reading challenge – A Book & A Beer

UPDATE: For anyone looking for an easy way to keep track of the points for the books you read, I’ve built a simple spreadsheet, available for anyone who would like to use it. All you need to do is:

Hit ‘Make a Copy’ or you won’t be able to enter any data.
Then just enter your book titles and select the category of each book from the dropdown menu.
The spreadsheet will assign each book the proper amount of points and give you a running tally.

Reading challenges are a great way to give you a little extra motivation. However, the ones I’ve been doing the past few years aren’t always the best for reading the books that have been sitting on my bookshelf long enough to collect a respectable layer of dust.

This year, I looked for something to specifically pointed toward reading books that I own. And while challenges like Beat the Backlist were very close, I still wanted something a little more specific. So I’ve come up with a challenge of my own: The Cheapskate Reading Challenge.

If your bookshelf has way too many books on it that you just haven’t been able to get to, I encourage you to join the ranks of the cheapskate. The challenge has been designed to not get in the way of various programs you might be involved in. ARCs, subscriptions, library books, it’s all good here.

Basically, the Cheapskate Challenge is a point system to be played out over the year with the main goal to have a score in the black and not in the red. Here’s the breakdown.

Those with Audible, or Scribd, or KU, or any other number of subscription services might not like that they give ZERO points, but let me explain. There’s great value in those subscriptions. It’s an efficient way to spend money, but it still ends with money being spent.

Books that result from a gift (whether you’re given a book or a gift card) can be considered a book you already own.

If you like this challenge, please feel free to join in and tell your bookish friends who have bookshelves filled with shame. Also, feel free to use all graphics included in this post and declare that this is the year you’re finally going to read those books on your shelf. Shout it out in the comments and come back once in a while to let us all know how the challenge is going.

Fun fact about this post: I know I’m a little late to the party to be putting a reading challenge out there, but it just came to me yesterday!

Based on my recently NaNoWriMo attempt, and my current run at Blogmas, you can tell I love a personal challenge. But one challenge that I’ve never even tried is a reading challenge. I’ve wanted to take part in one for a while now, but it seemed like every time I found out about one, it was almost over.

And then Kristin posted about the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge. You can read all about it here, but basically, it’s 40 prompts (50 if you want to do the ‘advanced’ section) and you pick a book for each prompt.

What I like about this challenge already, is that it has me looking at my TBR and making a plan to read some of the books that have been there the longest. Books that, without this little nudge, might take years to get read.

Here at my choices as of now, though they may be subject to change:

A book made into a movie you’ve already seen
The Martian by Andy Weir

True Crime
The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer by Philip Carlo

The next book in a series you started
The Core by Peter V. Brett

A book involving a heist
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Nordic Noir
Macbeth by Jo Nesbo

A novel based on a real person
The Lost Girls: The True Story of the Cleveland Abductions and the Incredible Rescue of Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Gina DeJesus by John Glatt

A book set in a country that fascinates you
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

A book with a time of day in the title
Dayfall by Michael Ares

A book about a villain of antihero
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

A book about death of grief
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym
The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith

A book with a LGBTQ+ protagonist
They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

A book that is also a stage play or musical
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

A book by an author of a different ethnicity than you
Legend by Marie Lu

A book about feminism
Room by Emma Donoghue

A book about mental health
We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

A book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift
Skyborn by David Dalglish

A book by two authors
Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

A book about or involving a sport
Slobberknocker: My Life In Wrestling by Jim Ross

A book by a local author
Remy’s Dilemma by Andrew Snook

A book with your favourite colour in the title
Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

A book with alliteration in the title
White Walls by HMC

A book about time travel
Invictus by Ryan Graudin

A book with a weather element in the title
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

A book set at sea
Life of Pi by Yann Martel

A book with an animal in the title
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

A book set on a different planet
Iron Gold by Pierce Brown

A book with song lyrics in the title
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

A book about or set on Halloween
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

A book with character who are twins
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

A book mentioned in another book
Ringworld by Larry Niven

A book from a celebrity book club
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

A childhood classic you’re never read
The Princess Bride by William Goldman

A book that’s published in 2018
Good Guys by Steven Brust

A past Goodreads Choice Awards winner
The Fireman by Joe Hill

A book set in the decade you were born
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

A book you meant to read in 2017 but didn’t get to
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

A book with an ugly cover
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

A book that involves a bookstore or library
Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine

Your favourite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 POPSUGAR Reading Challenges
Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan

As I mentioned before, there are 10 additional prompts that are considered ‘advanced.’ I may do these prompts, but I may not. Even if I do the primary 40 prompts, it’ll be the first time in years that I’ve read 40 books in a year (I’m actually setting my personal goal to 52.) It’s exciting just saying that!

The advanced prompts are as follows:

A bestseller from the year you graduated high school

A cyberpunk book

A book that was being read by a stranger in a public place

A book tied to your ancestry

A book with a fruit of vegetable in the title

An allegory

A book by an author with the same first or last name as you

A micro history

A book about a problem facing society today

A book recommended by someone else taking the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

Fun fact about this post: I know I’m a little late to the party to be putting a reading challenge out there, but it just came to me yesterday!

A book made into a movie you’ve already seen The Martian by Andy Weir

True Crime The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer by Philip Carlo

The next book in a series you started The Core by Peter V. Brett

A book involving a heist Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Nordic Noir Macbeth by Jo Nesbo

A novel based on a real person The Lost Girls: The True Story of the Cleveland Abductions and the Incredible Rescue of Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Gina DeJesus by John Glatt

A book set in a country that fascinates you Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

A book with a time of day in the title Dayfall by Michael Ares

A book about a villain of antihero Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

A book about death of grief The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith

A book with a LGBTQ+ protagonist They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

A book that is also a stage play or musical The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

A book by an author of a different ethnicity than you Legend by Marie Lu

A book about feminism Room by Emma Donoghue

A book about mental health We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

A book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift Skyborn by David Dalglish

A book by two authors Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

A book about or involving a sport Slobberknocker: My Life In Wrestling by Jim Ross

A book by a local author Remy’s Dilemma by Andrew Snook

A book with your favourite colour in the title Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

A book with alliteration in the title White Walls by HMC

A book about time travel Invictus by Ryan Graudin

A book with a weather element in the title The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

A book set at sea Life of Pi by Yann Martel

A book with an animal in the title The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

A book set on a different planet Iron Gold by Pierce Brown

A book with song lyrics in the title Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

A book about or set on Halloween The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

A book with character who are twins Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

A book mentioned in another book Ringworld by Larry Niven

A book from a celebrity book club All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

A childhood classic you’re never read The Princess Bride by William Goldman

A book that’s published in 2018 Good Guys by Steven Brust

A past Goodreads Choice Awards winner The Fireman by Joe Hill

A book set in the decade you were born American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

A book you meant to read in 2017 but didn’t get to A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

A book with an ugly cover The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

A book that involves a bookstore or library Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine

Your favourite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 POPSUGAR Reading Challenges Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan

Fun fact about this post: American Psycho is the book that’s been on my TBR the longest.