Hello 2022 and Happy New Year!

While I’m very happy to see 2021 in the rearview mirror, it wasn’t a total write-off. I was able to do a little bit of traveling, including checking something off my bucket list (visiting a ghost town). Even this small return to travel lifted my spirits immensely.

And, the big news for the year is that my book was published and released in September, Secret Seattle: A guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure. It’s available for purchase in all the usual locations, local bookstores, Amazon, and directly from me.

Secret Seattle: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

I did a lot of reading in 2021, completing 88 books (coincidentally, the same number of books I read in 2020). There were a few long-haul flights where I got some reading done, but most of the time it was curled up on the couch, lounging in a bubble bath, or in bed. But just because I wasn’t traveling much, didn’t mean that I could enjoy and feel challenged by the Travel Reading List Challenge.

I’m generally a Kindle reader. I like having dozens (actually hundreds) at hand. It makes for light packing, it slips into a purse, and with the reading app, I can synch it up to all my devices. I have the Kindle Paperwhite. It adjusts to various light situations, so I can read it in a darkened airplane cabin or in the bright light of a beach. You can click on that photo above to learn more about the specs and see if it’s a good choice for you.

Because I’m also a frugal reader, I get a lot of my e-books from my local library (where I usually have a dozen or so books on hold) and only purchase when I absolutely can’t wait to read a new release. Check your local library online services, I bet you have this available as well. I always purchase hard copies of guidebooks, though. There’s something about having one that I can write in, underline, and refer back to on future trips.

All-new Kindle Paperwhite – Now with a 6.8” display and thinner borders, adjustable warm light, up to 10 weeks of battery life, and 20% faster page turns.

Four years ago, I started a Travel Reading List Challenge, founded out of my love of reading and curiosity for the world – and as a means of exploring new topics, writers, and points of view. It’s also a way to decide what to queue up in the Kindle so there’s always something to read. I invited a few other travel bloggers and avid readers who love travel to join me in the Challenge. We’ve kept at it, and today we launch the 5th Annual Travel Reading List Challenge.

The reading challenge is designed for those who enjoy travel and learning more about the world. And when we’re not traveling, we can still explore the world through a good book.

The basic reading challenge has a pace of two books per month, for a yearly total of 24 books. The advanced portion of the reading challenge adds on another six books, bringing the yearly total to 30 books. It’s a doable number and gives you a way to be mindful of your reading choices.

The challenge is self-paced. Read what you want, when you want it, there’s no order you must follow. Fiction or non-fiction, both are great. Feel free to interpret the list in any way you wish, choosing the type of books that you enjoy. However, I also hope you’ll be encouraged to try some new authors, genres, and add new voices to your reading list – that’s part of the fun of the challenge.

For suggestions of what to read, lively discussions about our favorite books, and recommendations of what to take along on your next trip, please join the Facebook Group. We talk about books, authors, reading, travel, and all the great stuff of life. You’re welcome to join us there. You can also sign up for our monthly (or more likely quarterly) newsletter here.

Basic Challenge (an average of two books per month)

1. A book by an author from sub-Saharan Africa – In Every Mirror She’s Black
2. A book set in Canada – The Cruelest Month; A Rule Against Murder;
3. A book set in Colombia – Digging for Words
4. A book set in Egypt – The Watchman of Old Cairo
5. A book written by a Native American author –The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Sherman Alexie)
6. A book featuring one of the seven deadly sins – Power of the Dog (greed)
7. A book set at the beach – Reckless Girls; The Hotel Nantucket;
8. A book with a female spy – The Prisoner in the Castle; A Sunlit Weapon;
9. A book with a royal character or setting – Matrix;
10. A book about books – The Reading List; The Messy Lives of Book People;
11. A book that involves a swindle – The Magnolia Palace
12. A book about or set in a National Park – One Step Too Far
13. A book with a political theme or setting – Something to Hide; The Great Stewardess Rebellion (labor law);
14. A book about an explorer or exploration – Sea of Tranquility; The Lioness;
15. A book about wine or vineyards – Tuscan Women Cook (cookbook); The Lost Vintage;
16. A book set on, in, or about a river – The Other Passenger
17. A book set in a place you have been and would like to visit again –Shakeup (NYC); The Paris Apartment;
18. A book featuring an animal as a main character – Curiosity Thrilled the Cat
19. A book set in a small town, real or imaginary – Golden Girl (Nantucket); The Book of Longings (various destinations in Israel); Crying in H Mart (Eugene), The Patron Saint of Second Chances;
20. A book with a city in the title – The Bangalore Detectives Club; Murder in Old Bombay;
21. A book featuring nature as a central theme – Fear No Evil;
22. A book about language or lexicology – Libriomancer
23. A book set in a school – Party Girls Die in Pearls
24. A book with a season in the title – One Italian Summer

Advanced Challenge (an additional six books)

1. A book published in the year you turned 21 – A Stranger in the Mirror
2. A book with a spooky theme – The Last House on the Street; Malice, Book of Night
3. A book from a celebrity book club list – The Maid (GMA Book Club)
4. A book by or about a lawyer – The Judge’s List; Sparring Partners;
5. A book with a plucky Victorian heroine – God Rest Ye, Royal Gentlemen
6. A book with a found family theme – Under the Whispering Door; The Lincoln Highway

And others that don’t necessarily fit a category: Atomic Habits; The Passenger; The Man Who Died Twice; Rock Paper Scissors; Married to a Bedouin; Power of the Dog; Last Night at the Telegraph Club; The Horsewoman; Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs; Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli; The Good Left Undone; Marrying the Ketchups; Dream Town; The King’s Justice; City of the Dead; The House Across the Lake; Murder on Astor Place; Grave Reservations; The Venice Sketchbook; Frankie; A Duty to the Dead; The Family Upstairs; Murder on the Spanish Seas; Black Dog; A Safe House; Criminal Mischief; We Were Never Here; Foul Play; The Good Left Undone; The Patron Saint of Second Chances;

Who’s in?

I’ll be updating this list with the books that I’ve selected for each of these reading prompts. I hope you’ll follow along. (You can see the books I read for the 2021 Travel Reading Challenge here.)

Download the Travel Reading List Challenge here.

Save this travel reading list to your favorite Pinterest boards and share it with fellow book lovers.