My Own 2019 Reading Challenge

In December and January, I saw a lot of Reading Challenges floating around. I liked the idea behind them, but it seemed a bit odd to commit to someone else’s idea of how and what to read. So, I decided to make my own personalized challenge, based on the kinds of things I’d like to read more of and the kinds of things that will help me tear through my own TBR list.

I settled on a checklist of 24, because it’s a nice even number to cover over the 12 months. I think I usually average about 40 books a year, so it also leaves plenty of room for overlap and random picks. This is really just about having a guideline when I’m choosing what to read next 🙂

Here’s what I came up with:

1. Complete a series I’ve started (I’m SO BAD at this!)
2. A physical book (I’m a big e-reader for a lot of reasons, but I have books on my physical shelf that need to get read)
3. A non-fiction book (After Undergrad, Grad, and Post-Grad studies… I completely abandoned any book resembling a textbook. I’ve been reading fiction-only ever since)
4. A classic
5. An LGBTQ+ author (for diverse voices)
6. A protagonist with a disability (for diverse voices)
7. A debut author (to support newbies)
8. A book by a podcaster I listen to (Many podcasts I listen to are hosted by authors I’ve never explored… crazy, right?!)
9. A male author (I default to women; looking to expand)
10. A book from inside a culture / community I don’t belong to
11. A random book from my Goodreads TBR (my backlog is huge)
12. A random book from my Kindle Library (I buy books and forget about them pretty often…)
13. A book I’ve DNF’d in the past (someone out there must deserve a second chance)
14. A book adapted to a movie / TV show I like (visit the source)
15. A book being adapted for screen (always fun)
16. A curious Goodreads recommendation (I’m so skeptical of some of these… we shall see)
17. A book that’s been on my TBR list for at least 2 years
18. An epic fantasy (It’s weird that I’ve never read one)
19. A 2019 release
20. A book someone bought for me
21. A Judy Blume book (I’ve never read a Blume book. Odd.)
22. A book about a woman in her 30s (This seems hard to find…)
23. A book about a natural disaster
24. A book about a pandemic

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Excited to tear through that Goodreads TBR and find some unexpected faves 🙂

If you have any recommendations, please leave them in the comments!