Indigo Reading Challenge

END OF CHALLENGE!

Remember how Hailey and I are planning to finish the 52 Book Club’s reading challenge for this year (here)? Well, we at Page and Prose decided that one can never have too much stress in their lives. In a spirit of excessive Canadian patriotism, we are going to complete the Indigo Reading Challenge for 2021!

Here are our ground rules for the challenge:

• Hailey and I will include the full list of prompts below, drawn from the Indigo website (here).
• We will add our answers for the items that we’ve already checked off between January 1, 2021 and the present date.
• As the year unfolds, we will keep adding our answers to this blog post.
• Once again, Hailey’s listed books will not be the same as my listed books.

Given the super-deluxe challenge of doing multiple book challenges at once, we will each be allowed two (2) repeats between this list and the 52 Book Club list.

Additional ground rules:

• Rereads do not count! Newly read books only.
• DNFing disqualifies a book from counting! Finished books only.
• Creative interpretation is allowed, nay, encouraged!
• Failure to complete this challenge will result in a yet-to-be-determined Dire Consequence.

Reminder, once again: we are not necessarily recommending the books listed below. These are just some of the books that Hailey and I read over the course of the 2021 calendar year, that happen to fit the reading challenge criteria.

1. A book about someone who inspires you:
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2. A book by a Black author:
   • Gutter Child, by Jael Richardson – H
   • Destiny’s Embrace, by Beverly Jenkins – S
3. A book that a movie or TV show was based [up]on:
   • Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes, by Neil Gaiman (The series has been filmed, it just hasn’t been released yet.) – H
   • Bear Island, by Alistair Maclean. Apparently, it was made into a 1979 Canadian film that bears (heheheh) almost no resemblance to the original, and that I have no intention of watching. – S
4. A non-fiction book by a Canadian author:
   • Disfigured, by Amanda LeDuc (I listened to the audiobook, but I’m planning to reread it in print to really pick up all the nuances. Such an amazing book!) – H
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5. A book to assist in self-discovery and self-care:
   • Great Goddesses, by Nikita Gill – H
   • You Are a Badass Every Day, by Jen Sincero – S
6. A book by an Indigenous author:
   • Trickster Drift, by Eden Robinson – H
   • Son of a Trickster, by Eden Robinson – S
7. A book considered to be a great classic:
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   • The Tempest, by William Shakespeare – ever heard of him? This is one of my two allowable repeats from the 52 Book Club Challenge, by the way. – S
8. A book about helping the environment:
   • Blaze Island, by Catherine Bush (I was able to attend a virtual author lead book club through my public library!) – H
   • Uprooted, by Naomi Novik. Look, the message is really clear, what with the whole overarching conflict involving tree people who attack humans when their forest gets poisoned. – S
9. A book about a true crime:
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10. A book that teaches you about the past:
    • The Final Girl Support Group, by Grady Hendrix (So, a bit of a stretch, but I know nothing about slasher/horror flicks from the 1980s so this taught me about some pop-culture from the not-so distant past.) – H
    • Excellent Women, by Barbara Pym. Set in post-War England, the book focuses on the daily lives of the middle-class women who were left behind by a changing society. – S
11. A book that you could read in a day:
    • Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things, by Amanda Lovelace – H
    • Slippery Creatures, by K. J. Charles. In fact, I did read it in a day! – S
12. A book by a trans or nonbinary author:
    • Coffee Days, Whiskey Nights, by Parker Lee (credited as Cyrus Parker for this book.) – H
    • Red, White & Royal Blue, by Casey McQuiston. One of my two allowable repeats from the 52 Book Challenge. – S
13. A Heather’s Pick
    • Fortunately, the Milk, by Neil Gaiman – H
    • A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman. I checked my notes, Hailey — this book club session was in January 2021! Hah! Mwahahah! – S This means you read the book last minute before our discussion… it was a December 2020 pick, silly goose. – H  Le sigh…okay. – S
14. A book to build your antiracist reading list:
    • The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, by Dawnie Watson (One of my two allowable repeats from the 52 Book Challenge). – H
    • Serena Singh Flips the Script, by Sonya Lalli – S
15. A book by a local author:
    • The Cup and the Prince, by Day Leitao (She’s close enough without revealing the location of my super secret lair, mwah hahahaha!) – H
    • Losing Joe’s Place, by Gordon Korman. Without specifically geolocating myself…it’s close enough! – S
16. A book in another format (eBook/audiobook):
    • The Guest List, by Lucy Foley (Audiobook) – H
    • The Lady Has a Past, by Amanda Quick. I read it in eBook format, but I feel like this category is a freebie for me, because I read a TON of stories in eBook format these days. – S
17. A book by an LGBTQ2+ author:
    • Johnny Appleseed, by Joshua Whitehead – H
    • The Pride of Chanur, by C. J. Cherryh
18. A book to help you escape to another world:
    • Vespertine, by Margaret Rogerson
    • Stravaganza: City of Masks, by Mary Hoffman. Fulfills this challenge in a very literal manner! – S
19. A prize-winning book:
    • The Marrow Thieves, by Cherie Dimaline – H
    • A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine. Winner of the 2020 Hugo Award! – S
20. The first book in a series:
    • Son of a Trickster, by Eden Robinson – H
    • The Cloud Roads, by Martha Wells. – S
21. A book recommended by Indigo experts:
    • Lore, by Alexandra Bracken (One of my two allowable repeats from the 52 Book Challenge.) – H
    • Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, by Becky Albertalli. – S

PS: We’d love to have readers follow along with these challenge prompts. Let us know what you are reading in the comments, or by email! Let us know of creative ways you would complete one of the prompts, or what you think of some of the books we ended up reading!