Poetry

Bookish 2021 Reading Challenge

We scoured list upon list of the best books from the last several years (and some more classic titles, too) to create a super-rad reading challenge for our Book Nerd Community. Of course, we’re always on the quest for diverse books, so you can be sure this list is chock full of writing by authors of color, LGBTQ authors, authors from various places around the world… We’re looking to take you slightly out out of your comfort zone and into something truly spectacular. 

The rules are simple:

To earn the title of Bookish Book Nerd, read 12 books from our curated list, each from a different category. That’s it. Easy Peasy. 

Sound too easy?

We see you. That’ s why we upped the ante a bit and created the Book Nerd to the Max Power category. That’s 24 books from 22 different categories in 2021. Rad, right?!?

How should you obtain these amazing, super-rad reads? We’ve got some ideas: 

1. Bookish is carrying as many of them as we can in-store. And, if we run out of a title, we’re happy to order you one. Then you can just pop in the store to grab it (or do pre-arranged curbside pick-up).
2. All the titles are also available through Bookish ATL’s Bookshop Store. Those are the order links you’ll see next to each book on the list. When you order from Bookshop, the books get delivered straight to your door. Bookshop is a third-party distribution site. So, while technically you aren’t ordering directly from our brick and mortar store, Bookish gets a very good percentage of each sale. So you can rest assured that you are still supporting Bookish, your local independent bookstore, when you order through our Bookshop link. 

How should you keep track of your reads? Find a way that makes the most sense to you: on a Google Doc, in the back of your journal, in invisible ink on the wall…. The only real requirement is that at the end of 2021, you’re able to send us the title of the book you read & which category it fulfilled. 

What do you get for completing the Bookish 2021 Reading Challenge? Bragging rights, of course. And there will be swag (we’ll release the details on that later in 2021). But, for sure, you’ll be intellectually & emotionally richer for having read the books in this challenge. And that’s something in and of itself.

Don’t see something that you think should really, really be on the list? Let’s discuss it! Email your suggestion to stories@BookishATL.com with the subject line Reading List 2021. Include 2-3 sentences about why this book deserves a place on the list. Then, we’ll see what we can do!

If you completed the 2020 Book Challenge, we’ll be releasing the swag (some free & some for a small donation to cover printing costs) soon. In the meantime, you can email your completed challenge to stories@BookishATL.com with the subject line 2020 Challenge.

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