2023 Reading Challenges


Tracking my progress with 2023 reading challenges. 
(Links to all challenges with full details, and to sign-up, can be found in this post.)

Challenges listed below:
Book Challenge by Erin 19.0


Freebie – The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende

Set in Ireland - The Darkling Bride, Laura Anderson

“Day”in the title - Devil’s Day, Andrew Michael Hurley

Starting with E or G - Geist, Philippa Ballantine

Published in the 1970s - Hotel Transylvania, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Inspired by a real event - Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann

Animal in the title - The Penguin Book of Witches, Katherine Howe

One-word title Dracul, Dacre Stoker & J.D. Barker

Relating to food, cooking, kitchens - Hearth and Home Witchcraft, Jennie Blonde

Mental health - The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls


Though I did not complete the challenge, I did manage to read 8 out of 10. I'm pretty happy with that.

Freebie - The Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir February 17

Book by an Australian author - The Dead Path by Stephen M. Irwin  April 29

Book whose author goes by three names - The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley February 23

Book with "black" or "white" in the title - Black Mouth by Ronald Malfi  April 21

GoodReads award winner from any year - Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (2015, Best Goodreads Debut Author)  May 4

Book set in a small town or rural area - The Green Man by Kingsley Amis  April 2

Book with "heart" or "love" in the title - My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones January 15

Book that starts with the first letter of your first name - The Maidens by Alex Michaelides March 12

Book with an unusual narrator - The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

Book with a prime number under 1000 in the title - Five Mile House by Karen Novak

  1. The Loney, Andrew Michael Hurley (2015) finished February 23
  2. The Maidens, Alex Michaelides (2021) finished March 12
  3. The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson (2004)
  4. Murder in the Cathedral, T.S. Eliot (1964)
  5. Red Queen, Victoria Aveyard (2015)  finished May 4
  6. The Orphan Witch, Paige Crutcher (2021)
  7. Dracul, Dacre Stoker and J.D. Barker (2018) July 2023
  8. The Penguin Book of Witches, Katherine Howe, Editor (2014)
  9. Subhuman, Michael McBride (2005) finished June 15
  10. The Green Man, Kingsley Amis (1969) finished April 2
  11. The Princes in the Tower, Alison Weir (1994) finished February 17
  12. The Last Duel, Eric Jager (2004) finished May 29

    Alternates:
     1. The North Water, Ian McGuire (2016)
     2. I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Iain Reid (2016)


I host this challenge at my sister (horror) blog, Castle Macabre. Year Three!
Here are the prompts and levels.
Levels:
Spooky: Read 6 books from 6 categories
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'm doing the Chilling level. I've listed some of my planned reads above.


My main level...
First One to the Theater - Read 4+ books (2023 releases only)
The Fall of the House of Usher October 2023

Also, additional levels...
Not Ready to Let Go: read at least one (1) book made into a movie or series in 2022
Living in the Past: read at least one (1) book made into a movie in previous years
The Green ManKingsley Amis April 2
The Last Duel, Eric Jager  finished May 29
The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende October 2023
Beloved, Toni Morrison December 2023
If It Bleeds (Mr Harrigan's Phone), Stephen King November 2023
The Movie Was Better (What?!): watch the movie(s) for the book(s) you read.
The Last Duel

Potential books:
(Reread) The Witching Hour, Anne Rice (series, Mayfair Witches, currently streaming on AMC/AMC+)
The Pale Blue Eye, Louis Bayard (movie currently streaming on Netflix)
The Cabin at the End of the World, Paul Tremblay (Knock at the Cabin, Feb 3)
(Maybe I'll actually finish it this time) Dune, Frank Herbert (Dune: Part 2, Nov 3)
The Fall of the House of Usher, Edgar Allan Poe (tbd, 2023)
Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann (estimated May 2023)
Uglies, Scott Westerfeld (Netflix 2023 - expected)
2022
Death on the Nile, Agatha Christie
Kindred, Octavia E. Butler
2021
The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton
The Last Duel, Eric Jager
The Woman in the Window, A. J. Finn
The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan


Completed books will be listed after the graphic below. The title will be struck through in the list below and its replacement will be listed beside it.

Curious about this challenge? Get all the details here.

Books from my "holds shelf"...

Diary of an Immortal, David J. Castello
The Orphan Witch, Paige Crutcher
Universal Harvester, John Darnielle
The Witch Elm, Tana French  The Sparrow, Maria Doria Russell
The American Adventuress, C.W. Gortner
The Year of the Witching, Alexis Henderson
The Penguin Book of Witches, Katherine Howe, Editor
Devil's Day, Andrew Michael Hurley
The Last Duel, Eric Jager The Double Bind, Chris Bohjalian
Billy Summers, Stephen King
Fairy Tale, Stephen King
The Twisted Ones, T. Kingfisher
Relics, Tim Lebbon
The Witch Doesn't Burn in this One, Amanda Lovelace
Black Mouth, Ronald Malfi  Geist, Philippa Ballantine                                   
Subhuman, Michael McBride
The North Water, Ian McGuire
All the Dark Places, Terri Parlato
I'm Thinking of Ending Things, Iain Reid
Dracul, Dacre Stoker and J.D. Barker
The Chestnut Man, Soren Sveistrop
The Book of Speculation, Enka Swyler
A People's History of the Vampire Uprising, Raymond A. Villareal

Additions to the hold shelf - 10 4 3 0 open spots (new acquisitions)

Ninth House, Leigh Bardugo
Hell Bent, Leigh Bardugo
Freezing Point, Karen Dionne
The Marsh King's Daughter, Karen Dionne
The Forever House, Tim Waggoner
The Writing Retreat, Julia Batz
Lone Women, Victor LaValle
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Camp Zero, Michelle Min Sterling
Babel, R.F. Kuang

My "Holds Shelf"

Completed books

Black Mouth, Ronald Malfi  finished April 21
The Witch Elm, Tana French finished May 18
The Last  Duel, Eric Jager  finished May 29
Subhuman, Michael McBride finished June 15
Dracul, Dacre Stoker July 2023
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