If you didn’t see my original post on the 2021 #READICT Reading Challenge, here is the link to the original post. Check it out to read more about the challenge and to see the first four books I read for the it.
As a reminder, every year in Wichita, KS the Wichita Public Library partners up with the local newspaper, the Wichita Eagle, to challenge residents to read 12 books in 12 months. Each book you read has to match up with one of the 12 categories they have created, and you have to complete a book in every category by the end of the year. Here are the categories for 2021:
- A book with a one-word title
- An “own voices” book
- A book about animals or pets
- A book about travel
- An illustrated book
- An untold story/history
- A book by an author under 30
- A book about local history
- A challenged book
- A book with an ugly cover
- A book recommended by someone you admire
- A book from the Kansas Notable Books List
Fun, right? Once you read a book that fits into one of the categories, you log it using Beanstack and move on to the next book. If you complete all 12 categories, then at the end of the year you’re eligible for a prize. I have no idea what that prize, I (barely) completed the challenge for 2020 and I’m determined to finish it again, but maybe not so close to the deadline this time. I’ve been on a roll this month so here are the books I have read so far for this challenge:
A book with a one-word title:
Unsettled – Reem Faruqui
*This is such a deeply moving story, and once I started I couldn’t put it down. Being a novel-in-verse, it reads easily and quickly, but there is so much beauty in every word. It’s a wonderful story about changes that comes when moving to a new country, using your voice for good, and growing into yourself. I can’t say enough positive things about this story!
A book about animals or pets:
Alone – Megan Freeman
*Another amazing novel-in-verse, but this one focuses on survival and our need for human interaction. The story centers around a young girl left during an evacuation whose only friend is an abandoned neighbor dog. As a bonus, the cover art is absolutely gorgeous.
A book about travel:
The Great Peach Experiment: When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Peach Pie – Erin Soderberg Downing
*The Peach family has had some back luck the past couple of years, starting with their mom passing away from cancer. Dad decides buying a food truck and traveling across the country for a month to sell pies will solve everything. The kids aren’t so sure…
Such a great book about loss, family, joy, and of course, pie.
A book recommended by someone you admire:
A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow – Laura Taylor Namey
*Worried about Lila’s mental health, her parents make her spend three months with family friends in Winchester, England, to relax and reset. But the lack of sun, a grumpy inn cook, and a small town lacking Miami flavor (both in food and otherwise), feels more like a nightmare to Lila…until she meets Orion Maxwell. It isn’t long before Lila is not only charmed by Orion, but England itself. Soon a new future is beginning to form in Lila’s mind—one that would mean leaving everything she ever planned behind.
For more information about the challenge: https://www.wichitalibrary.org/readict#beanstack
Abbi Lee Books 