Last year I set a reading challenge for myself to read twenty-four books. That ended up being a wash, in part due to a string of DNF-worthy books that killed my reading mood early on in the year. The other part of that was because I left it a little too broad for myself, which lead me to looking at most of my books through loopholes.
I’m still aiming for twenty-four books this year, but I’ve restructured slightly, adding in monthly themes. In order to qualify as part of my reading challenge, a book needs to meet at least one of the monthly themes. Bonus points are of course, awarded for meeting two or more categories.
Plot: Based off my handy-dandy plot list, to qualify the book in question needs to have a main plot based on the one chosen for the month. I.e. in January my plot of choice is revenge. If the main plot doesn’t feature some of revenge or seeking revenge, it’s won’t qualify. Since I won’t always know what the plot is until I’ve read the book, back cover copy is key here.
Location: Travel is still off the table in real-life, but there’s no reason I can’t pick another location to read about. I’m trying to alternate between general locations like ‘beach’ or ‘woods’ and specifics like Berlin and Seoul. The story must be predominantly set in the given location in order to qualify.
Word: If it has the word in the title, it qualifies. Variants are allowed but only if they’re a variant of the same word. Fire, for instance, counts under fired, but not under flame.
Image: I know the saying is that you can’t judge a book by its cover, but some covers are simply stunning! Hence, if the image on the cover matches the theme, it can still qualify for the challenge.
Although I’m only aiming for twenty-four books for the year, I went with four categories every month, both to give myself a little room and on the off-chance I get more than two books read.
January Themes
Plot: Revenge
Location: Woods
Word: Door
Image: Fire
What will you be reading in January? Any reading challenges for the year?
The Written Vixen 