A Look Back At My 2021 Reading Challenges

Please Note: This post is pre-scheduled. I’m caring for a loved one receiving treatments, so my replies to comments and return visits to bloggers will be delayed. I will get to it eventually, though. Promise. Thanks for your understanding! And prayers and healing vibes for positive results to the treatments would be much appreciated. ❤️

In my last blog post I celebrated 10 years blogging and announced a reading challenge for writers that I am hosting called Read With Fey. You can join it on The StoryGraph here. But you don’t have to be on The StoryGraph to participate! Check out all the details here: Read With Fey: Challenge For Writers

I love reading challenges!

Last year (2021), I participated in FOUR different reading challenges. The most I've ever decided to participate in, and I joined them at all different times throughout the year. Because I participated in so many, I wanted to highlight them and the books I read in a post. I'll share them here in the order of when I joined them.

I hope you enjoy viewing my 2021 reads/challenges.

GOODREADS CHALLENGE:

I set a Goodreads goal to read 30 books. Thanks to graphic novels, short books (middle grade and YA), and picture books, I exceeded this goal. I read 95 books.

REMINDER: All reading counts as reading. Graphic novels are real books. Picture books are real books. Reading graphic novels, short reads, and picture books certainly do count toward reading challenges. Don't let anyone tell you that only novels of 300+ pages count. All reading is valid.

You can view my Goodreads challenge here.

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ALPHABET BOOK CHALLENGE:

HOSTED BY @FABLESANDWREN AND

@STARLIGHTBOOKTALES ON INSTAGRAM

THE GOAL: Read a book that starts with each letter of the alphabet (J, V, X, Z had to be somewhere in the title to count). There were also a few extra challenges like: a color in the title, one-word title, starts with the same letter of your first name, and #, which I took to mean a number in the title/subtitle.

Here’s my completed graphic we were given to use to share our progress to our Instagram stories:

THE BOOKS I READ:

A - Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

B - Beyond the Gender Binary by Alox Vaid-Menon

C - Code Red by Lisa Lister

D - Displacement by kiko hughes

E - Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

F - Florida History by Bob Knotts

G - Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

H - Heart Talk by Cleo Wade

I - Inner Witch by Gabriela Herstik

J - Meg, Jo, Beth, And Amy by Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo

K - Kid Gloves by Lucy Knisley

L - Love Your Lady Landscape by Lisa Lister

M - March by John Lewis

N - Naked in Death by J.D. Robb

O - On Palestine by Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappe

P - Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Q - A Quick Spell by Patricia Josephine/Patricia Lynne

R - Redefining Realness by Janet Mock

S - Speak (the graphic novel) by Laurie Halse Anderson

T - Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

U - Unseen by Ronel Janse van Vuuren

V - Thrive by Arianna Huffington

W - We are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom

X - The Exile by Diana Gabaldon 

Y - You Got Anything Stronger by Gabrielle Union

Z - From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks

Color in the Title - The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad

One-Word Title - Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani

Starts with the Same Letter of Your First Name - Cinderella is Dead by Kaylnn Bayron

# - Life and Death at Windover: Excavations of a 7,000 Year old Pond Cemetery by Rachel K. Wentz

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NATIVE LITERATURE CHALLENGE 2021:

HOSTED BY @NATIVEGIRLSREADING ON INSTAGRAM

THE BOOKS I READ:

- Earth Keeper: Reflections on the American Land by N. Scott Momaday (Native nonfiction)

- Pemmican War: A girl Named Echo by Katherena Vermette (a book that is red)

- Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera (fiction published before 2000)

- Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection Vol. 1 & 2 by Hope Nicholson (collection)

- Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard (children's books)

- We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell (children's books)

- We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom (children's books)

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READ 25 BOOKS BY BLACK WOMEN OR BLACK NON-BINARY WRITERS:

HOSTED BY @THEFREEBLACKWOMENSLIBRARY ON INSTAGRAM

THE CATEGORIES:

- A vintage Black feminist/Womanist text (published before 2000) 

- A contemporary Black Feminist/Womanist text (published 2000-present) ✅

- An LGBTIQ+ author - Fiction ✅

- An LGBTQIA+ author - Non Fiction ✅

- A book by a revolutionary, organizer, activist, or abolitionist ✅

- A romance or erotic novel ✅

- A book that centers relationships between women ✅

- A YA or middle schooler's novel ✅

- An award-winning novel or classic ✅

- A debut or famous author's first ✅

- Any book by Octavia Butler ✅

- Any book by Toni Morrison ✅

- A book by a Caribbean author ✅

- A book by an African author ✅

- A book that classifies as Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, or Fantasy ✅

- A book on spirituality, religion, faith or ritual ✅

- A book with a name in the title ✅

- A book with a one-word title ✅

- A book that was published within the past year ✅

- A graphic novel or series or comic books ✅

- A memoir or autobiography ✅

- A book where characters speak Patois, Creole, Geechee, or AAVE ✅

- A book set in your hometown

- A collection of poetry, short stories, essays, letters, recipes, or prose ✅

- A book on body politics, trauma, autonomy, or acceptance ✅

- A book on migration, travel, or location✅ 

- A book on parenting or child advocacy (fiction or non) ✅

- A book on disability or neurodivergence (fiction or non) ✅

- History, historical fiction, or slave narrative ✅

NOTE: I read many books that combined two or more of these categories.

THE BOOKS I READ:

1. Redefining Realness by Janet Mock (LGBTQIA+ author - Non Fiction)

2. Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert (romance, disability)

3. Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert (romance)

4. Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert (romance, neurodivergence, book published 2021)

5. Electric Arches by Eve L. Ewing (poetry)

6. Hot Comb by Ebony Flowers (graphic novel)

7. Mother by Maya Angelou (parenting, poetry, one-word title)

8. Heart Talk by Cleo Wade (self-care, collection of essays/prose)

9. Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall (graphic novel, history)

10. Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists: A Graphic History of Women's Fight For Their Rights by Mikki Kendal (graphic novel, history)

11. Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred: a graphic novel adaptation (book by Octavia Butler, one-word title )

12. When They Call You A Terrorist: A Story of Black Lives Matter and the Power to Change the World by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele (adapted for young readers—a book by an organizer)

13. Perception by Selena Montgomery (romance, one-word title)

14. You Got Anything Stronger? by Gabrielle Union (memoir, body politics/trauma/autonomy, book published 2021)

15. From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks (debut, middle grade)

16. feminism is for everybody by bell hooks (contemporary Black feminist text)

17. Cinderella is Dead by Kaylnn Bayron (LGBTQ+ author - Fiction, young adult, fantasy)

18. Reckless by Selena Montgomery (romance, one-word title)

19. Rules of Engagement by Selena Montgomery (romance)

20. This is The Rope: A Story from The Great Migration by Jacqueline Woodson (migration)

21. My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (African author)

22. Sugar by Bernice L. McFadden (centers relationships between women, one-word title)

23. Sula by Toni Morrison (book by Toni Morrison, character speaks Creole, classic, centers relationships between women, one-word title)

24. Nubia: Real One by L.L. McKinney, Robyn Smith (Caribbean author…Robyn is Afro-Caribbean, graphic novel, book published 2021)

25. Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower: graphic novel adaptation (faith, a book by Octavia Butler)

My 2021 reading stats from The StoryGraph:

QUESTIONS: Did you participate in any reading challenges last year? Do you plan to participate in any this year? What were your favorite reads of 2021?