So it’s that time of year where I
look back (through my fingers) on the challenges I set myself at the beginning
of the year and see how I did!
Here are the challenges I set
myself:
Read 125 books
Smashed it! I’m over 225…
Read more
non-fiction – I’m thinking about 6
Woo! Doubled it! I actually
really enjoyed all the non-fiction I read this year. I mostly read memoirs, a
lot in audiobook, as that’s what appealed to me, but I may try and branch out
even further in 2016.
Read 3 Shakespeare plays
Well, I’d completely forgotten about this one until I just looked back on the goals I set so nope, didn’t quite achieve this one.
Read what I want, when I want
I am really, really bad at this. I still feel very obligated and restricted to review copies, unfortunately, but discovering audiobooks in July has allowed me to read books I want to alongside review books, as well as reading multiple books at once.
Read a classic a
month
I did it! I’m so pleased that I
managed this! I actually read more than 12 as well which is brilliant. I read
some biggies, some I should have read at school, some modern classics and I
fell head over heels in love with some as well! Having Stacey from Pretty Books
running the #2015ClassicsChallenge was great as I had someone to discuss my
classics with. I highly recommend joining next year if that’s one of your
goals.
Buy books in
physical bookshops, indies when possible
I gave a good shot to this one! I
went to lots of London events this year so I bought a lot in Foyles and
Piccadilly, I fell in love with the NYC indies The Strand and Books of Wonder
and discovered Wordery for buying books online as they aren’t affiliated with
Amazon at all.
I kind of realised this year that
actually my local Waterstones is pretty crap; it’s very rare that I actually
find what I'm looking for in there.
Pop Sugar
Reading Challenge
I did it! Most of the challenges
I was able to check off with my normal reading, but a few required a special
effort: book published the year I was born, a graphic novel, a Pulitzer
Prize-winner and an author with my initials (I could only think of Scott
Westerfeld and Sarah Waters!).
Actually read all of the glorious hardbacks I pre-order
Ah, well. Put it this way: I bought 12 books while I was out in New York in April and I’ve read a whole 3 of them… Whoops.
Read more
fantasy
Though I didn’t read a huge
number of fantasy novels, I read some big ones (in size and in name) and I
loved most of what I read. It's definitely a genre I’ll continue to explore
next year.
Re-read Harry Potter
Well, I read the illustrated
version of Philosopher’s Stone so
that’s better than nothing! I’m considering getting the audiobooks now they’re
on Audible so I can finally re-read them.
A bit of a mixed bag, really, but
I’m very pleased with how many books I read and how much I expanded in the
genres I read, particularly with the classics, adult and non-fiction. I've
discovered some favourites.
Did you set yourself any reading
challenges for 2015? How did you do?
Sophie
Not too bad at all! And I'm joining you in the classics challenge so we can bug each other about reading!
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