Category: reading goals

2020 Reading Goals Part 3: Another Challenge

January 6th, 2020
Hello and happy Monday!

2020 Audiobook Challenge

I stumbled upon the 2020 Audiobook Challenge hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer and Hot Listens just yesterday, and I couldn’t help but jump into it.

The objective is to “find a new love for audios or to outdo yourself by listening to more audios in 2020 than you did in 2019,” the latter of which is exactly one of my reading goals for 2020. Last year, I listened to only a handful of audiobooks, but I quite enjoy them when the voice actor’s narration works for me. Not to mention, my ADHD brain really likes that I can do something with my hands–like color, crochet, or chores–whilst someone reads me a story.

There are eight Achievement Levels to choose from as part of the challenge. I’m going for 15 to 20 audiobooks. This level is called Socially Awkward (Don’t talk to me), which I find highly amusing. I’ve already listened to two audios this year, so I’m off to a good start.

Check out any of the links above if you’re interested in signing up!
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Reading Goals Update: Mini Audiobook Review and #Classicscommunity Reading Challenge TBR

January 3rd, 2020
Because I finished reading my first book for the #Classicscommunity Reading Challenge, I thought I’d share a mini review of the classic I read in audio format as well as the books remaining on my TBR list for the challenge.

Mini Review: Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

I stumbled upon the audiobook when I was looking for something new to listen to in Libby, and since I finished it yesterday, it counts for the #Classicscommunity 2020 Reading Challenge. (One book down, eleven more to go!)

If you’re on the fence about trying Murder on the Orient Express for fear that you might find it monotonous or boring, consider trying the audiobook. Dan Stevens, the voice actor who narrates, has such skill with accents I was nearly spellbound by each conversation Poirot has with the various characters in the novel. Having read a couple other Hercule Poirot novels by Christie, I felt that the narrator’s performance/delivery of Poirot’s character was spot on.

This is basically a radio drama performed by one actor. I can’t ask for anything more from an audiobook.

#Classicscommunity 2020 Reading Challenge TBR

In no particular order:
- Villette by Charlotte Brontë
- The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
- The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
- Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
- Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte Edit: I plan to read Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers instead. It’s the first in Sayers’s Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries.
- The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe
- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
- Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
- The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins Edit: I’m replacing The Woman in White with The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. I remembered that more than one reader has recommended it to me multiple times, and I want the majority of classics I read this year to have female authors.
- Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
My list is comprised of many of the classics I’ve never gotten around to reading but have wanted to try for a long time. It’s heavy on the Gothic literature. I’ve also included some Victorian literature and a few modern classics.

I’m still deciding the order in which I’m going to read them. For example, I might read The Mysteries of Udolpho and Northanger Abbey back to back in order to compare the two. Radcliffe’s novel is held up as elevating “the Gothic romance to a new level,” and Austen’s novel is satirical of the Gothic novel, so reading them one after the other–or even at the same time–may prove interesting. We shall see.

What about you? Do you have a TBR list planned for your reading challenge(s)?
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2020 Reading Goals Part 2

December 30th, 2019

As I talked about in a previous post, a reading goal I’ve set for myself for 2020 is to read twelve classics over the course of the year, per the #ClassicsCommunity 2020 Reading Challenge hosted by Lucy.

I’m working on a tentative list of the twelve books I plan to read. I’m largely a mood reader so the list will change, without a doubt.

Here are some novels I have in mind thus far:

I don’t know how I haven’t already read this.

I’ve been wanting to read more Agatha Christie. I’ve never read any of her Miss Marple mysteries.

How have I not read this yet either?

I own a copy of this beautifully-bound Barnes and Noble edition of seven of Austen’s novels. I’ve read Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, and I plan to read Persuasion next year.

I’m going to look for copies of the other books at one of my local used bookstores (a wondrous place) and the library.

I’m excited to close out this year and start 2020, with all of its reading possibilities.

All cover images link to Goodreads, except Jane Austen’s Seven Novels which links to B&N.
2020 Reading Goals Part 1

December 28th, 2019
For the past several days, I’ve been trying to decide what reading plans/goals I want to set for 2020. One thing I knew for sure was that I want to challenge myself to read outside my usual go-to genres (romance, fantasy, YA).

And then I stumbled upon Lucy the Reader’s classics reading challenge for 2020.

#ClassicsCommunity 2020 Reading Challenge
- - the group on Goodreads
    
    you can set your own goals or do the minimum of reading twelve classics during the year
As of today, my plan is to read twelve classics by female authors over the course of 2020. Over the next few days, I’ll be compiling a list of authors and their novels, with preference given to the books I haven’t read yet.

I’m excited to challenge myself next year!

What about you? Do you have any specific reading goals for 2020? Are you participating in any reading challenges?