a movie
15. A retelling of a classic
16. A book with a question in the title
17. A book set on college or university campus
18. A book about someone with a superpower
19. A book told from multiple POVs
20. A book set in space
21. A book by two female authors
22. A book with SALTY, SWEET, BITTER, or SPICY in the title
23. A book set in Scandinavia
24. A book that takes place in a single day
25. A debut novel
26. A book that’s published in 2019
27. A book featuring an extinct or imaginary creature
28. A book recommended by a celebrity you admire
29. A book with LOVE in the title
30. A book featuring an amateur detective
31. A book about a family
32. A book author from Asia, Africa, or South America
33. A book with a zodiac sign or astrology term in title
34. A book that includes a wedding
35. A book by an author whose first and last names start with the same letter
36. A ghost story
37. A book with a two-word title
38. A novel based on a true story
39. A book revolving around a puzzle or game
40. Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading challenge

Advanced prompts:
41. A “cli-fi” (climate fiction) book
42. A “choose-your-own-adventure” book
43. An “own voices” book
44. Read a book during the season it is set in
45. A LitRPG book
46. A book with no chapters / unusual chapter headings / unconventionally numbered chapters
47. Two books that share the same title (1)
48. Two books that share the same title (2)
49. A book that has inspired a common phrase or idiom
50. A book set in an abbey, cloister, monastery, convent or vicarage

 

 

16 Responses to “Adding Another 2019 Challenge… Or Two”

  1. Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits

    DARN YOU. I saw your POPSUGAR questions over on Goodreads (and yes: if Ready Player One counts as LitRPG, so does Heir Apparent) and now I want to do it. I said I wasn’t doing any official reading challenges this year, but now I want to. Maybe I’ll join in for the encouragement and just use it for inspiration and not as an actual “challenge”. Hmm.
    Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits recently posted…FO: Honeydukes HatsMy Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      That’s kind of how I’m doing this one… for fun, and without pressuring myself to complete all the prompts. To that end, I may decide to count some books for more than one prompt, but I’ll decide that later in the year.

      • Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits

        I’m going to play along, but for fun. No pressure. I’m going to count books for as many prompts as I feel like, as long as they apply, though the goal of course is a 1:1 ratio. (Oh, and I haven’t read Heir Apparent, but I’m guessing it counts based on the synopsis and the fact that I want to read it. ?)
        Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits recently posted…FO: Honeydukes HatsMy Profile

        • Lark_Bookwyrm

          That’s how I’m doing it, too—just for fun. The consensus in the Goodreads group for the LitRPG prompt was that Heir Apparent and Ready Player One fit the “looser” definition of LitRPG. I’m not interested enough in the genre to track down one of the books that fit the strict definition, so I’ll be reading one of those two, which were already on my to-read list anyway.

  2. Angela

    I tried doing the PopSugar Challenge for a couple years, but the prompts were hard! This year doesn’t seem too bad, though, and some of the prompts already line up with stuff I’m planning on reading.

    Good luck with all your challenges!

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      Most of the prompts looked easier this year, to be honest. And since I don’t care about hitting every single prompt, and I’m comfortable with doubling up and knocking out two prompts with one book if necessary, it seemed like a good year to jump back into this challenge.

  3. Anne

    Good luck! I’m glad to see you will be on the Library Love. It’s a favorite. Anne – Books of My Heart

  4. Lola

    The POPsugar challenge sounds fun and quite different form most challenged with those unique prompts, will be fun to see which books you find for that one. And that library challenge sounds great for those who use their library a lot. Sadly our libraries are paid and don’t have as much English books, so I don’t use it.
    Lola recently posted…Lola’s Ramblings: The Best Books I read in 2018My Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      I pay to use my library, too, but I find it’s worth it. Our local (county) library, which I could use for free, is the only one in the area that didn’t join the regional library system. By choice, I pay a yearly fee to use the regional library system. Given that they offer significantly more books and other materials than my county library does—at a guess, between 7 and 10 times as many titles—I’ve never regretted paying the fee. But I understand your frustration, since it sounds like your libraries don’t offer enough of the books you want to read.

        • Lark_Bookwyrm

          I definitely agree that it’s not worth it if they don’t have the books you want. I’m very lucky to have this library available to me. I wish everyone had the same!