RITA 2018 Read-Along

Well this is probably a terrible idea.

Even so, I've decided to challenge myself to read all of the RITA 2018 nominees before the award winners are announced in July. With categories ranging from contemporary to historical to erotica and more, this will definitely push me outside my reading comfort zone; which is why I wanted to try to read all of the nominees in the first place. I'm relatively new to reading romance, having started as a 30-something instead of in my teens, but I've so far fallen in love with the genre. I've always loved character-driven fiction, and no one does well-rounded characters like a really good romance. I especially love historical, being a history major, and have discovered a few of my favorite authors (overall, not just genre) by reading romance. However, I pretty much stay in my lane when it comes to the titles I read; I don't really read erotica, and I definitely do not do Christian romance. But I ask myself: why? Why limit myself when there could be some awesome reads out there? So here I am. Challenging myself to read some 81 books in the next four months. Sure, there may be some duds in there, or books that are just not for me (I'm afraid to read the one about the millionaire's baby), but I figure I should try something new and maybe it will help me grow as a reader.

Reading Plan

To check out the nominees for each category, visit the RITA website. The list is long and I'm not going to reproduce it here. I did, however, create a RITA 2018 Goodreads shelf to help me keep track of the long list of nominees, as well as my opinions on them. In order to make a dent in reading all of the nominees, I'm planning to do a combination of reading and listening to books. I'm eternally thankful to the Libby app to help me get eBook editions from my local library for as many of the books as possible, otherwise this would be an incredibly expensive reading challenge. A few of the books I already own and haven't read yet, or are available through Kindle Unlimited. I'm a nerd and I made a spreadsheet to keep track of all the different formats and where I'm borrowing or buying them from.

Currently Reading

     

What I'm Reading Next

     

For my fellow romance readers, does an award nomination make you more inclined to pick up a book? Or do the RITA awards not make much difference to your TBR? Also, if for some reason you are also reading along with the RITA nominee list, let me know and link your reviews here on my blog! I'll be posting regular updates as I make my way through the list. We'll see how this goes....

Happy reading!