2022 European Reading Challenge -- WINNER!

 

2022 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY TOUR!

THIS IS THE WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT POST FOR 2022

TO FIND THE 2022 REVIEWS, GO TO THIS PAGE

TO FIND THE 2022 WRAP UP POSTS, GO TO THIS PAGE

THE 2023 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE SIGN UP IS AT THIS PAGE

2022 was the tenth anniversary of the European Reading Challenge! The challenge involves reading books set in different European countries or written by authors from different European countries.

Big thanks to all the participants who joined me for the Grand Tour in its tenth year!

JET SETTER GRAND PRIZE WINNER

The 2022 Jet Setter prize goes to Sabine at sabines.literary.world who participated on Instagram, visited all 50 European states, and reviewed the books she read. Her wrap up post discusses her reading journey.

Honorary Mention (but no prizes) go to the six other participants who completed the challenge and posted wrap up posts about the countries they visited and the book they read:

• Sue at Carey Family (5)
• Avid Series Reader (10)
• Maphead's Book Blog (20)
• Cinzia at Quattro passi sulle nuvole (13)
• Kym at Just a Second (4 countries in three books)
• Reese at Typings (13)

My own wrap-up post is here. I read nine books from different European countries, although only two were translations, which is backsliding from the year before. I didn't even try to review the books I read, which is too much as long as I am running my own law firm.

Congratulations to all the readers who completed the 2022 challenge! 

There is still plenty of time to join us in 2023.

JOIN THE 2023 CHALLENGE! SIGN UP HERE

The gist: 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.

Sign up HERE for the 2023 Challenge.

The TBR 22 in '22 Challenge -- My Wrap Up Post

 

TBR 22 IN '22 CHALLENGE

My Wrap Up Post

COMPLETED

Sign up for the TBR 23 in '23 Challenge here!

The TBR 22 in '22 Challenge was simple -- read 22 books off your TBR shelf in 2022. You could pick them ahead of time, like I did, pick them as you went, or any combination you like. Or pick ahead of time and then switch! The only "rule" is that the 22 books had to be books you owned before January 1, 2022.

Here is the list of the 22 book I read for the challenge, in alphabetical order by author, not the order in which I read them:

• These Ruins are Inhabited by Margaret Beadle, a memoir by an American living in England in the 1950s

• Dangling Man by Saul Bellow, on my Classics Club list

• Atlantic High by William F. Buckley, Jr., the second of his four sailing memoirs. I read the first one last year and planned to read them all but didn't get to them. 2022 will be the year I finally do. 

• Racing through Paradise by William F. Buckley, Jr., the third of the four

• Windfall by William F. Buckley, Jr., the last one

• The Master and the Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakow, on my Classics Club list

• The Waterfall by Margaret Drabble, on my Classics Club list

• A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, which won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award

• Rat Race by Dick Francis, on my Classics Club list

• Bunny Mellon: The Life of an American Style Legend by Meryl Gordon

• French Women Don't get Fat by Mireille Guiliano

• The Wall by John Hersey, on my Classics Club list

• The Bostonians by Henry James, on my Classics Club list

• A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream by Yuval Levin

• When She was Good by Philip Roth, on my Classics Club list

• Zuckerman Unbound by Philip RothThe Anatomy Lesson by Philip Roth

• The Prague Orgy by Philip Roth

• The Masters by C. P. Snow is the fourth book in his Strangers and Brothers series, which I started years ago and want to finish. This one is on my Classics Club list because it won the James Tait Black Prize in 1954.

• If Morning Ever Comes by Anne Tyler, on my Classics Club list

• God Save the Mark by Donald Westlake, which won the Edgar Award and is on my Classics Club list

• Anglo-Saxon Attitudes by Angus Wilson, a campus novel on my Classics Club list

 

2022 European Reading Challenge -- My Wrap-Up Post!

 

THE 2022 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

MY WRAP-UP POST

COMPLETED

There's another week or so to go before the end of the year and the end of the 2022 European Reading Challenge. But I don't foresee finishing any additional books for this challenge before the new year.

I read 58 books set in European countries or written by European authors in 2022. Under the rules of the challenge, only one book per country counts. I read books set in, or by authors from, nine different European countries. 

My list of books and countries is below, in the order I read them. See any of your own favorites?

BOOKS I READ

• Kathrine by Anya Seton (UK)

• French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano (France)

• Island of Gold by Amy Maroney (Greece)

• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (Czech Republic)

• Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir Of Science, Faith, And Love by Dava Sobel (Italy)

• The Master & Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (Russia)

• Holy Orders by Benjamin Black (Ireland)

• Windfall: The End of the Affair by William F. Buckley, Jr. (Portugal)

• The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor (Switzerland)

THE CHALLENGE

The European Reading Challenge has been around since 2012 so 2022 is the ten year anniversary! Every year, the idea is to tour Europe in books by reading books written by authors from different European countries or set in different European countries. You pick the books, the countries, and how many books you want to read. You can complete the challenge by reading 1 to 5 books, depending on what level of participation you chose.

If you want to read more, you can compete for the Jet Setter Prize. The prize goes to the person who reads and reviews the greatest number of books from DIFFERENT countries. Only one book from each country counts towards the prize, so the greatest number of books that could be read is 50, because there are 50 official sovereign states in Europe:

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, and Vatican City.

PLEASE JOIN US IN 2023 FOR THE NEXT GRAND TOUR IN BOOKS!

2022 Audiobook Challenge -- My Wrap-Up Post

 THE 2022 AUDIOBOOK CHALLENGE

WRAP-UP POST

COMPLETED

I blew past my challenge goal of reading 50+ audiobooks this year! I've read 63 books with my ears in 2022 and will probably finish 65 before the the new year. See list below.

CHALLENGE

Caffeinated Reviewer and That’s What I’m Talking About host a popular audiobook challenge every year, although 2022 was only the second time I participated. I signed up at the Marathoner level to read 50 or more audiobooks in 2022. 

I love reading with my ears! I download audiobooks from the library to my phone using the Libby app and listen all the time. In good weather, I like to walk to work, which gives me a good hour of audiobook reading in a day. I also listed when I drive, cook, fold laundry, and do other chores. In 2021, I read 131 books and 70 of them were audiobooks. 

One thing I started doing in 2022 was to combine my love of audiobooks with my desire to clear book books off my TBR shelves. I went through my TBR list, found which ones were available as audiobooks from the library, and put them on my Libby wishlist. It may seem odd to listen to the audiobook when I have the physical book already, but I have soooooooooo many book books on my shelves that it would take me years to get to all of them. If I can free up shelf space (and brain space) by reading a book with my ears and getting rid of the paper book, I'm happy. 

MY 2022 AUDIOBOOKS

Here is the list of books I read as audiobooks in 2022, in the order I read them. Do you see any of your own favorites here?

• Katherine by Anya Seton (TBR shelf) 

• The Bostonians by Henry James (TBR shelf) 

• A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym (TBR shelf) 

• Murder at the Mill by M. B. Shaw 

• Dangling Man by Saul Bellow (TBR shelf)

• The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz 

• The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty 

• A Narrow Door by Joanne Harris 

• The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney 

• The Anatomy Lesson by Philip Roth (TBR shelf)

• In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park (Book Club) 

• The Falls by Ian Rankin (TBR shelf) 

• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (Book Club) 

• Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald (TBR shelf, reread) 

• The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz 

• Little Big Man by Larry McMurtry (TBR shelf) 

• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (TBR shelf)

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl 

• Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty 

• The Prague Orgy by Philip Roth (TBR shelf)

• The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz 

• Hell of a Book by Jason Mott (National Book Award)

• Trio by William Boyd

• As Husbands Go by Susan Isaac 

• Lucky by Marissa Stapley (Book Club) 

• The Skull Beneath the Skin by P. D. James (TBR shelf)

• Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel (TBR shelf) 

• Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci (Book Club) 

• Only in Naples by Katherine Wilson 

• A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz 

• The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (TBR shelf)

• Holy Orders by Benjamin Black 

• Blue Moon by Lee Child (TBR shelf)

• The Long Way Home by Louise Penny

• Broken Harbor by Tana French (TBR shelf)

• The Counterlife by Philip Roth (TBR shelf)

• Destination Unknown by Agatha Christie

• Mr. Majestyk by Elmore Leonard (TBR shelf)

• The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (Book Club) 

• The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel

• Woke Racism: How a New Religion has Betrayed Black America by John McWhorter

• The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie (TBR shelf) 

• Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (Book Club)

• Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty 

• Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (TBR shelf)

• The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

• The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie (TBR shelf)

• Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro (TBR shelf)

• North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (Victober)

• The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie (TBR shelf)

• The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor (TBR shelf)

• The Underdog and Other Stories by Agatha Christie (TBR shelf)

• The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious - and Perplexing - City by David Lebovitz (TBR shelf)

• Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness by William Styron

• Literary Life: A Second Memoir by Larry McMurtry (TBR shelf)

• What to Read and Why by Francine Prose

• Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger by Nigel Slater (TBR shelf)

• Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston (TBR shelf)

• Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own by Kate Bolick (TBR shelf)

• White Teeth by Zadie Smith (TBR shelf)

• One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell (TBR shelf)

• The Mistletoe Murder: And Other Stories by P. D. James (TBR shelf)

• The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier (buddy read)

At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

What day is it? Yikes! What a week!

I got my mom and sister moved to Omaha and flew back to Portland. But got back to the office to a crazy week. My law partner is home with covid. There is a mountain of work for me to catch up on from when I was gone. And my Instagram account was hacked, recovered, and rehacked because the hackers snuck an email address in there that let them change the password after I had recovered the account. So I've been trying to get my Instagram account back from Bitcoin lunatics while changing the passwords on the 800 other websites, apps, and devices in my life. 

If any of you follow me on Instagram, first, thank you. Second, sorry! Please bear with me while I try to recover my account. I really don't want to start over from scratch. Just ignore all the stories trying to sell you cryptocurrency!

In the meantime, here is a delayed Book Beginnings on Fridays post. Please share the opening sentence (or so) of a book you are reading this week. Or just a book that caught your fancy. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

In the heart of the West End, there are many quiet pockets, unknown to almost all but taxi drivers who traverse them with expert knowledge, and arrive triumphantly thereby at Park Lane, Berkeley Square or South Audley Street.

-- from At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie. I need a nice vintage mystery to calm my frayed nerves. In this case, a Silver Vintage Mystery as this one was published in 1965. 

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please leave the link to your Book Beginning post in the Linky box below. If you post on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag. 

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THE FRIDAY 56

Freda at Freda's Voice hosts another teaser event on Fridays. Participants share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of the book they are reading -- or from 56% of the way through the audiobook or ebook. Please visit Freda's Voice for details and to leave a link to your post.

MY FRIDAY 56

From At Bertram's Hotel:

"Of course you won't get run over," said Elvira. "You know how nippy you are on your feet, and all London traffic is used to pulling up suddenly."

What are they up to? Doesn't sound like a safe plan!

Please wish me luck getting my Instagram back!

TBR 22 in '22 Challenge -- WRAP UP POSTS

WRAP UP PAGE

TBR 22 IN '22 CHALLENGE

January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022

THIS IS THE PAGE TO LINK YOUR WRAP UP POSTS

TO LINK A REVIEW, GO TO THIS PAGE

TO SIGN UP FOR THE CHALLENGE, GO TO THIS PAGE OR CLICK THE CHALLENGE BUTTON ABOVE

LINK YOUR WRAP UP POSTS HERE

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WRAP UP LINKS

If you complete the challenge, please link some kind of wrap up post in the Linky box above. That way, I know who finished the challenge. If you just update your original post and do not do a wrap up post separate from your sign up post that's fine! Please still add the link to the updated post in the box above.

If you have trouble adding your link, leave it in a comment and I will add it or email me your link at gilion at dumasandvaughn dot com and I will add it for you. Please put your name and the name of the book you reviewed in the comment or email. Thanks!

REVIEWS

If you review a book for the TBR 22 in '22 Challenge, please add the link to your review on the review page. Please link to your review post, not the main page of your blog or social media account.

You do not have to have a blog to participate in this challenge. If you review books on Instagram, goodreads, or some other social media, use the link from your social media review post in the Linky box above. Please link to the review, not your profile page. If you have questions about how to find the URL for a social media review post, leave a comment or email me at gilion at dumasandvaughn dot com.

BOOKS AND REVIEWS

The only point of the challenge is to clear 22 book off your TBR shelf in 2022. You can pick them ahead of time but you don't have to. If you pick them, you can change your mind later and switch books. The only "rule" is that you must own the book before January 1, 2022. 

Your TBR shelf can include a virtual shelf of ebooks or audiobooks, as long as you owned them prior to January 1, 2022. It does not include library books. 

You do not have to review books to complete the TBR 22 in '22 Challenge.  

This is supposed to be fun!

TBR 22 in '22 Challenge -- REVIEW PAGE

REVIEW PAGE

FOR THE TBR 22 IN '22 CHALLENGE

January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022

THIS IS THE PAGE TO LIST YOUR REVIEWS

IF YOU HAVE FINISHED, WRAP UP POSTS GO ON THIS PAGE, HERE

TO SIGN UP, GO TO THE MAIN CHALLENGE PAGE, HERE,

OR CLICK THE BUTTON ABOVE

LINK YOUR REVIEWS HERE

Please put your name and/or the name of your blog or social media handle and the name of the book you reviewed. Please link to your review post and not your blog home page or main social media profile page.

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LINKS

If you review a book for the TBR 22 in '22 Challenge, please add the link to your review in the Linky box above. Please link to your review post, not the main page of your blog or social media account.

You do not have to have a blog to participate in this challenge. If you review books on Instagram, goodreads, or some other social media, use the link from your social media review post in the Linky box above. Please link to the review, not your profile page. If you have questions about how to find the URL for a social media review post, leave a comment or email me at gilion at dumasandvaughn dot com.

If you have trouble adding your link, leave it in a comment and I will add it or email me your link at gilion at dumasandvaughn dot com and I will add it for you. Please put your name and the name of the book you reviewed in the comment or email. Thanks!

BOOKS AND REVIEWS

The only point of the challenge is to clear 22 book off your TBR shelf in 2022. You can pick them ahead of time but you don't have to. If you pick them, you can change your mind later and switch books. The only "rule" is that you must own the book before January 1, 2022. 

Your TBR shelf can include a virtual shelf of ebooks or audiobooks, as long as you owned them prior to January 1, 2022. It does not include library books. 

You do not have to review books to complete the TBR 22 in '22 Challenge.  

This is supposed to be fun!

WRAP UP

If you complete the challenge, please link some kind of wrap up post on the wrap up page. That way, I know who finished the challenge. If you just update your original post and do not do a wrap up post separate from your sign up post that's fine! Please still add the link to the updated post on the wrap up page.

2022 European Reading Challenge -- WRAP UP PAGE

WRAP UP PAGE

THIS IS THE PAGE FOR WRAP UP POSTS

TO LIST YOUR REVIEWS, GO TO THIS PAGE

TO SIGN UP, GO TO THE MAIN CHALLENGE PAGE, HERE, OR CLICK THE BUTTON ABOVE

LINK YOUR POST

When you complete the 2022 European Reading Challenge at whatever level you signed up for, please do a wrap up post and enter a link to your post here. Please link to your wrap up post, NOT the main page of your blog or social media profile.

A wrap up post can be very simple. If you participate in the challenge on your blog and just update your original post without doing a separate wrap up post, that's OK. Just post a link to your updated post here. If you participate on social media, please do some kind of wrap up post listing the books you read and link it here.

OR LEAVE A COMMENT

If you want, you can also simply leave a comment below listing the books you read. Please include your name, the name of the books, the authors of the books, and the countries of the books.

WANT THE PRIZE? WRAP IT UP!

Without some kind of wrap up post, I don't have any way to know if you finished the challenge. I like to know so I can visit everyone. But it is more important if you are competing for the Jet Setter Prize. If you want to compete for the prize, you have to leave a wrap up post or I will have no way to know if you visited more countries than the other people competing with you.

When I announce the prize winner, Honorable Mention will go to the participants who visited the most countries, with links to their wrap up posts. If you don't link a wrap up post, I won't be able to find you.

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NOTE ABOUT DATES

One change in 2022 is that we no longer extend the challenge into January as in years past. You now have to read all books by December 31, 2022. You have until January 31, 2023 to finish your reviews and your wrap up post. I will announce the winner as soon as possible after January 31, 2023.

2022 European Reading Challenge -- REVIEW PAGE

REVIEW PAGE

THIS IS THE PAGE TO LIST YOUR REVIEWS.

IF YOU HAVE FINISHED, WRAP UP POSTS GO ON THIS PAGE.

TO SIGN UP, GO TO THE MAIN CHALLENGE PAGE, HERE,

OR CLICK THE BUTTON ABOVE.

LINK YOUR REVIEWS HERE

Please put your name and/or the name of your blog or social media handle, the name of the book you reviewed, and the country of the book or author. For example: Gilion at Rose City Reader, Anna Karenina, Russia.

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LINKS

When you review a book for the 2022 European Reading Challenge, please add it to this list using the Linky widget above. Please link to your review post, NOT the main page of your blog or social media account.

You do not need a blog to participate. If you review books on Instagram, Facebook, goodreads, or some other platform that generates a URL, you can add link to the review in the Mr. Linky box above the same as a link to a blog post. Please link to the review, not your profile page. If you have questions about how to find the URL for a social media review post, leave a comment to ask me or email me at gilion at dumasandvaughn dot com.

REVIEWS

You do not have to review books to complete the European Reading Challenge. You can complete the challenge simply by reading one to five books (or more), each set in a different European country or written by an author from a different European country. But if you do review books, please link your reviews here so other people can find them.

Also, if you want to win the Jet Setter Prize, you have to review the books. Only books reviewed count for the prize. If you are competing for the prize, definitely link your reviews here. You can link all your reviews, but only one book per country counts towards the prize.

WRAP UP

If you complete the challenge, please link some kind of wrap up post on the wrap up page. That way, I know who finished the challenge. If you do not do a wrap up post separate from your sign up post -- you just update your original post -- that's fine! But please, please, please link to the updated post after you finish the challenge. It is too hard for me to count all your reviews to figure out if you finished the challenge or not.

NOTE ABOUT DATES

One change in 2022 is that we no longer extend the challenge into January as in years past. You now have to read all books by December 31, 2022. You have until January 31, 2023 to finish your reviews and your wrap up post. I will announce the winner as soon as possible after January 31, 2023. 

The 2022 European Reading Challenge is up and running - sign up now!

 

THE 2022 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE IS HERE!

It's time to sign up for the 2022 European Reading Challenge! Many of you have already signed up, but there is still time for those of you looking for a fun 2022 reading challenge. 

I put up the main challenge page last month but just realized I never posted about it. Sign up for the 2022 ERC challenge on the main challenge page HERE or click the challenge button above. 

2022 is the 10th anniversary of the European Reading Challenge. Join us to make the Grand Tour of Europe in books. The idea is to read books by different European authors or set in different European countries. 

Read the books of your choice, at the level you choose. You can sign up for the challenge to read 1 to 5 books. Want more of a challenge? Go for the Jet Setter Prize! The person who reads and reviews the most books -- each from a different country -- wins a prize.

The most books you can read for the challenge is 50 because there are 50 commonly recognized sovereign states of Europe:

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, and Vatican City.

2021 was the first year anyone managed to read books for all 50 countries. In prior years, no one came close. In 2021, at least three people made that impressive trek! Let's see who can make the journey in 2022.

CHANGE: One change in 2022 is that the challenge will run only until December 31, 2022. In years past, we always went an extra month and people could finish their books on January 31 of the following year. But that got too confusing! So starting with 2022 and the 10th anniversary, the deadline for reading all the challenge books is now December 31. Participants still have until January 31, 2023 to complete all their reviews and wrap up posts. I will announce the winner of the Jet Setter Prize in early February.

LET'S BE SOCIAL!

In 2022, I'm making another big push for readers to participate in the European Reading Challenge through social media, like Instagram, goodreads, Facebook, whatever works. We did this in 2021 for the first time and it was a lot of fun! 

Posts on IG, goodreads, Facebook, and other platforms generate URLs that work fine with Mr. Linky. If you need help finding the URL link, message me through the platform or leave a comment and I'll walk you through it.

If you participate on social media or share your blog posts on social media, please use the hashtag #europeanreadingchallenge. That makes it easier to find each other.

Please sign up on the main challenge page HERE, or click the button above. Please also encourage other people to sign up, through their blogs or social media. Even if they don't blog or socialize, they can join in with comments on the challenge pages.

Bon voyage!

2022 European Reading Challenge - My Sign Up Post

 

THE 2022 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

MY SIGN UP POST

To sign up yourself (and I hope you do), go to the main challenge page here. 

2022 is the 10th anniversary of the European Reading Challenge! This is my sign up post. I'm signing up for the "FIVE STAR (DELUXE ENTOURAGE)" level to read at least five books by different European authors or books set in different European countries. But because it is the 10th anniversary, I actually plan to read books from ten different countries.

MY CHALLENGE BOOKS

You do not have to pick your books ahead of time, but I picked a few because I like to play with my books. I may or may not get to the books in the picture above. I took that picture for some Instagram inspiration for a post I did about the European Reading Challenge. The books I'm planning to read for this challenge are:

UK: These Ruins are Inhabited by Margaret Beadle, a memoir by an American living in England in the 1950s.

RUSSIA: The Master and the Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakow, on my Classics Club list.

FRANCE: French Women Don't get Fat by Mireille Guiliano.

GERMANY: The Wall by John Hersey, on my Classics Club list.

CZECH REPUBLIC: The Prague Orgy by Philip Roth

ITALY: The Spring by Megan Weiler

I hope to visit more countries in Scandinavia, the Baltics, and the Balkans. Perhaps I will get to Zorba the Greek for Greece and Olivia Manning's Balkans Trilogy for Rumania. 

THE 2022 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

JANUARY 1, 2022 TO DECEMBER 31, 2022

(new deadline!)

The European Reading Challenge has been around since 2012 so 2022 is the ten year anniversary! The idea is to tour Europe in books by reading books written by authors from different European countries or set in different European countries. You pick the books, the countries, and how many books you want to read. You can complete the challenge by reading 1 to 5 books, depending on what level of participation you chose.

If you want to read more, you can compete for the Jet Setter Prize. The prize goes to the person who reads and reviews the greatest number of books from DIFFERENT countries. Only one book from each country counts towards the prize, so the greatest number of books that could be read is 50, because there are 50 official sovereign states in Europe:

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, and Vatican City.

PLEASE JOIN US ON THE GRAND TOUR IN BOOKS!

2022 Audiobook Challenge -- My Sign Up Post

 THE 2022 AUDIOBOOK CHALLENGE

MID-YEAR CHECK IN

So far in 2022, I've finished 34 audiobooks, so I'm on track to reach my challenge goal of reading 50+ audiobooks this year! See list below.

ORIGINAL POST

Caffeinated Reviewer and That’s What I’m Talking About host a popular audiobook challenge every year, although 2022 will be only the second time I have participated. I am signing up at the Marathoner level to read 50 or more audiobooks in 2022. 

I love reading with my ears! I download audiobooks from the library to my phone using the Libby app and listen all the time. In good weather, I like to walk to work, which gives me a good hour of audiobook reading in a day. I also listed when I drive, cook, fold laundry, and do other chores. In 2021, I read 131 books and 70 of them were audiobooks. 

One thing I started doing was to combine my love of audiobooks with my desire to clear book books off my TBR shelves. I went through my TBR list, found which ones were available as audiobooks from the library, and put them on my Libby wishlist. It may seem odd to listen to the audiobook when I have the physical book already, but I have soooooooooo many book books on my shelves that it would take me years to get to all of them. If I can free up shelf space (and brain space) by reading a book with my ears and getting rid of the paper book, I'm happy. 

MY 2022 AUDIOBOOKS

I don't know which books I will read yet for this challenge. But these audiobooks are on my phone or my hold list on Libby right now, so they are likely first candidates. I put them on hold because they are the books my Book Club picked for our 2022 reads, they are on my TBR shelf, I went down a Lian Moriarty rabbit hole, or pure whim.

• Katherine by Anya Seton (TBR shelf) FINISHED

• The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie (TBR shelf)

• The Bostonians by Henry James (TBR shelf) FINISHED

• The Falls by Ian Rankin (TBR shelf) FINISHED

• The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz FINISHED

• Murder at the Mill by M. B. Shaw FINISHED

• Broken Horses by Brandi Carlile (Book Club) DNF

• Little Big Man by Larry McMurtry (TBR shelf) FINISHED

• A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym (TBR shelf) FINISHED

• The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty FINISHED

• In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park (Book Club) FINISHED

• Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel (TBR shelf) FINISHED

• Lucky by Marissa Stapley (Book Club) FINISHED

• A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz FINISHED

• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (Book Club) FINISHED

• Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci (Book Club) FINISHED TWICE

• The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (Book Club)

• Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty FINISHED

• Woke Racism by John McWhorter

• Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty

• Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald (TBR shelf, reread) FINISHED

OTHERS I ADDED

• Dangling Man by Saul Bellow FINISHED

• A Narrow Door by Joanne Harris FINISHED

• The Counterlife by Philip Roth FINISHED

• The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney FINISHED

• The Anatomy Lesson by Philip Roth FINISHED

• The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz FINISHED

• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon FINISHED

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl FINISHED

• The Prague Orgy by Philip Roth FINISHED

• The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz FINISHED

• Trio by William Boyd FINISHED

• Hell of a Book by Jason Mott FINISHED

• As Husbands Go by Susan Isaac FINISHED

• The Skull Beneath the Skin by P. D. James FINISHED

• Only in Naples by Katherine Wilson FINISHED

• The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton FINISHED

• Holy Orders by Benjamin Black FINISHED

• Blue Moon by Lee Child FINISHED

NOTE

Updated July 7, 2022 in time for the Mid-Year Check In. So far, I've finished 34 audiobooks in 2022, so am definitely on track to read over 50 for the year. 

TBR 22 in '22 and Mt. TBR Challenges -- My Sign Up Post

 

THE TBR 22 IN '22 CHALLENGE

This is my sign up post for the TBR 22 in '22 Challenge. The simple idea is to read 22 books off your TBR shelves between January 1 and December 31, 2022. If you want to join me (and I hope you do), go to the main challenge page here to sign up. 

You do not have to pick all your TBR 22 in '22 books ahead of time. I like to, so I do. You can. Or you can pick some now and some as you go. You can pick them all at whim. Or you can pick now and then change your mind. The only real rule is that you read books that you already owned before January 1, 2022. 

MY TBR 22 IN '22 BOOKS

I like to pick my books ahead of time and keep them stacked by my bedside to motivate me through the year. Two or three are those I've only recently acquired and I want to read before they disappear on my shelves. The rest are those that have been on my shelves for so long I want to read them so I can stop looking at them! Several of these are on my Classics Club list for the same reason.

In alphabetical order by author name, not as shown in the picture above. I may read them in this order because I have no other plan, although that would mean four Roth books and three Buckley books back to back, so probably not:

• These Ruins are Inhabited by Margaret Beadle, a memoir by an American living in England in the 1950s

• Dangling Man by Saul Bellow, on my Classics Club list

• Atlantic High by William F. Buckley, Jr., the second of his four sailing memoirs. I read the first one last year and planned to read them all but didn't get to them. 2022 will be the year I finally do. 

• Racing through Paradise by William F. Buckley, Jr., the third of the four

• Windfall by William F. Buckley, Jr., the last one

• The Master and the Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakow, on my Classics Club list

• The Waterfall by Margaret Drabble, on my Classics Club list

• A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, which won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award

• Rat Race by Dick Francis, on my Classics Club list

• Bunny Mellon: The Life of an American Style Legend by Meryl Gordon

• French Women Don't get Fat by Mireille Guiliano

• The Wall by John Hersey, on my Classics Club list

• The Bostonians by Henry James, on my Classics Club list

• A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream by Yuval Levin

• When She was Good by Philip Roth, on my Classics Club list

• Zuckerman Unbound by Philip Roth

• The Anatomy Lesson by Philip Roth

• The Prague Orgy by Philip Roth

• The Masters by C. P. Snow is the fourth book in his Strangers and Brothers series, which I started years ago and want to finish. This one is on my Classics Club list because it won the James Tait Black Prize in 1954.

• If Morning Ever Comes by Anne Tyler, on my Classics Club list

• God Save the Mark by Donald Westlake, which won the Edgar Award and is on my Classics Club list

• Anglo-Saxon Attitudes by Angus Wilson, a campus novel on my Classics Club list

THE MT. TBR CHALLENGE

This TBR 22 in '22 Challenge dovetails nicely with the Mt TBR Challenge that Bev at My Reader's Block hosts every year. Like I did in 2021, I am signing up for the "Mt. Kilimanjaro" Level in 2022 to read a total of 60 books off my TBR shelves. That means 38 books in addition to those listed above. 

MY MT. TBR BOOKS

I will list my Mt. TBR books here as I read them. 

NOTES

Update as of December 14, 2022: I completed the TBR 22 in '22 Challenge in November. As of mid-December, I've read 65 books total off my TBR shelves, so climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and completed the Mt. TBR Challenge. I'll do an official wrap up post as soon as I get time.