2014 Reading Challenge(s)

I discovered these beauties from Random House Canada on Pinterest at the end of last year and immediately committed myself to doing them - in my head. Of course, merely mentally agreeing to something is a sure sign that I won't actually get round to doing it - something I've learnt from experience.

















I've set myself a Shelfari goal to read 100 books this year. Of the fourteen books that already count towards this goal, eight are re-reads. As much as I love to relive books that I've loved, I need to ensure that a majority of books I read this year are new-to-me books, even if not necessarily first published in 2014. What better way to do that than to set more reading challenges for myself?

I'm still a pen-and-paper kind of gal and so to truly commit myself, I drew them out (sorry for the terrible lighting) so that I can stick them on my wall and cross them out and fill them in as I go along.



















 



As if reading 48 books (not including the 2 free squares) that meet each criteria wasn't challenging enough, I wanted to make my own Romance version. As I thought through and listed the reading challenges I wanted to include, I came up with a lot more than 24. So this is the result (in retrospect, a light blue fineliner probably wasn't the best choice ...)

Categories (48):

- Genres (12): urban fantasy, a book based on a fairytale, non-regency historical, new adult, Eurasian historical, funny, medieval romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, contemporary, paranormal romance and cabin/road romance
- Tropes (8): marriage of convenience, guardian-ward, heroine in disguise, May-December, best friend-little sister, class differences, secret baby and friends to lovers
- AAR Top 100 Romance lists (6): 1998, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013
- Title/author/aesthetic characteristics (16): published in the 1970s, published in the 1980s, published in 2014, a book with a number in the title, a book with a title referencing the peerage, the first book by a favourite author, 500+ pages, a book that became a film, a book with a one-word title, a book with 'girl'/'woman' in the title, a book with 'boy'/'man' in the title, a book with a green cover, the first book in a series, a book with a 'Fabio' cover, a book by Nora Roberts and a 'Classic' romance
- Plot characteristics (6): cop/PI heroine, cop/PI hero, writer heroine, a book with magic, a book with a pet/animal and a book without a Happy Ever After (HEA)


Such a monumental reading challenge wouldn't be any fun without any rules:


Rules:
- Qualifying books must have been read for the first time in 2014 (no re-reads!)
- Challenge begins Thursday 6 February 2014
- Challenge ends Wednesday 31 December 2014
- A book can only qualify for a single criteria
- A book can only qualify for a single challenge (fiction, young adult or romance)
- The category to be satisfied may be picked either before or after reading
- Details to be recorded on each bingo chart: Title, Author, Date finished
- With regard to the categories listed below, these must be satisfied by the edition physically read, even if earlier and/or later editions do not satisfy the criteria (500+ pages, a book with a green cover and a book with a 'Fabio' cover)

I'll be tracking my progress on the 'bingo cards' themselves, as well as tagging reviews on here with the relevant labels. I'm currently torn between creating a separate page to list my current progress, or just doing a round-up post at the end of the year. For now, there's be a box on the right-hand side for easy viewing.

Bring it on.