2026 Reading Challenge discussion

For tracking a few personal challenges for which I don't have another good location. This will not be a list of all books read in 2013.

Mount TBR
I have the impression that I hardly ever read things I already own favoring library books or new purchases. This is to prove myself wrong. Trying to read at least 50 books I already owned as a DTB or had on my Kindle as of 1/1/2013

1.The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov, 8 Jan
2. The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos by Brian Greene, 14 Jan
3. This Earth of Mankind by Pramoedya Ananta Toer, 17 Jan
4. The Widow's Husband by Mir Tamim Ansary, 31 Jan
5. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan, 8 Feb
6. The Cosmic Computer by H. Beam Piper, 9 Feb
7. Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938 by R.A. Scotti, 11 Feb
8. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, 13 Feb
9. Dismal Mountain: by John W. Billheimer, 14 Feb
10. Podkayne of Mars by Robert A. Heinlein, 15 Feb
11. Unravelling by Elizabeth Graver, 15 Feb
12. Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap, 16 Feb
13. Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami, 17 Feb
14. Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett, 21 Feb
15. The Elixir of Death by Bernard Knight, 25 Feb
16. Ransomed Bride by Jane Peart, 27 Feb
17. Pirates of Barbary: Corsairs, Conquests and Captivity in the 17th-Century Mediterranean by Adrian Tinniswood, 28 Feb
18. Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett, 11 Mar
19. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, 13 Mar
20. In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick, 21 Mar
21. Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett, 23 Mar
22. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, 27 Mar
23. The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester, 29 Mar
24. Slan by A.E. van Vogt, 3 Apr
25. Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson, 29 Apr
26. The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, Volume 1 by Anonymous, 1 May
27. Angels & Demons by Dan Brown, 2 May
28. The Eagle Of The Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff, 3 May
29. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, 8 May
30. The Tiger Warrior by David Gibbins, 30 May
31. The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis, 3 June
32. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, 5 June
33. The Star Beast by Robert A. Heinlein, 8 June
34. The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis, 13 June
35. Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia by C.S. Lewis, 19 June
36. The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, 30 June
37. The Hippopotamus Pool by Elizabeth Peters, 3 July
38. Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love by Dava Sobel, 5 July
39. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis, 8 July
40. Long Distance by Bill McKibben, 11 July
41. His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik, 21 July
42. Old World Murder by Kathleen Ernst, 8 Aug
43. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling, 16 Aug
44. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling, 26 Aug
45. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling, 11 Sep
46. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, 14 Sep
47. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling, 26 Sep
48. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, 27 Sep
49. Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi, 4 Oct
50. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling, 12 Oct
51. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling, 20 Oct
52. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling, 31 Oct
53. Coming Home by Karen Kingsbury, 3 Nov
54. Cards of Grief by Jane Yolen, 8 Nov
55. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, 13 Nov
56. The Book of the Dead by Preston and Child, 14 Nov
57. Sarai by Jill Eileen Smith, 17 Nov
58. March Upcountry by Ringo and Weber, 20 Nov
59. All Cry Chaos by Leon Rosen, 24 Nov
60. Guernica by Dave Boling, 25 Nov
61. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, 2 Dec

I Spy
A challenge Erin found somewhere on GR that I have been unable to find so I'm copying the requirements here.

1. One of the four elements - air, earth, water, fire - Origami Bridges: Poems of Psychoanalysis and Fire by Diane Ackerman, 11 Apr
2. One of the five senses - Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap, 16 Feb
3. An animal or insect - Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, 13 Feb
4. A type of architecture such as castle, bridge, house, etc
5. Body of Water - Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938 by R.A. Scotti, 11 Feb
6. Body part - The Face of Heaven by Murray Pura, 15 Jan
7. Color - The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley, 13 Feb
8. Emotion/Feeling - Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur, 3 May
9. Family member - Faith of My Fathers by Lynn Austin, 27 Aug
10. First name - Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear, 1 Jan
11. Food - 44 Cranberry Point by Debbie Macomber, 6 Apr
12. Gemstone
13. Gender - man, woman, boy, girl - The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, 2 Apr
14. Heavenly body - This Earth of Mankind by Pramoedya Ananta Toer, 17 Jan
15. Metal - The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov, 8 Jan
16. Number - 16 Lighthouse Road by Debbie Macomber, 2 Feb
17. Occupation - detective The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith, 17 Mar
18. Paranormal being - Angel's Rest by Charles Davis, 4 Jan
19. Place/Location - Old New York: Four Novellas by Edith Wharton, 3 Jan
20. Product of fire - heat, smoke, light, etc - High Heat by Carl Deuker, 3 Mar

A 2012 Scavenger Hunt from a nearly defunct group. Doing it in 2013

January – Book must have a character's name in title.
Maisie Dobbs, 1 Jan
February – Book must have a type of flower in the title.
The Rose Garden, 19 Feb
March – Book must have be published in 2000 or later.
Artifacts, 4 Mar
April – Book must be a biography, or auto-biography.
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, 2 Apr
May – Book must have been written by an author from a different country than your own.
Extinct Languages by Johannes Friedrich who is a German, 2 May
June – Book must include some type of love story.
The Host by Stephenie Meyer, 1 June
July – Book must have a one word title.
TurncoatAaron J. Elkins
August – Book must have been made into a TV show or movie.
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, 15 July
September – Book must be part of a series.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling, 11 Sep
October – Book must have a paranormal aspect to it (zombies, vampires, aliens, etc).
The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, 23 Oct
November – Book must be non-fiction.
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain, 10 Nov
December – Bookworm's Choice! Read and rate/review any 5 books you like*! They don't have to have anything in common, but you must read all 5 this month for it to count. :)
Catching Fire, 4*, 2 Dec
A Town Like Alice, 4.5*, 14 Dec
A Week in Winter, 3.5*, 15 Dec
Eric Brighteyes, 3*, 22 Dec
Naomi's Gift: An Amish Christmas Story, 3*, 24 Dec

TLOEL May Scavenger Hunt

Bel Canto List

1. Music - ITB p. 96 - The tables are pushed back and the MUSIC starts, though I wonder that they don't just move the party indoors.

2. Kiss - ITB p. 123 - Well, maybe she has more than a KISS coming soon.

3. Bullet - STS p. 8 - For others it was the guilt of knowing that your BULLET or your bayonet, was doing the same to a German you had never met, but who was your own age, and essentially just like you.

4. Hostage

5. Japanese - TTONM p. 64 - As we reached north of Cu Lao Cau, the island where the JAPANESE scuttled their Southeast Asia fleet after World War II, and wihch helped mark the north end of our patrol area, we started to execute a 180 degree turn to return to the barn.

6. Window NM p. 446 - The curtains over his small WINDOW had been drawn and his lamp had been turned down and then turned back up.

7. Sandwich ITB p. 3 - Then, the big celebration over at the museum, the delegations from as far away as Peru and Paraguay, an ordeal really, making that many little party SANDWICHES and the nephew and nieces not always showing up in time to help.

8. Book ITB p. 30 - Dear Little BOOK, Minerva gives you to me today for my First Communion.

9. Greek - STS p. 28 - On a makeshift shelf beside the bed there were several books - a little poetry, some GREEK legend, a couple of novels.

10. Box STS p. 28 - There was a gramophone on one of the boxes, and inside the BOX about twenty records, mostly classical piano music.

11. November - ITB p. 3 - But she's long since resigned herself to NOVEMBERS.

12. General - ITB p. 17 - This man who was the head GENERAL had fallen in love with another man's wife.

13. League

14. Blue - NM p. 442 - The sun was bright this day and warm, in contrast with the chilly breezes blowing down from the nearby Snowflake Mountains, gusting strong enough to float Cadderly's silken BLUE cape out behind him as he walked, and strong enough to bend the wide brim of his similarly blue hat.

15. Piano - STS p. 28 - There was a gramophone on one of the boxes, and inside the box about twenty records, mostly classical PIANO music.

16. Extraordinary - NM p. 476 - EXTRAORDINARY heat emanated from the young monk's body, and her breathing, steady to the casual observer, reflected her anxieties to Pertelope's knowing and probing gaze.

17. Translator - STS p. 54 - Cullingford knew more about him than Reavley was aware of, because his sister, Judith, had been Cullingford's TRANSLATOR and part-time driver for several months.

18. Bride - ITB p. 189 - In and out of the famous lagoons they had visited as a young BRIDE and groom Jaimito rowed, stopping to point with his oar to a swamp of mangroves where the Tainos had fished and later hidden from the Spanish.

19. French - ITB p. 124 - I don't even ask her what that means because she'll get on me again about not continuing with my FRENCH.

20. Ladies - ITB p. 15 - She explained that we might very well become young LADIES while we were at school this year.

21. Church - ITB p. 52 - You should worry more about your beloved CHURCH.

22. Papers - ITB p. 43 - Minerva is burying all her poems and PAPERS and letters.

23. Sing - ITB p. 22 - Sometimes he'd ask her to SING or dance.

24. Gift - ITB p. 21 - GIFTS were sent over to the school: a porcelain ballerina, little bottles of perfume that looked like pieces of jewelry and smelled like a rose garden....

25. Captivity