2024 Reading Challenges

Graphic: Reading Challenges 2024 (The Bookwyrm's Hoard)

I set my Goodreads Reading Challenge goal at 125 books for 2024. That’s lower than my goals over the last few years, but I plan to spend more time writing this year, so I will have less time for reading.

As of October 25, 2024, Goodreads thinks I have read 139 books, putting me 14 books past my goal. (I have not, however, kept up with the writing.)

(Unfortunately, I can’t seem to get the Goodreads Reading Challenge widget to work on this page, probably because my blog’s security software keeps blocking JavaScript. You can see where I am in the challenge by clicking the challenge title.)

The Backlist Reader Challenge 2024

Host: Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
Progress: 3/12 (25%)
1 January, 2024 — 5 January, 2025
In Progress

I host The Backlist Reader Challenge 2024, so of course I’m participating in the challenge!. My goal is to read and review 12 books from my TBR lists that were published in 2021 or earlier. I hope to focus on books I have been given as well as older ARCs. I kept my goal low because I have been rubbish at reviewing over the last few years — hence the emphasis on actually reviewing the books.

Below are the books I have read but not yet reviewed. Books marked with a * are books I have read before, but not for at least 10 years, and I had largely forgotten them.

Legacy (Nora Roberts)
The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street (Helene Hanff)
Wait Until Midnight (Amanda Quick)
Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the World and the Woman Who Made Them (Nancy Marie Brown) – audio; currently listening
Chalice (Robin McKinley)* – currently reading

Audiobook Challenge 2024

Host: Caffeinated Reviewer and That's What I'm Talking About
Progress: 4/10 (40%)
1 January, 2024 — 3 January, 2025
In Progress

I’m participating in the Audiobook Challenge 2024, hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer and That’s What I’m Talking About. My goal for the year is to listen to and review 5-10 books, putting me in the Weekend Warrior category.

Below are the books I have listened to but have not yet reviewed. Books marked with a * are books I have read or listened to before.

The Winter Sea (Susanna Kearsley)* – reread
The Firebird (Susanna Kearsley)* – reread
A Desperate Fortune (Susanna Kearsley)* – reread
Bellewether (Susanna Kearsley)* – reread
The Cartographers (Peng Shepherd; multiple narrators) – on hiatus
Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the World and the Woman Who Made Them (Nancy Marie Brown) – audio; currently listening

Library Love Challenge 2024

Host: Angel's Book Nook & Books of My Heart
Progress: 2/12 (17%)
1 January, 2024 — 3 January, 2025
In Progress

I’m participating in the Library Love Challenge 2024 , hosted by Angel’s Guilty Pleasures & Books of My Heart. My goal is to read and review 12 books, which is the Dewey Decimal level (the lowest possible option.) I’m hesitant to try for more, because I have so many books on my Kindle and on my physical shelves that I also want to read, and also because some of my library books will be for writing research, so I probably won’t read them all the way through.

Below are the books I read but have not yet reviewed. Books marked with a * are books I have read or listened to before.

NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2024

Host: Socrates Book Reviews
Progress: 8/10 (80%)
1 January, 2024 — 3 January, 2025
In Progress

The NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2024 is hosted by Yvonne at Socrates’ Book Reviews. Hopefully, it will help me get through my backlog of ARCs! My goal is to read or reread and review at least 15 ARCs this year (the Bronze level.) I will count them whether they are new ARCs or ones from a previous year; the important thing is to write and post reviews (and get my NetGalley percentage up!)

Below are the books I read but have not yet reviewed. Books marked with a * are books I have read or listened to before.

Of Manners and Murder (Anastasia Hastings) – read in 2023; need to review
The Bride Wore White (Amanda Quick) – read in 2023; need to review
Artfully Yours (Joanna Lowell) – read in 2023; need to review
Three Can Keep a Secret (M. E. Hilliard) – read in 2023; need to review
The Raven Thief (Gigi Pandian) – read in 2023; need to review
Remember Me (Mary Balogh) – read in 2023; need to review
The Sweetheart List (Jill Shalvis) – read in 2023; need to review
The Sinister Booksellers of Bath (Garth Nix) – read in 2023; need to review
The Very Secret Society of Witches (Sangu Mandanna) * – read in 2023; need to review
The Lily of Ludgate Hill (Mimi Matthews) – read in 2024; need to review
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands (Heather Fawcett) – read in 2024; need to review
The Bright Spot (Jill Shalvis) – read in 2024; need to review
People Who Live in Glass Houses (Jayne Castle) – read in 2024; need to review
Mind Games (Nora Roberts) – read in 2024; need to review
The Spellshop (Sarah Beth Durst) – read in 2024; need to review
Golden Lord (Mary Jo Putney) – read in 2024; need to review
The Muse of Maiden Lane (Mimi Matthews) – read in 2024; need to review
A Marriage of Undead Convenience (Stephanie Burgis) – read in 2024; need to review
Shattering Dawn (Jayne Ann Krentz) – read in 2024; need to review
Remember When (Mary Balogh) – read in 2024; need to review

COYER Unwind (2024) - Chapter 1

Host: Berls, Michelle, Lillian, & Stephanie
Progress: 7/9 (78%)
1 January, 2024 — 31 March, 2024
Failed

COYER Unwind (2024) – Chapter 1 returns to the strict rules of the original COYER challenge. To qualify, books must be in digital format. They must be free or nearly free (under $5.00 for e-books; under $7.50 for audiobooks.) And you must own them; ARCs count, but library books do not, and you can’t count books read through subscription services like Kindle First, Amazon Prime, or Audible Plus.

Chapter 1 runs from January 1 through March 31, 2024. My goal is to read and review 9 qualifying books during that time period. The books can also count for any of my other challenges. As of March 31, I have read or reread a bunch of qualifying books, but only published 5 reviews.

Below are the books I read but have not yet reviewed for COYER Upside-Down 2023: Chapter 1. Books marked with a * are rereads.

NOTE: Chapter 1 ends on March 30, but I am leaving the challenge widget open through December 2023 because I may post some reviews later in the year.

Aunt Dimity and the Duke (Nancy Atherton) *
The Lily of Ludgate Hill (Mimi Matthews) – ARC
The Bright Spot (Jill Shalvis) – ARC
Pastiche (Celia Lake) *
The Fossil Door (Celia Lake) *
Four Wallls and a Heart (Celia Lake) *
Eclipse (Celia Lake) *
With All Due Speed (Celia Lake) *
Tea and Meetings (Celia Lake) *
Three Tales of Gabe and Rathna (Celia Lake) *
People Who Live in Glass Houses (Jayne Castle) – ARC
Just Stab Me Now (Jill Bearup)
I Should Be Writing: A Writer’s Workshop (Mur Lafferty)
Constable Country (Catherine Aird)
Perfect Accord (Celia Lake)
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands (Heather Fawcett) – ARC
Wards of the Roses (Celia Lake) *
Rose in Bloom ( Stephanie Laurens) *
Mind Games (Nora Roberts) – ARC
The Awakening (Nora Roberts) *
The Becoming (Nora Roberts) *
The Choice (Nora Roberts) *
Blood Magick ( Nora Roberts) *
A Monstrous Regiment of Women (Laurie R. King) *
A Letter of Mary (Laurie R. King) *
The Moor (Laurie R. King) *
The Game (Laurie R. King) *
Legacy (Nora Roberts) *
The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street (Helene Hanff) *
The Spellshop (Sarah Beth Durst) – ARC
Love at First Book (Jenn McKinlay) – ARC
A Midnight Puzzle (Gigi Pandian) – ARC

COYER Unwind (2024) – Chapter 2

Host: Berls, Michelle, Lillian, & Stephanie
Progress: 7/10 (70%)
1 April, 2024 — 31 December, 2024
In Progress

COYER Unwind (2024) – Chapter 2 loosens up the rules a bit. Now the book can be in any format (physical book, ebook, or audio.) You can either own it or borrow it from the library, Amazon Prime, or a friend. ARCs still count, but books from subscription services like Kindle Unlimited or Audible Plus still do NOT qualify. The cost restrictions remain in place: print and digital books must cost less than $5, while the limit is $7.50 for an audiobook.

Chapter 2 runs from April 1 through June 30, 2024. My goal is to read and review 10 qualifying books during that time period. The books can also count for any of my other challenges.

Below are the books I read but have not yet reviewed for COYER Upside-Down 2023: Chapter 2. Books marked with a * are rereads.

NOTE: Chapter 2 ends on June 30, but I am leaving the challenge widget open through December 2023 because I may post some reviews later in the year.

– ARC; currently reading
The Cartographers (Peng Shepherd) – audiobook; currently listening

Additional Goals

Write 250 words per day (of fiction or fanfic; reviews don’t count.) As of March 31, this has been going terribly, but it remains a goal.

Post at least 1 review per week. I did well in January, but not so well in February or March, so I am behind for the year.

Read more diversely. As in previous years, I want to read more books by and about BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) people; LGBTQIA+ people; people of non-Christian religious faiths; and people with disabilities or mental illness.

Read more of the (unread) books I already own.

Prune some of the books I own, and buy fewer physical books. In other words, my physical bookshelves are too crowded; there is no room for additional bookshelves; and sometime in the next 10 years we will probably downsize to a smaller house. Therefore, as painful as it is to contemplate, I need to pare down the collection.