Pages

Friday 3 January 2014

Celebrating my 2013 Reading Challenge!




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday CelebrationsFriday is here once again, which means it's time to celebrate the small things with VikLit, author of Scribblings of an Aspiring Author.

This is a great hop to get us sharing with everyone those little achievements that have made us feel good over the last week or so.

This is a normally weekly hop, but I will be posting my celebrations every two weeks instead.

             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


For 2013 I used my Goodreads account to set a reading challenge to read 24 books throughout the whole year. Having seen the amount of books other people have been reading this isn't a lot really, but with the commitments I had for the year this felt achievable.

Imagine my delight when I actually managed to read 29! Woohoo!


                                                                2013 Reading Challenge


These are the books I managed to get through:



The War of the Worlds, Includes Bonus Sample of The Map of the Sky by Felix J. Palma  Carrie  Before I Go To Sleep  On Writing  Nineteen Eighty-Four  The Ghost  Kinetic (The Luminaries, #1)  Lash (Broken Angel, #1)  1305 & 1306 - The Oracle and The Vampire (The 13th Floor series, #5)  1304 - The Harbinger (The 13th Floor series, #4)  A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)  1303 - The Dragonslayer (The 13th Floor series, #3)  1302 - The Alpha (The 13th Floor series, #2)  High Fidelity  The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry  The Casual Vacancy  Is It Just Me?  The Great Gatsby  Wuthering Heights  The Lonely Londoners  Dubliners  Streamline  The Lighthouse  The Sign Of Four (Broadview Editions)  Confessions of an English Opium Eater  Interview with the Vampire (The Vampire Chronicles, #1)  1301: The Marquis (The 13th Floor, #1)  Fearless New Moon (Twilight, #2)


This year I've upped my target to 35, hoping to increase my reading intake gradually. While glancing through these books I realise that they're a bit of a mix, no particular flavour or genre is coming out. 

So, I've set some particular goals for myself for 2014: 

  • I've started reading Stephen King's novels from the beginning, so I'd like to see how many of them I can get through.
  • I'd also like to read all of the books so far in The Game of Thrones series. If I can manage all of these I'll be a happy bunny.
  • There are plenty to keep me busy with these to authors so I may be able to squeeze something else in now and again :-)


Do you take part in the Goodreads Reading Challenge? Have you achieved your goals for 2013?

If you'd like to celebrate some small things with the rest of us, head on over to Vik's page to sign up to the linky list and see what everyone else is celebrating! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


17 comments:

  1. I haven't taken part in any of the reading challenges - I may do well for a few books but I always get distracted. Stephen King is one of my favorite authors though, and I really really want to read the series Game of Thrones. I have the first three books on my shelf, covers in perfect condition. So many good books, so little time. I'm and eclectic reader too; I just love a good story that keeps my eyes glued to the page.

    Good luck with your 2014 goals Heather.

    .......dhole

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Donna. We have all of the Game of Thrones books now and my husband has read every one of them. I need to get on and read them really, he's itching to have someone to talk to about it. I've sworn him to secrecy until I've caught up!

      Delete
  2. Congrats on exceeding your reading goal! I've read a couple of those books, but I haven't tackled any Stephen King. Do you have a recommendation for a good place to start?

    Have a good weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Lara. I haven't read many Stephen King's yet, and some of them can be quite lengthy. Good ones to start with may be Carrie and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. They're both relatively short, for a Stephen King anyway, and I read Tom Gordon in a day it was so good.

      Delete
  3. Congrats on all that reading. I have read several Stephen King books but quite a few years ago now. Hope you enjoy reading them and all the best for 2014. And you've just reminded me it's Friday and I haven't posted a Celebration post in a couple of weeks, Think my routines are still all mixed up!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by Suzanne. It can take a little while to shake the holiday haze, but you'll get there!

      Delete
  4. Congratulations! I read 51 books last year and have gone for 65 this year, fingers crossed! Good luck with your goal :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, that's a lot of books Laura! I could possibly get close to that if I didn't have to go to work as well ;-)

      Good luck with the challenge x

      Delete
  5. That is really great, congrats :D
    I have to get back into GOT series again, I have too much beta and revisions to do, but I'm excited to get reading again. Have fun this year with your challenge!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks SK. I hope you get round to Game of Thrones again.

      Delete
  6. Wow, nice going, Heather! I never reach my reading goals, but I want to read some non-fantasy this year. I've got my eye on some Arthur Conan Doyle :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've read a couple of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. The Sign of Four is my favourite so far. I hope you enjoy them.

      Delete
  7. Some great titles there. I loved the 13th Floor series, and The Lighthouse, but I'm still struggling to get into The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. I've got so many books stacked up and no time to read them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm exactly the same, the pile just seems to grow and grow.
      I loved Harold Fry, it made me cry in places. When I began reading it I couldn't help but draw comparisons between it and The LIghthouse, which I loved too.

      Delete
  8. Congratulations on reaching your reading goal. I love to hear about people succeeding. Keep it up in 2014.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well done on beating your goal - and good luck for this year's!

    ReplyDelete