Tacoma Library Extreme Reading Challenge

I've been accumulating library cards for the past year, as a way of traveling without actually leaving my house. If I can't go to new libraries, I can at least visit them online. And that's how I found out that the city to my south does a reading challenge that I'm am probably going to fail: THE TACOMA LIBRARY EXTREME READING CHALLENGE. 

It's fifty books from fifty categories (well, I guess 49? or we read more than one a week?) and it ends just before the end of the year, so there's not even a chance for frantic reading from Christmas to New Year. Here's the list, and I'm trying to preserve the links to suggestions:

2021 Extreme Reader Categories 

1. A book about climate change The Case for Climate Capitalism, Tom Rand 3/6/21
2. A book about music or musicians The Chai Factor, Farah Heron 2/6/21
3. A book about or involving social media use Take a Hint Dani Brown, Talia Hibbert 1/28/21
4. A book about or with art or museums: The Plain Janes, Cecil Castellucci 1/8/21, The City We Became N.K. Jemisin 8/6/21
5. A book about or written by a journalist One Giant Leap, Charles Fishman 2/11/21
6. A book about or written by a woman in STEM Arcadia, Tom Stoppard 5/24/21
7. A book about social justice Stolen Justice, Laurence Goldstone 1/25/21
8. A book about the American Civil War Blood and Germs, Gail Jarrow 3/8/21, 
9. A book in which a natural disaster takes place Into the Volcano, Don Wood 4/4/21, The Nine Tailors, Dorothy Sayers 7/4/11 
10. A book of your own choosing  Storm Cursed, Patricia Briggs 1/29/21
11. A book published in the year you were born 
12. A book set in a city that has hosted the Olympics La Perdida, Jessica Abel 2/7/21 
13. A book set in an abbey, cloister, monastery, vicarage, or convent  Northanger Abbey, Jane Austin 4/30/21
14. A book set in Ireland  
15. A book set on a mode of transportation Stars Beyond, S.K. Dunstall 5/16/21
16. A book that passes the Bechdel Test  Louisiana Longshot, Jana DeLeon 5/16/21
17. A book that takes place during the 1920s : Subtle Blood, K.J. Charles 7/16/21
18. A book that takes place during the Middle Ages  Absolution By Murder, Peter Tremayne 7/24/21
19. A book that takes place during winter  Fake Dating the Prince, Ashlyn Kane 5/26/21
20. A book where the characters save (or attempt to save) the world The Fold, Peter Clines 2/27/21 
21. A book with a book on the cover The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, Kim Michele Richardson 4/5/21
22. A book with a character who is older than you Nightshades, Melissa Olson 2/20/21
23. A book with a glyph in the title Sal & Gabi Save the Universe, Carlos Hernandez 2/20/21, Patience & Esther, Sarah Winifred Searle 7/8/21
24. A book with a heist in it Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel, Eoin Colfer 3/4/21
25. A book with a map Beyond the Hundred Kingdoms, Rod Espinosa 4/24/21
26. A book with a medical professional  Shadows in Death, J.D Robb 1/16/2021
27. A book with a metallic cover Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse 8/22/21
28. A book with a person’s name in the title: The Unexpected Mrs Pollifax, Dorothy Gilman 5/15/21
29. A book with a royal moniker in the title  Fake Dating the Prince, Ashlyn Kane 5/26/21
30. A book with a skull on the cover Rattle His Bones, Carola Dunn 5/30/21
31. A book with a title featuring repeating words A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky, Lynell George 6/28/21
32. A book with an unlikely pair The House in the Cerulean Sea, T.J. Klune 4/24/2021
33. A book with crafting or related to the Do-It-Yourself “DIY” movement The Laura Ingalls Wilder Companion: A Chapter by Chapter Guide, Annette Whipple 3/15/21, How to Raise an Honest Rabbit, Amy Lane 7/9/21
34. A book with military personnel  Spies, Lies and Disguise, Jennifer Swanson 1/23/21, Ghost Talkers, Mary Robinette Kowal
35. A book with one of the four elements (Fire, Water, Earth, Air) in the title Punching the Air, Ibi Zoboi & Yusef Salaam 2/13/21
36. A book with only words on the cover America For Americans, Erika Lee 7/2/21
37. A book with parents or parental figures in it Elatsoe, Darcie Little Badger 3/20/21
38. A book written by a South American author 
39. A book written by an author that uses an initial(s) in their name  A Case of Possession, K. J. Charles 2/5/21
40. A book written by an author you’ve never read before Something That May Shock or Discredit You, Daniel Mallory Ortberg 5/18/21
41. A book written in the first person The Marrow Thieves, Cherie Dimaline 2/6/21 
42. A book you finished in one day  Piranesi, Susanna Clarke 6/21/21
43. A Goodreads Choice Awards winner Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett 4/1/21
44. A legal thriller  Reckless, Selena Montgomery 4/25/21
45. A magical realism book Temporary, Hilary Leichter 5/1/21
46. A play  Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare 4/25/21
47. A prequel or a sequel to another book or series Fugitive Telemetry, Martha Wells 4/30/21
48. A Pulitzer Prize winning or finalist book from the non-fiction category 
49. An Afro Futurism book Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, Damian Duffy & Octavia Butler 6/11/2021
50. An alternate history book Sunshine, Robin McKinley 7/10/21
51. An anthology book  Flight Vol 3, ed. Kazu Kibuishi 3/2/21
52. An antiracist book What the Eagle Sees, Elder Yellowhorn, Kathy Lowinger 1/25/21,You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey, Amber Ruffin & Lacey Lamar 8/4/21
53. Reread a favorite book Network Effect, Martha Wells 4/6/21
54. Two books that share the same title (Title A) Switchback, Melissa Olson 4/29/21
55. Two books that share the same title (Title B) Switchback, Clair M. Poulson 8/21/21

51/55

OK, I officially Won!

I mean, I'm pretty sure I forgot to turn my results in, but I just do it for the fun of the list.

Where Am I Reading 2021

With Helpful Suggestions at the bottom.

Once again I want to track where I'm reading this year, and once again I'm too lazy to set up a google map for it. The list is an easier way to see which states I've been hitting and which I've been missing. I think I'll bold the ones I missed in 2020. And then I'll track which countries I'm reading in (sometimes it's a guess, since countries in the past had different borders), and I'm also giving myself suggestions in case I want to seek out a location.

I belatedly found an Official Challenge for this: 2021 Literary Escapes Challenge. I should wander over there to get some good ideas for my missing states.

Alabama: Almost American Girl, The Rebellious Life of Rosa Parks

Alaska:

Arizona: Dead Heat, Displacement, Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything, Even If We Break

Arkansas: Race Against Time

California: Condor Comeback, Wild Sign, The Fold, Kobe Bryant, Kiyo Sato, Wild Sign, Land of the Cranes, Manson Family Murders, Efren Divided, OJ Simpson Murder Case, Parable of the Sower Graphic Novel, Life Sucks, Handful of Earth Handful of Sky, A Russian Cage, Cuckoo's Egg, Singled Out

Colorado: How to Raise a Honest Rabbit

Connecticut: 

Delaware: 

Florida: Sal and Gabi Break the Universe, Nickel Boys, 

Georgia: Taking on the Plastics Crisis, Reckless, High Cotton, Ring Shout,, Unbelonging

7/10

Hawaii: Forever Strong

Idaho: Walk Two Moons

Illinois: Nightshades, Outbreak

Indiana: You Should See Me In a Crown

Iowa: 

Kansas:

Kentucky: 

Louisiana: The Vanishing Half, Someplace to Be Flying, Louisiana Longshot, King and the Dragonflies, Gator Bait, Singled Out

Maine: Stowed Away, Echo Mountain

Maryland: Extraordinary Union, Beautiful Struggle (Young Reader)

7/10

Massachusetts: Lizzie Borden Ax Murders, Gardner Museum Heist, From the Desk of Zoe Washington, Show Me a Sign

Michigan: Sucker Punch, A Bollywood Affair, From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry

Minnesota: Cat Tricks, Chaos on CatNet, Minn of the Mississippi, Future Home of the Living God

Mississippi: 

Missouri: 

Montana: Burn Bright

Nebraska: You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey

Nevada: 

New Hampshire: Kat & Mouse 2-4, Nos4A2

New Jersey: Murder at Veronica's Diner, We Are Not Broken

7/10

New Mexico: You Brought Me the Ocean

New York: Shadows In Death, Punching the Air, Class Act, The Son of Sam Killings, Faithless in Death, Wonder, Invisible Life of Addie LaRou, The City We Became, Riot Baby, American Fairytale, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide, The Black Friend, Forgotten in Death, Princess for Christmas

North Carolina: Chiggers, The Twisted Ones

North Dakota: 

Ohio: 

Oklahoma: One Perfect Kiss, Black Birds in the Sky

Oregon: Playing With Fire, Thirteens

Pennsylvania: His Pretend Amish Bride, The Conductors

Rhode Island: Pucker

South Carolina: 

7/10

South Dakota

Tennessee: Fighting Words

Texas:  Elatsoe, Assassination of John F Kennedy, An Easy Death, Punching Bag

Utah: Switchback

Vermont: 

Virginia: They'd Better Call Me Sugar, Gift of the Magpie

Washington: Storm Cursed, Midnight Sun, Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear, Good Kind of Trouble, Field Guide to Getting Lost 

West Virginia: Apple Cider Slaying

Wisconsin: Switchback

Wyoming: Tempest

8/10

Washington D.C.: Ambushed, Taste of Blackberries, Notes from a YOung Black Chef

37/51

World Reading:

North America (non-US): 3

Canada: The Marrow Thieves, The Chai Factor, The Blue Castle, Emiko Superstar

Mexico: La Perdida

Caribbean: Crogan's Vengeance

Asia: 7

Turkmenistan: A Bride's Story 9 (probably)

Turkey: A Bride's Story 10 (probably), A Bride's Story 11 (definitely)

Kazakhstan: Laika

Japan: Yotsuba& 4, Meltdown, Explore the Future through Science Fiction

Afghanistan: A Long Time Until Now

China: Mulan: Before the Sword, Empress of Salt and Fortune

Thailand: A Wish in the Dark (magical)

Europe: 8

UK: The War That Saved My Life, Take a Hint Dani Brown, A Case of Possession, Silver in the Wood, Two Rogues Make a Right, The Talisman Ring, Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows, Northanger Abbey, Piranesi, Murder Must Advertise, A Murder in Time, Arcadia, Subtle Blood, Rattle His Bones, Black Butler 18, Patience & Esther, Castle of Adventure, The Lost Orphan, Thursday Murder Club, Secret Garden (Graphic Novel), Raven Black (Scotland), Year of Wonders, To the Hilt, Rat Race, Beowulf

Germany: Games of Deception, Be My Guest, Black Butler 19

Ireland: Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel

Albania: Unexpected Mrs Pollifax

Czech Republic: I Never Saw Another Butterfly 

France: White Bird, Ghost Talkers

Italy: From Scratch

Russia: Last Witnesses

Africa: 2

In Bibi's Kitchen (East African coast)

Kenya: When Stars Are Scattered

Egypt: The Buried Pyramid

South America: 1

Argentina: Furia

Countries: 21

*********************************************************************

Suggestions That I Think I Would Like: 

Alaska: Back Home

Arkansas:  

Colorado: Hidden Valley Road

Connecticut: Home for Goddesses and Dogs

Delaware: 

Hawaii:  

Indiana: 

Iowa: Amy had something for me 

Kansas:

Kentucky: 

Maryland: 

Massachusetts: 

Michigan: 

Minnesota:

Mississippi: 

Missouri: 

Nebraska:

Nevada: 

North Carolina: 

North Dakota: 

Ohio: 

Oklahoma:  Killers of the Flower Moon 

Pennsylvania: 

Rhode Island: 

South Carolina: 

South Dakota

Tennessee:  The Sentinel 

Utah

Vermont: 

Virginia: 

Washington D.C.: