Happy 2023, travelers! I wrote this reading challenge last fall and it lay dormant for months in a Wordpress draft, long forgotten in my memory. In the nick of time, I remembered I’d written it and now, here it is.
There are 12 categories for 12 months. The goal is to read in ways that both expand our horizons and have us reflect on ourselves and the places we call home.
Throughout the year, I’ll share my picks for each category at the end of monthly link roundups.
Re-read a novel you were assigned in school. Props if it's a book you don't remember well!
Read a novel by a bi-racial author.
Read a novel set in a country you've never been to by an author from that country.
Read a novel set in a country you have been to by an author from that country.
Read a novel featuring a religion you don't understand or know little about.
Read a novel set in the place you're from. The more local, the better!
Read a novel set in Yugoslavia.
Read a novel about war of any kind.
Read a novel about climate change.
Read a novel about characters who migrate for any reason.
Read a novel written by a mother.
Read a novel published by a small, independent publishing house.
Read all of them, or read only some. Read them in order, or don’t. If any book comes to mind that fits these, share them in a comment! Where there are more books, there is empathy, a better world. Thanks for being part of this one.
You may notice that all of these specify a fiction book. I decided to do novels-only because I am focusing on fiction this year. There are some nonfiction books I do want to read, like Red Famine and a few memoirs. Aside from that, it’s all novels over here! I’ve already started with The Night Watchman.
The beginning of my 2023 reading wishlist looks like this:
Circe
The Marriage Portrait
Project Hail Mary
Sea of Tranquility
Hades, Argentina
The House of the Spirits
Dogs of Summer
When I Sing, Mountains Dance
Olive Kitteridge
A Burning
No One Is Talking About This
Crossroads
Persepolis
Pachinko
Synopses are linked if any of those sound interesting to you. I’m off to the library to pick up Circe, so I’ll see you Friday. Until then, happy reading!