It’s time to set out reading goals for 2021. I’m not fully certain of my own commitment levels, nor am I very clear about the rules yet … But the reading challenges and memes below are the ones I most hope to participate in. If you’re reading this, perhaps you too will find some interesting prompts in here. (Will also update this list from time to time.)
Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge
What better way to diminish that TBR pile than a set of cool BINGO prompts and even cooler graphics and tab-sheets? Full flexibility here, and you tailor it as per your own wishes. This meme hosted by Novel Knight is perfect for that TBR.
#VintageSciFi Month (Not a Challenge)
Apparently, January every year is a month for reading vintage SFF books! Sounds like the perfect time for reading those old, old scifi books in my TBR. This is hosted for the month of January 2021 at Little Red Reviewer.
Japanese Literature Reading Challenge 14
This is in Round 14 now! Hosted by Bellezza and lasting for the months of January through March 2021, you can read and review any and as many books on Japanese culture / by Japanese authors as you want. There may be group reads as well. I guess here’s my chance to brush up on Japanese folklore, mangas and haiku.
Friday Face Off Book Cover Meme 2021
This meme is hosted by Lynn, where as per a weekly theme, you pick up a book — and showcase all the book covers that were ever created for that same book. You also get to choose your favorite one at the end. Since pictures! Obviously going to try this one too.
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2021
This one’s hosted by The Intrepid Reader, and you get to choose your own commitment level by quantity. I am starting with the Victorian Reader (10 books) level, keeping things small, and may build from there.
2021 Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge
This one’s for reading detective/ crime fiction, and again you pick your own commitment levels by quantity. I hope to mix this challenge up with Beat the Backlist Challenge and Historical Fiction Reading Challenge — and who knows, may be even the Japanese Literature Challenge. But again, will aim for the lower fruit for now: Amateur Sleuth (5-15 books).
Witch Week 2021 Reading Challenge
This has been hosted for many years by Lizzie Ross and Chris @ Calmgrove for reading books by theme (mostly of spooky and gothic nature). I am most excited about this one, though it will only come up in October-November of 2021.
(Gosh! I just realized that this is a very ambitious list of Reading Challenges & Memes! :O)
22 replies on “2021 Reading Challenges & Memes”
Good grief! You are ambitious here. But I think it’s great and if we don’t shoot for the moon, we might only land in the dung. Or something.
I don’t always take part in Friday Face-off, but I link it up with one of my Friday Posts every now and then.
Hope you will have a good week and good luck with al those challenges!
Elza Reads
Okay, that’s good to know. Will check out your Friday posts! 🙂
Haha — yes, hopefully I can manage even 1 book for each one of these. That’ll be enough for me!
I’d love to do the historical fiction challenge too but I’m already participating in a few challenges and I don’t want to make things too difficult knowing myself 😂
Self awareness is the world’s perfect antidote. Haha, let’s keep tabs on each other for the challenge reading progress! <3
Incase you get bored 😂, this is the only challenge I joined:
https://lonelycryptidmedia.com/2020/12/11/reading-writers-of-color-2021/
Haha. But challenge or not, you seem such a prolific reader and you always have such great suggestions/ reviews on your blog.
Reading Writers of Color looks cool, esp. because it has a monthly set of prompts. Hope you’ve already decided on the January read!
Well, I jumped the gun and read The Gilded One in December already. And my buddy reading commitments are spiraling out of control again already, so it‘ll probably be a short story. I am thinking: Bloodchild by Octavia Butler. Option two is Becoming by Michelle Obama as an audiobook…
What a wonderful list of challenges, so many which are new to me! Thank you for highlighting mine among them, and especially for joining in yourself. There will be a group read in January of Breasts and Eggs by Meiko Kawakami, which I better hurry up and post about!
Sounds good, and look forward. Though I’m not sure if I’m up for very heavy reads, will definitely try!
Lots of fun challenges and memes. Some new ones to me! I’m also going to be joining in the Japanese Literature and Historical Fiction challenge. Hope you have a great time and read lots of good books.
Ooh nice, eager to see you on both Japanese Literature and Historical Fiction. And thanks for stopping by!
I love Vintage SciFi Month! Always so much fun. I did the Cloak & Dagger challenge a few years ago and it was fun- and I’ve been reading a lot of mysteries/ thrillers too lately, so it would be a good fit. Thanks for reminding me of that one!
I learnt about the #VintageSciFiMonth at your blog — so thank YOU for telling me about it! 🙂
Cloak and Dagger, the minimum is 5 books, I think. So, manageable? It’ll be my first attempt at the meme.
Vintage SciFi Month is definitely the time to pull down those dusty scifi (and fantasy!) novels at the back of your bookshelf!
and that Japanese reading month looks right up my alley . . .
Awesome, do join the Japanese reading challenge, the more the merrier!
Good luck to you!! I’m also doing Beat the Backlist!! I will be doing PopSugar and the Believathon ones in May and November.. that’s all I’m committing to RIGHT NOW. haha. I’m sure that will change when I’m on twitter and seeing all these great readathons going on!
Haha, yes. Twitter is another source of shiny new things! Good luck with Beat the Backlist — even completing one book from there will be an achievement.
Wow, so many challenges!!
I haven’t started reading books for Vintage SciFi Month but I can’t wait to read to read posts related to the event. It also prompted me to start watching Star Trek TOS again and I might do a review of the second season since it definitely fits the theme of the month! 😀
Sounds good. I’ll confess I’ve never watched Star Trek. :O :O :O I saw some of the trailers and it looked more like a theatrical production rather than a spaceship… I just couldn’t, haha. Look forward to your review!
These all sound like such cool reading challenges! I’m doing a challenge on reading diverse authors, and one on reading books that I own, but maybe next year I’ll take a page from your book (pun intended) and do some of these challenges.
Haha, I signed up for these thinking it would keep me motivated to read more. Then it occurred to me I signed up for too much. Best of luck to both of us for our 2021 reading goals. 🙂
The Beat the Backlist Challenge sounds like fun! I’ve already got enough challenges on my plat this year so I’ll have to skip it for now though.
Good luck with all of these!