Book Store Reading Challenge 2022

Continuing the discussion from Help me pick some 2021 reading challenge books.:

I didn’t complete last year’s challenge, not even close, but here are the categories for the one book/month reading challenge from local book store M. Judson:

January: A book everyone but you seems to have read
February: A book you can read in one sitting
March: A book about a found family
April: A book you got for free
May: A book you know nothing about
June: A book with a recipe in it
July: A book you’ve seen on someone else’s bookshelf
August: A well-reviewed book in your least favorite genre
September: A favorite childhood book for the second time
October: A science fiction or fantasy novel
November: A book that’s a family member’s favorite
December: A book published in 2022

Let’s see if I can make it through the first month!

I’m sharing this in case anyone wants to join in, or just contribute if you have some good suggestions for any of these categories. They’re obviously very subjective though, and several will vary by reader.

Childhood book - what age? There is a big difference between some thing like Dune that I read as a teenager and what I read in elementary school (Hardy Boys, etc).

When I was a young kid there was a very prolific Fiction Sports Story Writer and I can never remember the authors name. There was always a lesson in them and I wish I could find one. I remember there being a story of two twins and the one brother was the football star. But the twin takes over his identity. Another on a kid afraid t o swim but his grandfather gives him a lucky penny and the boys swims and one day forgets his penny and learns he can swim without it etc.

The rules are very open to interpretation!

If you’re 22 and you read Dune in your last year of high school, I’d say that’s pushing it. But even then, go for it if you want to.

Matt Christopher, maybe?

I don’t remember if that was the guy that wrote the series of sports books I liked when I was a kid in the mid to late '80s. The main character would have some problem outside of sports, like trying to meet his team commitments but also being in a band, or dealing with his parents splitting up, or developing a drinking problem, or sucking at school, or needing to work a job on top of school and sports. It was a different kid in each story, fortunately for that kid. I couldn’t give a single shit about sports as a kid (which explains my lifetime stats), but I liked the soap opera elements on top of sports in those books.

This is cool, @WhollySchmidt! I’m going to try this, and I reposted it on my FB page as I have a lot of heavy-reader friends who would probably enjoy it.

I’m thinking Snow Crash for January. I bounced off it when I tried to start it almost 20 years ago, but I had a newborn. He just started college, so he demands significantly less of my focus now. Also, seems required reading now that I’m building the metaverse and stuff.

Unlike last year, I’ve made it through the first month!

I chose Jesus and John Wayne, which taught me a lot about John Wayne and very little about Jesus. I appreciated large portions of it and the historical context for a lot of where the American evangelical movement is today, but I have some issues with how Du Mez addresses (or fails to address) some specific theological positions.

Anyone got any fun ideas for next month, a book you can read in one sitting?