Hi everyone! I am so excited to kick off planning for our third annual Reading Challenge Month! This is such a fun event where each week we have a different reading challenge to help us expand our reading horizons and try some new books and authors. This year it will be held September 4-30th.
You can check out the overview post from last year’s event here if you want more details on how things work. But the short version is that each week will have a different challenge and prize sponsor. We will be reading books that fit the challenge, and readers can enter to win the weekly and grand prizes by commenting on those reviews. For extra bonus entries, you guys can also read along with your own challenge books and write a mini review at the end of the week to share what you read. The prizes in past years have been awesome and it was a lot of fun to see so many people involved.
So, our first step is we need to settle on our challenges. With the help of the fabulous reviewers here, we have come up with a bunch of ideas. The goal is to have the challenge be specific enough to require a little nudge outside your usual reading zone, but also broad enough that it is not impossible to find books to read. So we would love your help choosing.
Please vote for up to your top 4 choices. I will be following up with lots more information in the coming weeks, but this will help us get started finalizing our challenges and then getting sponsors on board. I tried to explain the challenge as best I could, but if you have questions about anything, just leave them in the comments. Thanks!
Looking forward to it already Jay!
Have voted but would read a book in all!!!
Oh good! It is always such a fun event. Glad you are excited!
Oooh it is coming again?! I had such great time last year and of course ended up with some good reads!! Like my first F/F romance. Will definitely join again this year
Oh good! And yep, September is not that far away, at least in planning terms, so I am getting things started.
Cool, I hope I have the time to do it this year too. So looking forward to it =)
Thanks! I hope so too!
This is wonderful, Jay! I’m so glad you’re hosting this reading challenge again. May I make a suggestion for this year or some future year? How about a week where we read LGBTQ non-fiction? Perhaps a memoir or biography (I’m thinking of Garrard Conley’s Boy, Erased or Alan Cumming’s memoirs), a guide for straight allies, or a book exploring the intersection of faith and sexuality (Justin Lee’s Torn; John Corvino’s What’s Wrong with Homosexuality? – uh, nothing). In lieu of a circle of gay friends, it was reading both LGBT fiction and non-fiction that impacted my beliefs and gave me insight into this fabulous community.
Oh that is a great suggestion. We had actually talked about it a bit for this year but I was worried it might be too narrow. But let me give some thought to ways we can incorporate non-fiction in, either this year or in some other way on the blog.
I always enjoy the reading challenge. It’s a wonderful way to find new authors/books, or hidden jewels I did not even know that I had in my ebook.
Thank you, Jay!
Thanks! That is just what I hope for!
I’ve voted. I’m definitely looking forward to reading some new books and hearing about what others are reading. Thanks for hosting this event, Jay.
You are welcome, and thanks for voting!