2013 Recap - Challenges, Goals, Number





 Last year I made a list of New Year's Resolutions for 2013. I'm always awful at resolutions and think this year is basically another fail for many of the goals. Let's see how I did.

  • Write and post a review for every book I read in 2013 - WIN. Some of the smaller books like children's fiction, Diary of Wimpy Kid, etc., were just put on Goodreads as they were a few sentences, but overall wrote a review for all books read.
  • Finish posting reviews for all books read in 2012 Series - WIN. There's a few stays but spent hours accomplishing this.
  • Read a lot more Mysteries, Crime, and Drama - FAIL. I planned to read a lot of mysteries but only read a pathetically small number.
  • Read at least thirty Gothic Books - FAIL. This was my challenge too. Loved the challenge but fell short. It's hard to read tons of Gothics back to back, I found.
  • Read most of the anthologies I own - FAIL. I didn't start this till the end of the year so, while I read some anthologies, there are tons left to go through.
  • Read at least 3 Harlequins a month - FAIL. I read a decent amount (15), but not a consistent number of 3 every month.
  • Complete all the 2013 Challenges - FAIL. But, to be realistic, I had a ridiculous number of challenges and some were set too high (like 50 romances, etc.)
  • Beat my 2012 Reading Challenge count by at least 20 - FAIL.  Due to life changes, definitely didn't read as much this year.
  • Start building library in living room when room built/complete - FAIL...AND WIN, but not because of me, only because the other room is still not done. However, I ended up remodeling the book room that it's currently in.
  • Finally do some bookmark crafts - FAIL
  • Finally do some book crafts - WIN. Did one craft, the Fairy Tale Crate.
  • Visit the used bookstore in town much more - at least once every 2 months - FAIL. I haven't had enough extra money like I planned since fiance lost job.
  • Become active in the local library events for support - FAIL. Although I did visit there a few times.
Count in 2013
  • I read - 107 Books
  • Yearly Challenges Participated In - 28
  • Reading Events (Read-a-Thons) - 9
  • New Books Acquired - 500 Books
  • To-Be-Read increased by 546 books
  • Current Count Now for Physically Owned Books - 1,498 in 2012, now 2,046 in 2013
  • Current Count Now for Books To-Be-Read (Including Borrowed and E-books) - 974 in 2012, now 1,520 in 2013
Challenges


2013 was another exciting year for reading and books. Unfortunately this year I fell short of the challenge and reading goal for the first half of it. Getting a new full-time job and having to change my reading routine until I got used to it is a large part, and the second is I don't read much over the summer so it all adds together.

I finally started picking up in Fall and Winter big time, so I was able to make my goal of reading a bit over 100 from the Goodreads challenge.

Some of these challenges I think I did quite well at - some I could have done much better - and some I didn't do at all.

Completed

Number: 9
  • Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Challenge: Planned 24, Read 28
  • Christopher Pike Reading Challenge: Planned 3, Read 3
  • First in A Series +8
  • Challenge: Planned 10, Read Over
  • Tea & Books Chunkster Challenge: Planned 2, Read 2
  • 2013 Sequel Challenge: Aimed for 10, Read 28
  • 2013 Book Bingo - Cleared 1 Full Card, 3/4 second Card
  • Nerdy Non-Fiction Challenge - Aimed for 'Geek' level, reached
  • New Authors - Planned 25, Read 35
  • 2013 Witches and Witchcraft Challenge - Reached


Almost Completed

Number: 7
  • Gothic Reading Challenge 2013 - I hosted, reached 6, planned 7
  • Horror Reading Challenge - Aimed for 22, Did 15
  • Why Buy the Cow? - Finished half (5 of 10)
  • Genre Variety - 13 Categories, Completed 10
  • 2013 Paranormal Challenge - 12 Themes, Completed 10
  • 2013 Outdoor Yourself Challenge - Reached a little over 100, but not much more
  • 2013 Eclectic Reader Challenge - 12 Categories, Read 8

 Did Poorly

Number: 8


  • 2013 Young Adult Challenge, Aimed for 20, only did 6
  • Graphic Novel Challenge - Aimed for 16, only did 7
  • Book Chic City Zombie Challenge - Aimed 6, Did 1
  • School Challenge - 30 Categories, Completed 14 
  • Classics - Only read 1
  • Mystery and Crime - Only read 4
  • Contemporary Romance - Aimed for 50, Only did 14
  • What's In a Name? - Out of 6, only did 1 Category

Didn't Do At All

Number: 4
  • Foodies Read 2013
  • The Moral of the Story
  • Nicholas Sparks Challenge
  • Historical Novel Challenge