Octavia Butler changed speculative fiction with her path-breaking novels, including the best-selling novel Kindred, which has been adapted for television and as a graphic novel. She was born on June 22, 1947, and would be 77 today if she were still with us.
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Throughout her career, Butler won multiple Hugo and Nebula awards, taught regularly at the Clarion Writers Workshop, received a MacArthur Fellowship, and even has an asteroid named after her.
While I can’t tell you when I first learned of Octavia Butler, I first read one of her books in the 2010s. I was on a mission to read classic science fiction. After working my way through some Asimov, Heinlein, and Bradbury, I found a digital audio copy of Fledgling through my library.
I’ve consumed a lot of vampire stories in my life, both written and visual, but Fledglingremains one of my absolute favorites. Rather than being evil villains, Butler’s vampires live symbiotically with humans. I love the way she reimagines vampire mythology and humanizes these creatures we normally see as monsters.
Kindred, Butler’s only other standalone novel, is her most well-known book. It is a haunting portrayal of what people will do to survive and an ode to the resilience of Black Americans. I rarely feel that a book should be required reading for everyone. But Kindred is one of the few that I strongly believe every adult in America should read at least once.
I still have a lot of Octavia Butler to read. My next novel will be Parable of the Sower, the first book in the duology pictured above. I picked up the box set from 7 Stories Press back in January, and today is the perfect day to start reading it.
Interested in picking up one of Octavia Butler’s novels? I’ve put together a list of her novels:
A neon sign in the window at Elliott Bay Books in Seattle, WA. I should have asked them where they got it when I was there, because I want one.
The traditional number-of-books-read-based reading goal is meaningless as a measure of how much you actually read in a year. There. I said it.
On the surface, this kind of reading goal seems like a useful way to encourage more reading. And for some people, it does. For others, it’s nothing but a source of stress. The Goodreads Challenge isn’t supposed to be a competition. But far too many people turn it into one and make others feel bad about how many books they did or did not read.
And what counts as a book, anyway? A novel like War and Peace, certainly. What about a picture book? Does that count? What about an issue of a literary magazine? A graphic novel? A poetry chapbook? What about an omnibus that collects several novels together in one volume? Is that one book, or multiple?
Most people would agree that picture books, poetry collections, and graphic novels are books, but these books are likely to be significantly shorter than many novels. Something like a literary magazine is technically not a “book” because it’s a periodical, but many issues of lit mags are just as long as many novels.
Is it “cheating” to read ten Dr. Seuss books on December 31 because you’re ten books short of your goal? If you read and track single issues of comics, is counting those toward “books read” a cop out? Should you just log the collected edition instead?
It was these questions, along with my growing concerns over the way Amazon uses Goodreads data and the way the site has “enabled the weaponization of displeasure,”* that led me to stop using Goodreads partway into 2021.
Goodbye, Goodreads
Tracking my reading had become a chore that I didn’t look forward to. More than that, the reading challenge made reading itself feel like a chore—something I had to do instead of something I enjoyed doing.
I’m far from the first person who’s felt like this. In an article for Book Riot from 2019, Stacey Megally describes how the Goodreads Reading Challenge stressed her out and sucked the joy out of reading. She asked, “When did I start prioritizing hitting a number over blissfully wandering inside a story—new or old—that I love?”
When I made the decision to abandon my reading challenge in 2021, I felt relieved. I felt free. Suddenly it didn’t matter how I tracked my comic reading or whether I read Narwhal and Jelly for the fifth time.
Only, it had never mattered. I only thought it did because of an arbitrary, ill-defined goal I set for myself out of some misguided notion that I should because I am a Book Person, and that’s what Book People do.
A sidewalk painting is in front of a Barnes & Noble in Pittsburgh, PA.
Goals can be motivating as long as they are achievable and realistic. Most people I know who set reading goals do so because they want to read more, or maintain their current level of reading. Others set goals to expand their horizons or learn more about a certain topic. Basing your reading goals on the number of books you read doesn’t necessarily translate into reading more or expanding your reading horizons.
That doesn’t mean we have to abandon reading goals altogether. Here are some alternatives that may help you get the results you want.
Alternate Reading Goal #1: Habit Tracking
This sounds so simple, but if you aren’t satisfied with how often you read, the only way to read more is to, well, make the time to read more. So ff you want to read more, set a time-based goal or a habit goal.
Two options for this are to read for a certain amount of time each day or week (one of those timer bookmarks they make for kids might be useful here) or to create a habit goal where you aim to read on a certain number of days every week (or month, or year).
I have both a habit goal and a time based goal. I strive to read for at least twenty minutes every day. Most days, I exceed that. Some days, I barely hit it. Other days, the only reading I do is listening to an audiobook while I fall asleep.
I don’t use a timer, because for me the point is not to be perfect or exact. The point is to encourage myself to carve out a little time each day for my favorite leisure activity. I do use the Finch self care app to track my reading days.
This hybrid habit/time-based goal helps me reduce mindless scrolling and keep reading as a focus in my life.
Alternate Reading Goal #2: Read Outside Your Comfort Zone
If you want to read outside your comfort zone, try joining a prompt-based reading challenge.
Prompt-based reading challenges ask you to read books that meet certain criteria. “Read a book by a trans author” is one example of a prompt. Book Riot’s Read Harder challenge is the most popular prompt-based challenge, but there are many, many more.
General challenges like Book Riot’s and Popsugar’s will ask you to read books from many different genres, different formats, and with a wide range of criteria. Seasonal challenges and book bingo challenges also abound.
These smaller, more focused options may be a better fit if you have more time during some seasons than others or want to focus on a specific genre. Instagram is a great place to find these. I also detailed a few challenges that work well for speculative fiction in this post.
If you can’t find a challenge that meets your needs, you can always create one yourself from scratch or cobble together a list of prompts from multiple challenges. Don’t forget to check in with your local library; many public libraries also host their own reading challenges beyond the traditional summer reading!
Alternate Reading Goal #3: A TBR Goal
If you want to focus on reading books you already own or have wanted to read forever but never get around to, set a TBR-based goal.
On the surface, this kind of goal may seem similar to the type of number-based challenges I wrote this post to push back against. But it doesn’t have to be!
The bottom two shelves in this photo are my TBR shelves. The top shelf holds my writing books, some of which I have also not yet read. I won’t get through all of these this year, but I’ll get through some of them!
There are a number of ways to approach a TBR-based goal that don’t involve setting yourself an arbitrary number of books to read in a given time period. For example, you could set aside three months where you commit to only reading books on your TBR shelf (whether that is a physical or digital shelf is irrelevant).
Or, you could commit to reading three books (or two, or one) from your list for every book you pick up that wasn’t on your list. You could write down the names of all the books on your TBR shelf on pieces of paper and put them in a jar, then pull one to determine your next read.
Bribery Works, Too
A goal (or rule, I suppose) I’ve used in the past is that if I want to buy a new book, I have to read two books I already own but haven’t read yet. I do set some exceptions for this rule, mostly for new books in series I want to snag first printings of. It’s been a few years since I’ve done this, but it’s worked well to motivate me to finally read books that have been sitting unread for years.
It’s also a nice way to curb excessive book spending and a great time to assess whether or not I’m ever actually going to read the Umberto Eco book I’ve been lugging around since high school and still haven’t read (maybe this is the year?).
This year, my TBR-based goal is to read at least one book from my physical TBR pile each month. Small or large doesn’t matter, and reading two books from the TBR pile in January doesn’t excuse me from having to read one in February! If I manage to stick to this, I should be able to knock off at least twelve books from my TBR while still allowing myself freedom to read other things that interest me.
Conclusion
Reading you do for pleasure and leisure should never be a chore. It should enrich your life, give you an escape from actual chores, and teach you more about yourself and the world. Your reading goal should help you with that, not make you feel bad about yourself.
Perhaps setting a number-based reading goal works for you. If you find yourself dreading opening Goodreads so you don’t see how far behind you are in your reading challenge, maybe it’s time to try something different.
I’ve only listed three alternative options here, but there are so many more—number of pages, spine widths all measured together, colors that appear on the cover. I’m sure you can find something that inspires you to read more and read further without stressing you out.
* From “Let’s Rescue Book Lovers From This Online Hellscape” by Maris Kreizman in the New York Times
What are your reading goals for 2024? Share them with me on Instagram and Bluesky!
With 2021 behind us and the whole of 2022 ahead, it’s time to take stock of our TBR shelves and lists, think about new goals, discard what no longer serves us or brings us joy, and most importantly, READ!
To that end, I’m rounding up the best 2022 reading challenges for readers of science fiction, fantasy, and other speculative fiction sub-genres!
Reading challenges can be a fun way to expand your reading horizons, explore genres or topics you might not have discovered on your own, and even to meet fellow readers. They can also be an added source of stress or guilt, so they aren’t for everyone. I like to use them as a guide or inspiration rather than something I must complete each year.
Despite the proliferation of challenges, I couldn’t help but notice how few challenges there are specifically for speculative fiction. If spec fic is your main genre, it may not make sense to do a challenge within that genre… Or it could be the perfect opportunity to discover new authors and sub-genres (and there are so many sub-genres and sub-sub genres in spec fic).
So without further pontificating, here are the six reading challenges (in no particular order) best suited for readers who want to focus on speculative fiction in 2022!
Challenges With Prompts
The more traditional reading challenges include specific prompts, like “read a book set in a bookstore”. You can choose any book that satisfies the prompt, and usually a single book can satisfy multiple prompts and be used in multiple challenges.
Diverse Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books Challenge
This challenge isn’t limited to 2022, but I wanted to include it because it’s one of the few challenges focused specifically on speculative fiction. This challenge, which you can find at Storygraph, features sixteen prompts focused on finding books by own voices authors from a variety of backgrounds. Each prompt also includes a short list of suggested books, so this is also a great place to diversify your TBR in general!
Beyond the Bookends’ 2022 Reading Challenge
Book blog Beyond the Bookends has a simple but great 2022 reading challenge that features a single prompt for each month of the year. With twelve prompts, this is a great option for people who’ve never done a challenge before, or who want a less-intense challenge that will still push their reading boundaries.
Additionally, all these prompts can easily be used to find a spec fic book (yes, even November’s “Read a book set in WWI”). You can also browse their previous challenges for more ideas and inspiration.
Unabridged Podcast 2022 Reading Challenge
Most reading challenges focus heavily on adult fiction and nonfiction, which is why I like this challenge written by the three teachers that makeup the Unabridged Podcast! It has both a YA and middle-grade themed prompt, along with a few multimedia prompts (like reading a book and watching its tv or movie adaptation).
This challenge has ten prompts and a number of ways to get involved, including a Facebook group, a hashtag for Instagram, and an Instagram story template so you can share your progress!
Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge is one of the most well-known challenges, and has one of the most lively and engaged communities. This year’s challenge features twenty-four prompts, which breaks down to two books per month. It’s much more doable than some of the other big challenges like PopSugar’s (fifty books)!
This is one of my favorite challenges, and the first one I ever participated in. While certain prompts (such as number six, “Read a nonfiction YA comic” and “Read a history about a period you know little about”) might be hard to twist to speculative fiction, a majority of the prompts lend themselves well to choosing a spec fic book. The active Goodreads community also makes it a great option if you’re looking for community as well as good books.
Challenges Without Prompts
Not all reading challenges are prompt-based! Some are based around numbers of books read, either within a theme or in general. For those who prefer not to be limited by prompts, here’s a couple challenges that are number-based.
SpaceTime Reading Challenge 2022
Writer and book reviewer Jemima Pett runs the annual SpaceTime Reading Challenge on her blog, jemimapett.com. This is a flexible challenge, and you can choose to aim for as few as five books or as many as forty!
This challenge focuses on science fiction and time travel books only, and the host requests that all participants post reviews somewhere online (Goodreads is fine). Any book within the prescribed genres that’s at least 100 pages or more can count.
Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2022
Bev of the My Reader’s Block blog hosts the annual Mount TBR Reading Challenge, which challenges participants to read books in their to-be-read piles. The fun twist here is that each “level” of the challenge is pegged to a famous mountain.
To conquer Pike’s Peak, you have to read twelve books from your TBR pile. To climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, you’ll need to knock off sixty books. And for Mt. Everest, you’ll need to read a whopping one hundred books from your TBR!
Library lovers, take note: Library books don’t count for this one; only books you owned prior to January 1, 2022.
Do you have any reading goals for 2022? Are you planning on doing any reading challenges? Let me know in the comments, on Twitter @bookwitchblog, or Instagram @bookwitchblog!
Welcome to the Book Witch, a blog about speculative fiction and comics!
If you’re here, I can only assume you love books: reading them, collecting them, smelling them… Whatever your particular book kink, I hope you’ll find this to be a welcoming, inclusive space.
I’ll be bringing you reviews of new books, topical booklists, and speculative fiction-adjacent content every Tuesday, so make space on your TBR shelf!
To kick things off, I wanted to highlight some of the books and comics I’m most excited about in the first half of 2021.
This post contains affiliate links to Bookshop.org, so any purchases you make using these links will help support the Book Witch and independent bookstores all over the world! Of course, I always encourage you to buy directly from your local indie bookstore whenever possible.
Burning Girls and Other Stories by Veronica Schanoes
March 2, Tor/Forge
Brief description: In Burning Girls and Other Stories, Veronica Schanoes crosses borders and genres with stories of fierce women at the margins of society burning their way toward the center.
Why I’m psyched: I love a good short story collection, and this one’s gotten quite a bit of buzz! It’s difficult to get attention for short fiction in the best of times, as readers seem to avoid them, so it’s always a good sign when one makes the round like Burning Girls is.
Stillwater Vol. 1 by Chip Zdarsky and Ramón K. Pérez
March 17, Image
Brief description: Nobody dies. In the town of Stillwater, that’s not just a promise. It’s a threat.
Why I’m psyched: Death and dying are topics I can never get enough of, and I also can never get enough Chip Zdarsky. (If you haven’t read Sex Criminals, you are really missing out). I’m most familiar with his comic art rather than writing, so I’m looking forward to diving into this book.
Zoey Rosenthal is Not Lawful Good by Nancy Werlin
April 6, Penguin Random House
Brief description: A buttoned-up overachiever works overtime to keep her inner nerd at bay—failing spectacularly—in Nancy Werlin’s hilarious and heartfelt return to contemporary realistic fiction.
Why I’m psyched: When I read the description for this book, I immediately saw myself. I am definitely an overachiever, and no one can deny what a nerd I am. This one might be stretching the bounds of this blog’s speculative focus, but I’ll always make an exception for books about nerdy characters, especially nerdy ladies!
The Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman
April 6, Simon & Schuster
Brief description: Westworld meets Warcross in this high-stakes, incisive, dizzyingly smart sci-fi about a teen girl navigating an afterlife in which she must defeat an AI entity intent on destroying humanity, from award-winning author Akemi Dawn Bowman.
Why I’m psyched: Dead people stuff? Check! Smart teenager? Check! Creepy/scary AI? Check! I’m excited for this one because it mixes some classic sci-fi tropes in new ways, and looks like it’s going to be a blast to read!
Inkblot Vol.1 by Emma Kubert and Rusty Gladd
April 7, Image
Brief description: A powerful sorceress must attempt to correct her greatest mistake—the creation of a magical cat which can travel through time,space, and the seven realms of reality.
Why I’m psyched: As someone who has a mischievous black cat and loves fantasy, I simply couldn’t resist Inkblot’s premise. I’ve been buying this monthly (it’s on my pull list at my local comic shop) and am loving it so far. Both writer and artist obviously know what it’s like to love a void cat while also being completely exasperated by their antics.
Aetherbound by E.K. Johnston
May 25, Penguin Random House
Brief description: Set on a family-run interstellar freighter called the Harland and a mysterious remote space station, E. K. Johnston’s latest is a story of survival and self-determination.
Why I’m psyched: I’ve loved E. K. Johnston’s Star Wars novels, so I would have been excited to give this book a chance regardless of the story. But I have a weak spot for scrappy teenage protagonists and characters who rail against the roles society wants them to play, so I’m sold!
The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
June 8, Harper Voyager
Brief Description: This unforgettable debut—inspired by Hungarian history and Jewish mythology—follows a young pagan woman with hidden powers and a one-eyed captain of the Woodsmen as they form an unlikely alliance to thwart a tyrant.
Why I’m psyched: Fantasy’s slant toward Western European mythology and topography is well known and well documented. A slew of recent books have been breaking out of that mold (N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy, Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale, to name two), and Ava Reid’s debut continues that trend. As someone who’s always enjoyed myths and legends from all corners of the globe, I am living for this trend, and I’m looking forward to this take on Jewish myth.
