State of the Reading:: The Ultimate Reading Challenge

So I keep mentioning the reading challenge I'm doing (or at least I feel like I am...) and I've linked to the copy on 9gag. I think it might have originally been from Pop Sugar, but to investigate that further would involve reading Pop Sugar...

I stumbled on the challenge via HabitRPG, where someone set up a challenge in the Legendary Book Club of Habitica guild (that I run and is currently reading Blackout, by Connie Willis). It's made it super easy to keep track of the challenge and I get rewarded for it. I only have a few left to tick off at this point... More info on the challenge and my status after the jump.


So, the challenge totals 52 books, or a book a week. (It only has 49 boxes, but one of them is to read a trilogy.)

Some of them, at least for me, are pretty easy. But the idea is that a few of them shouldn't be, at least for someone. By following the challenge, you can (try at least) to diversify your reading a bit. Frex, I probably never would have read Gone With the Wind if it weren't for the challenge. I'd have put it off another year, much to my mother's chagrin.

The ones I have left are:

• A trilogy
  I've read Perdido Street Station, as I'm reading the Bas-Lag novels, but still need to read The Scar, and Iron Council. The story Jack in Looking for Jake is also set in that world.
• A book that takes place in my hometown
  If anyone finds any decent books set in Austin, Texas, do please let me know..
• A book that made me cry
  This one will be difficult...
• A book with a color in the title
  I think Blackout is going to count as this.
• A book set in high school
  I'm thinking of reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower because I've never read it, but if anyone has any better suggestions, please let me know.
• A book based on a true story
  I guess I'll read some true crime or something? idk. Suggestions welcome!
• A book from an author I love but I haven't read yet
  Should be pretty easy...
• A book of short stories
  Also should be easy. I was going to do Looking for Jake for this, but as the ball pit story actually freaked me out so much, I did it as a book that scared me.
• A book published in 2015
  I'll probably do this one last.
• A book published the year I was bornI'm planning to look up books published in 1988 tomorrow, but if anyone has suggestions...
• A book I was supposed to read for school but didn't
  I never finished The Iliad for my freshman high school summer reading. I understand why now.
• A memoir
  Should be easy, just have been undecided
• A book written by someone under 30
  No idea what I'm going to pick for this one.

Sitting in my Overdrive bookshelf are:

Blackout, by Connie Willis
The Iliad, by Homer
Among Others, by Jo Walton
Soulless, by Gail Carriger
Robopocalypse, by Daniel H. Wilson

In physical proximity:

The Scar, by China Miéville

Not enough books. :(