Twice each year, Megan hosts a reading challenge – a summer challenge and this winter game that runs from November to the end of January. I’ve participated before and really enjoyed it, because even when I didn’t complete all the requirements, it was fun pushing myself to try to work off a reading list and I met some new fellow bookworms. In November 2016, I signed up again and here’s how I did. 

General Guidelines:

• To be challenge worthy, each book must be at least 150 pages long
• One book per category, each category requires a different book
• The challenge runs 11/1/2016 to 1/31/2017

I read these books, as listed in my TBR post:

• 5 points: Book at least 150 pages long – Interpreter of Maladies/ Jhumpa Lahiri completed 11/6/16 5 stars 198 pages
  10 points: 2016 finalist for a literary prize: National Book Award, Man Booker or Man Booker International The Vegetarian by Han Kang completed 12/8/16 4 stars 188 pages
• 10 points: Brand-new release (published between November 1,  2016, and January 31, 2017) The Sun Is Also A Star/ Nicola Yoon completed 12/1/16 5 stars 384 pages
• 15 points: Author of a different race or religion than you The Shack/ William Paul Young – Author is Caucasian and from Canada completed 12/7/16 248 pages 
• 15 points: Main character who is of a different race or religion than you – Olive Kitteridge/ Elizabeth Strout completed 11/4/16 5 stars 270 pages (Olive Kitteridge is Caucasian. There were no African American/ Afro Caribbeans in this Maine town)
• 20 points: Modern retelling of a classic – Shylock Is My Name / Howard Jacobson (retelling of The Merchant of Venice) 4.5 stars 228 pages completed 1/7/16
• 25 points: Book with an alcoholic beverage (neat or cocktail) in the title — Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller / Sarah Miller (apparently, there’s a cocktail named Spitfire) 208 pages completed 1/31/17
• 30 points: Book with a character that shares your first or last name. Sula / Toni Morrison 5 stars 174 pages completed 1/28/17  – character named Nel Wright (thanks to Erin for the recommendation)
• 30 points: Two books that connect – a nonfiction book and a fiction book with similar thread or subject. Moonwalking with Einstein/ Joshua Foer (NF) 307 pages 4 stars completed 12/6/16 and The Other Einstein / Marie Benedict (Fiction) 304 pages 4 stars completed 3 stars 12/31/16
• 40 points: 2 books where one author’s first name is the surname of the other author. Unburnable / Marie-Elena John 296 pages 4 stars completed 1/24/17 and An Abundance of Katherines / John Green 228 pages 3 stars completed 12/15/16

Total points: 200  – Completed!

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