2023 Reading Challenges – 2nd Quarter Check-In

I’m trying hard to keep track of my reading challenges this year, something I don’t usually do. But I figured a quarterly check-in was the best way to track my progress and hold myself accountable, so here we are taking a look at the second quarter of 2023. And surprisingly, I’m doing pretty good! Here’s a recap of the challenges I’ve set for myself, and what I’ve been able to cross of the list:

1. 2023 Goodreads Challenge:

 

These are my stats at the end of June, and I feel very good about where I am at the halfway point of the year.

2. bookforager’s Picture Prompt Book Bingo 2023:

 

Check out Mayri’s post here if you want to join in too!

At halfway through the year, I’ve managed to fill in ten out of sixteen squares. (I’m counting squares from top to bottom, left to right)

1. A single flintlock gun – Lone Women by Victor LaValle. This horror/western takes place in the early twentieth century and has plenty of guns.

2. An idyllic looking castle – The Girl From Rawblood by Catriona Ward. Rawblood might not be idyllic, but it is a castle-like mansion, so I thought it would work.

4. A gnarly old tree – Gods of the Wyrdwood by R.J. Barker. The story revolves around a forest, so the tree image is perfect for this book.

5. A lion’s head door knocker – Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire. Since this is a story about different magical doors, I thought it would be perfect for this image.

11. A human brain – This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham. This YA horror story involves an epidemic where some people turn into cannibals. So there’s lots of eating of brains in this story!

12. Raven – Bad Cree by Jessica Johns. This is the perfect book for this prompt, which revolves around indigenous characters and themes, including crows.

13. A laurel wreath – Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. A laurel wreath signifies success and victory, so I think it’s perfect for a book about a deadly competition.

14. A beetle – A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher. The main character in this book is an entomologist, so the beetle image works well.

15. Old books – The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz. I interpreted this rather loosely, but all the characters in this story are writers and they are all working on books.

16. A sorcerer’s hand – Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is about occultism, so I think this picture works great!

 3. 2023 SFF Title Challenge

 

Check out Annemieke’s blog post that explains how it works here.

This challenge is harder than I thought. I’m currently at 11 out of 25 prompts. Hopefully I’ll find more titles that fit in the second half of the year.

“Down” – World Running Down by Al Hess
“World(s)” – One Girl in All the World by Kendare Blake
“Song” –
“Gate” – Infinity Gate by M.R. Care
“Universe” –
“Dead” – All the Dead Lie Down by Kyrie McCauley
“Witch” –
“Wood(s)” – What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall
“Life” –
“Deep” –
“Wolf” –
“Fierce” –
“Mission” –
“Bone(s)” – A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
“Robot(s)” –
“Star(s)” – The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown
“Back” –
“Soul(s)” –
“Memory” – Deadly Memory by David Walton
“Way” –
“Library” –
“Side” – On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel
“How” – How to Sell A Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
“Ghost(s)” –
“Lost” – Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire

4. The Year Long Scavenger Hunt

 

Check out Jordyn’s blog post here if you’d like to join in too!

My progress is slowing down, but I’m still in good shape with this challenge. I’ve crossed off 22 our 34!

2023 release – Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie
Animal sidekick – Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee
Cool weapon – Death Watch by Stona Fitch
Debut – Weyward by Emilia Hart
Dragons – The Keeper’s Six by Kate Elliott
Female villain – The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz
Final book in a series –
First person POV – Bad Cree by Jessica Johns
Found family – Hel’s Eight by Stark Holborn
Green cover –
High fantasy –
Hugo winner – Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire
Inspired by a culture other than Western Europe – Linghun by Ai Jiang
LGBTQ+ main character – This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham
Magic house –
Merlin character –
More than 2 women – Lone Women by Victor LaValle
New to you author – The Drift by C.J. Tuor
Over 500 pages – Gods of the Wyrdwood by R.J. Barker
Pirates
POC author – Don’t Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones
Retelling – The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill
Set on a space ship – The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown
Space opera – Descendant Machine by Gareth L. Powell
Standalone – A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
Sword on the cover –
Time Travel – The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
Title __ of __ – Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates
Urban fantasy
Witches –
YA book – One Girl in All the World by Kendare Blake

5. Tammy’s personal backlist challenge:

I’ve completely failed this challenge so far, lol. But I’m keeping these five books up here, since I do still have almost six months of the year left…

Are you doing any reading challenges this year? How’s it going?

Posted July 25, 2023 by Tammy in Reading Challenges / 35 Comments

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35 responses to “2023 Reading Challenges – 2nd Quarter Check-In”

  7. Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

    Wow, that’s a lot! Good luck! For your backlist challenge, I’ve read three of the five, and loved them… so stick with it!! (T&T&T, Remarkly Bright Creatures, and Lavender House — all excellent)

    Reply
  12. sjhigbee

    I’m so impressed by your progress:)). These look so much fun – I very much hope you manage to read all the books in your backlist before the end of the year.

    Reply
  14. Emma @ Words And Peace

    Congrats! You are doing great.
    I used to do tons of challenges.
    Now I focus more on my TBRs and the classics.
    Looks like I’m going to smash my Goodreads goal, as I have read 96/120 (80%). Am 29 books ahead. I guess I can explain it by a few manga, and a lot of audiobooks. But also by really reading books I have always wanted to read. I’m slower with less exciting books. I read 165 in 2021, we’ll see if actually go over that.
    Emma @ Words And Peace recently posted…Sunday Post #89 – 07/23/2023: Book Giveaways galore!My Profile

    Reply
  15. Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra

    You’re making such great progress on all of your challenges. From your five at the bottom, I definitely recommend Remarkably Bright Creatures. I read that one at the beginning of the year and still think about it sometimes because it was so unusual.

    Reply
    • Tammy

      I remember your review of Remarkably Bright Creatures, I think that’s why I chose it:-)

      Reply
  16. Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum

    The picture prompt bingo looks like a fun one, I like the ones that give readers a wider interpretation since a lot of the other challenges I’ve seen fall under very narrow genres.

    Reply
  17. Celeste | A Literary Escape

    I’ve not been keeping track of my challenges as closely as you, so good job! For “Skin” I suggest SKIN OF THE SEA by Natasha Bowen, if you don’t mind YA fantasy. For “Library,” THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY comes to mind. And for “Wolf” there’s FOR THE WOLF by Hannah Whitten; THE WOLF OF OREN-YARO by K.S. Villoso; or THE WOLF DEN by Elodie Harper, though this one is more of a historical fiction.

    Reply
    • Tammy

      Great suggestions! I’ve still got six months (actually five now) to figure it out, but these could be contenders:-)

      Reply
  18. Lynn Williams

    You’re doing great. You’re on track for 100 books this year and I think that definitely helps with all these other challenges. Good luck with your backlist reads.
    Lynn 😀

    Reply

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