2021 Reading Challenge Wrap-Up

Well. That was certainly a year, wasn’t it? Remember all those reading challenges I signed up for in 2021? Let’s see how those went!

Read Harder 2021
Goal: 24 Books
Result: 22 (92%)

  1. Read a book you’ve been intimidated to read
  2. Read a nonfiction book about anti-racism: Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
  3. Read a non-European novel in translation: The Others by Sarah Blau
  4. Read an LGBTQ+ history book: Stonewall: A Building, an Uprising, a Revolution by Rob Sanders
  5. Read a genre novel by an Indigenous, First Nations, or Native American author: Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
  6. Read a fanfic: Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse
  7. Read a fat-positive romance
  8. Read a romance by a trans or nonbinary author: Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
  9. Read a middle grade mystery: Linked by Gordon Korman
  10. Read an SFF anthology edited by a person of color: A Universe of Wishes: A We Need Diverse Books Anthology edited by Dhonielle Clayton
  11. Read a food memoir by an author of color: The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African-american Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty
  12. Read a work of investigative nonfiction by an author of color: The Spy Who Couldn’t Spell: A Dyslexic Traitor, an Unbreakable Code, and the FBI’s Hunt for America’s Stolen Secrets by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee
  13. Read a book with a cover you don’t like: Shirlick Holmes and the Case of the Wandering Wardrobe by Jane Yolen
  14. Read a realistic YA book not set in the U.S., UK, or Canada: If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan
  15. Read a memoir by a Latinx author: Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx by Sonia Manzano
  16. Read an own voices book about disability: The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer
  17. Read an own voices YA book with a Black main character that isn’t about Black pain: Tristan Strong Destroys the World (Tristan Strong #2) by Kwame Mbalia
  18. Read a book by/about a non-Western world leader: No Room for Small Dreams: Courage, Imagination, and the Making of Modern Israel by Shimon Peres
  19. Read a historical fiction with a POC or LGBTQ+ protagonist: The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan
  20. Read a book of nature poems: The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane
  21. Read a children’s book that isn’t about disability that includes a main character with a disability: Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly
  22. Read a book set in the Midwest: Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
  23. Read a book that demystifies a common mental illness: Empty by Susan Burton
  24. Read a book featuring a beloved pet where the pet doesn’t die: Murder Always Barks Twice (Chatty Corgi Mystery #2) by Jennifer Hawkins

There were several books that I sought out specifically to satisfy challenges, so I feel this did what it was supposed to do in broadening my reading horizons. I had a book picked out for task 7, but I just ran out of time. And I never did figure out what to read for task 1. At least, not with enough time left in the year to finish.

2021 Netgalley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge
Goal: 25 books (silver), and 10% feedback ratio
Result: 39, and 10% feedback ratio

I gave feedback on a whole slew of titles I’d read since joining Netgalley in 2011, but I also requested a bunch of new titles.

Back to the Classics Challenge 2021
Goal: 12 books
Result: 0

I’m sure I read books that fit at least two of the challenges, but I forgot to actually post about them, so I’m not counting them.

Mount TBR Challenge 2021
Goal 24 books (Mount Blanc)
Result: 0

I know I’m missing some books from my reading log – I’m sure I read something in the month of April. I checked out a lot of books from the library, though. Almost 82% of the books I read, according to the log stats.

Virtual Mount TBR Challenge 2021
Goal: 24 books(Mount Crumpit)
Result: 77 books (320%)

So, the thing about this challenge is that it counts books that you add to your virtual TBR within the year. It’s really a count of books I read that I don’t own, including a bunch I read for work after the Youth Media Awards were announced. If I only count books that I added to my GoodReads list prior to 1/1/21, the total drops to 19.

Overall, it was a pretty good year of reading. But in 2022, I’ve really got to tackle my physical TBR and those classics. My Classics Club deadline is coming up fast.

Reading Challenges 2021

I know. I know. Every December I sign up for a bunch of challenges, and then life happens, and they fall by the wayside. And then it’s December again, and I sign up for another bunch of challenges.

Well, I just can’t help myself.

My 2021 Reading Challenges:

  • Read Harder 2021: From the folks at Book Riot, this challenge (now in its 7th year) is “designed to help you break out of your reading bubble and expand your worldview through books.” I managed 19/24 tasks in 2020.
  • 2021 Netgalley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge: I joined NetGalley in 2011, so I’ve requested a lot of books over the years. NetGalley recommends a feedback ratio of 80%, and mine is (at the end of 2020) a dismal 6%. I would have to give feedback on over 500 books to hit 80% right now, and that’s obviously not going to happen, but I’d like to get to, say, 10%. So, I’ll be aiming for the Silver level (25 books). Wish me luck.
  • Back to the Classics Challenge 2021: I’m joining in this one again, and again planning to pull from my Classics Club 2019-2023 list, which I’m a teensy bit behind on.
  • Mount TBR Challenge 2021 and Virtual Mount TBR Challenge 2021: These two challenges, both hosted at My Reader’s Block, focus on those TBR shelves, whether I own the book or not. I’m aiming for 24 books on each, or Mount Blanc and Mount Crumpit, respectively.

Five challenges, two of which will almost certainly overlap significantly. I’ll be tracking them using the post tags and using the pages linked under “Reading Challenges“.

I do have one more bookish goal for 2021: I’d like to figure out how to use Edelweiss better. I know there’s a lot that I could be doing with it, but I haven’t taken the time to explore it.

What are your reading plans for 2021?