Happy Friday y’all! I can’t believe how fast this year is going. I know I say that every time, but it’s true every time 😂 This year started off with a bang and hasn’t slowed down at all, both in my personal life and here on the blog. We spent the first quarter of the year finishing up the renovations at my husband’s new clinic space, moved in, and now I’m working full time at the office with him. I enjoy it, but it’s taking a bit of time to fall back into a new routine. Reading took a hit in February because of the renovations, but has picked back up, and y’all I don’t know what was going on in January, but I haven’t read that much in one month since I started blogging 😂
Since the start of the year, I’ve read a total of 33 books which puts me right on track for meeting my goals by the end of the year. So far, I’m doing decent on my challenges. Not my best year, mainly because I suck at following directions 🤣 Check out my progress below!
The 2023 Audiobook Challenge is hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer & That’s What I’m Talking About. This challenge is all about listening whether you are new to audiobooks or an audiophile. You can sign up anytime between now and December 31, 2023. My goal for this year is Marathoner (50+ audiobooks) or to read one audiobook a week. I am kicking this challenge’s butt 🙌 Since January 1st, I’ve listened to 19 audiobooks. Here are the audiobooks I’ve listened to so far:
- Shades of Wicked by Jeaniene Frost – ★★★★★
- Well Met by Jen DeLuca – ★★★★
- Year of the Reaper by Makiia Lucier – ★★★★★
- Wicked Bite by Jeaniene Frost – ★★★★★
- Well Played by Jen DeLuca – ★★★★
- The Princess and the Scoundrel by Beth Revis – ★★★★★
- Wicked All Night by Jeaniene Frost – ★★★
- Float Plan by Trish Doller – ★★★★
- Well Matched by Jen DeLuca – ★★★★★
- Hounded by Kevin Hearne – ★★★★
- The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker – ★★★★
- Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca – ★★★★★
- An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn – ★★★★★
- Hexed by Kevin Hearne – ★★★★
- Neanderthal Seeks Human by Penny Reid – ★★★★
- The Empress of Time by Kylie Lee Baker – ★★★★
- Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell – ★★★★
- The Cousins by Karen M. McManus – ★★★★★
- The Suite Spot by Trish Doller – ★★★★
The 2023 Backlist Reader Challenge is hosted by the Bookwyrm’s Hoard, and I swear this one is made for me. The point of this challenge is to read those backlist books, published prior to 2022. You can sign up anytime between now and December 31, 2023. My goal for this year is to read 25 books from my TBR, and I’ve managed to read 19…I think I’m going to have to up my goal 😂 Here are the books I’ve read so far this year:
- Shades of Wicked by Jeaniene Frost – ★★★★★
- The Raven and the Rush by Sarah M. Cradit – ★★★★
- Well Met by Jen DeLuca – ★★★★
- The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams – ★★★★★
- Year of the Reaper by Makiia Lucier – ★★★★★
- Wicked Bite by Jeaniene Frost – ★★★★★
- Well Played by Jen DeLuca – ★★★★
- Wicked All Night by Jeaniene Frost – ★★★
- Float Plan by Trish Doller – ★★★★
- Well Matched by Jen DeLuca – ★★★★★
- Hounded by Kevin Hearne – ★★★★
- The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker – ★★★★
- Rebel Wing by Tracy Banghart – ★★★★
- Storm Fall by Tracy Banghart – ★★★★
- Torn Sky by Tracy Banghart – ★★★★
- Hexed by Kevin Hearne – ★★★★
- Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell – ★★★★
- The Cousins by Karen M. McManus – ★★★★★
- The Suite Spot by Trish Doller – ★★★★
The 2023 Finishing the Series Reading Challenge is hosted by my friend at Celebrity Readers. This is one of my favorite challenges. I am a series addict. I love sitting down on a weekend or taking a whole week and bingeing a series, whether it be two books or ten. The goal of this series is to finish or catch up on a series that you’ve fallen behind on. You can sign up anytime between now and December 31, 2023. My goal this year is to be an A-List Series Finisher (9 or more series). So far, I’ve read 1 book for this challenge, completing or catching up on 0 series. Here are the series I’ve completed/caught up on:
- None yet 🙁
The 2023 Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge is hosted by Kim & Tanya of GirlXOXO. The goal is to read at least one book a month with at least one of that month’s keywords in the title. You can sign up anytime through December 31st. I love a good challenge, and my goal for this one is to read at least one book a month with the keyword prompts. During the 1st quarter, I managed to read 1 from my TBR that matched the monthly keywords 🫣 I’ll do better next quarter and remember to check the keywords! Here are the books I’ve read so far:
January:
February
- None
March
- None
The 2023 NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge is hosted by Socrates Book Reviews. This challenge is for all reviewers out there that may be behind (like me) on reading those arcs or just want to improve their NetGalley percentage. You can sign up anytime through December 31, 2023. My main goal is to raise my NetGalley percentage to above 80%. To do this I need to read a minimum of 82 books this year, so I’ve set my goal to Platinum (75 books). So far this year, I’ve read 9 books from my NetGalley backlist. I started the year off strong, reading old NetGalley arcs, but then a bunch of new ones came in and I’ve slacked off again 🤦🏼♀️ Here are the books I’ve read this quarter:
- End of Story by Kylie Scott – ★★★★
- Riven by Mindee Arnett – ★★★½
- Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim – ★★★★★
- Salt and Sugar by Rebecca Carvalho – ★★★★
- Float Plan by Trish Doller – ★★★★
- The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker – ★★★★
- Rebel Wing by Tracy Banghart – ★★★★
- Storm Fall by Tracy Banghart – ★★★★
- The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway by Ashley Schumacher – ★★★★
The 2023 New Release Challenge is hosted by (un)Conventional Bookworms. This challenge is all about reading those new releases, anything published during the new year counts. You can sign up anytime through December 31, 2023. As I’m focusing more on reading backlist books this year, I set my goal slightly lower than normal. My goal for this year is New Release Pro (31-60 books). I’ve read 6 new releases since the beginning of the year. Here are the new releases I read during the 1st quarter:
- Riven by Mindee Arnett – ★★★½
- Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim – ★★★★★
- The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway by Ashley Schumacher – ★★★★
- Forget Me Not by Julie Soto – ★★★★
- A Clash of Queens by L.J. Higgins and Michelle Bryan – ★★★★
- Bewitched by Laura Thalassa – ★★★★★
Your Turn! Are you participating in any reading challenges this year? If so, are you meeting your reading goals? Share below
You’re doing fantastic on The Backlist Reader Challenge, and the Audiobook Challenge! Well done!
My NetGalley goal isn’t as ambitious as yours, but I had a similar experience – started out strong, then got sidetracked and also focused on newer books. Oh, well, maybe I will do better next month.
Lark @ The Bookwyrm’s Hoard recently posted…Hexed, by Kevin Hearne
You’re doing a lot of challenges! But you’re also doing pretty good at keeping up on most of them. I used to do a September is for Sequels challenge. I have so many series I am behind on! I’m at 79% on Netgalley, need to read a lot of the back list from before I knew that percentage was a thing!
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature) recently posted…Release Blitz: Playing by the Rules by Monica Murphy