So I'm getting a late start in the game this year. Also... I never finished updating last year's.... Time to jump back into it! I've challenged myself to 48 books and I'm behind already!
Book Challenge 2014
So... last year's "Rory Gilmore Book List" didn't really go over that well, but it did get me reading a bunch of books that I had never read before. This year is going to continue in that vein: books that I have yet to read (or at least that I have yet to add to Good Reads). As always, I have added my challenge to the Good Reads website, which, as always, is annoying as all get out. Once again I complain that you cannot add re-reads to their system without ruining your previous years challenges. This bothers me a lot! So, this year I will be adding the audiobooks to Good Reads (And this will help me double up on some of the books I've already read), but I will also be striving to read new books. I'm particularly interested in reading more Asimov and a few other sci-fi writers.
Goal set: 45 books
1) Outlander (Diana Gabaldon) 2 Jan
2) Dragonfly in Amber (Diana Gabaldon) 20 Jan
3) Shadow of the Giant (Orson Scott Card) 31 Jan
4) Voyager (Diana Gabaldon) 17 Feb
5) The Bird Eater (Ania Ahlborn)* 3 Mar
6) Drums of Autumn (Diana Gabaldon) 5 Mar
7) Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (Robert C. O'Brian) * 4 Apr
8) Enchantment (Orson Scott Card) 30 Apr
9) Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (Scott McCloud) * 6 May
10) A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Diana Gabaldon) 6 May
10/45 books read
*This designates books that I have read for the first time.
^This designates books from the reading challenge list.
Book Challenge 2013
This year the book challenge is going to be a bit different. I am still going to set a number of books as my goal, but I am also implementing a reading list, off of which I will try my very best to pick books. This book list comes from the "Rory Gilmore Book List", which includes all of the books the character mentions reading on the show Gilmore Girls. I don't think this is the ultimate book list, but it is a nice long list of books, most of which I have never read. I am a person of habit. I have books that are like comfort food - I go back to them year after year (and let's be honest - sometimes just a few months later) to feel what they bring me time and time again. This year I am going to attempt to not re-read as much and delve into a world of new books - many of which will be classics that I somehow got through high school and college without reading.
Goal set: 40 books
1) Lord Sunday (Garth Nix) * 2 Jan
2) Carrie (Stephen King) *^ 6 Jan
3) Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury) *^ 6 Jan
4) Animal Farm (George Orwell) ^ 7 Jan
5) A Confusion of Princes (Garth Nix) * 8 Jan
6) The Eyes of the Dragon (Stephen King) * 16 Jan
7) 1984 (George Orwell) ^* 20 Jan
8) Redwall (Brian Jacques) 24 Jan
9) The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) ^* 27 Jan
10) Cinderella Ate My Daughter (Peggy Orenstein) * 28 Jan
11) Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card) * 2 Feb
12) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart presents Earth: A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race (Jon Stewart) *
3 Feb
13) First Meetings (Orson Scott Card) * 8 Feb
14) The Golden Compass (Philip Pullman) * 12 Feb
15) The Subtle Knife (Philip Pullman) * 14 Feb
16) The Changed Man: Maps in a Mirror Series (Orson Scott Card) * 18 Feb
17) The Amber Spyglass (Philip Pullman) * 18 Feb
18) Speaker for the Dead (Orson Scott Card) * 21 Feb
19) Xenocide (Orson Scott Card) * 28 Feb
20) Children of the Mind (Orson Scott Card) * 8 Mar
21) A War of Gifts (Orson Scott Card) * April
22) Ender in Exile (Orson Scott Card) * April
23) Ender's Shadow (Orson Scott Card) * April
24) Shadow of the Hegemon (Orson Scott Card) * April
25) Shadow Puppets (Orson Scott Card) * May
26) Shadows in Flight (Orson Scott Card) * May
27) Shadow of the Giant (Orson Scott Card) * May
28) Enchantment (Orson Scott Card) * June
29) When You Are Engulfed in Flames (David Sedaris) * 19 June
30) Flux: Maps in a Mirror Series (Orson Scott Card) * 25 June
31) Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls (David Sedaris) * 27 June
32) Confessions of an Ugly Step Sister (Gregory Maguire) * 16 June
33) The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Neil Gaiman) * 17 June
34) Monkey Sonatas (Orson Scott Card) * 26 June
35) The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood) * 30 June
(Re-read of Little Women - does not count toward the challenge)
36) Foundation (#1) (Isaac Asimov) * 3 October
37) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1 (Alan Moore) * 11 October
38) Me Talk Pretty One Day (David Sedaris) * 12 October
39) Naked (David Sedaris) * 18 October
40) Hart's Hope (Orson Scott Card) * 28 October
40/40 books read
*This designates books that I have read for the first time.
^This designates books from the reading challenge list.
Book Challenge 2012
Last year I did the Good Reads book challenge and I successfully achieved and surpassed my set goal of 30 books in a year. I actually read a few of them more than once, but I only counted a single read on any given book toward the goal, so it was more like 38-40.
This year, I plan on setting myself the same challenge, but I'm going to up my goal to 35 book in the year. This will probably be harder to complete than last year, because I didn't have a job last year until July, so there was plenty of time to get lots of novel reading in. This year, I'm starting out with a full-time job, three credit hours of classes for my Master's degree and studying for the Praxis I and II. Needless to say, I'm giving myself a real and fairly difficult challenge here, but I think I might be able to squeeze three books a month in.
As I said last year when I set this goal, I completely support and encourage others to set reading goals for themselves. We all tend to get busy and forget to take the time to do things we enjoy. So set yourself aside some time and set a reading goal this year! It's a New Year's resolution you might just stick to. :)
Goal set: 35 Books!
Books Completed:
1) Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (L. Frank Baum)*
2) Unclutter your Life in One Week (David Allen and Erin R. Doland)*
3) Robert's Rules of Writing (Robert Masello)* (Jan)
4) The Road to Oz (L. Frank Baum)*
5) The Land of Little Rain (Mary Hunter Austin)*
6) Little Women (Louisa May Alcott) (Feb)
7) The Jungle Book (Rudyard Kipling)*
8) The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne) (Mar)
9) Wicked (Gregory Maguire) (you might see this theme in the books I repeatedly read...) (Apr)
10) The Emerald City of Oz (L. Frank Baum)*
11) The Patchwork Girl of Oz (L. Frank Baum)*
12) Little Wizard Stories of Oz (L. Frank Baum)* (May)
13) Tik-Tok of Oz (L. Frank Baum)*
14) The Scarecrow of Oz (L. Frank Baum)*
15) To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) (June)^
16) The Mysterious Benedict Society (Trenton Lee Stewart)* (as recommended by my niece)
17) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J.K. Rowling) (I listened to the Potter series audiobooks while packing to move, out of order)
18) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (J.K. Rowling)^
19) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling) (July)
20) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (J.K. Rowling)
21) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (J.K. Rowling)
22) Life Expectancy (Dean Koontz)* - an interesting and funny, but strange book
23) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling)
24) Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (J.K. Rowling)
25) Stardust (Neil Gaiman)*
26) The Dumbest Generation: How the digital age stupefies young Americans and jeopardizes our future (Or, Don't trust anyone under 30) (Mark Bauerlein)*
27) The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
28) The Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien)
29) The Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien)
30)The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde)*^
31) The Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien)
32) Mister Monday (Garth Nix)*
33) Grim Tuesday (Garth Nix)*
34) Drowned Wednesday (Garth Nix)*
35) Sir Thursday (Garth Nix)*
36) Lady Friday (Garth Nix)*
37) Superior Saturday (Garth Nix)*
37/35 books
*This designates books that I have read for the first time.
^This designates books from the reading challenge list (soon to come).
Book Challenge 2011
As a part of the Good Reads website, I joined the Book Challenge 2011. It required me set myself a goal for the number of books I would read in the year. I thought, What a great idea! I've been wanting to dedicate more time to reading and this is the perfect opportunity!
Right. Sure it was. So I set my goal ridiculously high: 60 books! Not that this is ridiculously high for some people, but 1) I'm a novel reader, I like them good and long 2) I tend to read books before bed, so I fall asleep reading them, which is not the most efficient way of completing a book 3) I have things other than reading all day (like writing and posting to this blog!) and 4) it's sometimes good to set realistic goals - it helps you to feel more accomplished and you don't feel the need to stress about it.
So after about 24 hours of thinking, I realized I must have been temporarily lobotomized the day before and set myself a much more manageable goal: 30 books. Much better.
I encourage anyone and everyone who reads (you can't fool me - you're visiting this blog) to set themselves a goal and get to reading!
Goal Set: 30 books
Completed books:
1) The Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien) - January
2) The Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien) - January
3) The Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien) - February
4) My Antonia (Willa Cather)* - February
5) Light of Eidon: Legend of the Guardian Kings, Book 1 (Karen Hancock)* - March
6) A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Diana Gabaldon) ^ - March
7) An Echo in the Bone (Diana Gabaldon)* - 28 March
8) Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know (Hamilton Wright Mabie)* - 17 April
9) Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen)* - 30 April
10) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)* - 1 May
11) The Evil Guest (Joseph Sherridan Le Fanu)* - 7 May
12) Little Women (Louisa May Alcott) - 16 May
13) Little Men (Louisa May Alcott)* - late May
14) Jo's Boys (Louisa May Alcott) - early June
15) The Tao of Pooh (Benjamin Hoff)* - 12 June
16) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (J.K. Rowling) - mid June
17) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling) - late June
18) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (J.K. Rowling) - early July
19) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling) - late July
20) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (J.K. Rowling) - early August
21) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (J.K. Rowling) - late August
22) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J.K. Rowling) - early September
23) The Tavernier Stones: A Novel (Stephen Parrish)* - 12 October
24) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum)* - late October
25) Wicked (Gregory Maguire) - 2 November
26) The Marvelous Land of Oz (L. Frank Baum)* - early November
27) Son of a Witch (Gregory Maguire) - early November - SO CLOSE TO MY GOAL!
28) A Lion Among Men (Gregory Maguire) - 17 November
29) Ozma of Oz (L. Frank Baum)* - 19 November
30) Chill Out and Get Healthy (Aimee Raupp)* - 13 December
31) The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)* - mid December
32) Catching Fire (Suzanne Collins)* - late December
33) Mockingjay (Suzanne Collins)* - late December
33/30 books read - Goal Achieved!
*This designates books that I have read for the first time.
^ I don't quite count this as my first reading of A Breath of Snow and Ashes. I started reading it two years ago when I bought it, but then had to put it down for the sake of completing other projects. I ended up buying it again on my Kindle for the trip to Hong Kong. I thought I would read it on the plane, but chose to read Tolkien first. To make this long story shorter than it could be, I finally finished it in March.
