Reading Challenges for Every Reader (2021 and 2022)

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I love doing reading challenges for many reasons. One because I am introduced to many new bloggers and more specifically to what they, and all the others who are following their challenges are reading.

Second I read more diversely. Without these challenges I never would have gone on a hunt for a good book based on Norse Mythology or say a book about an immigrant. In the process I get to know so many new titles and get to read some awesome finds.

Third it saves me the problem of deciding what books to read. Usually I have plenty of unread books on my shelves. Through these challenges I find books that could fit the bill and read those.

So when it saves me the problem of the decision making process. And bonus, if I don’t find a book that suits the theme I can always BUY MORE BOOKS, just because I don’t want to miss the challenge.

Four, I have discovered some amazing reads through challenges. Don't believe me? Take a look at what I read in 2021 for the challenges and you'll know.

And don’t take this wrong, even if I miss a couple of month in either of these challenges no one is going to hold it against me. Reading is meant for pleasure, for fun. We don’t have to make it a punishment of reading every theme. You decide you.

So sharing the two book reading challenges of 2021 that I participated in and what books I read for them.

Post that I will also be sharing links for their book reading challenge 2022 themes for the 2022 reading challenge. And some other blogs that also host a reading challenge. Whichever you think suits you best, do participate in.

Many of these books are also available on Kindle Unlimited. Try Kindle Unlimited Free for 30 days!

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Uncorked reading Challenge 2021

January Truth Bomb Nonfiction Book

Atomic Habits by James Clear

If there is one book you need to read to work and improve on yourself in 2022, it is this book.

“Small Habits don’t add up, they compound. That’s the power of atomic habits. Tiny changes. Remarkable results.”

February Book By A Contemporary Black Author

The Vanishing Half by Britt Benett

A very unique story about two black sisters and their daughters spanning 4 decades.

“A body could be labeled but a person couldn’t, and the difference between the two depended on that muscle in your chest. That beloved organ, not sentient, not aware, not feeling, just pumping along, keeping you alive.”

March Historical Fiction Novel Featuring Inspiring Women

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

It’s for the number of times I laughed-out-loud more than I shed tears that I rate this book a perfect five stars. This book is an underrated gem.

“For women to realize, We are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I’d thought.”

April Book Set On A Train

Midnight Train to Prague: A Novel

I DNFed this book. after reading more than 50 pages, I felt that the book seemed to lack a firm storyline.

A Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh

In this book Khushwant Singh portrays the horrors of the India and Pakistan partition era.

“Freedom is for the educated people who fought for it. We were slaves of the English, now we will be slaves of the educated Indians—or the Pakistanis.”

May Book Set In India

The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Divakaruni Banerjee

A retelling of the Indian Epic through a woman’s perspective. Mahabharata told through the POV of Draupadi aka Panchali, the wife of the Pandavas. I gave this book an obvious 5 stars.

June Book With A Beverage In The Title

Into The Water by Paula Hawkins

A disappointing book by the author of The Girl on the Train.

“I thought rape was something a bad man did to you, a man who jumped at you in an alleyway, and a man who held a knife to your throat. I didn’t think schoolboys did it. I didn’t think they did it in your living room and asked afterward if you had a good time.”

July Book Set On An Island

We Were Liars by E.Lockhart

This book goes to my list of books with twisted ends I did not see coming. A must-read YA mystery.

August Book Translated From Spanish

The Chronicle of Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

A man is about to be murdered and everyone in this small Mexican village is aware he is going to be murdered and when, but no one can save him. Compelling writing, beautiful classic.

September Banned Book From The 21st Century

Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

A little black girl, becomes pregnant with her father’s child. You can imagine why it got banned. Add to it foul language and sinister circumstances, that will make you pity the sweet girl.

October True Crime Novel

The Good Girls: An ordinary Killing by Sonia Faleiro

Padma Shakya and Lalli Shakya, cousins, living in Badaun, Katra in UP had gone to a fair the previous evening. At night, as was customary, they went for a piss in the nearby fields. The next morning their bodies were found hanging by a mango tree in a nearby orchard.

This isn’t a fictional story. This was a true event that happened on the night of the 27th of May in 2014 in India.

November Book Inspired By Norse Mythology

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaman

The book contains 16 tales from the Norse Myths starting from the beginning of times till the end of the world (Ragnarok) inspired by an old anonymous Norse poetry book called the Prose Edda. The primary characters are Odin, The All-Father, Thor, son of Odin, and Loki, blood brother to Odin.

A lot of modern fiction has been inspired by these great tales. And it is entertaining and absorbing to read the original stories.

December Multicultural Rom-Com

Beach Read my Emily Henry

Delightful. The perfect recipe for a perfect romantic comedy. Plus the characters, especially January was given much more depth with her complexity of emotions and was shown to have a very realistic thought process in all the matters. I felt this was more than any other romantic comedies I’d read had to offer, where the characters were always superfluous and only bubbly and joyful. And always were disproportionately mad with their love interests.

The Spanish Love Deception

Booklist queen Reading challenge 2021

January

Book Becoming Movie in 2021 – The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The perfect world war II story told from the POV of a woman. Like men woman too forwarded the cause of freedom for the Jews. Some of them taught Jew kids while some delivered Jew men across mountains and rivers in safe places. Quite a beautiful novel that made me ugly cry.

February

About a Pressing Social Issue – We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie

“Some people ask: “Why the word feminist? Why not just say you are a believer in human rights, or something like that?” Because that would be dishonest. Feminism is, of course, part of human rights in general—but to choose to use the vague expression human rights is to deny the specific and particular problem of gender. It would be a way of pretending that it was not women who have, for centuries, been excluded. It would be a way of denying that the problem of gender targets women.”

March

2020 Bestseller – Midnight Library by Matt Haig

I cannot help but recall the famous quote by Albert Camus here “Life is the sum of all your choices.” That is the gist of this book. Another message more clearly emphasized is that, however miserable you think your life is right now, things will get better. It’s going to be all right.

April

Published in the 1800s – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I’ve never been a classics reader, to be honest. So I read very selective classics. And I recommend even fewer. I definitely recommend this evergreen romance that potrays the classic enemies to lover’s trope.

May

A Book That Makes You Think – Non-fiction – Sapiens: A brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

If you’d like to know how our species was born, 70,000 years ago and how we evolved through the years and why things are the way they are, now and how did we survive all these years although no other species did, this book by Yuval Noah Harari will enlighten you.

June

A Summer Read – The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

A Dog-walking job in a wealthy neighborhood lands Jane in the path of Eddie, a rich and handsome widower. Jane can’t believe her luck when he proposes, and she starts dreaming of becoming the mistress of Eddie’s enormous mansion. But little does she know that the mansion holds a dark secret about Eddie’s deceased wife Bea, who is believed to have died in a tragic boat accident. Jane feels haunted by Bea.

July

An Audiobook – Sadie by Courtney Summers

The narrative switches between Sadie and the Podcaster West McCray and I loved the small jingle McMillan Publishers has added in the audiobook before the podcast begins. These little things make it so real and the experience of listening to a book very appealing.

Sadie’s character will touch you in a way that you won’t be able to get her out of your mind.

August

About an Immigrant – Know My Name by Chanel Miler

Chanel became the strong voice in support of all victims who were judged, insulted, humiliated, and silenced for being sexual assault victims. Her statement had America change its age-old laws of sexual abuse. But she too was not without her days of loneliness, guilt, self-harm, and depression.

September

Nonfiction New York Times Bestseller – Think Again by Adam Grant

Think Again explores the power of knowing what you don’t know. Through this book discover how rethinking can lead to excellence at work and wisdom in life.

Intelligence is traditionally viewed as the ability to think and learn. There’s another set of cognitive skills that matter more – the ability to rethink and unlearn. Our identities are old systems and so are our lives. We don’t have to stay tethered to old images.

October

Psychological Thriller – Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

Why didn’t I read this book earlier?

Everything about this novel is first class. The gothic atmosphere, the believable characters, the upbeat pace of the story, the ingenious plotline, and the murderous suspense.

November

Title with Three Words – The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

So there is an island. It is governed by someone called The Memory Police. The island has a peculiarity, it has a memory problem. Things on the island – hats, birds, roses, perfumes, gems, and so on – disappear. And the inhabitants of the island lose all memory of it.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Quite an unputdownable piece of writing. And the end, ah the end, although it broke my heart, (for it isn’t a happily ever after kind of ending) I think it was perfect. Anything else and the story would’ve been too mushy or even unrealistic or fairy-tale-like.

December

2021 New Release – The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

Reading challenges for 2022

I might just do an extra challenge in 2022 hosted by a BookTuber.

And I have (kind of) decided what books I might Read in the first three months of every challenge, based on what I already have on my bookshelves. I have added the titles below the themes of the month.

Please note - all of these bloggers also share lists of books that accommodate the challenges, well in advance so you can take your pick.

Feel Free to go shopping.

So keep reading my Blog in 2022 to know what books I read and do not read in 2022.

Books and Lala – Buzzword reading challenge 2022

January – the 5w’s – who where why when and how

The cat who saved Books - Sotsuke Natsukawa

February – pronouns – he she it they me you their we us

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

March – locations – valley – city state country attraction

Gentlemen in Moscow by Amor Towles

April – big & little (size words) - All Her Little Secrets

May – directions – NSEW – up down left right

June – all

July – book related words – book bookstore library paper pages spine

August – items – house door key tree

September - light + dark (shadow)

October – creatures & animals

November – “ing”

December – numbers

Uncorked Reading Challenge 2022

January – Time Travel Books

This Time Next Year

February – Books about South Africa

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

March – Wine Books or Books Set in a Vineyard

March Bonus Challenge: Books with your favorite color in the title.
April – Books set in the Baltics

Or books with your favorite foods

May – Books about Hiking

June – Books about or set in Mexico

July – Dark Academia Books

August – Books about Australia

September – Books about road trips

October Haunted House books

November – Books about Thailand

December – Books About Ecuador

December’s Reading Challenge: Books set in or about Ecuador