As part of my slightly altered reading challenge, here are the 60 books I have picked for 2015. Yesterday, my grandma let me raid her attic room, where she kept floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. She can’t read anymore (she’s blind in one eye and only has about 15% sight left in the other), so she said I’m welcome to whatever books I want as she’d only give them away anyway. So I raided the book shelves. 21 books I took with me right there and then, and I left about 20 more on the table as I didn’t have anything to carry all of them in at once. A few of those books I incorporated into the list below. I was actually surprised to find that my gran was a Konsalik fan and had all sorts of popular books hidden away (Tai-Pan, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Bonjour tristesse, just to name a few). Others I will have to buy or I’ve meant to buy anyway. I guess for my birthday I’m just sending round a list of books I’ve compiled on Amazon. Do you agree with my list? Can you recommend anything or would you swap books around? Are you doing a reading challenge as well? Let me know in the comments!

My 60 Books Challenge

1. A book written by someone under the age of 25 
2. A book written by someone over 65 
3. A book published before 1850 
4. A book published this year 
5. An anthology Tales from Nowhere edited by Don George
6. A book published by an indie press
7. A book about or by someone who identifies as LGBTQ 
8. A book that takes place in Asia 
9. A book written by an Asian author 
10. A book by an African author 
11. A book that takes place in Africa 
12. A book by or about Native Americans 
13. A book by or about Aborigines 
14. A Young Adult novel 
15. A sci-fi novel The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
16. A National Book Award winning book 
17. A Man Booker Prize winning book 
18. A Pulitzer Prize winning book 
19. A retelling of a classic story 
20. An audio-book The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
21. A book adapted for radio Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (adapted by BBC)
22. A book that was recommended to you Mr.  Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
23. A book originally published in a different language The Bookseller of Kabul by Åsne Seierstad
24. A book in a foreign language 
25. A book you consider a “guilty pleasure” 
26. A book published the year you were born 
27. A book with more than 500 pages 
28. A classic romance Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
29. A book that became a movie 
30. A book with a number in the title 
31. A funny book 
32. A mystery or thriller 
33. An erotic novel 
34. A book with a one-word title 
35. A nonfiction book 
36. A popular author’s first book 
37. A book from a favourite author you haven’t read yet 
38. A book based on a true story 
39. A book from the bottom of your to-read-pile 
40. A book based on its cover alone 
41. A book you were supposed to read in school but didn’t 
42. A book with antonyms in the title 
43. A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit Vroom with a view by Peter Moore
44. A trilogy The Vesuvius Club / Devil in Amber / Black Butterfly by Mark Gatiss
45. A book from your childhood Momo by Michael Ende
46. A book with a colour in the title A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
47. A book that makes you cry 
48. A book with magic 
49. A book by an author you’ve never read before 
50. A book you own but haven’t read 
51. A book that takes place in your hometown, state or country Die Spiegelsinfonie by Lilian Muscutt
52. A play 
53. A banned book 
54. A book based on or turned into a TV show 
55. A NaNoWriMo winning novel 
56. A book your dad loves 
57. A book your mum loves 
58. A book your grandparents love/own 
59. A book by an author with your initials (C.K.) 
60. A book by an author with the same first name (Cornelia) 

*toddles off to Amazon to buy second-hand books*