It's no secret that I love a good reading challenge. They give my reading life a little more...well, life! I have fun with them, never taking them TOO seriously. This year, I did better with my challenges than I've ever done before. Huzzah! Let's see how everything shook out in 2023:

1. The Goodreads Reading Challenge

Hosted By: Goodreads

Status: Completed

I set my Goodreads goal at 200, just like I do every year. At the moment, I'm at 222 books read. I'm an hour away from finishing #223 and I'll probably read another short middle-grade novel tomorrow. At any rate, I crushed my goal, reading more books in a year than I ever have before. Huzzah!

2. The Bookish Books Reading Challenge 

Hosted By: Yours Truly

Status: Completed

This challenge was born in 2023 and had a successful first year of existence. It's been so fun to host this laidback, bookish challenge that I'm bringing it back in 2024. If you haven't signed up for it yet, what are you waiting for? Click here.

Naturally, I signed up for this challenge at the highest level—Living in the Library—which required me to read 30+ bookish books. I reached this goal, reading 33 in total. 

3. Literary Escapes Reading Challenge

Hosted By: Lori @Escape With Dollycas Into a Good Book

Status: Completed

This is one of my favorite challenges. It involves keeping track of where all the books you read are set, with the goal of reading at least one book set in each of the 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. You get extra points for every country you "visit" in your reading. I checked off all the states, D.C., and 17 countries outside of the U.S. Not too bad!

4. Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Hosted By: Marg @Intrepid Reader and Baker

Status: Completed

Because hist fic is one of my favorite genres, this challenge is never really a challenge at all. I signed up for the "Ancient History" level, which meant reading 25+ historical novels. I rocked it, reading 49. 

5. POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

Hosted By: POPSUGAR

Status: Completed

For the second year in a row, I completed this challenge, including the 10 "Advanced" prompts.

6. Booklist Queen Reading Challenge

Hosted By: Rachael @Booklist Queen

Status: Completed

I finished this one back in October or November by crossing off all 52 prompts.

7. The 52 Book Club's Reading Challenge

Hosted By: The 52 Book Club

Status: Completed

All 52 prompts for this challenge have been checked off as well.

8. Build Your Library Reading Challenge

Hosted By: Emily @Build Your Library

Status: Completed

The nature theme made this challenge a little bit difficult for me, but I managed to find a book for each of its 40 prompts.

9. Pioneer Book Reading Challenge

Hosted By: Pioneer Book

Status: Incomplete

Pioneer Bookstore is a great indie in Provo, Utah, where I went to college. Although I now live in Arizona, my husband and/or I travel to Provo several times a year to visit family and attend conferences at our alma mater. The bookstore hosts a reading challenge every year that comes with a $50 gift certificate to spend in store. The prompts are always a little tough, so I've never actually managed to complete this challenge. 2023 has been no exception. I finished over half of the 40 prompts, but I quit when I realized I wasn't going to complete them all by the time we took our last trip of the year to Provo. Oh well. I didn't really want to read a Shakespeare play anyway!

10. Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

Hosted By: Lori @Escape With Dollycas Into a Good Book

Status: Completed

Since I joined this challenge at the "Peckish" level, which required reading 1-25 cozy mysteries, I was easily able to finish it. I ended up cruising through 16 cozies.

11. Medical Examiner Mystery Reading Challenge

Hosted By: Rick @The Mystillery

Status: Completed - 12th Place

As macabre as it is to count the dead bodies in the mystery books I read, I still enjoy doing this challenge every year. Currently, I'm in 12th place with 406 "toe tags" tied.

12. Book Bingo Blackout

Hosted By: Unruly Reader

Status: Incomplete due to mysterious disappearance of challenge

This bingo-style challenge had 25 prompts to tackle. I was well on my way to completion when the challenge page disappeared! Since I couldn't remember exactly what each category involved, I stopped working on this one once it mysteriously vanished. LOL

13. Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

Hosted By: GregoryRoad @Take a Walk Down Gregory Road

Status: Complete

This lengthy challenge offers 27 topics with four prompts each. You can complete certain categories only or go for a blackout. I'm a glutton for punishment, so I went for the latter. I finished all 108 prompts earlier this month.

14. Children's Book Reading Challenge...For Adults

Hosted By: Sarah @Belle's Library

Status: Complete

There are no requirements for this challenge except to read children's books. Easy peasey. I read a total of 83. I'll finish another one today and will probably read yet another tomorrow. We'll see.

So, yep, I pretty much rocked my challenges in 2023. I never take any of them too seriously, but I'm still proud of myself for finishing all these. They definitely added some fun and challenge to my reading this year as well as pushing me to read titles I wouldn't have otherwise. That's exactly why I love doing reading challenges!

Did you take on any reading challenges in 2023? How did you fare with them?

Because I'm crazy, I'm adding two more reading challenges to my roster for 2024:

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

We all know I love a prompt-based reading challenge. When someone mentioned this one on their blog, I couldn't resist checking it out. Hosted by Emily Bourque on Goodreads, it features 52 prompts that are voted on by challenge participants. Sounds fun!