Skip to main content

Reading Challenges for 2021

 I usually do set a numerical goal on the Goodreads reading challenges each year, and find them to be a great way to feel some sense of accomplishment in reading [x] number of books in a given year. Since I also started reviewing some digital ARCs through NetGalley last year, I've been writing more reviews in general (though the non-ARC books I read I may or may not review). I've toyed with the idea of doing some additional challenges before, but haven't--so I'm going to try for it this year!

Because this is my first time doing this, I tried to choose challenges that mesh pretty well with what I already tend to read. This means, basically, that they're challenges I could have done okay on with books I read naturally over the course of a year. Yeah, that might not quite be in the "move out of your comfort zone" spirit of many challenges, but it seems like a way to ease into it.

So, without further ado, I'm going to be trying the following:  

Rose City Reader 2021 European Reading Challenge

Books and Chocolate Back to the Classics Challenge 2021

My Reader's Block Mount TBR Challenge 2021 (Mount Blanc level - 24 books already owned)

Introverted Reader Books in Translation Challenge 2021 (Linguist 10+ level, because I read at least 15 in 2020 even without a challenge)

Four looks like a lot, but they allow the reader to double with books read for other challenges, and all of these fit together pretty well for books currently on my shelves. Let's see how it goes!

Comments

  1. I dipped my toes into reading challenges by choosing those that naturally fit my own reading preferences as well. I'm a very moody reader so that seemed safest. I've branched out since then and I've read and enjoyed a lot of books that I otherwise wouldn't have found without a challenge! Good luck with your challenges and thanks for signing up for my Books in Translation Challenge!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I also have 4 challenges and it's the first year I go that level of crazy. But hey - we can do this!

    I also don't necessarily review my non-ARC books. Unless I really have something to say!

    I've also signed up for the 2021 European Challenge and I'm looking forward to "travelling" with you all.

    Happy New Year!

    Elza Reads

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! We totally can! I notice that I usually only want to review non-ARC books if they're either remarkably good or remarkably bad, or--and this happens occasionally--if I find that I keep thinking about them well after I finished reading them.

      Happy New Year!

      Delete
  3. Thanks for joining the European Reading Challenge! I like your idea of easing into the challenges by reading books you enjoy anyway or are on your TBR shelf. That's what I do too and I've been doing reading challenges for over 10 years now! :) I use the challenges as a way to motivate me to clear off my TBR shelf.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, and thank you for hosting! I'm looking forward to clearing a bit of my TBR shelf this year, and also hopefully finding some books and authors I'm not yet familiar with! May we all find new favorites!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Collected Poems of Federico García Lorca, revised bilingual edition

I finished reading this anthology a few weeks ago, and apparently forgot to ever post a review. While García Lorca is one of the best-known Spanish poets, I was actually quite unfamiliar with his work before picking up this collection. Perhaps starting with an anthology of this size was jumping in off the deep end, but it was an enjoyable experience. Because this edition uses several different translators, there's a lot of variation even beyond what's inherent in the poems. Despite a very limited knowledge of Spanish, I found I enjoyed it being a dual language book--especially for sections where I didn't like some of the stylistic choices of the translations much and could then compare with the original. All in all, a very enjoyable collection of poetry.

Review - Strange Skies Over East Berlin (Jeff Loveness and Lisandro Estherren)

I really, really wanted to like this graphic novel more than I actually did. It touched on a number of themes I really enjoy in fiction: truth and lies, surveillance and (false) freedom, justice and mercy, idealism and disillusionment, identity and its loss. It featured a morally grey protagonist, and a setting that I tend to enjoy seeing in media. It drew subtle parallels between characters that could have been very poignant and thought-provoking. It had most of the elements that should have made me love it. And yet somehow, it read like a summary of itself. The pacing was too fast to evoke either the poignancy or the quiet horror of which it should have been capable; the art, while evocative and well suited to the story, never felt quite atmospheric enough to capture the suspense and sense of inevitable dread that never quite manifested. For a story that relies so much on the protagonist's sense of himself (or lack thereof) and his lies, I never felt that I knew Her...