Hello lovers of books and bacon!

Kimber here. I’m taking over for Mom today. Cuz she’s buried in a new book. Again.

But there was this New Year thingy the other day. It’s a human thing. Big booms. Silly hats. A nice ham dinner. Bacon. Leftovers…

Wait. Where was I?

Oh yeah. New Year’s.

Reading Challenge?

It seems there’s this Reading Challenge thing around New Year’s. It makes the rounds of the reading world every January. “That’s now,” says Mom. (She’s a genius. Like me.)

The Question

Anyway, I’m supposed to ask if you are or will participate in this year’s Reading Challenge? Like, how many books do you plan to read this year?

No Frisbee throwing involved. No special treats. Or bacon. So I’m not really sure what the point is. But I guess some people like to do read-ing challenging. They like to challenge themselves to read more pages or books than they did last year.

So here are some ideas Mom and I came up with to help you do that. (Well, it was mostly me. Mom helped. Some. She’s read every title recommended. But I did the heavy lifting. You know, snoozing in her lap while she reads. To keep her company. It must work. She read 403 books in 2022. No, really. I was there.)

So here, without further bow-wowing, is:

13 Ways to ROCK Your 2023 Reading Challenge. Read a book:

1. By a local author

Of course this depends on where you live.

Suggestions (Northwest):

• Scrub: Dog of Alaska, and Kavik the Wolf Dog, by Walt Morey
• The Call of the Wild, by Jack London
• A Year in Paradise, by Floyd Schmoe
• Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George

2. Told from an animal’s POV (Don’t make me explain this – Kimber.)

Suggestions:

• Dog on It: A Chet and Bernie Mystery, by Spencer Quinn
• Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell
• Bunnicula, by James Howe
• The Silver Brumby, by Elyne Mitchell
• Survivors Series, by Erin Hunter
• The Incredible Journey, by Sheila Burnford

3. That you can read in one day-ish

Suggestions:

• The Singer series by Calvin Miller
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis
• A Winter Dream, by Richard Paul Evans
• Walden, Henry David Thoreau

4. That’s been adapted for the stage, the silver screen, or as a television series

Suggestions:

• Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen
• The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Little House books, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• National Velvet, by Enid Bagnold
• Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie
• The Last of the Mohicans, by James Fenimore Cooper
• The Elephant Man, by Christine Sparks
• The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom
• Inkheart, Cornelia Funke
• A River Runs Through It, by Norman Maclean

5. Set in a place you always wanted to visit or learn more about

Suggestions:

• Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy, by Frances Mayes
• Out of Africa, by Isak Dinesen
• Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer
• Through Gates of Splendor, by Elisabeth Elliot
• The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway
• King of the Wind, by Marguerite Henry

6. Inspirational/Personal Development

Suggestions:

• A Gentle Thunder: Hearing God Through the Storm,, by Max Lucado
• Shadow of the Almighty, by Elisabeth Elliot
• The Road to Grace, by Richard Paul Evans
• The Sacred Romance, by John Eldredge
• The Shack, by William Paul Young

7. A cook book (learn some new recipes and enjoy some new food!)

Suggestions:

• The Tuscan Sun Cookbook: Recipes From Our Italian Kitchen, by Frances Mayes
• Savoring Tuscany: Recipes and Reflections on Tuscan Cooking, by Lori de Mori
• Jan Karon’s Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader, by Jan Karon

8. An award winner

Suggestions:

• The Good Earth, by Pearl Buck (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 1932, and Nobel Prize for Literature, 1938)
• Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt (Christopher Award and ALA 1975 “best of year”)
• The Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson (1978 Newbery Medal Winner)
• The Bronze Bow, by Elizabeth George Speare 1962 (1962 Newbery Medal Winner)
• Old Yeller, by Fred Gipson (1957 Newbery Honor Book)
• The Courage of Sarah Noble, by Alice Dalgliesh (1955 Newbery)
• Hattie Big Sky, by Kirby Larson (2007 Newbery Honor Book)

9. That was published 50 years ago or more

Suggestions:

• A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens
• Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
• The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
• Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo
• The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
• Silas Marner, by George Eliot

10. An historical novel

Suggestions:

• The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
• Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
• The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War, by Michael Shaara
• War Horse, by Michael Murpago
• Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O’Dell

11. A biography or memoir

Suggestions:

• Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship With a Remarkable Man, by William Shatner
• A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael, by Elisabeth Elliot
• A River Runs Through It, by Norman Maclean
• Angela’s Ashes, by Frank McCourt

12. An action/adventure outdoor story or thriller

Suggestions:

• Pretty much anything by either Gary Paulsen or Will Hobbs
• Back Lash, by Brad Thor
• I Am Still Alive, by Kate Alice Marshall
• Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer

13. Connected to your family heritage or culture

Suggestions:

• The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
• Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton
• Farewell to Manzanar, by Jeanne Wakutsuki Houston
• Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two, by Joseph Bruchac
• The Light in the Forest, by Conrad Richter
• Angela’s Ashes – Frank McCourt
• Night, by Ellie Wiesel
• Sounder, by William H. Armstrong
• O Pioneers!, by Willa Cather
• Pretty much anything but Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn and Fyodor Dostoevsky 

Whew. Mom wants to keep going. But I think I need a nap. Who’s with me?

Are you doing a 2023 reading challenge?