Quirk Books 2016 Reading Challenge
While everyone works on keeping their getting-fit, eating-healthy, saving-the-world resolutions (us too) we're working on our TO BE READ list with our homebrewed Quirk Books Reading Challenge. That's right, 12 months and 12 book challenges. We feel all Rory Gilmore book excited!
January: A Comic Book
We’ve come a long way from the days of comics being for geeks because now everyone realizes how awesome comics and geeks are (and have always been). From our long-loved superheroes to autobiographical comics you have A LOT to choose from. And if you’re anything like us you’ll probably read a lot more than just one.
Watson and Holmes- A Study in Black by Karl Bollers
Saga by Brian K. Vaughan
Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson
Moon Girl and the Devil Dinosaur by Amy Reeder
Princeless by Jeremy Whitley
This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki
DayBlack by Keef Cross
Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol
Lady Killer by Joëlle Jones
Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnick
February: A Play on Words Title
From article titles that catch your attention to ads you remember, word play and puns are everywhere. For February, we’re looking at book titles because the clever ones seem to always stick with us.
Nuts by Alice Clayton
Here’s to You, Rachel Robinson by Judy Blume
Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rushdie
Android Karenina Ben H. Winters
Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson
Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore by Walter Mosley
Coreyography by Corey Feldman
The Cutting Season by Attica Locke
Come as You Are by Emily Nagoski
March: Totally Awesome ‘80s! inspired by My Best Friend’s Exorcism
While we may feel bad about all that Aqua Net we released into the air, we still love the decade of huge hair, Trapper Keepers, The Goonies, and Debbie Gibson. And there’s a lot of literature to choose from: ‘80s actor’s memoir/fiction; written in the ‘80s and still awesome; novel/comics set in the ‘80s.
Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
The Longest Way Home by Andrew McCartney
Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Just Can't Get Enough: Toys, Games, and Other Stuff from the 80's That Rocked by Matthew Robinson
Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon
April: Seeing Double!
Find a title that repeats the same word.
Burn, Baby, Burn by Meg Medina
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima, John Nathan (Translator)
Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
Mighty, Mighty by Wally Rudolph
One Plus One by Jojo Moyes
I Don’t Know What You Know Me From by Judy Greer
Smaller and Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan
The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds
May: Possessive Titles
It’s mine all mine! *Insert evil laugh*
What is Not Yours is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi
The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli
You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman
Changing My Mind by Zadie Smith
My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family's Nazi Past by Jennifer Teege
This is Your Life, Harriet Chance! By Jonathan Evison
If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo
Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots by Deborah Feldman
Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock
Has Anyone Seen My Pants? By Sarah Colonna
The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife, and the Missing Corpse: An Extraordinary Edwardian Case of Deception and Intrigue by Piu Marie Eatwell
June: Urban/Modern Fantasy inspired by Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge
This fantasy subgenre has all the amazing supernatural/magic elements but is set in the “real world” (not the MTV one) as opposed to a completely fictitious world.
Half-Resurrection Blues by Daniel José Older
The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie
Living Violet by Jaime Reed
The Wind City by Summer Wigmore
Vengeance Bound by Justina Ireland
Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Tyler
Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
Shadow Blade by Seressia Glass
The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves
July: Chosen For The Cover
It’s the first thing you see! Whether you gravitate to book covers that are pretty, interesting, awesome, weird, funny, unique… when you’re done staring at it pick it up and read it.
Paulina & Fran by Rachel B. Glaser
Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
Florynce "Flo" Kennedy: The Life of a Black Feminist Radical by Sherie M. Randolph
The Bollywood Bride by Sonali Dev
The Blue Girl by Laurie Foos
Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older
The Star Side of Bird Hill by Naomi Jackson
ULULU by Thalia Field
Yes Please by Amy Poehler
August: Set In A Country You’ve Never Visited
Seeing that we can’t just leave school/work whenever we want and travel the globe we agree with Jhumpa Lahiri: That's the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet. So let’s travel!
Ayiti by Roxane Gay
Perfect Days by Raphael Montes
The Kindness of Enemies by Leila Aboulela
Afterlight by Rebecca Lim
Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai
Not My Father’s Son by Alan Cumming
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Unbecoming by Rebecca Scherm
Quicksand by Steve Toltz
Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
On the Outside Looking Indian: How My Second Childhood Changed My Life by Rupinder Gill
September: A Geeky Gal Book
As lovers of all things geeky we like to read things in the geek world written for and by the geeks we love so this challenge is for any book with the word “geek” or written by a self-proclaimed geek, or about things usually labeled as geeky, or about a geeky character. BUT with a twist: these books are written by women because some people think there’s only room for boys in the geekdom and, well, can we get a Stephanie Tanner “How rude!”
Self-Inflicted Wounds: Heartwarming Tales of Epic Humiliation by Aisha Tyler
The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy: A Handbook for Girl Geeks by Sam Maggs
Geek Girl by Holly Smale
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
The Secret Loves of Geek Girls by Hope Nichlson
The Geek’s Guide to Unrequited Love by Sarvenaz Tash
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
The Geek Girl and the Scandalous Earl by Gina Lamm
Geek Nation by Angela Saini
October: ‘90s Nostalgia
It may feel like the ‘90s were just yesterday. But thanks to social media, we’re constantly reminded of '90s things that have had their *gulp* TWENTY YEAR ANNIVERSARY.
Things I Can't Explain by Mitchell Kriegman
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Cancer Schmancer by Fran Drescher
Dirty River: A Queer Femme of Color Dreaming Her Way Home by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
The Tao of Wu by The RZA
Lisa Loeb's Silly Sing-Along: The Disappointing Pancake and Other Zany Songs by Lisa Loeb
Never Broken: Songs Are Only Half the Story by Jewel
Twintuition: Double Vision by Tamera and Tia Mowry
November: A Pop Culture Book You Never Read
It’s referenced so much you probably already know the entire plot—or saw the movie—but you’ve never actually read the book.
Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Stephen J. Dubner
Misery by Stephen King
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Sophie's Choice by William Styron
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume
December: A Bookish Book
So much book love! Either something book related in the title, or a book on the cover, or the main character is a bookshop owner/librarian or a bibliophile—basically our favorite kinds of people.
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
Fatal Shadows by Josh Lanyon
The Book of Joe by Jonathan Tropper
The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami, Ted Goossen (Translator)
The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
In One Person by John Irving
The Position by Meg Wolitzer
Matilda by Roald Dahl
The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor
The Big Bad Book of Bill Murray by Robert Schnakenberg
The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez
