2015: My Year in Reading

Below is my original post for my 2015 reading goals, and boy did I smoke them! My finally tally was 85 out of a goal of 35! A difference of 50!!! How did I do that? Well, being a literature major contributed some, but mostly I just made it a BIG priority. Maybe later I’ll share some of the crazy ways I focused on increasing my reading time, but for now I’m just going to bask in my achievement. 😉

P.S. While I missed the mark (again!) on my A-Z Title Challenge (stinkin’ K and V!), I succeeded on my Chunkster Challenge, reading 13 books over 450 pages, when my goal was only 10. Not too shabby.

Original post for 2015 Reading Goals:

Last year, I had a moderate goal of 25 books and blew it away with a final total of 53. This year I really want to feel free to focus on reading whatever I want, including some pretty lengthy bricks, er, I mean books, so I’m aiming for 35. Maybe that will turn out to be too easy, but I really do have some lofty goals in terms of page length (like reading at least one book that’s 1000 pages or more, reading Voyager by Diana Gabaldon, Winter of the World by Ken Follett, The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, and A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin, none of which are short on pages).

And because I like to have a second shot at feeling like I’ve accomplished something, I have a pages goal as well – 13,870. Doesn’t that number seem like such a huge feat? And giving myself a page goal makes me more inclined to pick up longer books that I love, but often avoid because…book count (see above). Know what I mean?

Overall, my goals are higher than last year, but less than what I actually accomplished last year because…school. Last year I was only in school half the year, and the truth is, I would have read even more than I did if it hadn’t been for my academic responsibilities so I’m just trying to give myself an attainable goal. If I blow it out of the water again this year, it will be so ON next year.

So, here’s my current status:

Books:     26/35

Pages:      27,559/13,870

Books

  1. A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton (1.1.15)
  2. The Maze Runner by James Dashner (1.9.15)
  3. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1.14.15)
  4. Eragon by Christopher Paolini (1.16.15)
  5. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (1.16.15)
  6. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (1.19.15)
  7. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (1.24.15)
  8. Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko (1.29.15)
  9. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng (1.31.15)
  10. The Magicians by Lev Grossman (2.4.15)
  11. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (2.10.15)
  12. The Dead Girl’s Dance (Morganville Vampire’s #2) by Rachel Caine (2.26.15)
  13. The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg (2.28.15)
  14. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (3.2.15)
  15. Outline by Rachel Cusk (3.11.15)
  16. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (3.14.15)
  17. The Dark Witch by Nora Roberts (3.20.15)
  18. Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum (4.4.15)
  19. Prayers for the Stolen by Jennifer Clement (4.6.15)
  20. World War I: A Very Short Introduction by Michael Howard (4.10.15)
  21. Inside the O’Briens by Lisa Genova (4.12.15)
  22. City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare (4.28.15)
  23. The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey (4.30.15)
  24. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin (5.6.15)
  25. Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris (5.9.15)
  26. Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs (5.14.15)
  27. Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan (5.24.15)
  28. A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson (5.30.2015)
  29. By Book or by Crook (Lighthouse Library Mystery #1) by Eva Gates (6.8.15)
  30. Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King (6.13.15)
  31. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (6.20.15)
  32. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (6.22.15)
  33. Looking for Alaska by John Green (6.23.15)
  34. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (6.25.15)
  35. The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick (7.2.15)
  36. Miss Mabel’s School for Girls (The Network #1) by Katie Cross (7.2.15)
  37. The Selection (The Selection #1) by Kiera Cass (7.4.15)
  38. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night by Mark Haddon (7.4.15)
  39. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (7.6.15)
  40. The Elite (The Selection #2) by Kiera Cass (7.7.15)
  41. The One (The Selection #3) by Kiera Cass (7.7.15)
  42. The Gates of Evangeline by Hester Young (7.9.15)
  43. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (7.16.15)
  44. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (7.25.15)
  45. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer (8.1.15)
  46. Lock In (Lock In #1) by John Scalzi (8.8.15)
  47. The Queen (The Selection #.4) by Kiera Cass (8.8.15)
  48. The Guard (The Selection #2.5) by Kiera Cass (8.9.15)
  49. Yes Please by Amy Poehler (8.14.15)
  50. The Face of a Stranger (William Monk #1) by Anne Perry (8.16.15)
  51. A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire #2) by George R.R. Martin (8.26.15)
  52. The Fellowship of the Ring (Lord of the Rings #1) by J.R.R. Tolkien (9.2.15)
  53. The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetary of Forgotten Books #1) by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (9.3.15)
  54. The Two Towers (Lord of the Rings #2) by J.R.R. Tolkien (9.11.15)
  55. Death of a Gossip (Hamish Macbeth #1) by M.C. Beaton (9.12.15)
  56. The Return of the King (Lord of the Rings #3) by J.R.R. Tolkien (9.17.15)
  57. Mrs. Sinclair’s Suitcase by Louise Walters (9.19.15)
  58. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (9.23.15)
  59. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (9.23.15)
  60. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous (9.30.15)
  61. Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s by John Elder Robison (10.3.15)
  62. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (10.9.15)
  63. Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson (10.14.15)
  64. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (10.17.15)
  65. Ashley Bell by Dean Koontz (10.18.15)
  66. Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams (10.22.15)
  67. The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone By by Robert Kirkman (10.31.15)
  68. The Walking Dead, Vol. 2: Miles Behind Us by Robert Kirkman (10.31.15)
  69. The Walking Dead, Vol. 3: Safety Behind Bars by Robert Kirkman (10.31.15)
  70. The Walking Dead, Vol. 4: The Heart’s Desire by Robert Kirman (10.31.15)
  71. Beautiful Oblivion by Jamie McGuire (11.1.15)
  72. The Walking Dead, Vol. 5: The Best Defense by Robert Kirkman (11.4.15)
  73. The Lying Game by Sara Shepard (11.4.15)
  74. My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout (11.5.15)
  75. The Railwayman’s Wife by Ashley Hay (11.13.15)
  76. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (11.18.15)
  77. Midnight Alley by Rachel Caine (11.20.15)
  78. Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye (11.25.15)
  79. The Martian by Andy Weird (11.27.15)
  80. If I Stay by Gayle Forman (11.30.15)
  81. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley (12.4.15)
  82. A Girl’s Guide to Moving On by Debbie Macomber (12.8.15)
  83. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (12.12.15)
  84. The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay (12.14.15)
  85. Saturn Run by John Sanford (12.23.15)