2025 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)
2025 Cover Lovers Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)
2025 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
2025 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge
Booklist Queen's 2025 Reading Challenge
2025 52 Club Reading Challenge
2025 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge
2025 Medical Examiner Mystery Reading Challenge
2025 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge
2025 Mount TBR Reading Challenge
2025 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge
2025 Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge
The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge
The Life Skills Reading Challenge
Showing posts with label 2023 Bookish Books Reading Challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2023 Bookish Books Reading Challenge. Show all posts
Friday, December 01, 2023
The Bookish Books Reading Challenge: December Book Ideas and Link Up for Reviews
I'm not sure how this happened exactly, but somehow we're in the last month of 2023. Crazy! Things around here start moving in fast forward once Halloween is over, making for a lot of holiday busyness. I hope you're surviving your end-of-the-year-chaos and even finding some time to relax with a good bookish book.
My November reading was focused on books I needed to read in order to finish out my 2023 reading challenges. Surprisingly, that included these six bookish books, which I've listed in order of most liked to least liked (links will take you to my reviews on Goodreads, since I've been a complete slacker this year about posting them on my actual book blog):
For December, I'm planning to check off more of the middle-grade nominees for the Cybils Awards. None of the ones I'm planning to read are bookish as far as I can tell. For my November book club meeting (which got pushed back to next week), though, I will be reading Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan. I was at an event tonight with many of the book club members and their reports on the novel are mixed. Most liked the cozy read overall, even though it's a bit slow, apparently. We'll see what I think when I get to it this weekend.
What about you? What bookish books did you read in November? What's on your docket for December?
If you've had fun doing this fun, laidback challenge this year, please join me for the 2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge. I'll make an official post about it sometime in the next couple weeks.
For those of you who are participating in the 2023 Bookish Books Reading Challenge, here's the Mr. Linky to use for linking up December reviews. If you've not yet signed up for the challenge, what are you waiting for? Join us in this low-key challenge that celebrates a genre we all love: books about books. It will be fun, I promise! (Note: I copy and paste this paragraph into these posts every month, but you CAN still join the challenge even though the year is almost over. Just link up your reviews of bookish books. Easy peasy.)
Tuesday, October 03, 2023
Top Ten Tuesday: A Challenging Last Quarter of the Year
Somehow, it's October already and we're in the last quarter of the year. Say what? At this point, I always focus on finishing reading challenges. This week's TTT prompt: Top Ten Reading Goals I Still Want to Accomplish Before the End of the Year dovetails perfectly with that aim. I took on 13 reading challenges this year. I've completed my goal for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge, abandoned the Pioneer Book Reading Challenge since I won't be traveling to Utah before the year ends, and am super confused about the Book Bingo Reading Challenge, which seems to have disappeared. Odd. I'm giving myself encouraging pats on the back because I am super close to finishing all the rest of them. Good job, me!
As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Click on over to her blog and give her some love. If you want to join in the TTT fun, you can find all the deets on her blog.
Top Ten Reading Goals I Still Want to Accomplish Before the End of the Year
1. Read 200 books—I've read 155 books so far this year, so I should have no trouble meeting this goal by December 31.
2. Set up my Little Free Library—Last year, I bought myself a Little Free Library for Christmas. I had big plans of getting it set up right away and...it's still in boxes in my hallway. After remodeling our whole house in 2022, we took a little break, but we've been planning to redo our front yard/landscaping as part of the whole home makeover process. We're still doing the HOA tango over a few details, but they did approve my LFL. Yay! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can get it all sorted and get the whole front yard project finished by the end of 2023. We'll see.
3. Finish the Literary Escapes Reading Challenge—I'm close on this one!
Books Required: 51 (one for each U.S. state, plus Washington, D.C.)
Books Read: 45
Books to Go: 6
4. Finish the Bookish Books Reading Challenge—2023 was the inaugural year for this laidback reading challenge that I'm hosting. It's been a fun ride, but I need to ramp up my reading if I'm going to complete my goal. It would be embarrassing if I didn't finish my own challenge!
Books Required: 30 (personal goal)
Books Read: 24
Books to Go: 6
5. Finish the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge—I've never actually completed this challenge before, so I'm thrilled to be THIS close to completion.
Books Required: 50 (includes the 10 "Advanced" prompts)
Books Read: 48
Books to Go: 2
6. Finish the Booklist Queen Reading Challenge—SO close to finishing!
Books Required: 52
Books Read: 51
Books to Go: 1
7. Finish the 52 Club's Reading Challenge—Only a handful more to go!
Books Required: 52
Books Read: 46
Books to Go: 6
8. Finish the Build Your Library Reading Challenge—This annual challenge has a different focus every year. This go around, it's nature, which has been a toughie for me. I don't read many science/nature type books typically, so this challenge has really been a...challenge! It's opened up new genres and authors to me, though, and that's one of the reasons I enjoy taking on reading challenges.
Books Required: 40
Books Read: 35
Books to Go: 5
9. Finish the Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge—I've been dragging my feet a little bit on this one; I need to pick up the pace in order to finish on time.
Books Required: 25 (personal goal)
Books Read: 15
Books to Go: 10
10. Finish the Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge—I'm an overachiever, so I'm aiming for blackout on this challenge. With 109 total prompts, it's not easy to do!
Books Required: 109 (for blackout)
Books Read: 92
Books to Go: 17
If my math tracks, I have 53 books left to read in order to finish all of my challenges. Since some of the titles I'm planning to read will work for more than one prompt, it's not *quite* as daunting as it seems. Even though no one cares if I finish but me, I enjoy conquering these reading challenges. Wish me luck!
What 2023 reading goals are you planning to crush in the next three months? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog. I also reply to comments left here (although I'm a week behind at the moment).
Happy TTT!
Monday, October 02, 2023
The Bookish Books Reading Challenge: October Book Ideas and Link-Up
It's October already? When did that happen? It's still warm here in Arizona, although our high today is only supposed to be 84. My husband and I have transitioned from doing our daily walk at a nearby mall to strolling in our neighborhood since it's been fairly cool in the mornings. We don't really get that lovely Fall briskness or the stunning changing leaf colors where I live, unfortunately, but I'll take the cooler weather. It's a welcome change after the unrelenting heat we've had this summer.
I read a few bookish books in September. My Goodreads ratings are in parentheses and the title links to my review on that site:
The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer (3 1/2 stars)—a rom-com about a Jewish writer who has a secret career as a bestselling author of Christmas romances
Like Vanessa by Tami Charles (4 stars)—stars a young Black woman who dreams of being Miss America and loves to read, especially books by iconic Black authors like Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker
The World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne (4 stars)—memoir by a Salt Lake City librarian who loves books and uses weight lifting as a way to control his Tourette's
The Red Blazer Girls: The Vanishing Violin by Michael D. Beil (4 stars)—the second installment in a middle-grade series that features a group of classmates solving mysteries that always involve literary clues
I enjoyed all of these for the most part, but my favorites were Like Vanessa and The World's Strongest Librarian. Did you read any bookish books last month? Which did you like best?
With only three months left in 2023, I'm focusing on books I need to read to complete my reading challenges. None of them are particularly bookish, but I did come across two intriguing bookish books that I'll probably read for next year's challenge:
The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass—This middle-grade novel concerns the sudden appearance of a mysterious little free library in a small town. When a boy chooses two books from its depths, he doesn't realize how doing so will change his life. One of the books has to do with a past event in his town that no one wants to talk about. He starts asking questions, not realizing that he's opened a puzzling Pandora's box...
The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan (available March 12, 2024)—Three women from different backgrounds unite to save their London neighborhood's library after it's destroyed in the Blitz in the newest World War II novel by one of my favorite historical fiction writers.
Do you have any bookish books on the docket for October?
For those of you who are participating in the Bookish Books Reading Challenge, here's the Mr. Linky to use for linking up July reviews. If you've not yet signed up for the challenge, what are you waiting for? Join us in this low-key challenge that celebrates a genre we all love: books about books. It will be fun, I promise!
Thursday, August 03, 2023
The Bookish Books Reading Challenge: August Book Ideas and Link-Up
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It's August already. Huh. How did that happen? July was a busy month for me and my family, but I still managed to read two bookish books:
Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney centers around an eccentric old woman who is also a well-known author of children's books. She invites all the members of her dysfunctional family to her private island to celebrate her 80th birthday. Tension is already high, even before the birthday girl is found dead in her kitchen. Her death is just the beginning of a violent, deadly game reminiscent of And Then There Were None. Who is killing off the Darkers? And why?
This thriller is exactly what it says it is—dark—and yet, I found it irresistibly compelling and clever. I listened to the book on audio and the narrator, Stephanie Racine, gives a pitch-perfect performance that matched the story to a T.
I also enjoyed The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer. This gentle novel is also about a famous author who lives on his own private island. In this case, he's a recluse who hasn't penned a new book in years. When Jack Masterson announces he's finally written another novel and he's offering it as a prize to the winner of an exclusive competition he's hosting, everyone is shocked. The hand-picked contestants have to solve puzzles in a race against time—and each other—to earn the life-changing prize.
Unlike Daisy Darker, this book is uplifting, optimistic, and magical. I really liked it.
As for bookish books to read in August, I'm hopefully going to pick up some of the ones I've mentioned already in these monthly posts. I'm not going to add anymore to the list at this point. However, I did just learn some exciting news. Jennifer Ryan—one of my favorite authors of World War II fiction—has a novel coming out in 2024 titled The Underground Library. It's about three very different women who come together to save the library that means everything to them amidst the chaos of war. I can't wait!
What bookish books did you read in July? Which are you planning to pick up in August?
For those of you who are participating in the Bookish Books Reading Challenge, here's the Mr. Linky to use for linking up July reviews. If you've not yet signed up for the challenge, what are you waiting for? Join us in this low-key challenge that celebrates a genre we all love: books about books. It will be fun, I promise!
Saturday, April 01, 2023
The Bookish Books Reading Challenge: April Book Ideas and Link Up for Reviews
Although I had every intention of reading more than one bookish book in March, it just did not happen. I very much enjoyed the one I did get to, though:
Murder Off the Books is the third installment in Tamara Berry's By the Book cozy mystery series. I'm loving the series because it's just so much fun. Easy, entertaining reads are exactly what I need sometimes.
April is already shaping up to be a good month for bookish books because I'm already reading these two:
Smile Beach Murder is the first installment in Alicia Bessette's cozy mystery series set in North Carolina's Outer Banks area. It stars Callie Padget, a city reporter who's just been laid off. With nowhere else to go, she returns to her hometown temporarily to regroup. Soon after she gets hired at a local bookstore, she runs into an old friend, who soon ends up dead. The police think she jumped from the lighthouse because she wanted to kill herself; Callie refuses to believe it. Someone killed Eva Meeks, just like someone killed Callie's mother—in the exact same place—26 years ago. It's up to Callie to figure out what really happened to the dead women.
Emily Henry's name is all over the book blogosphere. Everyone seems to adore her books, so I knew I had to give them a go. I was excited when I saw that Book Lovers was available on audio from my library. I'm only a few chapters in, but so far it's super fun. I've already laughed out loud several times, which bodes very well.
I just found out about this book, which is a potential bookish read for April:
Dear Reader: The Comfor and Joy of Books is a memoir of the reading life of Cathy Rentzenbrink, a bookseller who became a professional writer.
I might also get a jump on this one since it's my book club's May pick:
Everyone's probably already read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson, so I won't give you a plot summary. I adore this book, but it's been a minute since I read it so I'm going to re-read it so it's fresh in my mind for book club and so I can finally pick up the sequel:
As the title indicates, The Book Woman's Daughter is the story of the daughter of the beloved Troublesome Creek book woman. When Honey Lovett's parents are imprisoned, she has to fight to keep her own freedom. She starts running her mother's packhorse library route, delivering books to eager patrons in the remote hollers of Appalachia. Just as it did for her mother, the job changes Honey's life forever.
We'll see how many of these I actually get read, but this is a good tentative plan for April. We'll see how it goes. How about you? What bookish books did you read in March? Which are you planning on for April?
For those of you who are participating in the Bookish Books Reading Challenge, here's the Mr. Linky to use for linking up March reviews. If you've not yet signed up for the challenge, what are you waiting for? Join us in this low-key challenge that celebrates a genre we all love: books about books. It will be fun, I promise!
Monday, March 06, 2023
The Bookish Books Reading Challenge: March Book Ideas and Linkup for Reviews
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I'm a little late with this month's Bookish Books Reading Challenge post. I spent last week freezing in Utah where my husband and I were attending a big genealogy conference. Even with the snow that made the first hour of our drive home a little scary, we had a great time. We learned a lot, visited with friends and family, were entertained by Bono's memoir (We listened to Surrender all the way to Utah and all the way back and we're still not done with it!), and just enjoyed spending time together.
Bookish books were apparently not my priority in February. I did read the first two books in J. Scott Savage's The Lost Wonderland Diaries series. It's a middle-grade fantasy series about two kids who jump into Wonderland via Lewis Carroll's lost diaries. I've never been a big Alice in Wonderland fan, but I still enjoyed these books. They're playful, clever, and fun.
As for March, I'm just about finished with this one:
Murder Off the Books is the third installment in Tamara Berry's cozy By the Book Mystery series. In this newest outing, best-selling mystery writer Tess Harrow is getting ready for the grand opening of the bookstore she's opening in tiny Winthrop, Washington, when an unexpected guest shows up—her mother. Not only that, but she's brought along her new boy toy, who just happens to be an accused murderer. When he ends up dead, Tess's mom becomes a suspect. Can Tess figure out who really killed Levi Parker before her mother winds up in the slammer?
I'm not sure which other bookish books I'm going to pick up this month, but I like the sound of these:
The Librarian of Burned Books by Brianna Labuskes features a triple-timeline narrative that tells the story of three women as they deal with the many conflicts that World War II brings to them individually and collectively.
The Book Haters' Book Club by Gretchen Anthony is about a bookstore that loses its heart when Elliott, its beloved owner dies. Irma, Elliott's grief-stricken business partner, decides to sell the shop, much to the dismay of its loyal patrons, who launch a campaign to save the store they love.
I've had this book out from the library for over a month, so I need to get to it before it comes due.
Have you read any of these? What did you think? What bookish books are on your March reading list?
For those of you who are participating in the Bookish Books Reading Challenge, here's the Mr. Linky to use for linking up March reviews. If you've not yet signed up for the challenge, what are you waiting for? Join us in this low-key challenge that celebrates a genre we all love: books about books. It will be fun, I promise!
Wednesday, February 01, 2023
The Bookish Books Reading Challenge: February Book Ideas and Linkup for Reviews
It's hard to believe the first month of 2023 has already passed us by. How did your January go? Did you read any bookish books? I read these four:
I enjoyed all of them, with Dead and Gondola being my favorite of the bunch. It has a fun mountaintop setting, complete with a gondola and a charming bookstore. The mystery is entertaining, too. Of these four, I only managed to review The Blackout Book Club here at BBB, but you can see my quick reviews of each on Goodreads. Hopefully, I'll get at least a couple of these reviewed here in the next few weeks. We'll see.
My goal is to read 2-3 bookish books a month. I rocked it in January. Here's what I'm thinking of reading in February:
The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons doesn't come out until July, but I've got an e-ARC of it from NetGalley. It's about a widow in London who doesn't have the heart to keep her bookshop open after the death or her husband. When she decides to take in a Jewish girl fleeing Nazi Germany, she finds new purpose in helping her and in the book club they run together.
Smile Beach Murder is the first installment in Alicia Bessette's cozy Outer Banks Bookshop Mystery series. It stars Callie, a laid-off journalist who returns to her hometown to lick her wounds. She finds a job at a local bookstore. When a suspicious death rocks the town, it's eerily reminiscent of Callie's mother's own unexplained demise. Are the two related? What really happened to the dead women?
I've been wanting to read this bookish memoir for years. The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap by Wendy Welch tells the story of the bookstore she and her husband opened in a little Applachian mining town. Against all odds (a declining economy, the growing popularity of e-books, no knowledge of how to actually run a bookstore, etc.), Welch and her husband managed to create not just a successful business but also a powerful sense of community.
I've heard nothing but good things about Sara Nisha Adams' The Reading List. It tells the story of two lonely souls, each very different from the other, finding a connection through a list of recommended reading. Sounds uplifting and heartwarming!
Have you read any of these? What bookish books are you planning to read this month?
For those of you who are participating in the Bookish Books Reading Challenge, here's the Mr. Linky to use for linking up February reviews. If you've not yet signed up for the challenge, what are you waiting for? Join us in this low-key challenge that celebrates a genre we all love: books about books. It will be fun, I promise!
Monday, January 02, 2023
The Bookish Books Reading Challenge: January Book Ideas and Link Up for Reviews
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Welcome to the Bookish Books Reading Challenge! I'm so excited to be launching this challenge. It's going to be a good time.
At the beginning of each month, I will make a post highlighting the books I plan to read for the challenge and providing a place for participants to link up our reviews. Reviews aren't required for the challenge, but it's always fun to see what everyone else is reading and which bookish books are/aren't worth reading. It's also nice to give some love to our fellow participants by interacting with them and their reviews. So, please link up those reviews. I, for one, will read every one that is posted.
My goal is to be "Living in the Library" by reading 30+ bookish books. In order to achieve that number, I'll try to read 2-3 a month. Here are the ones I'm planning to read in January:
The Blackout Book Club by Amy Lynn Green—This historical novel about a woman who becomes an unlikely librarian in Maine during World War II sounds intriguing.
The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander—Amazon had this one on Kindle for $1.99, so I snatched it up. It's about a grieving woman who opens a library in an old red phone box, bringing a town together and comfort to her own soul.
Booked for Trouble by Eva Gates—I enjoyed the first book in this cozy mystery series, so I'm looking forward to the second.
Reading the Stars from Book Riot—I'm not a believer in horoscropes and astrology, but I still think they're fun. When combined with books? Irresistible!
What bookish books are you planning to read this month?
Challenge participants: Please leave a link for your January reviews using the widget below.
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Announcing the Bookish Books Reading Challenge (Hosted By Yours Truly)
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After my 2021 foray into the world of reading challenge hosting (at which I proved to be a right failure), I vowed never to host again. Famous last words! An idea for a reading challenge occurred to me while I was showering the other day and I decided why not? So, here goes...
I know I'm not the only bookaholic who loves to read books about my favorite hobby. Whether it's a swoony rom-com with a library meet-cute, a drama involving a book club of frenemies, a behind-the-scenes memoir by a bookstore owner, a biography of a favorite writer, or a tantalizing mystery that delves into the world of rare books, I'm there for it. Book stacks on the cover? I'm in! My eye will always be drawn to bookish books. I have hundreds of them on my various Goodreads TBR lists. One thing I've never seen in all my years of taking on reading challenges is one dedicated entirely to books about books. That is a downright travesty, my friends, so I made my own!
This is a laidback challenge designed to encourage the reading of all those bookish books that are still lingering on our shelves and TBR lists. Any book counts as long as one of its main themes is books (reading them, writing them, hoarding them, stealing them, eating them, burning them, decorating with them, organizing them, sniffing them, selling them, etc.). Any book that is essentially bookish in nature counts. All formats are acceptable. Since this challenge isn't about pages read, length doesn't matter either. Picture books are totally fine.
Because it wouldn't be a challenge without a *little* bit of pushing, I created some levels just to make it more fun:
Toe in the Door: 1-10 books read
Picking and Perusing: 11-20 books read
Lost in the Stacks: 21-30 books read
Living in the Library: 30+ books read
I'm an overachiever, so I'm aiming for the Living in the Library level.
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You don't have to have a blog to participate, but it's helpful to keep a list of books read for the challenge somewhere. Mine will be listed under the "Reading Challenges" tab here at BBB.
If you need ideas for the challenge, I've started a Goodreads list to help. I'm sure there are others there with a similar theme.
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The challenge will run from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023. You can sign up any time during the year, starting now.
Challenges are more fun with friends, so please join me. Feel free to grab the challenge button, post about the challenge on your blog, and help me spread the word.
Please use the linky below to sign up for the challenge. Create a post on your blog or on social media announcing that you are participating in the challenge, then use that link to sign up using the linky widget below:
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2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge
2024 - Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction
2023 - Middle Grade Fiction
2022 - Middle Grade Fiction
2021 - Middle Grade Fiction
2020 - Middle Grade Fiction
