Beat the Backlist 2021: 01/01/21

Hosted by Austine of Novel Knight.

I'm starting off the new year by thinking about my reading goals. Once again I completed by GoodReads reading challenge of reading 300 or more books. I plan to do the same this year.

The Beat the Backlist goal, though, is focused on books published in previous years. My most basic goal for this challenge is to have half my reading be backlist. Numerically that would be a minimum of 150 books. Last year I surpassed that goal with more than 171.

My focus, though, will be on the remaining books purchased in 2020 and 2019 that I've yet to read. While I won't limit myself to these books only, I'm posting my current list of TBR books and their release months for the last two years. I do have older books on hand I'd like to read but they are primarily in storage. Getting them out of storage, read, and weeded is another longer term goal.

My 2020 purchases weren't as numerous as 2019, but I still have some left overs. For 2021, I plan to purchase fewer books. I know now from three years of doing this challenge how many new books I can easily read and review in a timely manner. I will do my best to keep my purchase numbers closer to that ceiling.

Below is my list of unread books from 2020 and 2019. I will cross them out as I read them. I will also add other books to the list as I read them, and will bold them.

TBR from 2020

December

1. The Ballad of Ami Miles by Kristy Dallas Alley
2. Crosshairs by Catherine Hernandez
3. Tin by Candace Robinson and Amber R. Duell

   November

4. The Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage by Jeff Lemire, Denys Cowan (Illustrator)
5. These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
6. Victor and Nora: A Gotham Love Story by Lauren Myracle and Isaac Goodhart

   October

7. Dear Justyce by Nic Stone
8. Death by French Roast by Alex Erickson
9. Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella
10. The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
11. Muffled by Jennifer Gennari
12. One Way or Another by Kara McDowell
13. Over the Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker
14. Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade
15. A Stitch in Time by Kelley Armstrong
16. Swamp Thing: Twin Branches by Maggie Stiefvater and Morgan Beem (illustrator)
17. Twins: A Graphic Novel by Varian Johnson, Shannon Wright (Illustrations)

    September

18. The Canyon's Edge by Dusti Bowling
19. Early Departures by Justin A. Reynolds
20. Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh
21. Hatch by Kenneth Oppel and Sophie Amoss (Narrator)
22. Miss Meteor by Tehlor Kay Mejia and Anna-Marie McLemore
23. My Life in the Fish Tank by Barbara Dee
24. Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi
25. Smash It! by Francina Simone
26. Tune It Out by Jamie Sumner
27. Turning Point by Paula Chase
28. Well Played by Jen DeLuca
29. The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life by Dani Jansen

    August

30. Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim

    July

31. War Stories by Gordon Korman
32. Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power

    June

33. Ascender, Volume 2: The Dead Sea by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen
34. Nightschool: The Weirn Books Collector's Edition, Volume 2 by Svetlana Chmakova

    May

35. Camp by Lev A.C. Rosen
36. Julieta and the Diamond Enigma by Luisana Duarte Armendáriz
37. Read or Alive by Nora Page
38. This Coven Won't Break by Isabel Sterling

    April

39. This Spell Can't Last by Isabel Sterling

TBR from 2019

December

1. A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh
2. Reverie by Ryan La Sala

   November

3. Color Outside the Lines by Sangu Mandanna
4. A Constellation of Roses by Miranda Asebedo
5. Coral by Sara Ella
6. Invisible Kingdom, Vol. 1 by G. Willow Wilson
7. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

   October

8. The Burning Queen by Kathryn Lasky
9. Bury the Lede by Gaby Dunn
10. Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett
11. The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis
12. The House of Brides by Jane Cockram
13. Jackpot by Nic Stone
14. Laughter at the Academy by Seanan McGuire
15. Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu (Artist)

    September

16. The Babysitters Coven by Kate Williams
17. Beverly, Right Here by Kate DiCamillo
18. The Big Shrink by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins
19. How to Be Remy Cameron by Julian Winters
20. It's a Whole Spiel: Love, Latkes, and Other Jewish Stories by Katherine Locke
21. More to the Story by Hena Khan
22. No Judgments by Meg Cabot
23. Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall
24. Some Places More Than Others by Renée Watson
25. Well Met by Jen DeLuca

    August

26. Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton
27. The Killing Tide by Dani Pettrey

    July

28. Blastaway by Melissa Landers
29. The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess

Older books

1. Samantha Spinner and the Super Secret Plans by Russell Ginns (2018)
2. Potions and Pastries by Bailey Cates (2017)
3. Shopaholic to the Rescue by Sophie Kinsella (2015)
4. Muffin But Murder by Victoria Hamilton (2014)
5. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan (2012)
6. Buttercream Bump Off by Jenn McKinlay (2011)
7. A Crafty Killing by Lorraine Bartlett (2011)
8. Red Bones by Ann Cleeves (2009)
9. Rockridge by Robin Wolf and Tom Wolf (2007)
10. The Ghost and Mrs. McClure by Alice Kimberly (2004)
11. Made You Look by Diane Roberts (2003)
12. Bloodroot by Susan Wittig Albert (2001)
13. This is Munich by Miroslav Sasek (1961)
14. The Air-Conditioned Nightmare by Henry Miller (1945)