2017 Challenges | #DiversityBingo2017 + #DiverseReads2016

From the challenges this year you might of noticed a theme: diversity. I think all three of these challenges are good at pushing diversity, I mean two of them have diversity in the title, but the Read Harder challenge always has a diverse list of books to check out - genre, content, such.

Normally I'd talk about the challenges in no specific order, but there's definitely an order for how I feel towards these three challenges. #DiversityBingo2017 (felt too weird to type without the hashtag since I've been talking about it on twitter non-stop, not sorry) is the number one thing. I'm going to post a TBR, with everything I found for every category, and if you've got any recommendations for a book in a west asian setting (or if you can give me a straight answer on what is considered west asian because googling gave me various answers).

Diverse Reads mostly lines up with Diversity Bingo, so I figured I might as well take part because the google doc they created is pretty great so I wanted to talk about that too. Honestly, I'd of completed it by just doing the others so it's perfect, and fun.

Read Harder is run by Book Riot and is 24 challenges, so 2 a month, and is always great (though I've never completed it, normally because there's at least one that I don't really care about. See: for 2016, food memoir. I mean sure but also...? Just isn't really my thing).

#DiversityBingo2017 - all the info

Yes, it's an actual bingo card, I'm very happy about it. I original made it as big as I could so you could see the creators, but it's still hard. So I'm going to type out their twitter handles:

@novelparadise, @headinherbooks, @thesebooklions, @thebooksbuzz, @rhaegardied, @ohbrekker, @aimalfarooq, @bookwormwanders, @theauslibrary

If you're interested I'd go check out/hangout in the twitter hashtag, it's a great place to be. I'm really excited about this one and trying to complete all 36 spaces - so many! - and making sure I have books for each that I'm excited for (so far it hasn't been too hard, but finding own voices books has been, but only because of how much time you can put into it and still not have an answer).

But any reccs I'll accept, I've picked out most of my books, but some I'm going back and forth on (a few because too many I want to read!)

Diverse Reads is being hosted by Mishma of Chasing Faerytales and Shelly of Read.Sleep.Repeat. They have specific monthly challenges, that I won't be following simply because I can't structure my reading that much it'll drive me insane (I wish I could, I'd be more organized as a human).

2017 Reading Goals

Alright so this one I'm rewriting completely - which I didn't really have to do for the others - but I wrote this, and the other end of year posts, at the actual end of the year but then never proofed and posted.

I love New Years and goals - and lists of goals. It might be a problem but I'm okay with that. I love setting goals, basically, but ones I know I can accomplish as long as I remember that they're there and have enough spoons. This year I'm more limited then I have been previously, not as many specific things listed, but mostly because I feel #DivesityBingo2017 is going to be harder then I think it will - even though I've pretty much got books for ever one.

(I'm also kind of doing Book Riot's read harder but I haven't been able to finish it the last few years, and would rather focus on diversity in my reading - which the read harder challenge does push but I like the prompts/challenges for the other two better).

This year's reading challenges are pretty similar to last years - they worked out for me and I liked them.

• Read 100 books (again) (yes, book books) (listen, it works)
• Complete series I've already started / generally just complete series
• #DiversityBingo2017
• #DiverseReads2017

I'm going to do a full post on the challenges just so that I can lay everything out for them. I'll also be doing a separate post of my Diversity Bingo TBR/recommendations because I have done a shit ton of research for this. Probably 8+ hours so far, and might end up doing more because the internet has failed me on explaining geography. I thought I knew things, it turns out I don't but neither goes google.

Anyway - what challenges are you taking part in for 2017? If you're taking part in any of the challenges I am, let me know! From the new releases I'm making a list of to preorder, it's going to be a good year of books.

2014 (reading) goals

I always try to start off the year new and have resolutions that I want to complete, and my track record is actually really good. This is mostly going to be about reading goals, but 2013 wasn't a good year for me. I mean, of course, there were good and amazing moments, but there also was some not so good stuff, and it actually had nothing to do with any outside source (except for the last few months because, man, lawyers are assholes, guys, assholes).

Anyway, onto the book stuff, the happy stuff, no bad things!

Read 50 - 100 books this year - I started my goal at 50 books in 2013 and I'm going to do that again, but I did end up upping it through out the year and ended up reading 115 books in all. Which is awesome, I cannot believe I read that many books.

Complete books I own / Stop buying books I won't read - I always think about going on a book buying ban, but that's not really what I want to do, because there are always books coming out. But before I buy books, I'm going to try and force myself to pause and ask myself if I'll really read it. Because I own so much contemporary and I am a very Fantasy (and SciFi) reader, and I do want to read a lot of the stuff I own, but some of the stuff I bought, I don't think I care about so much. Also, I own so many books, normally when people say this you go 'yeah, me too' but you don't understand. If i had to estimate a number, I'd say abou 2,000.
I want to clean out some I know I won't read or something. And people always say they want most the books they own to be ones they read, but I completely don't agree with that, I love, and sometimes stress about, being surrounded by books that I could read. And I have really slowed down buying books since the summer about, and I'm hoping to keep with this. Also - stop buying kindle books just because it's only $2 if I already own a physical copy. I love having the digital copy but I don't really need it.

Reread loved books (that I haven't had time to reread) - there's this weird thing about always reading new books because I bought these new books. But I also am dying to reread Harry Potter, I haven't had time to reread in at least 5 years, probably, which is just actually physically upsetting. I did reread some books in 2013 that I loved (It, Duma Key, and a few others), but there others. (Mortal Instrument series because I remember nothing, Percy Jackson series, and others).

Write more reviews  - related to this is blogging more and maybe starting to vlog (I've talked about starting again every day since I stopped and I haven't done it yet but still). I want to write more reviews for the books I read, even if they're just those short reviews, because sometimes I just don't have a lot to say about a book. Anyway - reviews, keeping up on here because I do love blogging and everything and I think it's going to change a little. (Not a lot, still all books, but probably more personal or whatever, this isn't a very thought out goal, in all honesty).

Lists - one of the people I follow on YouTube (booktubers, they're great guys) stole the list idea from someone else. Either way, the 100 top SciFi/Fantasy list by NPR. I have read a few of them, more then I expected, and a lot of them I do want to read, not all of them but quite a few. If you've got any recommendations of different lists or whatever, please leave it in the comments. (I've been looking at the BBC one and it does have a lot of books I want to or have read, but also a lot of classics).

Certain book or series I want to complete - I have no idea what of these I'll read, but I'm going to list books or series I haven't read yet with a small synopsis of why.
The Lord of the Rings (+ The Hobbit) by J.R.R. Tolkien - It's ridiculous that I haven't read these yet and I've tried and the descriptiveness doesn't get to me as much (I read King at eleven, I know about descriptiveness) but just something about it is hard to get into. I loved the movies, though I haven't seen either of the Hobbit movies yet, and it's Tolkien and I love fantasy, it's unexpectable.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick - I read Ubik in 2013 and fell in love and I have so many of his books I'm dying to read, but I know this is probably his most popular. But also all of them, I own at least 6, I think.

The Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness - I have only heard good things about this series and it sounds so good. And I've owned all three books for like 2 or 3 years I think.

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak - it's ridiculous I haven't read this yet, I am actually ashamed, and I think Haley will beat my head in with the book if I don't read it soon. I just don't really like reading things that'll make me sad, okay?

Lovecraft - this is kind of a vague thing, but I want to read kind of all his stuff, but I'll be happy to of just read a couple things. I own a couple collections of different works and I love horror and creepy stuff and he is like the one all modern horror novelists talk about and I've never read anything.

The Stand / The Shinning by Stephen King + a book by Joe Hill - Joe is his son, which is why I'm pairing them together, I think I own like all of his books on my kindle and haven't read one. And I've read quite a few King books, but not two of what are probably his most known and I'm pretty The Stand is his most loved. And I've seen The Stand mini series and it's so good.

And more, of course there's so much more, but if I keep going, we will be here for probably weeks with the amount of books I want to read and I might not get to all of these this year but I hope to (The Stand is also like 1200 pages and whew). If you did a 2014 goal, leave me a comment so I can see yours, and I hope 2014 is going to be a good year.

I also don't think I'll be taking part in really any challenges besides reading a certain number of books, really, but if you think I'd be interested in one or if you think I should check one out, feel free to leave a comment or just @ me on Twitter.