Challenge Month 2021Hi everyone! Today we are officially kicking off the lead up to our SEVENTH Annual Reading Challenge Month!  Like in past years, we will have four weeks of fabulous festivities with some great books and amazing prizes. This year’s challenge will run September 5th – October 2nd, with each week focusing on a different challenge.

Ok, so here is the deal to refresh everyone on how it works and get our new folks up to speed. All month long we will be holding fun weekly reading challenges to give us a chance to try some new books that we may not normally pick up. The challenges are designed to push you a bit out of your reading rut, but also made to be manageable so everyone can participate regardless of reading interests. We tried to pick some new challenges this year, as well as some old favorites. Each week, our Joyfully Jay reviewer gang will be trying out books that fit the challenge themes.

And here its the best part… you all get to join in the fun! Each week is sponsored and there will be lots of prizes! There are two ways you can participate. Anyone who comments on any of our blog challenge reviews will be entered to win that week’s prize. Plus, if you participate by reading along with your own challenge book any of the weeks and write a mini review, you get mega BONUS entries. That means lots of chances to win and a great opportunity to find some new books, authors, and genres to love! In addition to chances to win each week, we will have a fabulous grand prize awarded at the end of the month (and OMG you guys, the grand prize is amazeballs)! Everyone who earns entries during any of the weekly challenges will be also entered to win the grand prize!  [to find out more about our prizes, check out the Prize Preview!]

Here is the line up for challenge month:

  • Week 1: New-to-Me Author Week – Choose a book by an author you have never read. If you want a real challenge, consider an author’s debut book!
  • Week 2: TBR Pile Week – Choose a book that has been in your TBR Pile for at least a year
  • Week 3: Under the Rainbow Week – Pick a book that features a part of the LGBTQIA umbrella that you don’t often read. This could be books featuring lesbian characters, MMF stories, transgender characters, ace characters, non-binary, etc.
  • Week 4: Judge a Book By Its Cover Week – Choose a book because you LOVE the cover

We’d also like to encourage everyone to check out books that feature diverse characters and own voices authors!

[To find out what we are reading and to get some inspiration for your own choices, check out our Challenge Reads post]

So what happens now? Well, first off, next week I will have more details on the prizes just to get you extra excited. We already have some great sponsors lined up! And then the week after that, I will have a list of what we are planning to read during the month. So if you want to read along with our choices you can, or you can start choosing some of your own books that fit the challenge themes. I’ll also share some lists and suggestions of places to look if you need book ideas. And remember, every time you participate by commenting or reading along, you get entries for prizes! So this should be a fabulous event! Keep your eyes open the next few Sundays as we share more details, including all the specific contest rules.

P.S. If you want to check out past Reading Challenge Months, you can find them all listed here

jay signature