All the Libraries Are Mine! Extreme Reading Challenge!

Now that I've got most of my books lined up for my primary library system, it is time to turn my eyes south. Tacoma has its own very interesting library system, and I have a card there as well thanks to the wonders of reciprocal systems, a wonderful invention of the modern age. And they have their own yearly challenge -- the FIFTY BOOK Challenge! (They take two weeks of at the end and the beginning of the year, which is why I think it's only fifty books.) It started January 4 and end December 17th. 

I did it last year and it was fun, so clearly it is now a tradition! Welcome to THE TACOMA LIBRARY EXTREME READING CHALLENGE 2022! 

2022 Extreme Reader Categories 

1. A book about an historical figure Curse of the Mummy, Candace Fleming 4/30/22, opens a new window
2. A book about or including a wedding, opens a new window The Guinevere Deception, Kiersten White 2/22/22
3. A book about starting over, opens a new window Love Code, Ann Aguirre 3/14/22
4. A book cover that has your favorite color on it Ice Planet Barbarians, Ruby Dixon 1/27/22
5. A book cover that shows a person from behind, opens a new window In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers, Don Brown 2/3/22
6. A book from a genre you don’t normally read Everybody Fights, Kim & Penn Holderness 3/13/22
7. A book from ALA’s Challenged Books lists , opens a new window  Gender Queer, Maia Kobabe 4/4/22

8. A book from one of these two celebrity book clubs: Oprah’s Book Club or the Read with Jenna Book Club, opens a new window  (The Sun does shine?Underground Railroad?)

9. A book of your own choosing Chaos Reigning, Jessie Mihalik 2/28/22
10. A book published in 2022 Hunt the Stars, Jessie Mihalik 7/6/22
11. A book published in 2022 (Non-fiction)
12. A book published more than ten years ago Chalice, Robin McKinley 5/4/22, opens a new window
13. A book set in a restaurant, opens a new window Measuring Up, Lily Lamotte 5/22 (weak)
14. A book set in a school Of Curses and Kisses, Sandhya Menon 2/9/22, opens a new window
15. A book set in the Caribbean, opens a new window
16. A book set on the East Coast of the United States One For the Books, Jenn McKinlay 2/27/22, opens a new window
17. A book set outdoors Spear, Nicola Griffith 7/19/22, opens a new window
18. A book set somewhere you want to visit A Colorful Death, Carola Dunn 5/8/22
19. A book that begins with a disappearance, opens a new window Strange Love, Ann Aguirre 2/24/22
20. A book that centers a refugee’s experience , opens a new windowValley of the Shadow, Carola Dunn 5/20/22
21. A book that discusses body positivity, opens a new window Being Seen, Elsa Sjunneson 4/28/22
22. A book that focuses on mental health Ancestral Night, Elizabeth Bear 7/1/22, opens a new window
23. A book that fulfills a category from a previous Extreme Reader challenge year, opens a new window Grave Reservations, Cherie Priest 4/4/22 (Bechdel test, 1st in series)
24. A book that involves time travel, opens a new window Jukebox, Nidhi Chanani 2/19/22
25. A book that makes you think, “Just one more chapter!” Harbinger, Wen Spencer 1/14/22
26. A book that takes place in a country that starts with the letter A, opens a new window
27. A book that takes place in a magical world, opens a new window  Royal Airs, Sharon Shinn 4/1/22
28. A book with a beverage in the title, opens a new window
29. A book with a cardinal direction (north, south, east, west) in the title, opens a new window
30. A book with a character who works in a library, opens a new window  A Place to Hang the Moon, Kate Albus 7/14/22
31. A book with a day of the week in the title, opens a new window
32. A book with a five-star rating in the TPL catalog, opens a new window (access link for directions!) Lore Olympus, Rachel Smythe 1/10/22 
33. A book with a heart, club, diamond, or spade shape on the cover:, opens a new window Life's Too Short, Abby Jimenez, 5/17/22
34. A book with a number from one through twelve in the title One Good Deed, David Baldacci 1/30/22, opens a new window
35. A book with a protagonist who has a pet cat, opens a new window Night Broken, Patricia Briggs 5/2/22 
36. A book with a protagonist who has your dream job The Steerswoman, Rosemary Kirstein 5/25/22
37. A book with a robot, cyborg, or artificial intelligence TheWild Robot, Peter Brown 4/14/22, opens a new window
38. A book with a snake on the cover , opens a new window Phoenix Extravagant, Yoon Ha Lee 7/11/22 (supposed to be a dragon, but that looks like a snake to me)
39. A book with a star on the cover, opens a new window Light From Uncommon Stars, Ryka Aoki 1/19/22
40. A book with a title structure of “The _____’s _____” , opens a new window The Outskirter's Secret, Rosemary Kirstein, 5/27/22
41. A book with best friends  Front Desk, Kelly Yang 3/7/22, opens a new window
42. A book with the name of a color in the title  Mexican Whiteboy, Matt de la Pena 2/17/22, opens a new window
43. A book written by an Asian American author, opens a new window The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo 2/11/22
44. A book written by an author whose first or last names begins with T, P, or L, opens a new window Salt Magic, Hope Larson 2/26/22
45. A book written by an author whose last name is six letters or more, opens a new window The Language of Power, Rosemary Kirstein  5/30/2022
46. A book written by one of your favorite authors Smoke Bitten, Patricia Briggs 1/24/22
47. A book written by multiple authors, opens a new window The Sentinel, Lee Child & Andrew Child, 2/21/22
48. A book written by someone who is no longer living Straight, Dick Francis 1/21/22, opens a new window
49. A fantasy book inspired by the Middle East, Southeast, or South Asia, opens a new window Fireheart Tiger, Aliette de Boudard 5/10/22
50. A horror or paranormal story, opens a new window Child of Fire, Harry Connolly 2/10/22
51. A Jane Austen novel, or a retelling or adaptation of one, opens a new window
52. A locked-room mystery, opens a new window
53. A philosophical literature or philosophy book The Past Is Red, Catherynne Valentine 6/28/22, opens a new windowhe Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky 2/13/22

54. A southern gothic novel

, opens a new window55. A space opera Foundation, Isaac Asimov 4/18/22

46/55

Resolution: Develop Executive Function

Somehow I am finding it hard to get things done. My new year is a mess of half-started projects but nothing I see through to completion. I keep breaking things into smaller pieces but it's backfiring because I keep not finishing these smaller pieces. Sort of a Zeno's paradox of executive function.

So I've started more books than I finished, and I'm celebrating anything I can declare a completed project. For example, I finished off my pint of ice cream! Go me!

The book club of local friends always does a movie for January, and we usually try for something vaguely literary. For example, Dune was a bit made-from-a-book movie this year, so we chose Tremors as our home movie version. Very good choice for watching with friends after eating a delicious lunch prepared by the gourmet husband of our hostess. 

I also finished season 2 of The Witcher, because Alexander watched it with me and he doesn't mess around. I did do some laundry, which means I also saw an episode of Untamed and suddenly noticed that I had skipped a season 2 episode of Deep Space 9, so I went back to start that. Netflix keeps messing up where I am in a series; I suspect that I am so much slower than any other TV watcher that I've baffled their tracking computer. 

The Book Date does a weekly roundup of what people are reading, want to read, or have read each week called "It's Monday! What Are You Reading" and I'm going to go sign up. Ditto for the children's lit version at either Teach Mentor Texts or Unleashing Readers. 

Started

Harbinger, Wen Spencer (ARC). The long-awaited Elfhome book! Baen lets you pay for access to their arc's, and I have money in my credit card.

The Guinevere Deception, Kiersten White. 2020 Cybils YA Speculative Fiction finalist. I like to read Cybils books while doing laundry. It helps if I actually do the laundry...

Light From Uncommon Stars, Ryka Aoki. Sword and Laser January Pick. 

Completed

Harbinger, Wen Spencer (ARC). Wow, Spencer is juggling a lot of balls, and she doesn't drop any of them. I'm not sure that's the best call -- with so many balls it's hard to pay attention to any of them -- there are so many viewpoint characters. But I like them all, and never had a feeling of "oh no, not these guys again." Warning -- this had better not be the end of the series, since it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. 

Wish, Barbara O'Connor. I read this for the Talbot Hill Book Club, and I and the kids liked it. There's a genre of kidlit that is kids from broken families, and they usually end up in a better place, and this one does that. The kids liked the different kinds of wishes, and liked guessing what her wish was, and whether her wish was granted -- does it count if she got what she needed but not in the way she thought she wanted? We also liked the dog, and her stubbornness in getting Wishbone and teaching him to love her.

 ----  And now for a book from my blogging hiatus! Someday I will mention them all! -----

Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists, Mikki Kendall. I appreciated the history bits of this more than the framing device. There's a lot of history that I don't know, and the experiences and achievements of female political leaders are often told less loudly than their peers, so I know even less. So the overview of politically powerful women was appreciated, as well as the nods to what was happening to the less famous masses. But the framing story of kids from the future on a learning field trip was more distracting than useful or interesting to me. They didn't really have personalities, and were just there to ask the occasional leading question.

Bookmarks Moved (Or Languished) In:

Ok, I'm only going to put a book in here when I actually try to read it. This week I made some progress in:

Maze Runner, James Dashner. My Tuesday book club/Minecraft group is reading this. I'm way behind, but it's a reread so I'm lax about it. And one guy made us a Maze! Big central area, and a giant maze around it that moves at night. Very cool.

Decrypted, Lindsay Buroker. I'm at an embarrassing cringe moment so I only read a smidge at a time.

Winter Tide, Ruthanna Emyrs. I'm reading this in Apple Books, which is where the Harbinger ARC was, so I went straight back into this.

Forfeit, Dick Francis. The one where he loves his paralyzed wife but also cheats on her.

Red Hood, Elana K. Arnold. I was doing quite well until a cat puked all over it. Looks like I'm buying this library book! And that's why I'm skipping over it to read the library-due-date one.

Picture Books / Short Stories:

Geraldine Pu and her Lunch Box, Too!, Maggie P. Chang. 2021 Cybils Easy Readers finalist. I like the enthusiastic embrace of the comic format, complete with instructions in the front for how to read it. The story itself was also engaging -- Geraldine's lunch elicits teasing from her classmates, and she takes out her frustration on her beloved lunch box. Friendship is magic so things work out, and the graphics do a great job of realistically anthropomorphizing the lunch box.

Fox at Night, Corey R. Tabor. 2021 Cybils Easy Readers finalist. Another fun and simple book. I like how Fox and her (his? I have no idea) fears are affirmed both by the reassurances from the other characters and the ending. I also like the reviews on goodreads that spoke approvingly of how kids will learn about nocturnal animals, which, OK, yes, but I see a few problems with kids learning about zoology from this. 

Chicken Little and the Big Bad Wolf, Sam Wedelich. 2021 Cybils Easy Readers finalist. Nice, but somehow fell on the wrong side of fantasy/animals are actually things that exist line for me, probably also because it felt a bit preachy. This is probably a me problem, not a kid problem. But I left the book thinking about whether the vegetarian wolf was really getting all the vitamins necessary, not feeling cozy about the lovely found family the characters built. 

 

Palate Cleansers

These books I'm barely reading; lately I use them as bribes to get me to deal with the mail. Hmm. I should get back to that. 

The Educated Child, William Bennett. I'm almost at the end here! These guys have some huge blind spots.

Wool, Hugh Howey.  

Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho. 

 

Dates From Hell, Kim Harrison & others.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca. 

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. I listen while dealing with the post.

Reading Challenges

1. Cybils 2021. Reading Easy Readers and Early Chapter books.
2. Early Cybils: Working on Guinevere Deception
3. Reading My Library. The library had a pipe break and is closed for repairs!
4. Where Am I Reading 2022. Started!

Future Plans

I'm putting this at the end because I suspect it's complete fiction, but I feel I should attempt some structure.

I am reading: 

• Book I own: So many partially read books! I have no idea. 
• Library Book: Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe.
• Ebook I own:   Winter's Tale. Next: ???
• Library Ebook: Maze Runner.  Next: ??
• Book Club Book: Light From Uncommon Stars
• Tuesday Book Club Book: Maze Runner
• Review Book: The Queer Principles of Kit Webb  Next: Back Home
• Rereading: Forfeit
• Meal Companion: 
• Audio: None  Next: I have a book on CD I'll start listening to if I ever catch up on my podcasts.

Ten To Try 2022

KCLS Challenge: Ten To Try 

Progress:  10/10

Once again my fabulous library system is hosting their Ten to Try Challenge where you try to read books fitting ten categories, and if you succeed, you win happiness beyond compare. Also you get a button. I love my buttons. Finally, it's an excuse to create a list on the library home page. Lists! Buttons! You see how easy it is for the library to give me happiness.

I'll keep a list -- I just hit four so I can make it public (July 4th!). This year I'm going to make it harder by trying to pre-select my books, but I warn the world that if I have problems I'm going to panic in November and search through my year in books to try to fit something in.

Anyway, this years challenge categories are:

1. Cover is your favorite color: Sisters, Raina Telgemeier 2/3/22
2. Set somewhere you've wanted to visit: Ancestral Night, Elizabeth Bear (if I like the place!)
3. Main character is over 50: Machine, Elizabeth Bear (Valley of the Shadow, Carola Dunn)
4. By an Asian or Asian-American author: Light From Uncommon Stars, Ryka Aoki 1/19/22
5. About a library or set in a library Running the Books, Avi Steinberg (One For the Books, Jenn McKinlay)
6. Set in another century: Lent, Jo Walton (Risk, Dick Francis)
7. A one-word title Warcross, Marie Lu (Chalice, Robin McKinley)
8. Recommended by a friend: A Ghost in the Glamour, Elizabeth Hunter (rec by Kathleen) (Wall of Winnipeg, Jane Zapata)
9. Has won an award: The Library Book, Susan Orlean (California Book Award)
10. Recommended by staff Mapping Sam, Joyce Hesselberth 5/6/22

Maybe I'll try using the hashtag #10totry when I tweet the book. Probably not, because I tweet my books pretty late.

OK, I'll work on these later -- I might move Machine to spot 3 if the protagonist is old enough, and I need to ask a friend and a staff person for 8 and 10. (The author confirmed the protagonists age! Elizabeth Bear is the coolest.)

(I just edited to delete all the Success Markers left over from me copying everything from last years Ten to Try Post)

Where Am I Reading 2022

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 2021. 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.

***** My life went pretty crazy in the end of 2022, so I lost track. I think I'll skip 2023 and then start up again if I'm interested. ****

.

Missed in 2021:

Alaska: Sweet Home Alaska

Connecticut: One For the Books

Delaware: Everything Blue

Iowa:

Kansas: On the Corner of Hope

Kentucky: Red White & Whole

Mississippi:

Missouri:

Nevada:

Ohio: A Spindle Splintered

South Carolina:

South Dakota:

Vermont: Chirp

-----------------------    2022 ----------------

Alabama: Freedom Walkers

Alaska: Sweet Home Alaska

Arizona: Canyon's Edge

Arkansas: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings 

California: Light of Uncommon Stars

Colorado: The Real Thing

Connecticut: One For the Books

Delaware: Everywhere Blue

Florida: Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe

Georgia: Dear Justyce

10/10

Hawaii: 

Idaho: 

Illinois: Violets Are Blue

Indiana: 

Iowa: 

Kansas: On the Corner of Hope

Kentucky: Red White & Whole

Louisiana: Never Tell, 

Maine: The Scotsman Who Swept Me Away

Maryland: Finding Junie Kim

6/10

Massachusetts: Winter Tide

Michigan: Huda F Are You

Minnesota: Life's Too Short

Mississippi: 

Missouri: 

Montana: 

Nebraska: 

Nevada: 

New Hampshire: Tuck Everlasting

New Jersey: 

4/10

New Mexico: Me (Moth)

New York: In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers

North Carolina: The Edge of Anything,

North Dakota: 

Ohio: A Spindle Splintered

Oklahoma: Salt Magic

Oregon:

Pennsylvania: Harbinger

Rhode Island: 

South Carolina: 

6/10

South Dakota:

Tennessee: The Sentinel

Texas: Chunky

Utah: 

Vermont: Chirp

Virginia: 

Washington: Burn 

West Virginia: 

Wisconsin: 

Wyoming: 

4/10

Washington D.C.: 

30/51

World Reading:

North America (non-US): 2

Canada: My Body In Pieces

Mexico: 

Caribbean: 

Blackfoot: Borders

Asia: 3

Turkmenistan: 

Turkey: 

Kazakhstan: 

Japan: 

Afghanistan: 

China: Grandmaster of Cultivation

Thailand: 

India: Jasmin Throne

Vietnam: Fireheart Tiger

Korea: Phoenix Extravagant

Europe: 4

England: Straight

Wales: Framed

Scotland: When a Scot Ties the Knot

Germany: Black Butler 19

Ireland: Guest

Albania: 

Czech Republic:  

France: Heartstoppers 3

Italy: 

Russia: 

Africa: 2

Kenya: 

Egypt: A Master of Djinn

Nigeria: Ikenga

South America: 1

Argentina:

Ecuador: The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina

Oceania 1

Australia: Terra Nullius

Countries: 13

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

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.: 

New Year! A New Post

I am currently reading 30 books, which amazingly enough is less than last week. But most I haven't opened since last year. 

We had snow for the New Year, but by now the rain has melted it all away, thank goodness. And I have a New Years Resolution to start this blog again, so I'm just going to send this out.

The Book Date does a weekly roundup of what people are reading, want to read, or have read each week called "It's Monday! What Are You Reading" and I'm going to go sign up. Ditto for the children's lit version at either Teach Mentor Texts or Unleashing Readers. 

Started

Wish, Barbara O'Conner. For Talbot Reading Club.

Chaos Reigning, Jessie Mihalik. Finishing a series.

The Maze Runner, James Dashner. Tuesday Minecraft club.

Lore Olympus, Rachael Smythe. My gift in a gift exchange. 

Completed

Burn, Patrick Ness. 2020 Cybils YA Speculative Fiction finalist. OK, I remember the Ness is willing to have consequences, so I was not surprised by the high bodycount. Emotionally gutted, yes, but not surprised. I really like how he integrates the fantasy elements and the themes, so that dragons aren't just cool dragons, they also strengthen the emotional weight of the story.

The Edge of Anything, Nora Shalaway Carpenter. 2020 Cybils YA Fiction finalist. I poked at this a bit before committing, because it really looked like an "issue book" and I'm a bit allergic to those. It is true that it involves a girl dealing with OCD and a second girl dealing with the loss of her high-stakes athletic career after learning about her heart condition, but what it is about is these two becoming friends right when they need each other; the heart of the book isn't in teaching us about their conditions but in how they help each other sort through their emotions and make choices (good and bad) moving forward into their lives. Good stuff.

Fearing the Black Body, Sabrina Strings. I read this for a Torches and Pitchforks meeting that I had already missed, but since I helped pick the book I wanted to read it. It was a bit dry and repetitive, as I am more a lay person than the book is aimed at, but it did reinforce where our society's dislike of fatness comes from as well as how deeply racism is embedded. When people want to put something down, associating it with people of color is an easy and frequently used technique. 

The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina, Zoraida Cordova. This Sword and Laser pick had lovely language -- a rich, magical realism feel that would lull me into a rhythm and then slyly wake me up with starkly modern language, because it was a fantasy, not really magical realism, and the characters in the modern day wanted to remind me of that. I liked the family relationships, the willingness of the plot to take chances, and how Cordova does not respect men who cheat. A boy like, he's trouble. 

Lore Olympus, Rachael Smythe. This retelling of some Greek myths featured an anatomically dubious Persephone (I kept worrying that she had suffered some crippling injury, but it was just her boobs, back,  and butt not being connected on the mundane realm) but also some cool twists on the story. I also like the bright colors and shades of the Gods -- it made the characters much easier for me to differentiate. I also felt cool because I picked it from our White Elephant exchange to celebrate my son (he just graduated with a degree in Classics) and when I showed him he recognized it and had already read it. 

Bookmarks Moved (Or Languished) In:

Ok, I'm only going to put a book in here when I actually try to read it. This week I made some progress in:

Red Hood, Elana K. Arnold. I was doing quite well until a cat puked all over it. Looks like I'm buying this library book!

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. I listen while dealing with the post.

Picture Books / Short Stories:

See the Dog, David LaRochelle. 2021 Cybils Early Reader Finalist. This was a lot of fun, and I would have been delighted to share it with a budding reader, if I could find one. I did share it with my son, the one that recently graduated college, and he was amused. I liked that the left hand side was the words in the book, and the right hand side was the characters, especially the cat. The book was an easier read, but both were fun. And the pictures brought extra information that worked well with the humor. The final chapter with the cat trying to protect a sheep had me laughing out loud. I took the book along to book club because I know one member has a son just starting to read, so I hope she gets it for him.

Yasmin the Zookeeper, Saadia Faruqi. A different Yasmin book is a finalist, but this one was on the library shelves so I grabbed it. Not her finest; it's about a trip to the zoo but is wildly unrealistic in what seems like an accidental way. Since it has a bit of a didactic bent -- Yasmin is helping kids learn Important Lessons and even concludes with vocabulary and maps and stuff, so having zoos with elephants close enough to steal hats from visitors seemed silly.

Palate Cleansers

These books I'm barely reading; lately I use them bribes to get me to deal with the mail. Hmm. I should get back to that. 

The Educated Child, William Bennett. I'm almost at the end here!

Wool, Hugh Howey.  

Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho. 

 

Dates From Hell, Kim Harrison & others.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca. 

Reading Challenges

1. Cybils 2021. Waiting on library orders.
2. Early Cybils: Working on Red Hood
3. Reading My Library. The library had a pipe break and is closed for repairs!
4. Where Am I Reading 2022: Haven't set it up yet. 

Future Plans

I'm putting this at the end because I suspect it's complete fiction, but I feel I should attempt some structure.

I am reading: 

• Book I own: So many partially read books! I have no idea. 
• Library Book: Chaos Reigning.
• Ebook I own:   Winter's Tale. Next: ???
• Library Ebook: Maze Runner.  Next: ??
• Book Club Book: Wish
• Tuesday Book Club Book: Maze Runner
• Review Book: The Queer Principles of Kit Webb  Next: Back Home
• Rereading: Forfeit
• Meal Companion: 
• Audio: None  Next: I have a book on CD I'll start listening to if I ever catch up on my podcasts.