2020 Reading Challenge

Welcome to my 2020 Reading Challenge landing page! This page is updated at least once a month in order to keep track of my progress.

Goodreads Goal:

I’m setting this goal at 60 books. I hope to have 45 books read by the end of July.

*This widget will no longer be updated due to technical complications. 

Where Will Reading Take Me {2020 Edition}?

• A book set on every continent
  • North America: Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • South America: DNF’d In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende, Little Black Lies by Sandra J. Bolton, and The Lost City of Z by David Grann
  • Europe: Castle of Concrete by Katia Raina ⭐⭐⭐ My Review
  • Asia: Bethlehem’s Brothers by Ronald Hera ⭐⭐⭐⭐ My Review
  • Africa: Immersed in West Africa by Terry Lister ⭐⭐⭐⭐ My Review
  • Australia: A Girl’s Guide to the Outback by Jessica Kate ⭐⭐⭐
  • Antarctica: DNF’d South Pole Station by Ashley Shelby

Create your own countries visited map here.

• 10+ books set in different countries, fiction or nonfiction

• 1. Russia: Castle of Concrete by Katia Raina; ⭐⭐⭐ My Review
  2. England: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer; ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ My Review
     • Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw; also England ⭐⭐⭐⭐
     • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte; also England ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
     • The Sky Above Us (Sunrise at Normandy #2) by Sarah Sundin; England again ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
     • The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett; England ⭐⭐⭐
  3. Holland: The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom; ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  4. Canada: Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  5. Israel: Bethlehem’s Brothers by Ronald Hera; ⭐⭐⭐⭐ My Review
  6. Senegal, Mauritania, The Gambia, Guinea and Guinea Bissau: Immersed in West Africa by Terry Lister ⭐⭐⭐⭐ My Review
  7. Australia: A Girl’s Guide to the Outback by Jessica Kate ⭐⭐⭐

• 15+ Books set in different states – I will try to prioritize states that I did NOT read books in last year: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, & Wyoming

Create your own visited states map here.

1. Washington: Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett; ⭐⭐ My Review
   • Live Without You by Sarah Grace Grzy;  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ My Review
   • Never Say Goodbye by Sarah Grace Grzy; ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. Pennsylvania: Redemption (MILA 2.0 #3) by Debra Driza ⭐ My Review
3. Kansas: Unfollow by Megan Phelps-Roper; ⭐⭐⭐⭐
4. Tennessee: Yesterday’s Christmas (A Season Passed #2) by A.M. Heath; ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Review to Come in December)
   • The Bridge by Karen Kingsbury; ⭐⭐⭐ My Review
5. Missouri: Calling from the Sky by Mike Copple; ⭐⭐⭐ My Review
6. Rhode Island: Society Girl (short story) by Cecily Wolfe; ⭐⭐⭐⭐
   • Throne of Grace by Cecily Wolfe; ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ My Review
7. Virginia: Elsie Dinsmore by Martha Finley; ⭐⭐⭐
8. Oregon: Heartland Skies by Melody Carlson; ⭐⭐⭐⭐ My Review
9. Massachusetts: Leaning on the Everlasting Arms by Laura Danner; ⭐⭐⭐ My Review
10. California: The Fall of Candy Corn (Sweet Seasons #2) by Debbie Viguié; ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review to Come Fall 2020
    • Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years by Julie Andrews Edwards ⭐⭐⭐
11. Connecticut: The Rules of Love and Grammar by Mary Simses; ⭐⭐⭐ My Review
12. Kentucky: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michelle Richardson ⭐⭐⭐⭐ My Review Here
    • A Strand of Hope (Librarians of Willow Hollow #1) by Amanda Tero ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ My Review
    • I Love to Tell the Story  (Librarians of Willow Hollow #2) by Faith Blum ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ My Review
    • Hearts on Lonely Mountain (Librarians of Willow Hollow #3) by A.M. Heath ⭐⭐⭐⭐ My Review
13. Mississippi: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas ⭐⭐⭐⭐
14. New York: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger ⭐⭐⭐
    • Angels at the Table by Debbie Macomber ⭐⭐⭐
    • A Timeless Christmas by Alexis Stanton ⭐⭐⭐⭐
15. Indiana: Murder Simply Brewed by Vanetta Chapmen ⭐⭐⭐⭐
16. New Jersey: The Silence by Don DeLillo ⭐⭐
17. Texas: The Grace of Enough by Haley Stewart ⭐⭐⭐⭐
    • The Christmas Turkey Disaster (Hank the Cowdog #66) by John R. Ericson ⭐⭐
18. South Dakota: The Christmas Plains by Joseph Bottum ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The More You Know…

• 12 Nonfiction Books – 3 of these books should be on topics I used to care about but don’t think about much anymore, and 1 should be about budgeting or personal finance.
  1. Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis; ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  2. Beautiful on the Outside: A Memoir by Adam Rippon; ⭐⭐⭐
  3. Unfollow by Megan Phelps-Roper; ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  4. Disruptive Witness by Alan Noble; ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  5. The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom; ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  6. Writing with Style by John R. Trimble; ⭐⭐⭐
  7. When Christ Comes by Max Lucado; ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  8. Life on Mission @ Work by Tyler Edwards ⭐⭐⭐⭐ My Review
  9. Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years by Julie Andrews Edwards ⭐⭐⭐
  10. The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis ⭐⭐⭐
  11. The New Plant Parent by Darryl Cheng ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
      • This is the BEST house plant resource book I have read! I wish I had read this before moving my plants into a new space, but what I learned is helping me figure out how to help them to adapt.
  12. Making Sense of God by Timothy Keller ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  13. The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  14. The New Librarianship Field Guide by R. David Lankes ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  15. Libraries and Gardens: Growing Together by Carrie Scott Banks & Cindy Mediavilla ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  16. The Grace of Enough by Haley Stewart ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  17. The Women of Christmas by Liz Curtis Higgs ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  18. The Christmas Plains by Joseph Bottum ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• Classics (no numerical goal, just keeping track of them here)
  1. Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis; ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  2. The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom; ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  3. Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte; ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  5. The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James; ⭐⭐
  6. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger ⭐⭐.5

• Books featuring unique life experiences (ie differently-abled characters, minority experiences, own voices etc. Again, no numerical goal, just listing it here as a reminder that I want to prioritize this and keep track of the ones I do read here.)
  • Beautiful on the Outside: A Memoir by Adam Rippon ⭐⭐⭐
  • The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas; ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Fifteen by Amie Woleslagle ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Murder Simply Brewed by Vanetta Chapman ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Preparing for the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

• 12 Christmas books – These should be split up so that I read and write (but do not post) a review for 8 of them before August
  • Sincerely, Jem by Kate Willis; ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐;  My Review
  • Yesterday’s Christmas by A. M. Heath; ⭐⭐⭐⭐ My Review
  • The Bridge by Karen Kingsbury ⭐⭐⭐ My Review
  • Angels at the Table by Debbie Macomber ⭐⭐⭐
  • The Christmas Turkey Disaster (Hank the Cowdog #66) by John R. Ericson ⭐⭐
  • A Timeless Christmas by Alexis Stanton ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • The Women of Christmas by Liz Curtis Higgs ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ My Review
  • The Christmas Plains by Joseph Bottum ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Seasonal Reading Challenges

Last year I participated in 4 seasonal reading challenges. As of January 2, I don’t know if I will participate in all of the same challenges again this year, but I am sure that there will be some fun challenges pop up throughout the year, and this is where I will add them when I decide to join.

March – The Irish Readathon & Read Ireland 2020

🍀 March TBR and Goals {2020}

🍀 March Wrap-Up {2020}

Summer – Louisa May Alcott Reading Challenge (June only), Imagine Your Story (local library Summer Reading Program, June and July), 15 Books of Summer (June, July, and August)

🌞 Summer Challenges Sign-Up/Announcement Post

Sadly, I didn’t reach my goal in the LMA Reading Challenge this year. I did eventually finish We Alcotts, which I will probably post about soon. I’ll add the link here if/when that post is up.

Summer Reading Challenges Mid-Way Check-In

December – Christmas Reading and Posting Challenges

You can find all of these posts by searching for the hashtag #ALiteraryChristmas!

January 2 Update

For this month, I intend to keep an eye out and see if any new challenges are posted that I want to take part in this year. This page may change at any time throughout January, but I hope to have everything settled by the 31st. As I said at the top, I will update this page at least once a month to reflect my progress on the goals I set and challenges I take on. I reserve the right to alter my goals at any point during the year, but only after significant consideration. My Goodreads Goal is not alterable, barring extreme circumstances, but the rest may be adjusted.

End of the Year Update

If you’re interested, here is my Goodreads “2020 in Books.”