As we all know by now, 2019 is half over (gasp). As bloggers, we can look at this two ways: either the glass is half full or it’s half empty. Or in other words, “I still have six months to read all the 2019 books I can” versus “I can’t believe I’ve read less than thirty books so far this year, how will I ever make my Goodreads challenge?”
I’ve decided to look at the second half of the year differently: with some determination. I’ve chosen five books that I missed reading when they first came out, for whatever reason, books that I am determined to read by the end of the year. Books that I am desperate to read! There are actually way more than five books that fit this category, but I’m making things easy on myself and keeping this challenge to a doable number.
I’m calling this a “Rewind Challenge” because I’m essentially rewinding back to books that are already out in the world. I’ve chosen each for a particular reason, which I’ll share below:
Jade City by Fonda Lee. Sent to me by the publisher but I suck and I never read it:-( And because the sequel is about to come out and I just requested the sequel from the publisher (I told you I suck!), I thought I’d better read this. Also, I’ve read some amazing reviews! Maddelena from Space and Sorcery reviewed it here, and Caitlin from Realms of My Mind loved it as well!
An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon. I didn’t even know about this book until I received it in a subscription box a couple of years ago. And then everywhere I turned, people were talking about how amazing it was. Thomas from SFF180 loved it here, and Evelina from Avalinah’s Books really loved it!
You Die When You Die by Angus Watson. Orbit kindly sent me this long after publication, when I gushed about how much I wanted to read it on another blog. And unfortunately, I could never fit it into my reading schedule. Too bad, because everyone seems to love it, including Mosgy from Bibliosanctum and Lynn from Lynn’s Books!
Gosh, there is so much love out there for Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill. I never managed to snag a review copy, but it’s always been in the back of my mind to read it one day. Check out these glowing reviews: Bonnie from For the Love of Words (Bonnie is very picky so whenever she gives a book 4 stars, I sit up and take notice!) and Lisa from Way Too Fantasy.
And finally, Hell Divers by Nicholas Sansbury Smith. It’s funny, because the publisher of this series (Blackstone Publishing) has sent me, unsolicited, copies of Hell Divers III, IV and V. I think they’re trying to tell me something! And so it was with glee that I ordered a copy of the first book to read for this challenge. Two bloggers in particular have entertained me for the past few years with their love of this series: Kristen from Metaphors and Moonlight and Daniela from Bookiverse (I’m linking her Goodreads review because I couldn’t find it on her blog).
Oooo, I like this a lot! And there’s some great books there! Can’t wait to read your reviews. 😀
I hope I really can do this challenge, because it makes me sad that I haven’t read these yet:-)
Oh hey, Hell Divers! Lol. It really is a great series, I hope you love it 🙂
Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight recently posted…Book Review: Dark Lord of the Night (Dark Destinies Book 2) by S.K. Ryder
I can’t wait, Kristen. Hell Divers might be a few months away, but I WILL read it!
I FINALLY got to Kings of the Wyld.
I hope you enjoyed it! Now you can read the sequel:-)
Jade City is one of my favorites of 2019 – I’m dying for Jade War! I hope you enjoy them, Tammy. Happy reading!
Yay, I can’t wait!
What a great idea! Jade City is so neat, I hope you love it (I think you will)! I’ve heard a lot of great things about An Unkindness of Ghosts as well, it’s one I would like to check out sometime also. And wow, it sounds like Blackstone really wants you to read that series, haha! I hope you have a great time with all of these books. 🙂
Thanks! I don’t think I can lose with any of these, which is why I picked them. Now to get started reading…
I love the idea of a rewind challenge! There are so many books I meant to read earlier this year when they came out but didn’t get to! Good luck 🙂
It happens to all of us, there’s just never enough time to fit everything in:-/
I think this is an awesome idea. I think this happens to so many of us so it’s great that you’ve found a fun way to tackle it. Maybe I’ll see if I can at least commit to three and do it right along with you!
I’ve tried it before and failed miserably, so we’ll see!
I’ll hold you accountable for Jade City. Curious to know what you think! I haven’t read it myself… something about it keeps putting me off though it seems to get rave reviews.
I enjoyed Sea of Rust for the most part. It’s pretty funny and keeps a good pace. Hope you love them all!
Yes, I hope you do hold me accountable! That will make me work even harder to read it:-)
Sorry I didn’t mean to sound like your mom lol- i know we are all way overcommitted. I just meant I’ll bug you about it later in the year… lol.
Hey feel free! I’ll probably need some reminders:-)
I love the idea of this challenge, Tammy! It’s so hard to read all the books we request and receive, and we bloggers desperately want to and have the best intentions. I hope you love these and look forward to your reviews!
I hope I can actually fit these in! I do want to take back some control over what I read, and I often feel review books prevent me from doing that.
Oh yea. I’d like to try You Die When You Die too. I really like the title and am just curious.
It’s supposed to be really good, and I swear there’s like four or five books already in the series, I’m so behind!
Great idea! I’m going to do this, so consider me on board for joining you 😀 I just need to put together a list of books now, I think I’ll aim for 6. One backlist book per month until the end of the year is reasonable, right? LOL…
Anyway Jade City is definitely going to be one of my books, because I’m hoping to catch up before the second book comes out too.
I started with six books, because I had the same thought, one a month, but then the sixth book I wanted to add, I couldn’t find!! lol so it became five books;-)
You Die When You Die is one of the books I’ve wanted to read for a long, long time, so I will take advantage o f your post to remind myself of that promise… 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…Review: VELOCITY WEAPON (The Protectorate #1), by Megan O’Keefe
Awesome, we can push each other along to get those pesky books read:-)
Deal! 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…Short Story Review: LIFE SENTENCE, by Matthew Baker
I think I’ll join you with this too – it’s such a good idea although it will probably make me feel really bad when I see all the books I’ve got to catch up with. Still, I’m going to stick to five and see if I can make it happen.
I’ve read two off your list and highly recommend both – You Die When you Die and Sea of Rust.
Lynn 😀
Cool, I hope we both succeed!
I love your challenge. There are so many books that I say I’m dying to read and then they come out into the world and sit on my bookshelf for 6 months before I touch them. Looking at my shelves now, I should probably do a similar challenge, lol.
Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra recently posted…Can’t Wait Wednesday – THE GOOD LUCK GIRLS by Charlotte Nicole Davis
I’ve tried these types of challenges before and I’ve never been successful, but I’m pretty determined this time!
Great idea, I hope you love Sea of Rust as much as I did. I’m also going to focusing on some backlist books later on in the year, feels like I’m always playing catch up! 🙂
You and me both! I’m always behind:-/
Count me in for Jade City and An Unkindness of Ghosts! They’re both on my conscience and you know I can’t resist a buddy read 🙂
My specific reading obligations / deadlines are done now (or at least down to negotiable/manageable levels where I can easily fit a buddy read around them) so let me know when you’re thinking of lining them up and I should be good to go.
I’ll keep that in mind! I was trying to get Jade City read this month, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to. Maybe we can plan on August?
August sounds good 🙂
I just read Jade City and I loved it. So good~ (I also requested Jade War and was approved so I needed to read this haha).
Good luck. I hope you manage to get to all 5 of them.
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Oh good, I’m so happy to hear you loved Jade City!
I personally fall into the, “Oh no, why haven’t I read all the books yet this year? What am I doing with my life?!” category. I like your outlook much better. xD This is such a great selection of books! I still want to read An Unkindness of Ghosts, too. I look forward to your review of it. You Die When You Die sounds like a really good read, too. I hope they end up being as great as you expect they’ll be. 🙂
Sammie @ The Writerly Way recently posted…Favorite Literary Villains (Because Sometimes It’s Good To Be Bad)
Me too, I feel like these five books have been making me feel so guilty for the last year or so, that I’m pretty sure I’ll love them all:-)
I love the idea of this post! Look at you being half-full AND prioritizing some backlist books, too. Jade City is on my list for the end of the year for sure, not sure what other ones I would have to pick. I will have to do some thinking about this!
Kal @ Reader Voracious recently posted…Immunity (Contagion #2) by Erin Bowman
I’ve been thinking about it for a while, now the trick is to actually follow through;-)