I didn't finish all of my challenges this year, so I'm going to do more challenges next year! That makes sense, right?
In all seriousness, I think that this year's challenges are going to help me set more realistic goals for next year. In a lot of those cases, I didn't really know what a realistic goal would be, so I just picked a number. A lot of my challenges for next year are related to ones I did this year, so I can build a more doable goal from what I actually ended up reading.
Goodreads Challenge: I'm going to say I completed this one, even though I technically haven't done it yet. I'm so close, and the books that I'm planning on reading before the end of the year are so short that I think I can manage it. So 140 books, done!
Backlist Reader Challenge: This one was a fail. My goal was 60 books, and as of right now, I've read 42 (which is a whole lot better than it was looking even a month ago). A few more of the books that I'm planning on reading to finish up the year will count for the challenge, but there's just no way that I'm going to make it to 60. Oh, well - lesson learned!
Series Enders Challenge: A success! My goal was 3-5, and I've read 7. I might even get in an 8th before the end of the year! Granted, only 4 of them were finishing up series that I started before this year, but I'm still counting them. I won't next year, though - more on that later.
2017 Debut Author Challenge: I was a little worried about this one, but I did it! My goal was 12, and I ended up reading 13.
Read It Again, Sam Challenge: Another success! I read 19 books, which overshot the low mark for the highest tier (16). Granted, a ton of those were A Series of Unfortunate Events, but it still counts!
2017 Discussion Challenge: Quite possibly my biggest failure. I wrote 6 out of my goal of 11-20 posts. I'm not sure whether I'm going to formally do this challenge next year, but I definitely want to do better than I did.
Goodreads Challenge: I'm setting my sights a little lower this year because I don't want the frantic rush at the end of the year like I have right now. I can always raise the number later! My current goal is 125 books.
Beat the Backlist Challenge @ NovelKnight Book Reviews: I'm doing another backlist challenge, but this one has an important difference - any books published before 2018 count. This year, I didn't get to count 2017 or 2016 releases, which got pretty difficult. I'm still going to try to include a lot of pre-2017 releases in this challenge, but including the 2017 ones is going to make this a lot more doable. That's why I'm setting my goal high (but achievably so) for this one: I want to reach 70 books.
Nonfiction Reading Challenge @ Doing Dewey: I always say I'm going to read more nonfiction, but I never end up reading as much as I want to! So this year, I'm joining a challenge to hold myself accountable. I want to read 20 nonfiction books.
NetGalley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge @ Bookish Things & More: I've gotten a little behind on my review books lately, so this will be good incentive to catch up! I don't know how many books I'm going to get approved for throughout the year, so right now, I'm only aiming for the bronze level of 10 books. If I get approved for enough, I'd love to go up to the silver level, which is 25 books.
Finishing the Series Challenge @ Celebrity Readers: I'm actually getting a little stricter with myself for this challenge! I noticed that I read a lot of series in their entirety this year, but didn't actually finish a lot of older series. This challenge specifies that I have to have started the series before 2018! On the other hand, it also includes catching up on series rather than just completing them, which will open up some more opportunities. Right now, I'm aiming low with the C-List tier of 1-4 series, but hopefully I'll be able to do more than that!
2018 Debut Author Challenge @ That Artsy Reader Girl: Not changing much from last year! I want to read 12 books by 2018 debut authors. If I did it this year, I'm pretty sure I can do it next year without too much trouble.
Read It Again, Sam Challenge @ My Reader's Block: I think this one is going to be a bit trickier this year because I have no plans to reread a 13-book series. Right now, I'm aiming for the A Trip Down Memory Lane level, which is 12+ books.
How did you do on your reading challenges for the year? Which ones are you doing next year? Are we doing any of the same ones? Tell me in the comments!
In all seriousness, I think that this year's challenges are going to help me set more realistic goals for next year. In a lot of those cases, I didn't really know what a realistic goal would be, so I just picked a number. A lot of my challenges for next year are related to ones I did this year, so I can build a more doable goal from what I actually ended up reading.
2017 WRAP-UP
Goodreads Challenge: I'm going to say I completed this one, even though I technically haven't done it yet. I'm so close, and the books that I'm planning on reading before the end of the year are so short that I think I can manage it. So 140 books, done!
Backlist Reader Challenge: This one was a fail. My goal was 60 books, and as of right now, I've read 42 (which is a whole lot better than it was looking even a month ago). A few more of the books that I'm planning on reading to finish up the year will count for the challenge, but there's just no way that I'm going to make it to 60. Oh, well - lesson learned!
Series Enders Challenge: A success! My goal was 3-5, and I've read 7. I might even get in an 8th before the end of the year! Granted, only 4 of them were finishing up series that I started before this year, but I'm still counting them. I won't next year, though - more on that later.
2017 Debut Author Challenge: I was a little worried about this one, but I did it! My goal was 12, and I ended up reading 13.
Read It Again, Sam Challenge: Another success! I read 19 books, which overshot the low mark for the highest tier (16). Granted, a ton of those were A Series of Unfortunate Events, but it still counts!
2017 Discussion Challenge: Quite possibly my biggest failure. I wrote 6 out of my goal of 11-20 posts. I'm not sure whether I'm going to formally do this challenge next year, but I definitely want to do better than I did.
2018 GOALS
I didn't do a great job with the discussion challenge last year either and I did end up skipping it for 2018. Maybe I'll try again in the future. I'm am doing the Backlist challenge though, in part because the team aspect seems like fun :)
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