2015 - This Year In Reading

2015 turned out to be a decent reading year - I read 122 books, of which 60 were from the finally shrinking TBR pile, so that's great. I still haven't beaten my all time high from 2011, but reading more than 100 books in one year works for me, and I'm happy with it, especially considering that I have made the TBR pile a priority and it's definitely shrinking noticeably. For the first time in a long time, I think it might be possible to clear it once and for all, and that is a good feeling. Of course there will always be books that I want to read, but having an actual pile of dust-gathering books has been so intimidating. I'll be glad when there are just a small amount of actual books, or even when the TBR list is electronic only or something.

I'm not going to do a challenge summary here this year. It's enough for me to say that I completed all the challenges I joined in 2015 and enjoyed them all. I also found a lot of good books as usual. I have joined a bunch of challenges for 2016 since they really helped me clear my TBR pile last year and in 2014. I love categorizing and sorting things so it's been a lot of fun, and I look forward to 2016's challenges, which you can see a summary of, with links, in a January 1 post.

My main goal for 2016 is to read more - I'd like to hit 200 books. I'd also really like to clear the physical TBR pile, which is kind of the same goal. One twist to this is that a lot of the books that have been lingering on the TBR pile have been there for a while because they are part of a series, and I will have to read a bunch of other books that are not technically part of the TBR pile in order to catch up and read the books I own. For example, during the Borders last days sale, I got a copy of The Cavalier in the Yellow Doublet by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, which is the 5th book in a series. So I would have to read the 4 previous books in this series, which I don't currently own, in order to be able to clear this book from my TBR pile. Yes, this is because of my own hangup about reading a series in order, but I can't help that that's how my mind works. I hope that makes sense.

My secondary goal is to complete all the challenges I have joined. This has never yet been a problem for me, luckily, so I am not worried about it, but I do need to keep at it so I don't end up scrambling at the end of the year like I did in 2014. -_- It all worked out, but it was a LOT of last minute reading which should have happened in the other 11 months of the year.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the people who read my blog. I know someone reads it (aside from me!) and I am grateful for anyone and everyone who does. So thank you! :)

And with that, dear readers, I wish you all the best for a wonderfully bookish 2016.