Ten months down, two months to go fellow readers! How is your TBR Challenge going?

I’m behind schedule, but that seems to be the case every single year, lol. Still looking for a new day job, still Treasurer for my RWA chapter that struck out on its own (we’re Regency Fiction Writers now, open to anyone–published or not–who writes in any genre and sets their books during the Regency era), so still short on reading (and writing!) time. But I’m not so far behind that I won’t make it. I’ve only got eight TBR books to read before the end of the year, and I could read eight books in a week if I didn’t have anything else to do 😉

I’ve also been trying to carve out time each week specifically to do something relaxing–not housework, or Treasurer work, or looking for jobs, or anything that might be considered productive–and I’ve spent a lot of that time reading. If that pattern continues, I’ll be fine…though I might have to stick to some of the shorter books in my TBR 😀

We’re 3/4 of the way through 2020 fellow readers! Are you 3/4 of the way to your TBR Challenge goal?

I’m not, but I’m getting there. My non-reading To Do list has been getting longer again–I’m treasurer for an RWA chapter that has voted to become its own organization (which is *so* much more work than I anticipated, but very exciting!), been looking for a new day job, and started working on a web design course sequence through Coursera and the University of Michigan. When I have had some reading time, I’ve been wanting non-fiction–gotta give those research books some love, too!–and those always take me longer to get through, even when they’re well written and easy to read.

So I’ve got 10 more TBR books to read by the end of the year, and 13 books for my overall Goodreads challenge. Under normal circumstances that’s a piece of cake, but this year hasn’t been remotely “normal” lol. I’m comfortable with my progress so far, though, and we’ll see how that next few months go 🙂

courtesy of Jbuatti via Wikimedia Commons

Happy Halloween, fellow readers! Are you making progress on your TBR Challenge?

I am, but at a snail’s pace. I did finish listening to William Shakespeare’s Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope (it was as fantastic as I expected such a mash-up to be!), and I flew through Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastion (which was *such* a lovely story!).

Ye Olde Chronic Fatigue has been rearing its ugly head, though, so my previous plan of reading in the evenings hasn’t been sustainable lately–I’m just too tired most days. I’ve also got crochet projects lined up to make as gifts for Christmas, which I talked about last month, and I’m writing As Long As You Love Me So, both of which sap my remaining energy (though if I’m going to expend my limited energy on things, crocheting and writing are at the top of the list 🙂 ).

In light of all that, I’ve decided to do something I’ve never done in a TBR Challenge: modify the terms. I’ve dropped my Goodreads challenge from 36 books to 24, and I’m rolling back my TBR Challenge goal from 24 books to 14. That relieves some of the stress I’ve been feeling about making these goals, which helps make reading more fun again and knocks back my overall stress level. It’s always good to re-evaluate your goals and how you plan to achieve them–I think that should apply to reading challenges, too 🙂