Soffitta1's 2023 Challenge

I'm back!

Category 1: GeoCat COMPLETE
January -- Central and Eastern Europe
Grey Bees
February -- A place you would like to visit (mathgirl40)
Maira - Brazil
March -- Australia & New Zealand (pamelad)
Potiki
April -- South America, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean (NinieB)
Cuba
May -- Polar regions, islands, bodies of water (JayneCM)
The Water Book
June -- South Asia and South East Asia (MissBrangwen)
A God in every Stone
July -- Western Europe (susannah.fraser)
Half Blood Blues
August -- Central and Western Asia (Tess_W)
The Island of Missing Trees
September -- Africa (whitewavedarling)
Homecoming
October -- Canada and US (DeltaQueen)
Last bus to Coffeeville
November -- East Asia (MissWatson)
Things remembered things forgotten
December -- Books you didn't get around to reading in the earlier months (Robertgreaves)
Not needed

10 from pre Jan 2023
1 from the library

Best books - The Island of Missing Trees, Potiki and Half Blood Blues.
I really didn't enjoy Maira.

2: 52 books challenge part 1 COMPLETE
1. Book with a subtitle
Simone Biles Golden Girl of Gymnastics - Read Jun
2. Book with an inheritance
Sankofa - Read Mar
3. Title starting with G
Guantanamo - Read Mar
4. Title starting with H
Hotel Silence - Read Jan
5. Title starting with I
Islands of Mercy - Read May
6. Under 200 pages
Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North - read Jul
7. With a city or country in the title
King of Cuba - Read Feb
8. Dystopian fiction
Woman on the Edge of Time - Read Nov
9. A book with a dedication
Beach Read - Read Feb
10. Takes place in the roaring '20s
Shrines of Gaiety - Read Dec
11. A book about secrets
The Sign of the Black Dagger - read Jan
12. High fantasy
Alanna - Read Dec
13. Published posthumously
Lady Susan - Read Jul

8 from before 2023
3 from Libby
2 from 2023

Most impactful to read due to its literary importance - Woman on the Edge of Time Favourite read - Hotel Silence

3: 52 books challenge part 2 COMPLETE
14. A survival story
Demon Copperhead - Read Dec
15. Set in Australia
Big Little Lies - Read Jan
16. Featuring one of the seven deadly sins
Eligible - Read Dec
17. By a Caribbean author
Havana Year Zero - read Oct
18. Set during a war - not WW1 or WW2
Under the Udala Trees - Read Nov
19. Typographic Cover
The Pact We Made - Read Mar
20. A book about siblings
Sisterland - Read Jan
21. A second-hand book
Antonio - Read Jul
22. A body positive message
Fat Chance, Charlie Vega - read Sept
23. An alliterative title
The Storm Sister -read Jul
24. Nordic noir
The Legacy - Read Jan
25. A fashionable character
The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo Read Nov
26. Has an epilogue
How to kill men and get away with it - read Jul

8 from before Jan 2023
3 from the library
2 from 2023

4: 52 books challenge part 3 COMPLETE
27. Newbery medal winner
The one and only Ivan - Read Jan
28. Includes a funeral
The Lubetkin Legacy Read Feb
29. Sends you down a rabbit hole
Game of Hearts - Read Apr
30. An author with the same name as you
Aalfred and Aalbert read Feb
31. Set in a workplace
PopCo
32. Published by Macmillan
The City of Tears - read Jul
33. A banned book
The Handmaid's Tale Graphic Novel - Read Dec
34. Featuring mythology
The Children of Jocasta - Read Jan
35. A book you meant to read last year
Drums of Autumn - didn't finish this last year as put it down - finished Aug
36. Chapters with cliff hangers
The Guest List - Read Feb
37. Written in present tense
The Dancers Dancing - Read June
38. An enemies to lovers plot
The Dating Plan - Read Jan
39. The final book in a series
V for Victory - read May
9 from before Jan 2023
3 from the library
1 from Libby

5: 52 books challenge part 4 COMPLETE
40. Written by a comedian
Sunny Side Up - Read Jan
41. A character who is a refugee
The Beekeeper of Aleppo - read Oct
42. Time in the title
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World - Read Jan
43. A book everyone has read
Carrie Soto is back Read Aug
44. A contemporary setting
The Spanish Love Deception read Feb
45. First word in the book is the
The Dutch House - Read May
46. Script font on the side
In the Unlikely Event - Read Aug
47. Set in the city of Dublin
Chestnut Street - Read Dec
48. A book by Octavia E. Butler
Parable of the Talents - Read Mar
49. Books on the cover
The bookshop that floated away - read Jul
50. Related to the word murder
Murder, that's what - Read Mar
51. Doesn't fit into any other prompt
Ruth's first Christmas tree - Read Aug
52. Published in 2023
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers - read Aug
8 from before Jan 2023
1 from library
4 from 2023

6: friends book group - this year's prompt os a place or experience from 2022

Jan: Bury your dead - Canada
Feb: The Rosie Project - Australia, already read
Mar: The First Woman
Apr: The murmur of bees
May - Fathoms
Jun: Lucky Breaks
Jul: Open Water
Aug - 1000 coils of fear
Sept - Lessons in Chemistry
Oct - O Caledonia - already read
Dec - Tinsel
Tbr
Nov - Fearless - Adventures with extraordinary women
I will read this next year.

1 from before Jan 2023
8 from 2023

7: book group
Waterstones
Jan: Dark Earth
Feb: Miss Aldridge Regrets
Mar: Circus of Wonders
May: The miseducation of Evie Epworth
May: All about Evie
Jun: Memphis
Sept: What July knew

Rebel Book Club
Feb: Bloody Valentine

Rebel Book Club March badge
Girls who rocked the world

Suffolk Libraries read along
Oct: Yellowface

4 from 2023
4 from library
1 from Libby
1 from before 2023

8: AlphaKit COMPLETE
Yearlong X and Z:
X - A Lover's Discourse - Xiaolu Guo
Z- Crying in H Mart - Michelle Zauner

January -
I - Inez
S - The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane - Lisa See
February -
J - Iberia - James Michener
F - The House in the Forest
March -
G - Confessions of a GP
A - Shadow Dance - Angela Carter
April -
W - Wild Child
D - The Wonder - Diana Evans
May
U - The lady and the unicorn
C - Tales from the café
June -
B - The other side of silence - André Brink
K - Big Sky - Kate Atkinson
July -
O - Boy, Snow, Bird - Helen Oyeyemi
P - The Sacred and Profane Love Machine
August -
M - Laughable Loves - Milan Kundera
Q The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair
September -
V Vagabonds!
E The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths
October
N The Ministry of Guidance by Golnoosh Nour
H The Hundred Foot Journey
November -
T The Twilight Zone
L Life as a Unicorn
December - tbr
R - Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
Y - Forbidden Colours by Yukio Mishima

26 from before Jan 2023

9: WomensCat
Not a choice for this year's group, but I am going to do it again. It was a great one for me. I will read this along the year, but in my own order. I do want to read books I already have as much as possible.

1. Biography/autobiography/memoir by women
Educated - read Dec
2. Women in Translation
Celestial Bodies - Read Aug

3. Women Pioneers
Becoming - Read Nov

4. Women of Color
Crossfire - Read Dec

5. Classics by Women
The Franchise Affair - Read Dec

6. Books set in cities or about cities by women
Miss Kim Knows - Read
8. Children's/YA/Graphic Novels.
7. In the Hand of the Goddess - Read Dec

8. Women during War
The Metal Heart - Read Mar

9. Women and Crime
The Spy at the Window - read Jul

6 from before 2023
3 from 2023

10: Celtic
Apr
1. Keep dancing, Lizzie Chu
2. Daisy on the outer line
May
3. Letters from Skye
Jul
4. In a House of Lies - Scotland
Aug
5. The Lost Storyteller - Scottish based writer and partially set in Edinburgh
6. The impossible dead - Scotland
7. Summerwater - Scotland

11. Agatha Christie 2023 COMPLETE
I saw this on Instagram, there is a prompt and recommended book for each month.

Jan: Sad Cypress - Jealousy
Feb: Partners in Crime - Blunt object
Mar: The Moving Finger - Anger
Apr: Sparkling Cyanide - Poison
Bonus - El caso misterioso de Styles
May: Unfinished Portrait - Betrayal
Jun: They Do it with mirrors - Gunshot
Jul: Evil under the Sun - Love and Lust
Aug: Death Comes as the End - Fall from a height
Sept: Appointment with Death - Hatred
Oct: Murder on the Orient Express- Stabbing
Nov: Endless Night - Greed
Dec: Sleeping Murder - Strangulation
Bonus - Hallowe'en Party

6 from 2023
4 from library
4 from Libby

12: Crime
Apr
1. The Crossing Places
2. The Janus Stone
3. Eight detectives
Jun
4. The Railway Detective's Christmas Case
5. The House at Sea's End
Aug
6. A room full of bones
7. A dying fall
Nov
8. The Ghost Fields

13 KiddyCat COMPLETE

January—picture books/graphic novels—LibraryCin
Heartstopper
February--mystery--VivienneR
A Ghost in the Garden
March—YA historical fiction—Tess_W
Kemosha of the Caribbean
April--fantasy for middle grade/YA--JayneCM
Spinning Silver
May—children/YA classics--LibraryCin
The Bungalow Mystery
June—animals as main character—lowelibrary
The Phantom Tolbooth
July—arts and crafts—clue
I'll give you the Sun
August—kids/YA series—NinieB
The Worst Witch Strikes Again
September—history/ biography—thornton37814
Black and British an illustrated history
October—siblings—Helenliz
The case of the left handed lady
November—fairy tales/myths/legends—DeltaQueen50
The Griffin's feather
December—holiday stories—LadyoftheLodge
Mr Christmas
6 from before Jan 2023
1 from 2023
5 from Libby

14 Historical Fiction Challenge COMPLETE

1. Read a work of historical fiction set in the country you’re from
Crooked Heart - read Jan
2. Read a work of historical fiction set in a different country to the one you’re from
The Island of Sea Women - Read Jan
3. Read a work of historical fiction set in your favourite historical time period to read about
Certainty - WW2 - Read Mar
4. Read a work of historical fiction set in a time period you’ll less familiar with
Sugar money - read Jul
5. Read a work of historical fiction with a speculative element
Wicked by design - Napoleon won at Waterloo, what happens next. Read Oct
6. Read a work of historical fiction about a real historical figure or a specific historical event
The River of Doubt - Teddy Roosevelt - read Jul
7. Read a classic work of historical fiction
The thistle and the rose - Read Dec
8. Bonus: Read a work of historical fiction of over 500 pages
The Parisian - Read Apr

4 from before Jan 2023
1 from Libby
3 from 2023

15. Author talks
Feb
1. Angie Thomas - Concrete Rose
May
2. The Night Ship
Jun
3. The Promise - read June
4. Love the Dark Days
Aug
5. Boy giant - Michael Morpurgo
Sept
6. Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron

16. Spanish-speaking world
Mar
1. The American Roommate experiment
Jun
2. Violeta
Aug
3. Witches
Sept
4. Colonel Lagrimas - Costa Rican/ Puerto Rican author, links with Spain and Mexico
5. The Gold Machine - Peru
6. The Seamstress and the Wind - Argentina
7. The Moon Sister - Spain
3 pre 2023
4 from 2023

17 - Asia
Feb
1. Malgudi Days - India
Sept
2. The Cat's Table - Sri Lanka
Dec
3. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop - Japan

18. Lusophone
Jul
1. Heliopolis
Aug
2. Ways to disappear
3. A general theory of oblivion

19. Already bookcrossed
Jan
1. Fingers in the sparkle jar
Jun
2.Capital
Aug
3. Songbirds
4. Mensagem
Sept
5. The Inheritors
Oct
6. The Pearl Sister
7. Dances and Dreams on Diamond Street
Nov
8. The Snow Ball

20: People on the cover
Feb
1. Daughters of Sparta
Mar
2. Reputation
3. You and me on vacation
4. Red, White and Royal Blue
Apr
5. Dancing at Midnight
Aug
6. I am Thunder
7. Visitation
8. Animal Life
9. A Ladies Guide to Scandal
Sept
10. The Shadow Sister

5 from Libby
4 from 2023
1 from before 2023

Thoughts

Glad to hear that you enjoyed CATWoman this year. You may want to use the same topics or other topics. The first message in the CATWoman thread https://www.librarything.com/topic/336574#7648838 gives a list of topics suggested including ones which did not make it (meaning nobody volunteering to host them). You may be interested in some of those topics.

Good to see you back!

Good luck with your 2023 reading!

Welcome back and have a great reading year! Looking forward to seeing what you turn up for your personal CATWoman challenge.

Thank you! I really enjoy this group. Hope all your challenges go well.

Happy reading!

Stopping by to wish you a wonderful year of reading!

Welcome back! Your categories are very interesting!

Welcome back! Interested to see what you read in the Celtic category.

Welcome back and happy 2023 reading! Great categories.

Good luck with your 2023 reading.

Have a happy year of reading in 2023.

Happy reading in 2023, and nice to see you back in the BC forum as well!

Good to be back! Here is my January round up.

I have decided to take part in a couple of challenges from outside Librarything this year as well.

52 Book Club reads - 52 prompts for the year. I am always looking at ways of dealing with my TBR pile and finding new books to read.

1. The sign of the black dagger
2. The Legacy
3. The One and Only Ivan
4. The Dating Plan
5. Sisterland
6. Big Little Lies
7. Hotel Silence
8. The Children of Jocasta
9. 10 minutes 38 seconds in this strange world
10. Sunny Side Up

Other reads:
11. Sad Cypress
12. Heartstopper
13. Dark Earth
14. Grey Bees
15. Inez
16. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
17. Fingers in the Sparkle Jar
18. Crooked Heart

Top reads:
Hotel Silence and The Children of Jocasta, I also really liked 10 minutes 38 seconds in this strange world, Heartstopper, Grey Bees, Dark Earth, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, Fingers in the Sparkle Jar and Crooked Heart. So not a bad month!
I didn't connect with Inez, I preferred other books by the author.

Feb reads

52 Book Challenge
19. Beach Read
20. The Guest List
21. Aalfred and Aalbert
22. The Spanish Love Deception
23. The Lubetkin Legacy
24. King of Cuba

Other Reads
25. Bloody Valentine
26. The House in the Forest
27. Miss Aldridge Regrets
28. Partners in Crime
29. Daughters of Sparta
30. The Ghost in the Garden
31. Concrete Rose
32. Maira
33. Malgudi Days
34. Iberia

Top reads:
I loved Aalfred and Aalbert, a beautifully illustrated love story for children. The Guest List certainly kept me gripped and I enjoyed revisiting the boarding school sleuth in book 3 of A Girl Called Justice series. Concrete Rose definitely did not disappoint, getting to know more of the back story was really good.

March reads

52 Bookclub reads
35. Parable of the talents
36. Sankofa
37. Murder that's what
38. The pact we made
39. Guantanamo

Other reads
40. The American Roommate Experiment
41. Red, white and royal blue
42. Potiki
43. People we meet on vacation
44. The moving finger
45. Bury your dead
46. Reputation
47. Shadow dance
48. The metal heart
49. Kemosha of the Caribbean
50. Girls who rocked the world
51. Confessions of a GP

As ever, I got behind in posting and then stopped.
Here are my round ups.

Category 1: GeoCat COMPLETE
January -- Central and Eastern Europe
Grey Bees
February -- A place you would like to visit (mathgirl40)
Maira - Brazil
March -- Australia & New Zealand (pamelad)
Potiki
April -- South America, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean (NinieB)
Cuba
May -- Polar regions, islands, bodies of water (JayneCM)
The Water Book
June -- South Asia and South East Asia (MissBrangwen)
A God in every Stone
July -- Western Europe (susannah.fraser)
Half Blood Blues
August -- Central and Western Asia (Tess_W)
The Island of Missing Trees
September -- Africa (whitewavedarling)
Homecoming
October -- Canada and US (DeltaQueen)
Last bus to Coffeeville
November -- East Asia (MissWatson)
Things remembered things forgotten
December -- Books you didn't get around to reading in the earlier months (Robertgreaves)
Not needed

10 from pre Jan 2023
1 from the library

Best books - The Island of Missing Trees, Potiki and Half Blood Blues.
I really didn't enjoy Maira.

2: 52 books challenge part 1 COMPLETE
1. Book with a subtitle
Simone Biles Golden Girl of Gymnastics - Read Jun
2. Book with an inheritance
Sankofa - Read Mar
3. Title starting with G
Guantanamo - Read Mar
4. Title starting with H
Hotel Silence - Read Jan
5. Title starting with I
Islands of Mercy - Read May
6. Under 200 pages
Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North - read Jul
7. With a city or country in the title
King of Cuba - Read Feb
8. Dystopian fiction
Woman on the Edge of Time - Read Nov
9. A book with a dedication
Beach Read - Read Feb
10. Takes place in the roaring '20s
Shrines of Gaiety - Read Dec
11. A book about secrets
The Sign of the Black Dagger - read Jan
12. High fantasy
Alanna - Read Dec
13. Published posthumously
Lady Susan - Read Jul

8 from before 2023
3 from Libby
2 from 2023

Most impactful to read due to its literary importance - Woman on the Edge of Time Favourite read - Hotel Silence