Three months into the year can only mean it’s time for my quarterly update on reading challenges!
Newbery Medal Winners
Goal: 20 Newbery Medal Winners, halving the number remaining
Host: Smiling Shelves
A good start to the year, although I think I must have read these in a clump–it felt like I was doing constant Newberys for a while, yet it’s not actually that many for the year yet!
- Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata
- The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
- Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena
- Good Masters, Sweet Ladies by Laura Amy Schlitz
- Crispin: The Cross of Lead by AVI
- King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry
- Joyful Noise by Paul Fleischman
- The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
Diverse Reading
Goal: 20 books with non-Caucasian protagonists
Host: ??? Haven’t found an official challenge yet
I’m very pleased with this one so far, especially as I feel like I have more of a mix of deliberately-sought and stumbled-upon books…which makes me feel a little better about the presence of diverse characters in literature. I suspect one of the librarians at my local library of also being conscious of this, as I keep picking up prominently displayed books that turn out to have diverse characters! I’ve also noticed that I seem to have a number of books featuring interracial romance, which seems pretty cool too.
- The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig (Chinese heroine, Arab hero)
- Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata (Japanese)
- Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho (African-English hero, Indian heroine)
- Not Your Sidekick by C. B. Lee (Chinese)
- The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon (African-American heroine, Korean hero)
- King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry (Arab)
- The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig (Chinese heroine, Arab hero)
- Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven (African-American)
Spiritual Reading
Goal: 6 books on spiritual topics
I may have aimed low on this one, as I’ve already read four books out of the six target…but I’ve read some very accessible and relatively short ones, so it will be interesting how this goes on. So far I’m finding a lot of insights and really valuing this reading. As a kind of side-diversity item, I thought I’d note what faith tradition each book’s author comes from.
- Rumi: Bridge to the Soul translated by Coleman Barks (Muslim)
- Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh (Buddhist)
- The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh (Buddhist)
- Falling Upward by Richard Rohr, OFM (Catholic, Franciscan)
L.M. Montgomery Reading
Goal: 12 Montgomery-related books
I have to work on this one! I have read three Montgomery books, but one was a reread and doesn’t quite count… Of the two that do count, one was about Montgomery and the other was one of her favorites. According to legend, she had the entirety of Lady of the Lake memorized…which is around 5,000 lines of verse!
1. Remembering Lucy Maud Montgomery by Alexandra Heilbron
The Gift of Wings by Mary Rubio (reread)
2. The Lady of the Lake by Sir Walter Scott
I’ll need to get more Montgomery reading in, but overall I’m feeling pretty satisfied with the start to the year! Both in numbers and, more importantly, in enjoying my reading.
Do you have any reading challenges for the year? How are they going?
That’s looking good. I always wonder about the Newberys, but then, we don’t have them in the UK, which could be why I’ve hardly heard of any of the winners.
I’ve embarked on a Non-Fiction Adventure of 50 books in ten years. So far, so good 🙂
Well done for your progress so far – it looks like you’ve been reading a good and varied range of books. In March, I came to the end of my epic 5 year Classics Club challenge, for which I read 50 books! I can’t believe it is all over 😀