The Backlist Reader Challenge 2019

The Backlist Reader Challenge (#BacklistReader) encourages you to read all those older books that have been piling up on your TBR pile or list—not just the books you already own, but also the books you’ve wanted to read for a long time but haven’t gotten around to yet.
The challenge runs from January 1, 2019, through December 31, 2019. It ends at midnight in whatever timezone you’re in.

The Rules

The rules are simple. Only (1) and (2) are mandatory. 
(1) To count for the challenge, books have to be published before 2018 AND already be on your TBR list or pile. In other words, you don’t have to own the book. If it was on your want-to-read list when you signed up for the challenge, and it came out in 2017 or earlier, it counts… regardless of format (ebook, print book, audiobook) and how you acquired it.
Last year, I was asked about rereads. You can only count a rereads if (a) you haven’t read the book in the last 10 years, and (b) you can’t remember any more of it than you would learn by reading the publisher’s blurb. In other words, it should feel new to you. I know this is subjective, but bear in mind, this isn’t a rereading challenge. (There are other challenges for that.)
(2) Create a goals or sign-up post on your blog or wherever you usually post your reviews (e.g., Goodreads, LibraryThing, Instagram.) Please link back to this post! Then link your sign-up post below, where you see the “Add your link” button. (Please link the actual goals/sign-up post, not your home page.)  You can set your own goal, and you can list the books you want to read this year, or leave it up to your mood at the time—as long as they are already on your TBR list when you sign up! You can sign up through December 1, 2019; after that, the sign-up link will be closed.
(3) Review the books you read, and post the links on the review linky (reachable through the top menu bar.) You can certainly do the challenge without writing reviews, but the review links are your entries for the year-end giveaway. Reviews don’t have to be long; a few sentences is fine. You can post them on Goodreads or LibraryThing if you don’t have a blog. Please link to your review itself (not to your blog;s main page, your profile, or the book’s Goodreads or LibraryThing page.)
(4) On or just after the end of the year, post a wrap-up post to let us know how you did! I’ll create a link-up post for the wrap-up posts, too. Again, this one isn’t absolutely necessary, but I hope you’ll do it anyway, just for the fun of looking back and seeing your accomplishment!
There will be at least one giveaway: a $15 Amazon gift certificate or up to that amount in books from Book Depository.  The winner will be chosen at random from the review links at the end of the year. I might throw the occasional Twitter party as well, but you don’t have to attend. All you really need to participate are two things:  a to-read list, and a way to sign up and link your reviews.
You can find the review linky on the top menu bar, with a link from the sidebar as well. The review linky will stay open through 11 p.m. EST on January 3, 2020, to give you a couple of days to review any books you finished on December 31.
Social media: Please use #BacklistReader on Twitter, Facebook, and anywhere else hashtags are useful!

Books completed with reviews done:

  • The Chaos of Standing Still by Jessica Brody
  • The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
  • #Girlboss by Sophia Amoruso
  • The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle
  • Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo
  • Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen
  • The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant 
  • Yes Please by Amy Poehler
  • Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes, and Growing Up by Naya Rivera
  • Roomies by Christina Lauren
  • Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick 
  • The Problem with Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout
  • The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
  • Long May She Reign Rhiannon Thomas 
  • Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian 
  • Heartless by Marissa Meyer
  • The Outliers by Kimberly McCreight
  • The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten
  • Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry 
  • Where Am I Now? by Mara Wilson
  • The Summer of Jordi Pérez by Amy Spalding
  • Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
  • The Good Girl by Mary Kubica
  • It's Not Me, It's You by Stephanie Kate Strohm
  • The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan
  • The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy
  • It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
  • I Don't Know What You Know Me From: Confessions of a Co-Star
  • Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi 
  • We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
  • To Be Honest by Maggie Ann Martin
  • All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
  • Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica