No year without reading challenges! As the shit show that is the Covid-19 pandemic continues, let’s distract ourselves to the best of our abilities with things that are fun and make us happy. For me, that is reading and reaching reading goals. Ticking items off lists gives me a particular kind of joy, so I made a lot of lists this year for the ultimate endorphin rush:
The Spells & Spaceships Badge Collection
I don’t know yet if Alex from Spells & Spaceships will do another collection of reading badges for 2022 but if not, I’ll just do the 2021 challenge this year. I absolutely adore the idea and the badges, plus the challenge doesn’t require too many books.
| Prompt/Badge | Title | Read |
|---|---|---|
| AI Badge | Becky Chambers – A Prayer for the Crown-Shy | Yes |
| First Contact Badge | Andy Weir – Project Hail Mary | Yes |
| Space Opera Badge | Becky Chambers – The Galaxy and the Ground Within | Yes |
| Epic Fantasy Badge | ||
| Non-Human Badge | Travis Baldree – Legends & Lattes | Yes |
| African Inspiration Badge | Nnedi Okorafor – Akata Woman | Yes |
| Monster Badge | John Scalzi – The Kaiju Preservation Society | Yes |
| Debut Badge | Vaishnavi Patel – Kaikeyi | Yes |
| SPFBO Badge | ||
| Big Battle Badge | ||
| New Release Badge | T. Kingfisher – Nettle & Bone | Yes |
| Animal Companion Badge | ||
| Big’un Badge (600+ pages) | R. F. Kuang – The Burning God | Yes |
| Asian Inspiration Badge | Yes | |
| Uncovered Diamond Badge (<100 Goodreads ratings) | ||
| Dragon Badge | ||
| Big Screen Badge | ||
| Sea Setting Badge | Rebecca Ross – A River Enchanted | Yes |
| Standalone Badge | Suyni Dean – The Book Eaters | Yes |
| Post-Apocalyptic Badge | ||
| The Collector Badge |
Magical Readathon(s) 2022
I cannot wait for G from Book Roast to announce this year’s Magical Readathon. The first part is set to happen during April, the second one in August. G has come up with an elaborate fantasy world which our own personal characters inhabit. These characters go to Orilium Academy and the classes we take there are the readathon (the details haven’t been announced yet, so this is my best guess). There are guilds and character traits that influence how the readathon goes for you and it’s all made with so much love and brings together such a great community that it’s one of the highlights of my year.
Orilium Gear Up (March)
In this week-long mini readathon, we get to choose our magical conduit as well as our Guild’s legacy. Here is my sign-up post with my planned TBR.
Conduit: Laini Taylor – Night of Cake & Puppets
Legacy: Holly Black – Tithe
I pikced a staff for my conduit (cooler than a wand, less easy to misplace than, say, a feather) and I paired up with Ausra who is the goddess of the morning and new beignnings. Here is my wrap-up post.
Orilium Spring Equinox (April)
It’s finally here, the first semester at Orilium Academy. My sign up post with a ridiculously large TBR can be found behind the link.
- Elemental Studies: Fran Wilde – Unseelie Brothers, Ltd.
- Inscription: V.E. Schwab – Gallant
- Spells & Incantations: Theodora Goss – Snow White Learns Witchcraft
- Restoration: Jessica Townsend – Hollowpox
- Lore: Roshani Chokshi – The Star-Touched Queen
- Psionics & Divination: Charlie Jane Anders – Victories Greater Than Death
- Art of Illusion: Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki – O2 Arena
- Animal Studies: Suzanne Palmer – Bots of the Lost Ark
- Shapeshifting: Tamsyn Muir – Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower
Side quests:
- Scroll of Standstill: Xiran Jay Zhao – Iron Widow
- Fire Weasel in Danger: Adrian Tchaikovsky – Elder Race
- Rare Ingredient: Seanan McGuire – Across the Green Grass Fields
- Ammelorite Sample: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff – Memento
And here’s my wrap-up.
Orilium Readathon August
done, list will follow
Lightfall Mini-Readathon December
Winter Wanimals
- Fantasy: Nnedi Okorafor – Akata Woman
- (Fantasy) with an animal on the cover: Terry Pratchett – Jingo
Diversify Your Reading
In an effort to diversify my reading, I’ve done a few challenges in the past years that I found quite rewarding. But I’m also learning from the experience that restricting myself to Black Authors only (as I did last year) can feel like pressure and that takes the fun out of reading.
I want to read books by voices from all over the world, from different cultures and backgrounds, written by people of different genders, with different sexualities, experiences, religions. But putting that into a neat challenge is difficult, so I’m going for sub-challenges that are kept more vague and I’m also not setting a number goal this year. I simply want to do my best to experience stories from diverse voices. Whether I read more Black authors or Latinx authors or trans authors or authors with disablities isn’t that important.
BIPOC Authors:
- R. F. Kuang – The Burning God
- Ryka Aoki – Light From Uncommon Stars
- Tasha Suri – The Jasmine Throne
- Tade Thompson – Far From the Light of Heaven
- Roshani Chokshi – The Star-Touched Queen
- Xiran Jay Zhao – Iron Widow
- C. L. Polk – Stormsong
LGBTQIA+ Authors:
- Ryka Aoki – Light From Uncommon Stars
- Becky Chambers – The Galaxy and the Ground Within
- Xiran Jay Zhao – Iron Widow
- Charlie Jane Anders – Victories Greater Than Death
- Sarah Gailey- Just Like Home
Disability/Mental Health Rep:
- V.E. Schwab – Gallant (mute protagonist)
- Xiran Jay Zhao – Iron Widow (walking disability)
READ THE HUGO AWARDS
The yearly double-edged Hugo reading challenge is here. Part one should be the easy one, yet I fail spectacularly most years. Part two is the tough one and with that one, I usually do well. Go figure.
Read a former Hugo finalist/winner:
One of these, for example:
- Walter M. Miller, Jr. – A Canticle for Leibowitz
- Ursula K. LeGuin – The Dispossessed
- Connie Willis – To Say Nothing of the Dog
- Isaac Asimov – Foundation’s Edge (so I can be forever done with Foundation)
Read the 2022 Hugo Award finalists:
- Best Novel: 6/6
- Best Novella: 6/6
- Best Novelette: 5/6
- Best Short Story: 5/6
- Best Graphic Novel: 0/6
- Lodestar: 5/6
- Astounding: 4/6
- Best Series:
- Green Bone Saga: 2/3
- The Kingston Cylce: 2/3
- Wayward Children: 6/6
- Terra Ignota: 0/4
- The World of the White Rat: 1/6
- Merchant Princes: 0/9
2022 Releases
Like every year, I want to stay on top of the genre and also be prepared for the Hugo Award (because it’s dear to my heart, in case you haven’t noticed :)). In 2022, that means yet again keeping up with new publications so I have something to nominate for the 2023 Hugo Awards. Novels, novellas, graphic novels – it all counts.
- C.S.E. Cooney – Dark Breakers
- Rebecca Ross – A River Enchanted
- Alix E. Harrow – A Mirror Mended
- Sarah Gailey – Just Like Home
- R. F. Kuang- Babel
- Sequoia Nagamatsu – How High We Go in the Dark
- Megan Bannen – The Undertaking of Hart & Mercy
- Freya Marske – A Restless Truth
- Katherine Arden – Empty Smiles
- Rob Wilkins – Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes
- Olivie Blake – The Atlas Paradox (DNF)
- Nnedi Okorafor – Akata Woman
- Travis Baldree – Legends & Lattes
- V. E. Schwab – Gallant
- John Scalzi – The Kaiju Preservation Soicety
- Emily St. John Mandel – Sea of Tranquility
- Vaishnavi Patel – Kaikeyi
- T. Kingfisher – Nettle & Bone
- Mary McMyne – The Book of Gothel
- Sunyi Dean – The Book Eaters
And because it’s a tradition of sorts, I also would like to read 100 books again this year. It gives me the illusion that my TBR is shrinking even when it’s not.
Happy reading, everyone!
SFF Book Reviews 