I took on rather more reading challenges than I intended this year. My thinking was that by doing them I should (haha) get quite a few books off the TBR mountain. Well I have but I'm also sure I've probably bought as many new ones as I've read old ones... too many temptations in the guise of shiny 'new' books! Guilty, M'lud!
Anyway, for my own benefit I thought I'd do a blog post charting how they're all going so far.
First up, Mount TBR 2019 which is being hosted by Bev at MY READER'S BLOCK.
I signed up to do 'Mont Blanc' which is to read 24 books off the TBR pile from before the 1st. January 2019, and so far I've read 15.
Next, Bev's Calendar of Crime 2019.
This is chart based and you just have tick categories off as you fill them in. You can read as many books as you want, when you want. So far I've read 19 books for this challenge.
Next, The 2019 European Reading challenge.
I signed up for the 'Five star' category which is to read 5 books set in different European countries or by different European authors. So far I've read six and the countries covered are: BELGIUM, FRANCE, ITALY, ICELAND, AUSTRIA and SPAIN.
Next, the World at War challenge which is being hosted by Becky at Becky's Book Reviews. This is a Bingo! based challenge and so far I've read six books for it.
Next, the What's In A Name? challenge which is being hosted by Carolina Book Nook.
There are six categories to fill with this challenge.
1. A precious stone/metal
2. A temperature
3. A month or day of the week
4. A meal
5. Contains the word “girl” or “woman” ow)
6. Contains both the words “of” AND “and”
So far I've filled two of the categories, 'Month or Day' and 'Temperature'.
Lastly, The 12th. Canadian Book Challenge which is being hosted by The Indextrious Reader.
This ran from the 1st. July last year to the 30th. June this year so has officially ended I presume. I started late, January I think, and only managed to read four books out of thirteen but enjoyed those I did read.
And so... six challenges, now down to five. Four going very well indeed, the fifth - What's In A Name? - needs a little work but I still have six months to fix that. I still need 'ticks' for three months on the Calendar of Crime, March, June and October. For The World at War I need one more book for a 'bingo'... 'A non-fiction book about the 1930s' and I have one on my Kindle for that. In essence I've finished the European reading challenge as I've read 6 books but I shall continue with that as I love it so much. All in all, I'm quite happy with my progress even though I may have bitten off a bit more than I can chew when I took on the Canadian challenge. It's all good.
9 comments:
Wow! Wow! Wow! Even back when we had Carl's challenges I'd only pick "One" so that I didn't feel stressed trying to do more.. back then I did do more or course but I would feel bad if I chose more and didn't make it. You obviously like to be challenged!! LOL! All your reading is amazing to me.. that's my "sis"!!
These look like fun challenges. Congratulations on your progress on all of them. So impressive!
I have come to believe that a TBR stack is a lot like a glacier. Sometimes it melts, and then the season changes and it adds back all the ice that stuffed off it in warmer times. But it never really changes size in the long run.
Impressive number of challenges. I don't think I ever tried more than one or two a year - and I don't remember ever finishing even that many.
Pat: I've taught myself over the years not to stress about reading challenges. I used to get worried about not finishing them but I made myself relax by telling myself that if I didn't finish one... no one would send an army. It worked and I just go on my merry way now, through the year, reading at my own pace and slowly getting through them. It helps too that I purposely choose challenges that will suit me. Thanks, Sis!
Monica: Thank you *so* much, your kind comment is appreciated. :-)
Sam: You know, that is such a brilliant analogy. Well thought of, and it's *so* true.
I've slowly worked out a way to make these challenges work for me and also how best I can get them finished. Mainly it's by being methodical and not panicking. It's not easy because the initial excitement at a shiny new challenge soons wears off I can assure you.
You're doing well! I've been meaning to get round to checking where I'm up to with the challenges - but family get togethers, medical appointments (husband not me), and gardening keep holding me back.
OMG!
Bring on the smelling salts, I am having palpitations just looking at all those challenges, let alone the number of books you have already read towards them!
I have trouble with the Goodreads challenge of how many books I am going to read in a year.
I have taken part in the 'What's In A Name' challenge a couple of times and that was quire fun and relatively stress free.
Good Luck for the rest of the year :)
Yvonne
xx
Margaret: Thank you! I know... real life is a devil for getting in the way of what you really want to do. As soon as the school hols kick in my reading will slow as well I suspect. The garden's going ok but we tend to do our gardening work in the early morning, after that it's too warm to be out there and I start sneezing.
Yvonne: Yes, your reaction seems to be similar to most people's when they see my list of challenges. LOL! Organisation and being methodical is the answer. And realising that if I don't finish (as in the Canadian one) no one will knock on the door in the middle of the night and cart me away - at least I hope not. It's the What's in a Name? challenge that I seem to be struggling with at the moment, but I'm not panicking, much.
Thank you!
You are doing very well on your challenges. I did finish the Canadian Book Challenge and in doing so lost track of my others. I am especially far behind on Back to the Classics.
You are getting a lot done on the World at War challenge. I have read a lot of World War II related books, but not sure if I will have many categories to check off. I will have to take time to check what I have done so far on all my challenges.
I like your attitude to challenges, and I like Sam's analogy of the TBR pile. It certainly fits mine, which is gigantic.
Tracy: Not only did you finish the Canadian challenge I think you won a prize. Well done!
I have to say, I'm really enjoying the World at War challenge. I have six squares checked off but would like to check off a few more by the end of the year.
Thank you, I've taught myself over the years that there's no need to panic, take it slowly and steadily and you'll get there. Sam's analogy fits my TBR mountain too!
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