2017 - The Year of Exploreading & Throwback to the Books

In the last two years, I've read lots of books (120 and 124 respectively). For 2017, I wanted to challenge and change how I read. Inspired by the Book Riot Retro Rereads and Read Harder Challenge, I came up with my own reading adventures. 

First, I wanted to stretch my reading. I wouldn't say I have a book "type," but there are genres I read more than others. I identified literary areas I've never ventured into and things that connect to who I am to cultivate 28 new and different opportunities for my Exploreading Challenge (Did I make up a word? Of course I did, y'all. This is a big deal.)

1. A biography or memoir of someone I don't know much about
2. A biography or memoir of someone I know a lot about
3. A book from the Frequently Challenged Books list
4. A Newberry Award winner or Honor book
5. A book that will be released as a movie/TV show in 2017
6. A book I've picked because of the cover
7. A book I've picked because of the title
8. A book set in Kansas
9. A book set in Texas
10. A book from the religious fiction genre
11. A book from the western genre
12. A book from the alternate history genre
13. A book of poetry
14. A book of letters/correspondence
15. A book that is a re-imagining of a fairy tale
16. A book I did not enjoy reading in school
17. A microhistory
18. A book about a current event from the last decade
19. A book about a historical event before 1900
20. A book about a historical event or figure that is not well-known
21. A book that focuses on issues related to class
22. A book about someone who works in higher education/student affairs
23. A book that was released the year I was born (1982)
24. A book about elementary school from when I was in elementary school (90s-ish)
25. A book about high school from when I was in high school (Late 90s/Early 2000s)
26. A book about college from when I was in college (Early 2000s)
27. A book about a hobby I have and/or want to acquire
28. A book with "life advice" I can utilize

Second, I'll be re-reading 24 books for my Throwback to the Books Challenge. These are books I read from elementary school through the last five years. Some are books I perpetually love and revisit, and others are ones I haven't spent time with in ages. 

1. The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
2. Allergic To My Family by Liza Ketchum Morrow
3. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
4. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume 
5. The Cay by Theodore Taylor
6. Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares
7. Hoop Dreams by Ben Joravsky
8. The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton
9. It's Not the End of the World by Judy Blume
10. Lyddie by Karen Paterson
11. Middlemarch by George Eliot
12. MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend by Rachel Bertsche
13. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
14. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
15. Otherwise Known as Shelia the Great by Judy Blume
16. Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty
17. Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
18. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
19. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
20. A book from the Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
21. A book from the American Girl series
22. A book from the Babysitters Club series
23. A book from the Encyclopedia Brown series
24. A book from the Little House on the Prairie series that isn't Little House in the Big Woods or Little House on the Prairie

I'm excited to embark on these 52 adventures, take a look, and see what's in these books (Bonus Points if you see what I did there) in 2017!