Beating the Backlist in 2024

I am being pretty picky about adding new reading challenges next year, but Austine Decker's #BeatTheBacklist challenge aligns very well with the Mt. TBR challenge I already do. The only rules are that the book must have been published in 2023 or earlier and I have to start and finish reading the book in 2024.

The prompts are optional but look really interesting:

title contains a body of water - Our Wives Under the Sea - A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life
author last name starts with v - Mon mari - The Covenant of Water
name that tune - Running for Shelter - Someone to Watch Over Me
dance the night away - Dancing Between the Beats
released the 13th of any month - In the Black


2. coffeehouse reads - the sun and her flowers
3. hotel, mansion, or castle - Patience and Not-Forsaken
4. 4-word title - Notes on an Execution
5. share the love - The Keeper of Stories
6. we have so much in common - I'm Just A Person
7. author and character share an initial - The Weirdies
8. coauthored or illustrated - Snow, Glass, Apples
10. walk through history - Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It
13. tickles your funny bone - Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere
14. bird is the word - One's Company
15. these woods hold secrets - Red Hood
16. published 100+ years ago - The Tell-Tale Heart & The Black Cat
17. between 300 and 400 pages - Miss Eliza's English Kitchen

23. second chances - The Mimicking of Known Successes
24. an unexpected inheritance - The Cat Who Saved Books
26. good vibes only - Cake Mix: Learning to Love All Your Ingredients
29. creature feature - Bridge of Souls
32. 3+ points of view - A Cat's Guide to Serving a Warlock
33. first in an unfinished series - To Shape a Dragon's Breath
34. it’s the end of the world as we know it - Saving Noah
35. anything but a monarchy - Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

41. written by or about a (fictional) celebrity - Recipes for Love and Murder
44. character name is a color - The Day the Crayons Came Home
50. sibling showdown - Cassandra in Reverse
58. popular throwback - Bridge to Terabithia

61. we all scream (for ice cream?) - The Secret Path
62. let’s circle back to this - Orbital
63. sweet or spicy - Two Bad Ants
64. queer AF - Lavender House
68. I was framed! - Accused
70. door on the cover - Welcome to Dead House

81. travel by ship - Star Wars, Vol. 1: The Destiny Path
83. 2023 debut novel - Unsolved
85. retelling of a classic - Autobiography of Red
89. on your TBR 5+ years - A Wizard of Earthsea

96. STEM stan - A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons
97. that’s not my name - The Secrets of Hartwood Hall
99. live in infamy - The Route of Ice and Salt
102. space – the final frontier - Slow Time Between the Stars

117. neon colored cover - Summer Frost
121. prominently features a desert - Outback
123. recommended via a newsletter or podcast - The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
125. small town vs. big city - City Under One Roof

145. fae or aliens - How I Proposed to My Wife: An Alien Sex Story

149. writing about writing - Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
156. blurbed by a fave author - Dead Silence

205. anthology or omnibus edition - Waiting For The Great Pumpkin