The 2017 Beat The Backlist challenge is hosted over at Novelknight AND also includes a Harry Potter themed mini challenge. Of course I will be joining that one as well, proudly trying to win the Hogwarts House Cup along with my fellow Ravenclaws. My challenge name is OakSickle!!
I signed up for this challenge about two weeks ago, but never actually made the full backlist/TBR for this challenge. With only two weeks left in 2016, I thought it was about time to properly sit down and write down those books I have been neglecting for way too long. Remember my goals?
- read 50 books published before 2016
- read 20 books published before 2013
- review each book
- update challenge post monthly
I want to try and read at least 50 books that were published before 2016, and I’m 20 of them have to be published before 2013. I’m hoping to actually be able to read more older books that way. On to the backlist!!
BACKLIST/ CHALLENGE TBR
- Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (384 pages) (published in 2005)
- An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (443 pages) (published in 2015)
- Bird Box by Josh Malerman (262 pages) (published in 2014)
- Bone Gap by Laura Ruby (373 pages) (published in 2015)
- Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge (342 pages) (published in 2014)
- Defending Jacob by William Landay (421 pages) (published in 2012)
- Graceling by Kristin Cashore (471 pages) (published in 2008)
- Half Bad by Sally Green (394 pages) (published in 2014)
- Ink And Bone by Rachel Caine (352 pages) (published in 2015)
- More Than This by Patrick Ness (480 pages) (published in 2013)
- My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult (423 pages) (published in 2004)
- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (288 pages) (published in 2005)
- Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (297 pages) (published in 1987)
- Not A Drop To Drink by Mindy McGinnis (309 pages) (published in 2013)
- Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (896 pages) (published in 1991)
- Prisoner Of Night And Fog by Anne Blankman (401 pages) (published in 2014)
- Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight (405 pages) (published in 2013)
- Red Rising by Pierce Brown (384 pages) (published in 2014)
- Room by Emma Donoghue (321 pages) (published in 2010)
- Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen (417 pages) (published in 2015)
- Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (338 pages) (published in 2002)
- Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson (449 pages) (published in 2014)
- Splintered by A.G. Howard (371 pages) (published in 2013)
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (336 pages) (published in 2014)
- Talon by Julie Kagawa (449 pages) (published in 2014)
- The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks (268 pages) (published in 2013)
- The Chaos Of Stars by Kiersten White (277 pages) (published in 2013)
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker (295 pages) (published in 1982)
- The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken (488 pages) (published in 2012)
- The Elephant Vanishes by Huraki Murakami (336 pages) (published in 1986)
- The First Fifteen Lives Of Harry August by Claire North (432 pages) (published in 2014)
- The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (399 pages) (published in 1995)
- The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (384 pages) (published in 2010)
- The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson (312 pages) (published in 2015)
- The Library At Mount Char by Scott Hawkins (388 pages) (published in 2015)
- The Magicians by Lev Grossman (402 pages) (published in 2009)
- The Mango Bride by Marivi Soliven (368 pages) (published in 2013)
- The Marble Collector by Cecelia Ahern (304 pages) (published in 2015)
- The Museum Of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman (368 pages) (published in 2014)
- The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows (391 pages) (published in 2015)
- The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters (564 pages) (published in 2014)
- The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (653 pages) (published in 1998)
- The Queen Of The Tearling by Erika Johansen (432 pages) (published in 2013)
- The Selection by Kiera Cass (336 pages) (published in 2012)
- The Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller (352 pages) (published in 2011)
- The Strain by Guillermo del Toro (403 pages) (published in 2009)
- The Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin (456 pages) (published in 2011)
- The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss (994 pages) (published in 2011)
- The Young Elites by Marie Lu (355 pages) (published in 2014)
- Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson (292 pages) (published in 2012)
Wow! That’s a lot of books you’re going to be reading next year. Good luck!!
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Thanks! This challenge is a great excuse to be reading more books that have been on my TBR pile for too long already.
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Me too! I need to get started on making a chart of all the books I’m going to try to read next year!
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Good luck making your list! 🙂
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Thanks!
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(*jaw drops*) And that’s not counting any brand new books that are coming out in 2017! That’s… just.. wow. And I’ve read a few of the books you listed (and especially enjoyed The Wise Man’s Fear, Ink & Bone, and Graceling), and am hoping to get to a couple others next year (The Magicians, Station Eleven, and Red Rising).
Good luck, Yvonne!
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Thanks! I managed to finish a huge amount of books in the last two years, so I’m going to at least give it a try… I’m hoping that this way I won’t be reading just books published in 2016 or 2017. 😉 I’m especially looking forward to The Wise Man’s Fear! It’s been too long since I read the first book.
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So happy you’re joining the challenge! It’s gonna be fun 😀 I set my goal to 30 because I read so slowly, haha! I also need to start reviewing every book I read. I was so not confident when I started that I did not dare, but I regret it because I don’t remember every story so well. Reviews are handy when your memory fails! Good luck with the challenge ❤
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I’m SO looking forward to this challenge! The HP themed challenge is going to be a lot of fun as well. I didn’t review all books on time when I first started my blog, and I’ve decided to just leave them unfinished because I don’t even remember what I thought of them. I totally agree reviews are very helpful to remember things about past books. Good luck to you as well! ❤
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There are so many fantastic books on this list! A few that I’ve really enjoyed are Graceling, Half Bad, More Than This, and The Golden Compass. Happy reading!! 🙂
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I’m glad you enjoyed them! I will be looking forward to them next year. 🙂 Happy reading!
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Good luck with your challenge! So many good books on your list and others I still have on my backlist! Enjoy! 🙂
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Thanks! I will be looking forward to read these next year. 🙂
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This is a great idea!! There are several that I’m hoping to read, too – can’t wait to see what you think of them!
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I can’t wait to finally pick up these books… I like reading new releases, but I feel like I’m neglecting the earlier publications way too much. I hope you will be able to read the ones you want to next year! 🙂
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I promised myself I wouldn’t sign up for any challenges in 2016, but given that I’m working through the books I own and a lot of them are much older than a few years… I’m really tempted to do this one anyway… You’ve got a great list here, including many that I still intend to read, too!
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I don’t want to join too many challenges either, but this one is great in the sense you can set your own goals and it’s a good way of finally reading those books that have been on your TBR pile for some time already.
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