2020 Reading Challenges I’m joining 📚

Hello fellow bookworms 📚 It’s time for one of my favorite posts of the beginning year: announcing what Reading Challenges I’ll be joining in 2020! Just like Readathons, I adore Reading Challenges so much because they are fun (with cool features), boost my reading and foster interact with other readers. This year I couldn’t resist joining a bunch, based on what I want to focus my reading on and which challenges spoke to me. I’ll be doing another separate post this week to talk about the TBR for my own Reading challenge, the Out of Comfort Zone 2020 Reading Challenge, as this post is already long and I want to go more in-depth in my own challenge plans 🥰 I’ve included some information about the 2020 Challenges I’m joining (please always see the announcement post I linked for further information, as I couldn’t include all the information) and featured my tentative TBR. All images used (be it banners or extra badges) were made by the Challenge Host(s) that I have linked!!

Quick 2019 Reading Challenge Checkin ✅

• I read 152 books out of my 65 book target for my Goodreads Reading Challenge
• I only read 3 out of my 10 Book 2019 TBR though 😂😅
• I read 32 books for YARC, gaining the Giant Panda badge 💗
• I read 71 books for the Library Love Challenge, gaining the highest level: Library Card on Fire 💌
• I read 25 from 32 books on my Moody Reader Challenge TBR, I  completed TBR’s for the following TBR’s: Space Books, Historical Fiction, Library Books & Mental Health 📚

2020 Reading Challenge Index 📚

1. Goodreads Reading Challenge
2. Library Love Challenge
3. #StartOnYourShelfathon
4. #YARC2020
5. Here & Queerathon

Goodreads Reading Challenge 📖

This year my aim is to read 65 Books like in the last years because it’s how many books I read when I finally got back to reading – so the number is special to me 😊 I also like it because it’s easily attainable for me and doesn’t put any pressure on me if reading should slow down for some reason. I’d rather feel relaxing about my challenge than stressing me out. {Also: we FINALLY got a greenish Goodreads Reading Challenge Color 💚 Though my mom believes it’s blue 😂 I’d call it a sea green}

Library Love Challenge 💌

Like last year I’ll be joining the Library Love Challenge hosted by Angel’s Guilty Pleasures and Books of my Heart! Now sadly, I’ll be moving in March (away from my amazing library) and not have a good library until at least October when I (hopefully) start my Master studies, so I want to make the most of my library in the first three months of the year! I also can read the e-books my library provides, as my library card is valid until October. Still, my heart breaks thinking about how I won’t be able to read all the books I want in the short amount of time I have left. Yet, I want to read as much as I can, as reading so much from the library has been truly incredible in 2019! I probably won’t reach the highest level (Library Card on Fire) again, but for now, I’m aiming for Thrifty Reader (24 books read) 💌

Guidelines (provided by the hosts) 💌
The Challenge runs January 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020. You can join anytime.
The sign-up will remain open until Dec. 31st, 2020.

• Put a signup post on your blog or (dedicate a Goodreads shelf or LibraryThing) and link it in the linky below.  Make sure it’s public.
• Please link back to both challenge hosts and include the challenge button in your sign-up posts.
• The goal is to read at least twelve (12) books from the library, but you can read more.  While twelve is the minimum; there is no maximum limit.  See the different levels below and pick the one that works best for you.
• Any format will work for this challenge (prints, ebooks, or audios); as long as you checked it out from the library, it counts.
• Books can be any genre (fiction, nonfiction, romance, fantasy, mystery, thriller, horror, etc.).
• Crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed, including re-reads.  The goal is to support your local library and save money.
• Please use #LibraryLoveChallenge when sharing your reviews, library pictures …

Levels 💌

• Dewey Decimal: Read 12 books
• Thrifty Reader: Read 24 books
• Overdrive Junkie: Read 36 books
• Library Addict: Read 48 books
• Library Card on Fire: Read 60+ books

#StartOnYourShelfathon ⭐

#StartOnYourShelfathon is an amazing new Reading Challenge all about reading your owned unread books hosted by CW @ thequietpond! When I first saw the Challenge, I knew that I had to join because I loved the little story about adorable Castor the star collector (read more in the announcement post I’ve linked) and how you can create your own constellation by collecting differently colored stars for reading the books you own 😊 I also like that you can set your own goals for the challenge and decide how many unread owned books you want to tackle in 2020! I haven’t made my own constellation yet but I’ll do that once I’ve read some books!

How you can join (information provided by CW) ⭐

1. Join the StartOnYourShelfathon anytime between Dec 13th 2019 to Dec 31st 2020!
2. To join #StartOnYourShelfathon, create a blog post, bookstagram post, booktube video, Twitter thread, or whatever medium you wish, with ‘#StartOnYourShelfathon’ in the title or your tweet.
3. In your post/video/thread, announce that you will be participating in the readathon. List your readathon goals and the books you plan to read! (Post templates and readathon banners can be found in the readathon resources below!)
4. Link back to this post so that others can find this readathon and join in.

My #StartOnYourShelfathon Goal ⭐

My goal isn’t to read all the books on my physical TBR, as I don’t mind how many unread books (37 books including the books I just got for Christmas) I have on my shelves. I actually like having some unread owned books to fall back on (especially with moving and losing the majority of library access at the beginning of the year), but I do want to tackle some unread books that have been on myself for too long! I deeply dislike that some books from 3+ years ago are still sitting on my shelves and yet I’ve never picked them up. I definitely want to change that and I like that #StartOnYourShelfathon provides the possibility to set my own goal! So for now here are the Top 5 Books that have been on my shelf for 2-3 years and that I have been wanting to read forever. I definitely want to tackle them and then maybe some more books that have been on my shelves for long. Of course, I’ll also list any other unread owned books that I might pick up to read for the reading challenge.

• Magic Study (Maria V. Snyder) ⭐ on TBR since April 2016
• Half-Blood (Jennifer L. Armentrout) ⭐ on TBR since April 2016
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Laini Taylor) ⭐ on TBR since December 2016
• The Lies of Locke Lamora (Scott Lynch) ⭐ on TBR since April 2017
• The Queen’s Rising (Rebecca Ross) ⭐ on TBR since November 2017

#YARC2020 🐯

I’m so excited because #YARC is back in 2020!! The lovely challenge is all about reading books by Asian authors and is hosted by Lily @ sprinklesofdreams, CW @ thequietpond, Vicky @ vickywhoreads, and Shealea @ shutupshealea. I joined last year and it was honestly so much fun. I read way more books by Asian authors than I had anticipated, so immediately I knew that I wanted to attempt to do the challenge again this year. Honestly, the animal mascots are so adorable and there are a lot of features going on that you can join in 🥰 (everything is detailed in the announcement posts).

HOW TO JOIN (provided by the hosts) 🐯

1. Announce your intention to participate in YARC in any online platform (e.g. blog, Twitter, Goodreads) and create a progress tracker. Place the link to your progress tracker in our sign-up form below.
   1. If you’re a blogger, announce your participation via blog post, which will serve as your update post. Please make sure to link back to this sign-up post so that other people can join in, too!
   2. If you’re a reader without a blog, you can either create a Goodreads shelf that’s dedicated to the books for this challenge or create a Twitter thread for tracking. Use the hashtag (#YARC2020) for the latter! Please make sure to link back to this sign-up post so that other people can join in, too!
2. Select your target level and grab your badge! Display your badge on your blog, or share it on social media.
3. Start reading and keep track of your progress!
4. Share your updates on social media using the official hashtag: #YARC2020.

DAYS & DATES TO REMEMBER (provided by the hosts) 🐯

• Every first of the month: list of recommended books (for the monthly prompt)
• Every second of the month: the release of monthly link-up post
• Every 15th of the month: closing of previous monthly link-up post
• December 31, 2020: last day of the reading challenge
• January 1, 2021: announcement and contacting of giveaway winner

My #YARC2020 TBR

© CW @ thequietpond

This year I’m aiming for the Indian cobra (read 11-20 books 🐍) again, even though I surpassed the goal last time. However, I like to set my TBR a bit lower and I still very much like snakes (I find them so fascinating!), so I decide to take a more relaxing approach in 2020. This is why I have put 10 books on my TBR that I would like to read the most this year! Some are books I already own (or that I can get from the library) but there are also lots I would like to buy like Love from A to Z or We Hunt the Flame or Shadowsong, I’ve been meaning to read those, I’d so desperately like a copy 😭

• The Gilded Wolves (Roshani Chokshi) 
• The Crown’s Game (Evelyn Skye) 
• Rogue Heart (Axie Oh)
• 10 Things I Hate about Pinky (Sandhya Menon)
• The Storyteller (Traci Chee)
• Love from A to Z (S.K. Ali)
• Shadowsong (S. Jae-Jones)
• Blood of a Thousand Stars (Rhoda Belleza)
• Flame in the Mist (Reneé Ahdieh)
• We Hunt the Flame (Hafsah Faizal)

Here & Queerathon 🌈

I’m already happy to join a reading challenge that focuses on reading books by Asian authors, but I was incredibly happy to find that there was also a challenge focusing on LGBTQ representation in books. The Here and Queerathon is hosted by the lovely Mel @ cottoncandybookwitch and I’m more than happy to be joining in, especially as this is a very fun and relaxed reading challenge that has me focusing on reading queer books all year and not primarily only for Pride Month 😊

Information (provided by the host) 🌈

books that count

• books by queer authors
• books featuring queer representation not by queer authors
• books you START and FINISH in 2020 (books started in 2019 and finished in 2020 will NOT count)
• any backlist (2019 or before) and frontlist (2020) or ARCs by queer authors, audiobooks count too! so do comics and graphic novels! and poetry!
• basically, if it’s written by a queer author, it counts!

how to join

1. Announce your intention to join the Here & Queerathon on a social media platform of your choosing. This includes your blog, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, or anywhere you post on social media.
2. Use the sign-up form to sign up. 
3. Follow @HQueerathon on Twitter for updates. Share your update posts and reviews here and DM with any questions about the readathon or whether books count.
4. Use the hashtag #hereandqueerathon to discuss the reading challenge with the book community.
5. Start keeping track of the books you read on this form.

My Here & Queerathon TBR 🌈

I honestly love this graphic, it’s so colorful and perfectly fits in with the Readathon! As of right now, I have a 10 book TBR list with books that I’d like to read for the Readathon 🥰 I have tried to include what identities are represented as best as I could without having read the books. Some of the books on this list are definitely by queer authors but as finding out if a book is own voices can be tricky (sexual orientation is a personal thing that not every is in the position to want to or be able to share online) I’ve not indicated that on my list before. Nevertheless, I’m very excited to read about as many different perspectives as I can!

• The Gilded Wolves (Roshani Chokshi) 🌈 Bisexual MC’s
• Red, White and Royal Blue (Casey McQuiston) 🌈 Gay & Bisexual MC’s 
• Vengeful (V.E. Schwab) 🌈 Asexual MC 
• The Electric Heir (Victoria Lee) 🌈 Bisexual MC, Gay LI 
• Belle Révolte (Linsey Miller) 🌈 Biromantic Asexual MC
• King of Fools (Amanda Foody) 🌈 Bisexual MC
• Let’s Talk about Love (Claire Kann) 🌈 Biromantic asexual MC
• The Tower of Nero (Rick Riordan) 🌈 Bisexual MC
• These Witches Don’t Burn (Isabel Sterling) 🌈 Lesbian MC, Bi LI
• I Wish You All the Best (Mason Deaver) 🌈 Nonbinary MC, BI LI

Are you joining any of the challenges I mentioned? If so what is your TBR? What other challenges are you participating in? 📚