Nerdy Talk : Reading Challenges

So I thought, I will shed some more light on the reading challenges I have undertaken for the year. Like I mentioned in my previous nerdy talk post that I have taken up 3 challenges which are sort of interrelated in the sense that one challenge complements another and so they sort of overlap each other - let me discuss them in detail...

Goodreads Challenge :

40 books | current status : 3/40

It's s simple challenge, where you just set a target to read a certain number of books in the given year. Last year I had set myself to read 30 books, I managed 43. This year I have decided on 40 books which coincides with my PopSugar Reading Challenge.
The picture on the right is my summary from Goodreads for the year 2015 --->

PopSugar Reading Challenge :

40+1 books | current status : 2/41

This is the first time I have taken up a challenge like this. Basically PopSugar has provided with 40 different categories without specifying the book, which you are supposed to cover in the span of the year. I'm using this challenge to diversify my Goodreads Reading Challenge as well as put a dent in my TBR pile by including as many books as I can fit under various categories listed.

Right below is my book list that I'm using for various categories of the challenge.

I have checked off two categories in the list (marked in bold) and I'm still undecided of the books for some categories (marked in bold and italics)

1. A book based on a fairy tale ---《The Lunar Chronicles : Cinder (Marissa Meyer)》
2. A National Book Award Winner --- 《Salvage the Bones (Jesmyn Ward)》
3. A YA bestseller --- 《The Lunar Chronicles : Scarlet (Marissa Meyer)》
4. A book you haven’t read since high school --- 《Lolita》
5. A book set in your state --- 《Delhi : a novel (Khushwant Singh)》
6. A book translated to English --- 《The Girl In The Spider’s Web (David Lagercrantz)》
7. A romance set in the future --- 《》
8. A book set in Europe --- 《Tess of the D’Urbervilles (Thomas Hardy)》
9. A book that’s under 150 pages --- 《Hogwarts Library : Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (J K Rowling)》
10. A New York Times bestseller --- 《Hopeless (Colleen Hoover)》
11. A book that’s becoming a movie this year --- 《Allegiant (Veronica Roth)》
12. A book recommended by someone you just met --- 《Burial Rites (Hannah Kent)》
13. A self improvement book --- 《Ramayana - The Game of Life : Stolen Hope (Book 3) (Shubha Vilas)》
14. A book you can finish in a day --- 《Hogwarts Library : Tales of Beedle and Bard (J K Rowling)》
15. A book written by a celebrity --- 《Mrs. Funnybones (Twinkle Khanna)》
16. A political memoir --- 《Mein Kampf (Adolf Hitler)》
17. A book at least 100 years older than you --- 《Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)》
18. A book that’s more than 600 pages --- 《》
19. A book from Oprah’s Book Club --- 《Love In The Time Of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez》
20. A science fiction novel --- 《Gone Series – Lies (Michael Grant)》
21. A book recommended by a family member --- 《Swiss Family Robinson (Johann David Wyss)》
22. A graphic novel --- 《》
23. A book published in 2016 --- 《Cometh The Hour (Jeffrey Archer)》
24. A book with a protagonist who has your profession --- 《Where Did You Go, Bernadette (Maria Semple)》
25. A book that takes place during summer --- 《A Midsummer Night’s Dream (William Shakespeare)》
26. A book and its prequel --- 《Divergent Series - Four (Veronica Roth)》《Divergent Series - Divergent (Veronica Roth)》 
27. A murder mystery --- 《The Girl On The Train (Paula Hawkins)》
28. A book written by a comedian --- 《My Horizontal Life (Chelsea Handler)》
29. A dystopian novel --- 《Divergent Series – Insurgent (Veronica Roth)》
30. A book with a blue cover --- 《Two Years Eight Months and Twenty Eight Nights (Salman Rushdie)
31. A book of poetry --- 《Twenty Love Poems : And A Song of Despair (Pablo Neruda)》
32. The first book you see in a bookstore --- 《Dumplin》
33. A classic from 20th century --- 《Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)》
34. A book from the library --- 《Shadow of the Moon (M. M. Kaye)》
35. An autobiography --- 《》
36. A book about a road trip --- 《All The Bright Places (Jennifer Niven)》
37. A book about culture you are unfamiliar with --- 《Pavilion Of Women (Pearl S. Buck)》
38. A satirical book --- 《Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain)》
39. A book that takes place on an island --- 《Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe)》
40. A book that’s guaranteed to bring you joy --- 《Gone Series – Light (Michael Grant)》

I will of course return to this post from time to time when I have decided on another book to fit an earlier empty category. 

A to Z Reading Challenge :

26 books | current status : 1/26
This is another simple challenge wherein you read books that have their titles and/or author names starting with each letter of the alphabet - so 26 letters - 26 books
As for my part of the challenge, my first preference would be for the book title and if I am unable to read a book starting with a particular letter, then I would consider a book I have read by an author name starting with that particular letter
As of today, I have managed to check of the letter(s):

H : High Heels (A. V. Scott)

I can consider the two books:
> The Girl in the Spider's Web
> The Girl on the train
for letter 'G' but I am putting that on hold because of the word 'The' at the beginning, if by the end of the year I cant fill up a G spot, then these two can fill up that spot.
I will be using this strategy for all my future reads where a/an/the would appear in title.

That's all from my side, what reading challenges have you taken up - do leave a comment...
Ciao Fellow Nerds!