2021 Challenges Wrap-Up

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I had some fairly ambitious reading plans for 2021, and while I'm pretty happy with what I did, I still wish I'd done more.  I guess that's always the way.  I felt like I had a hard time focusing on my reading this year.  Still, I had plenty of great titles!  Let's see how my challenges turned out...


The World War II Reading Challenge at Becky's Book Reviews:  12/12

Choosing WWII as a focus this year was fascinating (although not cheerful) and cut my WWII reading pile almost in half.  I wanted to read 12 titles, one each month, and though I am on about page 3 of my December pick, I still got 12:

  1.  The Coming of the Third Reich, by Richard P. Evans
  2.  Ordinary Men, by Christopher Browning
  3.  Frauen: German Women Recall the Third Reich, by Alison Owings
  4. Midway: the Battle That Doomed Japan, by Fuchida and Okumiya
  5. Last Witnesses:  An Oral History of the Children of WWII, by Svetlana Alexievich
  6. For Two Thousand Years, by Mihail Sebastian
  7. Book Smugglers, by David Fishman
  8. The Third Reich in Power, by Richard P. Evans
  9. Last Hope Island, by Lynne Olson
  10. Millions Like Us, by Virginia Nicholson
  11. How to be a Dictator, by Franz Dikotter
  12. A Writer at War, by Vasily Grossman
  13. The Third Reich at War, by Richard P. Evans (not done...yet!)

 The Back to the Classics Challenge hosted by Karen at Books and Chocolate:  12/12

Always a good one, and I like to just read and fill in the categories as I go.  Made it by the skin of my teeth this time...

1.  A 19th Century Classic --    Our Exploits at West Poley, by Thomas Hardy
2.  A 20th Century Classic --  For Two Thousand Years, by Mihail Sebastian / The Woman With Two Navels and Tales of the Tropical Gothic (Phillippines), by Nick Joaquin
3.  A Classic by a Woman Author.  -- The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, by Selma Lagerlof
4.  A Classic in Translation.--  The Man Who Sold a Ghost (Chinese legends) 
5.  A Classic by a Person of Color. --  Jonah's Gourd Vine, by Zora Neale Hurston
 6. A  Classic by a New Author. --  Lorna Doone, by R. D. Blackmore
 7. New Classic by a Favorite Author. --  A Writer at War, by Vasily Grossman
 8. Classic with an Animal. --  The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame
 9. Children's Classic. --  The Midnight Folk, by John Masefield
 10. Humorous/Satirical Classic. --   A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, by Mark Twain
 11. Travel or Adventure Classic. --  Mules and Men, by Zora Neale Hurston
12. Classic Play. --  The Tempest, by Shakespeare

 

 
Another favorite!  I did have to take advantage of Erica's rule that a book can count for two categories.  But still, I made it!
 
1) Read a classic over 500 pages: Lorna Doone, by R. D. Blackmore
2) Read a classic by a POC and/or with a POC as the main character: Jonah's Gourd Vine, by Zora Neale Hurston
3) Read a classic that is not written by a Global North author: The Woman With Two Navels and Tales of the Tropical Gothic (Phillippines), by Nick Joaquin
4) Read a classic in translation: Season of Migration to the North, by Tayeb Salih
5) Read a classic by a new to you author: For Two Thousand Years, by Mihail Sebastian
6) Read a classic Sci/Fi or Fantasy: The Drowned World, by J. G. Ballard
7) Read a classic written before 1800: The Man Who Sold a Ghost (Chinese legends), the Popol Vuh
8) Read a classic written by an LGBT author and/or with an LGBT main character:
Jonah's Gourd Vine, by Zora Neale Hurston
 9) Read a classic written by a woman: Plum Bun, by Jessie Redmon Hughes
10) Read a classic written by a Nobel Laureate: The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, by Selma Lagerlof
11) Read a classic nonfiction: Mules and Men, by Zora Neale Hurston
12) Read a classic that has been banned or censored:  Minutes of Glory and Other Stories, by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
 
 
 Bev's TBR Reading Challenges, the usual one and the library one: 46/24, 30/24
 
 It's probably due to Covid that I couldn't get as distracted as I usually do, so I read 46 titles from my own shelf and 30 from the library shelf -- not that you can tell.  Those lists are too long for this post, but you can see them here.
 
 
 I didn't keep very good track.  I know I read at least seven countries, but I think there might be more that I didn't tag correctly (I looked more carefully, and found 4 more!).  Still, I'm not happy with myself on this one.  I have this tall pile, and I'm not getting to them.
  • Madagascar
  • Kenya
  • Botswana
  • Zimbabwe 
  • Canada
  • Guatemala
  • Lithuania
  • Romania
  • Pakistan
  • Syria
  • Oman (current)
 Goodreads challenge: 170
This year I put my goal at 170 books, and hit it just a couple of days before Christmas.


Here's hoping for lots of great books in 2022 -- not to mention world peace and harmony and no more wildfires.  Much love to everybody!

Comments

  1. mudpuddleDecember 29, 2021 at 8:40 AM

    are you going to have another "old sci fi" January? if so, i've gotten a couple more of those i'd love to post on, lol...

    ReplyDelete
  2. LoryDecember 29, 2021 at 9:10 AM

    Great job, even if you did not get to as many Around the World books as you would have liked. I had made a Back to the Classics list for myself but then completely ignored it -- no classic reading for me, except for rereads of books I know and love already. Maybe next year I'll get back into the classics groove.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JeanDecember 29, 2021 at 2:12 PM

      I also kind of slacked on the classics -- but I feel like my classics focus has shifted some. I'm interested in a lot of different kinds of classics. And also overwhelmed with the state of the world, which makes it hard!

      Delete
  3. curlygeek04December 29, 2021 at 3:08 PM

    I'm struggling with reading Around the World too. I keep rereading countries like India and Japan rather than seeking out new ones. Though I did add books on Cuba and Armenia this year. I've given up on classics challenges for now. I'm more interested in reading diversely, and it's hard (though not impossible) to do both. Happy new year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JeanDecember 30, 2021 at 11:34 AM

      I really like searching out classics of other lands, but yep, it's not super easy! If there's only one book available to you from, say, Mali, you gotta take what you can get. Being a college librarian is a great help to me.

      Delete

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