Why I Made This Summer Reading Challenge
Before summer started, my TBR had 136 physical books! So, I decided to make a TBR Summer Reading Challenge to motivate myself to read more of my physical TBR. It was a 10-book challenge with the following prompts:
- Set at the beach or near the ocean
- Has “sun” or “water” in the title or on the cover
- Features a summer romance or fling
- A book with a yellow, gold, or orange cover
- Set during a summer camp, road trip, or festival
- A book you’d describe as “dreamy”
- A book you’d pack for a weekend getaway
- A backlist title by a favorite author
- A juicy thriller or mystery meant to be read poolside
- A book under 300 pages
My Reading
I was able to read six of the ten books. I think it was a bit too difficult of a challenge for myself when I also read for a book club and read on my phone through Libby. Libby doesn’t have many of the books in my physical TBR pile, so it was difficult to finish ten books for this list.
These are the ones I was able to complete and what I read for them.
Set at the beach or near the ocean:
I originally tried to read The Wedding People by Alison Espach for this prompt, but I just couldn’t get into it. Since it was the third time trying to read it, I ended up DNF’ing it for good and got rid of it.
Instead I read Culpability by Bruce Holsinger. I was very interested in reading this book, and as I was reading, it was set mostly at a house on Chesapeake Bay, which is connected to the ocean, so I ended up counting it here.
Features a summer romance or fling:
I didn’t have many options for this one as I don’t typically hold onto romances on my physical TBR, so I chose Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. I actually really loved this book, and I’m glad I read it.
A book with a yellow, gold, or orange cover:
I again had quite a few options for this, but I want to read A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson. I just got this book recently and I don’t want it lingering on my shelf too long.
I ended up not liking it as much as I thought I would. Since it was marketed as Babel but with dragons, I was all in, but it didn’t have as much focus on language as Babel does. Also, the main character just wasn’t for me.
A book you’d pack for a weekend getaway:
I would pack pretty much anything for a weekend getaway, so it was maybe too broad of a category for me.
I was going to read The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner for this category, but it wasn’t calling to me to read. I ended up reading Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 by Stephen Puleo for my mystery and conspiracy podcast, The Paranoid Perspective, so I just counted it here.
A juicy thriller or mystery meant to be read poolside:
I’ve been meaning to read The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak. I was so excited for this release, but then it just sat on my shelf. However, it really wasn’t at all the story that I thought it would be. It took some pretty twisted turns that I didn’t really like.
A book under 300 pages:
I don’t have a lot of options for this one either, so I went with Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman. I enjoyed reading it, and it was a quick read since it’s so short, but I didn’t get as much practical advice out of it as I had wanted. I also didn’t realize that the two authors are podcasters, so they probably wrote this book as a tell-all for themselves, so it wasn’t just a general advice book to begin with.
Unread Prompts
A backlist title by a favorite author:
I picked The Tournament by Matthew Reilly. I bought this book so long ago now, and Matthew Reilly is one of my favorite authors of all time, but this book is a bit different from his others as it’s a historical fiction about a chess tournament, so I’ve just been putting it off.
I did get into reading this one, I’m on page 94 currently. I plan on finishing it soon, but just couldn’t in time for the summer challenge.
Set during a summer camp, road trip, or festival:
I literally only have one book on my physical TBR for this and that’s Tantric Coconuts by Greg Kincaid. I’ve had this for so long on my shelves, but I never had time to start it.
A book you’d describe as “dreamy”:
I’m going off vibes for “dreamy” here, basing it purely on the cover, so I chose Heard It in a Love Song by Tracey Garvis Graves. I bought this book just because of the cover as well, but similar to Tantric Coconuts, I just never had the time to even start it.
Has “sun” or “water” in the title or on the cover:
I was going to read Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao, but after reading around 20 pages of it, I couldn’t get into it. I’m hoping to try again later.
I briefly also considered reading Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, but instead, I started reading Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare. I’ve read most of the other Shadowhunter series and want to read this one before the last trilogy starts to come out next year. I read up to page 208, but I decided to shelve it for now so I can read The South Wind by Alexandria Warwick and open up the gifts from Once Upon a Book Club’s Romantasy box in a timely manner.
Current TBR
So I did get six books off my physical TBR shelf, and I also did end up selling quite a few to Half Price Books. I also tried to limit my book purchases from Book of the Month as well as out in the wild. Through these efforts, I now have 126 books in my TBR, so I am net negative ten books. It’s not as much as I thought, but at least I didn’t end up adding more than I started with!
I’ve also organized it better, with my top picks being on the top shelf. I’m going to focus on reading these for the remainder of the year. Let me know which of these you’d recommend for me to start with!
Lessons for next TBR challenge
Making it a 10-book challenge didn’t give me the flexibility to also include reading my book club books and reading on my phone from Libby since most of my physical TBR isn’t available on Libby.
Next time, I need to allow more flexibility and account for my mood reading tendencies. I also want it to be a bit more fun to complete. I’m working on a TBR Bingo card for fall, which will come out soon.
Did you join the challenge, and if so, how did you do?
Drop your reads in the comments or tag me on socials @notesfromtheshelf.
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