Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

DECEMBER

1. Winter

a. Read a book with a title beginning with a letter in WINTER (you can use or ignore a, an or the)

Winter: A Berlin Family, 1899-1945 by Len Deighton
[Finished 5/12/22]

b. Read a book with snow, snowflakes or a snowman on the cover OR a book with a person wearing winter clothing (scarf, hat, warm coat etc) on the cover.
[Finished 11/12/22]

c. Read a book that is between 89 and 128 pages long (you can ignore the 100 page requirement for this task).
The Symposium by Plato
[Finished 11/12/22]

2. December birthdays: Jane Austen

a. Read a book written by a female author.
Persuasion by Jane Austen
[Finished 10/12/22]

b. Read a novel set in the 19th century.
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
[Finished 15/12/22]

c. Read a romance novel.
Emma by Alexander McCall Smith
[Finished 15/12/22]

3. The Holidays

a. Read a book related to a holiday that happens in December. (Some examples: Rosa Parks Day, National Cookie Day, Dewey Decimal System Day, Nobel Prize Day, Kwanzaa, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, Hanukkah, etc.)
The Misunderstandings of Charity Brown by Elizabeth Laird (Boxing Day) [Finished 30/12/22]

b. Read a book that has one of the gifts referred to in The Twelve Days of Christmas shown on its cover (ignore the numbers - eg a book with a gold ring works, you don’t need a book with five gold rings!)

[Finished 17/12/22]

c. Read a book that features a family gathering.
Marple: Twelve New Stories by Naomi Alderman and others. [Finished 16/1/23]

4. Winter sports: yukigassen

a. Read a book by an author whose first and last initials appear in YUKIGASSEN.
The Ripping Tree by Nikki Gemmell
[ Finished 12/12/22]

b. Read a book in a series that is at least 7 books long
The Fever of the World by Phil Rickman (16th in the Merrily Watkins series.) [Finished 13/12/22]

c. Read a book set in a country where yukigassen is played (Japan, Armenia, Canada, China, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, or Slovakia).
A Winter Book by Tove Jansson
(set in Finland)
[Finished 17/12/22]


JANUARY
1 Happy New Year!

a. Read a book by an author who is new to you.
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
{Finished 14/12/22]

b. Read a book from a genre that is new to you (you can use a sub-genre, eg urban fantasy, historical romance, etc if you already read books from most genres).
Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village by Maureen Johnson (graphic novel/book about books [Finished 1/12/22]

c. Read a book in which all the words in the title have the same number of letters (eg The Bat, Ninth House, The Old Man and the Sea).
Mantel Pieces: Royal Bodies and Other Writing from the London Review of Books by Hilary Mantel [Finished 9/1/23]

2. January birthdays: Haruki Murakami

a. Read a book set in Japan.
Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami [Finished 21/12/22]

b. Read a book that features a cat in some way.
The Character of Cats: The Origins, Intelligence, Behavior, and Stratagems of Felis Silvestris Catus by Stephen Budiansky [Finished 11/1/23]

c. Read a magical realism novel.
Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban [Finished 19/1/23]

3. New Year Resolutions

a. Read a book where the first letter of each word in the title can be found in NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS (the title must be at least three words long for this option)
The Wych Elm by Tana French
[Finished 12/1/23]

b. Read a book that looks into the past (historical fiction, history, etc) or a book that looks into the future (science fiction, fantasy, etc).
The Disorderly Knights by Dorothy Dunnett (set in the C16th) [Finished 7/1/23]

c. Read a book that will help you keep one of your New Year resolutions OR if you don’t make resolutions then read a book related to one of the top ten New Years resolutions. Tell us what your resolution is when recording this task as completed.
How to Be Human: The Manual by Ruby Wax [Finished 22/12/22] (Improving mental health was number 5 in a 2022 survey of New Year's resolutions in the UK.)

4. Winter sports: bobsleigh

a. Read a book set mostly in a location that begins with a letter in SWITZERLAND.
The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton (Amsterdam) [Finished 20/1/23]

b. Read a book in which a conflict between characters is a major part of the plot. Tell us what the conflict was (using spoiler tags if necessary)
when recording the task as completed.
All the Broken Places by John Boyne Definite spoiler here: (view spoiler)[
There are a number of conflicts in the book involving the MC, Gretel but the most important is with the character Alex, who abuses his wife and child. He tries to prevent Gretel from reporting him by revealing her past. There is a violent ending to this conflict (hide spoiler)] [Finished 11/12/22]

c. Read a book that is fast-paced.
Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby [Finished 1/1/23]

FEBRUARY

1. Valentine’s Day

a. Read a book with Romance listed as one of the top five genres on its Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ page.
The Keeper of Stories by Sally Page (Romance = no. 5 genre as at 25/12/22) [Finished 25/12/22]

b. Read a book by an author whose first and last initials appear in VALENTINE’S DAY.
I Belong Here: A Journey Along the Backbone of Britain by Anita Sethi [Finished 8/1/23]

c. Read a book written in or set in the Medieval period (usually defined as the 5th to 15th centuries).
A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britain by Marc Morris
(set from 1239-1307) [Finished 15/1/23]

2. February birthdays: Laura Ingalls Wilder

a. Read a book set in the American midwest.
Overboard by Sara Paretsky (set in Chicago) [Finished 24/12/22]

b. Read a novel that features the wilderness.
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah [Finished 29/12/22]

c. Read a coming of age story.
Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder [Finished 31/12/22]

3. Winter sports: Ski jumping

a. Read a book that is at least 253 pages long.
This Much is True by Miriam Margolyes (417pp of text) [Finished 14/1/23]

b. Read a book published in a year in which the Winter Olympics took place (1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018)
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor (first published in 1976)
[Finished 18/12/22]

c. Read a book where the plot “jumps� about (a non-linear narrative as it’s normally called).
Emily Noble's Disgrace by Mary Paulson-Ellis [Finished 3/1/23]

4. The Shortest Month of the Year

a. Read a literary fiction novel.
A Long Way From Home by Peter Carey [Finished 18/1/23]

b. Read a book that features a ghost.
The Haunting Season: Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights by Bridget Collins
[Finished 13/12/22]

c. Read a book that starts with a letter in the word SHORT.
Storm in a Teacup: The Physics of Everyday Life by Helen Czerski [Finished 10/1/23]