Reading Challenge

Notice how you get braver as you get older? Take on new challenges?

Well, it doesn’t amount to learning to ride a motorcycle at 55 years, but this year I went hunting for reading challenges, and although I did not catch either of these in December or even January, found two I wanted to try this year. I have gathered those books read beginning in 2018 and performed some serious catch-up. I have added a page I’m calling Reading Challenge to collect any new reads posted to either challenge so you can follow my progress during the year. (My Goodreads Challenge is 90 books and progress appears in the widget column to the right.)

The NetGalley and Edelweiss Challenge

In for a penny–in for a pound–and I went straight to the platinum level, which translates to 75 books for the year. Seventy-five books just from these two sources will definitely be a challenge for me. If you’d like to sign up for this challenge, click here.

Of course there are rules and guidelines (aren’t there always?):

• The challenge will run from Jan 1, 2018 – Dec 31, 2018.
• Anyone is welcome to join. You do not need to be a blogger, just post your reviews and come back every month to link them up on the roundup post.
• Any genre, release date, request date, length, etc. counts so long as it came from NetGalley or Edelweiss.
• If you forget to link up one month, it’s not a problem just add your reviews next month (like I did).
• You are allowed to move up or down levels at your discretion.
• If you have any questions tweet @BookishThings or e-mail bookishthingsandmore@yahoo.com!
• Use the Hashtag: #NGEW2018
• Levels consist of Bronze-10 Books, Silver-25 Books, Gold-50 Books, Platinum-75 Books, and Diamond-100 Books

Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge

This is an A to Z reading challenge moderated by Escape With Dollycas Into a Good Book. Simple Challenge, lots of details–you do not have to stick to a particular category–read whatever you want. You can also visit the challenge page HERE. Here are some details:

1. This challenge will run from January 1st, 2018 until December 31st, 2018.
2. You can join anytime. You do not have to post a review of the book. Books can come from any genre.
3. You do not need to link up each spoonful.
4. Make a page or a post or a Goodreads shelf where you will keep track of your spoonfuls. I will have mine on the Reading Challenge page with an A to Z list. (I also have it on my Goodreads shelf.) Add the books you are reading to the list. Towards the end of the year, you can check and see which letters you are missing and find books to fit.
5. For those of you who have a lengthy TBR list, you can make a list now of 26 books, picking one for each letter of the alphabet.
6. Crossovers to other challenges are allowed and encouraged!
7. The challenge is to read one book that has a title starting with every letter of the alphabet. The first main word needs to be the letter you are counting. You can drop the A’s and The’s from the book titles. Those miserable Q, X and Z titles can start with the challenge letter anywhere in the title.
8. Books can be read in any order and in all formats – print – e-book – audio! Non-bloggers are welcome to join! Set up a special shelf on Goodreads.com! (Just click the MY BOOKS tab at the top of the page then click ADD A SHELF in the left-hand sidebar and name it Alphabet Soup Challenge.)

There is also a very active group on Facebook (Alphabet Soup Challenge) where you can share your books any time throughout the year. 

Sign up for the Alphabet Soup Challenge using Google Forms. Sign Up Here, so that you will be informed about any changes to the challenge or about special events via email.

It’s not too late to start–just gather the books you’ve already read like I did and take the plunge! Heaven knows if I can, you can (I also said that about riding)! Join the fun, I love the competition! Photo attribution: (Shelves) CountryDoor.com ©V Williams