This Week’s Topic:
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
It's that time of year! Time to select my reading challenges. I have been combing lists all week, and I am really impressed with my options. I am continuing with many I have done in the past, but have also added a few new ones to the mix.
How do you select your reading challenges?
As I mentioned above, there are a LOT of reading challenges out there, but since I cannot do them all I have to make some tough choices. There a few things I look for in a reading challenge, such as:
- All Year Long - I like challenges that last for the entire year. There are some that are at certain times of the year, but I much prefer having a goal from the beginning to the end of the year.
- Prompts - There are a lot of challenges out there, where you just count how many books meeting a certain criteria you read. I like prompts better, because I enjoy the search for the books. Sometimes it can be frustrating, but when I find the book that fits that prompt, I really have a sense of accomplishment.
- Mini-challenges - For those "count the books" type challenges, I get really excited, when they have mini-challenges built in. That's where the challenge really is for me, and as I mentioned in the item above, the search drives me and gives me a lot of satisfaction, when completed.
- Doable, but also challenging - I have seen some challenges with prompts, that are so difficult or next near impossible for me. That, is not fun, and I want my reading challenges to be fun. I look for prompts, that make me work a bit, but won't make me nuts or force me to read something I really wouldn't enjoy. That's counter-intuitive to what these challenges are about for me.
Without further ado, my reading challenges!
I will forever do this one, because it is the most passive. It's just a simple book count, and I already use Goodreads to track my books. Why not let it nudge me towards my reading goal too?
This challenge is hosted by two of my favorite bloggers, Nicole and Shannon. I love this one, because it keeps me from avoiding discussion posts. I feel some sort of accountability being part of this, and that drives me to try and come up with something each week. I do about three discussion posts per month, and am therefore shooting to be Terrifically Talkative (31 - 40 posts).
This is a 50 states challenge, and I have previously discussed how it seems that all books are set in the same few states. This challenge forces me to seek stories, that take place in other parts of the country, and I have stumbled upon some real gems due to this challenge.
Another one I do each year. I was really excited, because I actually completed it in 2019. I read a ton of books, and hit most letters, but Q, X, and Z are the bane of my existence.
I didn't do a formal diversity reading challenge last year, though I always record the diversity featured in the books I read. I am especially fond of this one, because it features monthly mini-challenges, which I often turn into a monthly reading theme.
I did a different one of these last year, but I can say it is quite a challenge. It looks so easy until you are trying to find a book with that word in the title.
One of the first reading challenges I ever did. It consists of monthly themes, and I always have fun doing this challenge. I read through the prompts, and think they are all really fabulous - doable, but still challenging.
Another driven by prompts, and I like them all.
Now it's your turn!
What do you look for in a reading challenge?
Let us know in the comments!
Let us know in the comments!
I used to participate in a few challenges each year but a couple years ago I decided to stop them all (except the usual Goodreads challenge). I think for most people they are fun and encourage reading outside your comfort zone, maybe stretching to find books to fulfill certain prompts... all of which are good things. But I just started feeling pressure and stress so it kind of defeated the purpose. LOL I love seeing what challenges everyone else is participating in and following their progress through the year as they share how they're doing, but I've found that I do better without them. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's important to me that it is challenging, but not frustrating. My first year, I tried Pop Sugar and it wasn't fun for me. Most of these are challenges I have done before, and I enjoyed them
DeleteI like year-long challenges, too, they feel like less pressure! Although I am finding that setting a TBR at the beginning of the year doesn't always work - sometimes I just lose interest in the books! I'm lazy, though, and I like challenges that don't have too many prompts and I can just read whatever I was going to read anyway! The Literary Escape Challenge sounds fun and I always enjoyed seeing what books you found for each state.
ReplyDeleteI never set my TBR in advance. Most of the challenges I pick with prompts have one for each month. It's not that much of an advanced commitment
DeleteGood luck! I’m going to do the Goodreads challenge and the discussion challenge. I did terrible on both of them this year, but who knows what next year will bring?
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
You probably did better than your giving yourself credit for considering you started a new job and have a new roommate, who needs time and attention.
DeleteI love prompts, too! Good luck with all of these. I decided on my first five, but I know I'm going to try to do more. I just need to hurry and narrow them down.
ReplyDeleteI have actually had a lot of fun trying to find books that fit. It makes me do deep dives and has helped me discover some real gems.
DeleteI have just been keeping up with my Goodreads challenge. I do need to try and do a couple of others this coming year and it these are some good sounding ones. Good luck!!
ReplyDeleteI read a lot, so it's an interesting way to drive my reading.
DeleteI was literally just thinking about which challenges I wanted to try in 2020. I do the goodreads challenge each year for the same reason you do (it's passive and easy for me to keep up with) but I want to get back into doing blog challenges as well. I'm going to check out some you have on your list.
ReplyDeleteI hope you find some good ones!
DeleteThe only challenge I successfully manage to do is the Goodreads one! If I add too much on my plate there is only pressure and no pleasure Sam ;-)
ReplyDeleteI can understand that. The challenges are good for me, because they help me focus my reading a bit. I have also found some awesome books and authors due to my challenges.
DeleteI'm all about the GR challenge because its so low key. But, I am about not not meet my goal so maybe I need to reevaluate.
ReplyDeleteI base my GR challenge on the number of books I average per week. If I read more, yeah! But, I should at least be able to hit my normal goal per week.
DeleteI do the Goodreads Challenge every year and I signed up for an Audio book challenge this year and again for next year. I like the Motif ones, but I don't do them very often because I never see them around. I'll have to check out the ones you have listed. Good luck! :)
ReplyDeleteMonthly Motif is one I really like. I find their topics very doable. They give me a little push, but they don't make me nuts trying to find a book I am or could be interested in to fit the category.
DeleteI used to do challenges, but it became hard to keep up especially during my summer breaks so I am trying to stick to my GR challenge and even that is hard at times!
ReplyDeleteI could understand certain times of the year getting away from you. I read fairly consistently, so it just adds another layer to my reading.
DeleteTIME. It's the only thing I look for a reading challenge. I could take on any reading challenge there (I'm always up for it) but it's no use/fun if I'm on time restraint. I'm juggling a lot of things and sometimes real life events affect my mood to read (like school/work keeps me busy or drained and then I feel like not reading at the moment. But then that "at the moment" turns into days or weeks at some point lol). It's actually why I'm always unsure if I want to set up my GR challenge to above 100 books. I'm quite not there yet.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I prefer the reading challenges, where I only have to read one book a month that fits. I read a lot more, but I am not tied down to a certain number. I find it gives me freedom, while still giving me goals.
DeleteI kind of suck at challenges, because I'm such a mood reader, and never want to feel like I HAVE TO read something. I will probably just track on Goodreads, plus read what I need to for both the Battle of the Books selection committee and Cybils judging. If anything, I would add a diversity challenge (because I keep defaulting to white American women authors!) and/or a challenge to read more books from my classroom library so I can keep recommending new titles to kids.
ReplyDeleteYou will see I picked mostly monthly challenges. I am obligated to one book per month for each, and that gives me a lot of wiggle room with my reading. I was happy to find the diversity challenge I found, because it's like the one I did a few years ago, and I really enjoyed the structure of that one.
DeleteYay! I'm so glad you're joining us for the Discussion Challenge again! I agree that challenges are best when they're difficult but not impossible.
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
The Discussion Challenge is probably the toughest one I do, but it's a good motivator for me.
DeleteI don't do reading challenges anymore, especially not year long ones :( I sometimes set personal ones like my year long buying ban which is ongoing and my project to conquer my physical tbr, which I am doing myself at the moment personally. I do readathons and they give you prompts but that's mostly on booktube and not on book blogs anymore.
ReplyDeleteI am not a read-a-thon person. The idea of setting aside a chunk of time never works for me. These challenge allow me to keep up with my review books alongside my challenge books. I am more into reading blogs, than watching people talk about stuff. It could be because I am old.
DeleteI feel like I burned myself out on a lot of challenge this year but I still like them for tracking my reading and prompting me to do things so I'm very torn over what to do next year! I think I've settled on a few but it's all changeable until I hit post! :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your 2020 picks!
I pick pretty low-key challenges, where I am obligated to one book per month. I read a lot on my own, so the challenges are really to give me a little guidance as to what I will read.
DeleteI'm setting my Goodreads target low next year to take the 'must read' pressure off! I'm doing my own challenges but again changing the way I do things to make it less stressful.I found myself like Nicci, burning out a bit as the year ended! I might do themed weeks where I try to read three from a genre then move on to other things...need to hurry up and decide!
ReplyDeleteI set my GR challenge by looking at how many books I average per week. I tend to read at the same pace, and I never get stressed out by that challenge. I am not a huge fan of the counting type challenges, where I have to read X number of X book. The prompts hold me to one book per month, and that let's me freely select all my other monthly books.
DeleteFun challenges. I do the Goodreads just to keep me on track, really. I wish it logged hours for audio. It said my shortest book for 2019 was a Jim Butcher Audiobook 18 pages. It was more like 18 hours, LOL
ReplyDeleteIt is unfortunate the way they log audiobooks. I don't distinguish between audiobook and book, when I shelve, so, I think all pages get counted for me.
DeleteIt looks like I might not complete a couple of my challenges this year. First time that has happened! And I still haven't decided which I will be doing next year.
ReplyDeleteI failed my 50 States and maybe my AtoZ last year. I tried. I just could not find a book for whatever situation I needed, but I still enjoyed it.
DeleteI decided not to do any formal challenges this year, but there are a few news ones I've never seen before on your list. I am making note of them for the future.
ReplyDeleteMaybe next year!
DeleteI used to do a BUNCH but now I only do Goodreads. I mean, I guess you can say I am doing the Discussion Challenge but I literally just posted my third discussion post of 2019 about 5 minutes ago so... do I even count at this point? Not likely. But hey I try! I LOVE challenges in general, but I also can't gracefully admit defeat, I push myself until I am pulling my hair out. I think at some point, when I have more time, I'd like to join a few that are pertinent to what I'd like to be reading more of, you know? Like the backlist, or sequels, or what have you. And I hope to not suck at the DC AS badly in 2020 hah! Good luck on all of yours, they sound so fun!!
ReplyDeleteI don't think the number of discussions/books/etc disqualifies you from any challenge, because challenges are personal. My first year doing challenges, I picked the Pop Sugar one, and it made me feel like a failure. So, then I picked the new release and contemporary romance challenges, which, let's face it, are not challenges for me at all, since I read so many of both. I have now found a few that are challenging, but not aggravating. I mean, I do this for fun, I don't want it to make me feel horrible.
DeleteI definitely prefer year long challenges and I try to choose challenges that tie in with other goals that I'm hoping to accomplish that year. I haven't decided how many I'm going to do in 2020 yet, but I'm sure the Goodreads one will be on my list, probably the discussion one since I didn't meet my goal this year, and then a backlist challenge to keep me focused on those older books.
ReplyDeleteI don't choose ones that tie into each other, but sometimes, I can use the same book for more than one. I am doing a more unofficial backlist. I try to read one each week.
DeleteI like the idea of challenges but I don't think that they actually challenge me at all. I have done a few but it is really just something else to keep track of more than anything. I even pick a low goal for my Goodreads challenge that I usually meet sometime in the summer. There was one year where I had a hard time meeting my goal so I was picking a bunch of short reads to boost my numbers. I don't want to end up avoiding long books just to hit a number.
ReplyDeleteI prefer the ones where you have prompts versus the ones where you just count. Reading an X book is not so much a challenge as finding a book that fits the category. I pick a number for my GR challenge that falls in line with the number of books I tend to read per week. My audiobook count varies more than my book count, so those help push me towards my goal, when I have longer books to read. I don't feel they keep me from reading anything, though.
DeleteGood luck Sam! Sounds like you have a plan. I love the Goodreads challenge because it tells me if I’m behind haha and of course Nicole and Shannon’s discussion challenge is one I love. Otherwise I think I’m not going to be so transient on my blog. It makes me crazy and if I want to keep blogging I can’t do things that stress me out or take too much.
ReplyDeleteI like the way GR emails me to tell me how I am doing, and encourages me along the way. Challenges should be fun, not stressful. That's why I pick the ones I do, but if they aren't fun for you, it's smart to abstain.
DeleteBest of luck for all of your challenges, Sam! I'm only planning on doing the goodreads challenge and the discussion challenge, for now, as I don't like taking on too many challenges at a time, it makes me feel too stressed out haha :)
ReplyDeleteI intentionally pick doable challenges, because I never want reading to become stressful for me. This is my hobby, and I really enjoy it. The challenges I selected make it a little more goal orientated, and I love such things. If I was not having fun with it, I would quit.
DeleteI'm so bad at keeping up with challenges, but I tend to sign up for the Discussion one. I really need to do more discussion posts. And of course, I do Goodreads, but that's really just to keep track. I don't worry about the actual number too much. I might try and find one or two more - we'll see!
ReplyDelete-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
Honestly, I probably wouldn't do as many discussion posts as I do, if not for the discussion challenge. It's a good way to keep me posting my weekly discussion.
DeleteI'm working on figuring out my challenges for next year as I read this! I always do the Goodreads challenge because I keep track of all my reading on there anyway, so I may as well. It's easy and it keeps track of my books without me doing anything different. I will probably skip the discussion challenge this year as I did miserably in 2019 on that. I think I'm going to try the Beat the Backlist one again, because one of my biggest goals this year is to get to the over 300 books sitting on bookshelves that haven't been read yet, as well as the new books I get for review. I plan to take less for review. I also used to do the Bookish Resolution one, but it seems like that blog isn't really around anymore, so I may just have to do those on my own. And I have writing goals this year! Good luck on all of your goals for 2020!
ReplyDeleteThe reason to re-up for the discussion challenge is to make yourself write those discussions. I stopped doing the challenges that were too easy for me (contemporary romance, new release, etc), and though the discussion challenge is one of the harder ones I do, I find it really rewarding. I have been using Books from the Backlog to make me read backlist. It's done wonders for me. Good luck with which ever challenges you select.
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