*2018 Beat the Backlist Challenge*

It's that time of year when we bloggers decide what reading challenges we're going to sign up for, and as with everything else in my life, I have a tendency to overestimate my abilities, mostly my ability to see something through to the end. However, the Beat the Backlist Challenge hosted by the lovely folks over at Novel Knight is really kind of easy to stick to, sort of. As long as your definition of "sticking to the challenge" means reading enough older titles to meet your goal, I totally did that last year. Sticking to my original list, however, did not happen, like at all (I read two books off the list of 20, and probably read around my goal of 40 books. That's not a good average). 

Now at this point, I'm actually not sure exactly how many backlist titles I've read this year, but I was at 28 at the end of June when I posted my update on the challenge, and from a quick look at my Goodreads, I think I've read 44 backlist titles, which is four over my goal, and I still have a month left, so go me. Because of that, I'm joining the Beat the Backlist challenge again this year. 

There have been some changes made. For example, this year there is no Hogwarts House mini-challenge (but there are still teams, but they're being randomly assigned to prevent any one team from being at a particular advantage or disadvantage. The poor Gryffindors did not stand a chance this year with only about half as many members as each of the other three houses the last time I counted.) Beyond that, it's pretty straightforward. I just have to read books that were released before 2018. Now there are some big changes coming up in my personal life that may impact my reading time greatly, so this year I'm only aiming for 30 backlist titles. These will hopefully be a mix between way overdue Netgalley ARCs and older Goodreads First Reads wins, but it's possible that I'll just grab random books to read because that's just how I roll. 

So what do I think I might read this coming year? Here are some possibilities, that are absolutely subject to change (and quite likely will if I'm being totally honest here). *All titles link to Amazon*

Need by Joelle Charbonneau

Bad Luck by Pseudonymous Bosch

Sister of Mine by Sabra Waldfogel

The Invasion of Heaven by Michael B. Koep

Mercer Girls by Libbie Hawker

Framing the Black Panthers by Jane Rhodes

The Idea of You by Amanda Prowse

The Fifth Petal by Brunonia Barry

Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Long

And then a whole bunch of other books that I have yet to decide on, but my physical books are going to be packed up for at least the first two months of 2018 and possibly longer depending on how long it takes for my husband to find us a house he's happy with in our new location. So I'm really at a bit of a disadvantage for making this list right now, and since I know I'm not going to end up sticking to it anyway, I'm keeping it short. 

So, do you have what it takes to join me in this challenge? - Katie