Third Quarter Check-In: 2023 Plans and Challenges

So, you may ask your self, “Well, how did I get here?” And then you realize you’re not one of the Talking Heads and instead you want to ask me why I’m posting this Third Quarter Check-In now as we’re almost done with the Fourth Quarter. Well, yesterday, my eldest son and my de facto editor wondered if I wanted a blog post idea. I (foolishly?) said, sure. “Third Quarter Check in: 2023 Plans and Challenges” he replied with a smirk. I explained that I meant to do it, but got distracted with all the October stuff I had going on and forgot all about doing it. Besides—as you will see if you keep reading—it isn’t all that different than the previous check-in.

But it stuck in my craw, and the easiest way to dislodge it was to take a few moments to put this together.

My plans this year focused on the two series that I’ve started—Literary Locals and Grandpappy’s Corner—both of which are going okay (frequently in fits and starts, but making steady progress). Then there’s the perennial, “Cut down on my Goodreads Want-to-Read list and the unread books that I own.” How am I doing on that?

Let’s move right along to see how I’m doing with the rest of my plans and move on to the Reading Challenges…
2023 Book Challenges

Goodreads Challenge

Well, I can’t show you that graphic…but, it would’ve shown me around 230 out of 250.

12 Books
I got behind in March, and I haven’t managed to get any others read. I’m very frustrated by this—I was looking forward to these books. Don’t ask me what happened, or when I’m going to get to them. (well, probably not 2023 for all but one of these…don’t ask me which one).

Do I get any credit for having read and then a few months later listening to Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons?

2023 While I was Reading

I made zero progress on this in Quarter 3, but I do believe I’ll have it done by the end of December (I’ve already conquered a couple of categories).

1. A book with a protagonist over 40.: Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
2. A book considered a classic.:
3. A graphic novel.:
4. A book that has been banned or challenged.:
5. A book set in a place on your bucket list.:
6. A book published before you were born.:
7. A book related to a goal you have for 2023.: Church History in Plain Language, Fifth Edition by Bruce Shelley, Revision Editor Marshall Shelley\
8. A book by an author of color.: The Raven Thief by Gigi Pandian
9. A book with a clever title.: Kneading Journalism: Essays on Baking Bread and Breaking Down the News by Tony Ganzer
10. A book by a famous author you’ve never read:
11. A non-fiction book about a topic you love.: The Worst We Can Find: MST3K, RiffTrax, and the History of Heckling at the Movies by Dale Sherman
12. A novella: Bad Memory by Jim Cliff

Your TBR Reduction Book Challenge

I’m on-target for this one (as much as I can be), and have even got a couple of the Stretch Goals accomplished.
January – End to end temptation I give you permission to read the most recent book you have got on top of your TBR. For many this is one we only get to read eventually but for now I want you to pick up the newest book in Mount TBR and read it. Can you remember the last time you did that? It’s a good habit to get into and January is all about starting good habits: The Perception of Dolls by Anthony Croix, Edited by Russell Day
Stretch Goal – Read the oldest book in Mount TBR it has waited long enough: Bartleby and James: Edwardian Steampunk Chronicle by Michael Coorlim
February – Short steps For the shortest month of the year I want you to read 28 short stories. This can be a TBR collection, anthology or even backlog of magazines that you have. Life is fast but use this challenge to appreciate the skill of the short story writer. Play your skills right you may get more than one book read this way. eh…I get partial credit for this, Noirville contained every short story I had unread, but it’s only fifteen stories. I did read extra novellas for the Stretch Goal, though. So I’m calling this okay?
Stretch Goal – Read four novellas one for each week of the month. Bad Memory by Jim Cliff, Anna and the Vampire Prince by Jeanne C. Stein, and Broken by Don Winslow (which is six novellas).
March – Fresh Starts This time for the beginning of spring you need to start a series you have never read before. Release this work from Mount TBR! Justice Calling by Annie Belletstr
April – Open and Shut Case For the month named after the latin for ‘to open’ you need to read a standalone book with no sequel or links to any other book. Something new and something you can let go after reading it: The Winter of Frankie Machine by Don Winslow
May – Crowning Glory? the UK has a lot of bank holidays including a coronation this month so suitably let’s pick a book about revolution or a change of those in power. Questland by Carrie Vaughn
June – long reading days or longest nights Irrespective of your hemisphere you have time for reading either in the joys of summer or depths of winter. Your challenge here is to find the largest tale on Mount TBR and finish it. Let that monster get off your back: Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith
July – Holidays are coming! let’s go travelling find a book by the author who lives the furthest from you on the globe. I give you seven months to do the maths! Let’s explore the fiction of places very much not like our own: Eternity Fund by Liz Monument (Australia)
August – Holiday Treats reward time you get to choose the book in your TBR pile no Themes, clues of queries to ask. Just take one off the list!: Lemon Man by Ken Bruton
September – Seven Deadly Tempts read a book linked however you want to one of the seven deadly sins. Booktempting I stress is not one of them. Indulge yourselves: Cash Rules Everything Around Me by Rob Gittins. If that title doesn’t scream Greed, I don’t know what does (the other 6 show up as well in the book)

Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge;

I’ve got 16 of the 24 categories taken care of. So, I guess I’m okay-ish here. I’ll have a few others accomplished by the end of the year, but I think this is going to be an incomplete challenge.

I wrote this after the end of June, and it’s still true today (literally today, not the day it should’ve been had I posted this on time): Looking over this, it’s good that I take these on for fun, if I was serious about these things, I think I’d be getting a little worried. More than anything, the number of books I listed above that I don’t have linked to a particular post tells me how far behind I am on writing.
(Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay)