Completion of QBD Reading Challenge 2023

I have completed the 2023 QBD Challenge. My last prompt was a funny memoir, which in some ways was hard to find, but I settled on Paul Jennings’ memoir, Untwisted, which was funny in parts, and I enjoyed the way he told the stories – with humour and empathy throughout. I reviewed twenty books for this challenge, which were mostly books I was sent to review, and the four I didn’t were ones that I didn’t have time to review amongst everything else.

Finishing this challenge means I have finished all my reading challenges, apart from my reading goal which I hope to reach by the end of the year. Some prompts were easier than others, and there were some that I had to twist a little to make things fit, as I was trying to only use books I had on my shelf or review pile which I have managed to do.

And some prompts had two or three books to choose from, and those were the ones that were very open, like a thick book, because what is thick for one person won’t be thick for another person. I’m going to focus on finishing my other reading for the rest of the year and look forward to seeing what challenges are around next year.

QBD Reading Challenge

1. A QBD Book of the Month: Hedgewitch by Skye McKenna
2. An LGBTQIA Fiction: Euphoria Kids by Alison Evans
3. A QBD Top 100 Book: The Happiest Man in the World by Eddie Jaku
4. A Book Published in 2023: Friday Barnes: Last Chance by R.A. Spratt
5. A Book Adapted for the Screen:Blueback by Tim Winton
6. The First Book in a Series: Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim, Ratbags: Naughty for Good by Tim Harris and Shiloh Gordon
7. A Book with a Shiny Cover: The Glow by Sofie Laguna and Marc McBride
8. A Classic Book: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
9. A BookTok Bestseller: The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
10. A Book You Bought on Sale: The January Stars by Kate Constable
11. The Title Begins with S: Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta
12. A Book about Friendship: Ollie and Bea: Bunny Ideas by Renee Treml
13. A Domestic Thriller: Homecoming by Kate Morton
14. A Romance Book: We Could be Something by Will Kostakis
15. A Book Set in WWII: Running with Ivan by Suzanne Leal
16. A Book by an Indigenous Author: The Voice to Parliament Handbook: All the Detail You Need to Know by Thomas Mayo and Kerry O’Brien
17. A Book about a Small Town: Taken by Dinuka McKenzie
18. An Australian Crime Novel: Crimson Lake by Candice Fox
19. A Book Containing Magic: The Bookseller’s Apprentice by Amelia Mellor
20. A Book with a Colour in the Title: The Red Wind by Isobelle Carmody
21. A Book about Overcoming Obstacles: The Lorikeet Tree by Paul Jennings
22. A Debut Novel: Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim, Nightbirds by Kate J Armstrong So That Happened, But Maybe You Already Knew That by Tami Sussman
23. A Funny Memoir: Untwisted: The Story of My Life by Paul Jennings
24. A Thick Book: Becoming Mrs Mulberry by Jackie French