About the 2021 New Release Challenge

The 2021 New Release Challenge is a year-long challenge in which the hosts aim to read books released in 2021.  Lexxie (un)Conventional Bookworms and Brandee are the sole hosts of the challenge, and they are happy to have as many people to sign up and participate! There is one post on the top of their homepage for all review links for the year, where the link will be open for books you read and review each quarter. (They also wanted to say a big thank you to Michelle @ Limabean Designs for creating their beautiful logo!!)

During 2020, I read 41 newly released books, and I’ve already posted my last reviews of them. As for the coming year, I already have ARCs for 19 books being released in 2021, another three pending (as of this writing), and two (or three) more books I know will be released sometime during the year, but the ARCs aren’t available yet – all of which will qualify for this challenge. There are also a couple books I tried to get ARCs for but didn’t get approval, so I’m just going to have to buy them! I hope I’ll get to both buying and reading them before the year is out.

That means I’m absolutely going to be a Pro again this coming year, and who knows, at this rate, I might actually hit Veteran status!

There is a Facebook Group for the New Release Challenge, to have a place where we can keep up with each other, cheer each other on, and get to know each other better. It is also a place where we can help each other find even more new releases. For those of you who have already participated, it’s the same group as before.

The rules for the 2021 New Release Challenge are simple:

• Books have to be released and reviewed in 2021.
• Other challenges can be used as well, if you are participating in the NetGalley / Edelweiss challenge or in the COYER challenge, books can count towards more than one challenge, as long as the ones you use for the 2021 New Release Reading Challenge qualify to the other rules.
• The minimum length for a book to qualify is 100 pages, it can be in any format though, physical, e-book, ARC or audiobook.
• The New Release Challenge is open from January 1st through December 31st 2021, and sign-ups are open until September 1st 2021.
• You don’t have to be a blogger to participate, you can link to your review on Goodreads or Booklikes instead – so don’t be shy!
• If you want to spread the love, please use #2021NewReleaseChallenge on Twitter

There are five levels  in the 2021 New Release Challenge:

1. 1-30 books per year – New Release Newbie
2. 31-60 books per year – New Release Pro
3. 61-100 books per year – New Release Veteran
4. 101-200 books per year – New Release Enthusiast
5. 200+ books per year – New Release Obsessed

To sign up, please go to Lexxie’s page here, and link your sign-up post in the linky provided, and also make sure you use the quarterly linky for your reviews, as that will be the way the giveaway winner will be chosen. You can choose if you want to do monthly or quarterly challenge updates on your blog, but you will have the possibility to link up each quarter with your reviews.