ane237 | 2021 Category Challenge

Fourteen years on LT, and my first time joining a challenge— this moment feels both momentous and inevitable! I’ve tried various types of reading challenges in the past, but usually find them too constraining or anxiety-inducing. This, however, seems totally possible, fun, and not at all soul-crushing. (I'm also hoping this will inspire me to unpack and catalogue those last few boxes of books hanging about, and actually tackle my tags and general organization. Small steps.)

I wrestled a bit coming up with categories that accurately reflect my reading habits and goals, but ultimately I think this is pretty representative. My usual mysteries and mid-century novels can slide into the alpha or bingo challenges, and the backlog of unread books on my shelves should decrease through some targeted categories while still allowing for variance and guilty pleasure reads.

☂CATEGORIES:
✄ all categories must contain a ROOT book, i.e. books already owned
✄ books may be used for multiple challenges/categories (3 max)

alphaKIT | bingoDOG | books become them | end(pages) are in sight | happyland | outside my comfort zone | professional/career | recced by friends | three dimensional essays

ALPHAKIT
even half the alphabet is a worthy endeavor; all you really need are vowels.
2021 Yearlong..... X Z
January..............P M
February............T K
March.................U R
April....................A W
May.....................I N
June....................C D
July......................S O
August................V J
September.........F L
October..............H E
November.........B Y
December..........G Q

• The Mermaid, The Witch, and The Sea - Maggie Tokuda-Hall
• The Case of the Missing Marquess - Nancy Springer
• P.S. I Still Love You - Jenny Han
• Pumpkinheads - Rainbow Rowell

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BINGODOG
to row or to blitz in order to succeed

•5) title - author
•6) title - author
•12) title - author
•13) title - author
•14) title - author
•17) Yes No Maybe So - Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saed
•19 or 21 or 23) Nature Poem - Tommy Pico
)

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BOOKS BECOME THEM
those whose lives are equally—if not more—interesting than the books they wrote

• title - author
• title - author

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END(PAGES) ARE IN SIGHT
unfinished but not forgotten

• title - author
•title - author

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HAPPYLAND
judgment free guilty pleasures, and spontaneous reminders that reading is fun.

• The Mermaid, The Witch, and The Sea - Maggie Tokuda-Hal
• Love, Creekwood - Becky Albertalli
• Pumpkinheads - Rainbow Rowell
• Yes No Maybe So - Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saed
• To All The Boys I've Loved Before - Jenny Han
• P.S. I Still Love You - Jenny Han
• Always and Forever, Lara Jean - Jenny Han
• Not If I See You First - Eric Lindstrom
•Enola Holmes: The Case of the Missing Marquess - Nancy Springer

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OUTSIDE MY COMFORT ZONE
tackling different genres, topics, or otherwise challenging tomes.

• title - author
•title - author

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PROFESSIONAL/CAREER
actually reading the entire book instead of just flipping to chapters in an hour of need

• title - author
•title - author

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RECCED BY FRIENDS
the book equivalent of a blind date: will the friendship survive? (these don't have to be owned.)

• title - author
• title - author

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THREE DIMENSIONAL ESSAYS
exhibition catalogues, museum publications, supporting materials

• The story of the Bauhaus - Frances Ambler (supporting material; veryclosely echoes the Bauhaus 100 exhibits) ✄
•title - author

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Welcome, Ane~ Good luck with your 2021 reading.

Good luck with your reading in 2021! This is also my first year trying the category challenges, and there are a couple of other first-timers around too.

Welcome to the challenge! "Not at all soul-crushing" is the vibe we are going for here. :)

Welcome to the Category Challenge, our main goal here is to enjoy our reading.

Welcome to the challenge, and have a great time with your reading!

Great setup! Have fun with your challenge :)

>11 Tess_W:: Thanks!

>12 spiralsheep: Same to you! It's always nice when there's a small batch of new people at the same time.

>13 christina_reads: Wicked, it's no fun when challenges start feeling like personal failings! Thanks for the welcome!

>14 DeltaQueen50: Glad to be here; looking forward to a year of guilt-free reading!

>15 thornton37814: Thanks for the welcome!

>16 rabbitprincess: Thank you! I'm really enjoying exploring all the different ways everyone has structured their challenges/categories.

Welcome from another new member! I completely agree that challenges should not be stressful, and like you I joined this group because it seemed like a happy place and not one that would make me feel inadequate if I read less or don‘t meet my goals! And this has really come true, I haven‘t been so motivated to read in ages!

Happy reading and nice to meet you here :-)

Welcome! Love the names you found for your categories, especially the "End(pages) are in sight". Happy stress-free reading!