Welcome to the Year of the Asian Reading Challenge! Join Us and Read Asian Literature in 2019 [Sign-Ups + Information = EXCITE!]

INTRODUCTION

Hi friends, and welcome to the Year of the Asian Reading Challenge 2019 – or YARC for short. After discussing with some wonderful bloggers about how many amazing Asian books are releasing in 2019, we came together to co-host this reading challenge to celebrate Asian literature and Asian authors. I am honoured to be one of your hosts, and I am joined by the wonderful:

• Lily | blog: Sprinkles of Dreams | twitter: @sprnklsofdreams
• Shealea | blog: Shut Up Shealea | twitter: @bookshelfbitch
• Vicky | blog: Vicky Who Reads | twitter: @vickycbooks
• And yours truly! | twitter: @artfromafriend

GUIDELINES

The aim of this challenge is to read as many books written by Asian authors as you can! These books can be backlist titles (i.e. released in 2018 or earlier), new releases, and ARCs. We welcome books of any genre, any format, and any length. Check out the levels we have made for this challenge (I drew them too!) and set your sights on a level you want to achieve.

In order for a book to count, you must start and finish it within 2019; the challenge will end on the 31st of December of this year. (This means that books started in 2018 and finished in 2019 do not count!) Likewise, any books started in 2019 and finished in 2020 do not count either.

We want this to be a relaxing and, above all else, fun challenge, so you can join in at any time in the year! The sign-up form will remain open until 2019 ends.

Follow us on Twitter (@YearOfTheAsian) for announcements, surprises, and more bookish fun. The official hashtag for this reading challenge is #YARC2019.

HOW TO JOIN

1. Announce your intention to participate in YARC in any online platform (e.g. blog, Twitter, Goodreads) and create a progress tracker. Place the link to your progress tracker in our sign-up form below.
   1. If you’re a blogger, announce your participation via blog post, which will serve as your update post. Please make sure to link back to this sign-up post so that other people can join in, too!
   2. If you’re a reader without a blog, you can either create a Goodreads shelf that’s dedicated to the books for this challenge, or create a Twitter thread for tracking. Use the hashtag (#YARC2019) for the latter! Please make sure to link back to this sign-up post so that other people can join in, too!
2. Select your target level and grab your badge! Display your badge on your blog, or share it on social media.
3. Start reading and keep track of your progress!
4. Share your updates on social media using the official hashtag: #YARC2019.

CHALLENGE LEVELS

Everyone who participates begins at the 1st challenge level, the Phillipine Tarsier. Each time you read the next tier of the challenge level, you move onto the next one! I had the pleasure of drawing the animals featured in the badges for each Challenge Level (and I wanted to get different animals from different parts of Asia!), and I hope you all like it!

Top to bottom, left to right:

• Philippine tarsier: 1 to 10 books read
• Indian cobra: 11 to 20 books read
• Malayan tapir: 21 to 30 books read
• Giant panda: 31 to 40 books read
• Asian elephant: 41 to 50 books read
• Bengali tiger: More than 50 books read

MORE CHALLENGE FUN

MONTHLY LINK-UPS & GIVEAWAY

[What is a monthly link-up? ‘A monthly link-up’ is essentially a way for you to share your participation and a way for us to keep track of who is participating!]

• Monthly link-ups will be posted by Shealea on the 2nd day of every month and will close on the 15th day of the next month (e.g. the January form will expire on February 15).
• For the monthly link-up, you can submit any of the following links:
  • Your updated progress tracker (e.g. blog post, Goodreads shelf, Twitter thread).
  • Your review of an Asian book that you read for that month. This could be a review on your blog, on Goodreads, on Amazon, or anywhere online. The review itself does not have to be elaborate; any length will do.
• Every link you submit is counted as an entry for the mysterious grand giveaway, which will be drawn once the year ends. (It’s mysterious because we’ll be revealing the prize later on. Be patient!)

MONTHLY PROMPTS & RECOMMENDATIONS

• We’ve prepared fun prompts for each month of the year! These prompts will be released quarterly (i.e. January, April, July, October).
• Take note that you are free to read whatever you want, but if you want to make this challenge a bit more difficult and exciting, then participate in these prompts.
• Because we are the kindest souls ever and we love talking about books written by Asian authors, we will pick three featured books based on the monthly prompts. These featured books will be included in the monthly link-up posts.
• Lily, Vicky, and I will also post a list of recommendations every 1st day of the month to help you build up your TBR.

TWITTER CHATS

• Once every two months, there will be a fun #YARC2019 Twitter chat. These chats will be held either on the 3rd or 4th week of the month.
• The host for #YARC2019 is @YearOfTheAsian, so don’t forget to give us a follow on that account!

DAYS & DATES TO REMEMBER

• Every 1st of the month: list of recommended books (for the monthly prompt)
• Every 2nd of the month: release of monthly link-up post
• Every 15th of the month: closing of previous monthly link-up post
• 31 December 2019: last day of the reading challenge
• 01 January 2020: announcement and contacting of giveaway winner

Find my co-hosts YARC posts!

• Visit Lily’s YARC sign-up post.
• Visit Vicky’s YARC sign-up post.
• Visit Shealea’s YARC sign-up post.

SIGN UP FORM