Reading Women Challenge 2020

As you all know, I've been a big reader my whole life. But I got into this habit sometime during college where I'd get super engrossed in a type of book or genre and not read anything else. There was period in college when all I read was historical fiction and made myself so sick of it that I couldn't read those kinds of books again until a few years ago. Or when I rediscovered Young Adult as it was gaining popularity – particularly paranormal romance, dystopian, and fantasy – I wanted to get my hands on everything that reminded me of The Mortal Instruments, Twilight, The Hunger Games, Iron Fey and The Graceling. Eventually I made my way to contemporary, New Adult and romance. And that was basically the purview of my reading for a long period of time but it was still pretty varied. Then I'd say in the last five years or so, I've made a point to really diversify what I choose to read. Or at least, I try to! I'll pick the occasional book that isn't my usual cup of tea or I just try to be more open in general. Now, my reading is split about 50/50 between YA and Adult and covers a wide range of genres, plus poetry, trying my hand at classics again, and even the occasional nonfiction book (this is still pretty rare though!).  

Which brings me to this reading challenge! Their goal is to "encourage you to read widely (and fight the patriarchy, but that was probably a given)" and I couldn't resist giving it a try. It seemed like the ultimate way to challenge myself to read beyond my review books and what I tend to gravitate towards. I created a page for it so I can track my progress throughout the year but so far, I've completed 11 of the 26 prompts and I'm excited to keep going. 

As of today, here's where I'm at: 

1. Book by an Author from the Caribbean or India - Clear Light of Day by Anita Desai 
2. A Book Translated from an Asian Language - The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa ✅
3. A Book about the Environment - Visionary Women: How Rachel Carson, Jane Jacobs, Jane Goodall, and Alice Waters Changed Our World by Andrea Barnet
4. A Picture Book Written/Illustrated by a BIPOC Author - Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o
5. A Winner of the Stella Prize or the Women’s Prize for Fiction - Nightingale Point by Luan Goldie 
6. A Nonfiction Title by a Woman Historian - The Library Book by Susan Orlean
7. A Book Featuring Afrofuturism or Africanfuturism - Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
8. An Anthology by Multiple Authors - Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft by Tess Sharpe (editor)
9. A Book Inspired by Folklore - A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
10. A Book about a Woman Artist - Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough
11. Read and Watch a Book-to-Movie Adaptation - Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl ✅
12. A Book about a Woman Who Inspires You - And They Called It Camelot by Stephanie Marie Thornton ✅
13. A Book by an Arab Woman - Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed
14. A Book Set in Japan or by a Japanese Author - The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa ✅
15. A Biography - Visionary Women: How Rachel Carson, Jane Jacobs, Jane Goodall, and Alice Waters Changed Our World by Andrea Barnet
16. A Book Featuring a Woman with a Disability - Three Nights with a Scoundrel by Tessa Dare
17. A Book Over 500 Pages - House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) by Sarah J. Maas ✅
18. A Book Under 100 Pages - Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie  ✅
19. A Book That’s Frequently Recommended to You - The Duke and I by Julia Quinn ✅
20. A Feel-Good or Happy Book - Tweet Cute by Emma Lord ✅
21. A Book about Food - Tweet Cute by Emma Lord ✅
22. A Book by Either a Favorite or a New-to-You Publisher - House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) by Sarah J. Maas ✅
23. A Book by an LGBTQ+ Author - When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore
24. A Book from the 2019 Reading Women Award Shortlists or Honorable Mentions - This Time Will Be Different by Misa Sugiura
25. Bonus: A Book by Toni Morrison - Sula
26. Bonus: A Book by Isabel Allende - The House of the Spirits ✅ 

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Are you doing any reading challenges this year?