Monday, January 2, 2017

PopSugar Reading Challenge

I did the PopSugar Reading Challenge for the second time this year. (See 2015’s Challenge here.) I start off by reading whatever strikes my fancy, then looking at the list to see what it qualifies as when I’m adding it to Goodreads. In November, I decided I’d actually use the list as a Challenge, and picked out books specifically to fit criteria I hadn’t yet met. See 2016’s Reading Challenge here.


I’m going to tackle this year’s list as more of a challenge, and look specifically for books that will help me mark off the list. I’m sure there will still be some books I read just for the fun of it that will qualify for the challenge, but I want to read a bit more widely this year.

Sunday, January 1, 2017

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?