It started to hit me today that 2015 is coming to an end VERY, very soon. That means that the aggressive amount of challenges I’ve signed up for are also ending within the next two months. I set goals for myself at the beginning of the year too. I wanted to revisit some of my challenges again now that it’s really crunch time. Let’s see if I can get going on finishing them up and meeting my other goals! Click here to see all of my challenge tracking specifics.
105 Challenge – 87% complete
Goal: Read 105 books in 2015, with allocations for each genre or topic. (Example: read 14 new releases, 13 young adult contemporary, etc. down to 1 book in the final category)
Current status: Read 95 books so far and completed 8 out of the 14 the categories.
Still need to work on: I have 6 categories that still need to be completed before the end of 2015:
→ 10 new adult books – 5 more to read
→ 8 already owned Kindle books – 4 more to read
→ 6 nonfiction/memoir books – 3 more to read
→ 5 parallel universe and/or time-bending books – 1 more to read
→ 4 non-audio rereads – 1 more to read
→ 3 books owned before college – 2 more to read
Fairytale Challenge – 60-90% complete
Goal: Read 10-15 books that are classified as fairy tales and/or fairy tale retellings.
Current status: Read 9 books so far.
Still need to work on: I technically only have one more to read in order to reach the “minimum” of my goal. I know that I’ll be reading Winter by Marissa Meyer this coming week, so that will ensure I meet my goal in some way! I do hope to read another book or two before the end of the year, but I think I can still call this one a success if I only get to 10!
Reread Challenge – 53% complete
Goal: Read the books I chose for my specific TBR, which happens to include 17 books: all of John Green’s books, the Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray, two of Sarah Dessen’s books that are on my favorites list, and the entire Harry Potter series.
Current status: Read 6 out of the 7 Harry Potter books, as well as some surprise books I ended up counting towards the challenge (two different Dessen books and Ella Enchanted).
Still need to work on: I will definitely be finishing with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by the end of the year, but I really don’t know about any of the others! Honestly if I do the audio for that one, I won’t have any time to work on the Dessen audiobooks either. Maybe I’ll get to the Gemma Doyle trilogy, because I have been craving it…
TBR Pile Challenge – 300% complete
Goal: Read one book per month from my TBR pile. The book must be published before 2014.
Current status: Read 36 books so far.
Still need to work on: Nothing! I could read new releases for the rest of my life at this point and be all set. I was planning to do one backlist title per month, but it got pretty crazy. I’m glad I was an equal opportunity reader this year – not just focusing on the newer stuff.
Library Challenge – 93% complete
Goal: Read over 28 books from the library (not including audiobooks or ebooks) to reach the “going pro” level set by the challenge host.
Current status: Read 26 books so far.
Still need to work on: Well, I have 2 more books to go. I’d be pretty surprised if I didn’t achieve this goal but stranger things have happened! Some months were big on the library while others were nonexistent. In fact, I think I may jet over to the library website to make some requests to ensure this one’s in the bag!
Flights of Fantasy Challenge – 105% complete
Goal: Read 20 books that fall into the fantasy genre, including my reread of the Harry Potter books.
Current status: Read 21 books so far.
Still need to work on: Woo! I’m proud of myself for finishing this one, because fantasy is a genre I read much less than contemporary (or really anything…). I knew that the Harry Potter reread would help, but I still have one more of those books to go AND I met my goal in spite of that.
Audiobook Challenge – 86% complete
Goal: Listen to over 35 audiobooks this year to reach the “my precious” level of the challenge.
Current status: Listened to 30 books so far.
Still need to work on: This one may cut things a bit close… I usually can listen to a few audiobooks a month (and sometimes more when I end up switching between audio/physical). I only need to do 5 more between the next two months but I’m not sure how long the final Harry Potter book is going to be. It also doesn’t help that I’ve been addicted to podcasts instead. We’ll see…
Back to School Bingo Challenge – 60% complete
Goal: Make a bingo or fill the whole card. The bingo card has different book categories or qualifications to meet with each of your reads. This one runs from September through December.
Current status: I already do have one bingo! My goal right now is to read the other 10 squares.
Still need to work on: I need to read the following books to finish this whole board: horror, LGBTQIA, orange cover, sparkly cover, author with first initial, dreams, and another country. I highly doubt I’ll fill the card, to be honest, because I don’t do horror.
Lose Time RRReading Challenge – 67% complete
Goal: Read a book to fit into each of the 12 categories between October and December.
Current status: I’ve read books that meet 8 of the criteria.
Still need to work on: Four books left: read a book then watch the adaptation, read a spooky book, read a book that was recommended to you, and read a holiday or winter-themed book.
I didn’t really have a list of set “goals” for the new year, but I did make a TTT with blogging and reading resolutions at the end of 2014. Let’s see how I’ve done so far… and if I can make any changes to improve before the end of the year!
Blogging Goals
- Write more original discussion posts – YES
I think I’ve done a really good job of this one! I tend to post a couple of discussion-type posts each month and they’ve given my blog some good exposure. Thanks, friends! - Write more top 10 lists and recommendation lists – NOPE
I knew this one was going to be a fail, but I can change this! If I post at least ONE top ten kind of recommendation list before the end of the year, I’ll consider this a semi-success. My biggest issue prior to this year was having enough books to actually reference in a list of some kind. My reading has expanded SO much this year and my now-organized Goodreads shelves definitely will help me with better recommendations. - Find a reading/blogging organizational method that works and doesn’t pressure me – KINDA
Ummm, yeah. I’ve been trying my FoxyDori, Erin Condren, Day Designer… I’m so bad at sticking with an organizational method. However, the 2015 book tracking spreadsheet I started using has been a complete godsend lately. It helps! This is half-pass. - Participate in memes and monthly wrap-ups whenever I want – YES
I’m proud of the amount of memes I stopped doing. I was a little insane when I first joined the blogosphere. As of right now, I just to Top Ten Tuesday. I occasionally do my own “meme” of Five on Friday. I also post my monthly wrap-ups religiously. I love writing those posts! - Interact more with other bloggers – KINDA
I still need to improve on commenting back. I could be worse, but I could be better. I’ve also gotten lazy with replying to comments on my own blog for some reason. I like to creep around Twitter but don’t start as many conversations as I used to. *sigh*
Reading Goals
- Complete my Goodreads Challenge (again), except this time with many more books – YES
I shouldn’t give myself a pat on the back yet, but I am currently 6 books ahead on my challenge right now. I feel really good about finishing with 175 books this year. - DNF more books – YES
Yeah, I have DNFed more in general. There haven’t been too many books where I’ve been like “fuck I should have DNFed this” luckily, but I still could improve. - Only request review books that I’ve been desperate for – KINDA
I am definitely better at this but not perfect. Like right now, I have a decent amount of books waiting to be read on NetGalley and I don’t feel like it. If I did only request books I was DYING for, that would be a different story. I’m much much better about only requesting a few books. I don’t browse much anymore. - Utilize the library like nobody’s business – KINDA
As my Library Challenge shows, I’ve read 26 books from the library so far this year. I have overall done a MUCH better job of keeping my book buying to a minimum. I would love to read mostly library books though and only purchase tried-and-true books. - Expand my horizons and follow my mood reading tendencies – YES
My “required reading” has gone down quite a bit. I used to sign up for too many blog tours and stress myself out when the date was approaching and I hadn’t read the book yet. Now, I have one book club I attend (in my real non-virtual life) and Book Buddies. I usually will only have two books I MUST read per month now. I love it! I’m so much better about just reading whatever, whenever. For example, this week I chose a totally random Amazon book to read. Then I picked up a book from like 2009 by one of my actual YA-hood favorite authors. No TBR for this girl!
So overall, I’m feeling pretty great about my progress this year! I’m hoping I can tie up a few of my challenges but I don’t think I’ll get to everything by the end of the year.
Wow. You set a lot of goals for yourself. Sounds like you’re doing pretty well. 🙂
I know! I was too excited for my first full year of blogging that I got carried away 😉
I’m so impressed by how you’re pretty much knocking all your challenges and goals out of the park! It’s definitely not easy, but you’re TOTALLY kicking ass. I’m so pleased that you’ve reached your goal for Flights of Fantasy – reading more fantasy is ALWAYS a good thing!
I’m loving it!! I have a few more planned for the end of the year too 😉
I also signed up for a lot challenges and set goals for myself at the beginning of the year, mine haven’t gone nearly as well as yours have. 🙂 I kind of forgot about them. Oh, if you ever want to buddy read The Gemma Doyle trilogy, just message me. 🙂 I recently obtained the second book and have been wanting to binge read them. I love the goal to read a book published before 2014, that’s great. Even if you don’t get them all done, you’ve done such an amazing job this year.
You’ve written some great discussions this year. <3 I also only do the TTT meme, well, and occasionally the Stacking the Shelves one too, but not too often really. I'm bad with commenting back on my blog too. Sigh. One day we'll do better! Maybe? You can always talk to me on Twitter.
YES! We should totally buddy read those. And thank you <333
Wow that’s a lot of challenge! But you’ve done a pretty great job, you managed to finished some of them already. There are a lot of retellings book coming out this year. Good luck in completing the other challenges!
Thank you 😀
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