2014 - This Year in Reading

Well, what a year this has been in reading! I managed to read a grand total of 128 books - not as many as my record 166 from 2011, but still a good, solid amount of reading. And of those 128, a full 60 were books straight off the dusty TBR pile - which is WONDERFUL, and a major improvement. So all in all, I am happy with my reading in 2014.

Another cool thing that happened this year with this blog is that I passed the 500 post milestone - amazing considering I thought I would make a few posts in early 2011 and then quit!

Quick 2014 challenge roundup:

TBR Pile Challenge - managed all 12 of the 12 listed books, plus I read both of my alternates, which is a first for me. Can't wait to do this one again in 2015!
Harlem Renaissance Reading Challenge - I exceeded this challenge by reading 3 books when I signed up for only 1 (to be sure I could complete the challenge). I am hoping this challenge happens again in 2015, but if not, I might do my own mini-challenge, as I'd love to read more books that are in this category.
Color-Coded Reading Challenge - read all of the books for this one, and as usual discovered some cool books along the way. Looking forward to doing this one again in 2015.
Books on France Reading Challenge - exceeded this one too, as I signed up for just a couple books to make sure I could complete it. There's a twist on this one for 2015 that should be fun.
The Planet Earth Challenge - this is my own personal challenge to read a book set in each country on earth. I had a couple books that worked for this challenge this year, but not a lot, but this is a work in progress with no specific due date, so that's OK. I'll keep working on this as I can.

Overall I got off to a slow start on my reading, so for 2015 I'd like to keep a more steady pace

Some changes in store for 2015:

-As of tomorrow, this blog will have a new name! When I started this blog in 2011, I was in a hurry and I couldn't think of a creative name - plus, I'm a procrastinator and I tend to lose interest in things, so frankly I kind of expected to forget about this blog and abandon it after a couple months. Then in 2012, the blog's name was  obsolete, but again I couldn't think of a more creative name so I tacked on "(and Beyond)" and let it go at that. The name has been bugging me for a while now and I finally came up with something new, so stop by tomorrow to see what it is! I'm not going to change anything else about the blog - one big change is enough for now :)

-New feature: Reread of the Month. I have a bunch of books on my TBR pile that are books I read in the past from the library, that I enjoyed so much I ended up buying myself a copy when one became available on the Library Sale shelves. Since these are technically re-reads, even though they are part of my TBR pile, I decided to create a special category for these books and read one per month.

-Summer Language Challenge preparation. I really hope Ekaterina hosts the Language Freak Summer Challenge again in 2015, and if so, I am determined to do a LOT better. So determined that I am planning to challenge myself to really work on this challenge this summer. I have books on hand and the desire to do this, so I can definitely make it happen.

-More series reading. One aspect of my TBR pile is books that are part of a series - but not the first book. I am a stickler about reading a series from the beginning, so many of these books have sat unread waiting for me to chase down the other books to start the series, etc.

So there you have it! I sincerely thank all of my readers, and I wish everyone a happy, healthy, and prosperous year full of books and reading and all good things. See you in 2015!