Reading Challenges?

 I LOVE a good reading challenge!  It takes me back to my days as champion of the summer reading program!  (So... I'll admit that I won that thing every year because my Mom, the librarian took me to the library every day in summer...at about age 10 I realized people were annoyed that I was winning, so I started to deliberately "not finish" books and let other kids win.  My Mom should have done that, but...in her stead, I sorted that out.) 

These days, there are TONS of reading challenges out there to help encourage readers in all sorts of directions.  My library offers one through Beanstack - which I did eventually stop participating in because apparently they threw the adults and children into the same pool to win things like an adorable stuffed husky dog.  Yes. I like stuffed things. but NO, I am not going to out-read a child for a stuffed anything, I just can't. 

   Goodreads has always had a reading challenge, and as far as I can recall it's always been simple- just a certain number of books you want to read through one year. 

    I hopped on to the site (it's no longer my primary tracking site) and was surprised to see they have really stepped it up in the challenge area.  While Goodreads has some up and coming competition, I noted at my local book club that at least the library ladies that participate are big fans of GR and aren't looking for an alternative. (Admittedly they are mostly 65+ and have a hard time understanding the concept of an eBook) so even though great sites like Storygraph and Fable  has taken a bit of the market, Goodreads is still relevant, especially because all of my Advanced copies ask for a GR review. 

Readers can get a digital bookmark badge for each month of reading.

This is cute, but... does anyone really want another digital "badge"? (Seriously, do we want more digital tokens?) 

I've apparently earned a few:

And not earned some:

I went to browse the "qualifying books" and realized they were the books Most loved by readers. Sooooo.  If you will recall, I looked at the list for Romance, and found it to be lacking...lacking diversity and representation- I mean I think it also was lacking a lot of well written books, but that's an opinion.  

So, this seems more like an effort to steer readers to certain books, I noted most of them are current titles- rather than books you might find easily at a library. The only curation is that these are books that have been - en masse- by Good reads readers, and given 4-5 star ratings. 

  It has a very commercial feel to it, as you hit a link to the qualifying books and can then easily hit a link to--- a certain site--- to purchase one of the "qualifying books" We all know that Good reads exists to help that company make money. It still surprised me that this wasn't all that subtle. 

   In comparison, Barnes & Noble offers a 52 week challenges with prompts, and suggestions, but makes no decisions on which books "Qualify".  Certainly it offers opportunities to purchase (It is a bookstore) but while it recommends, it does not restrict and tell a reader that only these 4 books "qualify".  B&N however, does not offer an area for a reader to track their participation, nor does it offer specific badges - digital or otherwise. 

Soooo.  Are there alternatives? 

StoryGraph does offer lots of challenges, with an aim at helping a reader diversify their shelves.

Fable has not dived into the challenges, that I can tell and has some other ways to engage readers. 

If you're wanting a new book challenge, check out this post from The Thompson Library. 

   Are you participating in the Good Reads challenges? What are your thoughts? Is it an attempt to pull back reads who've moved to other platforms? To move "product" with their curated qualifying lists? 

Would you be interested in participating in smaller more home grown challenges? With Bookish - or actual book prizes instead of digital stickers? 

Let me know your thoughts in the comments!