Good morning to who ever is reading this blog.
I'm a little late posting this year, but we are still doing the Academic Reading Challenge and the 2025 categories are here. If you want to be in on the choosing or discuss what you read for those categories, we have a Facebook group. If you're not on Facebook, but still want to participate, comment below and I'll get in touch with you. We have a spreadsheet too!
And now, here are this year's categories, with points in parentheses
1. A book by a friend, colleague, former teacher or former student (10)
2.A book about resistance to dictatorships, authoritarian rule, etc (any discipline) (10)
3.A book about borders (and why they're bad) (20)
4. A memoir or novel by a refugee, child of refugees, immigrant or child of immigrants (in any country) (10)
5. A book about medical care, medicine or healthcare policy (20)
6. A book with a provocative title and/or cover, double points if you read it in public (10/20)
7. A book about Reconstruction (in the US after the Civil War) and its overthrow (20)
8.A biography of someone who isn’t famous (20)
9. A book about a specific region within any country (10)
10.A book by, or about a personal hero or heroes (double points if they fall outside of politics) (10/20)
11.A biography of an artist (broadly defined: visual artists; novelists; dancers; musicians) (10)
12. A book about where you live now, or the place you consider your hometown. (10)
13. A novel that deals centrally with the natural world(10)
14.A book by an author who was fired or suspended from their job, denied an award, or disinvited from an awards event, or otherwise de-platformed or dishonored due to their support for Palestine. (20)
15.A book about computers, AI or new media (YouTube, social media, etc) (10)
Extra Credit:
16. Extra-Credit: A book about a country that's no longer there (20)
17. Extra Extra-Credit: A book about crime (10)
18. Super-Duper Extra Credit: An academic book about games and/or gaming (either video or table-top) (20)