Normally, I am someone who never really takes part in reading challenges like this one, with the Goodreads challenge being the only reading goal I set for myself. I always look at and contemplate taking part in so many different challenges, but never actually get round to signing up for them, or writing a blog post like this one.
However, after reading Book Like Wolves amazing post about this challenge, I decided that for once, I was not going to just sit back and let another amazing reading challenge pass me by. It just sounds like such a fun challenge, as well as one that wouldn’t be particularly hard for me personally, and so wouldn’t put more pressure on my reading either.
Beat the Backlist is a reading challenge hosted by Novel Knight that is all about reading books published before 2018. It focuses on books that have been on your TBR for far too long over new releases, and lasts for the entirety of 2018.
For this challenge, I decided to set myself a goal of reading 25 books, something which I believe is pretty doable for me. That also means that if I manage to read 50 books next year, which is what I am planning to set my Goodreads goal to, then at least half of the books that I read will be backlist books.
However, I am also going to set myself a second goal, as I would love for as many of those 25 books as possible to be 2017 releases that I already own. Despite not reading a ton of new release this year, I picked up a fair few of them, the majority of which are still sitting on my shelf, unread. I’m not going to set myself an actual number for this one, but I would just really like to get round to some of those 2017 releases that I am really excited about, but just haven’t actually got round to reading yet.
I am also setting myself a mini TBR of six books that I am planning on making my top priority for this challenge, so here is my Beat the Backlist TBR…
This book is likely my number one priority to get to in 2018. I honestly have no excuses as to why I haven’t read it yet, and so am desperate to pick this one up and read it for myself, as I know that it is such an important book and one that I really do need to read.
This is one that I recieved in a Fairyloot box a few months ago, and one that I am desperate to get round to despite not actually picking it up yet. Not only does it sound like such an amazing read, but the sequel, Rage, is due to be released in June, and so I would love to have this one read by then so that I dive straight into this second one.
This was one of my most anticipated releases for the second half of 2017, after reading and loving History is All You Left Me very early in the year. Not only was I really excited to dive into another of Adam Silvera’s books, but I also adored the sound of this book, and so I really do hope to read this one, hopefully even towards the beginning of the year.
This was another 2017 debut that had so much hype surrounding it in the summer, and yet I still did not get round to reading it myself. Not only have I heard fabulous things about this book, but I am also really interested to read a book that deals with the topic of arranged marriage, and so I definitely planning on getting round to reading this one as soon as we start to get anywhere near summer.
This is actually another book that I recieved in a Fairyloot box, and so in all honestly I don’t know a huge ton about this book other than it is a fantasy. Nonetheless, I would still love to finally get round to this one, especially as I have been pretty bad at reading the books I have recieved in Fairyloot boxes, and so I am definitely making this one a priority to read in the next year.
Finally, this was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, and yet for whatever reason I still haven’t picked it up yet. Tommy Wallach is one of my favourite authors, and so I am almost certain that I am going to enjoy this book when I do read it, something that I am determined to do before the sequel to this is released.
As part of the Beat the Backlist challenge, everyone who signs up gets assigned into one of four teams: Novel Knights, Dewey Dragons, Story Sorcerers and Book Bards. Over the year you earn points for your team, and each month, one person will be drawn as a
winner from the team with the most points, and will receive a book of their choice, which is pretty exciting!
I am on team Novel Knights, and can’t wait to start reading, and taking part in this amazing challenge!
Are you planning on taking part in this challenge? Have you set yourself a TBR – what backlist books do you aim to get to? What team are you in? Advertisements Share this:
