Sunday 27 January 2019

Reading Challenges for 2019

Last year, 2018, was a pretty momentous year for me. I became a mother, a goal I had worked towards for the best end of eight years. Recovering from a c-section and keeping said child alive required a lot of energy. Returning to work in November, after having been away for more than a year was much harder than I was expecting.

So the fact that I read a lot less than I had at any point in the same eight years or so was probably not too surprising. I didn't really take part in any reading challenges last year, if you don't count the Cannonball Read, the CBR10 Bingo or the Goodreads Challenge. In previous years, I have found that various reading challenges not only motivate me to read more, but force me out of my comfort zone and make me read more diversely. So this year, I'm going to sign up for a bunch more challenges again. In all honesty, a lot of these challenges just let me collect credit for reading things I would absolutely be doing anyway. I looked through a lot of lists of challenges, and mainly settled for ones I was pretty sure I was going to be able to tackle without too much effort. I hope I'll manage to read more this year than last year, but we'll see. My baby will be a year old in less than two weeks and he's already frightfully mobile, even before he's graduated to the toddler stage. Fingers crossed that I can find the time for reading and reviewing enough.

1. The Cannonball Read: Be the first to read and review 52 books in a year, in memory of AlabamaPink, one of the original two Cannonballers. As I write this, someone has already, before the end of January, crossed the finish line with their first Cannonball. I am going to try to complete a double - 104 books reviewed by the end of the year.

2. The Goodreads Reading Challenge: I've signed up for 104 books.

3. The Audiobook Challenge 2019, hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer: I have a LOT of audio books in my Audible account that I have yet to listen to, so I want to try to motivate myself to listen to books more. I signed up for "Socially Awkward" - 15-20 books.

4. The Backlist Reader Challenge 2019: Books have to be published in 2017 or earlier and they have to have already been on your TBR.

5. Beat the Backlist: Books have to be from 2018 or earlier. Books have to be started and finished in 2019 to count.

6. #Bookiary 2019 Challenge: Read and review at least 52 books in a year. Books have to be more than 100 pages long. Reviews have to be at least 150 words long. Comics and graphic novels don't count.

7. Color Coded Reading Challenge: Read at least nine books, one per category (blue, red, yellow, green, brown, black, white, any other colour, implies colour). The book's title has to feature the colour, or dominate the cover of the book. I always enjoy this one, especially since the rules were changed so the colour can be the main one on the book cover.

8. Contemporary Romance Challenge: Pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Read contemporary romances. Romances with elements of historical, paranormal, time travel, fantasy, science fiction, mystery/suspense/thriller) will not count. Books/novellas have to be at least 100 pages. As I have a huge amount of unread straight contemporaries on my TBR list, I've signed up for "3rd base" - 11-15 books

9. Diversify Your Reading 2019: Each month of the year is given a different category, and the goal is to read at least one book from each of them. Personally, I think November's goal, of reading a book of poetry, may be the most "outside my wheelhouse" of the list.

10. 2019 Diversity Reading Challenge: Read more diversely. Read books featuring characters with or by authors including, but not limited to People of colour/non-caucasion background, Native American or other indigenous background, LGBTQIA, gender fluid/transgender/non-binary, refugees, ethnic or religious minorities, mental illness, neuro diversity, feminist issues, physical/mental disabilities.

11. E-book reading challenge: Read e-books. I've signed up for the "Terabyte" - 75 books.

12. For the love of E-books Challenge: Pretty much the same as above. Read e-books. Preferably ones you already own. Here I've signed up for "Phase 5" - 40+ e-books.

13. Finishing the Series: The goal is to finish series you've already started before 2019. For an ongoing series, the goal is to catch up to the most recently published book by the end of 2019. I have signed up for the "B-list" - finish 5-8 series over the course of the year.

14. Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: As a big fan of historical fiction (especially romance), this is one of my favourite challenges. This year, I've aimed a bit lower than in previous years, and signed up for "Ancient History" - 25-50 books.

15. Literary Pickers Challenge 2019: Pretty much a literary scavenger hunt of sorts. Books need to be romance or have a strong romantic element. Only one item per book is allowed. I've signed up for level 2- "Garage sale guru" - 25 items or more

16. Monthly Keyword Challenge: Each month, you get a bunch of keywords. The goal is to read at least one book per month that features one (or several) of the words. I always like this challenge, as it allows me to make a very extensive list each month with books from my TBR list.

17. Monthly Motif Challenge: Each month is assigned a motif or theme. Try to read at least one book a month that fits.

18. 2019 New Releases Challenge: To make myself feel slightly less guilty about reading new and shiny books, I signed up for this challenge. I chose level "New Release Pro" - 31-60 books.

19. Outdo Yourself Challenge 2019: I really do feel better when I read, and have been upset at how little I read in 2018. Hence this challenge. I have signed up for the "Breaking a Sweat" category - Read 11-15 more books or 2750-3999 more pages than in 2018

20. Pages Read 2019: While I want to read more than in 2018, I also need to be realistic about the chance that it may not happen. Hence I have aimed lower than I might have done on this challenge, and chosen "Dwarf Peach" - 36 000-48 000 pages

21. Pick a Theme: I've picked historical romance, and because I read enough of that each year, I couldn't really aim lower than the highest level, "Expert" - 8+ books.

22. 2019 Retellings Challenge: I absolutely love retellings of all kinds, and have so many on my TBR list already. So this challenge pretty much seemed made for me. I've signed up for level 2 - "Warrior Princess" - 6-10 retellings.

23. #Tackle My TBR: I always strive to cut down a bit on my TBR every year. Hence a challenge like this. I've signed up for level "Field Goal" - 37-48 books.

24. Virtual Mount TBR Reading Challenge: Same as above. "Mount Munch" 36-48 books.

25. You Read How Many Books? - Here I've signed up for "Teen" - 104 books

26. Reading Challenge Addict: Out of This World - 16+ Reading Challenges signed up for and completed

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