2016 Book Challenges

It's a new year, a time to try new things, to expand one's horizons and set the tone for the coming year (or at least the next couple of months).  I have not made any resolutions this year, however I have been digilent in tracking my steps.  I purchased the same device I have for my mother and sister for Christmas and it has re-motivated me to get my step limit every day.  Right now my "streak" is longer than it has ever been and I hope to keep it going.

Although I have not made any resolutions, I have decided to partake is some reading challenges.

Goodreads
To start off with I joined the Goodreads book challenge and I am aiming to read 100 books this year. (So far I am on track!)

#BustleReads
In an effort to put more diversity into my reading (recently I have almost exclusively been reading cozy mysteries and historical fiction) I am participating in the #BustleReads Challenge which encourages you to read books by women and writers of color.

Categories Include:

1. Read a book written by a woman under 25
2. Read a book about non-western history
3. Read a book of essays
4. Read a book about an indigenous culture
5. Read a book before you see the movie
6. Read a YA book by an author of color
7. Read a book set in the middle east
8. Read a book about women in war
9. Read a graphic novel written by a woman
10. Read a book about an immigrant or refugee to the U.S.
11. Read a children's book aloud
12. Reread your favorite book from your childhood
13. Read a memoir by someone who identifies as LGBTQIA
14. Read a work of post-apocalyptic fiction written by a woman
15. Read a feminist sci-fi novel
16. Read the first book in a series you've never read
17. Read a book set in Africa, by an author from Africa
18. Read a translated book
19. Read a contemporary collection of poetry
20. Read a book by a modernist woman writer

Reading New England
The Emerald City Book Review has created a really lovely challenge called Reading New England.  As I am from New England and miss it dearly this challenge is the one that I am most excited about.  It gives me the chance to experience a little bit of New England here in the Midwest.  I also hope it will help me jump start this blog a little and connect more with the online reading community in general!  The challenge asks that you read at least one book set in each of the six New England states and from six thematic groups.  January's challenge is New Hampshire and I have chosen to read A Prayer for Owen Meany which has been sitting on my bedside table for much longer than I care to admit.

Categories Include:

1. January:  New Hampshire
2. February:  Fiction
3. March:  Maine
4. April:  Poetry and Drama
5. May: Vermont
6. June:  Nonfiction
7. July:  Massachusetts
8. August:  Children's Books
9. September:  Rhode Island
10. October:  Speculative Fiction and Mystery
11. November:  Connecticut
12. December:  Read-along or free choice