My Favorite Books of 2021 & My New Reading Challenges for 2022

Happy new year!

Unlike previous years, I didn’t post my favorite books of 2021 on the blog and I didn’t post my reading challenges. That’s because I did podcast episodes about both those things and didn’t want to spoil things! But the episodes have been out for a little while now, so I thought I’d post things here for those of you who aren’t listening. You can get details on my favorites and on the challenges in the episodes below. However, if you just want the nitty-gritty list, I still wanted to share those things here because it’s tradition! :)

RAD Reading podcast episodes:

The Best of the Best: Our Top Reads of 2021

Let’s Get Nerdy: Setting Reading Challenges and Goals for 2022

My Fave Reads of 2021 (in no particular order)

• In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashely Winstead

• Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan

• Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian

• The Roommate by Rosie Danan

• The Wallflower series by Lisa Kleypas

• When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn (

• My Life In France by Julia Child

• Share Your Stuff, I’ll Go First by Laura Tremaine

• Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

• Vicious by V.E. Schwab

• I Miss You When I Blink by Mary Laura Philpott

• Text Me When You Get Home by Kayleen Schaeffer

• Joyland by Stephen King

• Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

My 2022 Reading Challenges

• Roni’s Bookish Subscription challenge - read 12 books from bookish subscriptions

• Roni’s Indie Author challenge - read at least 10 indie-published books

• Roni’s Romance Roots challenge - read 12 foundational romances

Here are the pages in my journal for each…

Feel free to join in with me! And if those aren’t a fit for you, check out my previous challenges:

Roni’s Read Wide challenge

Roni’s TBR Backlog challenge

I finished both this year! Don’t the pages look pretty all filled in? :)

What were some of your favorite reads of 2021? And what (if any) bookish challenges are you tackling in 2022?

Introducing the RAD Reading Podcast!

Did you know I now have a bookish podcast?

Y’all know I love talking all things reading and giving book (and movie/TV) recommendations. I’ve been doing it on this blog for many years. But a few months ago, I got the urge to do something a little different with that kind of content.

I love a bookish podcast and I listen to a number of them every week, so that got me to thinking, what if I did one of these? There’s nothing I love more than talking about reading or passing along a great book, so why not do it over the virtual airwaves?

I was a little (a lot!) intimidated to learn the how-to’s of podcasting, and I’m definitely still learning, but I decided to take the leap. I teamed up with indie editor Dawn Alexander and we’ve launched RAD Reading, a bookish podcast where the R stands for refresh and the D stands for discover and where we help you do those two things for your reading life.

We have had so much fun this first month of episodes, and we have lots more to come! If you’d like to give us a listen (and we’d love it if you would!), links to the first five episodes are below. You can listen to the episodes on this website, through Apple podcasts, or you can add it to whichever podcast player you prefer.

How to Listen:

• On our website

• Apple podcasts

• Audible

• Spotify

• Acast  

• Or add to your favorite podcast app with their “Add by URL” feature and paste this link there: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/rad-reading

This month’s episodes:

The Life-Changing Magic of the DNF

Our first episode! Join us as we talk about our vision for the podcast, preview our weekly bookish themes, and then jump into our topic of the week--the life-changing magic of not finishing a book you’re not enjoying. And make sure you stay until the end to get our RAD Reading Book Recommendations of the week!

Feeling All the Fall Feels: Seasonal Book Recs

Fall is here! This week we’re talking about whether or not we’re seasonal readers and how to enhance those autumnal vibes with your reading choices. We’re also bringing you a big stack of book recommendations! Roni’s got a pile of recs from one of her very favorite micro-genres: dark academia & campus novels. And Dawn is bringing the heat with sexy football-themed romances and some fun seasonal rom-coms. Come feel all the Fall feels with us!

Making Your Own Reading Journal (AKA Fun with Office Supplies)

We love upgrading our reading lives, so this week we’re talking about one of our favorite ways to enhance the reading experience--creating our own reading journals! Plus, as always, we’re giving our RAD Reading Recs of the week.

October’s Read/Watch/Listen Recs

This week we’re giving you all of our favorites of the month! Join us as we share the books, audiobooks, TV shows, and movies that have gotten our highest marks.

They All Float: Our Best Halloween Recs

Happy Halloween! This week Roni freaks out Dawn with her scary book and movie picks (and episode title) and Dawn offers recommendations for those who prefer their Halloween on the gentler side. It’s a long one, y’all! We’ve got a pile of recs for you, including suspense, horror, true crime, and paranormal romance. Grab a bag of Halloween candy and join us!

That’s a wrap on our first month! Next month we’ll be tackling things like taming distractions so you can get more reading time and giving our best comfort reads.

Reading Challenge Mid-Year Check-In!

Can you believe we’re at the halfway point of 2021? Maybe it’s because 2020 seemed to drag on forever, but this year seems like it just started. However, here we are, and I thought what better time to do a check-in on our reading challenges.

Or, if you didn’t sign up for any at the beginning of the year and now might want to, it’s the perfect time to join one!

This year I’m doing three challenges:

• The TBR Backlog Reading Challenge - (You can get all the details here.)

• The Read Wide 2021 Challenge - (Grab the details and a downloadable chart here.)

• The Goodreads challenge

So, how is it going so far? Let’s see! I did MATH, y’all.

TBR Backlog Reading Challenge

Let’s start with the new challenge I created this year—The TBR Backlog Reading Challenge. For this one, I wanted to tackle books based on what year I purchased them in (which I can see on Goodreads) because usually I’m just picking up the newest things in my stack. I also wanted to whittle down my Book of the Month club stack so I made a section for that.

Here’s how it’s going:

As you can see, I’m doing pretty well! I’ve filled in all the circles for the years purchased except for one, and I’m almost halfway through the Book of the Month number.

So, what have I learned so far and is the challenge accomplishing what I intended?

Well, I’m definitely learning things! I’ll talk more about that below. And yes, it’s accomplishing the main goal—thinning out my TBR—but if I was hoping to discover books that I’ll love that I forgot about…well, that’s been a little less successful.

Let’s look at some stats (because I don’t like math but I get super nerdy about book math!)

I have read 21 books so far for the challenge (you’ll only see 20 recorded in the chart because I’m writing down backlist books even after I’ve filled in those circles just to keep track of how much TBR I tackled.)

Of the 17 books that I’ve read based on the year purchased, 53% have been either DNFs, one, or two star ratings. Ouch. 18% have been 4 or 5 stars.

Of the 5 Book of the Month club books, I only rated one 2 stars. The rest were 3 or above. So, better luck there!

What are my takeaways from those numbers?

1. Reading taste changes over time.

   I can see the evolution of my reading taste over the ten years I’ve been keeping track on Goodreads. Not only do I have another decade of reading under my belt (and life experience) but I have another decade of WRITING. My critical eye is…highly critical these days. I’m much pickier and much less patient now.

2. Book of the Month usually gives me solid books.

   There’s a reason I’ve been a member for a number of years now. BOTM introduces me to books I may not have sought out on my own. Sometimes those risks don’t pay off, but more often than not, they do. (If you’d like to try BOTM, I believe this referral link will get you a discount or free book or something. :) )

3. Book trends are real and sometimes older books just don’t hold up.

   Partly, this may be because I can burn out on genres that were the big thing a few years ago. This also is because some books are written in a way that can stand the test of time—and some just feel dated.

4. I can clean up my TBR by aggressive use of the DNF (did not finish) because some books are clearly going to fall prey to #1 and #3 above.

So far, I’m calling this challenge a success.

The Read Wide Challenge

Next up is the challenge I created a few years ago and have been doing ever since—The Read Wide Challenge. The point of the challenge is to make sure I’m reading from a wide number of genres and subgenres (good for writing inspiration!) and I add some categories for fun as well. I’m almost done with this one!

So let’s look at the numbers on this one so far…

I’ve read 37 books for this challenge so far.

51% of the books have gotten 4 or 5 ratings. Nine have gotten 5 stars, which is a very high bar for me.

19% have gotten 2 stars or below.

It’s almost the exact opposite of the other challenge!

So, what does that teach me about the Read Wide challenge?

1. Reading widely and diversely is a much more effective way for me to find books I love.

   This may be partly because it keeps my reading fresh. I don’t get stuck in one kind of book very long.

2. Pushing myself out of my comfort zone genres pays off.

   I find things I wouldn’t have picked up otherwise, and it also helps me learn what genres I don’t like.

3. The only downside is that it means I have read less of the genre I actually write in because I’m spending time reading many different kinds of things.

   This isn’t all negative. Often my book ideas have come from reading books very much outside of my genre—non-fiction especially.

4. This challenge helps with the dreaded “What Should I Read Next?” question.

   Looking at the squares I still have to fill in gives me a direction.

So this challenge is definitely one I’ll be keeping in the future. I’m even considering creating a new chart for the second half of the year since I’m almost done with this one!

The Goodreads Challenge

This one is a straightforward number to hit. When I started the year, I chose a number to go easy on myself. I chose 50 books because I still had a book deadline looming, and I didn’t want this number stressing me out. However, I’ve now turned in my book and have been reading like crazy. So…I moved the bar, which is something that is nice about the GR challenge. You can adjust it.

Now, please don’t be too impressed with my current number. That 72 is inflated because I added a bunch of cookbooks I bought to the list. My actual number read right now is 55. But that’s still very high for me at the halfway point of the year. In 2020, I read 73 books total, so I’m on track to be higher than that if my pace continues.

No lessons from this one, but it is satisfying to look at that number!

How are your challenges going?

So, how are your reading challenges going? Now’s the time to make adjustments!

Maybe you need to scoot that number down or up on Goodreads. Or maybe your current challenge isn’t working for you and you want to switch to something new to liven things up. Or maybe, like me, you’re about to complete some of the challenges and want to take on a new one. Or you didn’t sign up for one at the end of 2020 because 2020 and now you’re ready to try one.

Wherever you are with your challenges, I hope you’re having fun with them and not letting them bring you any stress. :)

I’d love to hear how yours are going and which ones you’re doing (if any). Have you leaned anything from them? Share in the comments!

What-to-Read Decision Fatigue & Why I Love Reading Challenges

A few weeks ago, I launched the TBR Backlog Reading Challenge here on the blog and talked about how I was taking a break from my normal reading challenge, the Read Wide Challenge. I had a number of reasons for this (wanted to do something new, didn’t want to feel stress at the end of the year, etc.) but one of the other reasons was because I wanted to be less restricted in picking what to read.

Well, it sounded like a good idea at the time…

But last night as I sat down with my book journal to record something I’d read, I realized I missed my Read Wide Challenge. The TBR Backlog Challenge is going well (though it’s showing me how my tastes have changed over the years because I’m getting a good number of DNFs), but I felt myself getting overwhelmed by the thought of picking what I was going to read next. My TBR list is currently 832 books long. And even narrowing down to year of purchase (the metric for my TBR Backlog challenge), it was still a lot to choose from.

That’s when it hit me—why I was missing the Read Wide challenge. I missed the guidance it offered on what to read next. Not having that more focused lens was creating decision fatigue.

What’s decision fatigue?

“Coined by social psychologist Roy F. Baumeister, decision fatigue is the emotional and mental strain resulting from a burden of choices.” —Healthline

Too many choices = stress. Too few would also create stress, I imagine. For instance, I wouldn’t want a list of “these are the five books you must read next” because then I’d feel like it was homework and wouldn’t want to do it. But somewhere in the middle is the sweet spot. It’s why I prefer grocery shopping at a store like Sprouts instead of a big box grocery store. I only have three types of ketchup to pick from instead of twenty.

I realized that’s what my reading challenges do for me. They give me light guidance. “Oh look, I haven’t checked off the box for contemporary romance yet, maybe I should go look at what I have on my shelf in that category.” They allow flexibility but reduce decision fatigue.

Which means, I'm adding the Read Wide Challenge to my goals for 2021 (and keeping the TBR Backlog challenge as well.) :) I definitely am looking forward to less decision fatigue and hopefully some great reading!

So, if you find yourself feeling overwhelmed on what to read next (which can lead to reading nothing at all and turning to your phone or TV), consider giving yourself a smaller slate to pick from through a reading challenge. There are a ton out there. The ones I’ve created are here: The TBR Backlog Challenge and The Read Wide Challenge. Both are customizable.

And here are the pages I did in my journal last night for the Read Wide 2021 challenge. I changed up my categories this year to freshen it up. (Also, for those who nerd out about these things like I do, yes, I am allowing books to count for both the TBR Backlog Challenge and the Read Wide challenge.)

So have you ever felt decision fatigue over what to read next? Do you find reading challenges helpful? Which reading challenges are you doing this year?

The 2021 TBR Backlog Reading Challenge

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I love a reading challenge. Since 2014, I’ve done a challenge I created called the Read Wide Challenge (originally called the Push Your Boundaries challenge.) I’ve loved doing this challenge, and it’s worked!

My original goal for the challenge was to expand my reading horizons because I had gotten so homogeneous with my reading, only reading a select number of genres and types of books. I didn’t want to end up writing the same story over and over because I kept putting the same input in. I wanted to have a variety of fodder for my writing brain. And looking back over these last few years, I’ve really accomplished that using this challenge. Yay for it actually helping me achieve what I set out to do!

The completed challenge in my reading journal

But…I realized that I’ve now hit the point of over-correction with this goal lol. Too many years of the same challenge in a row, I think. Of the 72 books I read in 2020, only about 10-11 are romance, which is kind of not great for my favorite genre, lol. Also this year, for the first time, I felt a little stressed about finishing the challenge. (I did but by the skin of my teeth.) I blame 2020 for some of that angst, but I don’t want to be stressed by a challenge. I want it to be fun.

So, I realized it was time for a fresh challenge. I love reading challenges so I don’t want to not do one this year, but I needed something new and different for 2021. I brainstormed on what that could look like and about what I wanted from my reading life this year. What goal would make me feel good and give me a satisfied feeling if I complete it by the end of the year?

I scrolled through my Goodreads account, seeking inspiration, and there it was, staring me in the face. The endlessly scrolling TBR pile. Some people have a TBR pile and some people have a TBR skyscraper. I’m one of the latter. I don’t add a book to my Goodreads TBR unless I own it. Currently, my Want to Read pile is…819 books. That seems ludicrous. At the rate of reading 70 books a year, it’d take me 11.5 years to get through it if I never bought another book. And y’all know I’m not going to stop buying books so…what to do?

Enter the 2021 TBR Backlog Reading Challenge.

When I scrolled to the bottom of my TBR and worked my way back up, I saw so many books that I really wanted to read but forgot I had. That recency effect is real. Plus, my memory is already crap so that’s working against me too. I felt bad for these neglected books just waiting to be read. Dusty and forgotten, filled with stories they want to tell and no one to listen. Yes, I’m anthropomorphizing my books, but you know what I mean.

So I decided I needed a challenge to tackle the TBR. I’ve tried this in a general, loose way before—i.e. making a goal to read more books I already own. But that didn’t stick. Loose doesn’t work for me (except in my writing process.) I need structure in a challenge. That’s why the Read Wide challenge has worked so well.

Therefore, here’s what I came up with…

The 2021 TBR Backlog Reading Challenge

Read Books Based on the Year Purchased or the Year Published to Find the Books You’ve Forgotten About

Have squares or checkboxes to fill in for the year in which you purchased a book, which is tracked on Goodreads. (You could also do this by publication year if you don’t have the record of when you purchased it. Goodreads has an option to sort by publication year.) The years are going to vary based on how far back your TBR pile goes. If it’s only a year or two, you can just have more boxes for those years. Mine starts on Goodreads in 2011, so I’m starting there and doing roughly 2 books per year purchased. That gives me flexibility to pick what I want since each year has a long list of options.

Optional Customized Columns for Whatever Part of Your TBR Needs Extra Attention

I like the idea of having a few customized columns that are specific to your TBR because often there are segments that need a little extra love. Like maybe there’s a series you’ve been meaning to finish. Or maybe you want to make sure you pay extra attention to choosing diverse reads from your TBR. Maybe you’ve purchased a ton of non-fiction but never seem to get to those books. Find those dusty corners where you can shine a spotlight.

For mine, I added columns to read at least 12 of my Book of the Month club books. I love Book of the Month club and have really enjoyed many of the books I’ve gotten through my membership over the past few years, but I buy extras from them almost every month so the backlog on those has gotten long too. I want to make sure I at least read a year’s worth in 2021 because I often discover new-to-me authors to love and are exposed to a variety of genres by the nature of their picks. So that’s what BOTM stands for in my last three columns.

This chart can be expanded for however many you want to do, but I have kept the number relatively small for myself this year on purpose. To complete the challenge, I need to read 28 books as opposed to 42 for the Read Wide challenge, so it won’t monopolize my reading for the year. Since I usually read 60-70 books a year, this leaves me enough room for all the new shiny books and for chasing whims on whatever I’m in the mood to read at the moment. This is particularly important for me because I’m definitely a mood reader and that was hampered a little this year with my Read Wide challenge. So, it’s up to you to choose how few or how many you want in your challenge.

That’s it! Pretty straighforward. I’m excited. :) So, who’s with me?

Join in!

I can’t be the only one out there with a TBR skyscraper. If you want to join in, you can grab a blank template here that you can customize in Microsoft Word. It will look like the one below and will also include a list of suggested categories if you need to brainstorm the custom columns.

Hopefully, this will help us all discover some gems hidden in the pile. I’d love to hear if you’re going to give this a try. And if you do, check in every now and then and let me know if you’ve discovered any great books! I’ll try to do the same.

Happy reading and here’s to a hopefully better year in 2021!

P.S. Read Wide Challenge

For those of you who would like to continue doing the Read Wide Challenge instead or would like to give it a try for the first time, you can get all the info here and download last year’s template, which will work just as well this year! :)