Tag: 2018 Newbery Reading Challenge

2018 Reading Challenge Wrap-Up

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January 4, 2019

10:29 pm

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It’s time to look back at those 2018 Reading Challenges and see how they went!

(Spoiler: They mostly did not go all that well.)

Mount TBR (hosted at My Reader’s Block for 2018)
Goal: 24 books
Result: 8 books (33.3%) – I read a lot of library books this year!

  1. Geek Girls Unite: How Fangirls, Bookworms, Indie Chicks, and Other Misfits Are Taking Over the World by Leslie Simon
  2. Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes, #2) by Anthony Horowitz
  3. The Grownup by Gillian Flynn
  4. The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis
  5. A Study In Lavender: Queering Sherlock Holmes edited by Joseph R.G. DeMarco
  6. The Daylight Gate by Jeanette Winterson
  7. Shadows Over Baker Street edited by Michael Reaves and John Pelan
  8. Kindred Spirits: An Anthology of Gay and Lesbian Science Fiction Stories edited by Jeffrey M. Elliot


The Official 2018 TBR Pile Challenge at Roof Beam Reader
Goal: 12 books
Result: 4 books (33.3%)

Read:

  1. Geek Girls Unite: How Fangirls, Bookworms, Indie Chicks, and Other Misfits Are Taking Over the World by Leslie Simon – Reviewed: January 3
  2. The Daylight Gate by Jeanette Winterson – Reviewed: October 17
  3. A Study In Lavender: Queering Sherlock Holmes edited by Joseph R.G. DeMarco – Reviewed: April 12
  4. Shadows Over Baker Street edited by Michael Reaves and John Pelan – Reviewed: December 21

Unread:

  1. The Time of Our Singing by Richard Powers
  2. Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes by Maria Konnikova
  3. The Wand in the Word: Conversations with Writers of Fantasy edited by Leonard S. Marcus
  4. Making a Literary Life: Advice for Writers and Other Dreamers by Carolyn See – I did start this one, but it was a DNF.
  5. The American Way of Eating: Undercover at Walmart, Applebee’s, Farm Fields and the Dinner Table by Tracie McMillan – It turned out this was not actually on my shelves. Oops.
  6. Listening for Madeleine: A Portrait of Madeleine L’Engle in Many Voices by Leonard S. Marcus – I started this, but then put it aside for so long I think I’m just going to start again.
  7. Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street by William S. Baring-Gould
  8. Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles by Jeanette Winterson
  9. Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson (alternate)
  10. A Family of Readers: The Book Lover’s Guide to Children’s and Young Adult Literature by Roger Sutton and Martha V. Parravano (alternate)


Newbery Reading Challenge at Smiling Shelves
Goal: Konigsburg (75+ points)

Result: 19 points (25%) – I got a bit sidetracked on this one.

  1. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle: 3 points (Newbery Winner, 1963)
  2. Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly: 3 points (Newbery Winner, 2018)
  3. Sounder by William Armstrong: 3 points (Newbery winner, 1970)
  4. Ella Sarah Gets Dressed by Margaret Chodos-Irvine: 1 point (Caldecott Honor, 2004)
  5. Grand Canyon by Jason Chin: 1 point (Caldecott Honor, 2018)
  6. A Different Pond by Bao Phi: 1 point (Caldecott Honor, 2018)
  7. Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper: 1 point (Caldecott Honor, 2018)
  8. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds: 2 points (Newbery Honor, 2018)
  9. Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson: 2 points (Newbery Honor, 2018)
  10. Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell: 1 point (Caldecott winner, 2018)
  11. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats: 1 point (Caldecott winner, 1963)

Old School Kidlit Reading Challenge 2018 at Read-at-Home Mom
Goal: 12 books
Result: 3 books (25%)

Read:

  1. A Wrinkle in Time (1962) by Madeleine L’Engle
  2. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1908) by L. Frank Baum
  3. Sounder (1969) by William Armstrong


Book Riot Read Harder 2018
Result: 21/24 (88%)

  1. A book published posthumously: Maurice by E.M. Forster
  2. A book of true crime: The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson
  3. A classic of genre fiction: The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
  4. A comic written and illustrated by the same person: Peter & Ernesto: A Tale of Two Sloths by Graham Annable
  5. A book set in or about one of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, or South Africa): Recipes for Love and Murder: A Tannie Maria Mystery by Sally Andrew
  6. A book about nature: Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester
  7. A western: Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith
  8. A comic written or illustrated by a person of color: Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet, Book One by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze
  9. A book of colonial or postcolonial literature:
  10. A romance novel by or about a person of color: An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole
  11. A children’s classic published before 1980: Sounder by William H. Armstrong
  12. A celebrity memoir: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
  13. An Oprah Book Club selection: Wild by Cheryl Strayed
  14. A book of social science: The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
  15. A one-sitting book: The Grownup by Gillian Flynn
  16. The first book in a new-to-you YA or middle grade series: Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
  17. A sci fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’engle
  18. A comic that isn’t published by Marvel, DC, or Image: A Study in Emerald, by Neil Gaiman, Rafael Albuquerque, Rafael Scavone, and Dave Stewart
  19. A book of genre fiction in translation: The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin, translated by Andrew Bromfield
  20. A book with a cover you hate: Kindred Spirits: An Anthology of Gay and Lesbian Science Fiction Stories edited by Jeffrey M. Elliot
  21. A mystery by a person of color or LGBTQ+ author: Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon
  22. An essay anthology:
  23. A book with a female protagonist over the age of 60: Getting Old is Murder by Rita Lakin
  24. An assigned book you hated (or never finished):

Of all the challenges I signed up for, I did the best on Read Harder. I actually had books selected for the 3 tasks that were left unfinished, but I didn’t get to them soon enough. I am definitely in for Read Harder 2019, as well as a bunch of other challenges. The beginning of the year is always filled with so much promise, isn’t it?

2018 Reading Challenge Check-In #3

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April 10, 2018

7:00 am

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The first quarter of 2018 has been and gone, so how are those Reading Challenges going?

 

Mount TBR (hosted at My Reader’s Block for 2018)
Goal: 24 books
End of March Progress: 16(ish)% (target pace: 25%)

I did finish A Study in Lavender, but I haven’t yet reviewed it, so it doesn’t count toward the TBR Pile challenge yet, and so I’m not counting it here yet.

February:
None. Whoops.
January:

 


The Official 2018 TBR Pile Challenge at Roof Beam Reader
Goal: 12 books
End of March Progress: 8(ish)% (target pace: 25%)

What I wrote up there under the last challenge? That.

February:
None.
January:

 


Newbery Reading Challenge at Smiling Shelves
Goal: Konigsburg (75+ points)
End of March Progress: 21% (target pace: 25%)

Falling a bit behind again.

  • Grand Canyon by Jason Chin: 1 point (Caldecott Honor, 2018)
  • Ella Sarah Gets Dressed by Margaret Chodos-Irvine: 1 point (Caldecott Honor, 2004)
  • Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper: 1 point (Caldecott Honor, 2018)
  • Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell: 1 point (Caldecott winner, 2018)
  • A Different Pond by Bao Phi: 1 point (Caldecott Honor, 2018)

February:

  • The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats: 1 point (Caldecott winner, 1963)
  • Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson: 2 points (Newbery Honor, 2018)
  • Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly: 3 points (Newbery Winner, 2018)
  • Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds: 2 points (Newbery Honor, 2018)

January:

  • Sounder by William Armstrong: 3 points (Newbery winner, 1970)

Old School Kidlit Reading Challenge 2018 at Read-at-Home Mom
Goal: 12 books
End of March Progress: 17% (target pace: 25%)

This one sort of sneaked in.

  • Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum

February:
None.
January:

  • Sounder by William Armstrong, published in 1969

 


Book Riot Read Harder 2018
End of March Progress: 21% (target pace: 17%)

By the way, my hold on Mother of Black Hollywood finally came in.

  • A comic written or drawn by a person of color: Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet (Book One), written by Ta-Nehisi Coates and illustrated by Brian Stelfreeze

February:

  • A mystery by a person of color or LGBTQ+ author: Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon
  • A romance novel by or about a person of color: An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole

January:

  • A children’s classic published before 1980: Sounder by William Armstrong, published in 1969
  • A one-sitting book: The Grownup by Gillian Flynn
  • The first book in a new-to-you YA or middle grade series: Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett

 


2018 Book Blog Discussion Challenge
Goal: Creative Conversationalist (11-20 posts – aiming for 12)
End of March Progress: 8% (target pace: 25%)

Okay, this month, the blog’s been pretty much TBR stuff, one way or another.

February:
None.
January:

 


2018 Share-a-Tea Reading Challenge at Becky’s Book Reviews

I have still not posted anything about tea this year. I’ve been drinking quite a lot of tea, though.

So, how’s your 2018 reading going?

Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly

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March 6, 2018

7:00 am

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Hello, UniverseHello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Eleven-year-old Virgil Salinas already regretted the rest of middle school, and he’d only just finished sixth grade.

It’s the beginning of summer vacation, and the lives of four middle-schoolers are about to cross in unexpected ways. Virgil Salinas is small and quiet in a family of loud, large personalities. Kaori Tanaka is determined to use her gift of the “second sight” to help other kids. Valencia Somerset loves nature, but doesn’t really want to spend as much time alone as she does. Chet Bullens wants to impress people, especially his father, and believes to make himself bigger he must make others small.

I hadn’t heard about this book before it won the Newbery (though I did have Kelly’s two previous middle-grade books on the shelf at my library), so I really didn’t know what to expect.

I loved this book. It’s sweet and funny, and it captures so much of what it means to be at that age, just on the precipice of teenager-hood, when you’re figuring out who you are and what you believe.

The characters are diverse in a way that feels totally natural, and none of them are one-sided. The perspective rotates among Virgil, Valencia, Kaori, and Chet, giving the reader a wealth of information not available to the individual characters. Valencia’s chapters are written in first person, while the other three are all third-person. (I am curious about that choice!) Chet’s chapters, in particular, were a little heart-breaking to me as an adult (and the parent of an eleven-year-old). While the book is very much centered on the kids, I thought the glimpses of the adults in their lives were really interesting. And Lola is just fabulous.

The action of the novel takes place over just a day or two, so a lot of the “action” is internal, with the characters confronting their own ideas. There’s more than a touch of magical realism, too, giving the book an added dimension, but not drawing the story over the line into fantasy. Are these converging events nothing more than coincidence, or is the universe trying to get the characters’ attention?

This is a lovely little book that touches on big themes – friendship, bullying, standing up for yourself and others. If things seems to wrap up just a little bit too neatly, well, that’s the universe for you.

Source: Checked out from the public library

Reading Challenges: Counts for the Newbery Reading Challenge (Medal Winner: 3 points).

2018 Reading Challenge Check-In #2

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March 5, 2018

7:00 am

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We’re two months into 2018, so how are those Reading Challenges going?

February flew by. I know it’s a short month, but it felt particularly short this year.

On to the Challenges!

Mount TBR (hosted at My Reader’s Block for 2018)
Goal: 24 books
End of February Progress: 16% (target pace: 17%)

I read a lot of library books in February, but I didn’t finish any books from my own shelves! Whoops.

January:

 


The Official 2018 TBR Pile Challenge at Roof Beam Reader
Goal: 12 books
End of February Progress: 8% (target pace: 17%)

No progress on Mt TBR means there was definitely no progress on this one. I started reading both Listening for Madeleine and A Study in Lavender, so I’m hoping to catch up by the end of this month.

January:

 


Newbery Reading Challenge at Smiling Shelves
Goal: Konigsburg (75+ points)
End of February Progress: 15% (target pace: 17%)

As predicted, my point total jumped after the YMA announcements on the 19th. And I haven’t even started this year’s Caldecotts.

  • The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats: 1 point (Caldecott winner, 1963)
  • Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson: 2 points (Newbery Honor, 2018)
  • Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly: 3 points (Newbery Winner, 2018)
  • Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds: 2 points (Newbery Honor, 2018)

January:

  • Sounder by William Armstrong: 3 points (Newbery winner, 1970)

 

Old School Kidlit Reading Challenge 2018 at Read-at-Home Mom
Goal: 12 books
End of February Progress: 8% (target pace: 17%)

Another neglected challenge! A Wrinkle in Time is due for a re-read before the movie, so that will probably be next.

January:

  • Sounder by William Armstrong, published in 1969

 


Book Riot Read Harder 2018
End of February Progress: 21% (target pace: 17%)

I thought that “Celebrity Memoir” would be my next category, but my hold on Mother of Black Hollywood has not yet come in. Instead, I curled up with some cozy mysteries for one task and a fantastic historical romance for another. I recently picked up a copy of the first volume (four issues) of the Black Panther comics written by Ta-Nehisi Coates; the “comic written or illustrated by a person of color” task is likely to be next.

  • A mystery by a person of color or LGBTQ+ author: Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon
  • A romance novel by or about a person of color: An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole

January:

  • A children’s classic published before 1980: Sounder by William Armstrong, published in 1969
  • A one-sitting book: The Grownup by Gillian Flynn
  • The first book in a new-to-you YA or middle grade series: Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett

 


2018 Book Blog Discussion Challenge
Goal: Creative Conversationalist (11-20 posts – aiming for 12)
End of February Progress: 8% (target pace: 17%)

Um, oops?

January:

 


2018 Share-a-Tea Reading Challenge at Becky’s Book Reviews

I have still not posted anything about tea this year.

 

So, how’s your 2018 reading going? I’ve got some room for improvement this month!

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

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March 1, 2018

7:00 am

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Long Way DownLong Way Down by Jason Reynolds
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

RANDOM THOUGHT

Blood soaking into a
T-shirt, blue jeans, and boots
looks a lot like chocolate syrup
when the glow from the streetlights hit it.

But I know ain’t
nothing sweet about blood.
I know it ain’t like chocolate syrup

at all.

At 15 years old, Will knows the rules: Never cry. Never snitch. Always get revenge. And that’s what he’s going to do. His brother was shot last night, and Will is sure he knows the guy who did it. So, he’s got his brother’s gun tucked in the back of his pants and he’s waiting for the elevator to get down to the lobby. But before he gets there, he has to deal with some ghosts – in a very literal sense.

There was a lot of buzz about this novel-in-verse last year – it was nominated for a National Book Award and an Edgar award – so it wasn’t too surprising to see it get some attention from the ALA Youth Media Awards.

It’s a very timely, powerful book. The verse format makes it a quicker read than it looks at first, but those few words pack some serious punches. The main action takes place in a very short period of time and in one location, and the style brings us right into Will’s thoughts. The subject is serious, but there are moments of humor that remind you that Will is still just a teenage boy.

There’s a lot a food for thought in this novel – questions about responsibility and loyalty, right and wrong, choices and consequences. It would be good for a teen book group prepared to wrestle with those questions.

Source: Checked out from the public library

Reading Challenges: Counts for the Newbery Reading Challenge (Honor: 2 points)

2018 Reading Challenge Check-In #1

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February 6, 2018

8:58 pm

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We’re one month into 2018, so how are those Reading Challenges going?

I’ve fallen a bit behind, though not as much as I thought before I went and put together this post! I went to New York in early January, then came home and promptly got a massive cold. Which I attempted to ignore while catching up at work.

The cold would not be ignored. So, that went well.

On to the Challenges!

Mount TBR (hosted at My Reader’s Block for 2018)

Goal: 24 books
End of January Progress: 16% (target pace: 8%)

Ahead of schedule, and I even posted reviews of three out of the four. Of course, the one I liked the most, The Dollhouse, is the one that I didn’t get around to actually reviewing.

 


The Official 2018 TBR Pile Challenge at Roof Beam Reader

Goal: 12 books
End of January Progress: 8% (target pace: 8%)

This is the only Challenge that required a list at the beginning of the year. I’m right on target pace-wise, but I’ve discovered that I might have actually gotten rid of one of the books on my list! Oops.

 


Newbery Reading Challenge at Smiling Shelves

Goal: Konigsburg (75+ points)
End of January Progress: 4% (target pace: 8%)

  • Sounder by William Armstrong: 3 points (Newbery winner, 1970)

A bit behind on this one, but no reason to think I won’t catch up soon – probably later this month, once the 2018 YMAs are announced.

 

Old School Kidlit Reading Challenge 2018 at Read-at-Home Mom

Goal: 12 books
End of January Progress: 8% (target pace: 8%)

  • Sounder by William Armstrong, published in 1969

Right on target with this one. I’m also planning to re-read A Wrinkle in Time, which wasn’t on my original list, but qualifies, since it was published in 1962.


Book Riot Read Harder 2018

End of January Progress: 12.5% (target pace: 8%)

  • A children’s classic published before 1980: Sounder by William Armstrong, published in 1969
  • A one-sitting book: The Grownup by Gillian Flynn
  • The first book in a new-to-you YA or middle grade series: Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett

My next challenge will probably be the celebrity memoir one, just as soon as my library hold on Jenifer Lewis’s The Mother of Black Hollywood comes through.


2018 Book Blog Discussion Challenge

Goal: Creative Conversationalist (11-20 posts – aiming for 12)
End of January Progress: 8% (target pace: 8%)


2018 Share-a-Tea Reading Challenge at Becky’s Book Reviews

I’ve fallen down on this one and not posted about any teas in January. I’ll have to get to work on that!

So, how’s your 2018 reading going?

Sounder by William H. Armstrong

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January 10, 2018

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Sounder

Sounder by William H. Armstrong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The tall man stood at the edge of the porch. The roof sagged from the two rough posts which held it, almost closing the gap between his head and the rafters.

Somewhere in the deep South, a young black boy lives with his family in a small cabin. One morning, he is surprised to discover pork sausage and ham cooking. For a family of impoverished sharecroppers, this is an unexpected luxury. Even their hound/bulldog mix, Sounder, gets a treat. The joy is short-lived, however, as the white Sheriff and his deputies arrive at their door and take the boy’s father away in chains. The boy grows into a young man with Sounder by his side.

I’ll start by noting the elephant in the room: this book, published in 1969 (and winner of the 1970 Newbery Medal), is a story about a black family written by a white man. The book opens with an author’s note beginning, “Fifty years ago, I learned to read at a round table in the center of a large, sweet-smelling, steam-softened kitchen. My teacher was a gray-haired black man who taught the one-room Negro school several miles away from where we lived in the Green Hill district of the county.” This would have been in the late 1910s; Armstrong was born in Virginia in 1911. He goes on to explain that his teacher told him many stories, including “the story of Sounder, a coon dog.” This book is, says Armstrong, “the black man’s story, not mine.”

Perhaps that is why none of the characters, other than the dog, are given names. For that matter, the place is never specified. Or maybe the vagueness is intended to leave as much as possible to the reader’s imagination.  In any case, our protagonist is always referred to as simply “the boy” – which feels a little awkward and uncomfortable. The particular racist use of the term is touched on in the novel itself: “‘Stick out your hands, boy,’ ordered the second man. The boy started to raise his hands, but the man was already reaching over the stove, snapping handcuffs on the outstretched wrists of his father.”

Throughout the short novel, we see the institutional and casual racism of the place and time through the boy’s eyes. He’s led a fairly sheltered life, rarely leaving the warm circle of his own family. His interactions with the people he encounters over the years reflect the prevailing attitudes.

I think this would be a great book to read with a group (a classroom or a book group) paired with an Own Voices book like Linda Williams Jackson’s Midnight without a Moon or Sharon M. Draper’s Stella by Starlight.

Source: Checked out from the public library

Reading Challenges: Counts for the Old School Kidlit Challenge (published 1969), the Newbery Reading Challenge (Medal Winner: 3 points), and Read Harder (Task 11: A children’s classic published before 1980).

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Newbery Reading Challenge 2018

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December 20, 2017

7:00 pm

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The Newbery Reading Challenge fits nicely into my professional interests as a Children’s Librarian. It’s a points-based challenge:

  • 3 points for a Newbery Medal Winner
  • 2 points for a Newbery Honor Book
  • 1 point for a Caldecott Book

You choose which level to aim for:

  • L’Engle: 15 – 29 points
  • Spinelli: 30 – 44 points
  • Avi: 45 – 59 points
  • Lowry: 60 – 74 points
  • Konigsburg: 75+ points

I’m in for the Konigsburg level. I’m planning to double-up a number of books for this one with the Old School Kidlit Reading Challenge and looking at these possible titles:

  1. Sounder by William H. Armstrong
  2. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier & Christopher Collier
  3. Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes
  4. The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox
  5. My Father’s Dragon by Ruth S. Gannett
  6. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
  7. M. C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton
  8. To Be a Slave by Julius Lester
  9. It’s Like This, Cat by Emily Neville
  10. The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois
  11. Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer
  12. The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Every year, too, after the ALA Youth Media Awards are announced (February 12th, 8am MT this year), I go back and read the books I didn’t get to yet. And Caldecott books are often a part of my weekly Storytimes.

Reading Challenges 2018

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December 17, 2017

9:54 pm

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You know what I really don’t need to do right now? Sign up for more reading challenges. I do this to myself just about every December, and the challenges fall by the wayside with alarming speed.

But they always sound like so much fun! And there’s something about the new year that just makes me want to set ridiculous goals. The one that first dragged me down the rabbit hole for 2018 was this one:

The Grand World of Books Book Bingo 2018

The challenge: get a BINGO any way you choose. I tend to like to go for “black-out” or “cover-all” when it comes to things like this. I kind of assume I’m going to read at least 24 books over the course of the year anyway.

2018 is the second year of this challenge, but I didn’t hear about it last year, so I’m jumping in now!

One challenge that I did know about in 2017 was Book Riot’s Read Harder. I didn’t do terribly well at it, frankly, but it’s a new year and a new set of tasks. I’ve put all 24 of the tasks for Read Harder 2018 in BINGO card format, because… well, mostly just because I could.

Mount TBR (hosted at My Reader’s Block for 2018) is another challenge I’ve attempted and abandoned in the past. But I’m here again, aiming for the Mount Blanc level (24 books). We’re not going to discuss how very many books are actually in my personal Mount TBR, thanks.

(Much of my TBR on GoodReads consists of books I want to read but do not own, making them ineligible for TBR challenges. So, you know, the hundreds of books marked “to-read” over there don’t really count. Kind of like sock yarn purchases when one pledges to knit from stash. Right? Right.)

 

I figured that while I was at it, I might as well join in The Official 2018 TBR Pile Challenge at Roof Beam Reader. This is a 12-book challenge, with the requirement that the 12 books (plus two alternate selections, just in case) be specified by January 15th, 2018. I’m working on my list now.

Of course, it won’t be all TBR, all the time around here. I’m also joining in two challenges that speak to my professional as well as personal interests.

The Old School Kidlit Reading Challenge 2018 at Read-at-Home Mom is a very self-directed challenge. Qualifying books must have been “published in the decade of your birth or before.” There are no monthly themes, and you set your own goal. I’m going to aim for 12 books, because one per month seems like a good goal..

Some possible titles:

  • Sounder by William H. Armstrong
  • My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier & Christopher Collier
  • Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes
  • The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox
  • My Father’s Dragon by Ruth S. Gannett
  • Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
  • M. C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton
  • To Be a Slave by Julius Lester
  • It’s Like This, Cat by Emily Neville
  • The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois
  • Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer
  • The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Yes, there is a certain Newbery winner/honor theme going on there. That’s because I’m doubling up with the Newbery Reading Challenge at Smiling Shelves

This is a fun, points-based challenge. You pick a level to aim for (15-75+ points over the year), and books are awarded 3 points (Newbery winner), 2 points (Newbery honor), or 1 point (Caldecott winner or honor).

I’m going to go ahead and aim for the Konigsburg level (75+ points). In addition to the books I’m lining up for Old School Kidlit challenge, I always go back and read the new Youth Media Award books that I didn’t get to before the announcements in January. Caldecott books tend to pop up throughout the year in my Storytime selections, too.

Two challenges that aren’t about quantity of books read also caught my eye.

 

The 2018 Share-a-Tea Reading Challenge at Becky’s Book Reviews seems like a perfect fit for me. There will be a monthly check-in post over at Becky’s site for it. Expect to finally here about some of the new-to-me teas I’ve been trying lately.

 

The 2018 Book Blog Discussion Challenge is a new challenge for me, and one I’m hoping will help me perk this place up a bit. It’s been quiet around here for quite some time. My goal is the “Creative Conversationalist” level (11-20, but my personal goal is 12). Who knows: maybe I’ll even pop a new podcast episode in here sometime in 2018!

There is an astounding array of reading challenges out there. I had two or three more I was considering, but I decided that really would be pushing it too far.

One thing I didn’t find: a Sherlock Holmes Challenge. I’d really like to read through the Canon over 2018. My Doubleday single-volume is 1122 pages, which divides into 21-22 pages – about two short stories or a couple of novel chapters – per week. Anybody want to join me on this one?

While you’re thinking about that, I’m going to go sip a cup of honeybush vanilla tea and read something.