2026 Reading Challenge discussion

Hey everyone, welcome to my reading corner. Here I will keep track of my reading stats, progress on reading challenges and any readathons I am taking part in. Feel free to peruse my shelves and if you want to buddy read anything, just give me a shout

STATS

Statistics
Creators
Series
New Books
Five Star Books

CHALLENGES

Popsugar Challenge
Serial Reader
TBR Jar

READATHONS

24 in 48 Winter
Contemporary-a-thon
O.W.L.s
Fantasy-a-thon
A Game of Booksathon Round One
Moodathon
The Book Junkie Trials
A Game of Booksathon Round Two

MONTHLY PROGRESS

January
February
March
April
May
June
July

Last updated 01/08/2019

STATISTICS


Format

Physical Book: 39
Ebook: 14
Audiobook: 13

Choose Your Own Adventure: 1
Graphic Novel: 1
Interview: 1
Manga: 2
Mixed Media: 1
Poetry: 1
Prose: 48
Prose with some Mixed Media: 1

Series/Standalones

Part of a Series: 49
Stand Alones: 17

Completed Series: 6
Uncompleted Series: 30

Genre

Fiction: 65
Classics: 2
Contemporary: 6
Fantasy: 39
Historical: 3
Horror: 1
Humour: 1
Mystery: 3
Picture: 1
Romance: 2
Science Fiction: 7

Non-Fiction: 1
History: 1

Length

Very Short (<100): 6
Short (101-250 pages): 16
Medium (251-500 pages): 36
Long (501-800 pages): 6
Very long (801+ pages): 2

Rating

★★★★★: 7
★★★★: 17
★★★: 36
★★: 6
★:

Date Origionally Published

2019: 4

2015-2019: 21
2010-2014: 8
2005-2009: 8
2000-2004: 10

1995-1999: 7
1990-1994: 4
1985-1989: 1
1980-1984: 1
1960-1964: 1

1785-1789: 1

Month Read

January: 11
February: 11
March: 3
April: 14
May: 7
June: 11
July: 8
August: 1

CREATORS

Authors

Alice Clayton: 1
Amie Kaufman: 1
Angus Wells: 1
Anna Bright: 1
Anne Cassidy: 2
Brigid Kemmerer: 1
Cate Tiernan: 5
Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg: 1
Christine Morton-Shaw: 1
Christopher Paolini: 2
David Grann: 1
David Llewellyn: 1
Egmont Books Ltd.: 1
Emma Reeves: 1
Eoin Colfer: 1
Evelyn Skye: 1
George R.R. Martin: 1
Graham Moore: 1
Harper Lee: 1
Holly Black: 1
Ian Livingstone: 1
James Goss: 1
James Oswald: 1
James Patterson: 1
Jason Reynolds: 1
Jay Asher: 1
Jay Kristoff: 1
Jeffrey Eugenides: 1
J.K. Rowling: 5
Jodi Picoult: 1
John Green: 1
Joseph Lidster
Katie Reus: 1
Kristin Cast: 1
Leigh Bardugo: 2
Lian Hearn: 1
L.J. Smith: 3
Margaret Rogerson: 1
Marissa Meyer: 2
Marjorie M. Liu: 1
Marquis de Sade: 1
Mary Higgins Clark: 1
Masamune Shirow: 1
Mira Grant: 1
Natasha Ngan: 1
Natsuki Takaya: 1
Neil Gaiman: 1
P.C. Cast: 1
Randolph Lalonde: 1
Sally Beauman: 1
Stuart Hill: 1
Steve Jackson: 1
Taylor Jenkins Reid: 1
Theresa Tomlinson: 1

Illustrators

Masamune Shirow: 1
Natsuki Takaya: 1
Russ Nicholson: 1
Sana Takeda: 1


Narrators

Debra Wiseman: 1
Full Cast: 3
Jeff Harding: 1
Jennifer Woodward: 1
Joel Johnstone: 1
Nick Landrum: 1
Noma Dumezweni
Kate Rudd
Sissy Spacek: 1
Stephen Fry: 3

Translators

Alethea Nibley: 1
Athena Nibley
Rod Bradbury: 1

*Spot a mistake? Give me a shout.

SERIES

Read in enitirety

Six of Crows
Six of Crows
Crooked Kingdom

Finished

The Lunar Chronicles
Fairest
Stars Above

The Inheritance Cycle
Inheritance

Harry Potter
Harry Potter: The Prequel

Continued

Fruits Basket
Fruits Basket, Vol. 2

A Song of Fire and Ice
A Clash of Kings

The Ballad of Sir Benfro
The Golden Cage

Tales of the Otori
Grass for His Pillow

Started

WICCA
Book of Shadows
The Coven
Dark Magick
Awakening

Big Finish Torchwood
Torchwood: The Conspiracy
Torchwood: Fall to Earth
Torchwood - 1.3 Forgotten Lives
Torchwood: One Rule

The Vampire Diaries
The Awakening
The Struggle
The Fury

Harry Potter
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Monstress
Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening

Tales from Alagaësia
The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm: Eragon

Artemis Fowl
Artemis Fowl

Girls of Paper and Fire
Girls of Paper and Fire

League of Pensioners
The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules

Jennifer Jones
Looking for JJ

Circle of Shadows
Circle of Shadows

To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird

Cursebreakers
A Curse So Dark and Lonely

The Icemark Chronicles
The Cry of the Icemark

Fighting Fantasy
The Warlock of Firetop Mountain

The Folk of the Air
The Cruel Prince

Ghost in the Shell
Ghost in the Shell

Cocktail
Wallbanger

Rolling in the Deep
Into the Drowning Deep

Spinward Fringe
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins

House of Night
Marked

Darkness
Darkness Awakened

The Illuminae Files
Illuminae

Exiles
Exile's Children

The Beholder
The Beholder

NEW BOOKS



OK... I have a problem...

5 STAR BOOKS

POPSUGAR READING CHALLENGE

Progress: 35/50 (aiming for 40)

[✔] 1. A book becoming a movie in 2019 - Artemis Fowl
[✔] 2. A book that makes you nostalgic - Harry Potter: The Prequel
[✔] 3. A book written by a musician (fiction or nonfiction) - Six of Crows
[✔] 4. A book you think should be turned into a movie - Looking for JJ
[✔] 5. A book with at least one million ratings on Goodreads - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
[✔] 6. A book with a plant in the title or on the cover - To Kill a Mockingbird
[✔] 7. A reread of a favorite book - Book of Shadows
[✔] 8. A book about a hobby - Quidditch Through the Ages
[✔] 9. A book you meant to read in 2018 - The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon
[] 10. A book with POP, SUGAR, or CHALLENGE in the title - Exile's Challenge
[✔] 11. A book with an item of clothing or accessory on the cover - Torchwood: The Conspiracy
[✔] 12. A book inspired by myth/legend/folklore - Voyage of the Snake Lady
[] 13. A book published posthumously - Annabel Lee
[] 14. A book you see someone reading on TV or in a movie - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
[✔]15. A retelling of a classic - A Curse So Dark and Lonely
[] 16. A book with a question in the title - Grange Hill Rules - O.K.?
[] 17. A book set on college or university campus -
[] 18. A book about someone with a superpower -
[✔] 19. A book told from multiple POVs - Inheritance
[✔] 20. A book set in space - Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins
[✔] 21. A book by two female authors - Marked
[] 22. A book with SALTY, SWEET, BITTER, or SPICY in the title - Sweet Evil
[✔] 23. A book set in Scandinavia - The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules
[✔] 24. A book that takes place in a single day - Torchwood: Fall to Earth
[✔] 25. A debut novel - The Beholder
[✔] 26. A book that's published in 2019 - Circle of Shadows
[✔] 27. A book featuring an extinct or imaginary creature - The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm: Eragon
[] 28. A book recommended by a celebrity you admire - Abhorsen
[✔] 29. A book with LOVE in the title - Tough Love
[] 30. A book featuring an amateur detective -
[✔] 31. A book about a family - The Virgin Suicides
[✔] 32. A book author from Asia, Africa, or South America - Fruits Basket, Vol. 2
[✔] 33. A book with a zodiac sign or astrology term in title - The Fault in Our Stars
[✔] 34. A book that includes a wedding - Fairest
[✔] 35. A book by an author whose first and last names start with the same letter - Girls of Paper and Fire
[] 36. A ghost story - Isabella Moon
[✔] 37. A book with a two-word title - The Coven
[✔] 38. A novel based on a true story - The Last Days of Night
[✔] 39. A book revolving around a puzzle or game - Riddles Of Epsilon
[] 40. Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading challenge (longest on TBR) - The Last Legion

Advanced

[] 41. A "cli-fi" (climate fiction) book - Dune
[✔] 42. A "choose-your-own-adventure" book - The Warlock of Firetop Mountain
[] 43. An "own voices" book - The Hate U Give
[] 44. Read a book during the season it is set in -
[] 45. A LitRPG book - Ready Player One
[✔] 46. A book with no chapters / unusual chapter headings / unconventionally numbered chapters - Long Way Down
[✔] 47. Two books that share the same title - Awakening
[✔] 48. Two books that share the same title - Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening
[✔] 49. A book that has inspired a common phrase or idiom - A Clash of Kings
[] 50. A book set in an abbey, cloister, monastery, vicarage, or convent –

SERIAL READER

Progress: 15/22

Six of Crows
[✔] 1. Six of Crows
[✔] 2. Crooked Kingdom

The Inheritance Cycle
[✔] 3. Inheritance

Tales of Alagaësia
[✔] 4. The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm: Eragon

Artemis Fowl
[✔] 5. Artemis Fowl

The Lunar Chronicles
[✔] 6. Fairest

The Ballad of Sir Benfro
[✔] 7. The Golden Cage
[] 8. The Broken World

Harry Potter
[✔] 9. Harry Potter: The Prequel

WICCA
[✔] 10. Book of Shadows
[✔] 11. The Coven
[✔] 12. Blood Witch
[✔] 13. Dark Magick
[✔] 14. Awakening

Monstress
[✔] 15. Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening

Abhorsen
[] 16. Lirael
[] 17. Abhorsen

Exiles
[✔] 18. Exile's Children
[] 19. Exile's Challenge

Montague Siblings
[] 20. The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
[] 21. The Gentleman’s Guide to Getting Lucky
[] 22. The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy

TBR JAR

Progress: 6/12

[✔] 1. The Last Days of Night
[✔] 2. Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins
[✔] 3. Darkness Awakened
[] 4. The Children of the New Forest
[] 5. The Black Cat
[✔] 6. Into the Drowning Deep
[✔] 7. Illuminae
[✔] 8. Grass for His Pillow
[] 9. Blood of Requiem
[] 10. The Vampire Hunter's Daughter: Complete Collection

24 IN 48 WINTER

Dates: 26th-27th January

Hours Completed: 24
Challenges Completed: 2
Books Read: 6

[✔] Artemis Fowl
[✔] The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm: Eragon
[✔] Harry Potter: The Prequel
[✔] Blood Witch
[✔] Quidditch Through the Ages
[✔] Six of Crows
Justine

Overview: I picked my TBR before I started the readathon and finished it on the first day so had to pick more books. Unlike last time I participated in 24 in 48, I completed the full 24 hours and won a prize. Overall, I made great progress in this readathon but I’m not sure how much I enjoyed the experience. I will try the next one (if I’m not working) and see how it goes.

CONTEMPORARY-A-THON

Dates: 12th-18th February

Prompts: 7
Completed prompts: 7
Books read: 5

[✔] Most recently acquired – Long Way Down
[✔] Plurple on the cover – The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules
[✔] Diverse – The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules
[✔] Dark/taboo – Looking for JJ
[✔] Meant to read in 2018 – Turtles All the Way Down
[✔] Non-traditional format – Long Way Down
[✔] Has a picture on the spine - Tough Love

Overview: I had hoped to read one book for each prompt but The Little Old Lady who Broke all The Rules took a lot longer to read than I expected. Picking my TBR was a struggle as I don’t have that many contemporaries so I’ll have to see how I manage the next round *whispers ‘new books’*

O.W.L.S

Dates: 1st-30th April + 27th-31st March for Charms Extra Credit

Career: Wandmaker
Subjects: 12
Subjects Needed for Career: 5
Subjects Completed: 12
Books Read: 12
Grade: Acceptable (2), Exceeds Expectations (6), Outstanding (9)

Career Subjects

[✔] Ancient Ruins – Retelling – Fairest
[✔] Arithmancy – Work written by more than one author – Private Princess
[✔] Care of Magical Creatures – Land animal on the cover – Fruits Basket, Vol. 2
[✔] Charms – Age-line: read an adult work – The Visitors
[✔] Herbology – Plant on the cover - The Cruel Prince

Additional Subjects

[✔] Astronomy – ‘Star’ in the title – The Fault in Our Stars
[✔] Defence Against the Dark Arts – Reducto: title starts with an ‘R’ – Riddles Of Epsilon
[✔] Divination – Set in the future – Ghost in the Shell
[✔] History of Magic – Published at least 10 years ago – The Warlock of Firetop Mountain
[✔] Muggle Studies – Contemporary - Wallbanger
[✔] Potions – Next ingredient: sequel – Blood Witch
[✔] Transfiguration – Sprayed edges or red cover – Dark Magick

Overview: I finished this readathon with 5 days to spare. My progress was great and I was able to read a book for each prompt. This was because I chose my TBR tactically, choosing short books and making sure the longest book was used for the Charms extra credit where I had five extra days. I can’t wait for NEWTs.

FANTASY-A-THON

Dates: 5th-15th April
Prompts: 7
Completed Prompts: 7
Books Read: 7

[✔] Diverse read – Crooked Kingdom
[✔] Debut/backlist book – Blood Witch
[✔] Start/continue a series – Dark Magick
[✔] Give a book a second chance – The Cry of the Icemark
[✔] Read a book in a different than usual format – The Warlock of Firetop Mountain
[✔]Immerse yourself in a book – Fairest
[✔] Read a hypetrain book – The Cruel Prince

Overview: This was a heavy reading week (well, ten days) for me. As I was also taking part in the OWLs readathon that month I tried to match some of my TBR for fantasy-a-thon with my TBR for OWLs. In the end there was only a couple of books I read for fantasy-a-thon that I did not read for my OWLs. Again, I tried to pick some short books for this readathon but as I don’t often DNF books I had little choice for the second chance book and ended up reading a long book that was rather dull. This book won’t have a third chance.

A GAME OF BOOKSATHON ROUND ONE

Dates: 1st-30th June
Prompts: 11
Completed Prompts: 11
Books Read: 9
Achievement: Knight (1-3), Noble (4-7), Queen (8-11)

[✔] The Game of Thrones - First book in a series/trilogy - The Awakening
[✔] House Targaryen - Book with a mythical creature or dragons - Darkness Awakened
[✔] Daenerys - Book featuring a strong female character - The Struggle
[✔] Westeros - Book set in a fictional place - The Fury
[✔] House Tyrell - Book with a plant on the cover or green cover - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
[✔] House Stark - Book that has a family dynamic or siblings - The Virgin Suicides
[✔] House Lannister - Book with a red cover - Illuminae
[✔] House Greyjoy - Book with pirates or a book set at sea - Exile's Children
[✔] House Baratheon - Book with a king or queen/royalty - Stars Above
[✔] A Clash of Kings - Sequel - The Struggle
[✔] Wildlings - Paranormal - The Awakening

Overview: I attempted to read one book per prompt but didn’t quite make it. Luckily we could double up. There were a few books here that I had read before and had planned on getting rid of once I’d finished but found that I enjoyed them too much to do so (enjoyed one more than I did when I first read it). I would say enjoyment wise however, that most my reads were pretty mediocre.

MOODATHON

Dates: 14th – 17th June
Read whatever you feel like

Illuminae - Finished
Like a Bat Out of Hell: The Larger than Life Story of Meat Loaf - 2 Chapters
Voyage of the Snake Lady - Read start to finish

Overview: I don’t tend to be much of a mood reader but I sat in front of my TBR shelf and picked whatever I was in the mood for. Turned out that as I was enjoying the book I was currently reading, I finished that first. I feel I should let myself mood read more often as I tend to turn everything into work or a competition by partaking in reading challenges.

THE BOOK JUNKIE TRIALS

Dates: 1st – 31st July (with additional three days for Mage
Team: Mage (strength: start three days early, weakness: read a book out of your comfort zone)
Prompts: 17
Prompts Needed: 5
Micro Challenges: 6
Prompts Completed: 7
Micro Challenges Completed: 5
Books Read: 7

Quest Path

[✔] Orc Grove – Gruesome/gory/gritty book – I've Got My Eyes on You(my out of comfort zone book)
[✔] Ol’ Pirate Road – Takes place at sea - The Beholder
[✔] Glimmer – Beautiful/colourful book - Sorcery of Thorns
[✔] Draconic Isle – Features dragons - The Golden Cage
[✔] The Bookie Grail – Group book – Stardust

Additional Prompts

[✔] Crimson Peaks – Reread a favourite – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
[] Queendom Stones – Book featuring royalty – King of Scars
[✔] The Forgotten Forests – Next in series – Grass for His Pillow
[] The Weeping Falls – Tear-jerker – A Little Princess
[] Dwarf Mount – Hint of romance – Heart Break Cafe
[] Apothecary Towers – Random book – Blood of Requiem
[] The Great Library – Book that’s been on TBR for ever – The Last Legion
[✔] The Drowning Deep – Book with rich world building – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
[] The Elven Guard – Book with was/military/political themes – The Last Watch
[] On the Hallow Isle – Atmospheric/horror book – The Black Cat
[] Empty Barrel Inn – Indulgent read – The Magician's Apprentice
[] Giant Squid – Book that intimidates you – David Copperfield

Micro-Challenges

[✔] The Arts – Share your TBR
[] The Arcane – Picture of you holding your most splendid fantasy read
[✔] Daemology – Share a picture of your daemon and include the following information: their name, what they live on/need most of all.
[✔] The Heart – Share your heart with the Queendom
[✔] Fighting Skills – The next character/being mentioned in your book is your opponent, show your reaction
[✔] Quest Report – Fill out the quest report

Overview: I loved this readathon, it was a lot of fun and I felt that the ‘quest’ element of it made it more interesting. I had hoped to complete all 17 prompts but other commitments meant that I was not able to read as much as I would like. Next year I will compete again but will probably not do well as I expect to be very busy this time next year.

A GAME OF BOOKSATHON ROUND TWO

Dates: 1st July – 31st July
Prompts: 7
Completed Prompts: 3
Books Read: 3
Achievement: Knight (1-2), Noble (3-5), Queen (6-7)

[✔] Fantasy – Sorcery of Thorns
[] Horror – The Black Cat
[] Science/Historical Fiction – The Last Legion
[✔] YA – The Beholder
[] MG – A Little Princess
[✔] Mystery – I've Got My Eyes on You
[] Contemporary/Romance – Heart Break Cafe

Overview: I didn’t do very well at this round as I had other commitments and couldn’t read as much as I would have liked. This meant that although I received the rank of Queen in round one, I was demoted to Noble in the second. I would like to say that I stepped down from the role, rather than I was defeated, after all, it would explain why I am now a noble and why I wasn’t killed or imprisoned. I am going to attempt round three and read the rest of A Song of Ice and Fire before the end of the year. I have been told that the third book is better than the first and second and this is motivating me. Eeep, can’t wait. I NEED SOME DEATHS!

JANUARY

Books Read



Challenge Progress

Goodreads Challenge: 11/50
Popsugar: 11/25
Serial Reader: 8/22
TBR Jar: 1/12

Events

24 in 48

Overview

January was a good start to my year reading wise. I made a good start in a couple of reading challenges, completed 24 in 48 and set up my reading journal and TBR Jar, which is more a bag but whatever.

FEBRUARY

Books Read



Challenge Progress

Goodreads Challenge: 22/50
Popsugar: 19/25
Serial Reader: 8/22
TBR Jar: 1/12

Events

Contemporary-a-thon

Overview

Another productive month. If I keep this up I will have met my challenges in no time. I took part in contemporary-a-thon this month and learnt that I didn’t have that many contemporaries, fantasy being more my jam. I actually had to buy more books to fit all the prompts.

MARCH

Books Read



Challenge Progress

Goodreads Challenge: 25/50
Popsugar: 21/25
Serial Reader: 8/22
TBR Jar: 1/12

Events

Overview

This was a poor reading month. I only completed three books and two of these were audiobooks. Still, I am half way with my Goodreads challenge and over half way with the Popsugar challenge (I aim to read 25 of the 50 books).

APRIL

Books Read



Challenge Progress

Goodreads Challenge: 39/50
Popsugar: 26/25
Serial Reader: 12/22
TBR Jar: 1/12

Events

OWLs
Fantasy-a-thon

Overview

With the help of two readathons, one lasting the whole month, I had a really good reading week, reading 14 books and over 5000 pages. This is more than I read in 2012 according to my Goodreads statistics which is a feature on this website that I love. Having met my aim for the Popsugar challenge I will increase my goal to 40 books. I think I will have to increase my other goals as well, excluding the TBR Jar challenge as I am behind on that. I am likely to start catching up on this challenge however as I am involved in a group of people who each month will be paired up and pick TBR picks for each other. As part of this we will give our reasoning behind each pick and it sounds like a lot of fun.

MAY

Books Read



Challenge Progress

Goodreads Challenge: 46/50
Popsugar: 30/25
Serial Reader: 13/22
TBR Jar: 3/12

Events

Overview

I’m actually surprised at how many books I read this month as it didn’t feel like it had been a good reading month. There were two books that I finished that I had been reading for a long time, both being paused for readathons. It was nice to catch up on them. I also joined a group this month where we pair off and choose three books from our partner’s TBR that we think they should read and they try to read at least one of them during the month. This worked out well for me as it lead me to reading Into the Drowning Deep which was a five star read for me.

JUNE

Books Read



Challenge Progress

Goodreads Challenge: 57/50
Popsugar: 33/25
Serial Reader: 14/22
TBR Jar: 5/12

Events

A Game of Booksathon Round One
Moodathon

Overview

I was strategic when planning my TBR for A Game of Booksathon and included quite a few small reads. This meant that I completed all prompts although I had aimed to read one book per prompt and ended up having to double up on a couple. I also participated in Moodathon where you basically read whatever you are in the mood for, even if this means not reading at all. I don’t tend to mood read as I am usually working on some reading challenge or another so this was a refreshing experience. I think, if I mood read more often I would spend more time trying to pick what to read rather than actually reading but I definitely think I should mood read more often.

JULY

Books Read



Challenge Progress

Goodreads Challenge: 66/75
Popsugar: 35/40
Serial Reader: 15/22
TBR Jar: 6/12

Events

The Book Junkie Trials
A Game of Booksathon Round Two

Overview

This month I didn’t get to focus on reading as much as I would have liked due to other commitments. I still managed to read eight books but as I was competing in a couple of readathons I would have liked to do better. I can be really competitive and as both readathons has a points element to them, it was hard for me to work on my other commitments and not read. But I still managed to get the Bookie Grail so it wasn’t all a fail.