Amazon discontinued the ability to create images using their SiteStripe feature and in their infinite wisdom broke all previously created images on 12/31/23. Many blogs used this feature, including this one. Expect my archives to be a hot mess of broken book cover images until I can slowly comb through 20 years of archives to make corrections.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Come One, Come All: TBR Challenge 2013!

Christine prodded me on Twitter the other day, and the answer is yes - there will be a TBR Challenge 2013.  Because honestly?  Wendy needs some help in climbing that mountain range.  Even if I only manage to get 12 books read off the pile every year, that's still better than nothing.

This will be my third year hosting the challenge, and it's really been oodles of fun.  I hope past participants have enjoyed it as much as I have and will think about signing up again for the new year.  For the uninitiated, just what is the TBR Challenge?  Well.....
Simply put, it's where readers pick up a long neglected book from their TBR pile, read it, and comment on that read on the 3rd Wednesday of every month.  The idea is to read those long neglected books that you just had to get your hands on at the time, but have been languishing in your pile, all lost and forgotten.

Commentary on your chosen TBR read can happen anywhere online (your blog, Facebook, GoodReads, Twitter, a message board etc.) just provide me with a link when you sign-up so interested readers can follow all the challengers!

This is a voluntary challenge and I want this to be fun.  Hey, life happens.  If you have to skip a month, there will be no ridicule.  Likewise, while there will be bragging rights for those that complete the challenge without skipping a single month - there is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Since some readers like a little guidance, I will also be keeping with tradition and providing themes.  These themes are totally voluntary.  If you don't have anything in your TBR that fits, the theme doesn't appeal, or you just want to read something else - go for it!  Again, this is meant to be a fun challenge.
I have once again set up an information page on the blog that gives all the background, proposed themes, dates of the challenge for the whole year, along with the list of participants so you can all follow along!   I kept some of the themes from previous years, but have also added a few new ones for 2013.  They are:
January 16 - We Love Short Shorts! (Short stories, Novellas, category romance)
February 20 - Recommended Read (something recommended by a fellow reader)
March 20 - Series Catch-Up (pick a book from a series you're behind on)
April 17 - New-To-You Author
May 15 - More Than One (An author who has more than one book in your TBR pile).
June 19 - Lovely RITA (RWA RITA nominees OR winners)
July 17 - The Classics (Something classic within the romance genre - an author, a specific book, a trope/theme - I'm open to wide interpretations here!)
August 21 - Steamy reads (Erotic romance, erotica, something spicy!)
September 18 - Western (Contemporary or historical)
October 16 - Paranormal or romantic suspense
November 20 - All About The Hype (a book that created such chatter that it was inescapable).
December 18 - Holiday themes (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, it's all good!)
 So who's in with me?  Honestly, it's loads of fun and beneficial if you need a little pick-me-up when dealing with monstrous TBR Guilt (I can't be the only one who suffers from that....).  All you need to do to sign up is leave a comment on this post, or e-mail me, with a link for where you will be posting your "commentary."

And if you want to take a little time to mull it over?  That's fine too.  You can sign-up anytime over the course of the year.

22 comments:

Phyl said...

I'm in! This way I blog at least once a month :)

willaful said...

I'm in again. I didn't make them all this year, but will try to do better. And since I rarely settled on the first book I picked, I'm sure I got at least 12 off the TBR anyway. :-) Posting at Goodreads or www.karenknowsbest.com

JB said...

I gotta do this. Need to get rid of that TBR guilt.

Elizabeth said...

I've been telling myself all year that I need to sign up for the 2013 challenge. So this is me...signing up. I have at least 25 unread books on the one bookcase that has room for unread books and over 100 (!!) on my list of books to buy or check out if I had room on my shelves.

I'll be posting on my blog: http://lifelovelibrarianship.com

Lynn Spencer said...

My TBR is embarassingly huge, so I'm in! I'll be posting on the blog at AAR. Thanks for hosting again!

nath said...

I was going to think about it, but what the heck. I'm in LOL. Hopefully, I'll do better than this year!

Wendy said...

Yippee! I've got you all added, with linkage, to the information page. And just a shout-out to Phyl who totally gave me the idea to include a RITA category this year. SUCH a great idea!

willaful said...

BTW, I am totally challenged out right now and turning down everything else, which shows you how useful I found this one to be. :-)

Wendy said...

Willaful: Yippee! I'm glad the TBR Challenge made the cut!

Yeah, I don't do many challenges either. Just not enough time in my reading life. I like this one (obviously, I'm hosting it!) because it forces me to pick at least one book out of the TBR a month - and with various misses/DNFs/not-in-the-mood/my-tastes-have-changed, I usually end up weeding out more than that. The irony this past year was that it took me forever to settle on a book during the western theme month! And I LOVE westerns! I think I chucked aside three books before I finally settled on the one I actually finished.....

Lori said...

I made it through half the year last year. Goal this year? Begin blogging again and complete the dang TBR challenge :)

Booklover1335 said...

I'm in for sure. I was supposed to read at least one book from my TBR this year, and about two months in I was a lost cause, LOL. I like the topics you picked this year so I can't wait to get started.

I'll be posting at my blog Seductive Musings:

www.seductivemusings.blogspot.com

Christine said...

Of course I'm in! I have to be after pleading with you to host it again, right? haha! I managed to keep up with reading my TBR book choice each month, but missed a couple of reviews and or commentary. Looking forward to continuing to whittle down that pile! Thanks for your help. ;)

Hilcia said...

I've had a wonderful time this year participating in the TBR Challenge. I've read more books from that pile than ever,and also found some great books after reading everyone else's reviews. Sooo, I'm in! Thanks for hosting it again, Wendy.

Wendy said...

I should have everyone added to the information page that left a comment so far :) Glad to see so many of you returning, and some new faces too!

Unknown said...

This is great, I'll be participating and posting on either my blog: http://jaquelinecorrea.wordpress.com/ or Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4910984-jaqueline-correa

It's gonna be an exciting year!

Seccionista said...

You make it sound so much fun that I can't resist joining in. :-)

I'll be posting my reviews at http://anecasworld.blogspot.pt/

Molly O'Keefe said...

I'm in - because something hs to be done about the paper and electronic tbr's...

Molly O'Keefe said...

i'll be posting mine on facebook http://www.facebook.com/MollyOKeefeBooks?ref=hl

Susanna Fraser said...

I'm in! My Kindle TBR is out of control. I'll post at my blog, http://authorsusannafraser.blogspot.com/

Wendy said...

Yippee! Glad to see so many of you signing up. Participating in the TBR Challenge is a lot more fun that a lot of other New Year's Resolutions I can think of :)

You've all been added to the TBR Challenge 2013 page here at the blog.....

S. said...

Hello Wndy. I'm Sonia, I knew about the challenge in Hilcia's blog. I was the one who questioned the posting dates...
I thought about it and would like to try, if it's possible to - eventually and if needed - sometimes post after the scheduled date...if so, here's my blog where I'll post:
http://books-reading-vice.blogspot.pt/
Thank you!

Wendy said...

I love how a spam comment came through on a totally separate post - and yet Sonia's legit comment got stalled in moderation! Stupid Blogger!

Sonia: This year I'm doing a better job of putting the blogging participants in my Google Reader, which I tend to check daily. So yes, if you can't post by the "deadline" (which is pretty loose!), that is fine. Also, I like to do the themes, but they are TOTALLY optional. So don't feel like you HAVE to follow those. Before I started hosting the challenge, I tended to pick and choose what themed months I'd follow :)