2013 Reading Challenges

Drum roll please...  I've chosen my 2013 Reading Challenges!  I really pushed it to the last minute this time but I finally came up with a group of challenges that I'm happy with.  I ended up very happy with my 2012 book challenges and really learned from my huge 2011 book challenge fail.
In the past two years, I've learned...
1. Challenges can put a lot o pressure on me if I let them.
2. Challenges can get me out of a reading funk.
3.  If I push myself, challenges can be exciting.
4.  Audiobooks really help with challenge completion.
So let's talk about 2013 challenges.

1.  First up I've got the Goodreads challenge.  I love this challenge because it keeps up with the books I read each year.  It also helps at the end of the year when it is time to do "Best of..." posts.  I can look back through the year to see what I read.  This year I did well with this challenge, completing 104 books.  My goal was set for 75.  This year, I'm raising my goal to 85.  I'm not quite ready to set my goal at 100 because I face another year of uncertainty when it comes to my schedule.  So 85 to play it safe.

2.  Audiobooks Challenge (hosted by Teresa's Reading Corner).  I should have participated in this challenge this year. I listened to 26 books on audio this year (if that's impressive, you should see the miles I put on my car).  I'm going for a similar number this year.  I've chosen the Lover level, which calls for 25 audios.

3.  Sequel Challenge (hosted by Auntie Spinelli Reads).  You can set your own goals with this challenge and I have high aspirations.  I've chosen to shoot for 20 sequels.  This sounds like quite a bit, but I have tons of sequels on deck this year AND it will go hand in hand with my plans for another challenge.


4.  Dystopia Challenge (hosted by Bookish Ardour).  I completed the Contagion level (15 books) this year and had a blast.  BUT I'm leery of completing another 15 dystopian reads.  Ehhh... I don't want to ruin a good experience.  The next lowest level is 5 books so that's what I'm going for.

5.  Romantic Suspense Challenge (hosted by The Book Vixen).  I've got big plans for this particular challenge.  This challenge calls for reading 13 romantic suspense books in 2013.  My plan is that all 13 of these books come from the In Death series by J.D. Robb.  This way I don't feel guilty for reading this series when I should be doing other things.  Plus this would also cross over into the sequel challenge.  See.  I have a plan.
6.  TBR Pile Challenge (hosted by 6 hosts, including Bookish).  Last but certainly not least, I've got to continue to do something about my TBR pile.  I loved this challenge this year but I wasn't planning on joining again because there were so many hosts and I couldn't keep up with anything about this challenge.  But this year there appear to be only 6 hosts so I think I might be able to figure that out.  I will again shoot for the level called A Firm Handshake which calls for reading 10 books from my TBR.  I really should go higher because I purchased at least 10 books (probably more) in these last couple of weeks.  But...well... I'm not going to go higher because I'm just like that.
While I've picked up a few more challenges this time around, this group overlaps more than my group from this year.  Hopefully this will result in me stretching myself enough to make it fun but not enough to feel stressed out.  Plus I want to start accepting new review requests by February.  But that's a whole 'nother thing altogether.
I considered the following challenges but had to let them go for my peace of mind.
1.  Witches and witchcraft (hosted by Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf).  This one seemed like it would stretch my reading choices the way that the dystopia challenge did for me this year.  Ultimately, I didn't have a ready list of books to choose from and when I had to make some cuts, it had to go.
2.  The Eclectic Reading Challenge (hosted by Book'd Out).  I participated in this challenge this year and it was relatively easy.  Next year it looks like it will be more challenging which really excited me.  The new categories mean that I wouldn't complete this challenge in the normal course of my reading.  Ultimately, I just had to make some cuts and since I did this one already, I decided to go with something new.
3.  Bookish New Year's Resolutions Challenge (hosted by Butterfly-o-Meter Books).  I failed this challenge miserably this year.  I had the audacity to include resolutions that were absolutely measurable.  Like...reply to comments within 48 hours and reply to review requests within two weeks time.  All perfectly reasonable goals that I started to fail around January 2nd.  When you pick a challenge like this... there isn't really room for "catching up."  Being the person that I am I really can't deal with challenges like this unless I include resolutions that I've already accomplished.  I do this in real life but...ehh probably  shouldn't lie to myself here.
And that's it...for now.
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