A Look Ahead to My 2019 Reading and Blogging Challenges

It’s that time of year again! Time to start thinking about what reading/blogging challenges I want to participate in during 2018.  I love taking part in challenges, but I like to pick challenges that I think won’t overwhelm me and make reading suddenly feel like a chore.  There are so many great challenges out there for the upcoming year though, that it’s easy to find a few that I think will be perfect for me.  So, please consider this my as my sign-up post for the following challenges:

1.  GOODREADS READING CHALLENGE

It’s not even time to sign up for the 2019 Goodreads Challenge yet, but I already know that I’ll be doing this one.  My reading goal for 2018 was 90 books and I surpassed that by a pretty good margin, so this year I’m pretty sure I’ll be increasing that, possibly as high as 110.  I love this challenge because aside from marking the books you’ve read, Goodreads keeps track of everything else. All I have to do is read.  The only stress is self-imposed and that’s if I set my goal too high.

2.  2019 BEAT THE BACKLIST CHALLENGE

My TBR is always a nightmare so I love participating n the Beat the Backlist Challenge every year.  This past year it helped me to knock 34 backlisted titles off my TBR so I’ve decided to increase my goal to 35  for 2019.  Wish me luck!  You can read about the rules for the challenge at www.novelknight.com but the basic gist is that the challenge runs all year long and all of the books you read  for it must have been published in 2018 or earlier.  There are lots of other fun, optional components to the challenge as well, including a Hogwarts House Mini Challenge and an Instagram Challenge.  I’ll be taking part in the Hogwarts Challenge and will represent Gryffindor.

Below is my tentative TBR, but as I’m such a mood reader, this list is subject to change.  It also contains quite a few books that I keep putting on my TBR and then failing to get to.  Hopefully the third time is the charm for those, lol.

1. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
2. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
3. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
4. Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page
5. Timekeeper by Tara Sim
6. City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
7. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
8. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
9. Pride by Ibi Zoboi
10. Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
11. Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine
12. Nemesis by Anna Banks
13. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
14. To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey
15. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
16. Hunted by Meagan Spooner
17. History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera
18. How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather
19. Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
20. Stardust by Neil Gaiman
21. The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman
22. Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
23. Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
24. A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
25. Uprooted by Naomi Novik
26. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
27. What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
28. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
29. Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde
30. Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller
31. Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff
32. Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
33. Becoming by Michelle Obama
34. After You by JoJo Moyes
35. Circe by Madeline Miller
36. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
37. Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu
38. Catwoman: Soulstealer by Sarah J. Maas
39. Ace of Shades by Amanda Footy
40. Olivia Twist by Lorie Langdon
41. Red Winter by Annette Marie
42. Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh
43. Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
44. The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye
45. And I Darken by Kiersten White
46. The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee  (read 1/3/2019)

3.  2019 BOOK BLOGGER DISCUSSION CHALLENGE

Writing discussion posts continues to be a fear/weakness of mine, so I’m hoping this challenge will push me to write more of them this year.  So as not to stress myself completely out, I’ll be aiming for one post a month, for a total of 15-20 discussion posts, which would put me firmly in the Creative Conversationalist level.  The discussion challenge is hosted by Nicole at Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon at It Starts at Midnight.

Here’s All You Have to Do:

• The 2019 Book Blog Discussion Challenge runs from January 1st until December 31st, 2019.
• Create a sign-up post announcing your intention to participate and link up below. There’s no need to say what your discussion posts will be about–just tell us you’re joining and let us know your goal. (Can be in an update post or a post with other challenges–you’re not required to make a completely separate sign-up post.)
• Please link back to both challenge hosts and include the challenge button in your sign-up posts.
• The challenge runs from January 1st until December 31st, 2019. Sign-ups will remain open through December 31st, 2019. (So, you can sign up all year long! Come join us!)
• Share it! The more people we get to participate in this, the more awesome discussions we can all be a part of and the more fun it will be! So, invite your friends to join us!
• Discussions can be about whatever you want as long as it’s relevant to books or book blogging (no discussions about things that are completely off-topic like travel or fashion, etc). They can also be about you personally if it’s a get-to-know-you type post.
• On the 1st of every month, a link-up will go up on both Feed Your Fiction Addiction and It Starts at Midnight where you’ll leave your links for that month’s discussions. Every month, we’ll update this 2019 Book Blog Challenge Page with the links to that month’s Challenge linky–so you’ll always know where to find the latest link-up!
• There will also be monthly giveaways, so make sure you check in!
• Every month, we’ll feature our favorite posts from one challenge participant. There will be extra options in the Rafflecopter for commenting on posts by our featured blogger.
• Use the hashtag #LetsDiscuss2019 to share your progress and connect with other participants on Twitter.
• Have questions? Feel free to ask in the comments!

The Levels:

1-10 – Discussion Dabbler
11-20 – Creative Conversationalist
21-30 – Chatty Kathy
31-40 – Terrifically Talkative
41+ – Gift of the Gab

4.  AUDIOBOOK CHALLENGE 2019

This will be the first time I’m participating in this challenge since prior to 2018, I didn’t think I audiobooks really worked for me.  I figured out how best to enjoy them, however, and so now I want to focus on trying to read more of them.  This challenge, hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer and Hot Listens, is the perfect choice to keep me motivated.

Challenge Guidelines:

• Runs January 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019. You can join at any time.
• The goal is to find a new love for audios or to outdo yourself by listening to more audios in 2019 than you did in 2018.
• Books must be in audio format (CD, MP3, etc.)
• ANY genres count.
• Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.
• You do not have to be a book blogger to participate; you can track your progress on Goodreads, Facebook, LibraryThing, etc.
• If you’re a blogger grab the button and do a quick post about the challenge to help spread the word. If you’re not a blogger you can help by posting on Facebook or Tweeting about the challenge.
• Updates plus a giveaway will be posted twice during the year. The first update will be June 30, 2019, and the last update will take place on December 15, 2019.

Achievement Levels:

• Newbie (I’ll give it a try) 1-5
• Weekend Warrior (I’m getting the hang of this) 5-10
• Stenographer (can listen while multitasking) 10-15
• Socially Awkward (Don’t talk to me) 15-20
• Binge Listener (Why read when someone can do it for you) 20-30
• My Precious (I had my earbuds surgically implanted) 30+
• Marathoner (Look Ma No Hands) 50+

I’ll be aiming for the achievement level of Socially Awkward (Don’t talk to me) with 15-20 audiobooks this year.  We’ll see how it goes!

5.  2019 RETELLINGS READING CHALLENGE

This will be another new challenge for me, but I love retellings so this retellings challenge, hosted by www.cornerfolds.com seems like it should be a good fit for me.  The guidelines are straightforward and there’s even a Retellings Bingo game that looks like fun.

THE GUIDELINES

• This challenge will run from January 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019.
• Books must be read and reviewed in 2019. (You don’t have to review books to count towards your goal, but you do have to review them if you want them to count as giveaway entries.)
• Audiobooks, e-books, re-reads, short stories, novellas, and graphic novels all count, and you can read adult, YA, and middle grade books for this challenge.
• It’s also totally fine to use books from this challenge to fulfill other reading challenges and vice versa.
• ALL retellings count!
• You don’t have to be a book blogger to participate! You can link up and track your progress on Goodreads, Instagram, Youtube, or wherever you share books!
• Sign up below with your post, shelf, etc. and leave a comment letting me know what your personal goal is.
• Link up your reviews each quarter on the post provided! (Bookmark this page to make sure you don’t miss a link-up!)

I have a tentative TBR for the Retellings challenge as well, again subject to change based on my everchanging mood when it comes to books.  I’ll be aiming for High Fae, 16-20 retellings.

1. Pride by Ibi Zoboi
2. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
3. Olivia Twist by Lorie Langdon
4. Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page
5. Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa
6. Hunted by Meagan Spooner
7. Circe by Madeline Miller
8. Uprooted by Naomi Novik
9. A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney
10. Sky Without Stars by Jessica Broday and Joanne Rendell
11. Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy
12. The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston 
13. A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
14. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
15. The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankensteain by Kiersten White
16. No Place Like Here by Christina June