My 2020 TBR Challenge Books

A 2020 release:

This one was really easy! My first preorder of 2020 is an obvious choice, and that’s One of Us is Next by Karen McManus, out 07/01/2020! I’ve loved all of her books so far, and I expect this to be no exception.

Book published in the year you were born:

After a bit of perusing, I’ve found that Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine came out on April 25th, 1997. That’s only 5 days after I was born, I love the movie and it’s available at my local library so I think this has to be my read for the year I was born. (Yes, I know Harry Potter would be the obvious 1997 choice but I didn’t want to reread for this challenge.)

Novel that will get a movie adaptation in 2020:

I’ve read a lot of the books being adapted in 2020, but I’ve not read this one and I really love a lot of Agatha Christie‘s works, so I’m adding her Death on the Nile to the list.

Friend recommendation:

Since I started my Stephen King phase recently, my manager has been telling me to read CELL and as I picked it up on one of my charity shop hauls last week, it seems like fate. It’s going on the list!

Book you can read in a day:

I’ve had Animal Farm by George Orwell sat on my bookshelf forever and I still haven’t gotten around to picking it up. It’s only 100 pages, so definitely an easy ‘book you can read in a day’ kind of book. It’s also on my book bucket list so it’s two birds with one stone!

Book originally written in a foreign language:

I read The Count of Monte Cristo in 2019 and it rocketed to being one of my favourite books, so when I found The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas in a charity shop, I absolutely had to pick it up. Think it’s time to get it off the shelf and read it!

Book by a dead author:

Another one that’s on my book bucket list but has just been languishing on my bookshelves for far too long is Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.

Novel that was banned:

I saw the movie adaptation of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and cried my eyes out, so it’s been on my TBR for ages. This gives me an excuse to buy it and cry my eyes out again.

NYT bestseller:

The Institute by Stephen King has actually been on my bookshelf since before my Stephen King kick started in earnest, but as I write this (01/12/19) it’s on the NYT bestseller list, so it’s going on my 2020 TBR!

Booker Prize winning book:

Scrolling through a list of Booker Prize winners, Life of Pi by Yann Martel was the first to jump out at me, so I’m putting it on the list because otherwise I could spend ages and ages deciding between the amazing books on that list!

Book by a Nobel Prize winner:

Again, the list of possible books here is SO good, so I’ve picked an arbitrary measure. According to wikipedia, Rudyard Kipling was the first person from the UK to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, so I’m going to read The Jungle Book!

Goodreads winner:

Educated by Tara Westover was a Goodreads Award Winner in 2018, and I’ve heard so many good things about it that I’m jumping on the opportunity to boost it higher on my TBR.

Book from Rory Gillmore Challenge:

FINALLY. A PROMPT I CAN USE AS AN EXCUSE TO READ THE SHINING BY STEPHEN KING. I bought this the other day, after I made my December TBR, and I was kind of sulking that it was at the bottom of my TBR (I own so many books, honestly) but now I can read it in January with no TBR-shuffling shame 🥰🥰🥰

Book with one-word title:

Vox by Christina Dalcher has been low-priority on my TBR for a while, so I’m excited to get to this one after I picked up a copy second-hand.

Book over 500 pages:

Okay, I need to stop putting Stephen King on this list but… ‘Salem’s Lot is 751 pages long… it’s going on the list.

Books set in different continents:

I’m going for broke with this one. A book set in each of the 7 continents! But, as I’m trying to whittle down my physical TBR and a lot are SFF, I am allowing myself ‘continent-inspired-fantasy’ on the condition that it’s written by an own-voices writer. I’m not sure if this is breaking the rules but I’m doing it anyway.

Asia

First, one I’ve heard loads about: Descendant of the Crane by Joan He. Look how beautiful this cover is, and apparently it’s just as beautiful inside. I’m keen to read this one.

Africa

Not one I’ve heard of before, but seemingly well liked and with a powerful synopsis, I’m going to try We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo.

North America

I’ve never heard of Not Your Sidekick by C. B. Lee before but I’m a sucker for superhero stories and it’s set in Nevada, so.

South America

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a book I’ve heard loads about, so I’m going to try it for this challenge prompt.

Antartica

A book set in Antarctica? It’s gotta be H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness!

Europe

I’ve wanted to read Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier for a while, and it’s said to be set in a fictional area in England, so I’m adding it in here so I’ve got an excuse to buy it!

Australia

I’m kind of breaking my own rule here with Michael Morpurgo’s Alone on a Wide Wide Sea because I read it years ago as a kid, but I remember absolutely adoring it so I want to read it again and see if it holds up (please hold up book, I loved you so).

Book set in your home country:

The Burning by Laura Bates is set in the UK, and has been sat on my shelf awhile, so another one I can tick off my physical TBR that I’ve been neglecting since I bought it.

Book trilogy:

Okay, I’m finally going to read the Divergent series after my best friend has told me to read them a thousand times. I hope they live up to it.

YA book:

The easiest category for me, as most of my physical TBR is YA. I’m going to read Wilder Girls by Rory Power, because I was so hyped up to release and then I let it fall to the wayside!

Historical book:

I have absolutely no idea what The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley is about, but it’s the only book on my goodreads historical fiction shelf that I own but haven’t read so I might as well round out the shelf? It’s good great reviews and I must have bought it for a reason, so let’s see.

Fantasy book:

I’m actually really, really hyped for The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith and I get my paperback preorder in February so I’ll get on this as soon as I bring it home.

A classic:

My best friend is always reading Pride and Prejudice adaptations, so I guess I better give the original a try! I’m pretty sure it’s on my book bucket list too.

Can’t wait to read these and get some reviews up, and I can’t wait to see other people’s 2020 lists!