challenges

Reading Challenges 2016

2016 is gradually coming to its end, and I’m wrapping up things on the blog, moving on from the previous year to the new one. As such, I wanted to look at my progress on my reading challenges.

As I do every year, I once again participated in the Goodreads Reading Challenges. This year, I’d aimed for 200 books read and reviewed – I actually managed to read and review 295 books this year (this includes both my regular reviews and mini-reviews), so not only did I finish this challenge, I added in an extra 50%.

For the Netgalley Reading Challenge, I had aimed for the highest category – hardcore, meaning I had to read and review 41+ Netgalley books. If I count in the mini-reviews then I made it (most of those are for Netgalley books) but not counting mini-reviews, I only managed to read and review 33 Netgalley books this year.

I also participated in the 2016 TBR Challenge. For this challenge, I had picked the second level, “A Friendly Hug”, which meant I had to read 11-20 books from my TBR pile. To qualify, books had to have been on my TBR pile prior to 2016, so no new releases or new ARCs. Eventually, I reviewed 11 books I’d had in my TBR pile prior to 2016, so I finished this challenge.

Probably my most successful challenge was the 2016 Horror Reading Challenge. I had aimed for the highest level, “Horror Hounds”, for which I needed to read 16+ horror books. I ended up reading 29 horror books last year, crushing this challenge.

The next challenge I signed up for was Flights of Fantasy. Fantasy used to be my favorite genre, but I found myself reading less of it the last few years. So I decided to participate and read more fantasy – and it worked. I didn’t want to overdo it, so I decided to aim for 20 fantasy books in 2016… And ended up reading and reviewing 55 fantasy books. I call that a success!

I also signed up for the Dystopia Reading Challenge. For some reason, I thought I read a fair amount of dystopian books. Either this year was a fluke, or my perception about that is completely wrong, because while I had signed up for 16+ dystopian reads which isn’t that much, I only ended up reading 5 dystopian books.

The next challenge I participated in was the 2016 New Release Challenge. As the title suggests, for this challenge, I had to read and review books that released in 2016. I aimed for the highest level, “New Release Enthusiast”, for which I had to review 45+ books that released in 2016. I ended up reviewing 84 new releases, winning this challenge.

The last challenge I participated in was the Cloak and Dagger Challenge, requiring me to read crime / thriller / suspense books. I’d aimed for the highest level, “Special Agent”, which required 31+ books read in this genre. I ended up reading 28 crime / thriller novels, so I didn’t reach my goal, but I did come close!

So what does this mean? I participated in 8 challenges, and I completed 5 of them. I didn’t complete the Netgalley challenge, except when you count my mini-reviews, and I almost completed the Cloak and Dagger Challenge. The Dystopian Challenge however, was a big fail. Overall, I think I did a pretty good job, and the challenges allowed me to broaden my horizon, and maybe pick up a book that was out of my usual comfort zone.

I plan on participating in about 8 challenges next year too – the number is doable for me, and I don’t want to push my luck and lift it up to 10. I’m pretty happy with how I did, in terms of reading, in 2016. Watch out 2017, because I might win all my challenges next year.

Resolutions for the New Year + Changes

January 1, 2012 1 Comment

Every year, I try to keep a set of resolutions in mind. I hardly ever keep them longer than a month, but I think it’s a fun and intriguing tradition, and I don’t want to give up on it this year. So, here we go with a list of resolutions for 2012 and possible changes to I Heart Reading.

I will try to post every day. This doesn’t have to be a review every day, posts can also include giveaways, memes, author interview or even guest posts. But I aim to post at least something on I Heart Reading every day.
I will try to read and review 150 books during this new year. Last year, I nearly made it to 100, although I’ve read over 100 books, I just didn’t review all of them. This year I’m upping the challenge. Wish me luck!
I’m participating in over +20 other book challenges. I will post a monthly progress post (some twice a month or more) over at my challenge blog, I Heart Reading Challenges.
I will keep track of all the books I receive and all the ones I review on my blog, I Heart Yearly Reads. I will post at least two times a month on this blog.
Additionally, I will try to post a review at least once every two days. I think this will probably be the hardest part. I read enough books, but I don’t review all of them. Time to change that!
Because GFC is dissappearing in March 2012, I want to raise the number of RSS and Email Subscribers my website has. Therefore, I’ve decided to create a monthly contest for email subscribers only. They will be able to choose from three books reviewed that month on I Heart Reading. There will be no additional way to gain entries – simply subscribing by email is enough.
On top of that, I also want to increase the level of visitor interactivity here on I Heart Reading, so I’ve decided to also give out a monthly prize to that month’s top commentator. The person who left the most comments – no spam comments though – during that particular month, will win a book that I have reviewed on I Heart Reading during that month. I hope to increase user interactivity this way.

Oh, and please check out the new and updated features pages!

I’m also going to try and host one special event per month. The event planned for this month is a The Immortals Theme Week, running from January 11th – January 17th.

Happy Newyear, everyone!