It’s time to officially kick-off the Rhymes with Croatia 2017 Reading Challenge!

The challenge includes 24 categories (two books a month on average) with 3 substitute categories in case you get completely stuck.

The Rules:

There are no real rules. Feel free to interpret the categories loosely. You can choose to count 1 book for multiple categories or pick 1 book for each of the 24 categories. “Read” your books using whatever method works best for you – paper, ebook, or audio (I would consider movies to be a cheat, but that’s up to you). It can be a long book or a short book.

This list is meant to be a very loose reading guide and can be as challenging as you want to make it. Mostly, I want it to be fun and to stretch your reading while still leaving plenty of room for non-challenge books.

I’ll be posting regularly to this blog, focusing on a new category every couple of weeks, including suggestions of books that will help you check off the list. However, you can read them in whatever order you want.

The Categories:

1. A book that teaches you something new
2. A book with a purple cover
3. A library book
4. A book written the year you were born
5. A book written by a woman or with a kickass woman protagonist
6. A book by a new-to-you classic author
7. A coffee table book
8. A book with the name of flower or plant in title
9. A book set somewhere you’ve never been
10. A book based on a true story/historical event
11. A collection of short stories
12. A book with a one-word title
13. A book that helps explore your family history/heritage
14. A recommendation from a friend
15. A book written by an author of another race or belief system
16. A book set in a school
17. A memoir or biography
18. A banned book
19. A book by a one-hit wonder author
20. A thriller
21. A book adapted into a movie or tv show
22. A famous author you’re embarrassed to admit you’ve never read
23. A book you’re embarrassed to be seen with in public
24. A book that takes place during winter

Substitute Categories:

1. A book written by a doctor
2. A book with a punny title
3. A book that’s been on your TBR for more than 3 years

Want to print a handy PDF version? Here it is!

Want to keep track via a handy spreadsheet? I made one of those as well! (Note: You’ll see an example row that shows how to add a book/title and mark off the categories.)

• Click here to preview.
• Click here to make a copy you can edit.

Tweet using the hashtag #rwc2017RC to let me know if you plan to participate and/or have questions. Look for my tweets (@WordsByStacia) using that hashtag throughout the year – and be sure to tag your books accordingly! You can also follow my reading progress on Goodreads.

Special thanks to #jhbc and Sarah for their input as I developed this challenge.

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