2023 Summer Reading Challenge @ Messy Middle

One of my favorites for the summer is now up. I will complete as many of the categories as possible during the time frame indicated.

It will start on June 1  and run through August 11, 2023. To enter, read seven books from 25 categories and leave a comment at the end of the challenge with the books you read. That’s all. No entrance fee, no hassle, just fun.

What’s different?

• I tried to find a book we could read in community, but the author didn’t get back to me. So, this idea will have to wait for another summer. Is that something you’d be interested in?
• A few new categories: read in a book in a foreign language, read out lout to someone, and listen to someone read out loud (not an audio book, an actual person) to name a few
• The picture for the reading challenge this challenge was taken by me :). Have any of you every visited Cannon Beach Book Company (in Cannon Beach, Oregon)? Their website claims that they are the “perfect browser’s book store” and I agree. The owner and staff were delightful!
• I lowered the “700 page book” to 600 pages 

What’s the same?

• Many categories will be similar because reading is reading. As mentioned above, you will notice a few new gems
• 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 five summers I’ve selected a penalty book and it worked, except that my penalty book last year was horrible. I’m now a bit gun shy, but am reminding my self that my track record is 80% good books. I tend to choose “long” history books that I have meant to get around to and this summer is no different. My penalty book for 2023 is No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin (I have been meaning to read this for year and I like her writing). 
• Like previous years, if you do not read your “penalty” book, you will subtract two books from your total.
• The joy of reading!

What’s in it for you?

• All who comment between August 10-14th 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. A biography or a book about history: The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs--Steve Brusatte
2. A book you already own: Summer on the Bluffs--Sunny Hostin
3. A book you’ve been wanting to reread: The Garden of Small Beginnings--Abbi Waxman 
4. A book a friend recommended: Odd One Out--Nic Stone
5. A Young Adult book (YA): The Best At It--Maulik Pancholy
6. A book of poetry: Black Girl, Call Home--Jasmine Mans
7. A memoir or autobiography: Famous Father Daughter--Jamie Bernstein
8. A graphic novel: Orange, Volume 1--Ichigo Takano
9. A book for professional development (loosely defined): The Path Made Clear--Oprah Winfrey
10. A book longer than 600 pages (counts as two books): Dombey and Son--Charles Dickens
11. A book with a verb in the title: The Lies I Tell--Julie Clark
12. A play: Blues For Mister Charlie--James Baldwin
13. A book about a country or culture you have never visited: The Villa--Rachel Hawkins
14. A book that won an award: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry--Mildred D. Taylor
15. A book by someone with a different view point than you: The Pale-Faced Lie--David Crow
16. A book by an author you know (get “credit” for supporting your friends ): Timeless Depths--Erica Varela
17. A mystery: Calypso, Corpses and Cooking--Raquel V. Reyes
18. A classic: Kidnapped--Robert Louis Stevenson
19. An audiobook: Tales From the Arabian Nights--Anonymous
20. A book with an animal: Claws For Alarm--Cate Conte
21. A book less than 100 pages: Pinocchio--Margaret Hillert
22. A book you want to discuss with others: Once More With Feeling--Elissa Sussman
23. A book you read as a child: Little Town on the Prairie--Laura Ingalls Wilder
24. A book in a different language than English (could be sign language, morse code, Spanish, don’t get hung up on terms ): La Casa Adormecida (The Napping House)--Audrey Wood (in English and Spanish)
25. Read out loud to someone. Could be a whole book, a favorite passage, to a child: Read paragraphs for book group (see below)
26. Listen to someone reading out loud (not an audio book, an actual person): Began reading of Heavy by Kiese Laymon for book group. Each person reads different paragraphs (Will be reading at work weekly; began on June 5)

My Penalty Book: So-Called Normal--Mark Henick

26 categories (+penalty book) completed on July 30