2021 reading challenges


I completed all my challenges!

Mount TBR

My goal was Mount Blanc: 24 book. I read 26.

1, Kim Newman: Anno Dracula

2, Kristine Kathryn Rusch ed.: Fiction River Special Edition: Spies

3, Hannu Rajaniemi: Summerland

4, Seeley James: Element 42

5, Duane Lindsay: The Grifter’s Daughter

6, Edgar Rice Burroughs: The Moon Maid

7, Kristine Kathryn Rusch: Escaping Amnthra

8, Shawn McGuire: Original Secrets

9, K. C. Hunter: Kana Cold and the Case of the Shinigami

10, Genevieve Cogman: The Secret Chapter

11, Jefferson Smith: The Brotherhood of Delinquents

12, Steven Saylor: Roman Blood

13, William Goldman: The Princess Bride

14, Michael White: The Equinox

15, Indrek Hargia: Apothecary Melchior and the Mystery of St Olaf’s Church

16, Sylvain Neuvel: Sleeping Giants

17, Sylvain Neuvel: Waking Gods

18, Alex Archer: Rogue Angel 1: Destiny

19, Max Brooks: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

20, Jeffrey Lang: Immortal Coil

21, Robert J. Sawyer: Time: Complete Short Fiction volume 3

22, Gwyneth Gibby ed.: Fiction River Presents: Time Travelers

23, Timothy Zahn: Conquerors’ Pride

24, Stefon Mears: Twisted Timelines

25, Leonard Goldberg: The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes

26, Melanie Karsak: Wolves and Daggers

Action/Adventure Bingo card

My goal was one bingo. I read 16 books and got two bingos.

Pick&Mix challenge

My goal was 10 books. I read that easily, most of them audio books.

Action heroine reading challenge

My goal was originally 30 reads and I upgraded it to 50. I read that, too. Most of my reads for this challenge were comics.

I read 54 books in 2021. I reviewed 46 comics but read much more of them.

Out of those 54 books, 22 were fantasy, 19 were science fiction, four were thrillers, five mystery, two historical fiction, and three were multigenre short story collections.

Twenty were new to me authors.

I’ve joined Pick&Mix challenge this year, too.

This challenge is for people who don’t quite match up with more specific challenges. So whether you are a super busy person who can barely find time to read a dozen random books a year, or someone who has a yen to read the whole opus of a fave author, this is the place for you. Happy reading!
Challenge Details
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
Challenge Span: January 2021 – December 2021

The Reading Levels are 10, 20, 40, or 80 books.
Once again I’m choosing just ten for the simple reason that I won’t be counting my Mount TBR books to this challenge. I also read some indy books which aren’t on this site.

Happy reading!

Books read:
1, S. A. Chakraborty: The Empire of Gold
2, Mary Robinette Kowal: The Relentless Moon

3, Genevieve Cogman: The Secret Chapter

4, Dominik Parisien, Navah Wolfe ed.: The Mythic Dream

5, Martha Wells: City of Bones

6, James Lovegrove: The Ghost Machine

7, Lois McMaster Bujold: Masquerade in Lodi

8, Mur Lafferty: Six Wakes

9, Becky Chambers: To be Taught if Fortunate

10, Daniel H. Wilson: The Clockwork Dynasty

I’ve joined up in GoodReads in the Action/Adventure group’s Bingo card 2021 challenge, where the aim is to complete a bingo with books. They can be any genre as long as they’re action/adventure and fulfill the square.

This year the categories are these:

1. Read a book that involves a Cyber Crime: Michael Crichton: Jurassic Park
2. Read a book with a Female Heroine: Genevieve Cogman: The Secret Chapter
3. Read a book that involves a Mystery: Sylvain Neuvel: Waking Gods
4. Read a book that includes a Lost World: Greig Beck: In Search of the Lost World
5. Read a book from a Series: Melanie Karsak: Wolves and Daggers
6. Read a book that involves Survival: Edgar Rice Burroughs: The Moon Maid
7. Read a book that involves Magic T. Kingfisher: Swordheart
8. Read a book with a Two Word Title: Steven Brust: The Good Guys
9. Author and Title begin with Same Letter: Sylvain Neuvel: Sleeping Giants
10. Read a book involving Outer Space: M.R. Forbes: Hell’s Rejects
11. Read a book with a Hot Environment: Michael Crichton: The Lost World
12. Read a book that involves Archaeology: Alex Archer: Rogue Angel 1: Destiny
13. Read an action/adventure Book of your Choice
14. Read a book that involves a Team
15. Read a book that has a Green Cover
16. Read an AAA Group Read Book past or present: Dan Brown: Origin
17. Read a book with Organized Crime: T.L. Heinrich: Fire&Ice
18. Read a book of Short Stories
19. Read a book involving a Journey
20. Read a book involving Fantasy Rachel Aaron: Minumum Wage Magic
21. Read a book that involves Vengeance
22. Read a book that involves Travel
23. Read a book published in 2021
24. Read a book that is a New to You Author: Seeley James: Element 42
25. Read a book involving a Spy

I managed to get two bingos last year. I’m aiming for one to start with.

This is the post where I gather all the books and comics I’ll read in 2021.

Reading challenges:

Mount TBR (24) 6
Pick&Mix (10) 1
Action Heroine (30) 8
Action/Adventure Bingo card 4

January

1, Dan Koboldt: Domesticating Dragons
2, Kim Newman: Anno Dracula (tbr)
3, Kristine Kathryn Rusch ed.: Fiction River Special Edition: Spies (tbr)

Comics

1, Firefly: Unification War part 1 (ah)
2, Trinity vol. 1: Better Together
3, Trinity vol. 2: Dead Space
4, Black Cat vol.1: Grand Theft Marvel
5, She-Hulk vol. 1: Single, Green Female (ah)
6, Black Cat vol. 2: On the Run
7, The Sensational She-Hulk by John Byrne vol. 1 (ah)
8, Black Widow (ah)

Feburary

4, Hannu Rajaniemi: Summerland (tbr)

5, S. A. Chakraborty : Empire of Gold

6, Dean Wesley Smith: Against Time

7, Seeley James: Element 42 (tbr)

Comics

9, Firefly: The Unification War volume 2. (ah)

10, Batwoman vol. 1: The Many Arms of Death (ah)

11, Fantastic Four by Dan Slott vol. 3: The Herald of Doom

12, X-Men Blue vol 1: Strangest

13, X-Men Blue vol 2: Toil and Trouble

14, X-Men Gold vol 3: Mojo Worldwide

15, Trinity vol. 3: Dark Trinity (ah)

March

8, Dan Brown: Origin (bingo)

9, Duane Lindsay: The Grifter’s Daughter (tbr)

10, Shawn McGuire: Original Secrets

11, Edgar Rice Burroughs: The Moon Maid (tbr)

12, M.R. Forbes: Hell’s Rejects (bingo, ah)

Comics

16, Fantastic Four by Dan Slott vol. 5: Point of Origin (ah)

17, Firefly: The Unification War vol. 3 (ah)

18, Firefly: The Sting (ah)

19, Batwoman vol. 2: Wonderland (ah)

20, Batman /Superman volume 1: Cross Worlds

21, Trinity vol. 4: The Search for Steve Trevor

April

13, Kristine Kathryn Rusch: Escaping Amnthra (tbr)

14, T.L. Heinrich: Fire&Ice

15, James Lovegrove: The Magnificent Nine

16, Mary Robinette Kowal: The Relentless Moon (tbr, p&m)

Comics

22, Astonishing X-Men vol. 1: Life of X (ah)

23, World’s Finest Vol.1: Lost Daughters of Earth 2 (ah)

24, Batman/Superman vol. 3: Second chances

25, Batman/Superman vol. 4: Siege

26, Astonishing X-Men vol. 2: A Man Called X

27, Uncanny X-Men: Wolverine and Cyclops, vol. 1

May

17, Catharina Ingleman-Sundberg: The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules

18, K. C. Hunter: Kana Cold and the Case of the Shinigami (tbr)

19, Genevieve Cogman: The Secret Chapter (tbr, p&m)

20, Dominik Parisien, Navah Wolfe ed.: The Mythic Dream (p&m)

21, C. J. Cherryh: The Goblin Mirror (tbr)

22, Martha Wells: City of Bones (p&m)

Comics

28, Marvel 1602

29, Marvel 1602: The New World and the Fantastick Four

30, The Brave And The Bold: Batman and Wonder Woman

June

22, Jefferson Smith: The Brotherhood of Delinquents (bingo)

23, James Lovegrove: The Ghost Machine (a/a, p&m)

24, Lois McMaster Bujold: Masquerade in Lodi (p&m)

25 Steven Saylor: Roman Blood (tbr)

26, Steven Brust: The Good Guys (P&m)

Comics

31, Uncanny X-Men: Wolverine and Cyclops Vol. 2

32, Superwoman vol. 1: Who killed Superwoman?

July

27, Zara Altair: The Grain Merchant

28, William Goldman: The Princess Bride (tbr)

29, Mur Lafferty: Six Wakes (p&m)

30, Michael Crichton: Jurassic Park (p&m)

31, Michael White: The Equinox (tbr)

32, Greig Beck: In Search of the Lost World (a/a bingo)

Comics

33, Age of X-Man: The Marvelous X-Men

34, Age of X-Man: X-Tremists

35, Ukami: Gabriel Dropout vol. 1

36, Green Lanterns: Vol 1: Rage Planet

August

33, T. Kingfisher: Swordheart

34, Indrek Hargia: Apothecary Melchior and the Mystery of St Olaf’s Church (tbr)

35, Daniel H. Wilson: The Clockwork Dynasty

36, Sylvain Neuvel: Sleeping Giants (tbr, a/a)

Comics

37, Anno Dracula: 1895: Seven Days in Mayhem

38, Moriarty the Patriot vol. 1

39, The Flash, vol 1: Lighting Strikes Twice

40, Superman/Batman: Alternate Histories

September

37, Sylvain Neuvel: Waking Gods (a/a, tbr)

38, Michael Crichton: The Lost World (a/a)

39, Nathan Makaryk: Nottingham

October

40, Alex Archer: Rogue Angel 1: Destiny (tbr, a&a)

41, Max Brooks: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (tbr)

42, Ami McKay: The Witches of New York

43, Rachel Aaron: Minumum Wage Magic

Comics

41, Worlds’ Finest vol 2: Hunt and be hunted

42, Worlds’ Finest vol 4: First Contact

43, X-Men by Jonathan Hickman vol. 1

November

44, Jeffrey Lang: Immortal Coil (tbr)

45, Kristine Kathryn Rusch: Thieves

46, Robert J. Sawyer: Time: Complete Short Fiction volume 3 (tbr)

47, Gwyneth Gibby ed.: Fiction River Presents: Time Travelers (tbr)

48, Timothy Zahn: Conquerors’ Pride (tbr)

Sci-fi Month

1, Sci-fi Month: TropeTuesday: cryosleep / suspended animation

2, Sci-fi Month TBR

3, Sci-fi Month: Psychic powers

4, Sci-fi Month: Remote moon reads

December

49, Becky Chambers: To be Taught if Fortunate

50, Stefon Mears: Twisted Timelines (tbr)

51, Becky Chambers: A Psalm for the Wild-built

52, Melanie Karsak: Wolves and Daggers (tbr)

53, T. Kingfisher: Paladin’s Grace

54, Leonard Goldberg: The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes (tbr)

Comics

44, JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice

45, Exiles vol. 1: Down the Rabbit Hole

46, Exiles vol. 2: A World Apart

I’m joining Mount TBR 2021, too!

“January 2021 kicks off the tenth year for the Mount TBR Reading Challenge and, despite climbing like mad and conquering Mount Everest on the regular each year, I still have mountain ranges to climb. And miles of bookcases to read before I sleep (or something like that). I just can’t resist a good old fashioned used bookstore (though they are become rarer and rarer) or the community Hoosier Hills Food Bank Book Sale which adds to the mountains as fast as I knock books off. And, somehow, despite the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has cancelled both my trips to my favorite used bookstore and the community book sale, my mountain range seems to be just as vast as ever.

So, once again, I plan to concentrate on reading primarily from my own books in the coming year. Perhaps this year I will actually plant a flag on Mount Olympus…but my declared goal will remain Mount Everest. Please join me in knocking out some of those books that have been waiting for attention for weeks…months…even years.

Challenge Levels:

Pike’s Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile/s
Mount Blanc: Read 24 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Vancounver: Read 36 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Ararat: Read 48 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Kilimanjaro: Read 60 books from your TBR pile/s
El Toro*: Read 75 books from your TBR pile/s (*aka Cerro El Toro in South America)
Mt. Everest: Read 100 books from your TBR pile/s
Mount Olympus (Mars): Read 150+ books from your TBR pile/s

I’m again choosing Mount Blanc, 24 books.
Happy reading!

Books read,
1, Kim Newman: Anno Dracula
2, Kristine Kathryn Rusch ed.: Fiction River Special Edition: Spies
3, Hannu Rajaniemi: Summerland
4, Seeley James: Element 42
5, Duane Lindsay: The Grifter’s Daughter
6, Edgar Rice Burroughs: The Moon Maid
7, Kristine Kathryn Rusch: Escaping Amnthra

8, Shawn McGuire: Original Secrets

9, K. C. Hunter: Kana Cold and the Case of the Shinigami

10, Genevieve Cogman: The Secret Chapter

11, Jefferson Smith: The Brotherhood of Delinquents

12, Steven Saylor: Roman Blood

13, William Goldman: The Princess Bride

14, Michael White: The Equinox

15, Indrek Hargia: Apothecary Melchior and the Mystery of St Olaf’s Church

16, Sylvain Neuvel: Sleeping Giants

17, Sylvain Neuvel: Waking Gods

18, Alex Archer: Rogue Angel 1: Destiny

19, Max Brooks: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

20, Jeffrey Lang: Immortal Coil

21, Robert J. Sawyer: Time: Complete Short Fiction volume 3

22, Gwyneth Gibby ed.: Fiction River Presents: Time Travelers

23, Timothy Zahn: Conquerors’ Pride

24, Stefon Mears: Twisted Timelines

25, Leonard Goldberg: The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes

26, Melanie Karsak: Wolves and Daggers