What's in a Name 2020 Challenge

Hosted by: Andrea @ Carolina Book Nook
Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2020

Guidelines (from announcement post):

• The challenge runs from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. You can sign up any time, but only count books that you read between those dates.
• Read a book in any format (hard copy, ebook, audio) with a title that fits into each category.
• Don’t use the same book for more than one category.
• Creativity for matching the categories is not only allowed, it’s encouraged!
• You can choose your books as you go or make a list ahead of time.

Categories for 2020:

1. An ampersand – & (ex. Blanca & Roja, Rot & Ruin)
2. An antonym (ex. Big Little Lies, Wicked Saints)
3. 4 letters or less (ex. Feed, Vox)
4. A given/first name (ex. Tess of the Road, Flowers for Algernon)
5. Reference to children (ex. Baby Proof, Children of Blood and Bone)
6. One of the 4 natural elements – water, air, fire, earth (ex. The River at Night, The Name of the Wind)

● See my original post about the challenge HERE.
● See the challenge announcement/sign-up post HERE.

MY  READING  LIST (books read, with links to reviews):

• Category 1: Gin & Daggers (Murder, She Wrote #1). "Jessica Fletcher" and Donald Bain
• Category 2:
• Category 3: Snow (St. John Strafford #1). John Banville 
• Category 4: Ramona and Her Father (Ramona Quimby #4). Beverly Cleary
• Category 5:
• Category 6: The Happy Hollisters on a River Trip (Happy Hollisters #2). Jerry West 

POSSIBILITIES:

● Category 1 (ampersand):

Arthur & George. Julian Barnes
Bellman & Black. Diane Setterfield
Daisy Jones & The Six. Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers Book. Arlene Croce
Gin & Daggers (Murder, She Wrote #1). "Jessica Fletcher" and Donald Bain
The Waters & The Wild. DeSales Harrison

● Category 2 (antonym):

The Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft. Claire Tomalin
Night and Day. Virginia Woolf
Old New York (Four Novellas). Edith Wharton
Short Letter, Long Farewell. Peter Handke

● Category 3 (four letters or less):

Ax (87th Precinct #18). Ed McBain
Dust (Richard Jury #21). Martha Grimes
Hoot. Carl Hiaasen
Ubik. Philip K. Dick
Utz. Bruce Chatwin

● Category 4 (given/first name):

Caddie Woodlawn. Carol Ryrie Brink
Hitty, Her First Hundred Years. Rachel Field
Jane Eyre. Charlotte Brontë
Queen Lucia. E.F. Benson
Ramona and Her Father (Ramona Quimby #4). Beverly Cleary
The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn (Inspector Morse #3). Colin Dexter
What Maisie Knew. Henry James

● Category 5 (reference to children):

The Children. Edith Wharton
The Children’s Book. A.S. Byatt
The Children of Green Knowe. Lucy M. Boston
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Ransom Riggs
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Henry Farrell
Wise Children. Angela Carter

● Category 6 (one of the four elements):

The Book of Air and Shadows. Michael Gruber
Loon Lake. E.L. Doctorow
The Night Ocean. Paul La Farge
The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Neil Gaiman
On the Banks of Plum Creek (Little House #4). Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Sea. John Banville
The Sea of Grass. Conrad Richter
The Sea, the Sea. Iris Murdoch
Seaview House. Elizabeth Fair
Wide Sargasso Sea. Jean Rhys
The Wind in the Willows. Kenneth Grahame
Wolf Lake (Dave Gurney #5). John Verdon

........

2020 European Reading Challenge

**Challenge Complete. See my wrap-up post HERE.**

Hosted by: Gilion @ Rose City Reader

Dates: January 1, 2020 - January 31, 2021

Guidelines (quoted from the announcement page):

The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. You can participate at different levels, but each book must be by a different author and set in a different country – it's supposed to be a tour. 

• Books should be read between January 1, 2020 and January 31, 2021.  If you participated in the 2019 European Reading Challenge, you can only count books read in January 2020 for one year – either the end of the 2019 challenge or the start of the 2020 challenge – you don't get to count one book for both challenges. 
• You do not have to commit to your choices now; and you can change your mind about books at any time. 
• Overlap with other challenges is allowed – and encouraged! 
• Re-reads count. 
• Audiobooks count. 
• E-books count. 
• Self-published books count. 
• There will be a page for linking your reviews. Reviews are not necessary, unless you are going for the Jet Setter Prize, in which case only books reviewed count.
• If you do not have a blog, put your reviews or reports in a comment on the review list page. 
• There will be a page for posting links to wrap-up posts. 

Levels of participation:

1. Five Star (Deluxe Entourage): Read at least five books by different European authors or books set in different European countries.
2. Four Star (Honeymooner): Read four qualifying books.
3. Three Star (Business Traveler): Read three qualifying books.
4. Two Star (Adventurer): Read two qualifying books.
5. One Star (Pensione Weekender): Read just one qualifying book.

List of Countries:

Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland), and Vatican City.

✹ I'm signing up for the Three Star ("Business Traveler") level.

● See my original post about the challenge HERE.
● See my challenge wrap-up post HERE.
● See the challenge announcement page HERE.
● See the review page HERE.
● See the page for challenge wrap-ups HERE.


MY READING LIST (books I've read):

1. The Circus: A Novel. Jonas Karlsson (set in Stockholm, Sweden)
2. Murder She Wrote: Gin & Daggers (Murder, She Wrote #1). "Jessica Fletcher" and Donald Bain (set in UK, mostly London)
3. Snow (St. John Strafford #1). John Banville (set in Ireland) 

......

Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2020

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2020
Host: Bev @ My Reader's Block

Guidelines

• You may sign up at any time — no matter when you see this challenge. All qualifying books read after January 1st count.
• Choose a level of participation. Once you choose, you're locked in for at least that many books. You can increase your level; all books counted for lower levels carry over towards the new level.
• Books must be owned by you prior to January 1, 2020. No library books. (The ONLY exception to the library rule: If you own the book in any form and have a reason to check out a version from the library instead, then you may count it.)
• Books can be counted for other challenges.
• Reviews aren't required, and a blog isn't necessary.
• Any reread may count, regardless of how long you've owned it, provided you have not counted it for a previous Mount TBR Challenge.
• Audiobooks and E-books may count provided they are yours prior to January 1.
• You may count any "currently reading" book that you begin prior to January 1– provided that you had 50% or more of the book left to finish in 2020.
• "Did Not Finish" books can be counted, under some circumstances (see challenge announcement page for details).
• You can submit a list in advance, or add your books as you read them.
• There will be a year-end check-in.
• There will be a GoodReads group for the challenge.
• There will be a challenge headquarters page which will offer links to monthly review pages, and the final wrap-up.

Challenge Levels:

1. Pike's Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile/s
2. Mount Blanc: Read 24 books from your TBR pile/s
3. Mt. Vancouver: Read 36 books from your TBR pile/s
4. Mt. Ararat: Read 48 books from your TBR piles/s
5. Mt. Kilimanjaro: Read 60 books from your TBR pile/s
6. El Toro: Read 75 books from your TBR pile/s
7. Mt. Everest: Read 100 books from your TBR pile/s
8. Mount Olympus (Mars): Read 150+ books from your TBR pile/s

✸ I'm signing up at the first level (Pike's Peak), so I'll be trying for at least 12 books from my TBR pile.

● See my original post about the challenge HERE.
● See the challenge announcement page HERE.
● See the challenge headquarters page HERE.
● See the list of challenge participants HERE.
● See the GoodReads Group HERE.
● See the year-end check-in page HERE.


MY READING LIST (Books I've read, with links to reviews):

1. In the Last Analysis (Kate Fansler Mysteries #1). Amanda Cross
2. And Be a Villain (Nero Wolfe #13). Rex Stout
3. Bitter End (The First Nero Wolfe Novella). Rex Stout
4. Still Life (Inspector Armand Gamache #1). Louise Penny
5. Kill Your Darlings (Mallory #3). Max Allan Collins
6. The Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple #1). Agatha Christie
7. An Artist of the Floating World. Kazuo Ishiguro
8.
9.
10.
11.
12. 

POSSIBLE  READS:
Here are just some of the books I'd like to read in 2020 (many of these have been on the shelves for a LONG time):

• Afternoon Men. Anthony Powell 
• American Eve. Paula Uruburu 
• The Art of Mending. Elizabeth Berg 
• The Bell. Iris Murdoch 
• The Bell Jar. Sylvia Plath 
• The Berlin Stories. Christopher Isherwood 
• The Black Prince. Iris Murdoch 
• Black Sun. Geoffrey Wolff 
• The Book of the Dead. Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child 
• Busman's Honeymoon. Dorothy L. Sayers 
• The Cabinet of Curiosities. Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child 
• Cast, In Order of Disappearance (Charles Paris #1). Simon Brett 
• The Children's Book. A.S. Byatt 
• Cutwork (Needlecraft Mysteries #7). Monica Ferris 
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick 
• The Enchanted April. Elizabeth von Arnim 
• The Europeans. Henry James 
• Family Album. Penelope Lively 
• The Fencing Master. Arturo Pérez-Reverte 
• Five Red Herrings. Dorothy L. Sayers 
• Flaubert's Parrot. Julian Barnes 
• Foundation. Isaac Asimov 
• Framed in Lace (Needlecraft Mysteries #2). Monica Ferris 
• The Ghost Writer. Philip Roth 
• The Glass Room. Simon Mawer 
• Hanging By a Thread (Needlecraft Mysteries #6). Monica Ferris
• The Haunted Bookshop. Christopher Morley 
• High Rising (Barsetshire #1). Angela Thirkell 
• How It All Began. Penelope Lively 
• Identity. Milan Kundera 
• Invitation to the Waltz. Rosamond Lehmann 
• Istanbul Passage. Joseph Kanon 
• Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte 
• July and August. Nancy Clark 
• Jumping the Queue. Mary Wesley 
• The Lake House. Kate Morton 
• Let the Devil Sleep (Dave Gurney #3). John Verdon 
• Los Alamos. Joseph Kanon 
• Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. Eric Hodgins 
• Mrs. Malory and a Death in the Family. Hazel Holt
• Mrs. Malory and a Necessary End. Hazel Holt
• The Moonstone. Wilkie Collins 
• Murder At the Vicarage (Miss Marple #1). Agatha Christie 
• Murder Must Advertise. Dorothy L. Sayers 
• The Mystery of Lewis Carroll. Jenny Woolf 
• The Nine Tailors. Dorothy L. Sayers  
• Oracle Night. Paul Auster 
• The Pale Horse. Agatha Christie 
• Prater Violet. Christopher Isherwood 
• Prophecy. S.J. Parris 
• Providence. Anita Brookner 
• Relic. Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child 
• The Road to Lichfield. Penelope Lively 
• The Secret Keeper. Kate Morton 
• The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn (Inspector Morse, #3). Colin Dexter
• Silver on the Tree (The Dark Is Rising series, final book). Susan Cooper 
• The Sisters: The Lives and Times of the Fabulous Cushing Sisters. David Grafton 
• The Spoils of Poynton. Henry James
• The Takeover. Muriel Spark
• The Talented Mr. Ripley. Patricia Highsmith 
• Time and Again. Clifford D. Simak 
• Two Serious Ladies. Jane Bowles 
• The Unicorn. Iris Murdoch 
• Unnatural Death. Dorothy L. Sayers 
• When the Music's Over (DCI Banks #23). Peter Robinson
• A Wreath of Roses. Elizabeth Taylor 
• The Year of Magical Thinking. Joan Didion 

2020 Calendar of Crime Challenge

**Challenge complete. See my wrap-up post HERE.**

Host: Bev @ My Reader's Block
Dates: 1 January - 31 December 2020

Guidelines (from announcement page):

• Challenge runs from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. All books should be read during this time period. Sign up any time between now and November 1, 2020. 
• All books must be mysteries. Humor, romance, supernatural elements (etc.) are welcome, but the books must be mysteries/crime/detective novels first.
• Twelve books, one representing each month, are required for a completed challenge and to be eligible for the end-of-year prize drawing. Each month comes with several categories that may be selected to fulfill the month's reading. 
• To claim a book, it must fit one of the categories for the month you wish to fulfill. Unless otherwise specified, the category is fulfilled within the actual story. For instance, if you are claiming a book for December and you want to use "Christmas" as the category, then Christmas must figure in some way in the plot. Did someone poison the plum pudding? Did Great-Uncle Whozit invite all the family home for Christmas so he could tell them he plans to change his will? 
• The "wild card" book is exactly that. If July is your birth month, then for category #9, you may read any mystery book you want. It does not have to connect with July in any way — other than a July baby chose it. The other eleven months, you must do the alternate category #9 if you want to fulfill that slot. 
• For the category that says "Book title contains a word that starts with the letter A," the following do not count: "A" and "An."  
• Books may only count for one month and one category, but they may count for other challenges. If it could fulfill more than one category or month, then you are welcome to change the category/month at any time prior to the final wrap-up.
• Books do not have to be read during the month for which they qualify. So if you're feeling like a little "Christmas in July" (or May or...), then feel free to read your book for December whenever the mood strikes.
• A wrap-up post/comment/email will be requested that should include a calendar of books read and what category they fulfilled. [Example: January: The House of Sudden Sleep by John Hawk (original pub date January 1930)].
• All participants who complete the challenge will be eligible for an end-of-year prize drawing. There will also be a "My Calendar's Booked" prize for the challenger who fills their calendar with the most books, so challengers are encouraged to read more than one category for each month. In case of a tie, there will be a prize drawing among the the folks who booked-up their year so fully.

Monthly Categories:

● See my original post about the challenge HERE.
● See the challenge announcement/sign-up page HERE.
● See the challenge Headquarters page HERE.
● See the list of challenge participants HERE.
● See my challenge wrap-up post HERE.

MY  READING  LIST:

JANUARY:
• In the Last Analysis (Kate Fansler #1). Amanda Cross (Category #2: Author's birth month)

FEBRUARY:
• A Fragment of Fear. John Bingham (Category #7: Book title has word starting with "F")

MARCH:
• The Silent Speaker (Nero Wolfe #11). Rex Stout (Category #3: Primary action takes place during this month)

APRIL:
• And Be a Villain (Nero Wolfe #13). Rex Stout (Category #7: Book title has word starting with "A")

MAY:
• Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage (Agatha Raisin #5). M.C. Beaton (Category #7: Book title has word starting with "M")

JUNE:
• The Haunted Lady (Hilda Adams/"Miss Pinkerton" Mystery). Mary Roberts Rinehart (Category #3: Primary action takes place during this month)

JULY:
• Where There's a Will (Nero Wolfe #8). Rex Stout (Category #3: Primary action takes place during this month)

AUGUST:
• A Death Long Overdue (Lighthouse Library Mystery #7). Eva Gates (Category #9: Summer holiday setting - Nags Head NC)

SEPTEMBER:
• The Suicide House. Charlie Donlea (Category #7: Book title has word beginning with "S")

OCTOBER:
• Still Life (Inspector Gamache #1). Louise Penny (Category #3: Primary action takes place in this month)

NOVEMBER:
• Knot of This World (Quilting Mystery #8). Mary Marks (Category #9: Family relationships play major role)

DECEMBER:
• Snow (St. John Strafford #1). John Banville (Category #3: Primary action takes place in this month) 

NetGalley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2020

Hosted by: Tina @ Reading Between the Pages
Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2020

Guidelines (from announcement post):

• The challenge runs from January 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020. There is no deadline to sign up.
• You do not need to have a blog to participate.
• Any genre, release date, length, etc. counts – it just needs to be a book from NetGalley or Edelweiss.
• Books can count for more than one challenge that you are participating in.
• The first day of each month there will be a monthly “link-up” for linking reviews. If you forget one month, you can catch up the next month.
• If you have questions, leave a comment on the sign-up page, or use the contact page at the top of that post.
• Use the hashtag #NGEW2020 on social media.

Levels:

1. Bronze – 10 Books
2. Silver – 25 Books
3. Gold – 50 Books
4. Platinum – 75 Books
5. Diamond – 100 Books

I'm signing up at the Bronze Level, but hope to read more than ten books.


• See my original blog post about the challenge HERE.
• See the challenge announcement/sign-up page HERE. 
• See the monthly review link-up page HERE.

My Reading List (Books I've read, with links to reviews):

1. The Circus. Jonas Karlsson (Hogarth; Jan 28, 2020)
2. The Light After the War. Anita Abriel (Atria Books; Feb 4, 2020)
3. The Illness Lesson. Clare Beams (Doubleday; Feb 11, 2020)
4. Big Summer. Jennifer Weiner (Atria Books; 19 May 2020)
5. The List of Things That Will Not Change. Rebecca Stead (Random House/Wendy Lamb; Apr 7, 2020)
6. Knot of This World (A Quilting Mystery). Mary Marks (Kensington Books, Jul 28, 2020) 
7. A Death Long Overdue (A Lighthouse Library Mystery). Eva Gates (Crooked Lane Books; Oct 6, 2020)
8. The Suicide House (Rory Moore / Lane Phillips #2). Charlie Donlea (Kensington Books; Jul 28, 2020)
9. Snow. John Banville (Faber & Faber, Oct 1, 2020)  
10. Take a Look at the Five and Ten (Subterranean Press; November 30, 2020)
    

My List of Books To Be Read (2019-2020)

(Listed by publication date)

• NetGalley Books To Be Read:

1. The Long Call. Ann Cleeves (St. Martin's Press; Sep 3, 2019) 
2. What Rose Forgot. Nevada Barr (Minotaur Books; Sep 17, 2019)
3. Imaginary Friend. Stephen Chbosky (Grand Central; Oct 1, 2019)
4. The Pursuit. Joyce Carol Oates (Grove Atlantic; Oct 1, 2019)
5. Olive, Again. Elizabeth Strout (Random House; Oct 15, 2019)
6. The Circus. Jonas Karlsson (Hogarth; Jan 28, 2020)
7. The Light After the War. Anita Abriel (Atria Books; Feb 4, 2020)
8. The Illness Lesson. Clare Beams (Doubleday; Feb 11, 2020)  
9. Big Summer. Jennifer Weiner (Atria Books; 19 May 2020) 
10. The List of Things That Will Not Change. Rebecca Stead (Random House/Wendy Lamb; Apr 7, 2020) 
11. Living on the Edge of Empire: The Objects and People of Hadrian's Wall. Barbara Birley, et al. (Pen & Sword Archaeology; May 30, 2020) 
12. Knot of This World (A Quilting Mystery). Mary Marks (Kensington Books; Jul 28, 2020)
13. The Suicide House (Rory Moore / Lane Phillips #2). Charlie Donlea (Kensington Books; Jul 28, 2020)
14. Life in Miniature: A History of Dolls' Houses. Nicola Lisle (Pen & Sword; Sep 30, 2020)
    
15. Snow. John Banville (Faber & Faber, Oct 1, 2020) 
16. A Death Long Overdue (A Lighthouse Library Mystery). Eva Gates (Crooked Lane Books; Oct 6, 2020) 
17. Take a Look at the Five and Ten. Connie Willis (Subterranean Press; Nov 30, 2020)
18. An Extravagant Death (A Charles Lenox Mystery). Charles Finch (St. Martin's Press / Minotaur Books; Feb 16, 2021)
    
19. The Postscript Murders. Elly Griffiths (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Mar 2, 2021) 
20. The Lost Village. Camilla Sten (St. Martin's/Minotaur; Mar 23, 2021) 
21. Astrid Sees All. Natalie Standiford (Atria Books; Apr 6, 2021)
    

• Edelweiss Books To Be Read:

1. Takes One to Know One. Susan Isaacs (Atlantic Monthly Press; Oct 1, 2019)