I set myself a series of reading challenges for 2021 and found it a very useful way to help me choose what to read next. So, I decided to do something similar for 2022! I’ve gone for some similar and some new categories for my 2022 reading challenge, just to keep things interesting. I’d love to hear any suggestions for books that meet these categories too!
A Book from 2022
This is a pretty self-explanatory category, and not usually a hard one to meet, but still important! I’m sure I’ll pick up a few new releases across the year, but I’ll make an effort to choose some that maybe haven’t received the same widespread press coverage on release.
Written By An Australian Female Author
Finding more Australian female authors was one of my favourite parts of my 2021 reading challenge, so it’s back for the 2022 reading challenges too! I will endeavour to read a diverse range of Australian female authors as well – age, genre, background, you name it.
A Debut Novel
In order to not have this completely overlap with the first category, whilst I want to read debut novels, they don’t necessarily need to be new books. I may even seek out the first novels written by authors I have enjoyed other books from.
Written By A First Nations Author
This is another category that is getting another run, but again for good reason. A couple of my favourite books from 2021 were written by First Nations authors (Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray by Anita Heiss in particular) so I’ll be making sure I add more to my list in 2022 as well.
A Memoir
This wasn’t a category in 2021, however one of my favourite reads was a memoir (28 by Brandon Jack) so I thought I’d build upon that this year! I used to read a lot of autobiographies and memoirs, so I’ll try and make sure in 2022 I choose memoirs that provide a more diverse perspective than what I have read previously.
A Book Set Somewhere I Haven’t Been
With travel having been mostly off the cards for the last two years I intend to do some vicarious travel by reading books set in places I haven’t been lucky enough to visit. I will try and pick some that are set in places I hope to visit soon, and some places I’m unlikely to get to in the short term. A good way to ‘see’ the world for now!
A Classic (or two!)
Putting this on my 2021 Reading Challenge list certainly worked, so it’s going on the 2022 Reading Challenge as well! It may take me a while to chip away at all the classics I haven’t read yet (and want to read!) but I certainly will give it a try! I’ve already got one sitting in the pile next to my bed, so I intend to get started on this challenge very soon.
Award Winning Read
Every year when shortlists and awards are announced for the many book awards I make a mental note to read more of the listed books – well, this year I intend to really follow through on that! In a similar vein to the debut book category, they don’t have to be recent award winners either, and I’m not overly fussed which award they won – although choosing from the Stella Prize list will help with some of my diversity aims as well!
A Book From Each Season
This one might be a tad trickier to complete than some of the others given not every book really screams a season, but that’s part of the point of a reading challenge! I feel like summer and winter might be the simplest to find, but I’m sure I can find autumn and spring themed books if I try hard enough!
A Book Chosen Purely For The Cover
To finish things off for my 2022 reading challenges, a purely aesthetic category! We all know the saying, but also sometimes books really do just draw you in with their covers! So, I’m going to do exactly that and be led by my eyes for at least one read this year!