Soffitta1's 2024 Challenge

Notes

1 52 books part 1 COMPLETE
1. Locked-room mystery
The Sanatorium - Read Jan
2. Bibliosmia: A smelly book
False Scent - read Sept
3. More than 40 chapters
Weyward - Read Jul
4. Lowercase letters on the spine
Disorientation - Read Jun
5. Magical Realism
The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree - Read Mar
6. Women in STEM
The Radium Girls - Read Jan
7. At least four different POV
The Missing Sister - Read Mar
8. Features the ocean
The woman in cabin 10 - read Nov
9. A character-driven novel
Ismael and his sisters - read May
10. Told in non-chronological order
An Ordinary Wonder - read Jul
11. Title starting with the letter “K”
The Kingdoms - read May
12. Title starting with the letter “L”
Land of Milk and Honey - Read Feb
13. An academic thriller
The Department of Rare and Special Collections
- read Aug
9 from before Jan 2024
2 from Libby
1 from the library
1 from 2024

2 52 books part 2 COMPLETED

14. A grieving character
The Sandstone City - read Apr
15. Part of a duology
The Women of Troy - read Feb
16. An omniscient narrator
The Mothers - read Jun
17. Nominated for The Booker Prize
After Sappho - read Aug
18. An apostrophe in the title
The Calligrapher's Daughter - Read Feb
19. A buddy read
Montgomery and the golden key - read Nov
20. A revenge story
The Midnight Feast - read Dec
21. Written by a ghostwriter
The Monogram Murders - read Dec
22. A plot similar to another book
The Ship - Read Aug
23. The other book with the similar plot
Last one at the party - read Oct
24. A cover without people on it
My name is Leon - Read Jan
25. An author “everyone” has read except you
Janice Hallett - The appeal - read Nov
26. Hybrid genre
Scandalous Alchemy - speculative fiction & regency romance - read Apr
7 from before Jan 2024
1 from 2024
4 from Libby
1 from the library

3 52 books part 3 COMPLETE

27. By a neurodivergent author
The Asperkid's book of social rules - read Dec
28. A yellow spine
Girl A - read Jul
29. Published in a Year of the Dragon
The Quarry Wood - 1928 - read Jul
30. Picked without reading the blurb
Our Missing Hearts - Read Apr
31. Includes a personal phobia
Our wives under the sea - trapped - Read Dec
32. Timeframe spans a week or less
Lillian Boxfish takes a walk - read Jul
33. An abrupt ending
Abyss - read Apr
34. Set in a landlocked country
B. Proudew - read Oct
35. Title matches lyrics from a song
Mr Loverman - read Apr
36. Has futuristic technology
Frankissstein - Read Feb
37. Palindrome on the cover
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender - read Jul
38. Published by Hachette
I am going for a book from Dialogue, one of the imprints of Hachette
This Thread of Gold - read Oct
39. Non-fiction recommended by a friend
The Patient Assassin - read Dec

6 from before Jan 2024
7. from 2024

4 52 books part 4 COMPLETE

40. Set during a holiday you don’t celebrate
The Zigzag Way - read Oct
41. A sticker on the cover (Now £5)
Bestiary - read Jun
42. Author debut in second half of 2024
Costanza - Read Dec
43. About finding identity
Juliet Takes a Breath - read Apr
44. Includes a wedding
The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters - read May
45. Chapter headings have dates
Dawnlands - read Jul
46. Featuring Indigenous culture
The Antelope Wife - read Aug
47. Self-insert by an author
A tale for the time being - read Nov
48. The word “secret” in the title
Two can keep a secret - read Dec
49. Set in a city starting with the letter “M”
The fountains of silence - Madrid Read Jun
50. A musical instrument on the cover
Piranesi - Read Jan
51. Related to the word “Wild”
The wild silence - read Dec
52. Published in 2024
Top Doll - read in Nov

7 from before Jan 2024
3 from 2024
3 from Libby

5 Calendar challenge COMPLETE

January -
One Clear Ice-Cold Morning at the Beginning of the 21st Century
February -
Celebrating the birthday of Muriel Spark
The complete short stories
March -
Celebrating St. Patrick's Day
Snow
April -
Celebrating Freedom Day - South Africa
No turning back
May -
Celebrating the birthday of Amos Oz
The Same Sea
June -
Celebrating Portugal Day
The Gospel according to Jesus Christ
July -
Celebrating Independence Day for Argentina
Seven Empty Houses
August -
Celebrating Korean Liberation
How I became a North Korean
September -
Celebrating the return to school
The boy at the back of the class
October -
Celebrating the reunification of Germany
Leaving Berlin
November -
Celebrating St. Andrews Day
Precious and the mystery of Meerkat Hill
December -
Celebrating
A Snow Garden

11 from before Jan 2024
1 from 2024

6 Author talk
Apr
1. Medusa
Sept
2. A song for the dark times - Ian Rankin
3. Friends of Dorothy - Sandi Toksvig

7 Readalongs

Rebel Book Club
December's choice - The Christmas Book Club

Rebel Read
March - chocolate theme
The Chocolate War
October - The Salt Path
November - Atalanta

Waterstones book group
January - A View across the rooftops
Feb - The Cloisters

For my course:
Atomic habits

2 from before Jan 2024
5 from 2024

8 Friends
Jan - The Seven Sisters was chosen, but as I had read it, I read the next in the series for me, The Sun Sister.
Feb - Life and Otter miracles
Mar - A Country of Eternal Light
Apr Days at the Morisaki Bookshop read last year
May - Before your memory fades
Jun - Scripted
Oct - Devotion
Sept - The life impossible
From last year
Apr - Fearless Adventures with extraordinary women

9 History 10/12

JAN: North & South American Wars & Conflicts; SillverWolf28
You dreamed of empires
FEB: Georgian/Regency Britain; pamelad
The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho
MAR: Science & Medicine; librarycin
The Collected Schizophrenias
APR: Riots, Revolution, & Mayhem; Tess_W
A Kick in the Belly - rebellion
MAY: Middle Ages; NinieB - started Femina, but didn't finish it. Rolling over to 2025.
JUN: Historians; MissWatson
Wolf Road
JUL: Spies; christina_reads
Black Drop
AUG: Byzantine Empire; h-mb
Two for Joy
SEP: WWI/WWII; JaymeCM
The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite
OCT: Disasters; KeithChaffee
Started The Drought, but didn't finish it. Rollover to 2025
NOV: Ancient & Classical History; susanna.fraser
The House with the Golden Door
DEC: Religions and Religious Festivals; MissBrangwen
Der Graf von Monte Christmas: Ein eiskalter Weihnachtskrimi in 24 Kapiteln Adventskalenderbuch mit Ausklappseiten

3 from before 2024
6 from 2024
1 from library

10 AlphaKit
These will all be books from 2023 or before to encourage reading off my shelves.

X & Z Yearlong
X - I am China - Xiaolu Guo
Z - Mules and Men - Zora Neale Hurston

Jan -
A - Abundance
Y - Scattered all over the Earth - Yoko Tawada
Feb -
F - The Seven Fires of Mademoiselle
E - The Devil's Elixirs
Mar -
H - The Tattooist of Auschwitz
R - East, West - Salman Rushdie
Apr -
U - The Underground Railroad
O - The Old Woman with the Knife
May -
N - Season of the Rainbirds - Nadeem Aslam
P - Black Butterflies - Priscilla Morris
Jun -
J - Jules et Jim
B - Bodies of Light
Jul -
I - Explosion in a cathedral
S - The Sealwoman's Gift
Aug -
M - Vida y Muerte de Federico Lorca
G - A Taste for Green Tangerines
Sep -
V - Jonah's Gourd Vine
C - Even the Darkest Night - Javier Cercas
Oct -
D - A Disappearance in Fiji
T - Together
Nov -
L The Translator by Leila Aboulela
W - Evening is the Whole Day
Dec -
K - Ace, King, Knave
Q - QED The Strange Theory of Light and Matter

26 from before Jan 2024

11 ABC
Already bookcrossed
Apr
The Wall
Jul
2. All my cats
3. A Pass in the Grampians
4. The Living Mountain
5. The Hare with Amber Eyes
Aug
6. We, the survivors
Oct
7. The Island Child
Nov
8. An act of defiance

12 CatWomen take three

I will read books from different categories, some from the 2022 list and others from the suggestions that were made that year.

Jan
1. Women's issues - The Dictionary of Lost Words
Feb
2. Women in education - The Bookbinder of Jericho
Apr
3. Women recommending women - Death goes on skis - recommended by Sandi Toksvig
4. Women in the city - Berlin
Kairos
Jun
5. Women in film - Women Talking
Jul
6. Woman on a bank note - Nan Shepherd - The Weatherhouse
7. Biography / autobiography - Manifesto
8. A book published by Virago Modern Classics - The Judge
9. Women and myths - The Wolf and the Woodsman
10. Women in Translation - When I sing, Mountains dance

7 from before 2024
3 from 2024

13 Read Christie COMPLETE
1920s
Jan - The Mysterious Case at Styles - Read in 2023 so will look for an alternative
The man in the brown suit
Feb - The Secret Adversary
Mar - The mystery of the blue train
1930s
Apr - Murder at the Vicarage
May - The ABC Murders
Jun - And then there were none
1940s and 1950s
Jul - Taken at the flood
Aug - A murder is announced
Sept - Ordeal by Innocence
1960s and 1970s
Oct - The mirror cracked from side to side
Nov - Third Girl
Dec - Elephants can remember

14 en español

Dec
1. Mi nombre es Eva
2. La Mano del emigrate

15 This is the Canon
Decolonize your bookshelf in 50 books
Apr
1. The Sellout
May
2. All about H. Hatterr

16 KiddyCat second edition
I really enjoyed this in 2023, so will do it again. It allowed me the chance to fall back into familiar worlds and catch up on books I had never read.
I will try for 12, but not in any order
Jun
1. World Book Day - Nought forever
2. Biography - Ira Aldridge The Shakespearean Actor
Jul
3. Mystery - A good girl's guide to murder
Aug
4. Bullying - The Burning
Sept
5. Myths and Magic - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Nov
6. Author of Colour - Orangeboy

4 from before January 2024
2 from 2024

17 PrizeCat 10/12
January: A Prize That's New to You - pamelad
Prix Littéraire Fetkann! Maryse Condé - Discretion
February: A Prize from Your Own Country - NinieB
The Confessions of Frannie Langton - Costa first novel
March: Long-Running Prizes - pamelad
Butterfly Fish - Betty Trask Award
April: Women's Writing Ish63
The Book of Form and Emptiness
May: Doubling Up - books that won two or more awards - Robertgreaves
The Rabbit Hutch
June: Book Lists - Tess_W
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
July: A Prize from a Country Other than Your Own - JayneCM
The Mad Women's Ball
August: A Prize for a Genre - susanna.fraser
The Godmother - European Crime Fiction Prize
September: A prize winner/longlist/shortlist that also fits another CAT/KIT- NinieB
AlphaCat - C - How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps her House by Cherie Jones - Women's Prize
October: One That Missed Out - a book on a shortlist/longlist that didn't win - JayneCM
The Bastard of Istanbul
November: Children's Book Awards - Tess_W
- not completed
December: A Prize of Your Choice - antqueen
- not completed
7 from before Jan 2024
3 from 2024

18 - Ruth Galloway
I have been reading my way through the series after my mum, so have a few ready to go.

The Woman in Blue - Read Jan
The Chalk Pit - Read Feb
The Dark Angel - Read Mar
The Stone Circle - read Sept

2 from before Jan 2024
2 from the library

19 25 best novels from the last 25 years
I love a list! I have read some already so will try and read at least 8 of the 16 I haven't read.

1998 - Trumpet - read, highly recommended
1999 - A Place of Execution - Read Aug
2000 - Under the skin - read
2001 - Hallam Foe
2002 - The Cutting Room - read Nov
2003 - Buddha Da - read, highly recommended
2004 - Fleshmarket Close - read, I love Rebus books!
2005 - Minaret
2006 - The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox , read and enjoyed
2007 - Day - read and enjoyed
2008 - Kieron Smith, boy - read
2009 - Choke Chain
2010 - The Memory of Love
2011 - The Echo Chamber
2012 - The Panopticon - read Jul
2013 - Life after life - read and recommend
2014 - How to be both - read and highly recommend
2015 - His Bloody Project - Read July
2016 - The Bookshop on the Corner - read Nov
2017 - Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - read and enjoyed
2018 - The Long Take
2019 - Conviction - read Nov
2020 - Shuggie Bain - already on my shelves
2021 - Deep Wheel Orcadia
2022 - The Pharmacist
2023 - In Ascension

1 from before 2024
1 from the library
4 from 2024

20 holiday reading
Apr - Easter
1. Death at the Terminus
2. The undiscovered deaths of Grace McGill
3. Atlas The Story of Pa Salt
4. Wolf Moon
May day bank holiday
5. Murder in Transit
Summer Holidays
6. Sea of Lentils
7. The Lessons
Christmas
8. The marriage season
9. A winter flame
10. The Night Tiger

2 from before Jan 2024
8 from 2024

Waiting patiently... Okay, not so patiently, to see what's up!

I tried to resist starting my planning - especially as I have a number of challenge books to read. But hey, back again!

Good to see you back again! Planning is half the fun.

Good luck with your reading in 2024. Looking forward to popping back in and seeing the finalized categories.

>25 lowelibrary: Good luck with your 2024 readings. I, too, will be attempting to read some author canons.

Thank you all! I love tinkering with them, also checking out what everyone else is reading.
I am not great at remembering to add regular updates, but will always try to do some round ups.

Good luck with your reading in 2024!

Welcome back and have a great reading year!

Thank you! Have started planning in earnest now!

January progress

52 book challenge
1. The Sanatorium - good premise, could have been better written
2. The Radium Girls - really good history book on the forgotten women who worked on watches with radium on the dials
3. My name is Leon - highly recommended
4. Piranesi - get stuck in and you will be rewarded

Other reads:
5. One Clear Ice-Cold Morning at the Beginning of the 21st Century - I liked this, it is a bit rambling, but I enjoyed the style.
6. The Sun Sister - tried to cram in too much in this one
7. Abundance - so sad, but you could see how it could be real
8. Scattered all over the Earth - an impulse buy and I enjoyed it.
9. The Dictionary of Lost Words - I loved this
10. The man in the brown suit - not my favourite, but it was good as a break from work.
11. Discretion - a lot to think about here
12. The Woman in Blue - always enjoyable to revisit Norfolk with Ruth Galloway.