Summer Reading Challenge 2022 @ Messy Middle

 Doing this one again, getting as many books as possible during the time frame indicated.

It will start on June 1  and run through August 12, 2022. To enter, read seven books from 25 categories.

What’s different?

• I read Gone to the Woods by Gary Paulsen this spring and it is so fantastic that for the first time I’m choosing a book for us. (I’ll share more about it later.)
• A few new categories
• No COVID or Olympic focus this year 

What’s the same?

• Many categories will be similar because reading is reading. But you will notice a few new gems
• Counting a book of more than 700 pages as two books.
• Choosing a penalty book within the first week of the challenge. A penalty book or category is one you declare to yourself I will read or be penalized. The last four summers I’ve selected a penalty book and it worked! 
• Like previous years, if you do not read your “penalty” book, you will subtract two books from your total.

What’s in it for you?

• All who comment between August 11-15th with the names of the books they read will be entered to win one of ten $10 Amazon gift cards.

Drumroll . . . here are the categories!

1. Gone to the Woods: Surviving a Lost Childhood by Gary Paulsen. This is a memoir told in Young Adult style. Not for young kids because parts of his childhood are shocking and heartbreaking, but the writing is so good. Keep reading when it gets hard, I don’t want to spoil it, so just keep reading!
2. A Biography or about history: Hiroshima--John Hersey
3. A book you already own: The Summer of Jordi Perez--Amy Spalding
4. A book you’ve been wanting to reread
5. A book a friend recommended: A Crack in the Sea--H.M. Bouwman
6. A Young Adult book (YA): Listen to Your Heart--Kasie West
7. A book with a great cover: The Guncle--Steven Rowley
8. A book of poetry: Vanilla--Billy Merrell
9. A memoir or autobiography
10. A graphic novel: Lumberjanes: Friendship to the Max--Noelle Stevenson & Grace Ellis
11. A book for professional development (loosely defined): Decluttering at the Speed of Life--Dana K. White
12. A book longer than 700 pages (counts as two books): Voyager--Diana Gabaldon
13. A book with a verb in the title: Would Like to Meet--Rachel Winters
14. A play: The Merchant of Venice--William Shakespeare
15. A book about a country or culture you have never visited: Half a Yellow Sun--Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
16. A book with the number 7 in the title or subtitle (in honor of this being the 7th anniversary)
17. A book that won an award: The Girl Who Drank the Moon--Kelly Barnhill
18. A book by someone with a different view point than you recommended you read: Poor Unfortunate Soul--Serena Valentino
19. A mystery
20. A classic
21. An audiobook: Vacation Under the Volcano--Mary Pope Osborne
22. A book with an animal: A Cat Story--Ursula Murray Husted
23. A book less than 100 pages: Retro Rhythms--Francesca Damkar
24. A book you want to discuss with others
25. A book you read as a child: By the Shores of Silver Lake--Laura Ingalls Wilder

My Penalty Book: