I hope everyone had incredibly happy holidays and had a great New Year’s Day. I spent the majority of my holidays traveling, so I’m looking forward to some time at home the next few months!
In reflecting over the past blogging year, I took some time today to update my 2012 Challenge Index. Here’s a quick recap of how I did on my reading challenges:
2012 Goodreads Challenge: 50/100 books read
Compared to the 120 books I read in 2011, this is a pitiful number. I’m not sure why I read so many fewer books this year, but I think I simply wasn’t as motivated to power through so many review copies. I focused much more on library books and didn’t pressure myself to read quickly. I’ve adjusted my 2013 challenge to 75 as a “split the difference” strategy between my 2011 and 2012 reading goals.
Debut Author Challenge: 6/12 books read
I read far fewer review books this year. I even had my NetGalley account deactivated and changed my review policy so that I no longer accept advance copies at all. As a result, I read fewer debuts as their availability at the library is more limited than older titles, and I only purchased a couple of them. I probably won’t participate in this challenge anymore.
YA Historical Fiction Challenge: 6/10 books read
This is a favorite genre, so I’m not surprised I got closer to completing this one. I was derailed by finding lots more adult historical fiction this year, which doesn’t count for this particular challenge. I think I’ll try a less narrow genre challenge this year.
Get Steampunked Challenge: 3/15 books read
Yikes! I’m surprised I didn’t get through more of these. I have amassed a large selection of steampunk books this year, so now I need to get to actually reading them. I’ll be signing up for this one again.
Off the Shelves Challenge: 1/30 books read
At least it’s not zero! This was a challenge to read books sitting on my shelves, which did not happen (obviously). Because my book horde is approaching unmanageable proportions, this is a MAJOR goal of mine in 2013 – read the books I already own before I buy (or borrow) old ones. The library is proving to be the toughest competition, because I justify borrowing books because they are free, but doing so does nothing to increase the books read on my shelves. I am definitely doing at least a couple of TBR-oriented challenges this year to get my butt in gear!
Books Started But Not Finished Challenge: 2/6 books read
The idea here was to finish books from my short list of abandoned titles. It did not go well. There’s usually a reason I didn’t finish them, so most of these titles just didn’t appeal to me over shiny new books that might be the best book ever. I’ll give this challenge a miss in the future.
Graphic Novels Challenge: 0/12 books read
Another embarrassing failure. Because my graphic novel collection is precious to me, I don’t really want to take them out of my house. This means I don’t take them on the train, which is where I do most of my reading. Still, I plan to keep the same list and try again with this challenge. I can usually finish a graphic novel in a relatively short amount of time, so I need to pick a gloomy weekend this winter and get through a few at a time. Maybe that should be the primary focus of a read-a-thon?
Why Buy the Cow? Challenge: 0/12 books read
No freebies read this year. I also think I acquired very few (if any) of them. I have plenty of paid-for books to read, and I’m not really interested in glutting my Kindle with more freebies. Unless it’s a title I’ve been itching to read anyway, no thanks. After two years in a row of failing, I won’t be doing this challenge again.
Speculative Romance Challenge: 3/12 books read
This was another one that surprised me. I really thought I would read more than that in this genre. Instead of doing a strict romance genre challenge, I’ll be substituting the Seriously Series challenge, since I have so many UF/PNR series books in my TBR pile.
Dusty Volumes Challenge: 3/6 books read
Finishing half of my list is a definite step up from 2011, so I’m happy with that number. It’s entirely thanks to the Austen in August event hosted by Roof Beam Reader that I even got this far! I don’t think Midnyte Reader is hosting this again (so I’ll probably do her Authors After Dark challenge instead), but I’ll attempt a different classics challenge, since I have a good list in mind that I want to finish this year.
Outlander Reading Challenge: 1/6 books read
This didn’t turn out to be a big priority for me, so it fell to the back of the pack. I know I’ll get to the rest of these eventually, but I don’t need a challenge to do so.
1st in a Series Challenge: 9/12 books read
I did the best in this challenge, partly because I like starting series, and partly because it’s hard to find books these days that aren’t part of a series.
Finishing the Series Challenge: 1/3 series finished
I guess I got too distracted by new series to finish the ones I’ve already started!
Now, on to 2013!
In the coming weeks I’ll be posting challenge sign-ups and getting my 2013 index ready. It felt really good to update links and do, well, anything, blog-related. Maybe this year I can get around to posting my challenge progress bar widgets to help keep me on track. 
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A lover of words and sparkly things.
Hi Logan. It’s nice to see you back on the blog again. Wow, that’s a lot of challenges. I’m glad you made some progress on at least most of them.
If you want to read graphic novels, I am hosting a graphic novel readathon in just a few days. It’ll be a lot of fun, and a great chance to read some GNs to start off the year.
Hope to see you around the blogosphere!
Pica @ Pica Reads
Holy cow! How perfect is that? Heading over to the post to check it out ASAP! Thanks so much for mentioning it, and you’re right – I am glad I made at least some progress. This year I’ll be better hopefully.
I don’t do challenges because I fail them. Every time. Honestly, there’s something about them that brings out the stubborn child in me. I mean, intellectually I know I signed up for the challenge in the first place, but that doesn’t make me resent them any less. So I don’t do them anymore.
But I wish you luck on your 2013 Challenges. I think I’d like to read some classics this year, too, but I don’t have any in mind, yet. We’ll see!
I had more fun than I thought I would reading Austen this year, so I’m going to try for at least a handful of classics this year. I want to re-read The Great Gatsby before the movie comes out, and I plan to start Wuthering Heights soon. I also would love to get through a Russian – maybe Anna Karenina – and possibly something French, though my ambition to finish Les Miserables is probably a bit of an overshoot. Heh.
You did better than I did! I had ONE to finish and totally blew it. Well, I read a few, but not as much as I had intended. I didn’t even do a end of the year post it was so bad.
Believe me, I thought about skipping the wrap-up this year!
Looks like you struggled a little on 2012 Challenges, but the best news is 2013 is here and you get to start with a clean slate. Hope it goes well for you!
I think the clean slate aspect is one reason I’m feeling so energized about blogging again. I feel like I can have a do-over.