Goodreads Reading Challenge: At the end of August, I took a good hard look at my Goodreads Challenge and at my reading habits. The pandemic has really thrown me off my reading pace; I was already more than 25 books behind my goal at that point, and unlikely to catch up. So…
In mid-September, I lowered my goal from 200 books to 175. That dropped the deficit to 2 books behind schedule. Then I ended up rereading a bunch of mysteries and upping my audiobook game. I am now 3 books ahead of schedule for the revised goal. If I can maintain my pre-pandemic reading pace for the remainder of the year, I should be able to reach my revised goal by December 31… so it’s still a challenge (because I will have to read faster than I had been), but no longer an impossible one.
I debated the ethics of “lowering the bar” like this, but I decided that A) the whole point is to enjoy reading, not make it a chore; B) 2020 has not been, nor will it be, a normal year; and C) there are no reading challenge police, and any goals I set are for my own satisfaction.
That said, the rest of my challenges are not going that well, either. Here are summaries, with links to the books I have already reviewed. If you’re interested, I posted lists of the qualifying books I haven’t reviewed yet on my 2020 Reading Challenges page.
The Backlist Reader Challenge 2020
Host: The Bookwyrm's Hoard
Progress: 3/20 (15%)
1 January, 2020 — 6 January, 2021
Failed
My goal for The Backlist Reader Challenge 2020 is to read 20 books published in 2018 or earlier that have been on my TBR list (on Goodreads) for a good long while. Right now, that’s not looking likely; I have read 9 qualifying books and only reviewed 3.
Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2020
Host: My Reader's Block
Progress: 2/12 (17%)
1 January, 2020 — 31 December, 2020
Failed
The Mount TBR Reading Challenge is similar to The Backlist Reader Challenge, but you have to actually have owned (or at least ordered) the books before Jan. 1, 2020 (whereas for The Backlist Reader Challenge, you don’t have to own them, just have them on your to-read list.) My goal is to read 12 books from my shelves or Kindle that I haven’t yet read (the Pike’s Peak level). So far, I’ve read 4 qualifying books and reviewed 1, so I’m not doing very well at all.
Library Love Challenge 2020
Host: Angel's Guilty Pleasures
Progress: 3/12 (25%)
1 January, 2020 — 31 December, 2020
Failed
- Geat a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
- The Dog Who Lost His Bark by Eoin Colfer
- Make, Sew and Mend, by Bernadette Banner
The 2020 Library Love Challenge is hosted by Angel’s Guilty Pleasures and Books of My Heart. My goal is to read at least 12 library books this year. So far, I’ve read 6 and reviewed 2. Again, not doing well at all.
Audiobook Challenge 2020
Host: Caffeinated Reader
Progress: 2/10 (20%)
1 January, 2020 — 31 December, 2020
Failed
The Audiobook Challenge is hosted by Kimberly at Caffeinated Reviewer. My goal is 10-15 audiobooks, and I’ve actually made it — if you count listening to the books. I’m not doing so well when it comes to actually reviewing them. I’ve listened to 13 books, but only reviewed 1.
Diversity Reading Challenge 2020
Host: Celebrity Readers
Progress: 3/12 (25%)
1 January, 2020 — 31 December, 2020
Failed
- Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole
- Geat a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
- Like Lovers Do by Tracey Livesay
I joined the 2020 Diversity Reading Challenge in July, and set a goal of 12 diverse books, counting any books read earlier in the year. So far, I have read a total of 4, of which I have reviewed 3. I’m in the middle of reading and listening to two more.
POPSUGAR Reading Challenge 2020
Host: PopSugar
Progress: 10/50 (20%)
1 January, 2020 — 31 December, 2020
Failed
- The Vanishing by Jayne Ann Krentz
- Almost Just Friends by Jill Shalvis
- The Blue Hills by Elizabeth Goudge
- Memories and Murder by Lynn Cahoon
- Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas
- The Last Passenger by Charles Finch
- His Bride for the Taking by Tessa Dare
- Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole
- Riviera Gold by Laurie R. King
- The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal
I do the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge 2020 just for fun, and I never worry about checking off all the prompts. That said, I’ve completed at least 17 prompts (that’s 17 different books), and reviewed 10 books so far.
COYER Quarantine Edition (2020)
Host: Michele & Berls of Because Reading
Progress: 13/10 (130%)
23 March, 2020 — 31 August, 2020
Completed!
- Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
- Watson on the Orient Express by Anna Elliott, Charles Veley
- Winterwood by Jacey Bedford
- Booked For Death by Victoria Gilbert
- The Corpse with the Crystal Skull by Cathy Ace
- Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole
- Riviera Gold by Laurie R. King
- The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal
- Tea & Treachery by Vicki Delany
- Like Lovers Do by Tracey Livesay
- Death at High Tide by Hannah Dennison
- Boone by Emily March
- A Deadly Edition by Victoria Gilbert
The COYER Quarantine Edition (2020) is ongoing, but I have already surpassed my goal. Actually, if you count the books I have read but not reviewed yet, I have crushed my goal!
Anne - Books of My Heart
You are doing SO MANY challenges I don’t know how you would focus. I cut back this year. Also I know the challenges often require you to review but I think it is more important to read them. This is why I often link to Goodreads reviews because I don’t put reviews for everything on the blog. Good luck
Anne – Books of My Heart recently posted…Audio: Burn You Twice by Mary Burton
Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits
Oh man, the pandemic has certainly impacted my reading! I’m a bit of the opposite, though—I’ve been reading a TON more. I’ve already increased my Goodreads goal, and could increase it again if I cared enough to bother. However, while I’m reading more quantity-wise, I’m generally not reading the things I had originally intended to read this year. SO I guess it’s a bit of a hit-and-miss for what the pandemic is doing to my reading habits.
Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits recently posted…Reading Wrap-Up: September 2020
Angela
No one could have predicted what this year would be like! I definitely think it’s a good idea to cut yourself some slack on challenges.
Katherine
My reading has been weird this year. I’m either blowing through the books or not reading at all and I’ve gotten super picky about my books. I’m mostly sticking to mysteries – specifically cozies, historical, or classic – and not much else. Love seeing all the challenges you’ve got going. Looks like you’re making some good progress even if it hasn’t gone the way you wanted.
Jan @ Notes from a Readerholic
I don’t think I actually signed up for any challenges this year other than the Goodreads challenge. That seems so long ago! I lowered my goal from last year since I didn’t make the goal, but I am over 20 books ahead of my goal for 2020 and would be 10+ books ahead for last year. I spent about five months not being able to blog, but doing lots of reading to try shut out everything that’s been happening.
I think this year is such a strange year that we all have to give ourselves a break and not worry too much about whether we’ve met all our goals.
Jan @ Notes from a Readerholic recently posted…Sunday Post: In Illinois this week