Goodreads Wrap Up

I love a good reading challenge, whether it’s a loose goal of how many books to read in a year, or a more structured goal of what books to read in a year. I’ve been doing the Goodreads challenge since 2012, which is just a number of books to read.

My past Goodreads goals

2012: 125/120 - I went above and beyond, so I upped my goal for the next year!

2013: 92/125 - I was well below my goal. That's what I get for being smug and determined.

2014: 110/100 - I went a little bit above, but kept my goal in check for the next year. I learned my lesson.

2015: 141/100 - Well above my goal, which kind of amazes me because my course load was really heavy this year.

2016: 140/100 - Well above my goal again; also surprising since I finished up my MLS and adjusted to a new full-time job.

2017: ?/104 - My friend’s 2016 goal was 104 because that’s 2 books a week, and I like that logic. I don’t usually do too well if my goal goes over 100, but let’s try it!

My son’s Goodreads goals

2015: 183/100

2016: 273/200 - This doesn’t include the books my son hears at school; his teacher loves to read to the class! We try to read 2 books a night, sometimes reading more, and sometimes skipping storytime altogether if we’re running late with bedtime. A lot of the books are the same book over and over (coughDoCowsMeowcough) but I only counted the new books read, not how many times we re-read old favorites, so he did great!

2017: ?/250 - I want to keep the goal of reading 2 books a night, but try to miss fewer nights. I wanted to bump the goal up to 300, but considering re-reading so many favorites, I’m not sure we’d make it! This gives us a little wiggle room so we can still read 2 books every night, but not have to push to hit a goal.

Do you sign up for the Goodreads Reading Challenge? How many books did you read this year? What's your goal for next year?

2017 Reading Challenges

In 2017 I plan to read more of those books that you’re “supposed” to read in your life. One I read a long time ago and want to re-read. A few are books that I’ve really wanted to read and always say I will, but put it off in favor of any other book that catches my eye. Some are books that never sounded that good to me, but are such staples that I feel like I need to give in and read them, for the sake of being a bookworm and librarian.

I plan to read one classic a month, which still gives me plenty of reading time for whatever books catch my eye on the shelves.

The Classics Challenge books are:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I pulled this list from here, so once I complete this challenge, I will have read 24 out of the 30 books. I’ll leave those last 6 to tackle in 2018…

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I also want to read more diverse books. I am going to make conscious choices with every book I read in 2017, but will read a baseline of 12 diverse books, which again is one a month, minimum. I picked books from We Need Diverse Books’ end of the year booklist.

The Diverse Challenge books are:

Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough

Nest by Esther Ehrlich

If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth

Since You Asked by Maurene Goo

The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley by Shaun David Hutchinson

Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee

Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez

Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero

Show and Prove by Sofia Quintero

The Misadventures of an Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae

When Reason Breaks by Cindy L. Rodriguez

Are you undertaking any reading challenges for 2017? Do you have any book recommendations I should add to my list, or feedback on the titles I chose?