I don’t know what it is but I am so excited about reading challenges this year. I think it’s because I’ve had a bit of a break in the past couple of years and last year I did ok with my reading challenges so I thought why not just go for it this year?

Today I’ll tell you about three I’m joining and I’ll do another post with a few more. For all of my challenges one added caveat is that I need to try to use books that I already own. So here we go:

Poetry Reading Challenge. This one is hosted by Serena at Savvy Verse & Wit and there are several levels of participation. I’m going to do the third level which involves reading as many books of poetry as you can in one year. I already sign up for the poem-a-day email so that’s covered.

I know I said I wanted to read books from my shelf for these challenges but for the poetry challenge all the poetry books I have on my shelf I have already read so I may do some re-reads or treat myself to some poetry books. I would love to read: Devotions by Mary Oliver, Only As the Day is Long by Dorianne Laux and Be Recorder by Carmen Gimenez Smith.

Japanese Literature Reading Challenge. Now in it’s 14th year, this one is hosted by Dolce Bellezza and all you have to read is at least one Japanese book. First off, I’m very exited by a new Kazuo Ishiguro book coming out soon but some possible selections from my stacks are:

The Traveling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa; translated by Philip Gabriel; The Inugami Curse by Seishi Yokomizo; translated by Yumiko Yamakazi and The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda; translated by Alison Watts. I’ve heard great things about some of these books.

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. I love historical fiction whether its mysteries set in the Victorian era or WWII novels and anything in between. This challenges is hosted by Marg of The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader. I’m going to go for the Renaissance level which means I will be reading 10 books.

Here are some options: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton, The Night Watch by Sarah Waters and Burial Rites by Hannah Kent.

I would love to hear if you are joining some of these challenges. And, let me know if you’ve read any of these books. I have a hard time sticking to a selected assortment of books so no doubt my mood may take me to other reads but at least I have some options for what to start with for these challenges.

As I said, I’m joining a few others so more on those in the next post.

Hope your year is off to a great start. I’ve enjoyed day of reading and organizing but it is time for  Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best.  The idea is to start with the book chosen for the month and connect the following six books. Where will you end up?

This month we start off with Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. I haven’t read this book yet but it is certainly on my TBR list. Given that it won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2020, it made me think of other highly praised books that I would like to read.

So another publication I enjoy is Criminal Element and one of their top books is When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole. Not only does it promise thrills but also social commentary.

Other newsletters I read to find out what about highly anticipated books is from B&N and Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam was one of the finalists for best book of 2020. A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong.

Then I thought why not see what some of my local booksellers are recommending and Bookwoman, Austin’s Feminist bookstore, gift guide for 2020 included The Once and Future Witches by Alex E. Harrow. There’s no such thing as witches. But there will be. So intrigued by this one.

Another favorite bookshop of mine is BookPeople and one of their 31 Favorites of 2020 was A Silent Fury by Yuri Herrera. A story about a real life tragedy and the exploration of what happened. I read one of his books last year and would certainly like to read more by this author.

There is another indie bookstore I love, Malvern Books, and they also have a favorites list and I was happy to see a poetry book. They listed Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz, also a 2020 finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry. Definitely going on my TBR list.

Finally, my local newspaper also had had recommendations for the year and the one I’m interested in is Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Gallen, which is a novel set in Ireland.

Let me know if you’ve read and of these and if you are participating in Six Degrees. Again, thank you to Kate and look forward to seeing your lists!