A Look Ahead - 2016 Reading Group Challenges

It's been a rainy old day today. At least the wind finally let up. We've been very lazy, watching Season 2 of The Librarians and now Taken 2. Sunday is one of our favourite TV evenings for watching the tube. Tonight we've got the early episodes of Morse and after that the Swedish version of Wallander, which have really taken to.

The missus is warming up our Sunday dinner, mashed potatoes and left over turkey. That should just about be perfect. While that is taking place, I'm going to work on this BLog, today's entry will be to go through my 2016 Challenge Lists. I'm hoping to read 100 books in 2016. This past year I completed 98 and that was while working until November. So the odds are reasonably good that I will be able to achieve that total.

12 + 4 Challenge

I've done this challenge for the past 3 years. I have two planned for 2016, one for my regular reading group, the Book Addicts and a semi-related one for my Mystery Reading Group. In my Book Addicts Group, I've selected 16 books by Canadian authors. Some of these also happen to be mysteries so will also apply to that challenge. Between these two challenges, I will read 27 out of my total of 100 books. These are the books I've listed for these two challenges.

Book Addicts 12 + 4
1. Until the Night by Giles Blunt (Mys) (also in my Mystery challenge)
2. The Moche Warrior by Lyn Hamilton (Mys) (also in my Mystery challenge)
3. Stolen by Kelley Armstrong (Fan)
4. MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood (SciFi)
5. The Deep by Nick Cutter (Hor)
6. The Lyre of Orpheus by Robertson Davies (Fic)
7. Hitman by David Foster (Bio)
8. A Judgment of Dragons by Phyllis Gotlieb (SciFi)
9. The Iowa Baseball Confederacy by W.P. Kinsella (Fic)
10. The Crime of Ovide Plouffe by Roger Lemelin (Fic)
11. Hooked on Canadian Books by T.J. Rigelfhof (Non-Fic)
12. Station Eleven by Emily St. Mandel (SciFi)
Alt 1. The Beat in View by Margaret Millar (Mys) (also in my Mystery challenge)
Alt 2. The Shanghai Murders by David Rotenberg (Mys) (also in my Mystery challenge)
Alt 3. Dead Cold by Louise Penny (Mys) (also in my Mystery challenge)
Alt 4. Lost Girls by Andrew Pyper (Fic)

Mystery 12 + 4 (only those books not already listed)
1. The Reckoning by Rennie Airth (John Madden #5)
2. Bones of Betrayal by Jefferson Bass (The Bone Farm #4)
3. Trent's Last Case by E.C. Bentley (Trent #1)
4. The Cat Who ate Danish Modern by Lilian Jackson Braun (The Cat Who #2)
5. The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham (Albert Campion)
6. Last Bus to Woodstock by Colin Dexter (Inspector Morse #1)
7. The Dragon Man by Gary Disher (Challis and Destry #1)
Alt 1. For Your Eyes Only by Ian Fleming (James Bond)
Alt 2. China Lake by Meg Gardiner (Delaney #1)
Alt 3. Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman (Navaho Tribal Police #2)
Alt 4. A Mind to Murder by P.D. James (Inspector Dalgleish #2)

Decades Challenge -  The aim of this challenge is to read a book from each decade starting with 1900. I have a few books in mind for this challenge but it remains flexible. This will make another 12 books toward my 100
1900 - 1909 The Jewel of Seven Stars by Bram Stoker (1903)
1910 - 1919
1920 - 1929
1930 - 1939
1940 - 1949
1950 - 1959
1960 - 1969
1970 - 1979
1980 - 1989
1990 - 1999
2000 - 2009
2010 - Present

Science Fiction Challenge - I hope to read 8 books in this challenge. It will include, SciFi, Dystopian future, Horror, Fantasy, etc.
1. Ghost Road Blues by Jonathan Maberry (Hor)
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Classic Challenge - Once again, I hope to read 4 books in this challenge. The stories will consist of stories written before 1900. I still have quite a few on our bookshelves and I've enjoyed this challenge very much the past couple of years.
1. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte (1848)
2.
3.
4.

Series Challenge - I have so many series on the go, not just mysteries and I hope to read books in another 45. This will barely make a dent in them, but it's always nice to revisit ongoing series and maybe even finish one or two off.
1. Quietly in their Sleep by Donna Leon (Inspector Brunetti #6)
2.
3.
4.
5........

45.

Non - Fiction Challenge - Once again, I hope to read 4 books in this challenge, either history, biography, travel, etc.
1. The War that Ended the Peace by Margaret MacMillan (His)
2.
3.
4.

If I manage to complete all of the above challenges, I will succeed in reading 100 books in 2016. I'm really looking forward to it. I've identified the first three books I will read. They are -

1.  Until the Night by Giles Blunt - This fits into my Canadian 12 + 4 challenge and also my Mystery 12 + 4 challenge. It is the 6th book in the John Cardinal mystery series. What I especially like about this series is that it is set in my home town of North Bay. It's a gritty, well-crafted series.

2. The Trojan Horse by Hammond Innes - This fits into my decades challenge, the period 1940 - 1949 as it was written in 1940. It's my first book by Innes but it looks like a nice little thriller.

3. The Lawless Roads by Graham Greene (Non-Fic) - This fits into my Non-Fiction challenge. I have been collecting quite a few Graham Greene stories and I enjoyed his previous memoir of his trip through Liberia. In this memoir, he travels the roads of Mexico. This was originally published in 1939.

So there you go, my 2016 intentions. I have 100 books settled in my night stand.. well, 90 or so. The others are still scattered around the house, but I know where they are.. Enjoy your 2016 reading.