I’m taking part in a few reading challenges and as we’re now in the second half of the year I thought I’d take stock of where I’m up to in each one.

Back to the Classics

There are 12 categories and I have read books from 4 categories. Still a long way to go:

1. A 19th century classic: any book first published from 1800 to 1899 – Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens 1857. Not yet reviewed.
2. A 20th century classic: any book first published from 1900 to 1971 – Checkmate to Murder by E C R Lorac – 1944
3. A classic by a woman author – Orlando by Virginia Woolf – 1928.
4. A children’s classic – The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit.

Mount TBR 2021

I aiming to read 36 books and so far I’ve read 25, although I haven’t reviewed all of them, so I’m more than halfway there:

1. The Measure of Malice edited by Martin Edwards
2. Exit by Belinda Bauer
3. The One I Was by Eliza Graham
4. Cruel Acts by Jane Casey
5. The Cutting Place by Jane Casey
6. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
7. English Pastoral by James Rebanks
8. The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood
9. Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell
10. For the Record by David Cameron
11. The Moon Sister by Lucinda Riley
12. The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
13. We Are Not In The World by Conor O’Callaghan
14. A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville
15. Ice Bound by Jerri Nielsen
16. Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie
17. The Mirror Dance by Catriona McPherson
18. Inland by Tea Obreht
19. Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
20. Coming Up For Air by Sarah Leipciger
21. The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
22. Katheryn Howard: the Tainted Queen by Alison Weir
23. An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris
24. The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
25. The Dressmaker by Beryl Bainbridge

Wanderlust Bingo

Complete the Wanderlust Bingo card containing 25 categories. Any type of book counts – crime, fiction, science fiction, non-fiction. A country can only appear once. I’ve read books that qualify for 8 squares, so I need to get reading more widely as so many of the books I read are located in the UK or the USA.

• Europe – The Moon Sister by Lucinda Riley
• Polar Regions – Ice Bound by Jerri Nielsen – The South Pole, Antarctica
• Oceania – A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville – Australia
• Middle East – Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie
• Walk – The Salt Path by Raynor Winn -the South West Coast Path
• North America – Inland by Téa Obreht
• City – The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
• Small Town – A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson – Canada

What’s in a Name?

I’ve read 3 of the 6 categories – so I’m doing OK:

1. One’ or ‘1‘: The One I Was by Eliza Graham
2. Repeated word:
3. Reference to outer space: The Moon Sister by Lucinda Riley
4. Possessive noun:
5. Botanical word:
6. Article of clothing: The Dressmaker by Beryl Bainbridge

20 Books of Summer

This is a challenge I don’t usually complete. This year I’ve substituted two of the books I initially chose (which is allowed in the rules) and have read 9 of them and have reviewed 5. This challenge runs from 1 June to 1 September, so I’m doing OK.

1. The Railway Children by E Nesbit read
2. An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris
3. The Dressmaker by Beryl Bainbridge
4. The Killing Kind by Jane Casey
5. The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
6. Coming Up for Air by Sarah Leipciger
7. The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
8. Katheryn Howard, The Tainted Queen by Alison Weir
9. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

The Classics Club

This is 5 year challenge to read 50 classics books. I have just 3 books left to read!