2014: how did I do?

Three days have passed since the turn of the new year, and somehow I already feel lighter. I always get excited by the prospect of a clean slate, a fresh new outlook on a brand new year.  I know that in actuality not much changes between December 31 and January 1, but it’s nice to have a brighter attitude about the new year at the very least. Part of what I love about the new year is being able to reflect on the year that just passed. So let’s get started!

By now it’s pretty clear that I’m not the best at sticking to TBR lists, so it should be no surprise that I didn’t exactly make a lot of progress with my initial TBR list for 2014, which I made way back that the very beginning of this year. Here are the results:

1. Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling)
2. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
3. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
4. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
5. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
6. It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
7. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
8. Crossed by Ally Condie
9. Stuck On Earth by David Klass
10. A Really Awesome Mess by Trish Cook, Brendan Halpin
11. Peanut by Ayun Halliday, Paul Hoppe (illustrator)
12. Legend by Marie Lu
13. Just One Day by Gayle Forman
14. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Soooooo….. yeah. I didn’t even read half of the list, but I’m pretty okay with that. A few of these books I’m not all that interested in reading anymore, and although I would like to read many of the other ones I still am happy with the amount of reading that I did get done this year.

Much to my surprise, I read a total of 75 books in 2014!! My original reading goal on Goodreads was 50 books, which I achieved sometime in the summer. I set my goal at only 50 books because I was afraid that I wouldn’t have a lot of time to read because of work and school and college applications, but somehow I managed to build in a bit of reading time into my busy schedule. Hopefully I’ll be able to continue reading this much in 2015, although I am taking a more relaxed approach to the Goodreads challenge this year. Instead of setting the bar high and putting pressure on myself to constantly follow a schedule, I’m aiming to read at least 24 books in 2015. I’ll most likely exceed this number, but I want to give myself a little wiggle room to focus on other things at times- like writing, catching up on TV/movies, and just living life in general. To read more about my bookish goals for 2015, click here. 

Overall, I’m really happy with the progress I have made in 2014, and I’m extremely excited to see what 2015 has in store!

How did you do with your TBR and goals for 2014, bookish or otherwise? Let me know in the comments section below!

Yours,

HOLLY