2011 Year End Wrap Up: Challenges, Statistics, and Plans for 2012

 First Up:  CHALLENGES

2011 was an interesting year for challenges.  Out of the 5 I signed up for (3 here on the blogosphere, 1 on Goodreads, 1 on PBS) I finished two of them.

Six books in different historical fiction sub-genres were required to complete this challenge.  My final tally: 6/6.  FINISHED!

Adam's 2011 TBR Challenge demonstrated just how good I am at making lists....and how bad I am at sticking to them.  Of the 12 books (plus 2 alternates) I listed at the beginning of the challenge I finished 8 out of the 12 required to complete the challenge.

The challenge from the Paperbackswap Historical Fiction Forum actually had 4 challenges you could choose from.  I chose to complete all four for a total of 38 books.  I actually finished this one much to my surprise.
38/38.

This one I thought would be super easy as I entered at the lowest level-reading 3 Georgette Heyer Historicals.  My final tally: 1/3.  Guess I got a little too busy with the other challenges but at least I got to read my first Heyer this year and it definitely won't be my last.

For the 2011 Goodreads reading challenge my goal was to read 90 books this year.  As I write this I am working on #85 and am most likely to finish 86 before the end of the year.  I'm kinda bummed about this one because if I hadn't gotten sick in November and basically wasn't able to read the entire month, I would have made this one.  So, final tally 86/90 (96%).

2nd up:  STATISTICS

Even though I hate dealing with numbers, I like to analyze my reading to see where my main interests were this year and see what I sorely neglected so I can read more of it next year.  I think this handy dandy pie chart says it all:

3rd up:  GOALS/TENTATIVE PLANS FOR 2012

• I will not review EVERY book I read this year.  Why?  It sucks the enjoyment out of reading when I have to spend so much time writing.  I churned out over 80 reviews this year and I'm not going to lie-it got a bit overwhelming. This coming year I am aiming for 1 review a week and I am hoping to keep a reading journal  for everything else and maybe share my entries on Fridays.

•  Stop being a lurker and become a commenter.  There are many blogs out there that I really enjoy and a lot people that take the time to comment here (which I really appreciate).  I have a really hard time moving out of lurker mode even though I peruse blogger for updates pretty much daily.  So, goal for 2012 is comment lots more and respond to comments here more.  

• Do everything I can to keep 2012 my no pressure year of reading.  I will review all the books I commit myself to but other than that I'm reading whatever strikes my fancy.  If it fits a challenge Great!  If not, oh well. I know I am going to relish the feeling of walking into my book room and just plucking whatever sounds good off the ol' shelf.

• Check out 1 book a month from the library.  As much as I want to forgo reading books from outside sources (except ones for review) to put a dent in my 1,000+ book TBR I love my local libraries and want to support them so my goal is 1 a month.  I'll also be checking out 3 every visit for my boy. :)

• Do more giveaways!  I love doing giveaways so I'm really going to make an effort to host more here this coming year (as my budget allows).

So there you have it-some challenges conquered, an obvious love of historical fiction and a plan for the coming year.  Wishing you all a Happy New Year full of great reading!