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Last year, I completed the Ultimate PopSugar Reading Challenge 2017 with one day to spare. I actually read about ten books during the first half of my winter break in order to reach that goal. I’m hoping not to cut it so close this year. For 2018, I’ve designed my reading challenge as part of my Christmas gift to my brother. He had challenged himself to read 12 books last year, I challenged him to do 40 with me instead, and he ended up at 30 (here’s his list from 2017). As he wanted to try again this year, I created reading prompts that have connections to each of us, along with more general prompts that can inspire us to branch out from our usual genres and topics. A few of the prompts were inspired by challenges I saw online while creating the list. So, without further ado, here’s the “Romero Sibling Reading Challenge of 2018.”
Romero Sibling Reading Challenge (2018)
- Published in 2018 (Alone Together by Sarah J Donovan)
- Has a movie adaptation in 2018 (Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli)
- A classic
- A children’s book
- A YA book (Dark of the West by Joanna Hathaway)
- A graphic novel (American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang)
- A banned book
- A play
- A mixed media narrative
- A nonfiction book
- A collection of short stories (Ten Little Indians by Sherman Alexie)
- A motivational book (Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg)
- Won an award (Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes)
- Published posthumously
- Number in title
- Title is in a different language
- One word title (Unplugged by Donna Freitas)
- Author uses pseudonym (The Awakening by L.J. Smith)
- First book of a favorite author
- Set or published in another country (Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez)
- Set in a rural location
- Set in the future (Feed by M.T. Anderson)
- Set in two long distance locations (What Goes Up by Katie Kennedy)
- About or set in Cuba
- About a holiday
- About a sport
- About food
- About siblings (The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli)
- About social media
- About academia
- About a religion
- About a process
- Includes no humans
- Stanford is mentioned
- UF, UNCC, or ISU is mentioned
- Features a same-sex couple (Fan Art by Sarah Tregay)
- Includes a non-binary character
- Told in multiple point of views (The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon)
- Can be read in one sitting
- Recommended by sibling
While a lot of these prompts are pretty general, a few are very specific to my brother, Evan, and to me. My brother is a Stanford alum, a former professional volleyball player, and currently works for Twitter. Hence, prompts 34, 26, and 29. I, on the other hand, have attended UF, UNCC, and ISU, and am hoping to continue on in academia after earning my PhD. Hence, then, prompts 35 and 30. Our parents (and many other family members) are Cuban immigrants, so prompt 24. And, of course, I couldn’t forget prompt 40, as it seems to be the only way I’ll get my brother to read M.T. Anderson’s Feed, my favorite dystopian novel.
Final Thoughts
I already have quite a few ideas for these prompts, with a new one added after seeing the preview for Every Day by David Levithan in theaters last week. Like last time, I’ll update this post with the book titles and authors as I read them. It’s going to be a great reading year, if I do say so myself.
Are you participating in a specific reading challenge this year? Do you have any recommendations for my prompts above? Let me know in the comments below.
Talk Soon!
-Erika Romero
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