Goodreads Summer Reading Challenge, 2018 ~ Beginner Level

[the_other_sandy]

I'm using this as a flogging device to make myself read some of my giant piles of unread books, including some things that keep getting pushed to the side as I get distracted by shiny new things.

---

SUMMER-RELATED TASKS -- FINISHED!

• Into the Great Wide Open: Read a book that takes place out in the great wide open

The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin

• Get Your Grill On: Read a book that features summer recipes or outdoor summer activities

Dark Summit by Nick Heil

• The Colors of Summer: Read a book that features a yellow, green, or sandy cover

The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells

• Beach Bum: Read a book that could be considered a "beach read"

Carpe Demon by Julie Kenner

• Sand Between My Toes: Read a book that takes place in or around a beach/ocean

Wight Mischief by J.L. Merrow

• Ocean Blue: Read a book that takes place on the water

A Night to Remember by Walter Lord

• Hook 'Em: Read a book that features fishing or fishermen

Time Bandit by Andy and Johnathan Hillstrand with Malcolm MacPherson

• Sports-a-holic: Read a book that features a popular summer sport

Play On by Avery Cockburn

• Campfire Story: Read a book that scares the bejesus out of you

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

• One and Done: Read a book you can finish in one day

Tinsel Fish by Harper Fox

TASKS TO STRETCH YOUR COMFORT ZONE -- FINISHED!

• Let's Get It On: Read a book that features falling in or out of love

Skin After Skin by Jordan Castillo Price

• Take Pride: Read a book written by an LGBTQIA author or that features an LGBTQIA character

Troublemaker by Joseph Hansen

• Read the World: Read a book that takes place in a country--or focuses on a culture--other than your own

Non-Stop Till Tokyo by K.J. Charles

• Diversify Yourself: Read a book by an author of color

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

• You Have a Lovely Accent: Read a book that was translated from another language

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

• Won't Be Long: Read a collection of short stories or essays

Classic Krakauer by Jon Krakauer

• Poet at Heart: Read a book of poetry

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight translated by Simon Armitage

• My, What Big Teeth You Have: Read a book that puts a spin on a well-known fairy tale

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

• High Noon: Read a classic or contemporary Western

Blind Ride by B.A. Tortuga

• TBRing It: Read a book from the bottom of your TBR pile

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

• Unshelve It: Read a book that's been sitting on your Goodreads Shelves for a while

Monty Python's Flying Circus, Complete and Annotated by Luke Dempsey

• Childhood Reboot: Read a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure novel

Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography by Neil Patrick Harris and David Javerbaum

• Listen to Me: Listen to an audiobook

Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre

Comments

[bibliofran]

Oooh, that sounds like a fun challenge. I'd have trouble with the "childhood reboot" though -- I couldn't stand CYOA books even when I was a kid.

[the_other_sandy]

Fortunately for me, one of the Adrien English mysteries by Josh Lanyon (one of the series I'm working my way through) is a CYOA.

I'm going to have trouble with the fairy tale one and the poetry one because I'm not a fan of either and I don't own any of either.

[bibliofran]

I'm not a huge poetry fan either, but fortunately, you can find short poetry books pretty easily. I picked up Persephone Lied because I had read the title poem online and enjoyed it, and I wanted to support the author a little. I don't think the rest of the poems are as good, but it's only eight poems in fifteen pages.

It's too bad you can't count a book for more than one category! I'm sure there's something on the bottom of your TBR pile and your Good reads list that has someone LGBTQIA+ falling in love and hits at least a couple of the summer-related tasks.

[the_other_sandy]

About 1/3 of my TBR pile is M/M romance, and some of them can count for as many as four categories. I've been planning out what I'm going to count where. I'm also going through my Hoopla queue to see which audiobooks I can count for categories other than audiobooks (I couldn't think what I was going to do for the fishing/fishermen category, but it turns out there's a memoir by a couple of the guys from Deadliest Catch on audiobook).

I'm actually having an easier time picking out books for the 'stretching your comfort zone' category than the summer one. I have no idea what I'm going to do for a beach read.

[bibliofran]

Yeah, a lot of the categories in "stretch your comfort zone" don't actually stretch me very much. Even the ones that do tend to be more a case of things I've tried and didn't like.

What qualifies something as a "beach read"? I've never quite understood why people need a specific category for things to read at the beach rather than just reading what they normally do. (I suspect it's because they normally *don't* read or only read things they think they should, but I try not to think about that.)

[the_other_sandy]

What qualifies something as a "beach read"?

I was wondering that myself, so I googled it. Every site I looked at defined a beach read differently, so I think I'm going to go with one of the celebrity autobiographies I have and call it good.

The book I'd planned to read for the "campfire story" category turned out to be nearly 800 pages long, so back to the old salt mines. I don't have that much time to devote to one book in a three month reading challenge.