My 2023 Reading Challenge Wrap Up

I have a confession to make. While I started off on the right foot with my 2023 challenges, I lost my focus early on. It is fortunate I tend to choose challenges and set goals that fit my regular reading patterns or else I might not have done so well with all of them. I am proud to say I did even better than I expected, especially in terms of reading books from my TBR shelves and wish list. 

With an overflowing TBR pile I hoped to whittle down a little more this year, I signed up for the Mount TBR Challenge hosted by My Reader's Block. I kept my goal on the lower side to allow myself room for those shiny new books I have trouble resisting as well. My goal: Pike's Peak (read 12 books I already own - prior to 2022). Final 2023 Count: 27 (Mount Blanc)

 Books Read:
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
Shadow and Bone (#1) by Leigh Bardugo
Flunked (Fairy Tale Reform School #1) by Jen Calonita
Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre edited by Tracy Chevalier
Speaker of the Lost (Lark Nation #1) by Clara Coulson
Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood by Lisa Damour
Well Played (Well Met #2) by Jen DeLuca
Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer 
Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Keeper of the Lost Cities (#1) by Shannon Messenger
Exile (Keeper of the Lost Cities #2) by Shannon Messenger
Everblaze (Keeper of the Lost Cities #3) by Shannon Messenger
Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities #4) by Shannon Messenger
Lodestar (Keeper of the Lost Cities #5) by Shannon Messenger
Nightfall (Keeper of the Lost Cities #6) by Shannon Messenger
The Deep End (The Country Club Murders #1) by Julie Mulhern
Falling by T.J. Newman
A Perilous Undertaking (Veronica Speedwell #2) by Deanna Raybourn
Immortal in Death (#3) by J.D. Robb
Rapture in Death (#4) by J.D. Robb
The Moon Within by Aida Salazar
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Mrs. Morris and the Witch (Salem B&B Mystery #2) by Traci Wilton

Much like the Mount TBR Challenge, I decided to tackle The Backlist Reader Challenge hosted by The Bookwyrm's Hoard to get through some of my older TBR and wish list books.  My goal: Read 10 books from my wish list/TBR pile that have been there since 2021. Final 2023 Count: 33

Books Read:

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
The Secret of Bow Lane (Kat Holloway #6) by Jennifer Ashley
Shadow and Bone (#1) by Leigh Bardugo
Siege and Storm (Shadow and Bone #2) by Leigh Bardugo
Ruin and Rising (Shadow and Bone #2) by Leigh Bardugo
Six of Crows (#1) by Leigh Bardugo
Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) by Leigh Bardugo
Flunked (Fairy Tale Reform School #1) by Jen Calonita
Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre edited by Tracy Chevalier
Speaker of the Lost (Lark Nation #1) by Clara Coulson
Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood by Lisa Damour
Well Played (Well Met #2) by Jen DeLuca
Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer 
Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Keeper of the Lost Cities (#1) by Shannon Messenger
Exile (Keeper of the Lost Cities #2) by Shannon Messenger
Everblaze (Keeper of the Lost Cities #3) by Shannon Messenger
Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities #4) by Shannon Messenger
Lodestar (Keeper of the Lost Cities #5) by Shannon Messenger
Nightfall (Keeper of the Lost Cities #6) by Shannon Messenger
The Deep End (The Country Club Murders #1) by Julie Mulhern
Falling by T.J. Newman
A Perilous Undertaking (Veronica Speedwell #2) by Deanna Raybourn
Immortal in Death (#3) by J.D. Robb
Rapture in Death (#4) by J.D. Robb
The Moon Within by Aida Salazar
A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic #2) by V.E. Schwab
Guts (Smile #3) by Raina Telgemeier
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Mrs. Morris and the Witch (Salem B&B Mystery #2) by Traci Wilton

 

I seem to read more nonfiction when I take part in the Nonfiction Reading Challenge hosted by Book'd Out and, wanting to make at least a small dent in my nonfiction TBR stack, I jumped at the chance to take part this year. My goal: Nonfiction Nipper (at least 3 books). Final 2023 Count: 7 (Nonfiction Nibbler)

Books Read: 

Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer 

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson

Guts (Smile #3) by Raina Telgemeier

How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith

We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys by Erin Kimmerle

Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood by Lisa Damour

Life Lessons from a UFO Catcher: An Autobiographical Manga, Vol. 1 by Kenny Loui and Yamawe

In an effort to get back into reading historical fiction this year, I took on the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge hosted by The Intrepid Reader. I love that this particular challenge is fairly broad in scope--any genre works as long as it qualifies as historical. My goal: Victorian Level (at least 5 books). Final 2023 Count: 10 (Renaissance Reader)

Books Read: 

The Secret of Bow Lane (Kat Holloway #6) by Jennifer Ashley
Murder at a London Finishing School (Beryl & Edwina Mystery #7) by Jessica Ellicott
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (#1) by Heather Fawcett
A Botanist's Guide to Flowers and Fatality (Saffron Everleigh Mystery #2) by Kate Khavari
The Deep End (The Country Club Murders #1) by Julie Mulhern
The London Séance Society by Sarah Penner
A Perilous Undertaking (Veronica Speedwell #2) by Deanna Raybourn
How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith
Playing It Safe (Electra McDonnell #3) by Ashley Weaver
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

The Bookish Books Reading Challenge hosted by Bloggin' 'bout Books sounded too good to resist being that I enjoy books with bookish themes! My goal: Toe in the Door (read between 1-10 books with a bookish theme). I feel like I cheated with this one because I read six volumes of a manga series, but if ever there was a manga series focused on books (including the care and repairing of them), this one would be it. Final 2023 Count: 11 (Picking and Perusing)

Books Read: 

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

Exes & O's by Amy Lea

Magus of the Library, Vol. 1 by Mitsu Izumi (translated by Hiroto Hamada)

Magus of the Library, Vol. 2 by Mitsu Izumi (translated by Hiroto Hamada)

Magus of the Library, Vol. 3 by Mitsu Izumi (translated by Hiroto Hamada)

Magus of the Library, Vol. 4 by Mitsu Izumi (translated by Hiroto Hamada)

Magus of the Library, Vol. 5 by Mitsu Izumi (translated by Hiroto Hamada)

Magus of the Library, Vol. 6 by Mitsu Izumi (translated by Hiroto Hamada)

The Fatal Folio (Cambridge Bookshop #3) by Elizabeth Penney

Witch Upon a Star (Witch Way Librarian Series #4) by Angela Sanders

Murder by the Seashore (California Bookshop #1) by Samara Yew

I cannot seem to get enough of cozy mysteries these days, and so joined the Cruisin' thru the Cozies Reading Challenge hosted by Socrates' Book Reviews. My goal: Snoop (10 Cozies of my choice). Final 2023 Count: 13

Books Read:

The Secret of Bow Lane (Kat Holloway #6) by Jennifer Ashley
Death by Demo (Renovations Mystery #1) by Callie Carpenter
Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun (Finlay Donovan #3) by Elle Cosimano
Murder at a London Finishing School (Beryl & Edwina Mystery #7) by Jessica Ellicott
A Botanist's Guide to Flowers and Fatality (Saffron Everleigh Mystery #2) by Kate Khavari
The Deep End (The Country Club Murders #1) by Julie Mulhern
The Fatal Folio (Cambridge Bookshop #3) by Elizabeth Penney
A Perilous Undertaking (Veronica Speedwell #2) by Deanna Raybourn
Witch Upon a Star (Witch Way Librarian Series #4) by Angela Sanders
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto 
The Vampire Knitting Club (#1) by Nancy Warren
Mrs. Morris and the Witch (Salem B&B Mystery #2) by Traci Wilton
Murder by the Seashore (California Bookshop #1) by Samara Yew

One of my personal goals this year was to read more poetry than I managed to read the year before, and I decided to join up with the Poetry Reading Challenge hosted by Savvy Verse & Wit again for a little extra motivation. My goal: 3 poetry books and a poem a day from A Nature Poem for Every Night of the Year by Jane McMorland Hunter. Well, I did not follow through with reading a poem a day from Hunter's anthology, but I did better with the other half of my goal. Final 2023 Count: 4 poetry collections

Find Her. Keep Her. by Renaada Williams

The Moon Within by Aida Salazar

Mom, Can I Do My Laundry at Your House?: Poems from Your Adult Child by Olivia Roberts

Flutter, Kick by Anna V.Q. Ross

I figured COYER Challenge hosted by Because Reading, Mom With A Reading Problem, and Once Upon a Chapter would be an easy reading challenge to take on, especially the first Chapter: It's a Cold Summer (January through April), in which anything goes. I never officially signed up for Chapters 2 and 3 despite my intention to. I did not set a numeric goal for this challenge. I just wanted to have fun with it. 

Books Read (Chapter 1): 

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

The Secret of Bow Lane (Kat Holloway #6) by Jennifer Ashley

Shadow and Bone (#1) by Leigh Bardugo

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun (Finlay Donovan #3) by Elle Cosimano

Speaker of the Lost (Lark Nation #1) by Clara Coulson

Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer 

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson

Exes & O's by Amy Lea

Guts (Smile #3) by Raina Telgemeier

Find Her. Keep Her. by Renaada Williams

The Deep End (The Country Club Murders #1) by Julie Mulhern

A Perilous Undertaking (Veronica Speedwell #2) by Deanna Raybourn

The Vampire Knitting Club (#1) by Nancy Warren

Witch Hat Atelier, Vol, 10 by Kamome Shirahama (translated by Stephen Kohler)

Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune

This past summer, I took part in the Big Book Summer Challenge hosted by Sue of Book By Book. The challenge was to read one, two or however many books I chose that were over 400 pages long between May 25th and September 4th. I did not set a numeric goal. Final 2023 Count: 5

Books Read: 

Keeper of the Lost Cities (#1) by Shannon Messenger (544 pages)

Exile (Keeper of the Lost Cities #2) by Shannon Messenger (592 pages)

Everblaze (Keeper of the Lost Cities #3) by Shannon Messenger (609 pages)

Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities #4) by Shannon Messenger (672 pages)

A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic #2) by V.E. Schwab (513 pages)

And there you have it! I managed to complete all the challenges I signed up for (at least officially), even surpassing my goals for most of them. At least in terms of reading the books, even if not managing to post all the reviews. For me, that's a win. 

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