So here's a challenge I haven't participated in before, it's the '2021 Christmas challenge & readthon'. This is being hosted by Michelle at Christmas Spirit.
The challenge runs from the 22nd. November until the 6th. January 2022 and the sign-up post is HERE.
There are three ways to participate.
1. Challenge - pick a level
2. Readathon - read as much (or as little) as you want. (Any kind of book.)
3. Participate in both!
I'm just going to do the first one and the levels for that are:
Candy Cane: read 1 book
Mistletoe: read 2 - 4 books
Christmas Tree: read 5 or 6 books, or more (this is the fanatic level!)
For the reading challenge, these must be Christmas novels, books about Christmas lore, a book of Christmas short stories or poems, books about Christmas crafts, children's books (we even have a level for them!), etc.
I'm going to have a go at 'Mistletoe' which involves reading 2 to 4 books.
I have a stack of 6 physical books on my shelf and probably more than that in my Kindle 'Christmas' collection. Very much looking forward to starting on this one on the 22nd.
11 comments:
Sounds like fun. Happy Christmas reading! :)
Thanks, Lark!
Sounds like it would be worth joining for me as I always tend to read a few holiday/Christmas books in the next 6-7 weeks anyways.
Diane: that was exactly my thinking, plus I have a few that it would be good to get off the tbr mountain!
This sounds like a good challenge. I always try to read some Christmas books in December. I like challenges that cover a short period of time, not the full year. I may concentrate on those in 2022, except that I will always do the European Reading Challenge.
Tracy: The main attraction here is to get a few Christmas books off the tbr mountain. But like you I rather like these short period challenges, the 20 Books of Summer for instance. I plan to go back to the European one next year but am not sure which other year long ones I will do. I had quite a lot of success with the two long ones I did this year, the Historicals one and Book Bingo.
I thought reading a few Christmas books would be relaxing and put me in a holiday mood but one I read was sappy and the other just seemed pointless. With luck, the other two will be more worthwhile.
Years ago I used to enjoy the Regency Christmas Anthology that NAL put out every year. My former colleague Hilary Ross did a great job finding short stories that were poignant or charming rather than overly sentimental. Edith Layton, now deceased, was one of the best at this role. Once Hilary got pushed into retirement, I think the tradition of this anthology fell by the wayside, which was a shame.
Constance: I've got a bit of a mix of books, several that, as you say, might be a bit soppy, two crime books, a David Baldaci and a collection of weird stories, plus quite a few on my Kindle. So hopefully there should be something there to please.
I'm not sure what NAL is (Googling didn't help) so have not seen or heard of the Regency Christmas anthologies you mention, but they sound interesting.
Good luck with the challenge, Cath. I'd have a hard time with this one because Christmas books have never really worked for me unless the season is just sort of secondary to the plot. My wife, on the other hand, would ace a challenge like this one. The period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is her favorite time of the year - by far.
NAL is an imprint of Penguin, one of my former employers. Here is a link to the very first Regency Christmas, which I hope I still have in a box somewhere:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/969597.A_Regency_Christmas?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=XAktUDOCFl&rank=3
I never liked short stories except for these collections. During my brief stint as an editor, I put one together. However, I remember talking to Patricia Veryan who pointed out that a short story used up an idea she'd prefer to save for a full length book, and I couldn't argue with that!
Sam: Thanks! To be honest I'm not a huge Christmas book reader either. It's just that I seem to have acquired a bunch from 'somewhere' and this challenge would help me get rid of a few of them. LOL
Constance: Thanks for explaining NAL to me.
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