2019 Yearly Reading Challenges


Yearly challenges have always been the bane of my existence but I've found a way to make them work in my favor.

First up is my Goodreads Challenge.


My goal for my Goodreads Challenge is 25 books. 

I know I can read more but it covers all the books I want to read for my theme reads. I've been watching a lot of booktube lately and a post by Ariel Bissett resonated with me. What I got out of it was we should all be having the goal to read. There is too much competition with reading a high number of books which of course is true. I enjoy Goodreads group challenges but sometimes I go crazy and rush through books. I don't want to do it anymore. 25 books also allows me not to worry throughout the whole year. It isn't a challenge per say, but a challenge shouldn't be too stressful. It should push you, but not over the edge.

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Pick-a-Theme is my own challenge which you can read about here.

Now remember how I said I wanted to read 25 theme reads? Abandon that thought because although that is my subconscious goal I will not actually be creating that goal.

Why you may ask?

Have you been paying attention!? I don't want to pressure myself too much so each month I will come up with a TBR list of books I want to read. If I decide to do a theme month, great. If I am too busy that month, then I won't. That is the genius of my challenge! It's really a monthly challenge. I will reveal however what my monthly goal is for January.

My goal is to read 2 books centered around a theme (novice level).

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This is another one of my challenges which you can read about here.

Basically, the goal is to read books centered around royalty. Princesses, rulers, knight, castles, etc.

I planned out basically all my TBR reads for this next year. I know, I'm insane. However, I do give myself wriggle room to change anything if something else comes up that is interesting.

I do though plan to read a good number of princess books in the new year, coincidentally. Most of them line up with my theme reads. So I'm confident with this challenge. 

My goal is to read 5 royal reads (Baroness level). 

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I didn't really do well with Beat the Backlist this year, that is because I focused on my older reads on my TBR only. This year I'm going by the rules and counting all the books that I add to my TBR list that were published in 2018 or older. I do have some books not on my TBR list on Goodreads. Those are on my physical shelf or they are older ARCs I plan on finding and reading so I can up my NetGalley percentage. So I'll be counting those as well.

To make this actually challenging I am setting a limit of having 450 books on my Goodreads TBR list. I'm currently close to the 400 mark. I plan on adding books to my TBR but if I can't go past that number that means I'll have to read a book in order to get one added OR remove a book to do so.

My goal is to read 22 back listed books.

I'll be participating in the Hogwarts Mini Challenge this year as well. I of course will be in the Hufflepuff House. The mini challenge is the same as the main challenge but you get to get points for your house each time you read and review a book.


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The next challenges I read will be based on a contingency plan. If I read half or more of my planned reads by July 31st, 2019 then I could officially be part of the challenge. Does that sound a little ridiculous? Yes. Will this help me complete more challenges? Yes. And that's what's important. I don't want to waste my time on challenges that I just add in the beginning but don't work towards/don't try hard enough to seek out books related to the challenge. If I complete my half way goals early you'll see them pop up on the blog again.


2019 Retellings Reading Challenge is hosted @ Cornerfolds

I'm coincidentally reading a bunch of retellings so this is the perfect challenge for me... if I get the half year goal done.

My total goal would be 7 books (Warrior Princess).

My half year goal is 4 books.

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This challenge is hosted @ Nikki's Facebook Group

I'm part of the Facebook group now but I guess I'll have to rejoin later on if I can. The minimum to complete the challenge is 12 books. I'm planning to read less however, I might add some graphic novels or manga while the year progresses. Who knows if I'm able to officially join this challenge?

My total goal would be 12 books (modern age).

My half year goal is 8 books.

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This challenge is hosted @ Escape with Dollycas Into a Good Book

I've always wanted to do this challenge but it seems daunting. I'm willing to participate if I meet my half year goal.

My total goal would be 26 books.

My half year goal is 18 books.

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This challenge is hosted @ HPOOT-Flourish and Blotts

I love Harry Potter themed anything so I'd love to complete this challenge.

My total goal would be 12 books (Ron).

My half year goal is 8 books.

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This challenge is hosted @ Reading Between the Pages

One of my goals this year is to get to and stay at 80% feedback with NetGalley. I've added up all the books I have to read that I can get my hands on (this includes books I haven't read because I didn't want to at the time OR because I didn't get the chance to download them at the time. I have currently 100 reviews up out of 130. I can only get up to 124 books because I can't find some of my older TBR books online. By the end of January I should be able to get 80% feedback. After I make it to 80% I want to only request one book after I complete two. I'll only be working on the rest of the books after January. 

My goal is to review 10 books (bronze).

My half way goal is 7 books.

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Those are my reading challenges/potential reading challenges for 2019. 
Will you be joining in any challenges? Do you think reading is too competitive?

Comments

  1. I've got the Alphabet Soup Challenge for next year too and am also going to make a big effort to cut down on the number of unread books I own. I plan not to buy (as many) more new books and I want to keep my NetGalley dues low too. It's tough not to request the shiny new books though!

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    1. I know! I've already gotten myself into an ARC/blog tour and can't understand myself but I think I'll enjoy the book so what's a girl to do? I'm pretty good about not buying books but I would actually like to buy some of my favorites if I get the chance. The NetGalley books I have yet to review get to me a lot. I just want it to 99% and then just read and review a book at a time to my heart's content.

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  2. I think reading CAN be competitive, but I don't make it that way. I tend to join challenges for books that I already want to read, like backlist books (especially ones I already own). I'm not doing too much for 2019 I don't think but I do want to focus more on the books I own and get back to reading more graphic novels because I do love them. Besides that, I get some review books and a book club book once a month so I have to fit those in.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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    1. I tend to go into challenges thinking I will get to certain books when I hardly ever do. I think creating specific TBR lists takes away my want to read for those challenges. I'm in the same boat with wanting to read books I own and either read a bunch of graphic novels, manga, or both.

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  3. Wow! That is a lot of challenges, but it sounds like you have a good plan and are being super realistic about it, so it sounds like you should be able to do it :) Good luck!

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    1. I hope so. I'm really motivated to join in the half goal challenges so I think I'll be able to accomplish them.

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  4. Lots of interesting challenges. I like the goal of 25. I think that is reasonable and allows you to read more of course if you want to, but you don't feel pressured to rush through books. Good luck!

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    1. It actually makes me feel like I have the freedom to read more books. Like I really want to read a ton of picture books, children's books, graphic novels, and manga. But if I don't that's okay too.

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  5. I'm going to be doing a couple of these as well, and it looks like we'll both be playing for Hufflepuff!

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  6. Good luck on all of these challenges! I do the Goodreads challenge but set a number that is low enough I will achieve it sometime in the summer just so I don't have to stress over it. I am thinking about adding a few this year. The only reason I haven't done so in the past is that I don't want to have to worry about keeping track of more stuff!

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    1. It's nice to know more people have the same idea. I should have started low a long time ago. I think if you want you can always challenge yourself to read whatever books you want to read in one month when you really feel like reading them in order to accomplish those goals. That way you don't have to keep track of your challenges for very long. Also, you can always join anytime during the year for challenges so you can read the books the month you join the challenge lie I said before.

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  7. Thanks for joining Beat the Backlist! So you know, you don't have to review any of the books to earn points for your house :) It's strictly reading this year! Good luck with your TBR!

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    1. Oh that's nice to know! I do want to post more reviews on Amazon and your challenge really motivated me to do so last year. Thank you! Good luck to you as well.

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  8. So many challenges, best of luck to you on these! I agree with the competitive nature of reading lots of books; I always set my GR goals lower and just raise them a bit as I smash them. It's fun and in that way I am just competing with myself.

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    1. I've heard a lot of people doing that. I think I'll just keep it at 25 even if I pass it. Well maybe. I might change my mind later on the year like I usually do :P

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