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MissHBee t1_j1xl5vg wrote

I’ll be doing two challenges that I do every year: the Around the Year challenge on Goodreads and the BINGO challenge on r/Fantasy. The ATY challenge is 52 books and the BINGO is 25, but I let them overlap, usually completely.

My numerical goal is 52, I guess, since I want to complete all the challenge prompts. This isn’t really a challenge, though, I consistently read that many, but I don’t feel the need to have a “stretch” goal here.

I’ve made myself a list of 10 books I want to prioritize and 6 or 7 authors who I read this past year and would like to read more from.

I’d like to prioritize a few things: reading a good number of nonfiction (6-10), reading books in translation, reading fantasy, continuing with authors I’ve read before, reading several books by the same author, and reading books set in countries I haven’t read about yet.

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BulbousBeluga t1_j29rs8l wrote

Oooo interesting! I've never heard of either of those challenges. I am going to check them out.

Do you have any nonfiction in mind?

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MissHBee t1_j2a6e3h wrote

Before I tried them, I was a bit skeptical of reading challenges, because why wouldn't I just read whatever I want? But I've found that I have a lot of fun with them and I really enjoy being part of the community on Goodreads and Reddit.

I have a couple of plans for nonfiction! I'm mostly a fiction reader, but I've found that a few nonfiction books end up being my favorite reads every year, so it's worth it to me to prioritize it a bit. I'm most interested in memoirs (In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado was my favorite book this year) and science nonfiction, especially about climate change, ecology, or biology (one of my other favorites of this year was Under a White Sky by Elizabeth Kolbert). This year I might try Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane, Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art by Rebecca Wragg Sykes, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee, and The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey, but I'm open to seeing what comes my way!

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BulbousBeluga t1_j2a7vnz wrote

Oh wow, very cool! I haven't heard of any of those, but how could you not want to read The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating??

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