2021 “Read Your Shelves” Challenge!
Another new year, another new book challenge! The goal of this challenge is to read books you already own and eventually unclutter your bookshelves by donating them to charity after you finish reading them. It is meant to be a realistic book challenge for all, even those who are not dyed-in-the-wool book worms, by reading one book per month.
Randomly choose 12 books off your shelves to read, mixing genres and fiction with non-fiction. I like to make a special stack of the 12 challenge books or clear off a place of honor on a shelf for them to be all together and then watch the stack shrink as I work my way through them. You can participate even if you do not have 12 books hanging out on your shelves, the challenge will then change from one of reading “your shelves” to reading 12 books, or maybe reading 12 books on a certain theme, etc. Use your imagination.
If you happen to be a dyed-in-the-wool book worm, you can make this a bit more challenging by adding 12 additional books for a total of 24 which means you would read 2 books each month. It’s totally up to you. I really like this challenge because before I discovered it, I would start different book challenges but rarely finish them because along the way I found them too confining and got sidetracked with other titles that would grab my interest. With the Read Your Shelves 12-book challenge I feel like I am kept on task by reading and enjoying the books I already own but I still have the freedom to stick a title in here or there that grabs my interest, even if it is not part of the specific challenge.
What are you waiting for? Go get your stack
of books ready!! I will start posting reviews as I read my way through the books.
Here’s my 2021 Read Your Bookshelves Challenge List:
1. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
2. Catfantastic Story anthology edited by Andre Norton and Martin H. Greenberg
3. Before I go to Sleep by S. J. Watson
4. The Last Lecture by Zaslow and Pausch
5. The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
6. The Path to the Nest of Spiders by Italo Calvino
7. The Source by James Michener
8. The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
9. Flu by Gina Kolata
10 The 12th Enchantment by David Liss
11. Patrick by Stephen R. Lawhead
12 The Killer Angels by Michael Sharra
In
I read the Time Traveler’s Wife and liked it, so I thought I’d try another one by the same author.
I read some Andre Norton for the first time in 2020, she is considered a classic author of early SF writing. I liked how she figures animals in her stories and looked for more by the author. She is one of the editors of these books, so I purchased the 5-volume set of “Catfantastic” story anthologies (written in the 80’s) as a present to myself for my birthday. They have wonderful book covers featuring elegant cats posed like people.
Before I Go To Sleep-Found this one at the thrift store and it was also on a list of interestingly creepy books, so I figured Watson’s book might appeal to me with by interest in creepy but not gory type tales. Will I be surprised, too scared to handle it? I will find out.
The Last Lecture has been on my shelf for a few years, finally I will get to it.
Daughter of Time is a slim volume I picked up at the Thrift Store a while ago, and it is a mystery involving a modern day detective and a English historical puzzle about two boys held as prisoners in the Tower of London.
Italo Calvino is a celebrated Italian author, so The Path to the Nest of Spiders is from my collection of books about Italy, Italian History, and all things Italian.
The Source-by a popular author that also should be somewhat historical combining a first read by Michener with a bit of history. Should be a win-win.
“Hours” will be the second read by Morton for me, should be right up my alley with my interest in gothic type mysteries.
Flu is a historical account of the great flu epidemic of 1918, very apt subject matter for the year of the wretched covid.
The 12th Enchantment was a random find at the thrift shop that appeared interesting. I just grabbed it off the shelf for the random choosing of this new year’s challenge books.
I’ve been a reader of Lawhead for several years, just never got around to reading Patrick in my casual quest to eventually read all of his works. Now I will get to it.
The Killer Angels I picked up at the Thrift Shop as well, it is a historical fiction account of the Battle of Gettysburg. Part one of a three part series.
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