Out With the Old Challenges, In With the New

 

It's no secret that I love reading challenges. They bring an added measure of fun to my reading, expand my literary horizons, and let me connect with like-minded book lovers. I love meeting my challenge goals, but I don't beat myself up if I fail spectacularly. They're just for fun and that's exactly how I treat them.

This year, I took on 13 challenges. How did I do? Let's see:

(Challenge links go to the 2022 challenges. See list below for 2023 links.)

1. Literary Escapes Challenge: I read books set in 50 states + Washington, D.C. + 17 countries. Ba bam! Rocked it. 

FYI, the top 3 states I visited most were: New York (11 books), California (8 books), and Massachusetts (7 books). The foreign country I visited most was England (18 books), with Ireland, Egypt, Australia, and Scotland tying for second place with three books each.

2. Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: I joined this challenge at the "Prehistoric" level, which required reading 50+ historical fiction books. I managed 39. Not too bad!

3. Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge: My "Peckish" level required me to read 1-25 cozy mysteries this year. I rocked it with 26. Boo and yeah.

4. Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge: I joined this one at the highest level, which involved reading 56+ mystery books. Devouring mysteries is never a challenge for me; I read 81.

5. Booklist Queen's Reading Challenge: This challenge has 52 reading prompts, some easy, some not so much. I've still got four to go, so I won't finish this one this year.

6. Aussie Author Reading Challenge: I was really excited for this challenge, which involved reading and reviewing books by Australian authors. Although I did manage to read five books for the challenge, I only reviewed one. I didn't get anywhere close to the 25 that were required for the "Emu" level. Oops!

7. Nonfiction Reading Challenge: Pushing myself was my goal with this challenge, so I joined at the "Nonfiction Grazer" level. I grazed less than I planned, reading 12 non-fiction books and reviewing only three of them. I mean, at least I read more non-fiction than I would have without the challenge, right?

8. POPSUGAR Reading Challenge: This annual challenge really is a challenge for me. I've taken it on for several years now and never finished it. 2022 will not be the year I complete it, although I did come close. Of the 50 prompts (10 of which are "Advanced"), I got all but 5. Not bad at all, really.

9. Build Your Library Reading Challenge: Boom! I rocked this one as well, finishing all 40 of the reading prompts.

10. The 52 Club's Reading Challenge: Another 52-prompt challenge, this one gave me some trouble. I finished all but 4 of the prompts. Not too shabby.

11. Pioneer Book Reading Challenge: This fun prompt-based challenge is hosted by Pioneer Book in Provo, Utah, but it's open to non-residents. If you complete the challenge, you get a gift certificate toward buying more books there (in-store only), which is awesome. Even though me and/or my husband was in Provo several times this year, I just didn't get around to finshing this one. Oh well. 

12. Support Book Bloggers Challenge: I love the idea of this challenge, but I didn't get around to doing most of the tasks this year. Oops!

13. Medical Examiner Mystery Reading Challenge: Another mystery challenge, this one involves counting up the dead bodies in the books you read. Morbid? Yes. Also fun. I ended up tying 303 "toe tags" this year. As of now, I'm in 13th place. I'll take it!

Of the 13 reading challenges I took on, I totally rocked 5 of them, completing all the required tasks/prompts. I did pretty well with 5 more and was complete rubbish at the last 3. All in all, not too shabby. I'll be a little more conservative with the levels I choose in my 2023 challenges. Ha ha.

Speaking of 2023, once again I'm going to participate in 13 reading challenges. Even with this lucky number, it was hard to narrow down which I wanted to do. There are tons of fun ones on offer this year and I wish I could support them all, but I don't want to overwhelm myself too much, so I'm sticking with these:

1. Bookish Books Reading Challenge: Of course, I'm planning to do my own challenge! I'm going to go with the highest level, too, because why not? So, I'll be "Living in the Library" by reading 30+ books about books. Sweet!

2. Literary Escapes Reading Challenge: Once again, I'll be taking on the task of reading books set in all 50 U.S. states plus Washington, D.C. You get bonus points for each foreign country you visit as well. This is a fun one, even if some of the states are really hard to find. I'm looking at you, Arkansas and North Dakota!

3. Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: I love hist-fic, so this one shouldn't be much of a challenge. Still, I'm going to dial myself back a little and do the "Ancient History" level, which requires reading 25 historical novels. 

4. POPSUGAR Reading Challenge: Will 2023 be the year I actually complete this challenge? We'll see. 

5. Booklist Queen Reading Challenge: This will be my third year for this challenge, which I always enjoy.

6. 52 Book Club Reading Challenge: I think this will be the third year for this one as well. 

7. Build Your Library Reading Challenge: Since I had fun with this one in 2022, I'm signing up again in 2023. This year's prompts all follow an "Adventures in Science and Nature" theme. Not my favorite kind of reading, but the prompts are general enough that I should do fine.

8. Pioneer Book Reading Challenge: My husband and/or I will be in Provo at least once this year, so I'm going to give this one a go. I've yet to actually complete it, but it's still fun to try.

9. Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge: I'm still enjoying my cozies, so I'm going to do this one again. I'll join at the "Peckish" level again, so I'll be reading 1-25 cozies. No problem!

10. Medical Examiner Mystery Challenge: Playing M.E. is always a good time, so I'll be doing it again in 2023.

11. Book Bingo Blackout—I've never done this one before, but I love me a bingo-style challenge! The theme of this year's board is "School." I'll go for a blackout, naturally.

12. Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge—Another new one for me, this one involves choosing prompts from 27 topics (each of which has five categories). I think I'm going to go for the "52 Pick Up" level, which requires reading from two categories in each topic, with the use of one wildcard. Sounds fun!

13. Children's Book Reading Challenge...for Adults—I already read a lot of children's books, but why not encourage myself to read more? This challenge is simple. You just read books that could be found in the children's section of a library or bookstore. Easy cheesy.

Whew! Are you overwhelmed yet? Me too. Seriously, though, I'm looking forward to tackling all these. My idea of a good time, yes sirree! (Is it any wonder my kids think I don't know what fun is?) 

Are you taking on any reading challenges this year? If you need some ideas, look here:

(from Girl XOXO)