2021 reading goals and challenges : what will be on my blog in 2021...

 

 

Let it be known, my main goal for 2021 is to get rid of my physical TBR ! I didn't want to participate in any challenge at first, but figured there were some very tempting ones that I could include that TBR in, so I did. 

Let's see the challenges :

The Classics Club

 

To enter this club, you have to make a list of 50 classics (whatever kinds of books you name classics, they can be modern classics or children's classics for instance) to read in 5 years. 5 years, people ! It's doable. The complete list of instructions on how to join is here.

In this post, I have listed all the novels I'll be reading for this challenge. I have them all already, on my shelves mostly and a few on my kindle.

 

The Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2021

 

This challenge is open to everyone, including non-bloggers, non-youtubers, just regular readers. You just have to review on whatever platform you like a book of historical fiction and link it back to the challenge. You can choose between different levels, from 2 books to 50+ books. Then again, doable. I'll be a Victorian reader with 5 books.

In this post, I listed the 5 books that I'll be reading.

 

The Japanese literature challenge 2021

 

This one is also easy : you have to read books in Japanese, or translated from Japanese, from january through march 2021 and link them to the challenge. I already have 5 Japanese books on my shelves :

- Hiro ARIKAWA : The travelling cat chronicles (in French)

- Kosuke MUKAI : Les chats ne rient pas (Cats don't laugh, doesn't exist in English yet)

- Kazuaki TAKANO : Genocide of one

- Yukio MISHIMA : Dojoji (in French)

- Haruki MURAKAMI : 1Q84 #1 (in French)

 

Afternoon Tea and Scones with the Lovely Ladies

 

This is a Goodreads group and one of its challenges is to read 21 books in 2021 with these specifics :

  1. A book set outside the UK (Ethan Frome/Edith Wharton)
  2. A book you feel you should have read before now but have kept putting it off (La princesse de Clèves/Mme de la Fayette - I cheated, already read it in school)
  3. A book set in the 19th century (The doom of the Griffiths/Elizabeth Gaskell)
  4. A book with a name in the title (Lizzie Leigh/Elizabeth Gaskell)
  5. A book by an author new to you (Wild strawberries/Angela Thirkell)
  6. A book of poetry (Goblin market/Christina Rossetti)
  7. The first book published by an author (Mary Barton/Elizabeth Gaskell)
  8. A book published under a pseudonym (Death in the Devil's Acre/Anne Perry)
  9. A mystery or gothic novel (Lady Audley's secret/Mary Elizabeth Braddon)
10. A YA or children's book (Little women/Louisa May Alcott)
11. Ask a friend to choose a book for you (Burial rites/Hannah Kent)
12. A book of short stories, not necessarily by the same author (Stancliffe's hotel/Charlotte Brontë)
13. Re-read a favorite book (All passion spent/Vita Sackville-West)
14. A work of nonfiction (Le travail et la vertu/Katherine Blunden)
15. A biography or other non-fiction book about an author - this book can have a publishing date after 1991 (The Brontës at Haworth/Ann Dinsdale)
16. A book with an unreliable narrator (My cousin Rachel/Daphne du Maurier)
17. A book that was awarded a prize (East wind, west wind/Pearl Buck - I cheated, Pearl Buck was awarded the prize for her whole career)
18. A book that has been adapted for TV or made into a movie (North and South/Elizabeth Gaskell)
19. A book that was published posthumously (Suite française/Hélène Nemirovsky)
20. A book with a colour or season in the title (The solitary summer/Elizabeth Von Arnim)
21. A book by an author whose life or work inspires you (Charlotte Brontë, a fiery heart/Claire Harman)

I cheated twice, but I'll explain it all when I review these books.

 

The no buying book ban 2021

 

The challenge's title speaks for itself : no buying books in 2021, with a few exceptions that follow, of course ^^

- Martha Well's series The Murderbot : for once, I started a series this month and want to read it all, one book per month at a time. The series is limited, there are 6 books including the last one that isn't published yet. I already read one, have the second, the last will be published this year. I usually start series, then mark the following books as "to read" and they remain so, not this time.

- There are a few books that I really, really want to read, they are marked as "first in line" on my Goodreads shelves. Those that I don't have and can't borrow at the library, I want to buy on kindle (less expensive).

- My Brontë mania project : I need 3 books for 12 months. I can buy 3 books on my all-time favourite authors on the planet, it won't be wasted money.

I'll update on the sunday wrap-up at every end of the month to check if I've been good.........

For someone who didn't want to participate in any challenges, that's a lot of challenges, but including books that I already have, mostly, or can borrow at the library.

At the beginning of each month, I'll be posting about the titles I'll read from these challenges with their links to Goodreads. If I have some time left, I'll read other books from my physical shelf.