January 2024 Reading Challenges Updates

I'm going to be honest with you. I had completely forgotten I was planning to do reading challenges this year until the night of January 22, when I was trying to sleep. So I pulled out my trusty kindle, settled into the covers, and read all the books for these challenges in less than three days.

She Reads Romance Books Reading Challenge

For this challenge, there were two options I could pick from: a dark romance or a 2023 non-romance title I didn't get to read yet. I decided on the latter, and read "Why Would I Lie" by Adi Rule. I'm so glad I did! Here's what Adi Rule has to say about her book:

Viveca North has worked hard, even obsessively, to earn her spot as valedictorian. But senior year, a new guy breezes into her class. Jamison is charismatic, handsome, and super smart. Rumors swirl about all his amazing accomplishments, like having his pilot’s license and posing as a cover model for Teen Vibe magazine. 

Everything seems to come so easily to him- unusually easily, Viveca thinks. As Jamison gets closer to unseating Viveca from the top spot, Viveca goes deeper down a rabbit hole of suspicion. She finds evidence and connections everywhere, even as she’s jeopardizing her own future and pushing away her only friend. But is Jamison lying, or is Viveca just seeing what she wants to?

This book is literally amazing. I wasn't going to pick it at first, because I thought it would be too action-packed or cliche, but it was perfect. I read it all in one sitting, and it took me about two hours. I highly recommend it to everyone who enjoys YA fiction, particularly thrillers.

Shelf Reflection’s 2024 Reading Challenge

Out of the 17 books I read this month, eight of them fit perfectly into Shelf Reflection prompts. So I worked backwards this month- I read the books first and looked at the prompts later. Luckily, I was able to knock out roughly 18% of the 45 prompts in one month alone (to put that into perspective, I read double this month than I needed to in order to stay on track). Let's take a look at what books I read!

A book with time travel: Signal Moon by Kate Quinn

A book by an author who has written over 20 books: The Inmate by Freida McFadden

A book set in the woods or the mountains: The Lover by Moreno-Garcia, Silvia

A book set in a different culture than your own: A Night at the Tropicana by Chanel Cleeton

A book by an author from a different country than you: 10:59 by N R Baker

A book of poetry or a novella: Resting Scrooge Face

A book without a death or a murder: Virtually Me

A book with a brother and sister relationship: The Reunion

I'll link the title of the book to a review I wrote of it as the month progresses. So far, I haven't individually reviewed any of these, but I'm hoping to change that.

Bookish Books Reading Challenge

The Bookish Books Reading Challenge is for books... that are about books.  For this month, I checked out "The Bookstore Sisters" by Alice Hoffman. This novella is about Isabel, a girl who chose to leave her childhood town when tragedy hit, and returned a decade later when her sister needed her help. Isabel was faced with all the things she tried so hard to forget about over the years, like the bookstore her dad used to run.

I didn't know it was a novella before picking it up, but it was still a good read. My favorite part were the insightful quotes that were sprinkled throughout the novel.

2024 Classics Reading Challenge

This month's prompt was "A Classic You've Read Before", and luckily, I've read only one classic before in my whole life. I read "The Hobbit" a year ago for a school assignment, and it was as meh as I remembered it.

To be honest, it wasn't particularly hard to read. When I think of classics, I think of yee oldern en-gle-shah but this didn't have many ancient terms. Maybe the edition I read had revised the original writing to make it easier?

In any case, there was no plotline of foreshadowing whatsoever, none of those literary elements that pull me into contemporary novels, but maybe I'll grow to love classics as the year goes on. 

Choose Your Own Adventure: Year in Aeldia 2024 Reading Challenge

Last but certainly not least, we have the "Choose Your Own Adventure" reading challenge. I'm most excited about this one! Basically, there are two prompts you can choose from each month, and it's formatted like a Choose Your Own Adventure story. This month, the two options are "rely on your strength" (which means your prompt is to read an audiobook) and "rely on your wits" (which means you have to read a physical book). 

I choose "rely on your wits," and checked out Windfall by Jennifer E Smith from a library. This is my first physical book of the year- I've only been reading ebooks so far. I'll post a review of Windfall soon.

Thanks for joining me!

Comment down below the answers to these questions:

1. Are you doing any reading challenges this year?

2. What are you reading right now?

And make sure to comment with your google account to get notified when I reply. 

Paige, signing off