Helloo Everyone,
At the beginning of this year I decided to take part in the Goodreads 2015 reading Challenge so I set myself a goal of reading 25 books in one year. Well if you read my reading challenge update post back in August then you would already know that I reached that goal a whopping five months early which was nice surprise! Even after that it didn't stop me from wanting to carry on reading more books (why would I want to stop?) which is why I kept going. I definitely didn't read as much as I would of liked with me going back to studying and getting a new job but I do sneak in some reading time whenever I can. So after checking my Goodreads account and double checking my bookcase to make sure I haven't missed any, I have read a total of 32 books this year!!! How mad is that? For me this is an amazing achievement and I'm quite proud of myself actually!
I've listed all the books that I've read and one that I'm currently reading below in order of when I read them:
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The Bookshop Book by Jen Campbell
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling
The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
We Should all be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Tourists by Julianne Pachico
The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Great Fire of London by Samuel Pepys
All My Friends are Superheroes by Andrew Kaufman
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
Sane New World by Ruby Wax
#GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso
Paperweight by Meg Haston (my review)
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
Armada by Ernest Cline
Paris for One by Jojo Moyes
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill
How to Start a Revolution by Lucy-Anne Holmes
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Grownup by Gillian Flynn
Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig
The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol
The Vagenda by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett and Holly Baxter (currently reading)
When I see the list laid out like that I think "Wow that's a lot of books, how did I do that?" but then I remember that I had a lot of time on my mind the first half of the year haha! It's still impressive.
I feel like I've read a good variety of books. From paperbacks to ebooks, big books to short stories and fiction to non-fiction. It's always good to branch out and try something new because you never know what you might like. I've even read a romance one which is rare for me haha! The funny thing is I can even remember where I was reading some of these books:
I started reading Gone Girl when I was exam invigilating at a business school in London.
A college friend and I bought We Should all be Feminists at an independent bookshop we stumbled across - we both read it on the tram home.
I stayed up in bed till 3am reading Everything, Everything a while back because I got caught up in the story.
I was on a train when I read How to Start a Revolution and I finished it in that one journey.
I guess some books just stay in your head for a long time and others might not even get thought about again! I think there was only about two or three books that ended up not being my cup of tea but then there's some that have become one of my favourites; you can't win them all!
That's a wrap! I'll be doing another post in the New Year talking about my 2016 reading challenge as I haven't quite decided what I'm doing yet so if that's something you'd be interested in keep a look out for that! Let me know in the comments how your year of reading went, whether you read more books than me or less I want to know! I hope you enjoyed my bookish post and I'll see you soon :)
Don't forget if you have Goodreads too you can check out all my books here!
Congrats on completeing your challenge Ali i think i need to try that and add it to my new years resolution
ReplyDeleteIf that's something you'd enjoy then I would highly recommend it! Thank you and I hope you complete whatever challenges you set yourself for 2016 :)
DeleteYour welcome. Thanks you and I hope you will complete your's also
DeleteWell done on completing your challenge! I've decided to set myself one for 2016! I'd be really interested to hear how you found Gone Girl, Girl on the Train and The Miniaturist - I've been thinking of giving them a try.
ReplyDeleteThank you Laura :) Oo well I'll jot those down and try to squeeze in some book reviews for January and February, wish me luck hehe!
DeleteWell done on completing your challenge lovely! So so many books. I'm quite embarssed to say I've hardly read any book this year ( I know terrible ) but I'm hoping to get back into reading this year, I will definetly give some of these a read!
ReplyDeleteAmy x
amysthoughtsblog.blogspot.com
I know it looks like I've read a lot but if you're not in the mood or busy then it can be hard to even read one book sometimes, it's nothing terrible! Maybe you can try reading a bit more this year even it's only a little :)
DeleteThat's impressive! It's awesome you completed your challenge so early. Gone girl is definitely on my to read list for the next year. I'm 2 books away from completing my good reads challenge for the year - it's not impossible, but I think I'll just realise I only almost got it this year :D
ReplyDeleteHappy new year! x
- Anne| annesmiles.com
Awh thanks Anne :) Well I hope you completed your challenge in time for 2016 and you're right it's definitely not impossible! Happy New Year to you too :)
DeleteCongrats on smashing your goal! You read some great books this year! A friend lent me a copy of The Vagenda and I thought it was fantastic! It really opened my eyes and confirmed some thoughts I already had, it was so well written and funny too!
ReplyDeleteSarah :)
Saloca in Wonderland
I definitely have read some awesome books this year and some even became one of my faves!! I finished the Vagenda before the New Year and I quite enjoyed it too and parts of it were a real eye opener!
DeleteCongrats on achieve your goal! You read some great books this year! What a reader ���� I am thinking of make a challenge this year :) wish me luck
ReplyDelete.
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Jollza
That sounds like a good idea so I hope you set yourself a fun one to keep you motivated for the year, good luck :)
DeleteOkay... so I'm commenting again because this post inspired me to set myself a reading challenge as one of my goals for 2016! I linked you in my post here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.justblueflint.com/blog/new-year-new-goals
xx
Haha I thought I recognised the name! Thank you so much for mentioning my post and I'm happy that my post encouraged you to set yourself a reading challenge that's freaking awesome to hear :D
DeleteCongratulations on reaching your goal! Isn't is so satisfying? I'm pleased to see you've read #girlboss because I'm about to start it tonight. I'm super excited!
ReplyDeleteAwh thanks Lucy and yes I really did have such a cool feeling when I achieved that many books in the year, definitely the most I've ever read haha :)
DeleteLove this reading list - there are so many great books! Can't wait to get my hands on Girl Boss this year. Currently I'm reading Big Magic by Liz Gilbert.
ReplyDeleteEmma x
EmmaMatthews.co.uk
I've never heard of Big Magic so I'll have to look that up when I next go book shopping hehe! Thank you, I did read some pretty awesome books ;)
DeleteCongratulations on completing your challenge. I absolutely loved All My Friends Are Superheroes, I want to read it again this year. I've added some of these books to my to-read list on Goodreads, you have a great taste! :)
ReplyDeleteBecky; www.rebeccamarie.co.uk xx
Thank you Becky I appreciate it :) All My Friends Are Superheroes was a really funny books I enjoyed! I'm glad I've given you some help for your to-read list too :D
DeleteWoo well done! That's awesome. I managed 57, I think, but I wanted to read 60 so I didn't quite make it this time. I've set myself the same target for this year, 60, and I'm going to work harder to make it. After all, I was so close! I'll keep an eye out for your reading challenge for 2016. :) x www.aimeeraindropwrites.co.uk x
ReplyDeleteWow Aimee that's amazing congrats :D and good luck with your 2016 challenge but by the sounds of it you've got it all covered ;)
DeleteI only read a few but this year I have a goal of 30 x
ReplyDeleteHeather | Of Beauty & Nothingness x