book challenge

Beat the Backlist 2021

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Well, obviously I haven’t been active on this blog for awhile. A major struggle of mine is staying motivated to continuously post. I usually don’t have a problem getting started, just a problem to keep going. I’ve been in the mood to try to become more active, once again, and I’m hoping I will be more successful than I have in the past. I thought a good idea to help with that motivation is to start a challenge!

I participated in the Beat the Backlist Challenge for 2018 but, unsurprisingly, I didn’t remain active for long. So I’m going to give it another try this year!

The Beat the Backlist Challenge is hosted by NovelKnight. If you take a look at their page you’ll find they are making a few changes to the challenge this year, but the ultimate goal is the same – to read those books that have been clogging up your TBR list for awhile now, as in any book published in 2020 or earlier. And that’s it! I generally read older books anyway, so that’s what originally drew me to this challenge in the first place. I’m a little bummed they aren’t doing a photo challenge this year – since I’d like to also be more active on my book-related Instagram (@allboutthembooksandstuff) – but I’ll still try to post some pics a few times here and there as well.

However, they did create a reading prompt list – which is purely optional- so I think that’ll still be fun! I won’t completely revolve my reading choices around it, since I’m such a mood reader, but it’ll be fun to see how many I can complete. They have a 52 and a 24 prompt list and, knowing myself, I think the 24 prompt list will be more attainable. They made it into a check list or a BINGO card.

So, that’s my start to try becoming more active. I might begin doing the WWW Wednesday posts monthly again – I haven’t been reading quite enough to be able to post them weekly – and I may do a few tags as well.

Thanks for being patient with me if you’re still following my blog! I would also like to be better at reading posts from the blogs I follow so you may see me lurking around~

Happy reading! :)

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Beat the Backlist 2018

/ aceshadowdragon / 6 Comments

Hey everyone! I stumbled upon Emily’s post about the  Beat the Backlist Challenge, hosted by NovelKnight, and decided it looked like fun! I’ve never involved myself in a reading challenge besides the Goodreads one, so I thought, why not give this one a try? It sounds fun and it’s easy enough for a lazy potato like me to participate in! :D

The goal of this reading challenge is to read books published before 2018. Easy, right? Maybe not for those who love to read new release after new release, but I rarely ever read new releases, so I thought this challenge would be perfect for me!

This seems like a neat challenge because you are assigned a team. Each team earns points by reading books published before 2018 and at the end of each month one person is drawn from the team with the most points to receive a book of their choice! Awesome, right?

There is also a photo challenge via Instagram, which is just for fun. I actually decided to make an Instagram account solely related to books and my blog so check it out! I literally made it 15 minutes ago, so there’s nothing on it now. But that will soon change! As long as I remember to post… ^^;

I made this post as a requirement for signing up for this challenge so once I’m all signed up I will add which team I’m on!

my team:

my goals:

Goals aren’t required for this challenge, but I thought I would set some to make myself more active and motivated!

  • Participate in at least 2 of the 4 Instagram prompts each month
  • Write one review of a book dedicated to this challenge at least every 3 months (since I’ve been seriously slacking in the review department)
  • Have 4 out of every 5 books I read be dedicated to this challenge

And there we go! Interested in this challenge? Click the linked text above and go for it! Link your sign-up post in the comments so I know you’re joining! I’d love to see if we’re on the same team!

Happy reading! :)

50-Day Bookish Challenge – Day 50

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Do you read classics?? If so, what’s your favorite??

Harry Potter counts as a classic by now…doesn’t it? xD This is a really random question for the last question in this challenge, by the way. At least in my opinion. But no, I don’t read classics. Not by choice, anyway. I’ve only had to read a few for school. I do have to say, out of the ones I have read, Dracula is my favorite. Although that’s cheating a little bit. I had to read it for a class and I accidentally bought the shorthand version, so it didn’t drone on like the original. That’s probably why I liked it. I’m just not a big fan of classics…maybe I’ll try to give them more of a shot in the future.

And that’s it! Done with the 50-Day challenge! This was fun! I encourage people to try it out. I actually really enjoyed that this challenge did its job and made me more active. It motivated me to want to post more regularly. Will I? No idea. I’ll probably go back to my handful of posts every month, if that. But I’m definitely going to try harder to get on and post more, or at least read others posts.

50-Day Bookish Challenge – Day 49

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Worst book you’ve ever read??

Hmm, I don’t strongly dislike many books so this one’s a bit tough. I’ll go with Blue is for Nightmares by Laurie Faria Stolarz. I read this one over two years ago and just couldn’t get into it. It’s one of my lowest rated books on Goodreads. I thought the overall plot was fairly decent, but I just did not like any of the characters. They were all just so…blah. I’m all about characters, more so than plot usually, so if I can’t connect to any of them then I don’t like to keep reading. I finished this one, and am willing to give some of her other series a try, but I won’t be continuing this one.

50-Day Bookish Challenge – Day 47 & 48

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Man, I was doing really well until last weekend…but I’m still proud of myself for mostly keeping on top of these posts! xD

How many books do you take when you go out??

Well, I’ve mentioned a few times before, at one of my old jobs I was allowed to read (or more like they didn’t really care) so I would bring a physical book there, or a big stack of comics if I was trying to catch up. But I don’t work there anymore. I don’t really take physical books with me anywhere, unless I’m bringing them on vacation or something. Technically, I do take a lot when I go out though, if we’re counting ebooks. Whenever I have time I try to read on my phone if I’m able.

Do you write, highlight, underline, etc. in your books??

I don’t! I just…can’t. It would bug me. Plus, I don’t usually stop and analyze things while I’m reading; I just read. If I need to go back and look for a quote or something I’ll just sit there and flip through the pages until I find it. xD

50-Day Bookish Challenge – Day 46

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Do you have a bookish tattoo?? Do you want one??

I have one tattoo, but it’s not a bookish one. HOWEVER, I actually plan on getting a book-related one sometime next year. That’s the hope, anyway. The idea I have in my head is really neat (to me, at least), but I’m having trouble picturing exactly how I want it. It’s been difficult finding reference pictures…and I suck at drawing so there’s no help there. Once I get it I may post a picture on here. Maybe. I haven’t decided yet.

50-Day Bookish Challenge – Day 43

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Free rant, go ahead, we all know you want to.

But I don’t! Not really. I don’t rant all that much, to be honest. Life’s been so busy recently that I can’t even think about something to rant about anyway. With my new job, school, being the Maid of Honor in one of my best friend’s wedding (which is coming up fast!), and making plans to move out in the spring, life’s keeping me on my toes. In a good way though! So I’m going to pass on the ranting and just take a moment to catch my breath.

50-Day Bookish Challenge – Day 41 & 42

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Whoops again. It’s always during the weekends that I can’t seem able to get on to post. But I had a fun (super busy) weekend and I am utterly exhausted. I wish I didn’t have to get homework done…which I should be doing now instead of typing this…^^;

Do you put a book under your pillow at night??

No. That just seems…unpleasant. And like it might give you a sore neck, depending on the book size. Sometimes I fall asleep reading, but my books never make their way under my pillow.

How do people read in the bath?? Please tell me, I’m scared of getting my book wet…

Very carefully, I imagine. It makes me nervous, but I have done it once or twice. However, that was a long time ago. I don’t even remember when the last time I took a bath was. Showers are my preferred method of bathing.