Quarterly 2019 Reading Goals Check In

Hello, friends! Can you believe that the year is already 25% over? I definitely can’t, even though January and February seem like they were ages away. I have no idea why but time seems to be passing by very weirdly this year and I am most definitely not a fan.

Anyways, I’ll move onto what I actually came here to say now.

At the beginning of the year I created a very ambitious list of challenges for myself in order to motivate myself to actually read this year. I figured that since a quarter of the year has passed, I would see how I was doing with those challenges and goals.

Let’s see where I am with my reading challenges!

I. Goodreads reading challenge

I’m actually doing pretty well with my goodreads challenge, which honestly surprises me because I was convinced that there was no way I would end up actually reading 150 books this year. I feel like I need to note that I haven’t actually read 59 full length novels, one perk of my Greek literature class is that I get to add a bunch of plays to goodreads that are very good at inflating my number of “books” read.

II. A-Z Challenge

Okay, this seems like a great time to admit that I forgot I was doing this until I started writing this post. However, that doesn’t seem to be a problem? I have 21 of the 26 letters already covered without even thinking about it, so I think it’ll be okay in the end.

A: Allegiant by Veronica Roth

B: Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Steifvater

C: Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

D: Dear Earthling: Cosmic Correspondent by Pen Avery

E: Emily Windsnap and the Monster from the Deep by Liz Kessler

F: Four by Veronica Roth

G: (A) Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

H: Helen by Euripides

I: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

J: Just For Clicks by Kara McDowell

K: King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

L: Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer 

M: Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

N: Neighbors by Jan Gross

O: Ordinary Men by Christopher R. Browning

P: (The) Power of Six by Pittacus Lore

R: (The) Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater

S: Sincerely, Harriet by Sarah Winifred Searle

T: Thicker Than Water by Brigid Kemmerer

X: A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

Y: You Asked For Perfect by Laura Silverman

III. Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge 

Okay, I could like, tell you how many backlist books I have read so far this year but that sounds like it involves counting and math and I’m really not feeling that right now. I have been keeping track of the bingo associated with this challenge that I decided to do (and by that I mean I sat down last Saturday and figured out what challenges I had completed without thought because I apparently forgot that I signed myself up for reading challenges). Anyways, here’s the books that I have read for bingo challenges!

Animal on the cover: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Major cliffhanger: The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

Over 400 pages: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Book mentioned in another book: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Re-read: Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Steifvater

Multiple points of view: More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer 

Written in the decade you were born: Emily Windsnap and the Siren’s Secret by Liz Kessler

Less than 500 goodreads ratings: Emily Windsnap and the Falls of the Forgotten Island

Book by an international author: The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler  

Part of a series with 4+ books: Emily Windsnap and the Monster in the Deep

Novella: Elemental by Brigid Kemmerer

A genre you don’t normally read: Ordinary Men by Christopher R. Browning

Book about a war: Death Dealer by Rudolf Hoss

Cover with your favorite color: The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore

Set in a different country: Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist by Liz Kessler

Translated from another language: The Iliad by Homer

Book with magic: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Under 200 pages: Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi

Adventure or journey story: Emily Windsnap and the Land of the Midnight Sun by Liz Kessler

One word title: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

A book someone you know loves: A Conjuring of Light by VE Schwab

Standalone: They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

Murder mystery: Thicker Than Water by Brigid Kemmerer

On your TBR for 2+ years: The Fall of Five by Pittacus Lore

Finish a series: Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Cover love: The Raven King by Maggie Steifvater

No people on the cover: Four by Veronica Roth

Popular author’s first book: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Discovered on social: The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

Less than 1,000 goodreads ratings: Dear Earthling: Cosmic Correspondant by Pen Avery

Graphic novel: In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang

Part of a duology: Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer

2018 release: A Very Large Expanse of Sea

Everyone’s read it but you: Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Next in a series you started: Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore

Title is a name: Helen by Euripides

Regret not reading sooner: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Okay, those were the three reading challenges I signed myself up for this year, but I also made five personal goals for myself (that I also don’t remember, the only thing I have learned from this post is that I am even more of a mess than I thought).

I. Try and physically read more books. 

In 2018, the majority of books I read I did so via audio. I really found myself missing sitting down to physically read so I made that a goal for the year. So far, I have been doing pretty well. I have read more physically than via audio this year so far. Go me!

II. Blog consistently! 

I have been doing fairly well at posting consistently, but I have been doing very bad at actually blog hopping and responding to comments. As soon as my school year winds down, I will most definitely work on that a lot.

III. Read more contemporaries! 

I am finding it kind of hard to evaluate this one. I have read a fair amount of contemporaries this year, but I still feel like I could be reading more. I’ll add this to the list of things to keep in mind.

IV. Start actually writing reviews

YAY! I have actually been doing this one, which makes me really happy. I wouldn’t say I have written a ton of reviews, but given that before this year I had written appropriately zero, I think I’m doing pretty good.

V. Start taking notes as I read

Okay, so far, I have read 59 books this year and taken notes on 3 of them. But, in good news, I have finally figured out a way of taking notes that works for me and I plan on taking more notes as I read in the future!

 

Okay, luckily, that is all that January Arin thought would be a good idea to try and do this year. Sorry if this post was boring for everyone else but it was helpful for me. Did you set any reading goals or join any reading challenges this year? If so, how are they going? Let’s chat in the comments!