2022 GoodReads Around the Year in 52 Books

As usual, the GoodReads challenge is a bit easier than PopSugar and BookRiot, even though it has more prompts. The prompts are more generic and easier for me to fit my regular reads into them.

THE 2022 LIST
1. A book with a main character whose name starts with A, T, or Y: The Sari Shop Widow
2. A book connected to a book you read in 2021: LaRose
3. A book with 22 or more letters in the title: The Ones We’re Meant to Find
4. A book that fits your favorite prompt that did not make the list – A book related to a rabbit: The Empress of Salt and Fortune
5. A book by an author with two sets of double letters in their name: The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard by Eddie Campbell

6. A book with an image of a source of light on the cover: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
7. A book related to psychology, neuroscience or the mind: Wide Awake and Dreaming
8. 3 books set on three different continents – Book 1: The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Europe)
9. 3 books set on three different continents – Book 2: Walkabout (Australia)

10. 3 books set on three different continents – Book 3: The Secret Piano (Asia)
11. A book from historical fiction genre: The Seer of Shadows
12. A book related to glass: Summer at Tiffany
13. A book about a woman in STEM: The Girl in His Shadow

14. A book with fewer than 5000 ratings on Goodreads: A Tuscan Childhood
15. A book without a person on the cover: Cobwebs and Cream Teas
16. A book related to Earth Day: Ada’s Violin
17. A book from NPR’s Book Concierge: Pax

18. A book by an Asian or Pacific Islander author: Convenience Store Woman
19. A book that involves alternate reality, alternate worlds, or alternate history: Just Like Beauty
20. A fiction or nonfiction book that is set during 1900 -1951: Viral Modernism
21. A book with one of the Monopoly tokens on the cover: My Lead Dog Was a Lesbian
22. A book with a Jewish character or author: The Dollmaker of Krakow

23. A book that features loving LGBTQIA+ relationship: The Island of Missing Trees
24. A book related to inclement weather: The Ones We’re Meant to Find
25. A book less than 220 pages OR more than 440 pages: The Thief and the Dogs
26. 2 books with the same word in the title – Book 1: Neither Wolf Nor Dog

27. 2 books with the same word in the title – Book 2: Lone Wolf
28. A book that won an award from Powell’s list of book awards: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
29. A book set on or near a body of water: The Voyage of the Frog
30. A book related to mythology: Gods Behaving Badly

31. A book published at least 10 years ago: The Real Food Revival
32. A book where the main character is a female detective/private eye/police officer: The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
33. The next book in a series: Eat Prey Love
34. A book with an academic setting or with a teacher that plays an important role: Mister Pip
35. 2 books related to flora and fauna – Book 1: Baree

36. 2 books related to flora and fauna – Book 2: To See Every Bird on Earth
37. A book that uses all five vowels in the title and/or author’s name: The Bicycle Spy by Yona Zeldis McDonough
38. A book by a Latin American author: City of the Beasts
39. A book from the TIME list of 100 Best YA Books of All Time: Darius the Great Is Not Okay

40. A book related to one of the 22 Tarot Major Arcana cards: The Third Angel
41. A book with a theme of food or drink: From Hardtack to Home Fries
42. A book with a language or nationality in the title: How to Love a Jamaican
43. A book set in a small town or rural area: Cobwebs and Cream Teas
44. A book with gothic elements: Voices of Dracula

45. A book related to a game: The Stuff of Legend
46. A book with a non-human as one of the main characters: My Dog Skip
47. A book with handwriting on the cover: Mockingbird
48. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads in 2021 or 2022: One of Us is Lying

49. A book connected to the phrase “Here (There) Be Dragons”: Ember and the Ice Dragons
50. A book that involves aging, or a character in their golden years: Mrs. Perivale and the Blue Fire Crystal
51. A book published in 2022: Beyond the Next Village
52. A book with a time-related word in the title: The Year of the Hare

2022 Popsugar Reading Challenge

My fifth year of the Popsugar Challenge. This one is always quite a challenge with 40 prompts. As usual, I learn a few new words.

• A book published in 2022: Counterfeit
• A book set on a plane, train, or cruise ship: The Train in the Meadow
• A book about or set in a nonpatriarchal society: Monstress
• A book with a tiger on the cover or “tiger” in the title: The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen
• A sapphic book: Cinderella Is Dead
• A book by a Latinx author: City of the Beasts
• A book with an onomatopoeia in its title: Five Go Bump in the Night
• A book with a protagonist who uses a mobility aid: Pax
• A book about a “found family”: A Man Called Ove
• An Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winner: The Dew Breaker
• A #BookTok recommendation: One of Us is Lying 
• A book about the afterlife: The Seer of Shadows
• A book set in the 1980s: Sisters
• A book with cutlery on the cover or in the title: The Duchess Who Wouldn’t Sit Down
• A book by a Pacific Islander author: Kapaemahu
• A book about witches: The Last Fallen Star
• A book becoming a TV series or movie in 2022: Around the World in Eighty Days
• A romance novel by a BIPOC author: The Sari Shop Widow
• A book that takes place during your favorite season: Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding
• A book whose title begins with the last letter of your previous read: The Dutch, I Presume?
• A book about a band or musical group: Yonen Buzz vol 1
• A book with a character on the ace spectrum: Gods Behaving Badly
• A book with a recipe in it: The Real Food Revival
• A book you can read in one sitting: Address unknown
• A book about a secret: The Bicycle Spy
• A book with a misleading title: Remote Control
• A Hugo Award winner: The Empress of Salt and Fortune
• A book set during a holiday: Odin’s Child
• A different book by an author you read in 2021: LaRose
• A book with the name of a board game in the title: Five Go Bump in the Night
• A book featuring a man-made disaster: The Ones We’re Meant to Find
• A book with a quote from your favorite author on the cover or Amazon page: A Dog’s Purpose
• A social-horror book: The House of Dies Drear
• A book set in Victorian times: Voices of Dracula
• A book with a constellation on the cover or in the title: Navigating The Golden Compass
• A book you know nothing about: The Third Angel
• A book about gender identity: The Autobiography of a Transgender Scientist
• A book featuring a party: Wide Awake and Dreaming
• An #OwnVoices SFF (science fiction and fantasy) book: The Ones We’re Meant to Find
• A book that fulfills your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge – A book you think your best friend would like: Without Reservations

Advanced

• A book with a reflected image on the cover or “mirror” in the title
• A book that features two languages
• A book with a palindromic title
• A duology (1)
• A duology (2)
• A book about someone leading a double life
• A book featuring a parallel reality
• A book with two POVs
• Two books set in twin towns, aka “sister cities” (1)
• Two books set in twin towns, aka “sister cities” (2)

2022 Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge

I looked it up and I have been doing this challenge since 2015. Book Riot says that it’s their eighth year, so that would mean I have been doing it since their first one! Look forward to another year of interesting and unusual reads, though… must I read political thrillers and horrors? X (

So… I didn’t finish this year’s challenge. I only managed 1/3 way through The Best American Food Writing 2021. I thought I’d have plenty of time to finish reading it, considering we have 5 hours to drive to our friend’s place for NYE celebration. Unfortunately I was so overworked I fell asleep part of the time, not to mention that my eyes are getting old, and reading on my phone in a moving car in the dark was too tiring for my eyes. I did enjoy reading the essays in the book and will try to finish it in 2023.

1. Read a biography of an author you admire: In the Weeds
2. Read a book set in a bookstore: Prose and Cons
3. Read any book from the Women’s Prize shortlist/longlist/winner list: The Island of Missing Trees 
4. Read a book in any genre by a POC that’s about joy and not trauma: The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down
5. Read an anthology featuring diverse voices: Paris In Mind
6. Read a nonfiction YA comic: Sisters
7. Read a romance where at least one of the protagonists is over 40: The Sari Shop Widow
8. Read a classic written by a POC: A Bond Undone
9. Read the book that’s been on your TBR the longest: How To Solve a Murder (12 years!!!)
10. Read a political thriller by a marginalized author (BIPOC, or LGBTQIA+)： While Justice Sleeps
11. Read a book with an asexual and/or aromantic main character: Gods Behaving Badly
12. Read an entire poetry collection: The Lost Words
13. Read an adventure story by a BIPOC author: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
14. Read a book whose movie or TV adaptation you’ve seen (but haven’t read the book): Rascal
15. Read a new-to-you literary magazine (print or digital): 3cents
16. Read a book recommended by a friend with different reading tastes: Odin’s Child
17. Read a memoir written by someone who is trans or nonbinary: The Autobiography of a Transgender Scientist
18. Read a “Best _ Writing of the year” book for a topic and year of your choice.
19. Read a horror novel by a BIPOC author: Meddling Kids
20. Read an award-winning book from the year you were born: The Egypt Game
21. Read a queer retelling of a classic of the canon, fairytale, folklore, or myth: Cinderella is Dead
22. Read a history about a period you know little about: Midnight in Peking
23. Read a book by a disabled author: The Reason I Jump
24. Pick a challenge from any of the previous years’ challenges to repeat! – Read a historical fiction with a POC or LGBTQ+ protagonist: The Book Of Negroes