Challenge Help

[Karen]

Staci wrote: "Karen, thank you for the recommendations! I read Cowboy Walking Away in a prior year so will read the next in that series for ND. Appreciate you reminding of that author."

Thanks for reminding me about that series, I will be switching to the next book also.

[Barbara]

Hopefully this is the correct place to ask this. Next year I want to participate in more challenges. How do you plan and track your reads for the year? I'm trying to find a system that works for me and would appreciate hearing what others do.

[Crystal]

Barbara wrote: "Hopefully this is the correct place to ask this. Next year I want to participate in more challenges. How do you plan and track your reads for the year? I'm trying to find a system that works for me..."

I usually prefer notebooks over anything electronic but I always sign up for most of the challenges, so there are quite a few of them to track. I use the notepad app in my phone, and have a separate file for my challenges. I have one note for each month. I have my month challenges listed first, followed by quarterly, six month, yearly and 18 months. I list challenge details and it's easy for me to scroll and see what I still need etc. I visit the list anywhere from 2-20 times a day depending on how much I'm reading, and then get on my laptop when I need to update a challenge. At the end of each month I copy and paste mostly everything from quarterly challenges on down, since a lot of the monthly challenges I plug in for the whole year at the beginning of the year. I also keep a note in my notepad for challenge ideas for certain challenges (like the State challenge), so everything is there in one place. I like having it in my phone because often times I'll be at the library or even at the grocery store and be thinking about what books I need next for such and such challenge, and I like being able to reference my challenges whenever the desire to pull it up strikes.

This has been a very difficult year for myself and my children so when we moved across the country over the summer I fell very behind, so I do plan to continue to track everything I didn't get done in a regular notebook, so I can continue to work on those challenges. But my ones for 2026 will remain in the same system as I've always used because it works well for me.

I know there are several methods members of this group use, so I'm sure you'll get some great suggestions!

[Kate, Challenge Fun Distributor]

I use a very similar tracking method as Crystal, but with google docs instead of a physical notebook.

[Michelle]

I keep a physical notebook for challenges. I list all of the challenges I'm in and then make a separate section for each challenge. I mainly use it to track challenges I want to focus on. I use pencil for books I want to read and pen for books I've finished.

[Leona]

Great ideas. I also keep a notebook.
My library system has Beanstack which lets me add the books and time I read so I keep track of my books. Beanstack has challenges and this month is to read 300 minutes.

[Lynnette]

I have started using an Excel spreadsheet with different tabs for things like Books Read, BOM, AOM, Series Started, Series Completed, and my most used tab Need where I keep a list of specialty things such as states. From my Need tab I can strike through or delete as I go so I always know what I have left..and sometimes keep a running list of potential books that might fit those needs.
I tried keeping a physical notebook but I found the spreadsheet more convenient for my personal needs because it is always with me and also I found it is easier to scroll through than searching through a notebook.

[Staci, Book Awards Specialist]

I'm back requesting suggestions set in a state. This time seeking recommendations for books set in Indiana. Thank you!

[Kate, Challenge Fun Distributor]

the majority of Karen Kingsbury's novels are set in Indiana, and Denise Hunter's 'Chapel Springs' series is also set in that state . . . if I remember correctly, you enjoy Amish fiction . . . Leslie Gould's Plain Patterns dual timeline series is set in Indiana

[Michelle]

I'm currently reading , which is set in Indiana. Wanda E. Brunstetter has other Amish novels set in the state.

The December book of the month is set in Indiana.

[Staci, Book Awards Specialist]

Thank you both! This gives me some to look into.

[Jenn]

Tara Grace Ericson's Bloom Sisters series is set in Indiana.

[Staci, Book Awards Specialist]

Thanks Jenn! I really should do better at keeping track of locations of series. I have read the first in this series and have the second, A Date for Daisy, on my Kindle.

[Karen]

Sami A. Abrams' Deputies of Anderson County series is set in Indiana.

[Staci, Book Awards Specialist]

Karen wrote: "Sami A. Abrams' Deputies of Anderson County series is set in Indiana."

Thanks Karen! I have the first in that series on my Kindle.

[Karen]

I really enjoyed that series, Staci.