It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Reading challenges! YAY!

I wish to do the POPsugar challenge this year as well. I'm currently collecting books to be read for that. I'll pick most of them from my TBR list, not all, because I haven't added any books to be published 2023 yet :-D

Book Riot's Read Harder

The 2023 European Reading Challenge. 

Booklist Queen’s 2023 Reading Challenge

The Literary Life Podcast Reading Challenge 2023

The 52 Book Club’s 2023 Reading Challenge

Read 52 books in 52 weeks reading adventure

We Didn't Start The Fire reading challenge... sounds interesting

The Decades challenge
"We’ll be reading some of the best books set in each decade from the 1880s through the 2010s."

Climbing the mount TBR :-D Very interesting :-) I'd need that. Last time I checked, I have some 1300+ books on my TBR. Now, I'd need some Mount Olympos level intervention :-D
To be fair, my POPsugar challenge will wipe some 50 books from the list.

So, absolutely this challenge: SIGN-UPS: THE TBR PILE CHALLENGE TURNS TEN! #TBRYEAR10

Vintage Cover Scavenger Hunt sounds fun as well. I love vintage mysteries, detective novels etc.

This Read Around The World: Travel Reading Challenge

Around the World Reading Challenge 2023

World Reading Challenge: Books Around The Globe

This art book reading challenge from this year looks interesting.

Also, this one, for kids

Why do Romance novelists hate Romance genre?

The romance genre is defined by two aspects that can be found in every romance book or novel:

a central love story between characters

an emotionally satisfying, happy ending

Because of this, dozens of Romance novelists claim they don't write Romance novels. 

Come on, I say. 

It's not some dusty definition that decides what you write, it's what the readers get out of it. If romance is the central, essential part of the story; if the readers focus on the relationship; if the book can be summarized as a "love story", then it is Romance, whatever the "official definition" is. 

Wuthering Heights is a love story. Twilight is a love story. 

Gone With the Wind is not. Why? The love story is not essential for the story. It's all about Scarlett. Her loves and marriages are just sidenotes, even Ashley and Rhett. 

Outlander is a Romance novel. Nicholas Sparks writes Romance novels. Sorry, guys, but why do you hate being called Romance novelists, when the Romance genre has made you rich and happy? 

Every other genre of literature has evolved, expanded, diversified, transmutated, grown, but not Romance. If you believe the Romance writers. Who don't write Romance. For some weird reason.

Seriously, how do you even define a "happy ending" nowadays? HEA? Catherine and Heathcliff got each other and it's a very emotionally satisfying ending to the novel. Sure, not the traditional "they married and lived happily ever after", because they never married and they died. But does that make it any less emotionally satisfying? If it wasn't an emotionally satisfying love story, then why are Cathy and Heath mentioned in many lists of the most romantic couples? Yes, it was dysfunctional as F, so what? Life usually is. (Not THAT dysfunctional, but still :-D)

https://www.shereadsromancebooks.com/romance-genre-and-romance-tropes-guide/

BTW "own voices" is not a subgenre of anything. It's 100% about the authors. They can write any subgenre of Romance, and they do. 

Mythical Mystical Magical Reading Challenge 2022

1) Read a fantasy novel from 10 different countries

2) Read a fantasy novel with

- black and white cover (can have different shades of grey on it, but no color)
- red cover (mostly red)
- orange cover
- yellow cover
- green cover
- blue cover
- purple/lilac/violet cover
- brown cover

3) Read a book from each of these lists:

Pre-Tolkien Fantasy (and alike)
Fantasy Classics
The Best Epic Fantasy
Hidden Gems: YA-Fantasy Novels
Best Fantasy on Goodreads with less than 100 ratings
Popular Fantasy on Goodreads with between 100 and 999 ratings
Popular Fantasy on Goodreads with between 1000 and 9999 ratings
Popular Fantasy on Goodreads with between 10000 and 24999 ratings

4) Read a Fantasy novel written in

1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
and two written before 1930s

Popular Pre-1900 Fantasy Novels
Popular 1900s, 10s and 20s Fantasy Novels
Popular 1930s and 40s Fantasy Novels
Popular 1950s Fantasy Novels
Popular 1960s Fantasy Novels
Popular 1970s Fantasy Novels
Popular 1980s Fantasy Novels
Popular 1990s Fantasy Novels
Popular 2000s Fantasy Novels

5) Pick an author who writes Fantasy. Read their favorite Fantasy book, a Fantasy book that has inspired them, a Fantasy book they recommend.

6) Read a Fantasy novel written by a female author
 Read a Fantasy novel written by a male author

You can replace the gender you identify as with an author that identifies as neither.

7) Read a Fantasy novel with a female MC
 Read a Fantasy novel with a male MC

You can replace the gender you identify as with a MC that identifies as neither.

8) Read a Fantasy novel with a female mentor/tutor/guardian/parental figure
Read a Fantasy novel with a male mentor/tutor/guardian/parental figure

You can replace the gender you DON*T identify as with a figure that identifies as neither.

9) Read a Fantasy novel written by a person who has a different --- from you

- gender
- generation
- race/ethnicity
- nationality
- mothertongue
- sexual orientation
- religion (either personal, or if not religious or known, the majority religion of the society/background they come from)

Choose one, choose many, choose all, read one book by each category, combine them all, what ever rocks your boat

10) Read a Fantasy novel where the MC has a different --- from you
(mothertongue in this case means the language the character was written in, not their language.)

11) Read a Fantasy novel where the MC has at least one parent and grandparent alive, and they have a good relationship with them

12) Read a Fantasy novel with less than 250 pages
Read a Fantasy novel with 250-350 pages
Read a Fantasy novel with 300-500 pages
Read a Fantasy novel with 500+ pages

13) Read a Fantasy novel from 10 different subgenres.
Try to choose ones you don't usually read.
One of them has to be a fairy tale. Not a retelling. Read a fairy tale you haven't ever read or heard in any version before.

14) Read the three first books you haven't read from any list of "best Fantasy books"

For example:
Times The 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time
The 25 Best Fantasy Novels
31 of the best fantasy books everyone should read
Top 100 Fantasy Books
The 60 Best Fantasy Books of All Time
Top 25 Best Fantasy Books
/r/fantasy best books

15) Read a Fantasy book that has received an award

16) Read a non-Fantasy book that's related to Fantasy, for example, a book about Fantasy literature or fairy tales, a biography of a Fantasy author, or about writing Fantasy

17) Read a Fantasy book with an amazing cover
Read a Fantasy book with a horrible cover

18) Read a Fantasy book with a one word title

19) Read a Fantasy book that was made into a movie or tv-series

20) Read the Fantasy book you are most ashamed/sorry/irritated of not having read :-D 

21) Read the Fantasy book that has been on your TBR the longest time
Read the Fantasy book that has been on your TBR the shortest time

22) Finish a Fantasy series
Start a Fantasy series

23) Read a self-published Fantasy novel

24) Reread a favorite

25) A literary Map Chain Challenge

Pick a number (how many books you are going to read, at least 5), and pick one of your favorite Fantasy authors and write his/her name on the Literature Map
(If you don't know where to start, start with Tolkien :-D)
You get a "map" with authors who are more or less similar to that author. The names closest are most similar to the author.
Pick one of the names, check that they have written Fantasy, and read a Fantasy book by that author.
Then insert his/her name in the map and choose the next author.
Continue until you have read the number of books you chose in the beginning of the challenge.
Don't read the same author twice!