The Reading Challenges I will attempt in 2023 | Join Me!

In 2022, I surprised myself by reading 103 books in one year. I was just shy of my goal of reading two books a week (104), but it solidified what I had tentatively proved to myself in 2021: I love to read. Like many adults, after college — really high school — I stopped reading as much. Instead, I found myself bogged down by work, school, or whatever other excuse I had at the time. In 2021, I picked up Stealing Home, and I really enjoyed it. Little did I know, I’d pick up the second quickly after, leading me down the spiral of finishing the 11 book series. Before reading Stealing Home, I’d been slowly falling in love with romance (I’d picked up Jasmine Guillory’s The Proposal and began to understand the world that was romance “series” without actually having to read the books in series). I loved getting to read old characters in new books; I was visiting old friends. I read more Romance than any other genre last year, and that trend will likely continue.

In the past years, I’ve only held myself to reading a certain number of books. I’ve been attempting the Goodreads Challenge for five years now, and I will continue to do so in 2023, though I’m trying to shift more towards The Storygraph. I joined The Storygraph in 2022, and I’m excited to watch it grow! I plan to read 75 books this year, and with seven down, I think I’m off to a good start. Still, I want to do a little more with my reading. Enter the reading challenge.

Reading Challenge Options

This year, I hope to branch out a bit with my reading by completing a new type of challenge. I did a lot of research, starting with this master list of 2023 Reading Challenges. I ended up narrowing it down to four choices:

The OxFam Reading Challenge

Book Riot’s 2023 Reading Challenge

Romanceopoly

and the 2023 Popsugar Reading Challenge.

Because I’m indecisive, I took to Instagram for a vote, and came out with a three way tie. In the end, I decided to go with The OxFam Reading Challenge because 1. it came from an organization with a cool mission, and 2. they had some fun graphics, and 3. they DM’ed me on Instagram. I also think I will be loosely attempting Book Riot’s because their prompts are just so cool! I do want to attempt Romanceopoly at some point, it’s right up my alley, but for now, I’ll resist.

Another Type of Challenge

On the same list, I stumbled upon the Netgalley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge. I also started doing reviews on NetGalley last year, and I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s something I want to continue in 2022, and post consistently on my website. I’m going in at the Bronze level and aiming to review at least 10 books this year on Netgalley. Maybe I’ll check out Edelweiss as well!

I think I’ll host each of my challenges on a different page, so soon those will be linked. Until then, let me know if you’re attempting any reading challenges this year. Happy 2023 and happy reading!