No fancy frills this year, or best-of lists. I'm ready for bare bones, no nonsense.
Two things I want to focus on this year...read more, write more.
My first book of the year (an annual event hosted by Sheila at Book Journey). It's a good one so far. Vampires in a Mexico City of the not so distant future, several different vampire species. Silvia Moreno-Garcia is becoming a favorite for me. I read Mexican Gothic last year and man, it was a good one. She is so talented!
It's reading challenge time again! I'm signing up for a few, and I'm participating in all the challenges I host (including a revamped Read Your (Book) Shelf Challenge).
Challenges listed below:
Book Challenge by Erin 16.0
2022 TBR Pile Challenge
Read with Fey: Reading Challenge for Writers
I Read Horror Year-Round
1000 Books Project: Fantasy 2022
2022 Book to Movie (and TV) Challenge
2022 Read Your (Book) Shelf Challenge
First up...the twice a year challenge - Book Challenge by Erin 16.0
In the House in the Dark of the Woods, Laird Hunt
• Read a book that’s first word of the title starts with the letter C (the articles A, An, or The are allowed) Certain Dark Things, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Read a book that’s first word of the title starts with the letter C (the articles A, An, or The are allowed) Certain Dark Things, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Read a book published in 2020 or 2021; these two years have been tough on many of us, but let’s celebrate books that were introduced to us these years
The Year of the Witching, Alexis Henderson
• Read a book with the word one of the following words in the title: you, your, you’re, you’ll, you’ve, yourself Thank You for the Flowers, Scott Nicholson
• Read a book set on an island Ten, Gretchen McNeil
• Read a book from an indigenous or First Nations author
• Read a book with the word one of the following words in the title: you, your, you’re, you’ll, you’ve, yourself Thank You for the Flowers, Scott Nicholson
• Read a book set on an island Ten, Gretchen McNeil
• Read a book from an indigenous or First Nations author
The Only Good Indians, Stephen Graham Jones
• Read a memoir, biography, or autobiography Poe: A Life Cut Short, Peter Ackroyd
• Read a book with one of these words in the title: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, or Joker; plural or possessive is okay (i.e. Aces or Ace’s) but variant of the word is not (i.e. can’t be kingdom or hijack); also, the word must be in the title of the book, not the author’s name (i.e. can’t be Jack Kerouac or Stephen King) Queen Victoria and the Men who Loved Her, Robert Stephen Parry
• Read a book of poetry or a book written in verse.
• Read a memoir, biography, or autobiography Poe: A Life Cut Short, Peter Ackroyd
• Read a book with one of these words in the title: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, or Joker; plural or possessive is okay (i.e. Aces or Ace’s) but variant of the word is not (i.e. can’t be kingdom or hijack); also, the word must be in the title of the book, not the author’s name (i.e. can’t be Jack Kerouac or Stephen King) Queen Victoria and the Men who Loved Her, Robert Stephen Parry
• Read a book of poetry or a book written in verse.
The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth, Robert Graves
• Read a book by Jane Austen, inspired by Jane Austen or a Jane Austen re-telling
• Read a book by Jane Austen, inspired by Jane Austen or a Jane Austen re-telling
Longbourn, Jo Baker
This is a private Facebook group. You can check it out and join here. Next challenge starts July 1st.
Read 10 books (2 alternates allowed) which have been on your shelves for at least one year.
- The Vampire Armand, Anne Rice
- Merrick, Anne Rice
- Blood and Gold, Anne Rice
- A Room of One's Own, Virginia Woolf
- Temples, Tombs & Hieroglyphs: A Popular History of Ancient Egypt, Barbara Mertz
- The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson
- Red Queen, Victoria Avelard
- Fevre Dream, George R.R. Martin
- Other Fires, Lenore H. Gay
- Once, James Herbert
- The Death Pit, Tony Strong
- Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks
- Silas Marner, George Eliot
- Murder in the Cathedral, T.S. Eliot
Full details and sign-up here (Deadline: January 31)
Read 10 books for writers by the end of the year (or you can set a lower or higher goal). I'm going to attempt 10, but not sure which ones yet. Probably The Vein of Gold by Julia Cameron will be one of them. I'll have my list on the 2022 Challenge page. Full details and sign-up here. Also, the challenge host has a Books for Writers list here.
Now, on to the challenges I'm hosting...
I host this challenge at my sister (horror) blog, Castle Macabre.
I'm going to keep it conservative and go with level...
The Movie Was Better (What?!): watch the movie(s) for the book(s) you read.
Death on the Nile, Agatha Christie (Feb 22)
The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah (Dec 23)
Blonde, Joyce Carol Oates (2022)
House of the Dragon/Fire and Blood, George R. R. Martin (2022)
Kindred, Octavia E. Butler (2022 or 2023 estimated)
That's it! What challenges are you doing this year? Whatever they are, I wish you luck!
Here are the prompts and levels.
Chilling: Read 12 Books from all 12 categories
Frightful: Read 2 books from each category for a total of 24 books
Horrifying: Read 3 books from each category for a total of 36 books
I have a couple of ideas on what I'll be reading, but not sure on all of them yet. I'm going for the Chilling level again this year. I did pretty good last year. I think I was only two books shy of reading 12.
- Book by a BIPOC (female)
Certain Dark Things, Silvia Moreno-Garcia - Book by a BIPOC (male)
The Only Good Indians, Stephen Graham Jones - Folk Horror (Ideas: https://tinyurl.com/yy8jj56a or https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/83087.Folk_Horror_Mystery
- A Gothic horror classic (published 50 or more years ago, published no later than 1972)
The House on the Borderland, William Hope Hodgson - A modern Gothic tale (published within 50 years ago, published 1973 or later)
Dracul, Dacre Stoker/J.D. Barker - Purple, orange, or green on the cover
Running with the Demon, Terry Brooks - Serial killer from the past - fiction or non-fiction (before 20th century) Examples: Jack the Ripper, H.H. Holmes, Burke and Hare (List of serial killers before 1900)
The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson - Short story collection/Anthology
- Slasher
- Vampires
- Werewolves
- Witches
Levels:
Spooky: Read 6 books from 6 categoriesChilling: Read 12 Books from all 12 categories
Frightful: Read 2 books from each category for a total of 24 books
Horrifying: Read 3 books from each category for a total of 36 books
Full details and sign-up here.
The next three challenges are hosted by me on Gather Together and Read, my reading community site.
The next three challenges are hosted by me on Gather Together and Read, my reading community site.
January - June
The Once and Future King, T.H. White
July - December
The Gormenghast Trilogy: Titus Groan/Gormenghast/Titus Alone, Mervyn PeakeI'm going to keep it conservative and go with level...
The Enthusiast - Read 1 - 3 books (2022 releases only)
Also, additional levels...
Not Ready to Let Go: read at least one (1) book made into a movie or series in 2021
Living in the Past: read at least one (1) book made into a movie in previous yearsThe Movie Was Better (What?!): watch the movie(s) for the book(s) you read.
Potential books:
The Black Phone, Joe Hill-from 20th Century Ghosts (June 24)Death on the Nile, Agatha Christie (Feb 22)
The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah (Dec 23)
Blonde, Joyce Carol Oates (2022)
House of the Dragon/Fire and Blood, George R. R. Martin (2022)
Kindred, Octavia E. Butler (2022 or 2023 estimated)
Red Queen, Victoria Aveyard (2022 potentially)
The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan (2021)
All Things Cease to Appear, Elizabeth Brundage (2021)The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton (2021)
The Last Duel, Eric Jager (2021)
The Woman in the Window, A. J. Finn (2021)The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan (2021)
Ten, Gretchen McNeil (2017)
Pretty sure I will watch the movies/shows that go along with these.
12 books in a year, choosing randomly from your own bookshelves...whether you have one, or 21 (like me!).
That's it! What challenges are you doing this year? Whatever they are, I wish you luck!
